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Defense Secretary Orders Review of Extremism in the Military; House Democrats Plan to Vote to Strip Marjorie Taylor Greene from Committee Assignments; GOP Keeps Liz Cheney in House Leadership Post, Refuses to Remove Greene from Committees; Global Confidence in Vaccines on the Rise; U.N. Chief: Coup is "Absolutely Unacceptable"; Pilots Blame Pandemic Downtime for In-Flight Mistakes; South Carolina Mom Explains Why She Left QAnon; Vaccination Teams Reach Out to the Elderly in Istanbul; House GOP Voting Now on Fate of Liz Cheney. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired February 04, 2021 - 00:00   ET

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

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SHAWN TURNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: He absolutely is. Secretary Austin is someone who, because of that experience and because he came up through the ranks and served as an officer, the first African American Secretary of Defense, he does have a unique understanding of the challenges we face here.

I think there is some specific things it needs to do and I think he understands that. I think he understands that he needs to be more intrusive. We need to be more intrusive into the lives of our service members and make absolutely sure we are using the Uniform Code of the Military to prosecute people who on are active duty engaging in these activities.

And I think he gets that we need to fully understand the nature of the problem. But you know, it's really important. I'll also point out that the vast majority of people in the military are not interested in this kind of activity. They want to serve this country and they want to do the right thing.

Secretary Austin gets that so he is striking the right balance between focusing on this problem and making absolutely sure that we don't disparage all of our military --

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: We're out of time. Shawn, thank you so much. I appreciate it. I'll see you soon.

Thanks for watching, everyone. Our coverage continues.

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause. Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, two U.S. congress women might just define

the future of the Republican Party. Liz Cheney representing the rule of law and values of old and the QAnon lady from Georgia and her stories of Jewish lasers settings fires from outer space and Satan worshiping pedophile Democrats.

Approved first, tests later, a unique approach to vaccine development which might actually pay off. And prepared for takeoff.

You might be ready but what about the pilot?

Serious cockpit mistakes blamed on the pandemic.

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VAUSE: They call it the Grand Old Party in reference some believe to a Republican Party which saved the union during the American Civil War with Southern Confederates but now it seems civil war has erupted within the ranks of the modern-day Republican Party.

This war is a choice between old conservative values like the rule of law or full-on emerging crazy conspiracy theories. It was a split decision late Wednesday. The third highest ranking congressional Republican, Liz Cheney, kept her leadership role despite her vote to impeach Donald Trump.

But party officials also refused to strip committee assignments from a new congresswoman, Marjorie Taylor Greene, a conspiracy theorist who said school shootings were staged and space lasers caused the wildfires across California. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy says Greene actually apologized.

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REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), MINORITY LEADER: So I think would be helpful if you could hear exactly what she told all of us, denouncing QAnon. From the shootings, she said she knew nothing about lasers or all of the different things that have been brought up about her.

So from that perspective, if we are now going to start judging what other members have said before they're even members of Congress I think it's going to be a hard time for the Democrats to place anybody on committee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, for what comes next, here's CNN's Ryan Nobles reporting from Capitol Hill.

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RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It took 4 hours but the House Republican conference on Capitol Hill has ironed out at least some of their issues. They voted overwhelmingly to keep Liz Cheney as the third ranking member of the House leadership. Now this was an important vote and it tracks back to the impeachment

vote where Cheney joined nine other House Republicans in voting to impeach former president Trump. The former president still enjoys a lot of support from House Republicans.

And there were many angry that Cheney took that vote, they demanded for her to be removed from her post. That led to this meeting which got heated at, times where many members stood up and yelled and angrily complained about Cheney voting to impeach president Trump.

But when the ballots were cast and they were all cast secretly, Cheney ended up holding onto her post comfortably, a vote margin of 145 to 60, to one member of Congress that voted present. That wasn't the only problem the House Republicans are dealing with. Instead they're also dealing with Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and those past comments that she's made that have been very controversial. It's led to Democrats calling for her to be removed from the House Education Committee and the House Budget Committee.

