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Day 2, Impeachment Trial: Dramatic New Audio And Video Of The Siege; Republicans Admit To Impact Of New Evidence; Biden Sanctions Myanmar, Protestors Stand Firm; Iran And U.S. On Nuclear Deal Roundabout; Democrats Build Case that Trump Incited Insurrection; WHO Advisers Recommend Oxford Vaccine for all Adults; Health Experts Report Improving Trends in the Americas; Haiti Police Clash with Protesters; Biden Administration Inheriting Lingering Disputes with Turkey; Auto Makers Hit hard by Global Microchip Shortage. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired February 11, 2021 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
JOHN VAUSE, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Hello, everyone. I'm John Vause, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Coming up this hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOAQUIN CASTRO, (D-TEXAS), IMPEACHMENT MANAGER: On January 6th, President Trump left everyone in this Capitol for dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Democrats detail what Donald Trump did and did not do during the attack on the Capitol. And they're using his own words and chilling new video to make their case.
CROWD: (Shouting)
U.S. targets (inaudible) leaders with thousands of protesters demanding a return to civilian rule.
CROWDS: (Clapping and chanting)
VAUSE: And in Haiti, even though the president was democratically elected, protesters want him out of office.
For the first time in U.S. history, senators saw and heard evidence that a president of the United States incited a mob to breach the Capitol, overturn a free and fair election and even try and kill them.
Using never before seen video and newly revealed audio, House impeachment managers laid out their case on Wednesday.
They showed the angry mob beating police, marauding through the Capitol, hunting down political enemies. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: We need units, we're surrounded.
UNKNOWN: Cruiser 50, they've breached the scaffolds. Let Capitol know they have breached the scaffolds. They are behind our lines.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC SWALWELL, (D-CALIF.), U.S. HOUSE IMPEACHMENT MANAGER: If you look closely, you'll see the first person through the door is holding a Trump flag.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: They even used Trump's own words and tweets against him.
One clip showed a rioter urging the crowd to go after the vice president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: "Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do it should have been done to protect our country and our constitution."
VAUSE: Another new clip showed the vice president, his family and staff being hustled out of the Senate as the riot started.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Another new clip showed the vice president, his family and staff being hustled out of the Senate as the riot started.
Trump advisers say the former president still has not expressed any remorse for the attack and his relationship with Pence remains broken.
A number of GOP senators tell CNN they were stunned by the video evidence, but they still plan to vote to acquit.
CNN's Ryan Nobles reports now from Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Democratic House impeachment managers spent day two of the trial against former president Donald Trump, giving the U.S. Senators and impeachment jurors a chilling new look at January 6th.
UNKNOWN: Intel 1, be advised we've got a group of about 50 charging up on the Hill on the west front just north of the stairs. They are approaching the wall now.
UNKNOWN: They started to dismantle the reviewing stand. They're throwing metal poles at us. NOBLES: In never before seen Capitol surveillance videos, the
managers demonstrated just how close the rioters came to many of the senators in the rooms.
SWALWELL: You are just 58 steps away from where the mob was amassing and where police were rushing to stop them. They were yelling.
NOBLES: They showed video of former vice president Mike Pence being assured out of the chamber as the mob breached the Capitol.
STACEY PLASKETT, (D-V.I.), U.S. HOUSE IMPEACHMENT MANAGER: You see Vice President Pence and his family quickly moved down the stairs. The vice president turns around briefly, as he's headed down.
NOBLES: They revealed video of Senator Chuck Schumer and his security detail being forced to reroute his evacuation after confronting the insurrectionists.
SWALWELL: Additional security footage shows how Leader Schumer and the members of his protective detail had a near miss with a mob.
NOBLES: And video of Mitt Romney breaking into a run to get away from the mob, after Capitol police officer, Eugene Goodman, warns the senator to double back and flee.
The managers making it clear if not for the brave and heroic action of the members of the Capitol police many of the senators listening to the testimony today could have been hurt or even killed.
SWALWELL: You know how close you came to the mob. Some of you, I understand, could hear them. But most of the public does not know how close these rioters came to you.
NOBLES: The new video and audio clips had an immediate impact on the senators in the room.
SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI, (R-ALASKA): We lived it once and that was awful. And we're now reliving it with a more comprehensive timeline.
I know what I was feeling in the Senate chamber when I could hear those voices. I knew what it meant to be running down this hallway with my colleagues.
[01:05:00]
NOBLES: But while was easy to get Republicans to agree the actions of the rioters was criminal, many say they can't tie it back to the former president.
