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Sites Opening Across U.S. to Administer Coronavirus Vaccines; National Football League Offers Stadiums as Coronavirus Vaccination Sites; Nearly 200 People Charged in Capitol Riots Including Several Members of Rightwing Group Proud Boys. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired February 06, 2021 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:23]

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: It is so good to have your company with us here on this Saturday, February 6th. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. You are in the CNN Newsroom.

PAUL: Several mass vaccination sites are opened across the country this week that includes Fort Worth, Texas, Motor Speedway, Six Flags in Prince George's County, Maryland. The CDC is saying the U.S. is administering an average of 1.3 million shots a day.

BLACKWELL: Some good news. New cases are down by at least 15 percent from last week. The number of people hospitalized, that's dropping, too. But health officials say do not let down your guard.

PAUL: Our reporters are standing by with the very latest, and we want to start with CNN's Polo Sandoval. He's at Yankee Stadium. That's been set up as a mass vaccination site as well, and there's a reason for that specific area, yes, Polo? And good morning.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Christi. There absolutely is here. Authorities certainly looking at the demographics in the Bronx, not only does it have really the highest test positivity right now, but of course it also does have a predominantly black and Hispanic community, many of those who felt unheard or underserved. And so because of that, the city really going out of its way to make sure that they can operate, the iconic Yankee Stadium behind me, as a vaccination site.

And I have to tell you, Christi, it really is great to see this line moving right along. We're actually at the very end of the line. These are people who have waited, people who already have appointments, who have already shown that they are eligible to actually receive the vaccine at this point in time, and these are also all Bronx residents. So they want to make sure that the vaccines are going directly to those communities that desperately need them.

So far New York has distributed about 3.3 million vaccines to date and administered roughly 2.1 million, and those are numbers that clearly are going to continue to go up as these kinds of locations continue to pop up. This is only day two. They do have a goal of vaccinating about 15,000 people this week, and we do understand that there will be other vaccination locations throughout the Bronx as well. Their goal of trying to get the message out not only to have people vaccinated, but also to bridge that gap in terms of confidence in the vaccine for those that potentially may have their doubt.

Real quick, I also want to bring you up to speed on efforts to vaccinate frontline health care workers. There are still about 25 percent that have not received vaccines in New York. State officials basically saying next week will be perhaps one of your last opportunities to do so before they are reallocated to others, specifically those with preexisting conditions above the age of 16. So the message that's going out now to health care workers, to roughly the 25 percent who have not gotten their shot in the arm, get it now or you could potentially lose your opportunity.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Polo.

Let's go now to Atlanta and CNN's Natasha Chen. She is at Mercedes Benz Stadium. What are you seeing there, Natasha?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Christi, this is a special event today where the vaccinations are targeted for certain groups, employees of two school districts in the area, Fulton County schools and Atlanta public schools, as well as employees of the public transit system MARTA. All of the employees of those groups who fall into the Phase 1-A category right now in Georgia, which is people over 65, as well as health care workers, first responders.

So, to give you a look at what's happening behind me, we've got some people who have lined up here this morning, and they are checking in at these tables behind us. This is a little less chaotic than last week because, again, these are controlled groups we're talking about. Once they've registered, they paperwork, they will sit in that section over there and wait for their names to be called to get their shot. You can see it sort of in the distance behind them, the empty seats of this arena. And so, it's a very stark image, of course, of this stadium being used as a vaccination site. A lot of these people, hundreds of them are actually here for their second doses already, and today in total we're expecting 1,036 appointments from these population groups here in Atlanta today.

PAUL: So, Natasha, I know we've learned that the NFL is allowing all of its stadiums to become mass vaccination sites. What have you heard about that?

CHEN: So, Roger Goodell, the commissioner, sent a letter to the White House talking about having all their teams, 32 teams, offer their stadiums as vaccination sites just like what's happening here. There are already seven of them around the country, including Mercedes Benz, that have been operating as vaccination sites. Levi Stadium, 49ers Stadium, is being set up right now to open early next week as California's largest vaccination site.

