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Democrats Wrap Case, Trump Lawyers To Begin Defense; Most Senate Republicans Expected To Acquit Ex-President; Seventh-Day Of Protest In Myanmar; Activists Ask Companies To Cut Ties With Junta; Saudi Activist's Sisters Rebuke Crown Prince; Tokyo Olympics Chief Yoshiro Mori Resigns; House Impeachment Managers Determined to Impeach Trump; Trump Defense Team Prepares with Their Case; Alexei Navalny Facing Another Charge; President Biden Aims to Vaccinate 300 Million Americans; European Countries Battling with U.K. Variant; Scientist Warns of More Deadly Variant; Victoria Facing Five-Day Lockdown. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired February 12, 2021 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Hello, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. You're watching CNN Newsroom live from CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta.
Coming up here on the program, impeachment managers rest their case against former President Donald Trump. Now it's time for the defense. We'll go live to Capitol Hill for the latest.
Plus, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny back in front of a judge. This time he's on trial on charges he defamed a World War II veteran.
And the head of the Tokyo Olympics steps down after making controversial remarks about women. What this resignation could mean for the already delayed games.
Well, Donald Trump's legal team is just hours away from presenting its case in the former president's second impeachment trial. His lawyers have their work cut out for them after House managers wrap their arguments with a stark warning. The Democrats focusing on Trump's long-standing history of celebrating violence amongst his supporters. And also of course sowing distrust in the presidential elections.
And they stressed that he still a threat and that an acquittal would set a dangerous precedent. Through an extensive video presentation, they argued that Trump incited the deadly capital riot and made no attempt to stop it, and has expressed no remorse about it.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny begins our coverage from Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC), U.S. LEAD HOUSE IMPEACHMENT MANAGER: Senators, America, we need to exercise our common sense about what happened.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The House impeachment team rested its case urging senators to hold President Trump responsible for repeatedly misleading his followers and inviting them to the capitol in the last-ditch effort to stop the election from being certified.
RASKIN: He knew they were coming, he brought them here. And he welcomed them with open arms.
ZELENY: On their final day of arguments, the prosecutors zeroed in on the former president's own words and actions saying he showed no remorse and must be held responsible for misconduct.
REP. DIANA DEGETTE (D-CO), U.S. HOUSE IMPEACHMENT MANAGER: You don't have to take my word for it, that the insurrectionists acted at Donald Trump's direction, they said so.
UNKNOWN: Hey, we were invited here! We were invited by the President of the United States!
ZELENY: Colorado Congresswoman Diana DeGette, one of the impeachment managers seized upon the stories of one rioter after another who said they breach the capitol at Trump's direction.
UNKNOWN: Let's call Trump, yes! Dude, dude, let's tell Trump what's up.
UNKNOWN: Trump would be very upset.
UNKNOWN: And he'd be like, no, just say we love him. We love you too, bro.
UNKNOWN: No, he'll be happy, what do you mean? We're fighting for Trump.
JENNIFER RYAN, ARRESTED BY THE FBI: I thought I was following my president, I thought I was following what we were called to do.
DEGETTE: All of these people who have been arrested and charged, they are being accountable, held accountable for their actions. Their leader, the man who incited them must be held accountable as well.
ZELENY: The big lie that the election was rigged and stolen from Trump, is also on trial. And prosecutors say the Senate has the power to stop it from happening again.
REP. TED LIEU (D-CA), U.S. HOUSE IMPEACHMENT MANAGER: You know, I'm not afraid of Donald Trump running again in four years. I'm afraid he's going to run again and lose. Because he can do this again.
ZELENY: One day after horrific sites and harrowing sounds of the attack filled the Senate chamber -- UNKNOWN: Cruiser 50, we've lost the line. We've lost the line. All
MPD, pull back. We have been flanked and we've lost the line.
ZELENY: Convicting the president still remains a remarkably high bar. With 17 Republicans needed to join all Democrats in finding Trump guilty. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana who voted with Democrats on the constitutionality issue, said Trump's lawyers must address the president's false assertions about a rigged election.
SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): When the point was made, people felt as if they had no recourse because their vote was being stolen. Well the president built that story. So how do you defend that? How do you describe that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY (on camera): Senator Cassidy raising a clear question there, what does the president's legal team on Friday when they present their case intent to say about the big lie about how the president continue to insist you won the election when he did not? That is one of the many questions that the Trump legal team is expected to address.
[03:05:00]
Now even though Senator Cassidy is one of those Republicans who said he is keeping an open mind, it's clear that others have already made up their mind. In fact, many of them were not in the chamber on Thursday afternoon as the House rested its case. Now the former president's legal team takes its turn on Friday, this trial could all wrap up by the end of the weekend.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Capitol Hill.
