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Democrats Build Case that Trump Incited Insurrection; Biden Announces Sanctions on Myanmar Military Leaders; Tokyo 2020 Games President Resigns over Sexist Remarks; WHO Advisers Recommend Oxford Vaccine for All Adults; Democrats Build Case That Trump Incited Insurrection; Saudi Women's Rights Activist Released from Prison; White House Draws Criticism Over Its Definition of Reopening Schools. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired February 11, 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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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, the incredible detail including dramatic new surveillance video, impeachment managers have pieced together an almost minute by minute timeline of the attack on the Capitol, including everything Donald Trump did and did not do.
The Biden administration sends a message to the world with tough economic sanctions, targeting the militarily leaders behind the coup in Myanmar.
And the head of the Tokyo Olympics stepping down after sparking outrage with sexist remarks, another blow to the already beleaguered Summer Games.
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VAUSE: Democrats have laid out a powerful case against Trump in the second day of his impeachment trial, which included chilling, never before seen surveillance video of the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
While they have described the presentation as forceful and effective, there is little indication it had any reflect on Republican senators, despite taking an oath to be impartial jurors, many GOP senators have already told CNN and other news outlets that they will vote to acquit Donald Trump.
One of the new videos shows Capitol Police officer ushering senator Mitt Romney away from the rioters, who just entered the building. Romney says he had no idea they were so close and later thanked the officer for helping him to safety.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. STACEY PLASKETT (D-VI): Officer Goodman made his way down to the first floor, where he encountered the same insurrectionists we just saw, watch breach the Capitol. In this video, we can see the rioters surge toward Officer Goodman. Recall that the rioters are in red and Officer Goodman in this model is in blue.
Watch Officer Goodman, who backs up the stairs.
PROTESTERS: USA.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take that, I paid for that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You work for us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where they meeting at?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people have no weapons. These people have no weapons. These people have no weapons. These people have no weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Another clip shows the vice president, Mike Pence, his family and staff, being ushered out of the Senate by Secret Service, taken to a safe location.
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PLASKETT: During the assault on the Capitol, extremists reportedly coordinated online and discussed how they could hunt down the vice president. Journalists in the Capitol reported they heard rioters say, they were looking for Pence in order to execute him.
Trump supporters had erected a gallows on the lawn in front of the Capitol building. Another group of rioters chanted, "Hang Mike Pence," as they stood in an open door of the Capitol building.
You can hear the security alarm from the door in the background. And you can hear the mob calling for the death of the Vice President of the United States.
PROTESTERS: Hang Mike Pence. Hang Mike Pence. Hang Mike Pence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: CNN congressional correspondent Jessica Dean is with us this hour from Washington.
Jessica, thanks for staying up late. I guess for the impeachment managers presenting this very compelling case, they seemed almost on a roll at one point. That was until the Republican senator Mike Lee stopped proceedings, he claimed he had been misquoted and that brought everything to an abrupt end.
What are the details?
JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that was kind of as they were wrapping of the day. They had gotten through a lot of the video that you just showed right there. They were beginning to sort of wrap up their day. One of the impeachment managers was walking through a story, they were quoting media reports from the time.
That president Trump had mistakenly called senator Mike Lee looking for senator Tommy Tuberville. It was giving details about this, that's when senator Lee, based on reports from the reporters who were inside, a very limited amount of people that can be inside the room as this is going on right now, said that he started pacing, around writing notes down and became very concerned and raised an objection, and it kind of evolved into a parliamentary chaos there.
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DEAN: For a second, exactly what would happen ultimately they did agree to strike it from the record. Here's senator Lee earlier tonight.
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SEN. MIKE LEE (R-UT): The statements were attributed to me repeatedly as to which I have personal knowledge because I am the source. They are not true, I never made those statements. I ask that they be stricken.
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DEAN: So they had confirmed to media that the phone call did happen in that timeframe, it seemed that Senator Lee was really taking objection to the impeachment manager saying that president Trump was telling him on the phone to object more vehemently to the Electoral College count.
You'll remember that's what they were doing on January 6th when the insurrection happened. That's what he disagreed about, impeachment manager Congressman Jamie Raskin saying it was much ado about nothing because this was just a tiny little detail in a much broader case.
