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Capitol Rioter Says He Was Following Trump's Directions; Ground Rules Still to Be Set for Senate Trial; U.S. Democrats Pave Way for COVID-19 Relief Bill; U.S. Vaccination Ramps Up ahead of Super Bowl; Making the Case for Easy Home Tests; Russian Protesters Detained by Police Describe Abuse; Proud Boys Face New Charges; Super Bowl Host City under Tornado Watch. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired February 07, 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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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes.
Coming up, newly discovered videos that could play an important role in Donald Trump's impeachment trial.
New concerns about one of the COVID vaccines and how much protection it provides against that fast spreading coronavirus variant.
Plus, marching in Myanmar. Protesters voicing their opposition to this week's military coup.
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HOLMES: Welcome, everyone.
Donald Trump's second impeachment trial just days away now and there could be some dramatic evidence connecting the former U.S. president to the January incursion at the Capitol, like the new video of one of the rioters we're about to show you. CNN's Donie O'Sullivan has details.
Listen closely to what the man known as the QAnon shaman says about Trump.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How did you get out?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How did you get out?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Senate?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cops walked out with me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They just let you go?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your message now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, Donald Trump asked everybody to go home. He just said it. He just put out a tweet. It's a minute long. He asked everybody to go home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why do you think so?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because, dude, (INAUDIBLE) day (INAUDIBLE) won.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How did we win?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- by sending a message to the senators and the congressman. We won by sending a message to Pence, OK, that if they don't do as their oath to do, if they don't uphold the Constitution, then we will remove them from office one way or another.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy is recording (INAUDIBLE)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm fine with being recorded. All I can say is we won the (INAUDIBLE) day. Donald Trump is still out president.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have another question. There's a lot of people that doubt that you would be able to go in and come out.
What do you say to them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, a lot of people doubted a lot of prophets, sages. A lot of people doubted Christ.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN TECH CORRESPONDENT: That video was originally posted to Parler, a social media website that was very popular to Trump supporters around the time of the insurrection. Parler is temporarily closed down, been taken offline.
But a computer programmer was able to download thousands of videos shot that day, many of which were at the insurrection itself. You saw in the video, Jacob Chansley, the QAnon shaman. We have seen him at multiple events leading up to the insurrection.
We saw him back in October where Trump's praise of QAnon supporters was celebrated. We saw Chansley there. We saw him 48 hours before the insurrection on Monday January 4th in Dalton, Georgia, outside a Trump rally on the eve of the Senate runoff elections.
Now as we go into the impeachment trial, which is beginning this week, very important what we heard there from Chansley. Clearly he was somebody who said he was taking his cues from president Trump. Back to you.
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HOLMES: Thanks to Donie O'Sullivan there.
We still don't know what the ground rules for the Senate impeachment trial will be but 17 Republicans would have to join Democrats to get a conviction. Now that is a tall order but there has been some division in the Republican Party ahead of proceedings. Jessica Dean with the latest.
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JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Wyoming Republican Party voted to censure congresswoman Liz Cheney in response to her vote to impeach former president Donald Trump.
That resolution had a number of inaccuracies in it. Congresswoman Cheney did respond, saying that she was compelled by the oath I swore to the Constitution when she took that vote to impeach former president Trump.
Now all of this, of course, coming on the eve of former president Trump's second impeachment trial, which is scheduled to start on Tuesday. There's still a number of unknowns surrounding that trial, namely how long it will take.
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DEAN: We don't know exactly at this point how long this will go on and also if witnesses will be called. In this case, it's a very unique situation in that the 100 senators who will be serving as jurors were also witnesses in this case. They experienced the insurrection here on January 6th.
House impeachment managers have also requested former president Trump to testify. He said he will not be doing that. And right now there's just not an appetite for a subpoena to compel him to testify.
We're told that House impeachment managers instead intend to say his refusal to testify here for the Senate impeachment trial underscores his guilt as being singularly responsible for the insurrection on January 6th -- Jessica Dean, CNN, the Capitol.