HOLMES (on camera): Now Trump's lawyers could help fast-track the timeline for this impeachment trial. A source close to his legal team says, its presentation might be as brief as three hours even though they are allowed 16 hours. His lawyers are expected to insist that the trial is unconstitutional even know the Senate voted earlier this week to say, well it is constitutional.
They are also expected to argue that Democrats have uses incendiary language similar to Trump's.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID SCHOEN, FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP'S LEGAL COUNSEL: Let's just see how this thing plays out. Tomorrow is our opportunity to go, that's when we start to present our case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES (on camera): Joining me now live from Washington is CNN congressional correspondent Jessica Dean. Good to see you again, Jessica. So, let's talk about what you are hearing the likely strategy will be whether it's a brief presentation all along. JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Yes. No, I think you're
spot on there. They are certainly aiming for a brief of a presentation as possible. Of course, former President Trump wants them to mount a robust defense, but it sounds like it will likely be done by this afternoon that it will only take, as you mentioned several hours as opposed to the 16 hours that they are allotted.
Of course, the House impeachment managers is spreading out their presentation over two days each side getting those 16 hours. There are a number of questions as Jeff Zeleny pointed to in his piece about what exactly they are going to get to and what some of these Republican senators do want them to talk to.
But what we do know is a few things. Number one, they are going to focus in on former President Trump's first amendment rights, really making the argument that he had the right to say a lot of these things. That he was using metaphors, that he didn't mean for them to really come here and fight. That that was a metaphor, that's what they filed in their pre-trial brief. We expect to hear more of that later today.
We also expect to hear them talking about how Democrats have kind of glorified violence by running through the timeline and showing all of those graphic videos of what happened here. The fact remains that is what happened here and it was violent and people died, and people were injured both physically and mentally when all of this happened on January 6th.
So, the House impeachment managers of course were making that argument. We expect Trump's defense team to say that it's glorifying violence. And the of course the constitutionality, what the Senate has already voted on, and said that it is constitutional to go forward with an impeachment trial of a president who is no longer in office.
Be that as it may, Michael, we know that the defense team will lean heavily into that constitutionality arguments, as we have spoken with various senators leading up to this. I've talked to a lot of them. And they keep -- the ones who are already wanting to acquit and that's the bulk of Republicans here, they keep coming back to this constitutionality question and that is what they are leading on in terms of why they say they cannot take action.
So, expect for the defense team to lean heavily into that. And this could wrap up as early as Saturday or Sunday. Michael.
HOLMES: It's a thin argument given it's already been decided, a lot of minds made up well ahead of time.
Jessica Dean in Washington, great to have you there covering all of this.
DEAN: Yes.
HOLMES: I appreciate it. Thanks.
CNN legal analyst and Supreme Court biographer Joan Biskupic joins me now from Washington, D.C. Great to see you, Joan. What first of all is your take on the persuasiveness of the Democrat cases presented so far?
JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Thanks for having me, Michael. It was a very compelling case. They really hit all the buttons in terms of the violence that day, the danger to members of Congress, the dangers to workers there, the dangers to the police.
The House managers cast this story from so many different points of view interspersing that with Donald Trump's chant and telling the crowd to fight, fight! To try to prove how much he truly did incite this insurrection. I have to say I watched everything in real-time back in January 6th, but then, Michael, to see it all recreated with all different kinds of video from so many different angles including surveillance video that hadn't been shown before, it was bone- chilling.
HOLMES: Yes.
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BISKUPIC: What they did to make the connection in terms of the persuasiveness that you just asked about is to show the rioters themselves responding to the president, responding to his chance of fight and to stop the steal.
HOLMES: You know, I guess, the reality is that these proceedings are of course, and you've made this point yourself, they are political, they are not strictly legal. To that point, we pretty much know the outcome, but how different are the burden of proof between impeachment and say a courtroom proceeding?
BISKUPIC: Very different that it is political, Michael. And it's all entirely in the hands of senators themselves. The senators run their own show here. The Supreme Court has said that the Senate has complete control over its impeachment trial, and it's really up to each individual senator, what he or she thinks about the burden here of proof.
And as you hinted when you said we know the outcome, it would probably take a lot to convince some of the Republicans to even vote to convict, despite all the evidence that was shown. So, you know, in terms of the standards that whatever each senator will bring to it, and it requires a two-thirds vote. So, 67 members of this 100-member chamber have to vote to convict, if Donald Trump is going to be convicted.
HOLMES: When it comes to the impeachment process, one of the impeachment managers asked if the president's actions weren't impeached, then nothing is impeachable. You know, when you look at the Constitution and what has unfolded over the last few days, is that a fair comment if it isn't impeachable, nothing is?