John, as you point out, there was so much video evidence, so much of it that we had never seen before. And at times senators were really just paying such close attention. Senator Susan Collins saying you could've heard a pin drop in there when they were playing some of this video.
They were certainly paying attention but the fact remains right now it still appears that a conviction is highly unlikely. A reminder that Democrats would need to get 17 Republicans to join their ranks to get a conviction here.
That just at this point seems highly unlikely. Looking ahead to tomorrow they will be right back here at the Capitol. They'll get started to again at noon. The impeachment managers will have another 8 hours to make their case. We'll see if they end up taking all of that time.
Then after that on the following day, former president Trump's defense team will begin their arguments, John.
VAUSE: Jessica thank, you there for us in Washington, appreciate it.
Well, to New York now, CNN legal analyst and Tulane Law School professor Ross Garber.
Thanks for being with us.
I want to start with that mountain of evidence which was presented to the Senate on Wednesday. The Trump defense team is hoping there is this one statement from the former president, which may be his get out of impeachment free card. Here it is.
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TRUMP: I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.
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VAUSE: It's 2 words, peacefully and patriotically. Like everything else, that seems to be a stretch as well.
ROSS GARBER, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, mostly the word peacefully, I think we're going to hear from the Trump team is that yes there was violence, yes the violence was terrible but what does that have to do with Donald Trump.
They're going to point to that, especially the peacefully language, saying that he was telling them, his supporters, telling crowd to proceed peacefully. If there is violence, it wasn't his fault.
VAUSE: Senator Lindsey Graham, he's among the Republicans who just aren't feeling the Democrat case. He explained why a few hours ago, here he is.
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SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): The whole storyline originally was Trump created this from the speech. Now we know the people had this on their mind before he ever spoke, so they're playing this bizarre game of trying to get Trump in on it before January the 6th. This is why you don't want to have snap impeachments. Evidence really does matter.
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VAUSE: Evidence does matter, there is a ton of it. Even the Republican senator Ted Cruz who went to Harvard he argues the language of the president does not meet the legal standard for incitement. In other words are saying the rioters came to Washington prepared to act. Trump's words had nothing to do with it.
Impeachment is a political act but illegally where do those arguments stand? GARBER: You can't uncouple the legal stuff from the political stuff. The answer is in impeachments, it's going to be up to 17 Republicans to switch. As Jessica pointed out, that is right now very unlikely.
But as you know impeachments in America are incredibly rare. So what the House managers are doing is they are trying to get a conviction, they're doing the best. They're also trying to explain to the American people why we're going through this exercise, which is very time consuming and very disruptive, they're also setting a precedent for the future.
Impeachments apply to presidents, federal judges, state governors and so the managers are also doing that. In terms of a conviction, unlikely. But we still have a few days to go. The managers aren't done.
VAUSE: With that in, mind there's also this very convenient process argument like the one we heard from Republican Mike Braun.
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VAUSE: He said to reporters, "When you think the process is flawed in the first place I think it's going to be different to arrive at a conclusion on the facts and the merits itself."
I think he meant difficult but the Senate has decided that the process is legitimate, it is constitutional. They voted on that, that's what happened.
If each senator is an impartial juror, what he believes should have no bearing, right?
GARBER: Yes and no. Republican Senators will say is they don't believe there's jurisdiction in the first place. So they don't believe they even have the jurisdiction, the ability to vote guilty. So they're going to vote not guilty, based on a lack of jurisdiction. That is one approach.
Honestly it was the approach used in the only other time a former official has had impeachment trial, back in the 1800s. Most of the senators then who said there is no jurisdiction even though the Senate as a whole found there was jurisdiction voted no guilty. I think that's what we'll see again, it's possible although unlikely some senators say there's no jurisdiction so we're not going to show up for the vote. That's possible but unlikely.
It's also possible some say we don't think there's jurisdiction but the Senate, because they found jurisdiction, now we've got to vote so we're going to vote guilty. But for the most part, senators who say there's no jurisdiction are very likely to just vote not guilty because they don't want to address the merits.
The merits look terrible. They were horrific. They look terrible for the president.