"The legal theory they have is absurd," said Senator Lindsey Graham. "That somehow that Trump's a secret member of the Proud Boys? "
Impeachment managers never suggested Trump was a member but they did connect the dots between the president's rhetoric and the far right extremist group. PLASKETT: When asked to condemn the Proud Boys and white
supremacists, what did our president say? He said, "Stand back and stand by." The group adopted that phrase, "Stand back and stand by," as their official slogan.
NOBLES: And managers repeatedly insisting the president's repeated inaction during the attacks points to his culpability.
REP. DAVID CICILLINE, (D-R.I.), HOUSE IMPEACHMENT MANAGER: In the first crucial hours of this violent attack, he did nothing to stop it, nothing to help us.
By all accounts from the people that were around him he was delighted.
NOBLES: And while the evidence was damning and the emotions are raw, most Republicans still remain entrenched in their position that pinning the blame on the former president through an impeachment conviction, remains unconstitutional. Despite the senate vote Tuesday settling that issue.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Ryan Nobles reporting there.
And now let's go to Washington to CNN's congressional correspondent. Jessica Dean is with us this hour.
Jessica, I think one of the best ways to gauge real reaction from many of the senators is how they reacted when they saw that video for the first time.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, by all accounts, John, everyone was really rapt watching that video for the first time.
Because remember, when this was all unfolding in real time, on January 6th, those senators were rushed out and barricaded away trying to get them all to safety.
So a lot of them said after viewing that video that they never actually got a full feel for what exactly was going on in and around them as they were trying to get to safety.
And it's important to remember too, this just has a ripple effect through the Capitol right now. This only happened just over a month ago and there's still a lot of trauma that lingers in these hallways from what people experienced that day, people who were living here.
So for the senators to be able to watch this unfold, as Senator Murkowski talked about in Ryan's piece, in real time as House impeachment managers put this all together -- Senator Susan Collins later said that you could hear a pin drop inside the chamber.
Before that, some of them had been milling about, not really paying zeroed in attention. But when that video came on by all accounts, they were certainly very, very focused on it. And that is really how the day unfolded until they were beginning to
wrap up earlier this evening later in the day for them.
And that's when one of the impeachment managers was re-telling a story based on media accounts about Senator Mike Lee getting a phone call from President Trump and that's when Senator Lee began to kind of fervently write down notes and get rather agitated saying that that was not true.
Ultimately, there was a bit of chaos there on the floor for the moment, but ultimately they did strike that from the record.
Here's Senator Lee. Take a listen.
SEN. MIKE LEE, (R-UTAH): 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.
DEAN: What Senator Lee seems to be upset about in that part was this particular line and detail from the retelling of that story.
That while he was on the phone with President Trump, while the insurrection was happening that President Trump was pushing him to push the electoral college results and delay that as well.
So he was saying that he did not agree with that.
Again, the House impeachment manager, Jamie Raskin, saying that it was really neither here nor there for them in terms of their larger case. It was just a small detail.
But that was a bit of chaos at the end of the day.
Now, John, looking ahead to tomorrow or later today as it is here in Washington D.C., the senators will be back in the chamber at noon, the House impeachment managers have up to eight additional hours to complete their telling of the story, the presentation of their case before they rest.
And then the following day, former president Donald Trump's defense team will pick it up from there.
John.
VAUSE: Jessica, thank you. It's tomorrow somewhere in the world, you get used to it actually.
Jessica Dean there in Washington. Thank you.
Ambassador Norm Eisen is a CNN legal analyst, ethics tzar during the Obama Administration, more recently special counsel to House Democrats during Donald Trump's first impeachment trial. And we welcome him this hour from New York.
Norm, as always, it is good to have you with us.
NORM EISEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: John, good to be back with you.
VAUSE: OK. Well, Democrats, they've recreated with almost forensic detail not just the events of January 6th but also the months and the weeks and the days before that.
They've presented this new video from bodycams and security cameras.
And it's all being woven together to portray Donald Trump as the inciter -in-chief.
And I want you to listen to Democrat Jamie Raskin. He's using the example of someone yelling fire in a crowded theater.
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD.), HOUSE IMPEACHMENT MANAGER: It's more like a case where the town fire chief who's paid to put out fires sends a mob not to yell fire in a crowded theater but to actually set the theater on fire.
And who then, when the fire alarms go off and the calls start flooding into the fire department asking for help, does nothing but sit back and encourage the mob to continue its rampage and watch the fire spread on TV. With glee and delight.
VAUSE: Well, some Republicans have conceded the impeachment managers have done a good job connecting the dots.
Others like Senator Lindsey Graham say the legal argument is absurd and the case is falling apart. That seems absurd in itself.
But who is the audience here?
EISEN: It's multiple audiences, John. Certainly, it's the Republican Senators, the house managers and their very able council and staff -- have already been six times more effective than we were in the first impeachment.