BISKUPIC: I think it is. It is. You know, with the caveat that it's up to individual senators but nothing like this has ever happened in the history of the United States. Never ever has the President of the United States caused such destruction. And on a symbol of democracy, the U.S. Capitol with so many deaths and injuries.
You know, the U.S. House managers talked not just about the five people who died as a result of the insurrection that day, but the hundreds of officers who have been injured, and still have very, very deep troubling wounds and then, all the -- all the people throughout the country who were affected by this.
HOLMES: They.
BISKUPIC: They brought in, you know, comments about protests at state houses and elsewhere.
HOLMES: Yes. We are almost out of time, but I wanted to ask you this. Because I mean, you do --
BISKUPIC: Sure.
HOLMES: -- courts for us, and I wanted you to speak to the notion of impartial jurors. I mean, many Republican senators publicly cheered on the types of behaviors and narratives now being cited as evidence in this impeachment. I mean, three senators who swore to be impartial met with Trump's lawyers. Is that sort of make a mockery of that notion?
BISKUPIC: Well, you are absolutely right that each individual senator swore an oath and then signed a book, swearing that they would do impartial justice. And it does seem to compromise that. But in the past, senators of different parties have conferred a bit with the lawyers from the dueling sides. It's just that this was so blatant what you were referring to, Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, and Lindsey Graham, all Republicans meeting on Thursday night with the Trump legal team. It really is just much more blatant than even in the past, Michael.
HOLMES: Yes. It is, isn't it? Joan Biskupic, always very glad when we can get you on. Thank you, Joan.
BISKUPIC: Thank you, Michael.
HOLMES: Now the imprisoned Kremlin critic, Alexei Navalny is back inside a Moscow court right now accused of slandering an elderly World War II veteran. Navalny and his supporters say it is a politically motivated case intended to discredit him among the Russian people.
CNN's Matthew Chance is outside the courthouse for us on a chilly day. What's going on inside there? And how is this likely to play out?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Michael, you're right. It is an extremely cold day here in Moscow. And you can see it's pouring with snow. We've not been permitted inside of the court, but we understand, and of course we know that Alexei Navalny, Russia's main opposition leader, is inside that court right now, arguing against the legitimacy of this latest case to be brought against him.
It's a case which alleges that he slandered a World War II veteran by calling him a traitor in an online message he gave after that veteran appeared in a sort of pro-Kremlin message to support a referendum that was being held unconstitutional change last year.
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It's along with a bunch of other people, he said that all those people who took part they're all traitors. Well, that case has been brought to courts over the past week or so. This is a second hearing in this case. He's not expected to face any additional jail time. Remember, Alexei Navalny has already been put behind bars for violating the terms of a suspended sentence.
He came back to Russia, of course earlier having recovered in Germany from that horrific bout of poisoning with a suspected nerve agent. He was arrested immediately and was put behind bars and has been there since then.
This is not going to extend his prison time, but it could illicit a big fine or some kind of other, sort of punishment at the discretion of the court. But what it will do is, I think the prosecution hope and the people behind this hope, it will discredit Alexei Navalny.
This is what Alexei Navalny supporters say. It will, you know, start that process, continue that process of trying to discredit Alexei Navalny in the eyes of the majority of people in the country. They're casting him as somebody who disrespects, you know, this sort of revered war veterans here in Russia, Michael.
HOLMES: All right. Good to have you there, Matthew. Cold as it is. I appreciate that. Matthew Chance in Moscow.
You are watching CNN Newsroom. Still plenty more to come. A warning from a leading scientist that the U.K. variant will likely sweep the world. We're live across Europe with the disturbing details.
Also, that variant has just triggered an emergency lockdown in Australia's Victoria. We will take you live there to Sydney to find out how it will impact the Australian Open. We'll be right back.
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HOLMES (on camera): Well, after a slow start, the vaccine rollout in the U.S. now picking up some speed. The chief White House medical adviser says vaccinations could be available without restrictions by April. And that should see most Americans vaccinated by September. Still seems a long way off for a lot of people.
The U.S. president says that contracts have been signed for hundreds of millions of doses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And then for the good news, both companies agreed and we're now contractually obligated to expedite delivery of 100 million doses that were promised by the end of June to deliver them by the end of May. That's a month faster. That means lives will be saved. That means we are now on track to have enough supply for 300 million Americans by the end of July. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES (on camera): Now President Biden calls that a huge achievement given that there was no rollout planned under the Trump administration.
[03:20:04]
So far, more than 46 million vaccine doses have been administered according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Protection.
Turning our attention to Europe and the number of new COVID cases, it is going down, but there's still huge cause for concerns. The World Health Organization Europe chief says the continent remains vulnerable with case numbers still too high and variants spreading.
They say that there's a thin line between the hope of a vaccine and a full sense of security. This coming as the South African variant of the virus is now being detected in 19 European countries.