VAUSE: Yes, if the facts are on your side, argue the facts, if the law is on your side, argue the law and if you have neither, bang the table. I guess we'll see a lot of banging the table when the defense team has their go.
Ross, thank you, good to see you, mate. Ross Garber in New York.
Demonstrators in Myanmar are not backing down, back out for a sixth straight day, protesting last week's military coup. The spokesperson for the National League for Democracy said several senior party members were taken from their homes at various times on Wednesday.
CNN's Paula Hancocks tracking these developments from Seoul.
What's the latest here, what do we know about these politicians being rounded up?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, it really shows that the movements by the military are not over. We haven't seen any arrests for some time, at least when it came to officials.
According to the spokesperson of the National League for Democracy, at least 7 members of the NLD were arrested, overnight Wednesday into Thursday. Now we understand several local electoral commission officials were also detained. We don't know the status of any of them.
But of course, the electoral commission is interesting because that's really the example that the military has given for carrying out this coup. They claim that the election in November of last year was fraudulent. They say it was not free and fair even though the electoral commission denies that, rejects it and says it was democratically elected.
We're seeing a roundup of officials by the military and still seeing thousands of people come out onto the streets we, have livestreams of Yangon where you see the central bank, there were many people outside there calling on the government workers to come outside. To join the strike, also seeing outside the Chinese embassy that many people are protesting. Of course the concern still is, what sort of response will there be from the police?
We saw on Wednesday a subdued response. On Tuesday, we know there were at least 2 people that were seriously injured in protests after police actions. That is one of the biggest concerns, John.
VAUSE: Paula, thank you Paula Hancocks for us in Seoul with the very latest.
Well the U.S. will sanction Myanmar's military leaders, President Biden announced the new executive order Wednesday, calling for the release of the elected civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, amongst other detainees.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The U.S. government is taking steps to prevent the generals from improperly having access to the $1 billion in Burmese government funds held in the United States. We're also going to impose strong export controls and freezing U.S.
assets that benefit the Burmese government while maintaining our support for health care, civil society groups and other areas that benefit the people of Burma directly.
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VAUSE: CNN's John Harwood is live from Washington.
Many waiting to see how Biden would react to Myanmar or what he would do. We've seen as an indicator of where foreign policy was heading, with his new administration.
With that in mind, if that's the case, what do the sanctions say?
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: They say President Biden is going to place more emphasis on human rights than Trump did. We saw that with the freezing of the $1 billion in assets, the demand for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the export controls that he's placed.
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HARWOOD: We saw it from the phone call that he had with Xi Jinping of China, where he discussed the human rights concerns about the Chinese actions in Hong Kong, China's treatment of the Uyghurs.
So there's a range in which President Biden is going to take a broader approach than the approach of president Trump, which focused just almost exclusively on commercial relations, economic relations between countries and United States.
VAUSE: It was notable the White House said it held discussions with Republicans and Democrats before making this announcement about the sanctions for Myanmar. Bipartisan support for sanctioning Myanmar, seems like a walk in the park compared to getting unified on dealing with Iran and whether or not they should rejoin the nuclear agreement, which Trump wrapped up in 2018.
What are the problems facing Joe Biden?
We have the president saying they are ready to get back into the agreement.
HARWOOD: You are right. Mitch McConnell, Senate Republican leader has spoken in solidarity with President Biden on his approach to Myanmar. Iran is going to be a much more difficult issue.
Joe Biden and his administration have signaled they want to return to the nuclear agreement. There is some choreography about why does Iran have to do before negotiations resume and how quickly can negotiations resume.
But there is no question President Biden, having been part of the Obama administration, that played so much emphasis on getting that JCPOA in place, is going to try to get it back in place, get Iran in compliance in conjunction with U.S. allies. It's going to take a while but it seems like President Biden has a
good chance of getting there in solidarity with our allies.
VAUSE: John, thank you. I appreciate it.
We'll take a short break. When we come back, more on the conversation Joe Biden had with the president of China. When we come back, new details of the sudden resignation of the Tokyo Olympics president. You are watching CNN.
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VAUSE: Welcome back. Some breaking news now. The president of the organizing committee of Tokyo's 2020 Olympic Games reportedly stepping down after making sexist remarks. CNN's Blake Essig is live in Tokyo this hour.