Now Republicans attempted to try and bring some kind of compromise, take her off the Education Committee and maybe put her on a differing committee. But House minority leader Kevin McCarthy could not strike a deal with the House majority leader Steny Hoyer.

So Democrats are going to move forward. Republicans plan to do nothing to hold Greene accountable for her actions. That vote will take place on the House floor on Thursday.

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NOBLES: It is likely that even though she will have Republican support, that there will be enough Democratic votes to remove Greene from those committees --Ryan Nobles, CNN, on Capitol Hill.

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VAUSE: Scott Jennings is a CNN political commentator and former special assistant to president George W. Bush. He is with us from Louisville in Kentucky.

So Scott thanks for taking the time.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you for having me.

VAUSE: Maybe best to review where the Republican Party stand, the congresswoman who voted to hold Trump accountable for inciting insurrection at the Capitol, this would be Liz Cheney, survives a vote to remain in a leadership position.

Meantime the congress woman who harass teenage survivors of school shootings, yelling it was all staged as a part of gun reform control and 9/11 was not an Al Qaeda terror attack, that Democrats are pedophiles and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi should be hung for treason. The party leadership will not remove her from committees but Democrats look set to do so on Thursday.

That seems like that's how it should be but here is how Trump supporter and Republican Matt Goetz sees all of it.

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REP. MATT GOETZ (R): Tonight the Republicans decided to keep Liz Cheney, tomorrow the Democrats will boot Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committees. I think both decisions reinforce the power of Washington.

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VAUSE: What is interesting, it seems there's 2 set of facts here an entirely different point of view from I guess the traditional point of view and how the Trump supporters and the Republican party see things.

JENNINGS: It was interesting, in just a few hours before the vote, he was on a podcast on radio, claiming that they had the votes to get rid of Liz Cheney and he was worried about an establishment plot to prevent a vote from happen.

Of course, Liz Cheney stood up in the meeting said I don't want to have a vote. She did and she did more than survive, she crushed the people who were trying to get rid of her, which is great. And I know Liz Cheney, I think she is terrific and a great conservative Republican.

It is a disgrace that it came to this in my opinion, Liz Cheney did what she thought was right. And you know some people wanted to throw her out over it. I just think, right now, there are a lot of Republicans who are practicing the politics of subtraction instead of the politics of addition. The folks trying to subtract Liz Cheney were wrong and I'm glad they were defeated tonight.

VAUSE: Marjorie Taylor Greene, this seems just all one big great campaign money spinner in one way. She tweeted out $135,000 on the day, also telling the "Washington Examiner" about Democrats, they don't even realize they're helping me, I'm pretty amazed at how dumb there.

There's a couple of things here, clearly there are a lot of people who like her kind of crazy and hence it appears to be a good way of raising money. With those 2 facts, she's going to be around for a while.

JENNINGS: Well, we'll see, Georgia, like the rest the states, will have to go through some redistricting next year and we will see what her district looks like. I think there's going to be changes in Georgia and we will see if she still has the same district that she has.

But what I would just say about her, in this meeting tonight, supposedly she stood up and renounced these views and apologized to her colleagues and that's what led to her survival for now, at least among her conference. I will have to say, I won't believe until I see it on Sean Hannity or tucker Carlson. Marjorie Taylor Greene can say whatever she wants in private and a lot of folks do say things in private to save their own bacon.

But until you go out and say it to the people who would need to hear it, which is the audience, so FOX News and Hannity and tucker and others, then to me it's meaningless.

So totally skeptical until I see it on television in front of an audience that needs to hear the message.

VAUSE: The issue with the Republican Party leadership, failing to stand up to the people like Greene and these other members from the QAnon conspiracy club, 50 years ago the Republican Party had a similar problem. It had far right wing extremists and conspiracy theorists who were taking over the party.

The difference compared to then is that the Republican leadership forced them out.