Let's get more from across Europe. Cyril Vanier is in Paris. Salma Abdelaziz is in London. Cyril, let's begin with you. How great the concern in Europe and what's being done to combat the variant threat?
CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The level of concern, Michael, is very high in Europe. Across several European countries there are some problems to do with those variants first identified in South Africa, in Brazil, and in the U.K. Here in France, there is some degree of panic since last night over some 300 cases which may well be South African and Brazilian variants.
The sequencing is still ongoing and still being carried out to confirmed that. Some 300 cases in the region of the east of the country, near the border with Germany, the health minister is going there today. Local officials have called for a lockdown. Those measures, stricter measures like school closures, business closures or even a full lockdown are not off the table for that particular region.
And in Austria, something similar. In the western region of Tyrol, also on the border with Germany by the way, well, the government has actually had to call for nonessential travel to and from its own region of Tyrol to cease. And in Germany, Angela Merkel put it best, she said the country is now fighting with three aggressive mutations of the virus and that may actually destroy the vaccine success, Michael.
HOLMES: Yes, very worrying. Salma, let's turn to you there in London. In the U.K., variants are equally concerning. A member of the U.K. scientific advisory board said that Bristol variant could infect people who have been previously infected or even vaccinated which is pretty worrying.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: Absolutely, Michael, yet another variant popping up. This one probably in Bristol rather than Kent which is the earlier British variant. And I was listening to one scientific adviser who said the concern with this one is, is that it appears to have the ability to slip through the immune system like the South Africa variant and the transmissibility of the British variant.
And this is really here the fear when you have these different variants mixing with each other creating new variants, new mutations of COVID-19 that might not be impacted by immunization, by vaccinations and this country has been moving vaccinations at break and that speed. They're about to hit the first vaccination target which is February 15th. Fifteen million people, the most valuable in this country vaccinated.
That's why the prime minister is under pressure. To make sure to protect those gains by keeping these variants out of the country. There's been a lot of controversy this week over the government strategy. There is a new system going into place, new rules and restrictions going into place for Monday. Thirty-three red list countries if you come from those countries, you'll have to be in a hotel quarantine.
But some scientific adviser saying, this isn't enough. You need to look at shutting down the borders. You need to look at tougher hotel quarantines, possibly for all arrivals, all countries. Because again, Michael, it's not just about the variants we know, it's about the ones we are yet to know.
HOLMES: Yes. Which is why stopping the spread is so crucial.
Cyril Vanier in Paris, Salma Abdelaziz in London, thanks to you both.
Well South Africa has now secured millions of vaccine doses from both Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer. The country's president says the vaccines will help fight that highly infectious variant that was first identified there. South Africa had originally been eyeing AstraZeneca's vaccine which is cheaper, but some early studies show that it's not as effective against this new strain that is now becoming more dominant.
Now South Africa is been dealing with a wave of infections since this new variant was discovered. The country's death count approaching 50,000.
Now, the Australian state of Victoria is going into a emergency lockdown less than five hours from now after 13 new COVID-19 cases emerge, all linked to a quarantine hotel in Melbourne and all involving the very contagious U.K. variant. And it's suddenly changing the game at the Australian Open tennis tournament as well.
[03:24:58]
Journalist Angus Watson is in Sydney this hour with details. I think this is real blow to Victoria after they really controlled the virus. The state has been through this before. These measures are strict as those during, what was it, a 111-day lockdown last year?
ANGUS WATSON, JOURNALIST: Michael, they are. They are just district as that lockdown last year which carried on for as you say, 111 days. Now, again people in Victoria are told not to leave their homes unless it's absolutely necessary. Schools closed, businesses closed, masks are compulsory and an order not to go outside of a 5K, about three- mile radius of your home.
That's all because this time it's the U.K. variant that they just don't know how far it's spread through the city of Melbourne. We've just had 13 cases, but Michael, the government there is saying that this is a different beast to the one that they fought with that lockdown this year. The virus is moving so much more quickly through the community and they are not sure how far it's gotten. This is what Premier Daniel Andrews said about that on Friday.
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DANIEL ANDREWS, PREMIER OF VICTORIA: We must assume that there are further cases in the community than we have positive results for, and that it is moving at a velocity that has not been seen anywhere in our country over the course of these last 12 months.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON (on camera): The big difference here of course, Michael, is that it's just for five days. Victorians are hoping that with a short, sharp circuit breaker lockdown that by Thursday here local time, they might have gotten on top of this variant.
But it comes as the city of Melbourne is trying to host the Australian Open tennis competition. It's an absolute crown jewel in Australia sporting calendar. Over 1,200 people have come into Australia for that tournament, they are now going to be in a bio (Ph) security bubble to make sure that it can go on for the benefit of people watching on TV. But there will be no crowds there, Michael, until at least Thursday.