This had been rumored for a while. It seems it has happened.
What are the details?
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is no question that there have been calls for his resignation since those comments were made public almost exactly a week ago. We've just learned today public broadcaster NHK is reporting former prime minister and current president of the Tokyo '20 Olympic organizing committee, Yoshiro Mori, is planning to resign.
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ESSIG: That will require the Tokyo 2020 board to approve that decision. We are expecting that to happen tomorrow when a Tokyo 2020 board meeting is expected to be held.
He said about a week ago at a Japan Olympic Committee meeting, he was asked about the effort to increase the number of executive board members, female board members from 20 percent to 40 percent. He expressed concern that doing so would extend the length of meetings. Here's what he said.
"Board meetings with lots of women take longer, because women are competitive. If one member raises her hand to speak, others might think that they need to talk, too."
He goes on to say that, "If you want to increase female membership, you would be in trouble unless you put time limits in place."
John, as you would expect, those comments set off a firestorm. So far, 144,000 people have signed a petition, not calling for his resignation but asking for the Japan Olympic committee in Tokyo 2020 to respond and react to those comments, hold him accountable. Tennis superstar Naomi Osaka has come out, called the comments
"ignorant" on Twitter. But perhaps the tipping point here is, in the past few days, we have started to hear different sponsors come out, saying those types of comments don't align with their brand, obviously not aligning with the Olympic brand of inclusiveness and equality and whatnot.
So when you look at the sponsors, Toyota came out recently, making comments. The sponsorships account for about 50 percent of the Tokyo 2020's projected revenue, about 370 billion yen, $3.3 billion U.S.
So when you start to talk about that kind of money, money talks. So that likely was the tipping point. To get to where we are right now, a week ago, he wasn't going to resign. He said I'm not going anywhere. I apologize for the comments, I retract them, not resigning.
A week later, here we are. We will have to see what happens tomorrow.
VAUSE: Yes, don't burn the sponsors. Rule number one with the Olympics. Blake Essig in Tokyo.
We have more now on the conversation between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. According to the White House, Biden talked security, trade, the pandemic and pressed Xi Jinping on human rights abuses in China. CNN's Selina Wang following the story for us from Tokyo.
It's the first conversation since Biden took office. It seems Biden made it pretty clear there is a new administration in Washington.
What's been the reaction from Beijing?
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, what's interesting is you are already seeing this different alleys (ph) in the personal approach for Biden when it comes to dealing with Trump. It's more moderate, it's more diplomatic.
But he did say that they are going to continue to press China when it comes to its aggression abroad, human rights abuses, alleged at home. Also they're willing to cooperate on issues, whether it's climate change or nuclear proliferation.
The reaction from China according to the official state news readout is that Xi warned that if the two countries do not collaborate, they risk disaster. He also warned Biden to tread carefully when it comes to pushing Beijing on Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Taiwan and those alleged human rights abuses, repeating an often used line in state media that it's, quote, "a Chinese internal affair."
What's important to remember, despite this different personal approach between Biden and Xi, the Biden administration fundamentally agrees with the Trump administration's decision to be tougher on China.
They agree with the view Beijing poses a threat to America's security and democratic values. The Biden administration does not agree on is the way the Trump administration went about it. The key differences are already seen are multilateralism, working with friends and allies to pressure Beijing, as well as further investments at home, especially in high technology, to keep America's edge in innovation, as well as the difficult task of repairing America's image abroad.
We know that Biden administration is currently preparing a sweeping review of the Trump administration's policies toward China. But as of now, administration officials say the Trump tariffs on China are remaining in place, saying, quote, "We have maintained the tariffs that relate down over the course of the past few years, not because we think that the trade war was particularly successful but rather because we believe that we have to very carefully in consultation with allies and partners and consultation with Congress, work through the sources of leverage we have."
John, Biden has made it clear, already very early in his tenure, China is going to be a key foreign policy concern, already announcing the creation of a Pentagon task force to deal with China.
VAUSE: Selina Wang in Tokyo with the latest. We appreciate that.
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VAUSE: The WHO Is recommending the --
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VAUSE: Jumped the gun.
