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Myanmar Under Military Rule; World Stage Must React at Myanmar's Situation; Alexei Navalny's Fate Still Undetermined; U.K. Expands Testing in Highly Infected Areas; Pandemic Can't Stop Olympic Games; E.U. Soon to Receive Its Vaccines; Russian Court Set To Rule Navalny Jail Term; Biden Meets With Republican Senators About COVID Relief; President Trump On Impeachment Trial; Man Charged With Attacking Officer Who Suffered Concussion; McConnell Saying Loony Lies Are Cancer For Republican Party; Biden Set To Sign New Executive Actions On Immigration; Proposals To Reunite Families, Citizenship For DACA Recipients; Rancher, Border Wall Was Hostile Takeover Of My Property; Coronavirus In Picture; Singer Reveals Alzheimer's Diagnosis; WallStreetBets Boosted GameStop And AMC Stocks. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired February 02, 2021 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead, a Russian court is soon expected to hand jail time to the Kremlin's top critic as Vladimir Putin battles growing dissent.
Fears in Myanmar that the coup could be a sign of more crackdowns to come for a country only recently freed from military rule.
And the U.K. is ramping up testing in areas where a COVID variant is spreading.
We are live in Moscow, Hong Kong, London this hour.
Good to have you with us.
Well, we begin this hour in a Moscow courtroom where Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is about to learn his fate.
CNN teams have seen a heavy police presence outside the courthouse. The court is set to rule on whether Navalny should face jail time for violating the terms of his probation while he was in Germany being treated for nerve agent poisoning. The prominent Kremlin critic could face three and a half years behind bars.
And CNN's Frederik Pleitgen joins us now -- well, we actually we're going to try and get Fred a little later. But we will of course continue this story and hopefully get -- get back to this. We'll move on for now.
All right. Well, soldiers have been out in force today in Myanmar one day after the military seized power in a coup. People are cautiously trying to resume their daily lives as troops and checkpoints spread around the capital. Troops are standing guard outside the government guest house. And at least some of the politicians detained in the coup say they are being held there.
There are growing calls from within Myanmar and from international community for their release.
CNN's Will Ripley joins me now from Hong Kong with more on this. Good to see you, Will. So, what is the latest on the fallout from this military coup? What more are you learning about Aung San Suu Kyi and these other detained officials?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Rosemary. We don't have a lot of information, aside from the tidbits that are coming out from that guest house in the capital of Naypyidaw. But if you look at these images of tanks and soldiers and military trucks standing guard, it's clear that however many civilian elected members of government are being held there, they are being held under tight security with very limited communication with the outside world.
It is a condition that Aung San Suu Kyi is pretty accustomed to as the same military that is detaining her now put her under house arrest over a 20-year period, about 15 of those 20 years.
But in recent years, it was seen by some on the outside that she could perhaps curried favor with the military, which despite the illusion of civilian control, still held quite a tight grip on many key government functions. When she went to the United Nations and defended the accused -- accusations towards of genocide towards Rohingya Muslims at the hands of the military that had ruled Myanmar with a brutal dictatorship for 50 years before agreeing around a decade ago to this experiment with democracy, while also writing the Constitution to enable what happened just in the last couple of days.
Declaring a state of emergency, taking power away from the elected civilian leaders, making unfounded accusations of widespread voter fraud, and potentially returning the country to a dictatorship or reconstructing some sort of government that has the look of a democracy, but has the powers and players in place that the govern -- that the military leaders want.
Because what is clear here is that the people who were in power on the military side didn't like the fact that their proxy party got so few votes, and when they disputed the election and felt that the civilian government turned the other way, they decided to take matters into their own hands.
Now in terms of western countries, there is a lot of condemnation, Rosemary, but unclear if there will be sanctions and what bite, if any of those sanctions could have, given Myanmar's cozy relationship with the Chinese government. And China, is rather benign response to all of this saying they hope the internal sides can work things out. CHURCH: All right. Many thanks to our Will Ripley bringing us the very latest there.
[03:05:00]
I want to return to our top story now. Of course, the fate of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen joins us now from Moscow. Fred, what has been happening so far in Navalny's ongoing court hearing?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Rosemary. Well, out here in front of the court where I am right now, let's say about, let's say about 500 meters away there has been kind of an escalation of the situation. Police are sort of going house to house here. Riot cops they have been detaining a lot of people over the past couple of minutes. I think in the past half an hour or so we saw at least a dozen people who were taken into police vans.
There is a massive riot police presence here on the streets. If we just start to walk in this direction, we can see some riot cops walking over there. We can see people being detained almost on a constant basis as we've been out here.
The hearing has been postponed. We know that Alexei Navalny's wife is already waiting in front of the courtroom. We know that his lawyers are also waiting in front of the courtroom, but so far, the hearing has been -- has been delayed. Rosemary?
CHURCH: So, Fred, I'm not sure if you can still hear me. For what reason have they -- what reason have they given for delaying the hearing?