Why hasn't there been a similar measurement used against the crazy conspiracy theories that have caused a lot of damage with Republicans?

JENNINGS: Greene is one of the first people to aggressively believe in things that are so far out of bounds. She was even on the whole Rothschild Jewish space laser crazy conspiracy theory having started the California wildfires. She has been dabbling in some really weird stuff.

There have been other Republicans that have believed things but by the way there have been some Democrats who believe some pretty aggressively stupid conspiracy theories. I think the party leadership, both parties over the years, have said, well, this is a minority view, they don't really have any power so we just ignore it. It will either go away or it won't matter.

But for the Republicans, we saw the consequences of letting it fester on January the 6th. So I'm the first to admit, I was slow myself to understand the pervasiveness and the corrosiveness of the conspiracy theory culture that exist in the United States right now.

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JENNINGS: Especially on the Right. When January 6th happened, it opened my eyes frankly to just how bad it could be. So that's why by advocating that the Republican leadership take an even stronger position against this, I think it is a dead end for the party. I think it's limiting politically and I think it'll relegate the Republican Party to national minority status if we continue to allow conspiracy theorists have as much power and influence as they do.

So I hope Marjorie Greene takes her private conversations public, says that not a single other person should not believe this because I was wrong. Until she does that, I don't know what we gain out of this whole episode besides another conspiracy theorist in our ranks. VAUSE: I guess it could be a long time before we get, that but we

should all wait and hope. Scott Jennings, thank you, good seeing you.

JENNINGS: Thank you.

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VAUSE: Some new developments on the COVID vaccine front. The head of "The Lancet" medical journal said it will be a stunning discovery if the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine does stow the transmission of the virus.

America's top infectious disease expert agree that the data is promising but it still needs to be peer viewed. "The Lancet" also says the phase III trials of Sputnik V is highly effective. It is almost 92 percent effective at stopping COVID symptoms, 100 percent effective from stopping severe illness.

It requires only basic refrigeration, costs $10 a dose and has been approved in a number of developing countries. Global confidence in vaccines is rising. The Institute of Global Health and Innovation finds 54 percent of respondents in 15 countries will actually get a COVID vaccine. That is up from just 41 percent in November.

Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips is chief clinical officer at the Providence Health System. She is with us from Seattle.

And it has been a while, welcome back.

DR. AMY COMPTON-PHILLIPS, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Thanks so much, John.

VAUSE: OK, let's start with the good news Russia and Sputnik vaccine. "The Lancet" says, despite some initial concerns that it actually is as advertised and possibly then, some here he is.

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RICHARD HORTON, EDITOR, "THE LANCET": They've taken a very original approach, they have 2 doses of the vaccine but the 2 doses are different, they use a different adenoviral factor and the idea is that it will give us super strong boost to the immune response. And it looks like it did.

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VAUSE: Sputnik V not 5. This is a very original protest because the Russians approved it first and then they carried out the tests. In terms of cost of ease and distribution, Sputnik may end up being the vaccine of choice for a lot of countries.

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: Absolutely, and the good news is they did do the proof not later, the unusual thing particularly as you mentioned worldwide confidence in vaccines is declining, so the fact that they approved the virus first is one of those things along with antiviral misinformation, antivaccine misinformation. That impedes confidence in vaccines, so it is great news that the vaccine works, it's great news that they did the science and maybe next time we will be comfortable enough that they can do the science first and then approve the vaccine.

VAUSE: That would be kind of a good way of doing things. I think that they worked out that actually is effective. There are some questions though over AstraZeneca and its vaccine and its production in transmission.

Researchers found a reduction in the number of people with the virus as a result of being vaccinated. That would equate to a reduction in the spread. Other experts said, hey, that's a big leap, hold on there. Dr. Carlos Del Rio from Emory told Stat News the state showed a decrease in viral shedding, not transmission. The bottom line is, no, one cannot draw a conclusion or a straight line from that to the reduction of transmission. Other experts had similar thoughts on this.