[10:05:05] And so this is just really offering these properties for this purpose

because so many of them have been sitting empty for so much of the past year, and really just making the space, the large spaces that they have useful for this effort, Christi, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Natasha Chen in Atlanta for us, thank you.

PAUL: So, she just mentioned California. The vaccine in that state, the distribution, saw some pretty big problems at the beginning. It's nearly tripled, though, the rate that it's been administering vaccines since then, and Governor Gavin Newsom says the state will make aggressive moves to keep increasing those numbers. This week he announced several changes to the state's program, including opening new mass vaccination sites, as Natasha said. And that's in partnership with FEMA. So that will administer at least 6,000 doses each day.

Let's get some details from California surgeon general Dr. Nadine Burke. Dr. Burke, thank you so much for being with us. You are also a pediatrician, a mom, and author. You do it all. So I want you to, if you would, please, put your surgeon general hat on first and foremost for us. Help us understand the needs of that state as of today. What weighs heaviest on you about the people in California right now?

DR. NADINE BURKE HARRIS, CALIFORNIA SURGEON GENERAL: Well, California, as you know, is a very large and very diverse state, and we are working very hard to make sure that we are not only efficient in our vaccination, but equitable. And that is one of the priorities that is central to California's vaccination strategy.

PAUL: And that is, I think, being highlighted in this announcement Wednesday, that Governor Newsom's office of emergency services is partnering with FEMA in two particular areas. These were underserved areas, as I understand it, people were actually working through the whole quarantine and COVID because they had to. Talk to us about the game-changer that these locations may be for people.

HARRIS: That's right. Governor Newsom has worked with the Biden administration to bring these two FEMA sites to Oakland and Los Angeles, two of our most diverse areas, where we do have very high numbers of essential workers who have been working very hard to make sure that all the rest of us get the things that we need during this pandemic. And so, it's really important to make sure that our -- that they're protected, and we're really excited to have these mass vaccination sites to be able to deliver those doses to our vulnerable communities.

PAUL: So, Dr. Burke Harris, the Pentagon obviously approved deploying more than 1,000 National Guard troops to help with vaccinations here. They should, as I understand it, be in California within the next 10 days. What will the impact of that be?

HARRIS: Well, the impact is going to be increasing our capacity so that we can get these vaccinations protecting people sooner, and that's exactly what we're focused on doing. Here in California, we just hit 4 million doses administered. As you mentioned, we had a little bit of a bumpy start, but we've been learning quickly and rapidly ramping up our vaccination rate. And so, we administered 1 million doses in the past week. And so this extra support from the federal government is going to help us continue to increase our rate so that we can protect as many Californians as possible with the vaccine.

PAUL: I want to ask you about something from your role as a doctor, as a pediatrician. How are first responders holding up at this point?

HARRIS: I think that everyone right now is really feeling the challenge. We here in California have been coming through really the darkest part of this pandemic with the surge that we've experienced over the holidays, and I think a big part of my role has really been encouraging folks that the light is at the end of the tunnel. We can see the light. There's a light there now, and that is the vaccine. We are working very hard to bring that resource to people, and in the meantime continuing to do the things that we know protect us -- wearing a mask, washing hands, watching our distance, waiting together. So, we're trying to encourage folks to hang tight, and we're on our way there.

PAUL: Is the vaccine itself your most urgent need still, or are there still some bumps in terms of getting people to the vaccination sites and signing them up?

HARRIS: We have built a system in California, and as you heard from our governor, that we have learned forward, revamped some of our systems. And so now we're building a system in California that's really limited just by supply. And we're working really closely with the Biden administration to increase that supply as much as possible.

[10:10:05]

And that is the biggest issue. And so, these new resources from the National Guard will help us, again, get those immunizations out there more quickly so that we can vaccinate as many Californians as quickly as possible.