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HOLMES: CNN White House correspondent John Harwood joins me now.
Good to see you, John. You look back over the last few months and the big lie, obviously, about the election, Marjorie Taylor Greene, her emergence, several things, really. Does the Republican Party resemble the party of Reagan, let alone the
party of Lincoln?
What has happened?
You've covered this for a long time.
And where is it headed?
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's not at all the party of Reagan or Lincoln. What has happened, Michael, is, over the last couple of decades, the Republican Party has become increasingly radicalized as it's become more dependent on the white working class voters, particularly evangelical Christians, who fear the way the country's changing.
America's becoming more diverse, more globally connected. The economy is changing and they feel that culturally and economically they're being left behind. They are angry about that and expressed their anger through Republican politics.
And that's caused the party to become increasingly militant. We saw that over the Obama years, confrontational stance with Barack Obama. Those voters saw Donald Trump as their champion and were enraged with the prospect of him being defeated.
That resulted, of course, in the insurrection on January the 6th. And Republican leaders in Congress don't have to strength right now to stand up and tell the base of the party that it was a big lie, that Donald Trump actually did lose the election.
HOLMES: The thing is, the demographics that you point out, it is a juggernaut, isn't it?
Those demographics are going to happen.
Why pander to a shrinking base?
There seems to be a shortage of forward thinking, really.
HARWOOD: Well, exactly. Republican leaders understand where the thing's headed in the long run. So do voters, as a matter of fact. The anxiety of many of those voters is fueled by the closer we get to the point, which will happen in 20 or 25 years, that America will be a majority minority country.
Whites will not be in the majority of the population. After Barack Obama won a second term in 2012, the Republican Party had what they called an autopsy of the election, came out and said, we've got to change course. We've got to be more appealing to non whites, young voters, women.
Donald Trump just bowled over that recommendation, ran a campaign heavy on racial resentment, won the nomination, won the election and set back those efforts by the Republican Party to move the party forward, to modernize the party.
It's not clear when they're going to get back to that. We saw what happened with Marjorie Taylor Greene. The Republican Party was unable to itself discipline Marjorie Taylor Greene.
You could see the concern from none other than Mitt Romney, who lost to Barack Obama, who said last week, our big tent is not big enough for conservatives and kooks. Right now the Republican Party depends on those people who are out of touch and angry. And they don't know how to get past that.
HOLMES: The Senate and House passing budget resolutions on COVID-19 relief. Zero Republican votes in either house.
When bipartisan rubber meets the road, who's going to get hurt or worse?
Does it hurt Biden to go it alone or Republicans to go against him?
HARWOOD: I don't think it hurts Biden to go alone and it probably doesn't hurt Republicans to vote against him. The good news for the American people is there will be a COVID relief bill passed. Joe Biden is able to take advantage with fellow Democrats in Congress. He does not need Republican votes.
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HARWOOD: He temperamentally and by his history, respects Congress, has good relationships with many Republicans, is willing to talk to them.
But they are so far apart, as he said at the end of the week, that they simply can't come up to compromise at a level I think is sufficient. Therefore he's going to move ahead and it appears that's the path we're on.
That doesn't mean some Republicans may not sign on, a small number at the end, if they see the package is popular. It does have some bipartisan support in the public. but that is a significant choke of Republican -- rank and file Republicans around the country like the idea of the package but not Republican lawmakers so far.
HOLMES: John Harwood, always a pleasure. Great to get your thoughts. Thank you.
HARWOOD: You bet.
HOLMES: Now that coronavirus relief bill may not include one of Joe Biden's big campaign promises. CNN's Arlette Saenz with that.
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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As the push to get his COVID relief package passed continues, President Biden is acknowledging that one element of that proposal may not ultimately make it into the final deal. That is the $15 minimum wage. That is something President Biden promoted during the presidential
campaign and something he wanted to include in this COVID relief package. In an interview with CBS, the president said it may not survive due to the Senate rules process.