Would you say it's still good news, just not as good as first thought?

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: I would say it's definitely in the this is better news than we could've hope for column. But it doesn't mean, because what people really want to do is once they get the vaccine to stop wearing a mask, right?

So this does not give you permission to do that, this says that there probably is less shedding of virus after you get the vaccine but that still wearing a mask until everybody else is vaccinated is the right thing to do because you're still shedding less, you're still shedding virus.

You can if you happen to get exposed pass it along to someone else who hasn't been vaccinated. That is the bottom line. Better news to have less virus in circulation but getting nobody else infected with the virus is really the right answer.

VAUSE: One of the issues I have at the moment, was when it comes to this information that has been publicly put out there, it seems like the word on the emphasis isn't quite right. When we say this new variant is no more deadly than what is previously known at this point. I think it's just kind of misleading, it's also like what the AstraZeneca folks have done here about the transmission, possibly being able to slow the transmission as well.

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VAUSE: It's possible but it seems like not misinformation but misguided information perhaps?

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: I do think we need permission to say we don't know yet, I think that is really what we have to be able to say is we're going to have to study the different variants of the virus and see whether or not any of them are more lethal than other versions.

Right now we just don't know that answer, we need to study it and figure it out. Unfortunately, that takes a little while. VAUSE: To be very honest, if we don't know, we just don't know the

stuff and it can go the other way. We have vaccines, that's good news. Here's Dr. Fauci reminding us what the goal is, here he is.

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If you can get people protected and get an umbrella of what we call herd immunity, the level of infection is going to go very, very low down in the community and in society. And, at that point, the entire community could start getting back to normal.

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VAUSE: Anthony Fauci went on to say 70 percent of vaccines would equal herd immunity. A new study found 24 percent of Americans will avoid vaccines if possible. People won't go, people who forget and then beyond that 70 percent mark.

All the sacrifices so far, all the searing losses of life, it seems to be kind of cruel to see herd immunity denied by those who just simply are opposed to vaccinations because of misguided misinformation?

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: We need to work on, that obviously. The last year has been really interesting and misinformation has skyrocketed. Some of that misinformation was coming from what should be sources of truth.

And so with the new administration here in the U.S., with locking down misinformation on social media sites, I'm hoping we can actually get the real story out. That combined with people who have gotten the vaccine, telling their friends, telling their neighbors that they're actually protected now and it's not making them sick, it's making them well. It can really help turn the tide, given that number who actually want to get the vaccine for 54 percent up into the levels we needed for herd immunity.

Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips, we appreciate your time, take care.

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: Always a pleasure.

VAUSE: Well the pandemic has left so many at home, including airline pilots, that's causing new problems when they get back in the cockpit?

We will tell you why in a moment. Also President Biden poised to give his first big foreign policy speech and how he plans to pivot the country away from America first, that's next.

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VAUSE: In very strong, terms the U.N. secretary general has promised to ensure the coup in Myanmar fails. Antonio Guterres pledged to build enough international pressure on Myanmar's military to make it reverse course.

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ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES: It is absolutely unacceptable, after elections, elections that I believe were placed normally, after a large period of transition, it's absolutely unacceptable to reverse the results of the elections and the will of the people.

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VAUSE: He went on to say the now detained de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was too close to the military. Her party says she has been remanded in custody for 2 weeks. She's accused of violating the country's import and export laws, reportedly in connection with radios found in her home -- illegal, apparently.

From America first to restoring America's place in the world, U.S. President Joe Biden will deliver his first major foreign policy speech on Thursday, CNN's John King takes a look at some of the challenges.

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JOHN KING, CNN HOST: The new president inherited some steep challenges abroad and already, the list of challenges is growing. A coup in Myanmar, a crackdown now in Russia and Iran perhaps on the cusp of a nuclear weapon. Let's walk through some of the big foreign policy challenges facing the new President.