HOLMES: Yes. Very worrying. The Australia has done such a terrific job in keeping a handle on the virus, hopefully this won't get out of hand.
Angus Watson in Sydney, I appreciate it. Thank you very much.
We'll be right back after a quick break. With Democrats concluding their case in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump. Now Trump's lawyers say they'll only need a few hours to show he was not responsible for the January insurrection. We'll have that and more when we come back.
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HOLMES (on camera): And welcome back to CNN Newsroom, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes.
[03:29:57]
Donald Trump's defense lawyers will make their case later today that he should be acquitted of inciting last month's deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. House Democrats concluded their three-day presentation on Thursday. And arguing for conviction they reminded Senators that Trump allow the violence to continue for hours. And he has never expressed any remorse.
CNN's Ryan Nobles, with our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Democratic House impeachment managers have rested their case against former President Donald Trump.
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): He attacked the first amendment, he attacked the constitution, he betrayed his oath of office, the president don't have any right to do that. It is forbidden.
NOBLES: The prosecutors wrap their case with hours of time available. Hoping a shorter presentation will have a greater impact.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: All of my wonderful supporters --
NOBLES: On day three, they tied Trump to the mob by showing that those who storm the Capitol did so, because they believed the president had sent them there.
REP. DIANA DEGETTE (D-CO): You don't have to take my word for it that the insurrectionists acted at Donald Trump's direction. They said so.
UNKNOWN: We were invited here! We were invited! We were invited here. We were invited by the president of the United States!
UNKNOWN: Let's call (inaudible), yes!
NOBLES: The manager showed several examples of rioters, shouting Trump's name and proclaiming they were doing his bidding.
UNKNOWN: Does he not realize President Trump called us to siege the place?
UNKNOWN: I was following my president, I thought I was following what we were called to do.
UNKNOWN: We are fighting for Trump.
NOBLES: They then showed how Trump offered his support for the mob and demonstrated no remorse for the role he played in inciting their anger.
TRUMP: My speech and my words and my final paragraph, my final sentence, and everybody -- I thought it was totally appropriate.
REP. TED LIEU (D-CA): We know President Trump didn't make a mistake, because you see when you, or I, make a mistake and something very bad happens, we would show remorse. We would accept responsibility. President Trump didn't do any of that. Why not? Because he intended what happened on January 6th. And how do we know that? He told us.
NOBLES: Trump's legal team will get their opportunity to rebut the Democratic arguments tomorrow. But, they attempted to get a head start today. Their lead lawyer, David Schoen, left the chamber while the trial was underway to go on Fox News. He promised their presentation will show no link between Trump and the actions of January 6th.
DAVID SCHOEN, TRUMP IMPEACHMENT ATTORNEY: I think you will, at least, be moved by what you see and get a much better picture of exactly what's going on here, and the hypocrisy in some of the positions taken by the House managers in this case.
NOBLES: But Democrats believe, they provided overwhelming evidence of Trump's connection to the crime. And warn that it was incumbent upon these jurors to hold him accountable because of what might happen in the future.
LIEU: I am not afraid of Donald Trump running again in four years. I am afraid that he's going to run again and lose. Because he can do this again.
NOBLES (on camera): And it's starting to look like this impeachment trial may actually wrap much earlier than expected. The Trump legal team will take the case on Friday. They've indicated that they will only going to use about three to four hours of the 16 hours they have allotted to them.
After that, could begin the question, and answer period. There is still the possibility that witnesses could be called, although both sides say that is unlikely, if everything moves ahead as planned. It is possible that we could learn the former president's fate by Saturday night.
Ryan Nobles, CNN, on Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (on camera): CNN global affairs analyst, Max Boot, joins me now from New York. He is also a senior fellow at the council on foreign relations, and also a columnist for the Washington Post.
Max, great to see you. Let's start with this. Most Republicans don't want to have to endorse Trump's conduct on January 6th. But they seem more afraid of MAGA nation, than presidential accountability. Is it all about self preservation, and fear of a voter blow back?
MAX BOOT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST, COUNCIL FOR FOREIGN RELATIONS (on camera): I really think so, Michael. I mean, anybody who is watching the impeachment trial, and I've been watching almost all of it, there is no way to come to any conclusion except that Donald Trump is guilty as charged. It's pretty obvious that he incited this insurrection. I think the House impeachment managers have done a tremendous job in proving their case.
And from what we've seen so far, the Trump team is almost no defense. And yet, we know that Republicans are still going to vote, overwhelmingly, to acquit. So, it is hard to justify any kind of rational basis, or laying of the evidence. The only way you can explain it is their minds are made up, because, as you suggest, they are more afraid of Trump and his mob than they are allowing Trump to go free.