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NORAH O'DONNELL, CBS NEWS HOST: You also want to raise the minimum wage to $15.
Is that something you would be willing to negotiation on in order to get Republican support?
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, apparently that's not going to occur because of the rules in the United States Senate.
O'DONNELL: So you're saying the minimum wage will not be in this.
BIDEN: My guess is it won't but I do think we should have a minimum wage, stand by itself, $15 an hour and work your way up. It doesn't have to be boom and all the economics show, if you do that, the whole economy rises.
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SAENZ: Now if that proposal does not make it into the final package, the president indicated he does want to pursue the $15 minimum wage as a stand-alone measure down the road.
He's spending the weekend at home in Delaware, where he visited the doctor's office to receive an X-ray on his foot, which he fractured in November. The doctor says those fractures have completely healed -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.
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HOLMES: Just a day after Oxford University researchers said the AstraZeneca vaccine was effective against the variant found in the U.K., researchers say it isn't effective against the variant from South Africa.
Also, protesters turning out by the thousands in Myanmar. How they're organizing despite an internet blackout. We'll be right back.
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HOLMES: Some worrying news to report on the vaccine front. AstraZeneca telling us its coronavirus shot seems less effective against the variant first spotted in South Africa when it is a case of mild illness. The pharmaceutical company says it believes its vaccine could work against severe disease and is hoping to deliver shots better suited to the variant by autumn.
But even places where there has been an impressive vaccine rollout, hospitals are still under pressure. Can't emphasize that enough.
In the U.K. a top doctor says intensive care units are, quote, "full to the rafters." He says it is because patients are staying there for long periods of time, even though case numbers have been going down.
In Wuhan, China, people are honoring the whistleblower doctor a year after his death. Chinese authorities told him to, quote, "stop spreading rumors" shortly after he sounded the alarm about the coronavirus. He died himself after getting COVID-19.
Now a source telling CNN that the U.S. President Joe Biden plans on using the Super Bowl, which is happening Sunday, to share a message on vaccines. We're expecting him to speak to those who are perhaps hesitant about getting the shot, as CNN's Natasha Chen explains.
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NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the past week, more than 9 million COVID vaccines were administered in the U.S. That outpaced the number of new cases 10 to 1.
In the last two days the number of people hospitalized came under 90,000 for the first time since November. Despite the trends health officials are warning us not to let our guard down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're at halftime and things seem quiet in the locker room. But when we come out, the team we're facing is going to be a lot tougher than the team we faced in the first half of the outbreak.
CHEN (voice-over): As both the pandemic and the Super Bowl are on people's minds this weekend, a source tells CNN Joe Biden will take advantage of a large national audience Sunday to thank health care workers.
An administration official says the White House also hopes to combat vaccine hesitancy and speak to the African American and Latino and white rural non-mask wearing communities in particular.
Meanwhile, Americans are being discouraged from doing what so many people do this weekend, attending Super Bowl parties.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the Super Bowl, not the stupid bowl. Let's try and keep everyone safe. Don't drink, don't drive, don't bring multiple households together and create a superspreader event in your own home because, I guarantee you, it's going to be your own family who's the ones going to be jeopardized.
CHEN (voice-over): Speaking of the NFL, the league this week offered the Biden administration every one of its 32 team stadiums as mass vaccination sites. Seven are already in operation and the 49ers Levi Stadium is about to become California's largest vaccination site.
The Yankee Stadium's vaccination site opened Friday but only for people in the Bronx, an effort to reach underserved communities.
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MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D-NY), NEW YORK CITY: This is about equity, fairness, protecting people that need the most protection, because the Bronx is one of the places that bore the brunt of this crisis.
CHEN (voice-over): Mayor de Blasio and other officials say the problem continues to be supply.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Other than me just running up there and sitting on somebody, I -- we are doing everything. It's coming from all fronts.