A traditional beginning if you will, the Biden calls to world leaders following a familiar script that goes back through almost any administration. You call America's most trusted allies in the world to say hello and get things off on a good footing.

But we do know, from the beginning here, first, you have -- China was going to be an issue anyway. Then you have the coup of Myanmar on its back door. He has not yet called President Xi Jinping. Also interesting, maybe the Trump relationship factors into this one, he have not called the most allied in the Middle East yet, the leader of Israel. The White House says stay tuned.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He's had engagements with his national security team about a range of issues, including China. We've been here less than 2 weeks, and when we have a call to read out, I'll make sure you know.

We have a long and abiding relationship with Israel, important security relationship. I'm sure they'll discuss that and a range of issues when they do connect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: So we're still waiting on those ones here then you look at the security challenges there, they're everywhere, through them, issues with China, issues continue with North Korea, issues with Iran, issues with Russia.

Again the Trump administration, tough on China?

Will the new administration be different?

Listen.

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JANET YELLEN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: China is undercutting American companies, by dumping products, erecting trade barriers and giving illegal subsidies to corporations.

JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We are going to stand up for a certain set of principles in the face of aggression and the kind of steps that China has taken.

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KING: Interesting to watch that one play out and with Russia already, you knew there be tension between President Biden and President Putin. Now Alexei Navalny thrown into prison just yesterday, what's going to happen here?

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PSAKI: We reiterate our call for the Russian government to immediately, unconditionally release Mr. Navalny as well as the hundreds of other Russian citizens, wrongfully detained in recent weeks, for exercising their rights.

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VAUSE: The U.S. and Russia have agreed to extend their nuclear arms treaty, first signed in 2010, the New START treaty was set to expire February 5th. It's now good for another 5 years.

It limits the U.S. and Russia to 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine launched ballistic missiles and heavy bombers equipped to carry nuclear weapons. Also limits each side to 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads.

That's plenty.

Alexei Navalny's wife speaking publicly for the first time, since he was sentenced to 2.5 years in a Russian prison. Yulia Navalnya thanked supporters for protesting despite harsh crackdown and mass arrests by riot police. Her husband has been a frequent critic of Vladimir Putin, exposing alleged corruption by the Russian president and his associates.

Navalnya says, "I realize how many good strong and right people support my husband and me and that we don't need to back down or be afraid. We will win in any case." The man widely credited with saving the Eurozone from collapse in 2012

has accepted an offer from the Italian head of state to form a new government. If Mario Draghi is able to get power behind him, he will become the country's prime minister.

He's a former head of the European Central Bank, his job now is to end Italy's political crisis, tackling the COVID emergency and trying to overcome a very deep economic recession.

We're getting a better sense of how much the pandemic has hurt the air travel industry, in the U.S. alone there were 500 million fewer passengers screened at airports last. year A group says airlines are currently handling about 45 percent fewer flights than usual.

As a result of this, pilots admit they're all a bit rusty and they have been making a few mistakes. Pete Muntean reports.

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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Commercial pilots are now blaming unprecedented pandemic downtime for in-flight mistakes with passengers on board.

While the latest safety data shows flying is the safest it has ever been, CNN analyzed publicly available incident reports submitted by U.S. flight crews. Pilots self-reported being rusty in at least 26 separate cases since the start of the pandemic.

PETER GOELZ, FORMER MANAGING DIRECTOR, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: It's a serious issue.

MUNTEAN: Peter Goelz is the former managing director of the National

Transportation Safety Board. He reviewed the reports where pilots say they drifted from assigned altitudes and courses, aimed for the wrong runway, even landing without proper clearance from air traffic control.

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MUNTEAN: In one instance, a pilot forgot to engage the plane's critical anti-ice system. "This was my first flight in nearly three months," the pilot said. "I placed too much confidence in assuming that it would all come back to me as second nature."

PETER GOELZ, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: These kinds of fairly mundane, what appear to be mundane errors, can really result in terrible events.