PLEITGEN: There has been no reason given so fat. The trial just hasn't, hasn't started yet. There could be administrative reasons, people could be arriving late, I'm not sure. They haven't said yet whether or not Alexie Navalny has even been brought to the courthouse yet.
Of course, very interesting also. He was moved to this courthouse that you see right over there. he was supposed to be somewhere else originally. Because this is very close to the prison that Alexei Navalny, detention center that Alexei Navalny is being held in because he is supposed to be at that hearing in person.
The last time that we were at an appeals hearing which was last week, he was not brought to the court where that hearing took place. In fact, he was only there via a video link. This is an in-person hearing. And of course, it's a very important for him. Because if he is convicted here, and if he is sentenced, which is right now a suspended sentence, has turned into a real jail sentence, then he is going to face considerable prison time. He could face around three and a half years in prison.
And that's why his supporters have called on people to come out here and to protest. And if we just look over there, you can see a massive police presence going over there. What you see right here is a bus that the police often use to bring detained people to police stations. There's been a lot of those. Actually, the police presence really is suffocating to anybody who's been on the sidewalks here.
And the police continues to try and push people away from the courthouse because they want to try and stop any sort of crowd gathering, certainly want to stop any sort of supporters of Alexei Navalny's from coming anywhere near that courthouse and trying to voice their anger obviously over the fact that Alexei Navalny is on trial here today, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Yes. On trial. We know that --
(CROSSTALK)
PLEITGEN: There is another person being detained right now as being brought into the van. You can see. That's sort of something we have been seeing off and on. You can see the folks that are then brought they are being searched. Again, scenes like that are something that we've just been seeing on a very regular basis throughout, really throughout the last hour or so.
It's really escalated here by the police as they keep trying to push people away. You know, the police van obviously right there in the middle of the street, and that gentlemen there is no doubt going to be inside of this. Another one who is being detained right now. So, you can really see how the police is in sort of zero tolerance posture. They moved in all of sudden and they just started taking a lot of people away on the streets and bringing them into these police vans, Rosemary.
CHURCH (on camera): All right. Our Frederik Pleitgen bringing us the very latest from Moscow. As Fred was saying, the hearing for Alexei Navalny has been delayed. We will continue to follow the story of course and return to Fred when we get some more information on what has been happening.
In the meantime, in a CNN exclusive, Iran's top diplomat says the U.S. is running out of time to rejoin the nuclear deal abandoned by former President Donald Trump. On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned it could be just a matter of weeks before Iran has enough material to make a nuclear weapon. But Iran's foreign minister says that's not the plan. Here is more of what he told CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMAD JAVAD ZARIF, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: That's why the United States needs to establish its bonafides to come back to the nuclear deal. The United States is not in the nuclear deal. And it's not in the nuclear deal because of its own decision to withdraw, without taking the routes that were available to it within the nuclear agreement.
On the other hand, Iran used the mechanisms in the nuclear agreement in order to limit its cooperation. If you read paragraph 36, we acted in strict accordance with the nuclear agreement. [03:10:02]
Now the United States needs to come back into compliance, and Iran will be ready immediately to respond. The timing is not the issue. The issue is whether the United States, whether the new administration wants to follow the old policies of, failed policies of the Trump administration or not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Iran has resumed enriching uranium. It says any deal with the U.S. must include lifting harsh sanctions imposed by the Trump administration.
All right. Let's return now to the other top story we are following. The military coup in Myanmar, and I would like to bring in human rights watch researcher Manny Maung who is with us from Sydney. Thank you so much for joining us.
MANNY MAUNG, RESEARCHER, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Thank you.
CHURCH: So, day two of this coup and there is an increased military presence on the streets. We know Aung San Suu Kyi and other officials are being detained in a government guesthouse. And Suu Kyi's party is demanding their release. What would you expect the military's next move to be? And why did they stage this coup at this particular time?
MAUNG: Yes, Rosemary, I mean, that's the million-dollar question. Why now when they have been sitting pretty and, you know, benefiting from the NLD government basically fielding all the criticism so far. What we expect the military to do now and what they have done today is to actually meet in an urgency session for the National Security Defense Council.
Normally, what would happen is there would be five of their members who would sit there from the civilian side, including Aung San Suu Kyi. But of course, she has been left off, you know, the committee this time. What we are expecting is that they will try and legitimize this as much as possible using the legal standards from the 2008 Constitution that they, themselves wrote.
So, none of this is really in the international community's eyes credible nor legitimate. And in arbitrarily detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior officials, they are continuing to violate human rights with impunity. It's now that governments around the world need to have a unified voice and, you know, strongly condemn what's going on.
CHURCH: Right. And we have heard that. I mean, U.S. President Joe Biden he is considering sanctions against Myanmar. The U.N. Security Council is weighing its response to this military coup. So, what should the international community do specifically do you think in response to this?
MAUNG: This is an opportunity for the international community to have a unified message, have a unified voice, and strongly condemn the military government, but also demand that they would relinquish the power.