CHEN (voice-over): A third vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson could help increase supply. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory committee isn't scheduled to discuss it until February 26th.
CHEN: The event behind me was targeted for employees of local school districts. Vaccinations for educators being an important part of conversations to bring kids back into classrooms safely, especially in Chicago, where there's no agreement. The mayor Lori Lightfoot says those who don't show up could be locked out of the online system, which could trigger a strike by the union -- back to you.
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HOLMES: California health officials say they have administered more than 4 million vaccine doses. Paul Vercammen went to one supersite in Los Angeles County where the demand is far greater than the supply.
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PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The important heavy lifting of putting needles into arms here in Los Angeles and giving people their first COVID vaccines continued.
And for one 93-year-old man, he was euphoric to be out of the house for the first time since March.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Feels like a different world. I haven't been out -- out of my backyard or the house since COVID started.
VERCAMMEN: Also out here at the Inglewood Forum, helping people through the vaccination process, Dr. Barbara Ferrer, head of L.A. County Public Health. She said it's a monumental task to get people vaccinated but there are just not enough doses available.
DR. BARBARA FERRER, L.A. COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH: The heartache right now. So many people want to get vaccinated. This site could easily accommodate 4,000 people getting vaccinated a day of and we just don't have vaccine today. We were only able to release 1,100 appointments.
VERCAMMEN: So they administered only 1,100 vaccines. That means late in the day they had to turn away some people who had appointments.
As for the Super Bowl, the doctor flatly advising it's a bad idea to hold a party and mix things up with other households -- reporting from Inglewood, I'm Paul Vercammen, back to you now.
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HOLMES: Dr. Michael Mina is an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Good to see you. Last time we spoke, you made the case for cheap home testing so people knew if they were positive before they left the house.
What has changed in the terms of availability or plans to get these to people?
DR. MICHAEL MINA, HARVARD T.H. CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: The biggest thing that changed, of course, is we have a new administration in the United States and President Biden has made it a priority to really ramp up rapid testing as a part of the overall COVID response he's been putting together along with his administration.
So I think we are now starting to see some evidence that they are carrying through. They're starting to make increasing investments in some of the rapid test companies to help scale them up and hopefully get those tests out to the American public.
HOLMES: They're looking at half a dozen, I think, rapid test candidates. But the one they're going to be pushing is from Allume. The current price on that is $30 a test. You pushed for these tests at, I think, pennies, is that right?
Is it realistic to have $30 tests that people are going to use more than once in a blue moon?
MINA: The Allume test is going to be a one-time test, not the frequent test I have been calling for. The frequent tests are really just plain, simple paper strip tests much like a pregnancy test. But no electronics, no batteries, no Bluetooth. Just a simple test people could use two or three times a week in their home.
That is the type of fast, frequent and accessible testing we really need to help get control of COVID in the United States.
HOLMES: And why don't we have them?
MINA: Well, I think that we are starting to see movement. We have had tests.
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MINA: You know, this is one of them here. They have been around for quite a while. There has been difficulty in evaluating them in terms of -- the FDA has a charge to evaluate these tests as medical devices.
But these tests that I want to see really should be evaluated as public health tools. And what that means is we want tools that will only detect people when they are infectious and contagious and need to be isolated.
But because of some nuances in the science and the way that the FDA evaluates these tests, we have yet to see the correct ones really be authorized in a way that could make them accessible to the American public.
HOLMES: Just real quick, for people who don't know, the advantages of people having these in their bathroom cabinet, do it three times a week is --?
MINA: The best thing about having frequent tests is you can know you're infectious before you go out with other people. If you're using them two, three times a week, they take about 30 seconds to use and about 15 minutes to wait until the result comes up. That's enough. You brush your teeth, use a COVID test.
If it's negative, you go about your day how you otherwise would have. But if it's positive then you stay home for a number of days and you don't go to work, you don't go to school. You don't go to see your family for Friday night dinner.