MUNTEAN: Goelz says he is reminded of the 2006 Comair crash that killed everyone but the first officer, who was partly blamed for taking off from the wrong runway. The reports, which date back to the spring, do not specify where the incidents happened or the airlines involved.

JIM THOMAS, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF FLIGHT TRAINING, AMERICAN AIRLINES: Day to day, there's at least 400 that are in some sort of training environment.

MUNTEAN: American Airlines gave us an exclusive look at its program to keep pilots in practice. At its simulator center in Dallas, pilots are retrained before they return to the flight deck.

CURTIS JOENS, AMERICAN AIRLINES PILOT: There has to be a bit of butterflies, sure. Oh, I'd acknowledge that, sure, a few butterflies.

MUNTEAN: Twenty-year American pilot Curtis Joens recently returned from a company leave of absence because of the pandemic.

JOENS: We don't just sit down and say, OK, start engines and fly by the seat of our pants. We -- there's a checklist and a methodology for everything that we do, all the way from the preflight to starting engines to taxi to takeoff.

MUNTEAN: American analyzed its pilots and insists the pandemic has not led to a decline of their skills.

JOENS: Just realize you have got two pilots up there. They're supporting one another. They're watching one another. They're challenging one another.

MUNTEAN: The airline underscores that pilots discuss specific risks with each other before each flight and they can request extra training.

THOMAS: We're not going to allow them to go fly the line until they're fully trained and ready to go fly.

MUNTEAN: As a pilot, I can tell you that flying is a perishable skill and pilots are taught early on in their training to be especially careful after taking a break. There has been no uptick in crashes during the pandemic. But airlines say this is an issue they're going to keep an eye on -- Pete Muntean, CNN, Reagan National Airport.

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VAUSE: She was once a true believer in the crazy and dangerous conspiracy theories of the QAnon cyber cult, still ahead how a South Carolina mom was sucked into the vortex of madness. That's before reality hit.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had to call my, mom and I just said we're all going to die, we are going to be owned by China and I might have to pull my daughter out of school because they're going to take her. I was scared to death.

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VAUSE: Republican Party leaders say U.S. Congress woman Marjorie Taylor Greene has apologized and denounced her notorious social media posts. Before being elected Greene was very vocal in her support for wild and conspiracy theories popular with the QAnon cyber cult.

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But whether she apologies and denounces her earlier statements in public, as opposed to behind closed doors is another question. And will Greene denounce QAnon as forcefully as Ashley Vanderbilt has?

Vanderbilt was a follower but now calls it a dangerous political movement, and she spoke with CNN's Donie O'Sullivan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHLEY VANDERBILT, FORMER QANON FOLLOWER: When President Biden was sworn in --

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.

VANDERBILT: -- I was just crying. I mean, I couldn't stop. That ugly cry that you do. It just kept going and I was, Oh, my gosh, I'm seeing the funeral of our country.

And instantly, I want into panic mode. I had to call my mom. And I just told her, I said, we're all going to die. We're going to be owned by China. And I was like, I might have to pull my daughter out of school, because they're going to take her. I was scared to death.

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ashley Vanderbilt, a South Carolina mom who says she lost her job early in the pandemic, fell deep down the QAnon conspiracy theory rabbit hole before November's election.

(on camera): How did you get into this world and go down this rabbit hole?

VANDERBILT: Well, I started seeing TikToks, and I didn't know that it was conspiracy things. I just thought it was -- they were telling me something that nobody else knew, so that I would reach out to different friends of mine that were bigger Trump supporters. I would say, you know what? I saw this on TikTok. What do you think?

And they'd start sending me YouTube videos. They would start sending me different Facebook live videos, and one thing led to another. I just went down this rabbit hole, learning all this stuff.

But I mean, what have we heard the last four or five years? Don't watch the news. Fake news, fake news. I don't watch the news. I don't read newspapers. Like, I don't do anything. I've always been someone that you just tell me what to do, and I do it.