PAUL: I only have about 10 seconds, but as a mom, what have you learned through all of this?

HARRIS: That we've got to snuggle our kids, right? This is a stressful time, but we have an incredible power to support our children through this difficult time, and never to forget that self-care isn't selfish. We have to care for ourselves to be able to care for others.

PAUL: Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, so appreciate your insights. thank you so much. Best of luck to you.

HARRIS: Thank you. It's my pleasure.

PAUL: Coming up, former President Trump rejects a request to testify in the second impeachment trial next week, but the impeachment managers are not concerned and say they only -- that's only going to help their case. We'll explain.

PAUL: And nearly 200 people have been charged in the Capitol riots, including several members of the Proud Boys. How prosecutors are using the group's own videos to lay out the case against them.

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[10:15:20]

BLACKWELL: Three days until the second impeachment trial of former President Trump, and there's still a lot we do not know about the week and how it's going to play out.

PAUL: House Democrats are signaling that they don't think they need to force the former president to testify to make their case. They argue his refusal helps prove their point, as well as will evidence from other sources, such as videos of the Capitol riot. No word on if witnesses will be called to testify, no word as to how long this trial will run.

Let's bring in CNN legal analyst Shan Wu. He is a defense attorney and a former federal prosecutor. So I want to get on that point, first of all, with you, Shan. Does President Trump's refusal to testify actually prove their point, or is it just a smart legal strategy?

SHAN WU, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it's both. It is a smart legal strategy. I would certainly not advise any client, much less Trump, to testify. Prosecutors salivate at the idea of cross-examining a defendant. When I was a prosecutor, very few of my cases had the defendant testify. But you can win anyway because of the other evidence. So in that sense they don't want them testifying, that's a smart legal strategy. But at the same time, there is plenty of other evidence to prove his guilt, if you will.

BLACKWELL: Shan, there is this bipartisan, nonpartisan group of 144 constitutional attorneys who say that the president's attorney's argument of First Amendment defense is legally frivolous in their words. They make a couple of major points. The first one is that the First Amendment does not apply to impeachment proceedings. Secondly, even if it does, it doesn't prohibit conviction and disqualification for violating the oath of office. What is your take on that perspective?

WU: I think that's absolutely right. I think there's a lot of cherry picking that goes on with the Trump defense team experts where they're trying to make these somewhat flawed analogies to criminal trials. And even in a criminal trial, you're going to have a hard time using the First Amendment to disprove an intent to do violence. And here I think the evidence is going to speak for itself, and I don't think there's going to be any real First Amendment issue. And also, who are they going to raise it to? Are they going to try to go to the courts right now? There's no indication of that. So it's an impeachment trial. It's not a court trial. The senators will hear the evidence that they choose to hear.

PAUL: So I want to touch on something you just said, because we know that in criminal cases intention is key. You're saying it's not as key here in an impeachment trial. They have him saying fight like hell. I'm wondering about his words and how pivotal intention at the end of the day would be in a case like this? And what is the evidence Democrats have of it?

WU: I think the most compelling evidence is the words and the video of him speaking. And the intent is important. It's just not quite as, let's say, analytical as in a criminal case where you have specific elements that have to be proven. Here his words leading up to the riot certainly indicate that he wants some sort of fight against the election results. His reaction to the riot is a little bit unknown at the moment, but even now he continues to say that the election was wrong. That all goes to his intent to incite a revolt against the results of the election. So that's going to be pretty easy to show his intent, I think.

BLACKWELL: So let's listen to Senator Lindsey Graham.

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SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R-SC): But if you open up that can of worms, we'll want the FBI to come in and tell us about how people actually pre-planned these attacks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: That's talking about calling for witnesses. The suggestion is that planning for the insurrection before January 6th would absolve the president for his comments on that day or around that time. What's your take on at least the suggestion from the senator?