You know, the military have said now that they will invoke a coup and state of emergency for another year, which means that people are going to be living, effectively, under a military dictatorship. And Min Aung Hlaing is now a dictator. So, we need to ensure that this doesn't carry on and that people actually have the right to elect their leaders and have their leaders in place who they have legitimately voted in.
CHURCH: Right. And Suu Kyi has called for protests. How likely is it that her people will respond to her call? And if they do that how will the military likely react?
MAUNG: Well unfortunately, historically, we have seen that the military does tend to crack down pretty severely on even peaceful dissent. So, the likelihood of violence is pretty high. Right now, what I am getting is that people in Myanmar, it's a bit of a muted affair.
I think, you know, right now, it's still day two. Day one was such a shock and devastating. I've had friends on the phone crying and you know, they don't know how to react, because the shock has just been so surprising actually. We didn't think that it would escalate this quickly.
Aung San Suu Kyi and her party have told people that they should protest this in any peaceful way as possible. But, you know, I think what people are feeling are a little bit of fear, and now they are anticipating a pretty harsh crackdown as they watch armed personnel and tanks rolled out onto the streets.
CHURCH: Yes. I mean, I can totally understand the shock. But the military were very much in control over what happened day to day. I mean, they have just become more visual now. Haven't they?
MAUNG: Yes, I agree. I think what has happened is the relationship between the NLD and the military has been, you know, deteriorating for quite some time. They haven't seen eye to eye in quite some time. And then the military has now challenged the NLD with saying that they voted irregularities leading up to the November 2020 elections.
[03:15:01]
None of that is founded, and you know, international observers, domestic observers, all say that the results of the elections are credible and that the NLD resoundingly won. So, it just either appears that there is (Inaudible) personally between the two, or that the military really is proving that they have thin skin and they are just humiliated by the results. They've learned that the people of Myanmar did not want a military dictatorship in power. They've learned that they are highly unpopular, and they don't like it.
CHURCH: Yes, indeed. Manny Maung, we thank you so very much for your analysis. We appreciate it.
MAUNG: Thanks for having me on. CHURCH: And coming up here on CNN Newsroom, a new challenge for the
U.K. in the fight against COVID-19. Why some areas will see a surge in testing. That's ahead.
Plus, Japan is determined to host the Olympics in July even as it looks to extend a COVID state of emergency. We'll have a live report for you ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, the U.K. is taking steps to limit the spread of the COVID variant first found in South Africa. British Health Secretary Matt Hancock says the government is surging extra testing in affected areas.
And for more on this, I want to turn to CNN's Salma Abdelaziz who is joining from London. Good to see you, Salma. So, this surge testing for the South African COVID variant comes as the U.K. sees some encouraging trends in hospitalizations and deaths. What's the latest on all of this?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER (on camera): Absolutely right, Rosemary, a door to door testing blitz. That's essentially what the health secretary says will happen in eight neighborhoods that have been identified in England have been affected by the South Africa variant. So, the goal is essentially to test everyone in those locations. The authorities will be dropping off at home testing kits at each of these addresses in these eight neighborhoods.
And they will also be setting up mobile testing units. And the health secretary again taking to the airwaves today saying if you live in one of these eight areas do not leave home. You need to get tested. You need to stay isolated, you need to make sure that you don't have that variant before you go out.
Take a listen to more of what he said yesterday when announcing these measures.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT HANCOCK, BRITISH HEALTH SECRETARY: There is currently no evidence to suggest this variant is any more severe, but we need to come down on it hard and we will. We've already made sure that all these cases are isolating, and that we've done enhanced contact tracing of all of their close contacts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABDELAZIZ (on camera): So, so far, over 100 cases of the South African variant have been identified. Several of them are not linked to travel, which is concerning. Of course, and with each positive case, of course including these 100 cases, the goal is the authorities want to genomically sequence each of these cases to try to figure out where the origins are.
[03:20:05] The U.K. authorities say that this country has one of the best genomic sequences -- sequencing, rather, programs in the world, so it's an opportunity not just to identify these trends in changes and mutations for this country, but for the world at large.
And this does happen at the time when the country's vaccination program is really kicking off, over nine million people, nearly 10 million people now getting the first dose of their vaccine. Hospitalizations rates are down, the number of positive cases being received in a week that's down as well. So, the goal here is to protect the gains that the authorities have made and keep these variants out of the country, Rosemary.
CHURCH (on camera): Absolutely. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joining us live from London, many thanks.
Well, it's not always easy of course for us to understand the horrific toll the pandemic second wave is taking on the U.K. Later this hour, I will speak with the photographer who captured these images at a hospital and funeral home in England.
Well, Europe is struggling not just to get people vaccinated, but to get the actual vaccine and shipments are delayed. But now Pfizer and BioNTech say they are working to get them out to Europe starting in two weeks. And the E.U. says AstraZeneca is also ramping up production. But as Nic Robertson reports, the slow rollout is already causing all sorts of problems.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice over): More than a potential lifesaver. Each COVID-19 vaccination vital for each nation's recovery. And last week, the E.U. realized it was short.