I grew up being told we were Republicans, so I've always been that straight red ticket.

O'SULLIVAN: How do you think that the videos like this started showing up in your feed?

VANDERBILT: Well, originally, I was just following, like, entertainment stuff, but sometime when, maybe, people started campaigning, I started liking a lot of Trump posts and things that were anti-Biden, and the algorithm must have just brought that kind of stuff to me.

O'SULLIVAN: Right before the inauguration, you didn't believe Biden was really going to get sworn in.

VANDERBILT: No, I expected a blackout. I expected the TV to go black and nothing to work, and so we wouldn't see anything.

The assumption of what would happen would be that most of the Democratic leaders there, quite a few of the Republican leaders, all the Hollywood elite that had attended, they'd all be arrested. The military is going to haul them off.

They said that Trump opened back up Guantanamo Bay. And then the military would run the country, put us in martial law, because the left become too unhinged, and they'd be a danger to us. And then Trump would come back when the government was rebuilt. I know it sounds crazy.

O'SULLIVAN: You believed this?

VANDERBILT: I did.

O'SULLIVAN: And then Biden got sworn in. How did you feel?

VANDERBILT: I was devastated.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): The belief among QAnon supporters that Biden would not be inaugurated was wrong. Ashley Vanderbilt realized she had bought into a conspiracy theory.

VANDERBILT: Well, I was wrong.

O'SULLIVAN: How do you feel now, knowing that you believed all this stuff?

VANDERBILT: It's weird. I think I spent a lot of time this year isolated from everybody. You know, I've just been home a lot. I lost my job last April in 2020, and I was super depressed. And I think, in a way, I probably lost touch with a little bit of reality, and that, almost like common sense. And so I'm not so much embarrassed for what I believed, but I mean, I feel foolish.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): A spokesperson for TikTok said the company is committed to countering misinformation, and content promoting QAnon is not allowed on its platform.

After finding QAnon through TikTok, Ashley said the only thing that might have pulled her out of it before the inauguration was if Trump spoke out against it.

VANDERBILT: I was the biggest Trump supporter there was. If he were to have said something, and if he were to just say, Q is illegitimate, nothing is real in there, I think some people would leave. Maybe not all the people that are way too far into it, but I think it would help a lot of --

O'SULLIVAN (on camera): It would've helped you?

VANDERBILT: Mm-hmm. I thought the world of him. So if he would have said that's not real, I'm not coming back, it is over, I would've believed him.

O'SULLIVAN: And while Ashley Vanderbilt was able to get out of this conspiracy theory, out of QAnon, many other Trump supporters are continuing to believe this conspiracy theory, continuing to believe these lies.

Vanderbilt says she hopes that, by speaking out, she will help others see the light.

Back to you.

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VAUSE: Well, still to come, vaccine on wheels in Istanbul for the old, the frail, the vulnerable. COVID vaccines, direct to their door.

Plus, the canines who have the nose for knowing who has COVID.

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VAUSE: A round of applause around the U.K. in honor of Captain Sir Tom Moore, the British World War II veteran, who raised millions of dollars to fight for COVID.

Moore's family joined the prime minister for a nationwide clap-on Wednesday. Moore died Tuesday after battling pneumonia and COVID. I think it was on Monday.

The 100-year-old became a global inspiration after walking laps in his garden to raise money for the National Health Service.

And England's chief medical officer says the nation has likely passed its current peak of the pandemic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHRIS WHITTY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER FOR ENGLAND: Provided people continue to follow the guidelines, we're on the downward slope of cases, of hospitalizations, and of deaths in all four of the nations of the United Kingdom. So I think, we do think at this point, at this peak, at least, we are past.

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VAUSE: Those remarks, though, were met with caution from Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who says the nation's infection rate remains alarmingly high.

The U.K. reported more than 19,000 new cases on Wednesday. And while more than 10 million people have received their first dose of vaccine, the prime minister says the infection rate remains too high to start relaxing restrictions.