A World Health Organization panel is recommending the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine for all adults, despite concerns about efficacy. A study showed the doses offer little protection against the mild variants found in South Africa. Several European nations have hesitated to use the shots on anyone over the age of 65 because of lack of data.
But the WHO says the vaccine works on the elderly and recommended it even in countries with more resistant variants. The U.K. is one of a number of places to have authorized the vaccine. On Wednesday, the prime minister welcomed that recommendation.
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BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: Let me stress, that these vaccines are safe and effective. It was good to see the World Health Organization today confirm its support for the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine for use in everyone over the age of 18 and obviously everyone over 65. And also supporting the 12-week interval between the two doses. Indeed, they say the longer interval provides greater protection.
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VAUSE: In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control says double masking makes a very big difference. Researchers found layering a cloth mask over a surgical mask can block more than 92 percent of potential infectious particles. A single surgical or disposable mask about 40 percent.
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DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: The science is clear, everyone needs to be wearing a mask when they are in public or when they're in their own home but with people who do not live in their household.
This is especially true with our ongoing concern of new variants spreading the United States. We continue to recommend that masks should have two or more layers, completely cover your nose and mouth and should fit snugly against your nose and the sides of your face.
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VAUSE: The number of new infections in the U.S. continues to decline after recent highs, according to Johns Hopkins University the U.S. recorded 92,000 new cases on Wednesday. That brings the total to well over 27 million, by far more than any other country.
Still to come here, impeachment managers making a case against Donald Trump's with compelling videos and the words of the former president. But Republicans, at least many of them, still want to acquit the former president.
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VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM. More now on top story.
Impeachment managers have presented never before seen surveillance video to make their case that Donald Trump incited a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol. Allegedly though ginned up by Trump's false claims of election fraud. A number of Republican senators admit the video is chilling and effective but still plan to acquit regardless.
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To Los Angeles now. CNN's senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic," Ron Brownstein.
Ron, thanks for being with us. It's always good to see you.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, John.
VAUSE: OK, there are two district reactions right now from Republicans to this Democrat case. There are those who feel like the Alaskan Senator, Lisa Murkowski. Here she is.
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SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): The evidence that has been presented thus far is pretty damning. I don't see how Donald Trump could be reelected to the presidency again.
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VAUSE: And then there's the polar opposite, those like Senator Lindsey Graham who earlier told reporters, "I think there's more votes for acquittal after today than there was yesterday."
And this is one of the fault lines which we've seen within the party for some time but now seems to be getting deeper, and they're very much out on the public and on the record.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, well, the fault line is real, but it is predominant -- it's an interesting dynamic. Clearly, most of the rank-and-file in the party is still with Trump. I mean, three-quarters to 80 percent Republicans say the election was stolen, saying they support him.
And you see the elected officials responding to that base. I mean, the Trump base is too big for them to cross. But that still leaves something like 20 to 25 percent of Republican voters who are saying the opposite, who are saying they're deeply unnerved by what they are seeing, who are uncomfortable with the party's more open embrace of white nationalist extremism.
And if even a meaningful portion of that quarter or fifth of the party that is showing unease pulls back, that would be electorally catastrophic for the party, for the Republicans. So they are a little bit betwixt and between here. You can see most of them are still pulled toward this kind of reflexive loyalty and defense and enabling of Trump we've seen, really, for five years.
But there is a reality that there could be a cause to that of accentuating the kind of retreat they've had in white-collar suburbs in both 2018 and 2020.
VAUSE: Well, we've heard from one of Donald Trump's defense counsel. He appeared on FOX News a few hours ago, accused the Democrat side of using all of this video as an attack and essentially to drum up emotion, you know, against the president for the coming up elections or something. He then went on to make this prediction. Here he is.
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DAVID SCHOEN, FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP'S LEGAL COUNSEL: I think that you'll be quite impressed with the president's case, and I say that without wanting to even have to do that. We shouldn't be here. It's an illegitimate, unconstitutional impeachment process, completely lacking in any basis --
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: I know, but you lost that point.
SCHOEN: -- from start to finish.