You are empowered to make choices that would help you to prevent yourself from spreading the virus to other people. And if you're not testing very frequently for a virus like coronavirus, then it's much more likely that you will miss the transmission window.
If you're testing once every two weeks with a PCR test, you're unlikely to catch yourself before you go and transmit to other people. If the PCR test takes two or three days to return, then you're unlikely to catch yourself before you go to other people.
These type of tests are really cheap, paper strip tests that can be antigen or RNA tests. These are the kind we need to see get out to people's homes so they can do it frequently, enough to stop their transmission.
HOLMES: It would make a massive difference in the speed of spread if people knew that before they left the house. I do hope, in a couple of months from now, we're talking about how widespread they are and not why they're not out there yet. Doctor, really appreciate it. Thanks so much.
MINA: Absolutely.
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HOLMES: Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, protesters in Myanmar call for democracy and an end to the military junta that grabbed power just days ago.
Also, a month since the attack on the U.S. Capitol. How investigators are narrowing their focus to extremist groups and the planning that preceded this deadly riot. We'll be right back.
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HOLMES: And welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. You're watching contract CNN NEWSROOM. Appreciate your company.
Russian police have arrested thousands of protesters in the last few weeks. The wave of demonstrations began in support of the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny. And it has morphed into a wider pro- democracy movement. Some of those arrested though are now speaking out, describing how they were treated by police. Fred Pleitgen reports.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): The images of Russian riot cops cracking down on protesters have sparked outrage around the world. Thousands have been detained and some say they were mistreated by police in custody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I was alone in the room with these four policeman and one said, "What, do you want a plastic bag over your head?"
On the shelf they already had a plastic bag as if it was prepared for this. So they put it over my head and started choking me a little bit. I tried to resist but he kept putting my head down and shaking me.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): A Kremlin spokesperson said that if what she described really happened, then she should have filed a lawsuit, even though she's currently in jail.
Moscow police did not respond to CNN's request for comment. Security forces detained so many people at recent demos, Moscow even ran out of space to keep them in.
Images have emerged of people crammed into police buses waiting for hours and even days to be processed with no chance to physically distance during times of pandemic.
Alexander Golovach is a lawyer for opposition leader Alexei Navalny's organization. He was detained at a protest last weekend.
ALEXANDER GOLOVACH, ANTI-CORRUPTION LAWYER (through translator): I was taken to a police station with 25 other people. I was spent there three days. In the first day, we had no food, no water and they didn't let us use the toilet.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): This is Saherova (ph), a former migrant camp now used as a detention center. People locked up here shared these videos with CNN showing cramped cells.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Everything is bad. There aren't mattresses and people have been sitting like this for 1.5 days.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Among them, a prominent journalist jailed for retweeting a joke which the court said incited participation in an unauthorized rally.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We spent many hours in a tiny cell, 28 people in a cell meant for eight. These are harsh conditions.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): While he says he has been moved to a better cell, others claim little has changed for them.
Meanwhile, pro Kremlin media is blaring out videos like this one of factory workers enthusiastically showing their support for Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Putin's spokesman acknowledged the overcrowded facilities but said the response of the riot police was justified and claim there were, quote, "no repressions in Russia."
Outside the makeshift jail, friends and relative bring food, drinks and cigarettes for those inside, some venting their anger.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Our job is to show the detainees they have support and we are all together in this. That's the only way to build society.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Alexei Navalny's movement has refrained from calling for new protesters for now, saying they want to regroup and give their supporters time to get out of jail -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Russia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Thousands of people are gathering in Myanmar's largest city for a second day of protests. They're marching, chanting pro democracy slogans and holding up a three finger salute, supporting civil disobedience.
It's been less than a week since the military seized power and protesters are organizing despite widespread Internet blackout. Selena Wang is following this from Tokyo.
Tell us how the protests are developing today.
What strategies are they taking?