We managed to pick up one Republican, true -- for the first time in American history to cross the aisle against a president of his own party, Mitt Romney -- they already picked up six Republicans on the key vote that they had yesterday on the constitutionality of the trial.
So they're going for more.
But they're not stopping there. They're also talking to the American people because they recognize hey, they may not be able to get Republicans to put their duty to country above their pledge of allegiance to Donald Trump.
So the ultimate jury is the United States of America and they're talking to all Americans as well.
VAUSE: Well, part of this new evidence was never before seen video of policeman Eugene Goodman directing Senator Mitt Romney to safety whilst the Capitol was under siege by these insurgents loyal to Donald Trump.
Here's Senator Mitt Romney now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-CALIF.) (Voice Over): "Obviously, very troubling to see the great violence that our Capitol police and others were subjected to. It tears at your heart and brings tears to your eyes. That was overwhelmingly distressing and emotional."
UNKNOWN ((Voice Over): "Do you think this will change the minds of some of your fellow Republicans?"
ROMNEY (Voice Over): "I can't predict what other -- how other people will react."
VAUSE: Senator Romney may not speak for others but we do know that at least 44 Republican senators are already on the record declaring this process illegitimate.
Beyond accusations of flip-flopping and hypocrisy, are they locked into that vote? How do they go back on that should they be moved by all of this evidence?
EISEN: It's challenging to go back on their prior commitments but they can, there's a legal path.
They simply have to say well, the Senate has ruled that its constitutional so now we're going to reach the merits of the case. Happens in regular courts all the time when you get past a threshold or an appellate court tells you you're wrong on the constitution, you move to the merits.
The more salient question is not the intellectual off ramp, John, it's the character one.
Will they have the courage to take on Donald Trump and his mob? To overcome their fear of political retribution and perhaps physical danger, to do the right thing.
There's no real question that Donald Trump committed the high crime and misdemeanor of incitement of insurrection. The only question is, how much courage do these Senate Republicans have?
VAUSE: Yes. That's a good question. As an aside to this, the Fulton County attorney -- district attorney, has opened a criminal investigation into Trump's alleged attempts to interfere with the outcome of the results here in the state of Georgia.
Part of the letter which was sent to various local officials reads --
"This investigation includes but is not limited to potential violations of Georgia law prohibiting the solicitation of election fraud, the making of false statements to the state and local government bodies, conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office and any involvement in violence or threats related to the election's administration." It's a whole lot of stuff.
How does this all play into the impeachment trial and how does the impeachment play into the investigation?
EISEN: Another very clever thing the House managers and the House trial team did. They included Trump's Georgia conduct in the article of impeachment. It was argued today by Representative Madeleine Dean.
[01:15:00]
When Donald Trump told Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, I just want to find 11,780 votes, one more than I need to win the election, he was committing solicitation of election fraud and a variety of other offenses. We have the audio tape.
And so that is a part of the pattern of incitement. John, imagine if he had been successful in doing that, it would have made the insurrection even worse.
And today's argument and the rest of the trial is setting up the next chapter of the possible prosecution of Donald Trump.
VAUSE: Another chapter to come. There always seems to be one more.
Norm, thank you. Good to see you.
EISEN: John, we have to have something to talk about when I visit you.
VAUSE: Absolutely. Great to see you. Thank you, Norm.
EISEN: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: Still to come. Protestors standing firm in Myanmar. Despite curfews and arrests, the campaign against the military coup now into its sixth day.
Plus resetting relations with Turkey. The problems inherited by the Biden Administration and the changes which may be soon be coming.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: The head of the organizing committee for Tokyo's Olympics will step down amid outrage over sexist remarks he made earlier this month.
During a board meeting, Yoshiro Mori sparked outrage by saying women talk too much. He retracted the comment at a news conference last week but refused to resign. But since then the sponsors have let their happiness (ph) be known, however.
As the name suggests, the 2020 Tokyo Games were scheduled for last year but were postponed because of the pandemic. Recent polls show nearly 80 percent of the public are opposed to holding the games this year.
Well, demonstrators in Myanmar are not backing down and they're protesting for a sixth straight day about last week's military coup.
A spokesperson for the National League for Democracy says several senior party members were taken from their homes at various times on Wednesday.
CNN's Paula Hancocks tracking developments from Seoul.
So obviously, the military continues to round up all those political leaders. What do we know about the ones who are already being held, in particular Aung San Suu Kyi?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I just spoke to an activist inside Myanmar and asked her that exact question.
And she said that the people simply don't know at this point. They know she's still being held. There are assumptions she's under house arrest but they don't know for sure exactly where she is.
The same with the president, the same with a number of other leaders of the NLD, the National League for Democracy, which up until a week- and-a-half ago was the ruling property of a democratically elected government.