WU: I think that's a red herring. It's something that's irrelevant to Trump's conduct. He's being tried for having a motivation to incite this rebellion or insurrection, and whether his words that day telling them to fight, to march on the Capitol was an incitement. And what's important for the viewers to remember are these distinctions between normal criminal trials and an impeachment trial. Impeachment is a political exercise. What does that mean? As Senator Schumer said, it's really a question of conscience, and how will the senators, the jurors think about this, how will they vote their conscience, and it's a question of conscience for our country as well.

PAUL: To Victor's point about what Senator Graham said there, do you get the sense that as a distraction tactic, the Capitol police, and other law enforcement entities, may, in a sense be on trial as well for what happened leading up to, or what did not happen leading up to the Capitol riot, and how effective is a tactic like that of distraction?

[10:20:22]

WU: Actually, that's a really good legal tactic. Luckily, you're not on the defense team. That sort of distraction, placing the blame on failure of intelligence, they haven't gone after the real criminals here, the real conspirators, that would be a very clever legal strategy. It doesn't look like that's where it's heading. Again, politically they're probably afraid to be blaming the Capitol police or law enforcement. It looks like their main strategy is going to be arguing that it's unconstitutional or that he really didn't have the intent. BLACKWELL: Is there any value for the Democratic House managers to

call a witness a constitutional law expert as they did in the first impeachment inquiry in the House, to do that during the impeachment trial?

WU: I think there is. That would be their rebuttal against the Trump legal defense team's claim that this is unconstitutional. I don't know that that's really going to have much effect on swaying the Senate jurors. I think what could have an effect is calling witnesses that actually saw the violence, police who were subjected to the violence. When I tried violent crime cases, the testimony from victims was very compelling, and I think that is a nugget which might sway some people.

BLACKWELL: Shan Wu, always good to have your expertise. Thank you, sir.

PAUL: Thank you, Shan.

BLACKWELL: And be sure to watch CNN for special live coverage of former President Trump's second impeachment trial. Coverage starts Tuesday.

PAUL: So the extremist group with ties to white nationalists known as the Proud Boys is coming under increased pressure for any role its members may have played in the Capitol riots.

BLACKWELL: Another Proud Boys leader was arrested this week as federal authorities scrutinize the group's ties to the assault. CNN's Brian Todd has the story.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At the height of the insurrection, one rioter sent out a video of himself celebrating.

NICHOLAS OCHS, PROUD BOYS AFFILIATE: Hello from the Capitol.

TODD: Prosecutors say this is Nicholas Ochs, the founder of the Hawaii chapter of the far right pro-Trump group the Proud Boys, who have often engaged in street battles with Antifa. Now Ochs, along with another Proud Boys associate, Nicholas DeCarlo, are under indictment for conspiracy in the Capitol riot investigation. Prosecutors say they conspired to block Congress's certification of President Biden's win, that they planned and fundraised for the effort, then joined with the violent mob inside the Capitol.

ARIEH KOVLER, ANALYST OF EXTREME SOCIAL MEDIA: The Proud Boys were organized. They were ready. They were near the Capitol early. The Proud Boys were one of the first groups breach the cordon at one point in the Capitol, and a number of them did get inside. And they seemed to be talking to each other, coordinating to at least a certain degree.

TODD: Ochs and DeCarlo are alleged to have inscribed the words "murder the media" on a prominent door into the Capitol. Ochs told CNN that day, quote, "We didn't have to break in. I just walked in and filmed." Another Proud Boys associate, Ethan Nordean, has just been arrested. Federal prosecutors believe Nordean also engaged in some planning before January 6th, saying he asked for protective gear and communications equipment on social media prior to that day.

Two others linked to the Proud Boys, William Pepe and Dominic Pezzola, are also charged with conspiracy. But in their case prosecutors say they worked together more during the attack. Prosecutors say Pezzola is the one seen here splashing the window at the Capitol with a shield. According to CNN's analysis, at least 11 people with ties to the Proud Boys have been charged in connection with the Capitol riot, including Joseph Randall Biggs, who prosecutors believe had a walkie- talkie-like device, and who they say urged followers to blend in on January 6th. In addition to the Proud Boys, three alleged members of the far right self-described militia group the Oath Keepers have also been indicted on conspiracy charges.