MICHEAL MARTIN, IRISH TAOISEACH: There is significant tension across Europe in relation to the sense across Europe that commitment centered into by AstraZeneca has not been fulfilled.
ROBERTSON: The E.U. is opening salvo in what is called here a vaccine war border controls on the island on Ireland reigniting simmering Brexit tensions.
UNKNOWN: For years we were told after the European Union referendum vote that there couldn't be a hard border on the island of Ireland. And in one fell swift, they put that hard border in place.
ROBERTSON: Foster's pro-Brexit party was already losing support, but all Northern Ireland parties united, as the E.U.'s vaccine frustrations became their political problem. Collateral damage.
CLAIRE HANNA, M.P., SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC AND LABOUR PARTY: What it has done has righted a very suspenseful substantial bump in the road to stability and we were probably getting to a point where people were getting over the initial shock of Brexit.
ROBERTSON: From the former P.M. who helped bring peace to Northern Ireland more than two decades ago, disappointment with the E.U.
UNKNOWN: This is very foolish thing to do. Unfortunately, they withdrew it very quickly.
ROBERTSON: European Commission president, Ursula Von der Leyen, backtracked on the contentious border controls and patched up supply problems with AstraZeneca, but even staunch supporters are frustrated.
ALEXANDER STUBB, FORMER FINNISH PRIME MINISTER: This smacks against all the basic principles of what the European Union stands for, not the least solitary or freedom of the good, so I hope this is the first and last time the European Union reacted in such a (Inaudible) and nativist than protectionist way.
ROBERTSON: The former Finnish P.M. and E.U. political insider warns COVID-19 isn't just a health threat, it's a potential danger to stability too.
STUBB: This pandemic really is hybrid. It has an impact on politics, on economics, on health, on social affairs, on international politics. And we have to remember that we are really, really in this together. Vaccine nationalism, it doesn't get much stupider than that.
ROBERTSON: In Northern Ireland the past week, an object lesson of COVID-19's corrosive reach.
HANNA: It's worrying that it's so quickly and so soon in the E.U./U.K. new relationship came to this and so soon in the rollout of vaccines that have come, I suppose to a flash point.
ROBERTSON: This unlikely to be the last skirmish ever sort after vaccines.
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH (on camera): Well, medical experts here in the United States are warning of a possible surge in cases next month triggered by a new variant of the coronavirus. That could undo some positive progress.
I want you to take a look at this map. It's good news for a change. The states highlighted in green have seen a decline in case numbers over the last week. Experts say that could change fast if new strains are allowed to spread unchecked. Dr. Anthony Fauci says vaccines are key to fighting new variants like the one first detected in South Africa.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[03:25:01]
ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: It is certainly not the dominant strain, but if it becomes dominant, the experience of our colleagues in South Africa indicate that even if you've been infected with the original virus that there is a very high rate of reinfection to the point where previous infection does not seem to protect you against reinfection.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH (on camera): Meanwhile, the U.S. government is partnering with Australian company Ellume to provide more at-home test kits. A White House official says the Ellume test is 95 percent accurate, and you get results within 15 minutes.
Well, Japan's government is expected to extend its coronavirus state of emergency, even as officials push forward with plans to host the Olympic Games.
CNN's Blake Essig joins us now from Tokyo with the latest. Good to see you, Blake. So, Japanese authorities are pushing ahead, but citizens there, they don't feel that they want to have this happen at all. How is this going to work?
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's a good question, Rosemary. You know, at this point, what we do know is that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is planning to extend the state of emergency, which is currently in place through March 7th. So that will extend it for another month.
And when you look at the effectiveness of the state of emergency that is already in place, we hit a peak of daily case count of more than 7,000 in January, and as a result of the state of emergency, that -- those case -- those case count has fallen to below 3,000 currently.
So, there's -- they are definitely taking steps in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go until we get to the point where, you know, we can safely hold these Olympic Games. March 7th, again, is the date that the state of emergency is going to be extended to. And 18 days later is when the torch relay is expected to be held.
Again, the idea is to try to curb the spread of the COVID-19 -- of COVID-19 here in Japan. Vaccinations will not be required for athletes competing in these games, but there are going to be rules in place starting explaining -- those rules will be explained in a series of playbooks that were expected to be released tomorrow.
Now those rules were explained by the John Coates, he is the IOC vice president, he spoke to Sky News Australia recently to kind of talk a little bit about what those measures might look like in order to hold a safe and secure summer Olympic Games.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN COATES, VICE PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE: They must undertake testing, saliva and nose within 72 hours of traveling to Tokyo. The fact is we've now introduced in Australia for people coming here. They will be tested on arrival. Then they will be tested if they continue to be negative every four days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ESSIG (on camera): Now beyond testing, Coates went on to say that their movement, the athlete's movement will also be limited. That they are going to allowed -- they are going to be allowed to be at the athlete's village, transported to and from the venue where they will be training and competing, and that is it.