So, as you say, we're seeing this round up continue. Overnight from Wednesday into Thursday there were a number, at least seven according to the NLD spokesman, members of the NLD that were rounded up.
[01:20:00]
Also, there were members of the electoral commission that were rounded up. Now they're the ones that went against the military when the military said they had to stage this coup because it wasn't a free and fair election last November -- which was won by a landslide by Aung San Suu Kyi's party.
The electoral commission says that it was a free and fair election. So now we're seeing some of those officials being rounded up as well.
But as this is going on, as the round up continues, we are still seeing thousands of people coming out onto the street to protest what they call a military dictatorship, calling for all those members of the NLD to be released and to come out of detention.
Now the activist I just spoke to said that up until this point that the police response has been fairly inconsistent. On one day, you will find a road blockade and the police will not let anyone through, the next day it is fine for the protests to come through.
So it's a bit of a cat and mouse game at this point when it comes to the protests and, of course, there is that concern that they could use more force against protesters.
We saw just a couple of days ago two people seriously injured at least that we know of by police retaliation.
John.
VAUSE: Paula, thank you. Paula Hancocks live for us there in Seoul with the latest.
Well, U.S. President Joe Biden announced sanctions against Myanmar's military leaders on Wednesday. He called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi as well as other detainees.
And he's urging international partners to join the effort to restore democracy to Myanmar.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The U.S. government is taking steps to prevent the generals from improperly having access to the one billion dollars in Burmese government funds held in the United States.
And today, I've approved a new executive order -- excuse me, a new executive order -- enabling us to immediately sanction military leaders who directed the coup, their business interests as well as close family members.
We will identify a first round of targets this week and we're also going to impose strong exports control.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
For more now on the new U.S. sanctions targeting Myanmar.
CNN global affairs analyst, Susan Glasser, is with us this hour for Vermont. Susan's also a staff writer with "The New Yorker." And thank you for being with us.
SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Thank you so much.
VAUSE: OK. Well, this is seen as the first indicator, I guess, for U.S. foreign policy under President Biden. The sanctions were only announced after talks, apparently, with both Republicans and Democrats.
Listen to a little more now from the U.S. President. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: We're freezing U.S. assets that benefit the Burmese Government while maintaining our support for healthcare, civil society groups and other areas that benefit the people of Burma directly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It's really notable. These sanctions are not just targeted but they're also laser focused on the military leaders and they send a clear message, it seems, not just to Myanmar.
GLASSER: That's right. Their swift action, I would say, comes very quickly. I think you're right that it's a pretty bipartisan consensus.
The flip side is there are very limited tools that this Administration or any U.S. administration has to actually reverse the course of this military takeover once again in Myanmar.
So I think -- remember this was one of the great -- it was seen as the successes of the Obama era was the transition to civilian leadership and a more democratic approach in Myanmar. Unfortunately, that's now been rolled back.
So there are limited tools that are available right now to the Biden Administration.
VAUSE: The criticism always is with sanctions that they hurt the people more than they hurt those in power or those who've seized power rather -- who are meant to be the ones who are targeted. This seems to sort of negate that a little bit, doesn't it?
GLASSER: Well, I think you can do a better or a less good job of targeting the sanctions. The question is to what end?
We've seen with a number of the stalemate in conflicts in the world piling on of sanctions over and over again without producing different outcomes when it comes to the policy. And so is this really going to reverse the military takeover in Burma? I'm afraid the answer is no.
But it is a very loud and clear and fast message from the Biden Administration about its disapproval.
VAUSE: These sanctions are fairly similar, I guess, to the ones imposed on Iraq during the Obama days. And on Wednesday, Iran's president again spoke publicly about Iran's willingness to rejoin the nuclear agreement.
That's the deal that Donald Trump scrapped in 2018.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HASSAN ROUHANI, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (Through Translator): We are ready to fully fulfill our commitments in the joint comprehensive plan of action if we witness that the five plus one countries involved have adhered to their commitments.
There is no other path for the world and the region.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The White House has already said it will only consider rejoining the nuke deal once Iran is in full compliance. But even then, how hard will it be for Biden to win over, I guess, Republicans, to say nothing of Israel?
GLASSER: Well, that's right. Right now, they're in the sort of you first, no, you first stage with Iran. Which is to say that both sides are saying that the other side has to go first. So that's the first impasses.
[01:25:00]
And I think it is a very significant one in this testing phase. But, as you say, even if they're able to get past that, if Iran was able to show that it was back in compliance in a way that the U.S. wanted to rejoin, I think that the world has moved on in four years. And it would be very difficult politically to rejoin.