INGRAHAM: Don -- Don, I understand, but you lost that point.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: You know, when FOX News is calling you out, the reality is Linus and Lucy could present the Trump defense, and there still would not be enough Republicans to get a two-thirds majority. Right:
BROWNSTEIN: Right. Well, look, I mean, not only do you have a party in which most of the elected officials are fearful at crossing his base, not only because they fear him personally, but because they need those voters. I mean, he has transformed the coalition in a way that they are all, as I have said, addicted to the same drug that he is pushing, which is massive turnout of this non-college, non-urban, often evangelical white base that responds to all of his arguments.
But you have this bizarre situation in which the ostensible jury, in many ways, are complicit in the activities that took place. I thought one of the most revealing moments of the day was when Democrats talked about and showed footage of that very harrowing attack on the Biden bus by Trump supporters in Texas and pointed out that the leader of that attack turned up again as the Capitol -- at the Capitol , as one of the leaders of the assault on Congress.
What happened after that attack in Texas? The day, or day or two after, Marco Rubio went out on a stage and extravagantly praised the Trump supporters who menaced the Biden bus. And, you know, that is kind of indicative of the bizarre situation in which you have these Republicans who either contributed to the -- kind of the Trump mistruths or, in other ways, abetted what he did after the election, remained silent when he claimed the election was stolen, and now are being asked to rule on his fate.
VAUSE: And with that in mind, the anti-Trump Lincoln Project has a new ad targeting Republicans who backed the former president, repeated his lies about rugged election. Marco Rubio, I guess, once was also fired up that mob which attacked the Capitol, he's part of the ad.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now the people who fed that mob are trying to escape responsibility. Donald Trump is responsible. Rudy Giuliani is responsible. Josh Hawley is responsible, Kevin McCarthy, Ted Cruz, Rick Scott, Ron Johnson, FOX News, Newsmax, OANN. They didn't strike the hundreds of blows that killed Brian Sicknick and hurt his colleagues. But they told the lie that led their followers to act, and the blood is on their hands.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It's a pretty powerful ad. Will it have any effect? Will there be a political price at the end of all of this?
BROWNSTEIN: Look, there's a political reconfiguration at the end of all of this. I mean, you look at the big arc of what we are seeing. If you go back to the refusal of Republicans to hold Trump accountable after he, you know, openly extorted the government of Ukraine; remained silent (AUDIO GAP) -- while he tried to tilt the census, and used the postal service for partisan advantage.
So many of them are two-thirds House Republicans, two-thirds Republican state attorneys general, joined his lawsuits to invalidate election and throw out the votes of 20 million people. A majority of the House voted to throw out the results in two states, House Republicans, even after the attack.
And then, of course, we see them again looking to shirk putting any responsibility just days after the House Republicans welcomed into their midst a QAnon conspiracy theorist who has promoted tweets calling for violence against Democrats.
All of these dynamics suggest the Republican Party is morphing out of the western political small "D" Democratic tradition into something else: a party that believes any means necessary is justified to maintain power at a time when the country is demographically evolving away from it.
And I think the most chilling signal is the kind of remarks by Graham and others that they are willing to just sweep all of this under the rug, because if you say that you are going to enable this, the odds are pretty highly that you're going to get more of it going forward.
VAUSE: Yes. Ron, a good point there. Thank you. Ron Brownstein. As always, it's great to have you with us, Ron. Thank you.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, John.
VAUSE: Still to come here, a prominent campaigner for women's rights, jailed for years in Saudi Arabia, has been released. But her family says their fight for justice is far from over. Details in a moment.
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VAUSE: He called himself a smut peddler who cares. Larry Flynt now dead, aged 78.
He founded "Hustler" magazine, built an empire from the adult entertainment industry, and been in poor health, though, for decades. The cause of death has not been disclosed, but a relative says it was as was not related to COVID-19.
Flynt was paralyzed after being shot in 1978 by a white supremacist who objected to interracial couples appearing in "Hustler."
Flynt was also an outspoken free speech activist who briefly ran for U.S. president in 1984.
In 2012, he wrote for CNN, saying this: "The best thing the arbiters of decency and good taste can do is to stay out of other people's lives. The greatest right that any nation can afford its people is the right to be left alone."
Which brings us to Saudi Arabia. One of the most prominent women's rights activist has been released after nearly three years in prison. She was arrested for campaigning against the kingdom which kept women from driving, a ban that has since been lifted.