And they're also going to be expected to only arrive five days before their event takes place and then expected to leave two days after their event takes place. So, these Olympic Games are going to look very different than Olympic Games that we've seen in the past, Rosemary.
CHURCH: They most certainly shall. Blake Essig, many thanks for bringing us up to date on story. I appreciate it.
Well, 10 U.S. Senate Republicans putting their $600 billion COVID relief package up against President Biden's nearly $2 trillion plan. Ahead, what developed after two hours of talking.
[03:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): We are keeping a very close eye on our top story. A Moscow court is set to issue a ruling very soon on whether opposition leader Alexei Navalny will face jail time. Navalny is in court right now, and the hearing has started. It had been delayed.
All morning, CNN has seen a heavy police presence and the tensions on the street. You saw our live report coming from Fred Pleitgen. And Russian officials accused Navalny of violating the terms of a probation agreement in an embezzlement case. He could face three and a half years behind bars. Navalny says the case is politically motivated, and we will of course bring you the very latest developments on this live from Moscow as they happen.
U.S. President Joe Biden met several Republican Senators Monday to discuss his COVID relief bill. But the parties are billions of dollars apart, and the president is wary of spending too little money in this time of crisis.
CNN's Phil Mattingly has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, the first meeting between President Biden and lawmakers was not with his top Democratic officials, wasn't with the Speaker of the House, or even the Majority Leader in the United States Senate. It was with 10 Republican Senators, 10 Republican Senators who put on the table their own COVID relief proposal. That was less than a third of what the Biden team has put on the table, at least in topline numbers.
And yet, the meeting went long, significantly longer than aides on either side expected. Nearly two hours with Senator Susan Collins of Maine, Republican emerging from the meeting and saying this. SEN. SUSAN COLLINS, (R-ME): I think it was an excellent meeting. And
we are very appreciative that as his first official meeting in the Oval Office, the president chose to spend so much time with us in a frank and very useful discussion.
MATTINGLY: Now to be very clear, having an exchange and continuing to talk on the staff level is by no means a deal and the two sides remain very, very far apart. $1.9 trillion is the topline for the White House proposal. The Republicans are coming in with $618 billion. And the policy inside of those two proposals is also wildly divergent on the topline numbers.
However, the discussions will continue. While Democrats on Capitol Hill have made clear, they are ready and willing to move forward on a partisan basis. They will start that process as soon as this week. At least at this point in time, President Biden, willing to keep talking to Republican Senators, at least on the staff level. Will that actually lead to anything? Now, that remains an open question.
But I think the reality when you talk to officials at the White House and Democrats on Capitol Hill is the expectation is, they will be going alone on this pathway forward, on COVID relief going bigger rather than scaling back to where Republicans stand. Still, for the moment, talks are ongoing. Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH (on camera): So, let's talk now with CNN White House reporter Stephen Collinson. Good to have you with us.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Hi.
CHURCH: Stephen, this meeting Monday with 10 GOP Senators was President Biden's first major unity test. They counted his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 rescue plan with a much smaller 600 billion dollars option. Talks seemed to go pretty well and will continue, but you have written about this being Mr. Biden's defining dilemma. How much pressure is he under right now to unite and make this a bipartisan bill?
COLLINSON: I think Biden is under pressure from no one more than himself. And the expectations he's set for his presidency that he is going to be a president who after a tumultuous four years of Donald Trump can bring the country together and reach across those deep chasm in Washington between Republicans and Democrats.
[03:35:00]
Democrats on Capitol Hill don't have a great deal of enthusiasm actually for the president's outreach to Republicans, because they argue that the size of the package, which you mentioned, 600 billion dollars, is really far too small to make a meaningful dent in the economy and to really tackle the scale of the pandemic.
So, I think what we are seeing from the White House is two different messages. Yes, Biden is trying to reach out. He's trying to live up to his bipartisan promises, but at the same time, the White House is making clear that $600 billion is not anywhere near enough. And I think eventually, the figure that Biden will have to settle on and will probably have to do with Democratic votes is going to be much loser to his $1 trillion, first offer.
CHURCH: Right. Of course, one exception to all of that is Democrat Senator Manchin. He is pushing back, feeling pressure in fact to support this bill. The Democrats can't afford to lose even one vote on this, given they cannot for a budget reconciliation shortcut that doesn't need any GOP votes for this bill. How likely is it that Manchin would vote against the bill if Biden tries to go it alone without GOP support?
COLLINSON: Well, normally happens is that there is some accommodation to Manchin and he usually ends up voting with the Democrats over the course of his political career. But you're right. And he was slightly angst of the Vice President Kamala Harris did some TV interviews that beam into West Virginia without telling him, lobbying for this package.
And the White House had to do some clearing up. Of course, there is a 50/50 Senate, and the vice president would have the casting vote, you know, in the event of it being 50/50 on any measure. So they cannot afford a thaw to anger Manchin or any other of the more conservative Democrats.
CHURCH: Right. And you mentioned this in your written piece. Respected economists say the danger here is not in doing too much but in doing too little. If this bill gets watered down, just to satisfy a few Republican Senators to make this a bipartisan plan, does President Biden run the risk of under delivering and ultimately failing to help those in need and jump-start the economy?