But remember, this was not a treaty passed by the U.S. Senate, this was an executive action to join it, and it was an executive action on the part of Donald Trump to pull out of it.
VAUSE: Since taking office, Biden has spoken to leaders from the U.K., France, Germany, Canada, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Japan, Australia, India as well -- but not Israel, not Benjamin Netanyahu.
So is Bibi getting the cold shoulder because Biden doesn't want to discuss the Iran nuclear deal or because Netanyahu went all in for Trump?
GLASSER: Well, perhaps it's all of the above. There's no question that Netanyahu's very, very close relationship with Donald Trump and the Republican Party has been much noted in Washington in the last few years.
I don't think it's an accident. This is a very savvy team of foreign policy advisers that vice president -- now President Biden has recruited. And so the fact that they didn't Netanyahu is definitely not an oversight, and it's not a mistake.
I do think that there is a conscious effort to spend less time and focus on the Middle East by this new team but sooner or later, it pulls you back in.
And Israel and the United States have national interests that supersede the politics of the moment, so I think it's still a close relationship underlying it.
But remember, Netanyahu is facing a political storm at home as well and, in fact, is facing his own trial at the same moment that we have the first ever after-the-presidency trial of President Trump as well.
So Netanyahu has a lot of political problems internally in Israel too.
VAUSE: Yes. It's interesting how these two, Netanyahu and Trump, are still on this very similar path in many ways.
But Susan, thank you so much. Appreciate you being with us.
GLASSER: Thank you.
VAUSE: Joe Biden has had his first official conversation as U.S. president with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
The White House says Biden talked security, trade and the pandemic and pressed Xi on human rights abuses.
They also discussed potential areas of cooperation, the Chinese leader reportedly adding a confrontation would be a disaster for both countries.
Same tensions, different tones. What Turkey and the U.S. can expect from each other under a new American administration.
But first more on the chilling new video of the attack on the U.S. Capitol. How Republican senators have been reacting.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:30:11]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm John Vause.
Democrats will wrap up their case in the coming hours in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump. On Wednesday they showed never before seen video of the attack on the Capitol, riders beating police. One clip shows the Vice President Mike Pence being rushed from the Senate floor as a mob of Trump supporters were fast approaching.
Democrats say the former president is the one to blame.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOE NEGUSE (D-CO): As you will see you during the course of this trial, that mob was summoned, assembled, and incited by the former president of the United States, Donald Trump. And he did that because he wanted to stop the transfer of power so that he could retain power, even though he had lost the election.
And when the violence erupted, when they were here in our building with weapons, he did nothing to stop it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Other video shows riders repeating Trump's catchphrases and hunting for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where are you, Nancy? We're looking for you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nancy. Oh Nancy. Nancy. Where are you, Nancy?
REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): This security video from 2:56 pm shows the mob in the House of Representatives wing on the second floor of the Capitol. Insurrectionists who are still inside the building are fighting with the police who are overwhelmed in trying to get them out. This new security footage of the senators and staff leaving the
chamber will be displayed on the screens. It is silent. As you are moving through that hallway. I paced it off. You were just 58 steps away from where the mob was amassing, and where police were rushing to stop them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: CNN White House correspondent John Harwood is with us again this hour. So you know John, during that trial on Wednesday, you know, Democrats pieced together almost exactly what Trump was doing while members of Congress were under their desks or hiding in closets with an armed mob storming the Capitol.
And the answer is what he was nothing. But he did tell his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to make this phone call. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, TRUMP LAWYER: Senator (INAUDIBLE) or I should Coach (INAUDIBLE). This is Rudy Giuliani, the president's lawyer.
I'm calling you because I want to discuss with you how they are trying to rush this hearing, and how we need you, our Republican friends to try to just slow it down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So, the allegation is that that is the only action that Donald Trump took in that period of time, about four hours or so.
It seems kind of (INAUDIBLE) how like Senators Graham and Cruz can actually listen to that and other details and then go and publicly defend the former president.
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Look, the Republican Party is determined not to challenge Donald Trump, not to challenge supporters of Donald Trump. And so for the vast majority of them it doesn't matter how graphic the video is, how frightening the images are, how direct the connections are between Donald Trump's stoking of the fear and anger of his base for months with the lie that the election was going to be stolen.
Then after the election was held, that it had been stolen. This was of course, completely untrue. But the president who is unable to accept his defeat continued as the House managers laid out, for an extended period of time.
Many Republican senators were complicit in that attempt. They did not challenge the president for lying about the election. They did not accept themselves in their public statements that Joe Biden had won the election.
And so when they are considering this evidence, it's not only Donald Trump who's on trial, it's them who are on trial. And they don't want to convict themselves, just as they don't want to convict Donald Trump.