[03:35:04]
And so, they are not going to do their duty. They are not going to convict, simply, because for them, it is all about political preservation and they don't care as much about the preservation of our democracy.
HOLMES: Which is, on its face, extremely sad. I mean, there's word around that a group of former Republican officials, deep in Republican circles, are discussing the possibility of a breakaway conservative party. Or, perhaps as sort of faction, if you like. There is such widespread wings of the GOP. That you know, the Trump wing and, let's call, it the Romney, or Kinzinger wing. Can you see a split or new party, or more likely on going messy internal war?
BOOT: I think messy internal war is more likely, because it is very hard for third parties in the American political system to flourish. We have not had a successful party since the 1850s when the wigs broke up, and one faction pf that became the Republican Party. But also, the factions within the Republican Party are not evenly aligned.
I mean, it is true that you do have, what we might call the Trump faction, and then you have the Romney, Liz Cheney faction. But the Romney, Liz Cheney faction, is much smaller than the Trump faction. I mean, look at what happened in the House where only -- it was almost a miracle that even 10 Republicans voted to impeach.
But that still, you are talking about less than 10 percent of the caucus in the Senate. You probably have no more than 10 percent of the caucus as well. And if you look at the country as large, the public opinion poll suggested that roughly 70 percent of Republicans still want the party to head in a pro Trump direction.
So yes, there is dissatisfaction, and I think a lot of (inaudible) Republican strategist, like Mitch McConnell, understand that being identified with Trump is not a winning proposition for future elections. But, within the Republican Party, Trump is still remains pretty dominant. And so it is hard to have a breakaway Republican Party when the actual Republican Party is so aligned with Trump.
HOLMES: Your Washington Post column on Thursday, the headline was sort of, once again, Republicans put tribalism over patriotism. And you make the point, not in these words, but more generally, you know, you wonder what these Republican Senators would say if those were Democrat, insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol incited by, you know, a Democrat president.
BOOT: Right, exactly. They would not be so accommodating, or so understanding, I think. I mean, you could imagine that if, you know, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders, had incited a mob of Antifa, and Black Lives Matter activists to storm the Capitol, the Republicans would be demanding martial law and you know, hangings, and impeachment of anybody responsible.
So, this is clearly a one-sided partisan game that they are playing. And obviously, they would not be nearly as accommodating of any Democrat as they are of this Republican misbehavior. We know that because, remember, when there were, you know, a handful of U.S. diplomats and persons who are tragically killed in Benghazi, Republicans literally spent years investigating that and trying to hang it around the neck of Hillary Clinton. Whereas now they are desperate to give Trump a mulligan, as Senator Mike Lee said, for inciting an insurrection.
HOLMES: Yes. A mulligan for that seems, yes, anyways. Max, always good to see you, Max. Max Boot there in New York. Thanks.
BOOT: Thanks very much.
HOLMES: And we will take a quick break. When we come back, a seventh straight day of protests in Myanmar. Demonstrators, showing their anger at the military coup. I will be talking with a journalist inside the country, when we come back.
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HOLMES (on camera): Now this is what's left of supermarket in the Russian region of Northern (inaudible). A powerful explosion early this morning destroying the one story building. A state-run news agency said there were casualties, it's not clear though how many people might have been killed or injured. The agency said emergency crews suspect a gas leak triggered the blast.
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators marching in Myanmar for the seventh straight day protesting that military coup, that took place less than two weeks ago. But Myanmar's military leaders are projecting images of power, marking the Union Day National Holiday. They are showing these pictures of soldiers standing at attention in uniform. Paula Hancock shows us what these protesters are fighting for.
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PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Thousands of protesters are on the streets of Myanmar during the day, during the night the military is still detaining members of the National League for democracy rating the offices of what was into the February 1st coup, the ruling party in the democratically elected government.
UNKNOWN: The NLD won 82 percent of the vote in the 2020 election. The problem is not between the military and the politicians. It's between the military leaders and every single civilian.
HANCOCKS: The military leadership is proposing a new cybersecurity bill more than 150 civil groups Thursday strongly rejected it. Images circulating online purporting to be the bill say the military could block or remove text and media that it felt disruptive stability.
THINZAR SHULEI YI, ACTIVIST: Many of them, especially (inaudible) our freedom, to shutdown, to (inaudible) make the shutdown of the internet. So, they are basically trying to legitimize what they are doing.
HANCOCKS: Do you have concerns that the military could shutdown the communication completely with the outside world? YI: I'm deeply concerned about it. Because this is the only
(inaudible) in the war right now. So we couldn't level and the COVID restriction, there will be a no fly available for us to travel out of the country. You know, in (inaudible) or arrest and we are completely lockdown.