Officials in Turkey say all healthcare workers who wanted a COVID vaccine have now received their first dose. The country is using China's Sinovac vaccine, ordering 50 million doses. Now the goal is to get Turkey's elderly population protected, with vaccination teams going straight to clinics, hospitals and even to people's homes.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh reports from Istanbul.

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JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are out in Istanbul with one of Turkey's health ministry's mobile vaccination teams, who are going around to the Houses of elderly and administering the COVID-19 vaccine. That's for people who are deemed too vulnerable to go to the clinics and the hospitals, and also those who prefer to stay at home and get their shot.

And right now, we are here with Rahan (ph), whose 79-year-old mother is getting her --

RAHAN (PH), MOTHER GETTING VACCINE: Yes.

KARADSHEH: -- vaccine today.

RAHAN (PH): Yes.

KARADSHEH: How do you feel?

RAHAN (PH): I am very excited, and I'm very tired for my parents.

KARADSHEH: It's been a difficult year for them.

RAHAN (PH): Difficult. Difficult for me.

KARADSHEH: Your dad has already gotten his shots. So right now your mother is getting her vaccine?

RAHAN (PH): Yes.

KARADSHEH: They have six grandchildren?

RAHAN (PH): Yes, yes.

KARADSHEH: And this past year, have they been able to see them at all?

RAHAN (PH): For one year.

KARADSHEH: They haven't seen them in one year?

RAHAN (PH): Yes.

KARADSHEH: And how is your mother feeling right now?

RAHAN (PH): She is very excited, for -- waiting for her medicine.

KARADSHEH: All right. And we'll let you go now, so she can receive her medicine.

So right now, we can't go in with the team, because for much of the pandemic, Turkey has shielded its older citizens. They have been under a stay-at-home order for most of the time. Right now, they're under this partial age-based lockdown.

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We are going to head over now to one of the neighborhood clinics where others are receiving their vaccine.

Turkey started vaccinating its population on January the 14th, and so far the government says more than two million people have gotten their first dose of the vaccine. That includes all of the country's healthcare workers.

Now, they are vaccinating the elderly. Many of them are getting their vaccine at neighborhood clinics like this one.

Eighty-one-year-old Turkon (ph) is here to get her first dose of the vaccine. She's here with her son, and they say that she preferred to come to the health clinic to get this shot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She says she knows how to struggle in life. She has raised up three kids. Our father passed away when we were very small. So we're used to struggles in life. No problem. This is a very small thing for her.

KARADSHEH: During the pandemic, people from your age group, it's been difficult for you not being able to go out. It's not being able to see people. How's that affected you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, so she feels OK, but of course, she was anxious and she was kind of -- kind of tired of this, because it's been going on for too long, for one year. But she doesn't like complaints. She says this is not only for us. This is for everybody, everybody in the world.

KARADSHEH: This is why she thought taking the vaccine is important? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. She thinks -- she thinks of other

people first other than herself.

KARADSHEH: For so many, this is not just about the health risks. This is also about the psychological impact this has had. The loneliness, the isolation, separation from family members or loved ones, not being able to hug their children and their grandchildren.

And this is really a moment of hope, the beginning of the end of what has been an incredibly difficult time on so many levels.

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Istanbul.

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VAUSE: In Germany, dogs are being trained to sniff out coronavirus infections. Apparently, those who do have the virus have a unique odor. Trainers say the dogs can identify symptomatic and asymptomatic patients, as well.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It's not the virus sending out the odor, but when the virus infects the cell, the metabolism changes, and the cell releases different substances than a healthy cell. And this is very virus specific. And these released substances of the cell, that is what the dog can smell and shows us.

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VAUSE: So far the dogs are right more than 90 percent of the time, and a government official wants more tests to see if maybe those hounds can be used in public.

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. I'll be back in about 15 minutes with a lot more news. In the meantime, WORLD SPORT is up next.

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