And it does not appear that the evidence is capable of moving a sufficient number of them for a conviction.
Well, they need 17, there may be five or six that we can see obviously so far. Perhaps a couple more, but will come on board it's very difficult to see them getting to 17.
[01:34:59]
VAUSE: Just explain for, you know, for the international audience in particular, the fear that the Republicans have of Donald Trump. He is no longer in office, he lost the White House, the Democrats control the lower House, they basically won the senate by a narrow margin, but they -- so all three branches of government now controlled by the Democrats.
He's lost basically everything. He's been de-platformed. He can't tweet anymore. He's on no social media. Where is the fear of this guy?
HARWOOD: Well, it's not fear of Donald Trump personally, although that's an aspect of it. But that's not the biggest aspect. The biggest is the chunk of the party that provides the energy, the emotion, the intensity that Republicans need to compete.
The country is changing in ways that it's moving away from the Republican Party. That's why they lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections.
country 50 years ago was a dominantly white, Christian country. That is no longer the case. White Christians make up less than half the population. And within 25 years or so, whites will not be a majority of the population.
Republicans are almost wholly dependent on white votes, and in particular, the votes of whites who are most fearful of those changes.
And so if Republicans challenge President Trump, they're challenging that energy that is the jet fuel for their party's campaigns right now. And that is a risk they have not been willing to take.
Remember after 2012, when Mitt Romney lost to Barack Obama, when Obama won a second term, they considered changing course. They thought about moderating the party, reaching out to women, to non whites, to younger voters.
And then Donald Trump bowled over the competition and showed where the power in the party was. Even after Donald Trump leaves the presidency, that's still where the power of the party is, and they are not willing to bucket.
VAUSE: Just very quickly, John, what does the Republican Party stand for now?
HARWOOD: What does the Republican Party stand for now?
VAUSE: Yes.
HARWOOD: They don't stand for anything other remaining in power. It's not an accident that at the Republican convention this past summer, they did not adapt a platform of any kind. They simply said they were lining behind Donald Trump.
Traditionally, in the last couple of decades, we've come to associate Republicans with a coalition among white working class voters, evangelical voters religiously active voters.
And the wealthiest in our society, businesspeople who want low taxes, low -- amounts of government spending, low business regulation. That is the coalition but it's become increasingly difficult because many of the suburban college-educated voters who were part of that coalition are fleeing as the Republican Party has been radicalized around a set of ideas and the appeals to racism that Donald Trump relied upon.
And so now it's a narrower base in which the white working class voters that Trump relied upon are more dominant, not less dominant.
VAUSE: John we're out of time but thank you, it's interesting. Power without purpose is sort of where they're at, at the moment.
John Harwood there in Washington. Thank you, John.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says double masking actually makes a big difference. Researchers found wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mask can block more than 92 percent of potential infectious particles. A single surgical or disposable mask blocks only around 42 percent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: The science is clear. Everyone needs to be wearing a mask when they are in public, or when they are in their own home but with people who do not live in their household.
This is especially true with our ongoing concern about new variants spreading in the United States.
We continue to recommend that masks should have two or more layers, completely cover your nose and mouth, and fit snugly against your nose and the sides of your face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The number of new infections in the U.S. continues to decline from the highs we saw in recent weeks. According to Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. saw 93,000 new cases on Wednesday bringing the total to well over 27 million, by far more than any other country.
The WHO is recommending the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine for all adults despite concerns about efficacy. Last week, a study showed the doses offered little protection against milder infections caused by the variant first detected in South Africa. Several European nations have hesitated to use the vaccine on those over 65 years old, citing a lack of data. But the WHO says the vaccine works on the elderly and recommended even in countries with more resistant variants.
[01:39:56]
VAUSE: The U.K. has done (ph) a number of places which have authorized the vaccine and on Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomed the recommendation from the WHO.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: And let me stress that these vaccines are safe and effective. And 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The Pan American Health Organization says the WHO may authorize the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine for emergency use as soon this week.
The director says she's confident vaccinations will work against those variants which are now spreading across the region. She's noted some hard-hit areas though are seeing improved trends including Brazil where one of these strains was first detected.
Details now from Stefano Pozzebon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Yes. So finally good news coming out of the Pan American Health Organization. The director of PAHO, Dr. Etienne (ph) has highlighted that the number of new cases is reducing as a total trend across the whole of the Western Hemisphere.
This she says may suggest that the bulk of the new cases, this dramatic spread in new coronavirus cases that took over not just Latin America, but the whole of the Western Hemisphere in the weeks following the Christmas holiday season. These new spreading second wave is finally flattening.