KATHLEEN BELEW, HISTORIAN OF RIGHT-WING EXTREMIST MOVEMENTS: I think now we see this moment of action, of arrests, and of an enormous amount of attention and pressure on a lot of these groups.

TODD: Analyst Kathleen Belew says the FBI and other law enforcement agencies have the capability to take down the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, and other groups. But she worries about what happens next.

BELEW: As pressure mounts on the Proud Boys today, one thing that has happened in the past with some regularity is that members will flee to other groups will they will continue their activism.

TODD: Meanwhile, the prominent follower of the QAnon movement who we've been reporting on, Jacob Chansley, the man who wore a headdress and face paint and carried a spear inside the Capitol, has been moved from a D.C. jail to one in nearby Alexandria, Virginia, because D.C.'s Department of Corrections couldn't get him the organic food that a judge ordered he should be given.

[10:25:4]

Chansley had been on a hunger strike in recent days because he hadn't gotten organic food in jail.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

PAUL: So the demand for food stamps is on the rise and millions of Americans, as you know, are dealing with hunger during this pandemic and many before the pandemic. The one thing a mother says makes the difference between going hungry or having enough food on the table, that's next.

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[10:30:04]

PAUL: So federal spending on food stamps grew nearly 50 percent during the pandemic. Roughly 5 million more American families were in need of assistance last year.

BLACKWELL: And CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich spoke with a mother who says that the benefits are the only way her family is able to survive.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

VERONICA BEDICO, SNAP RECIPIENT: It was life or death. We were either going to starve, or we were lucky enough to qualify for SNAP benefits.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS REPORTER: It's that black and white for Veronica Bedico. Unemployed with three children at home, the government's food stamps program is her lifeline.

BEDICO: We'll see if we can get you to go all the way around.

YURKEVICH: Many families are facing hunger for the first time. The number of Americans on food stamps or SNAP has grown more than 20 percent during the pandemic, and spending skyrocketed to $90 billion.

BEDICO: SNAP benefits came in perfectly to help me subsidize the meals that were going to increase because everybody was home for every meal and snap.

YURKEVICH: SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is just that, designed to boost food budgets for families who live below the poverty line. Historic unemployment forced the government to increase benefits by 15 percent in December.

STACY DEAN, DEPUTY UNDERSECRETARY FOR FOOD, NUTRITION, AND CONSUMER SERVICES AT USDA: It is supposed to be enough, but many experts, and more fundamentally, the families who use it, are worried that it just isn't enough. So we're actually taking a look at that now to see if adjustments are needed to make it so that families can afford a basic diet with benefits.

YURKEVICH: That's why these Americans find themselves here, in this single food line at the Los Angeles regional food bank. Those are SNAP say they need more food.

KATHALEEN WALLA, SNAP RECIPIENT: I'm homeless, so I'm staying with my sister. So, it's hard to be able to go to market, and she'll go to the market with me and stuff, but it's definitely not enough.

MANUEL ZARAGOZA, SNAP RECIPIENT: Not enough. But I lost my job.

KENYA EDWARDS, SNAP RECIPIENT: I get like $200, and I can make it stretch, but once it's gone, it's gone.

YURKEVICH: The L.A. regional food bank serves 900,000 residents a month, one-tenth of the L.A. population. In Georgia, one in seven adults and one in five children are now food insecure. The New York, public health solutions says SNAP sign-ups are up fivefold.

LISA DAVID, PRESIDENT AND CEO, PUBLIC HEALTH SOLUTIONS: This is a bit of a stopgap. It's better than nothing. It's great. But it's not helping people feel confident that they can put food on the table for their families every day.