COLLINSON: Right. I think that the -- ending the pandemic, getting vaccines out as quickly as possible, mitigating the economic damage, alleviating the deprivation, millions of Americans don't have enough to eat, that at the end of the day is going to be the thing that decides the fate of the Biden presidency. He has a little time, but not that much time.
Of course, there's a midterm election and only, you know, a year and 10 months from now. So, you know, I think Biden knows that, he knows the stakes here. Not just for himself, but for the rest of the country. And that is why, you know, although his opening offer is $1.9 trillion, he probably expects he will have to come down or fact figure, because that's the way legislation works. But that is why in the end he is not going to accept a Republican plan that is so much smaller.
CHURCH: Stephen Collinson, always a pleasure to get your analysis, many thanks.
COLLINSON: Thanks.
CHURCH (on camera): Well, former U.S. President Donald Trump's historic second impeachment trial will start taking shape in the coming hours. A source tells CNN Trump's defense team plans to focus on the constitutionality of the trial in their legal brief, and not on his baseless claims of election fraud.
CNN's Manu Raju has details on what House impeachment managers are expected to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER (voice over): On the House Democratic side, I am told from sources involved in the planning that they planned to detail a methodical case, laying out Donald Trump, in their view, intentional act to incite these rioters who came to Capitol Hill on January 6 and led to that deadly violence.
On that day as comes as they are trying to certify Joe Biden's electoral victory. They will talk about how Donald Trump acted before the election, right, after the election, and in then in that speech to those rally goers on January 6th. They are also going to be make the case that this is a constitutional proceeding.
That is important for them, because Republicans in the Senate have dismissed the idea that this is a constitutional act. And that is what you can expect to hear from Trump's defense team, arguing that this should not be done by the Senate. It would (inaudible) a dangerous precedent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH (on camera): Meanwhile, Republican Senator John Cornyn tells CNN it would be a disservice to Mr. Trump's legal efforts to keep arguing the election was stolen. Well, federal prosecutors continue to file charges following last month's deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. They have now arrested one man who they say attacked a police line. And in the process, caused an officer to suffer a concussion.
CNN justice correspondent, Jessica Schneider, shows us that video.
[03:40:08]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Prosecutors pinpointing one of the first rioters to breach the Barricades, Ryan Stephen Samsel. Investigators say he wore a red MAGA hat and a white hooded sweatshirt as he moved in on Capitol police behind a bicycle racks barricade. Samsel is seen ripping off his jacket and turning his hat around. Prosecutors say it was a signal that he was ready to fight.
Samsel was part of the crowd that picks up the barricade and backs it up on to police, knocking a female officer to the ground. Prosecutors revealed in a court filing the officer's head hit the stairs behind her. Samsel picked the officer off the ground and allegedly said to her we don't have to hurt you. Why are you standing in our way?
That officer later blacked out and was taken to the E.R. with a concussion. Prosecutors say Samsel was out on parole when he took part in the insurrection and is wanted for assault in New Jersey. He is now one of more than 175 federal defendants facing criminal charges for their role in the riot.
At least 21 of those charged are current or former members of the military. Including 37-year-old Joseph Biggs, an army veteran who spouted enough violent rhetoric to get him banned on several social media sites.
JOSEPH BIGGS, ARMY VETERAN: Hey, what's going on everybody?
SCHNEIDER: Biggs is also one of the leaders of the far-right Proud Boys group, known for its violent clashes with Antifa during protests in Portland, Oregon and Washington, D.C. CNN has identified at least eight Proud Boys charged in the Capitol attack so far, including two charged with conspiracy Friday. It's the first riot related case to accuse Proud Boys members of working together to attack the Capitol.
Though prosecutors say the alleged conspiracy only began after they got to Washington. Some law enforcement sources now tell CNN the Capitol riot investigation is the largest FBI probe since 9/11, incorporating a massive mobilization of FBI resources spanning field offices from coast to coast.
SCHNEIDER (on camera): The investigation also continues into the Capitol police officer who was killed during the insurrection, Bryan Sicknick. Prosecutors have opened a federal murder investigation into his death. And Tuesday night, Officer Sicknick will lie in honor at the Capitol Rotunda, the same location that was overrun by that mob about one month ago. His family has set up a GoFundMe page to help the family with their expenses. Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH (on camera): The most senior Republican in Congress, Mitch McConnell, has finally spoken out against that extremist Congresswoman from Georgia who has spouts vial conspiracy theories and endorsed QAnon. McConnell says Marjorie Taylor Greene's loony lies are a cancer for the Republicans. Before she was elected, Greene said the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida was staged to gin up support for gun control legislation.
Her comments have been painful for the families who have lost loved ones at that massacre three years ago this month. Among the victims was Scott Beigel, a beloved geography teacher and cross country coach.