But just after delivering this much awaited positive news, she had a very stark warning for the future. Take a listen to what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. CARISSA ETIENNE, DIRECTOR, PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION: This is cause for hope but not yet for celebration. The number of COVID deaths continues to escalate across the Americas. A sign that many health systems remain overwhelmed, particularly in those places that carry a heavy burden of COVID-19 infections. (END VIDEO CLIP)
POZZEBON: Among the hotspots that are particularly worrying for PAHO are the Central American region between Guatemala, Salvador, and Honduras. And the free (ph) border area between Peru, Colombia and Brazil at the heart of the Amazon rain forest.
To finish up, the briefing panel could only stress the importance of vaccines, urging both governments and citizens all across the Western Hemisphere to vaccinate as much and as quickly as possible.
For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Haiti's opposition is demanding the President step down immediately adding his term has expired. Now there's chaos on the streets of the capital. More in a moment.
[01:42:55]
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VAUSE: Protesters in Haiti have clashed with police. They opened fire with tear gas. They're demanding the president step down because his term has expired, and he is in violation of the constitution. But President Jovenel Moise says that's just not true.
CNN's Patrick Oppmann explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK OPPMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): As violent protests rage in Haiti, it's not clear who is the country's rightful president. According to Haiti's constitution, presidential terms last five years.
Haiti's superior court of justice says the term of President Jovenel Moise was supposed to have ended on Sunday. The president disagreed arguing that a delay in his taking office after a disputed election in 2015 meant that he had another year to go in power.
"We fight each other every day. We need to admit the country is dying. I called on all of the elite to wake up," he says.
"I heard people saying I am a dictator, but I want to be clear I have a mandate for five years, and I will finish my term."
OPPMANN: Each day that the stalemate drags on, Haiti's crumbling institutions grow weaker. Moise dissolved Haiti's parliament over a year ago by letting its mandate expire.
"The country needs to hold both legislative and presidential election soon."
Moise's political opponents want him out now. "In the name of the opposition," he says, "I'm sending out a message to the international community to understand the necessity of accompanying the Haitian people in the struggle for the respect of the constitution."
So far, the Biden administration is backing the embattled Haitian president, saying Moise's term ends in 2022. And that's when he should leave office.
But seven U.S. Lawmakers sent a letter to the U.S. Secretary of State backing a transition and the opposition's demands that Moise step down immediately.
To hold on to power, Moise is employing an increasingly heavy hand. Haiti's justice minister said that 23 people were arrested on Sunday and accused of conspiring against the state. Including a supreme court justice that the opposition had named as interim president and is supposed to have immunity.
Then police arrived at the supreme court and on Monday police and soldiers fired their weapons to disperse a demonstration, a witness told CNN.
Two journalists were wounded. It's not clear who shot them. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Haitian government to investigate the shootings.
Protesters said they will not be intimidated. "We continue to mobilize to demand that Jovenel Moise leave power. He's currently a criminal. He needs to leave and the opposition and civil society need to put in a new president," he says.
Neither side seems like they are backing down, as Haiti's shaky democracy nears a breaking point.
Patrick Oppmann, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, after four years of a Trump foreign policy which seemed determined to dismantle global institutions and destroy alliances, there is much for Joe Biden to repair. Some will be fairly straightforward, but not when it comes to Turkey and relations with Ankara.
Jomana Karadsheh explains
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a great honor to have President Erdogan from Turkey here.
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Few world leaders have the kind of relationship Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan had with former president Donald Trump. That bromance as some described it may have prevented a total rupture of U.S.-Turkish relations that continue to sour were over long-standing disagreements.
From the U.S.' support for Kurdish led fighters in Syria that Turkey considers terrorists and it's main national security threat, to NATO member Turkey's purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defenses system that triggered rare U.S. sanctions against a decades-old ally.
Now the U.S. president inherits the same old disputes with an increasingly assertive Turkey.
ASLI AYDINTASBAS, EUROPEAN COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: A lot has changed over the past four years. This is not the Turkey of a decade ago, with its smooth role in the transatlantic alliance. Turkey is now clearly a resurging power, wanting to have a military footprint outside of its borders.
In fact having a military presence in six, seven, eight locations across the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean including Libya.
KARADSHEH: Turkey's military interventions and its more forceful foreign policy irked many in the region and beyond.
AYDINTASBAS: Turkey is very isolated, regionally. So I think Erdogan understands that he needs to have a good relationship with the United States, a better relations. I don't think they want to start off on a bad footing. We are already seeing Erdogan pivot -- trying to pivot to Europe. Going on a charm offensive and sending positive messages to Washington.
[01:49:59]
KARADSHEH: Since President Joe Biden's win, there's been a clear shift in Ankara's tone. Turkey's presidential spokesman told CNN's Becky Anderson they're ready for change.