YURKEVICH: Bedico doesn't know when she'll be back at work, a sign the recovery has a ways to go. President Biden's proposed relief plan hopes to extend the SNAP benefits increase through September.

BEDICO: I would like for the administration to remember that we're real people, and that we're not welfare queens that are just taking advantage of the system. I am a real person who had a real job, and now I need help so that I can provide for my children during this hard time.

YURKEVICH: Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

BLACKWELL: Coming up, new questions about whether former President Trump should receive intelligence briefings. President Biden weighs in in a new interview. You'll hear that, next.

PAUL: And later, it is Brady versus Mahomes. We are live in Tampa with a preview of Sunday's big game.

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[10:37:37]

BLACKWELL: President Biden says that he does not think that former President Trump should receive classified intelligence briefings now that he's no longer president. It's been a tradition that former presidents are allowed to request and receive intel briefings, but Mr. Biden says that the former president's, quote, erratic behavior, should disqualify him from receiving them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You've called him an threat, you've called him dangerous, you're called him reckless.

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, I have, and I believe it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's your worst fear if he continues to get these intelligence briefings?

BIDEN: I would rather not speculate out loud. I just think that there's no need for him to have the intelligence briefings. What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The Biden administration says the former president has not submitted any requests at this point. Former President Trump was not known to fully or regularly read the presidential daily briefing when he was in office. With me now, CNN political commentator and Republican strategist Alice

Stewart, and Maria Cardona, CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist. They're the co-hosts of the Podcast "Hot Mics from Left to Right." Ladies, welcome back.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Victor.

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Victor.

BLACKWELL: So Maria, I've heard you talk about this in the past, though, I'm going to start with Alice on this question of the intelligence briefings. Where do you stand on that? Do you think that they should be held back from former President Trump?

STEWART: I believe that former President Trump should be given the same privilege that former presidents receive with access to these briefings if they request them. And former presidents have had the same opportunity to do so. If he doesn't request them, it's certainly not an issue.

But hearing what President Biden just said is rather disturbing because we're starting to see a trend. And this punitive action and punitive behavior that Democrats are taking against Republicans they don't like is going to be problematic. And they're starting to set a trend or set a precedent that will be quite harmful. Just because someone rubs you the wrong way, I think that's a really dangerous road for Democrats to start taking.

BLACKWELL: Rubs you the wrong way, Maria. Go ahead.

CARDONA: I think it's a little bit more than that. President Biden is absolutely correct.

[10:40:00]

Donald Trump was an existential threat. That's why you had more than 82 million Americans voting for him for president, the most of any candidate ever in terms of presidential votes. Look, I don't think there is any need for Donald Trump to get any kind of intel briefings in the future. Like you mentioned, Victor, he never was intellectually curious really about anything that was going on in the world.

And while President Biden doesn't want to speculate, I will be glad to speculate. We already had, when Trump was in the White House, him sharing intel briefings with the Russians. Let's not forget that. And, look, we've heard reports that this -- that the former president owes more than $400 million, or will owe soon more than $400 million in debts. Who is to say if he had any kind of real important intel that he wouldn't sell it to the highest bidder? I'm sorry, but I don't think he's beyond that.

So let's not put ourselves as a country in that kind of situation. When you have former presidents, including Republicans intel chiefs say that they don't believe that Donald Trump should receive intel briefings, that's something that we should take into consideration for sure. BLACKWELL: Alice, you wrote an opinion piece for CNN.com specifically

on Marjorie Taylor Greene, that Republicans facing a divided party in the post-Trump era confronted a major test, and they flinched. Was this a flinch or was this a realignment?

STEWART: In some ways it might have been a cave, actually, because I truly believe the comments that Marjorie Taylor Greene said with regard to the conspiracy theories and the school shootings and the wildfires in California, and most damaging, questioning the integrity of the election and spreading false claims about voter fraud, I think those are extremely problematic. And these were not comments that she only said before she was elected into Congress, and she continued to say them after a member of Congress.