His mother spoke to CNN's Brianna Keilar earlier and had this message for the Congresswoman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDA BEIGEL SCHULMAN, MOTHER OF TEACHER KILLED IN SCHOOL SHOOTING: She needs to come forward. She needs to tell the world publicly that she does not believe that those shootings were false flag or staged events. She needs to come forward. And she can make up any story or any reason that she said those things, but the most important is that she disavow those statements.
You know, I was thinking about it, and analogies are something that Scott and I used to go back and forth about. And you know, lies and conspiracy theories are like a virus that infects a host. And I guess you could say that our country is kind of like the host that's been infected. You know what, I do say to Marjorie Taylor Greene, please. You know what, find your conscience. You are a mother. Man up or woman up, whatever you want to say, and tell the truth. Tell everybody what you told me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH (on camera): A heartbreaking message there. And Greene could not meet with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy as soon as today. As Democrats pushed to strip the freshman Congresswoman of her committee assignments.
Well, President Biden is expected to move forward with new executive actions on immigration today. A judge last week temporarily blocked Biden's audit to pause deportations.
CNN's Ed Lavandera looks at the legal challenges ahead.
[03:45:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The immigration debate in America is a political minefield. And right out of the gate, President Biden is facing legal challenges. The president issued a 100-day pause on deportations, but a federal judge has temporarily blocked that move. But Biden is ready to move on other issues. Ise Mendez, came to Loreto, Texas, with her parents at the age of two. She is now 33. Everyone in her family, including her four children are now U.S. citizens except her.
Mendez is one of the hundreds of thousands of people known as DREAMERS. President Biden is proposing a pathway to citizenship for these immigrants who have been able to live in the U.S. because of the Obama era program known as DACA.
ISE MENDEZ, DACA RECIPIENT: We have lift four years of Trump stringing us along with that fear and anxiety, so I am hopeful that something positive will come out of these different legislations or these executive actions that Biden has brought.
LAVANDERA: The Trump administration rolled out four years of controversial programs that critics have often described as inhumane, but that many conservatives have celebrated. There are still 611 children separated from their parents as part of the Trump administration's zero tolerance policy. The Biden administration is proposing a task force to reunify those families.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I will accomplish what I said I would do. A much more humane policy based on family unification. LAVANDERA: There are still about 28,000 migrants sitting in Mexican
border town seeking asylum through the controversial remain in Mexico policy. Advocates have pushed for these migrants to be allowed into the country while their cases are handled in immigration courts.
Former acting Director of Immigration and Custom Enforcement, Ronald Vitiello warns that Biden's immigration policies could create another surge of migrants at the southern border.
RONALD VITIELLO, FMR. ACTING DIRECTOR, IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOM ENFORCEMENT: My warning would be learned from the history that we already have. When you roll back those elements of what is in place now, then you are going to encourage people.
LAVANDERA: And then there is the issue of the border wall.
How much did you enjoy this view?
UNKNOWN: I'm going to see it through bars. It's going to be hard.
LAVANDERA: Last year Joseph Hein was bracing for construction of the border wall across his ranch on the bank of the Rio Grande in Texas. We returned to see him after President Biden halted all construction.
UNKNOWN: Along the road that they have build, they put these markers.
LAVANDERA: But now, Hein feels like he has won the border wall fight, at least for four years anyway.
UNKNOWN: The way I saw it, it was a hostile takeover of my property. And I was being treated like a second-class citizen and they are fine and dandy with it.
LAVANDERA: Ed Lavandera, CNN, Loreto, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH (on camera): Well, looking at lives touched by COVID through a camera lens. Ahead, we will talk to a photojournalist and see firsthand through her pictures the devastation that the virus has inflicted on the U.K.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:50:00]
CHURCH: The coronavirus has taken a devastating toll on the United Kingdom. And photojournalist Lynsey Addario has captured some of that in a photo essay for The New York Times. The heartbreaking pictures give us an inside look at what's so many have been facing at this time. Lynsey joins me now from London. Thank you so much for talking with us.
LYNSEY ADDARIO, PHOTOJOURNALIST: Thank you for having me.
CHURCH: Your pictures are very confronting of course, and poignant in the midst of these tragic and deadly pandemic. And I do want to show some of your photos to our viewers, starting with this first picture. This captures the (inaudible) loneliness created by this virus, tell us about this picture and the second one that shows how many people it takes to care for just one COVID patient.
ADDARIO: Sure. I think, one of the things that struck me over the course of the year, I've been photographing in about seven hospitals now is the loneliness. You know, I see people dying alone. I see people without their family members caring for them. I've seen women giving birth alone. And it is an extraordinarily lonely time for the victims and the patients.
So, that is when I photographed (Inaudible), was 21 and she had the full-faced oxygen. That was something I was looking for was really to convey the loneliness. And as a photographer, it's really difficult to cover this because many people in the ICU are unconscious, and they are not able to give consent. And so, there is not really a face to the images.