IBRAHIM KALIN, CHIEF ADVISER FOR PRESIDENT ERDOGAN: Our president has said that Turkey is ready to start talking about purchasing (INAUDIBLE) or other defense systems from NATO allies. So we are ready to do it. We are ready for full cooperation. We believe that we will have a new page turned with the Biden administration.
He knows Turkey. He knows the Turkish political scene. He knows the leadership here. He knows our president. He came to Turkey four times as vice president. And I believe he will take all that experience and context, you know, into his new position as the president of the United States.
KARADSHEH: The Biden administration has signaled it will be taking a harder line against Turkey, and it will likely be far less tolerant of a worsening human rights record, largely ignored by the previous administration. But the two countries still need each other.
AYDINTASBAS: Turkey is a significant country. And I think that for Syria, for Iraq, and in terms of pushing back against Russian influence in the Middle East, Turkey is very important. The Turkish- Russian relationship is also very complex. They look very close but Turkey -- they are also limiting each other's power in different theaters.
That too is very precious for U.S. interests. So there's every reason to make this work.
KARADSHEH (on camera): Turkey's leadership knows very well that dealing with Biden's America is going to be really different. No more will this be mostly based on a personal relationship between two presidents, and an open phone line to the White House.
It is going to be a return to the traditional ways of doing business. Institution to institution, state to state -- and that may just be the reset this complicated relationship needs.
Jomana Karadsheh, CNN -- Istanbul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: When we come back, how a microchip shortage is seeing auto assembly lines worldwide come to a standstill in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Well, a growing number of automakers around the world are idling their production lines. It's not because of COVID or shortage of demand but a shortage of microchips.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT (on camera): It's so easy to take them for granted, the tiny silicon based semi-conductors that fuel our modern lives, our smartphones, our laptops, and our cars.
Now, the average car has between 50 to 150 chips that are used to monitor important engine and safety systems along with GPS navigation or driver assistance when you try to parallel park.
But when the pandemic hammered auto sales last year, top chip makers shifted capacity away from carmakers to gadget makers, resulting in a critical shortage of car chips that's been called chip-ageddon.
EMMANUEL BULLE, EMEA CORPORATES, FITCH RATINGS: One million cars could actually be lost in the coming months. That's quite a lot. If you take the average value of a car, which might be say what, $20,000 to $30,000 maybe, it would actually lead to about $20 billions to $30 billions in lost revenue.
[01:54:46]
STOUT: There is a growing list of automakers cutting production because of the chip crunch. In Japan, you have Subaru, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan. And in the U.S., Ford and GM.
Now in a statement, GM says this, quote, "Despite a mitigation effort, the semi conductor shortage will impact GM production in 2021. We are currently assessing the overall impact, but our focus is to keep producing our most in demand products."
As the chip crunch disrupts production, analysts say it may delay a global recovery in the auto sector. U.S. Senators are urging the White House to take action.
In a letter, sent earlier this month, 50 U.S. senators from auto producing states warned that the shortage threatens their post- pandemic economic recovery. It's also a diplomatic issue.
To resolve the shortage, the U.S. is working with Taiwan, home of TSMC, the world's largest contract chip maker. The Taiwan chip giant says the auto chip shortage is its top priority, saying this quote "TSMC it's currently expediting this critical automotive products through our wafer fabs. While capacity is fully utilized with demand from every sector, TSMC is reallocating our wafer capacity to support the worldwide automotive ministry" unquote.
As Taiwan pledges for help, a warning from the other chip making giant in Asia, Samsung Electronics says the auto chip shortage could hit smartphones, and if you are planning any purchase, consider this.
BULLE: If you need something just buy it now if it's on stock. Otherwise, unfortunately you have to wait another three to six months according to our latest working estimates.
STOUT: Huge ripple effects are being felt across tech. Auto manufacturing and the global economy all from a tiny piece of silicone.
Kristie Lu Stout, CNN -- Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, after a seven-month long journey through space, China's mission to mars has reached orbit. Tianwen-1 is now a step closer to landing on the red planet.
Chinese National Space Administration says it's rover will gather key data on Mars' geological structure, soil, and environment after a scheduled touchdown on the planet in May or June.
China's now the sixth countries to reach Mars, NASA's Perseverance Rover is also in the neighborhood and is expected to land on Mars in a week. Busy up there.
Though stranded for 33 days, with (INAUDIBLE) coconuts, and now two men and a woman have been rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. Apparently their boat had capsized in rough waters. The three then swam to the island, which is located between the lower Florida Keys and Cuba.
They apparently had no serious injuries, but have been flown to the Lower Keys Medical Center to be checked out.
I'm John Vause. Back in a moment.
More me next hour. CNN NEWSROOM. Stay with us, please.
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