She says she was tortured and sexually abused whilst in prison. Her family wants those responsible held accountable.
We get more details now from CNN's Nic Robertson.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): This is what 1,001 nights in a Saudi jail have done to rights activist Loujain al- Hathloul.
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She campaigned for women to be able to drive, was arrested May 2018. Finally released Wednesday, despite refusing to back down from her claims of torture, which the government denies.
President Joe Biden pleased.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATE: She was a powerful advocate for women's rights, and releasing her was the right thing to do.
ROBERTSON: during a court appearance late last year, her family was shocked at her condition.
LINA AL-HATHLOUL, LOUJAIN'S SISTER: My parents thought that she was very weak that her body was shaking and that her voice, as well. But even with that, she was still very focused and wanted to read her whole defense. Her and other activists were electrocuted, waterboarded, flogged, beaten, deprived of sleep, force fed.
ROBERTSON: Now taking to Twitter, her family demanding all charges against them are dropped and her torturers held to account.
The U.S. State Department pushed for her release.
NED PRICE, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: I wouldn't want to attach motives to the conduct of any other government. What I can say is what I said previously. The release, in this case, would be a very positive development. That's something we would welcome. It is something we have pressed for.
BIDEN: We're ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen.
ROBERTSON: Indeed, since President Joe Biden took over from his predecessor, Saudi is seeing a sea change in attitude.
BIDEN: Upholding universal rights, respecting the rule of law, treating every person with dignity.
ROBERTSON: Human rights, a cornerstone of his administration. Late last year, Saudi government officials were convinced of Lujain's guilt. ABDEL AL-JUBEIR, FORMER SAUDI MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: I believe the charges have to do with trying to recruit people in a sensitive position in the government in order to obtain sensitive documents and give them to hostile powers.
ROBERTSON: Back then, the country's minister of state for foreign affairs says Saudi wouldn't bow to international pressure to release Loujain.
AL-JUBEIR: We're not subject to pressure. We don't allow people to put pressure on us in order to do things that are against our interests.
ROBERTSON: It's not clear if minds are changed now, but in the past week, several other high-profile detainees have received sudden leniency.
Last Thursday, two Saudi American activists, Dr. Badr al-Ibrahim and Salah al-Haidar, detained for 673 days, were released on bail, pending court appearances.
On Sunday, Ali al-Nimr, a teenager when he was arrested for taking part in an anti-government protest in 2012, had his death sentence commuted to ten years, release likely later this year.
And Monday, the country's powerful crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman, MBS, announced draft reforms, in part to improve human rights, a government statement said. France's president, Emmanuel Macron, welcomed Lujain's release.
The U.N.'s top human rights defender called one Saudi to release all others imprisoned for their human rights work.
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
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VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Stay with us. I will be back at the top of the hour. In the meantime, WORLD SPORT is up next.
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CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We need to talk about schools. Of course, the impeachment trial is a big deal, and of course. it's really stalling efforts to get stuff done on the pandemic, but there are going to be challenges here, OK? The Biden administration on school reopenings and what happens on this 100-day plan is starting to draw some fire. Take a listen.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When President Biden talked for the last couple months, particularly during the transition, about reopening schools within the first 100 days, why didn't he ever mention the small print that that was just going to be for one day a week as the goal?
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, again, the president made -- set a goal of reopening the majority of schools within 100 days, and when you asked what that meant, I answered the question. So we are -- that is the -- that is not the ceiling. That is the -- that is the bar we're trying to leap over and exceed.
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CUOMO: Now, my suggestion, forget about the fact that the question came from FOX and that guy never showed a scintilla of curiosity about anything that Trump was lying about and saying, yes, we should all go back to schools but had no plan. Put it to the side, because we still have the same problem, OK?
[00:50:03]
In-person learning one day a week is not being back at school, OK? Many schools across the country are already doing that and more. So where's the bar? But more importantly, where is the plan as a function of where the science is?
See, I don't believe the science is telling people what the politics is telling them anymore. Let's get insight from infectious disease expert Dr. William Schaffner and former Clinton White House press secretary Joe Lockhart. Beautiful mix for this. Thank you, fellows, especially at this time.
I take silence as acceptance.