CHURCH: Yes, and I think that's the important aspect to this, isn't it? Because there's so many people that say, oh this isn't real. I haven't seen anyone. I don't know anyone. There is a disconnect isn't there? It is so important for us to get pictures like this out to the general public so they understand. I want to bring up this next picture, because it is shocking to find out that this is a young man, he's only 36 years old. How difficult was it for him to deal with this debilitating virus?
ADDARIO: Well, I don't know. He was on a ventilator. He was on actually on an echo machine which essentially does the job of the lungs for the human body, it gives the patient a chance to rest. And it requires very highly specialized nurses to operate those machines.
And one of the things they were trying to do, his oxygen levels had plummeted, and so they were trying to add an extra oxygen line and also turn the patient, who is 36. And they needed seven people to do that. Now to find seven people available in an ICU is difficult. And that is at (inaudible) hospital in Cambridge.
CHURCH: Right. And then explain to us this older gentleman who was clearly having difficulties. What is happening here?
ADDARIO: The one being hoisted up.
CHURCH: Yes.
ADDARIO: OK. So, he actually Richard, and he was 71. And he had not stood up or sat up since November 1st. So, I think we also have to look at the toll, the long term toll that COVID takes on the body. People are unconscious or they are not able to move, and so just the act of sitting up is part of physical therapy. It's part of building core strength.
CHURCH: Right.
ADDARIO: And so, this was the first time they had lifted him up and put him in a chair since November.
CHURCH: Right. And then of course, these final two images, a very respectful and confronting, as they show a woman who succumbed to the virus and also a man standing over his mother's coffin at a funeral home. How difficult was it for you to record these moments?
ADDARIO: You know, one of the conflicts I have as a photographer is always trying to be respectful, but always trying to show the reality. And I think when I am dealing with seeing death after death, and that's something that funeral -- that undertakers are also dealing with. How do you maintain respect for the dead when you see so much?
And I think, the image of the woman with her nails painted red and the puppy dog, the stuffed animal in her coffin, it just spoke volumes to me. Because it could be any one of our grandmothers, or mothers, or sisters. And so, yes, that for me, that was the way to make that more intimate.
CHURCH: Yes. I think we can all relate to that photo particularly. Photojournalist, Lynsey Addario, thank you so much for joining us and for your very respectful work. I appreciate it.
ADDARIO: Thank you.
CHURCH: And still to come on CNN, the latest trading frenzy on Wall Street is focused on silver. And we will look at what's behind the huge demand.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:55:00]
CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. Well, Tony Bennett is opening up about being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The legendary singer and his family are sharing their story in an interview with AARP. He was diagnosed in 2016. But he didn't go public with that information and kept performing into 2020.
The 94-year-old still sings and plays music at home. The doctors say it helps stimulate his brain. Bennett's family says he still transforms into a performer when he sings. The crooner is planning to release new music this spring, a follow-up collaboration with Lady Gaga.
We are just hours away from a new trading day on Wall Street. Right now, we are keeping an eye on silver futures, one day after prices hit an eight year high. Despite speculation members of the Reddit group WallStreetBets say they are not behind the rally. The group of amateur traders recently sent shares of GameStop and AMC soaring, taking Wall Street by storm.
And CNN's Anna Stewart joins us now from London, we are in a very strange place. So, Anna, we watched the GameStop and AMC saga lay out, or play out I should say and now silver prices have hit this eight year high. Where is all this going? ANNA STEWART, CNN PRODUCER (on camera): Well, Rosemary, the surge has
perhaps muddied the waters really. The story which very much last week was David and Goliath. It was the army of retail investors versus the big hedge funds. And they really succeeded in inflicting pain on hedge funds over certain stocks.
We can take a look at some of the prices now. We've got GameStop, we have AMC up. GameStop turning at $226. They are from the over $400 high hit, but still up 120 percent on the (inaudible). Similar story for AMC. If we look at silver now, Rosemary, back under the $30 barrier, which we manage to pushed pass yesterday, much harder to manipulate the price of silver. It's a much bigger market for instance, than something like GameStop, which is a single stock.
And I think it started with huge inflows into (inaudible) silver trust, and ETF that deals with silver. That attempt pushed up the price of physical silver, it pushed up the price stocks of silver mining companies. Those retailers, those (inaudible) silver were running out of stock. But who was behind it? And this is where the story gets ever more complex.
Because if you look on Reddit's WallStreetBets form right now, you will see plenty of users saying, this has nothing to do with them. They do not recommend buying silver. In fact, some users are saying, they're benefitting buying silver, pushing up that price will end up benefiting the hedge funds.
Some have short positions on silver, many also have long positions and that actually met -- not actually benefit from an increased price in silver. And this really goes to the root of the problem that we have seen in the last few days when it comes to what you do with these crazy prices going higher and higher, potential asset bubbles. Who is posting what's on Reddit? Are there bad actors? Are there people behind a pump and dump scheme? Is this just really not a homogenous groups.
Some people say buy silver, some people don't. Our hedge funds behind it as well. That's one conspiracy theory that we see a lot. So, I think where the story goes forward is how on earth will this be regulated? Will it be regulated? It's incredibly hard with social trading, but in the meantime.