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michael, it appears that public support is gaining. A witness told CNN that organizers seem to be more organized today with growing public participation. The crowds are mostly of young people, we're told, and they are chanting, "We want democracy, military rule we are against." Now the protests have been largely peaceful. We have seen them
changing directions to avoid roadblocks and avoid any face-to-face confrontations with the police. The widespread protests we saw yesterday were the first since the military seized power. Thousands of people took to the streets, calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, who is currently under house arrest.
And as you mentioned, there's the internet blackout that limited coverage of the protests. About 16 percent of internet connectivity is in place compared to ordinary levels.
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were blocked although SMS and voice calls are operational. Military rule has been the regime for 50 years. They ruled with an iron fist, stifling dissent, plunging the country into poverty.
But six years ago, that all changed when Aung San Suu Kyi won the elections in a landslide. That all changed with this military coup and people are fearful that history is repeating themselves (sic).
Now, of course, Suu Kyi failure to condemn the Rohingya crisis has led to her fall from grace internationally. But at home she still has widespread support. Michael?
HOLMES: What next when it comes to the international reaction?
The U.S. had already threatened severe sanctions on Myanmar. Others have, too.
Is there any sign or indication that international pressure could have any impact?
As you point out, the military is used to being sanctioned in the past.
WANG: Michael, that is correct. This is something that they faced before. Experts say the threat of international sanctions, international condemnation is not likely to bother them. We also know that there's widespread fear that we could see further targeting of activists, of critics and of journalists.
A human rights group documented at least 133 government officials and more than 14 activists who have been detained since Monday. And it's not just what could happen to the people in the residence but a lot of foreign companies are at risk now.
Here in Japan, companies invested heavily in Myanmar. We learned the Japanese brewing company Kirin decided to end its joint venture with a company in Myanmar with ties to the military. Even though there was desecration (ph) of a civilian government, we can know the military never gave up control, controlling a quarter of seats in parliament and several key ministries.
Experts say it is likely the military fearing it is losing its power that it is the personal ambitions of this army chief who wants to reestablish the control and respect. Michael? HOLMES: And in the view of many critics, wealth as well. Selina Wang, appreciate it. Thanks so much.
It has been one month since the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol but authorities are not letting up. The latest people to be indicted in the ongoing investigation.
Also when we come back, we're tracking another winter storm set to hit parts of the U.S. in the coming hours. We'll check in with our own meteorologist for the latest developments.
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HOLMES: Welcome back.
Saturday marked one month since that deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol and now the Proud Boys, an extremist group with ties to white nationalists, is coming under increased pressure for its role and the role its members and sympathizers might have played in the insurrection. CNN's Brian Todd has the story.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the height of the insurrection, one rioter sent out a video of himself celebrating.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello from the Capitol.
TODD (voice-over): Prosecutors say this is Nicholas Oaks, the founder of the Hawaii chapter of the Proud Boys. Tonight, Oaks, along with another Proud Boys associate, Nicholas de Carlo, are under indictment for conspiracy in the Capitol riot investigation.
Prosecutors say they conspired to block Congress' certification of President Biden's win, that they planned and fund raised for the effort and then joined with the violent mob in the Capitol.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Proud Boys were organized, ready, they were near the Capitol early. One of the first groups to breach the cordon. A number of them did get inside. They seemed to be talking to each other, coordinating to a certain degree.
TODD: They're alleged to have inscribed the words "murder the media" on the a door into the Capitol. Oaks told CNN that day, quote, "We didn't have to break in. I just walked in and filmed."
Another Proud Boys associate Ethan Nordean was just arrested, federal prosecutors believing he engaged in planned before January 6, asking for protective gear on social media prior to that day.
Two others linked to the Proud Boys, William Pepe and Dominic Pizzola are also charged.
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TODD (voice-over): But they say they worked together more during the attack. Pizzola is the one seen here, smashing a window at the Capitol with a shield. According to CNN, at least 11 with links to the Proud Boys have been charged, including Joseph Randall Biggs.