Dr. Schaffner, what I said there, I don't know that the science is tracking the way the politics is right now. For one reason, I don't think we have a great handle on what's happening in schools. I don't even know how they get the data.
But do you believe that we have seen in the science that the disease, the virus, is moving at a rate now in schools where we can feel better about kids being there?
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, PROFESSOR, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: I actually think, Chris, that Rochelle Walensky correct. You can open up schools again.
But, there's a big "but." You have to do so many things right. Everybody's wearing a mask, social distancing, staggered start and stop times. Don't send the kids all to the cafeteria at the same time. Lots of disinfection in the schools. You could do all that.
Even better -- and this is now a personal opinion -- if we could make every adult that's in the school part of the frontline essential workers and vaccinate them. If we did that, we would not only secure the schools for -- for the point of view of COVID, but we would also attack a second epidemic that's out there. This epidemic that's out there, this epidemic of anxiety or even fear
on the part of the teachers. And then, if the schools were open, the parents would all cheer because they could concentrate on doing their work in the economy again.
CUOMO: See, that's the problem for the Biden, though, Joe, is that if you have to do all those things and that's exactly what's happening. Schools are saying, We'll open, but I need the ventilation. I need the separation. I need all this equipment. And my teachers don't want to come in, and the unions are saying we're being held out to dry.
And I don't know that Biden has given them the money that they need. We, in fact, know he hasn't. I don't know that it's coming any time soon. And I don't know why they slow walk the let teachers get vaccinated. What are the answers?
JOE LOCKHART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think primarily, the science is optimistic. I think Dr. Walensky talked about that in one of the briefings last week.
The real problem right now is resources. The Republicans in the Senate have said that supplying money to states and local authorities, cities, is a non-starter for them. They use this nonsense talking point that -- that Democrats are just trying to bail out badly-run states and cities.
To do all of the things that the science says you need to do, particularly things like increasing ventilation, you need resources. You need money. That's in the recovery package. They are taking the most aggressive way to do it, reconciliation, going without Republicans. But even that takes a few weeks.
CUOMO: But why talk about opening the schools when you know that they don't have the money and the time to get things ready so that they can open? I think they put themselves in a trap.
You know Psaki should have said to the FOX guy, Hey where was your -- I'll tell you why we can't open the schools. Because you guys did nothing. And because you said open the schools, but you didn't equip them. You didn't give them the money. You didn't give them the equipment. You didn't give them the guidance. So we're way behind. That's why. You should have asked these questions then.
But she didn't. Instead, you now have this mismatch of -- of mentalities in the administration. Let's play the sound bites back to back.
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DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC HEAD: There is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen. Vaccination of teachers is not a prerequisite for safe reopening of schools.
PSAKI: Dr. Walensky spoke to this in her personal capacity. Obviously, she's the head of the CDC, but we're going to wait for the final guidance to come out so we can use that as a guide for schools around the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: What does that mean, Schaffner? I mean, you're not in the messaging business. But I mean, you know, look, why wouldn't the teachers need to be vaccinated, when they are largely an at-risk group and they have at-risk people at home? Why wouldn't they have to be?
SCHAFFNER: Well, it beats me. I think if they had all those resources -- and we've been talking about that -- then you could do it rather safely.
But I think, in the current environment, it would be a really good idea to put all those adults who were working the school -- custodians, food service workers, everybody -- in the first line of people who do get vaccinated next. And that would satisfy them, reduce their anxiety, give them a desire to go back to school, and as I said, make the parents all very, very happy.
CUOMO: Dr. Schaffner --
SCHAFFNER: Win, win to me.
[00:55:15]
CUOMO: Appreciate it, Dr. Schaffner.
Joe Lockhart, as always, appreciate you.
We're going to be back with another hour of late, live special coverage, because this was the second day of Trump trial. And it's going to matter. And what happens next in our country.
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CUOMO: Welcome back to PRIME TIME. I'm Chris Cuomo with more live special coverage of the Trump trial two, day two. It's 1 a.m. in the east. Prosecution is going to wrap up its case today or later today. And then tomorrow. OK?
Now, what will that look like? I don't know. We're going to have to see. And depending on what coast you're on, it's either later today or sometime tomorrow.
But look, we're all in this together.