HANCOCKS: The United States is imposing new sanctions for those behind the coup including keeping some $1 billion of Burmese government funds held in the U.S. out of the general's hands.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: 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.
HANCOCKS: Myanmar was heavily sanctioned for much of its almost 50 year military rule and survived. The question is whether reintroduction of sanctions now have much impact.
MONTSE FERRER, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: In (inaudible) investment, we believe to be quite important for the military regime. It is a way for them to enrich themselves, but also to allow to diverse clients reliance on historically on China for example.
HANCOCKS: At 2019, United Nations reports finds military leaders including (inaudible) control many businesses within the country. Japan's Kirin holdings pulled out of an alliance with a military controlled company last week. Activists are calling for all foreign companies to do the same. To cut ties and to stop the funds that help the military junta stay in power. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.
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HOLMES (on camera): Now, we got a journalist on the phone with me from Myanmar now, for his safety we are not revealing name nor exact locations. I wanted you to give us a sense on the street. Describe the mood and importantly the determination of the protesters.
UNKNOWN: Yes, people here are really prepared to go all the way I talked to a lot of young people who say that they fear their entire future is at stake. So there's really no sense of people starting to back down. Today is the seventh day in a row. Mass protests and I think the largest crowd that we've seen before. Today is the national holiday so presumably more people have time off of work and stuff like that. But I think it's the biggest crowd we've seen so far today.
[03:45:14]
HOLMES: And so you get a sense that these will grow, they are not becoming more muted, they're actually getting larger?
UNKNOWN: Yeah. I think one thing was that people weren't sure how police would respond. How the military would respond. There was a fear that that there would be you know, shooting and blood in the street and there's been some isolated incident of violent outside of Yangon, but actually no violence police response in Yangon. And I think that's kind of embolden people, they realize that maybe a
crackdown isn't coming. So you're seeing older people. You're seeing people with their entire families, with their children taking to the street. Really the whole city filled united in opposition to the military.
HOLMES: But no doubt, they are aware that the military has the capacity to crackdown brutally and has done so in the past. Have you spoken to people who sort of bit worried about where it could go?
UNKNOWN: Yes. I mean, everybody that you asked about that said that they would be worried about it and that they are aware of the possibility, but like I said before they feel like so much of that stake. I've spoken to people as we've said they are prepared to risk their lives because they feel like they just won't have any life that's worth living under the military regime. So they are -- yes, they are aware of the risk, but they are willing to take them.
HOLMES: Yes. That's interesting that Facebook has just announced their imposing restrictions on Myanmar's military's accounts. They are treating the situation as an emergency, limiting what information comes from most accounts, but on the other side there's talked from the military of a new cyber law. What are people saying to you about communications with the outside world and concerns that it could be shut down?
UNKNOWN: Yes, that's something we are all worried about. We are all kind of making contingency plans for if we lose internet again. They've shut down the internet twice. So far, one time they've shut it down for over 24 hours. The cybersecurity law is obviously extremely concerning.
So, were kind of in a position where we think that at any time we could lose connection with the outside world again. So, people are, you know, downloading different apps that they can use without Wi-Fi. I think VPN usage in Myanmar increased by like 8,000 percent after they block Facebook and Twitter. So the people are trying to find ways around these blocks, but yes, it's a major concern.
HOLMES: I'm sure it is. And just quickly, I want to ask you that, you know, people saying that -- are they concern -- do they think they will get the military to change it's mind or are they worried that the military won't reverse this. They are just going to stick around in this situation indefinitely.
UNKNOWN: There's a real (inaudible) of optimism, when you're in the crowd. I don't know if people, you know, really think they can get the military to step down or is there, you know, just trying to be helpful but I do think certain method are really hitting the military hard and rattling the regime.
The civil disobedient movement specifically, where you are seeing, you know, thousands of civil servants refusing to do their job. Doctors, people that working in banks, refusing to do their job. And that's definitely putting a lot of pressure on the regime. So, I mean, there is a hope that that this could result in change, but there's also I think a realistic recognition that the Junta will dig it (inaudible).
HOLMES: Really valuable to get inside from there on the ground inside the country. I appreciate you speaking with us and do stay safe.
UNKNOWN: Thank you. Happy to help.
HOLMES (on camera): Well, the release of a prominent Saudi women's rights activist has some speculating that the country's autocratic ruler might be interested in reform after all, but the activist's family isn't among them. The sisters of Loujain al-Hathloul say that her released has more to do with the new U.S. president than any changes in Saudi Arabia's harsh regime.
CNN's Nick Robertson spoke with them.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Activist Loujain al-Hathloul, home from 1001 nights in Saudi jail, weak but mentally strong according to her family and craving ice cream.
ALIA AL-HATHLOUL, SISTER OF LOUJAIN AL-HATHLOUL: We didn't have ice cream for two years. So, she was desperate to get it.