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.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we see this moment of the action of arrests and enormous pressure on a lot of these groups.
TODD (voice-over): This analyst says the FBI and other law enforcement agencies have the capability to take down the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers and others. But she worries what happens next.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As pressure mounts on the Proud Boys, one thing that's happened in the past is members will flee to other groups where they'll continue their activism.
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HOLMES: Brian Todd reporting there from Washington.
Going take a quick break. When we come back, normally, thousands of fans would fill every seat in the stadium at the Super Bowl. But the pandemic, it's changed everything, hasn't it?
How they're defending against the coronavirus when we come back.
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HOLMES: It's nearly 1:00 am on the U.S. East Coast but here's a live look at the Raymond James stadium in Tampa, Florida, where the Super Bowl kicks off less than 24 hours from now. The Kansas City Chiefs will be taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, go Chiefs. Right now the city of Tampa is under a tornado watch for the next six hours or so.
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HOLMES: This is first time in Super Bowl history that a team will play in the big game in its own stadium. That team, of course, is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And that's just one of the many ways that today's game is breaking from Super Bowl tradition. Randi Kaye with the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The only thing normal about Super Bowl LV will be the football played on the field. Instead of 65,000 fans filling Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, just 25,000 will be there. That includes 7,500 vaccinated health care workers, who were surprised with free tickets.
ROB GRONKOWSKI, FOOTBALL PLAYER: This is champion Rob Gronkowski and we want you there inside Raymond James stadium cheering us on.
KAYE (voice-over): Fans at the stadium will be given PPE kits, which include KN95 masks, hand sanitizer and wipes.
ROGER GOODELL, NFL COMMISSIONER: We want our fans to be safe. They need to be smart. They need to wear their PPE. They need to be gathering in small groups.
KAYE: Because of the need to social distance, a lot of the usual Super Bowl events will look very different this year. The NFL pregame tailgate party is limited to just those 7,500 vaccinated health care workers.
The taste of the NFL has gone virtual. And here at the always popular Super Bowl experience, you have to make a reservation.
KAYE (voice-over): Autograph signings here are virtual. So is the chance to race your favorite player.
ROB HIGGINS, NFL HOST COMMITTEE: We want to make sure people have great memories that will last a lifetime but that they happen in a really healthy and safe fashion.
KAYE (voice-over): Tampa fans are thrilled to have the big game in their backyard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all need it. I mean, this is what's keeping us distracted from other problems. And it being in our hometown, you can't beat that.
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KAYE (voice-over): The city of Tampa is giving out over 150,000 masks free of charge. They are mandated in Tampa's event zones and entertainment districts.
KAYE: How do you feel about being here with all that's going on with the pandemic?
You have your son with you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything has been spectacular. Safety precautions, social distancing, awesome.
KAYE (voice-over): Officials are discouraging big Super Bowl watch parties. Skip the bars, too, they say, and stay home.
KAYE: Where are you going to watch the game? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Home.
KAYE: One other NFL-related note. The NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has said he wants all NFL stadiums to be used as mass vaccination sites. He's offering them all up to get more shots in the arms. Already seven of those stadiums are being used as mass vaccination sites, including the Hard Rock Stadium just south of here in Miami -- Randi Kaye, CNN, Tampa.
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HOLMES: Finally, the sports world has lost a legend. Boxing great Leon Spinks has died. He won the world heavyweight championship by upsetting Muhammad Ali in a 1978 split decision. That came after Spinks won the gold medal in the 1976 Montreal Games.
Spinks battled prostate and other cancers. A statement confirming his death reads, quote, "Leon fought his battle with numerous illnesses resiliently, never losing his trademark smile. Showing true Spinks determination, he never threw in the towel."
Leon Spinks was just 67 years old, way too young.
Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM and spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. For our international viewers, "CONNECTING AFRICA" is next. For those of you here in North America, I will be back with more news in just a moment.