And I think, look, what she said before is between she and the voters of north Georgia. What she said after is subject to the scrutiny of her colleagues. I wish that Republicans had stepped up to the plate first and held her accountable and stripped her of her committee assignments, and reminded her that she needs to change her stripes as a member of Congress, and there are certain actions and activities and words that are acceptable. They didn't do that, so the Democrats were forced to do that for them.

And look, I hope that she understands that her language and her demeanor needs to be a little bit different now, and I hope this is a learning tool, but time will tell. And I hope that this is a sign that some Republicans, fortunately there were some Republicans that voted to take action, but the majority of them did not, and that's kind of disturbing.

BLACKWELL: Alice, that sounds a lot like Susan Collins, the learned his lesson, learned her lesson theory. Let me ask you about something that Congresswoman Taylor Greene said was that this is now Trump's party. Is it?

STEWART: No, it's not Trump's party. Obviously 74 million Americans came out and voted for President Trump. Many of them still support him. But what we have now is a Republican Party that needs to get back to the foundation of the party -- limited government, fiscal responsibility, law and order, religious liberties, and keep those people together and also keep members of Trump's base and have a united Republican Party. But it needs to be more about the policies of the Republican Party, not the cult of personalities, which is what we had in Donald Trump.

BLACKWELL: And that's what we heard from Senator Ben Sasse as well. Same question to you, Maria, is this Trump's party? Also, by stripping the congresswoman of her committee assignments, have you not empowered, emboldened a freshman congresswoman who was in the minority by giving her a larger platform?

CARDONA: No, I don't think so. She was going to be emboldened no matter what. And I think it was absolutely appropriate to hold her to account. If the Republicans did not have the backbone and the wherewithal to do it, which clearly they did not, then Democrats were going to do it. And look, it is important for Americans to understand that you have to

be held to a higher standard when you are voted in to represent any number of people, especially in the sacred, hallowed halls of Congress. And to answer the question that you put to my "Hot Mics" co- host, Alice Stewart, yes, this is the Trump Republican Party. It's the Trump-lican party. And until people like Kevin McCarthy, no less than the Republican minority leader in Congress, can keep themselves from traveling to Mar-a-Lago to kiss Trump's ring, it will absolutely continue to be the Trump Republican Party.

[10:45:05]

And until, again, Republicans say no more, there is going to be a huge divide. And I don't think they're going to have a possibility of becoming the majority party until they define themselves as real traditional Republicans once again.

BLACKWELL: Maria Cardona, Alice Stewart, thank you both.

STEWART: Thank you, Victor.

CARDONA: Thank you, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Christi?

PAUL: So the countdown to Super Bowl LV is on. There's more going on than just the action on the field, we should point out. We'll show you some of the wild, whacky prop bets, yes, you can make, including mask designs and nostrils.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:3]

PAUL: Listen, there are so many incredible stories regarding the players and their quest to win the Super Bowl ring.

BLACKWELL: Coy Wire, Tampa Bay running back, has one of the best.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Victor and Christi, it is so tough to make it here to the sports' biggest stage, and a lot of these guys playing had to overcome really difficult situations just to even see their dream of playing in the NFL come true at all, and we're talking about Bucs running back Leonard Fournette. Growing up in the New Orleans area, he and his family got caught up in the devastation of hurricane Katrina in 2005. Fournette was 10 years old at the time. They tried to leave the city, he said, to go to Atlanta. The grandmother and cousins hopped in a car, but there was so much traffic they had to stay. They ended up living on a bridge for a while.