ROBERTSON: In Washington D.C. her release, a celebration of sorts too.
UNKNOWN: It is something we have press for.
BIDEN: Releasing her was the right thing to do.
[03:50:00]
ROBERTSON: But Loujain, who was arrested May 2018 for campaigning for women to be allowed to drive is not fully free, not allowed to leave the country for five years or speak publicly. But her sisters, who live outside Saudi can and off.
LINA AL-HATHLOUL, SISTER OF LOUJAIN AL-HATHLOUL: We should not be satisfied with their release only and that as long as she's still on a travel ban and that her tortures are not sentence, we should be happy.
ROBERTSON: Yet even so, they admit this could be President Joe Biden's first foreign policy win.
BIDEN: Respect the rule of law.
A. AL-HATHLOUL: It is a fact that she was released few days or weeks after Biden's arrive to from power. So, and I have to say, yes, without international pressure we cannot obtain something.
ROBERTSON: For an hour, the pair answered reporter's questions. Has Biden really changes Saudi's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, MBS. L. AL-HATHLOUL: Everything he's doing is from his image and to be
legitimate, to be the one the West chooses basically to be the ally and inside the country as well. He did a coup. He's not the one who was supposed to be crown prince.
ROBERTSON: The Saudi government has not responded to any of the sisters comments. While Loujain was in jail, MBS repealed laws she had campaigned against, the banned women from driving and control their movements through male guardianship, which help (inaudible) in waiting white support.
But Loujain's sisters say, she has experience another side of MBS. One of his top aides (Inaudible) who Turkish authorities claim had a lead role organizing Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi's murder in 2018, but didn't face trial in Saudi was present the sister say during her torture. Torture the government denies.
A. AL-HATHLOUL: He was there during the torture session. He was attending the torture session. So, we are sure about him. About his name.
ROBERTSON: For the half laws. Loujain's jailing has become an awakening.
L. AL-HATHLOUL: With the experience again, that can also, you know, help a lot of other families I would say. And I don't think you have the heart to not -- to just ignore everything I know now.
ROBERTSON: Saudi's most high profile female activist released possibly the beginning. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (on camera): The 2020 Tokyo Olympics is facing another challenge. When we come back, we'll go live to Tokyo where the organizing committee chairman just announce his resignation. We'll be right back.
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HOLMES: Welcome back. The chief of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has announced his resignation. Yoshiro Mori is facing backlash after comments he made last week were leaked to the media. Now, according to the reports in the Japanese pressing told the Board of Trustees that meetings with women take longer because of their competitiveness.
[03:55:02]
Let's discuss with Blake Essig live from Tokyo. I mean, the criticism being pretty relentless since those comments were leaked. Why did it take him so long to resign? Did he take responsibility?
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Yes, Michael, you know, if this was 20 years ago, Mori probably could have ridden out the storm, but you know, things are changing slowly here in Japan, and the norms, and values here are more closely associating with the international norms and values, as opposed to the aging, ruling elite here.
Now, Mori did address the Tokyo 2020 executive board earlier today, for about 10 minutes. And he did offer an apology, and this time, fully resigned from his current position, now former position, as president of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizing committee. And as I said, he spoke for about 10 minutes, he touched on a bunch of his highlights over the past seven years, and while he did apologize, he didn't exactly take responsibility for his comments.
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YOSHIRO MORI, FORMER PRESIDENT TOKYO 2020 OLYMPICS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I did not mean for it to neglect the women, but I guess that it was broadcasted in that way. Regarding our female members, after I joined this committee, I actually worked hard to encourage women, even more than men, to speak out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ESSIG (on camera): Now, the Tokyo 2020 executive board, will now work to form a committee to pick Mori's successor. Michael?
HOLMES: Really quick, what is next for the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee?
ESSIG: You know, there is one candidate that we've heard about for the past roughly 24 hours in local media here in Japan. It is Saburo Kawabuchi And he is an 84-year-old man who is the former president of the Japan football association from 2002 to 2008. And he is currently the mayor of the Olympic Athletes Village. We are also hearing about another candidate, NHK, the public broadcaster here is now reporting that Seiko Hashimoto, she is 56 years old, is a former Olympian, and is the current minister of the Olympic and Paralympic games. So, these are two candidates, obviously, we expect to hear more in the days to come. But those are two candidates that are being considered at this point. Michael?
HOLMES: With what's happening, perhaps women is a good way to go. Blake Essig, in Tokyo, I appreciate it. Thanks so much. And thank you for watching CNN Newsroom, I appreciate you spending part of your day with me. I am Michael Holmes. But don't go anywhere, Kim Brunhuber is all fired up, and ready to bring you another hour of CNN Newsroom.
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