We asked him earlier this week what he would have said to someone back then if they told him he would be playing in the Super Bowl someday. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LEONARD FOURNETTE, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS RUNNING BACK: I would probably have told them it was crazy, especially going through that as a kid. It doesn't really affect you at that moment, but as you get older, you realize that tragic event that you went through, and what we all went through in New Orleans and how far we came and how we made it out. I'm just blessed with this opportunity I have right now to play in this big game with a lot of other great players on this team and the other team, too. So I feel good, man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: The winner of Super Bowl LV could very well come down to whichever quarterback has the ball in their hand last. The GOAT, Tampa's 43-years-old Tom Brady is a bad man. He's going up against one of the most exciting players the world's ever seen in baby GOAT, you could say, Chiefs' 25-year-old Patrick Mahomes. If Brady wins a seventh title, though, that would be more than any franchise in NFL history. Some are tired of seeing that guy win. Even one of his own star receivers, Mike Evans, didn't like his quarterback at first.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE EVANS, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS WIDE RECEIVER: When I was a kid, I grew up not liking tom brady because I was a Peyton Manning fan. And now I'm the biggest Tom Brady fan. The way he carries himself and the way he takes care of his body, I've never seen anything like it. I see why he's been able to play so long. The way he treats everybody in the facility, whether it's, one of our janitors or somebody that's cooking or somebody that -- he just treats everybody with respect, and he's just such a nice guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Join me, our Andy Scholes, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and some other special guests for "Kickoff in Tampa bay, A CNN Bleacher Report Special" later today at 2:30 eastern right here on CNN. Whether you're a sports fan or not, Super Bowl has something for everyone, especially the prop bets every year, right, Victor and Christi? For one, how long will the National Anthem last this year, over or under a minute 59? It's Eric Church and Jazmine Sullivan singing it. Will Patrick Mahomes indeed be called baby GOAT during the broadcast? Or how about, what will be the design of coach Andy Reid's mask? Is it the Chiefs' logo, a single color, or Hawaiian themed, because he's known to get wild at times with them?

And which head coach will have nostrils showing first during the game, a sign of the times. A Super Bowl like no other. I spoke to an 81- year-old man named Gregory Eaton, Victor and Christi. He is in the never miss a Super Bowl club. Back to 1967, he's been to every one, and he is here ready to watch and be one of the select few 25,000 in the stadium.

BLACKWELL: Excellent. My bet is on the National Anthem going long because Jazmine Sullivan's runs are going to stretch this thing out. I imagine it's going to go long. I'm here for it, though. I'm here for it. PAUL: We all are. Coy, you look like you were going to break into song there for a minute.

BLACKWELL: I was going to let that go, Coy.

(LAUGHTER)

WIRE: Christi, are you going under or over a minute 59? I need to know Christi?

PAUL: Do I. My bet will be over. My bet will be over. So you can hold us accountable later, Coy.

(LAUGHTER)

WIRE: I love it.

PAUL: Listen, you have fun there, buddy.

WIRE: My bet is that Victor is going to have his feet kicked up and he's going to be sipping a drink watching the game with many of us. Good to see you all. I'll see you soon.

BLACKWELL: A drink indeed.

PAUL: All right, Coy, thank you.

So we have an awesome surprise here for you. Falcons defensive star Grady Jarrett surprising 12-year-old Taeden Johnson with Super Bowl tickets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me and my friends at the NFL, we want to grant you two tickets to the Super Bowl this year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow! Isn't that awesome?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The NFL will take really good care of you this year, and you have a memorable time, man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to play in the NFL, too.

[10:55:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir, you can do it. You've got to work hard. You can do it. Work hard and make sure you keep them good grades, and you've just got to believe in yourself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: That's Johnson with his mentor, Zac Hendrix, in the early hours of last Wednesday. Johnson's family home in Athens, Georgia, caught fire. His family was trapped inside. And Johnson was able to escape and rushed to a neighbor's house, called 911. But the 12-year- old lost his mother, grandmother, little sister, and all his family's belongings in that fire. His dream is to one day play professionally. He's never been to an NFL game.

PAUL: I hope this is the start of something really wonderful for him. I cannot imagine.

Thank you all so much for spending time with us. We appreciate you.

BLACKWELL: There's much more ahead in the next hour of CNN Newsroom. Fredricka Whitfield is up next.

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