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Focus Turns To Midterms And The Fate Of GOP After Trump's Acquittal; Trump Facing Multiple Criminal Investigations Post- Impeachment; CDC Issues Guidance On Reopening Schools For In-Person Learning; Senate Acquits Donald Trump, 57 Vote Guilty, 43 Not Guilty; How The Grip Of QAnon Is Tearing Families Apart; Blind Chess Champion Hopes To Inspire Others. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired February 14, 2021 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:25]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right. One day after Donald Trump's impeachment acquittal, the former president is making plans to have an impact on the midterm elections and the state of the GOP. This as key leaders in the Republican Party are eager to move forward without Trump's influence.

57 Senators including seven Republicans voted to convict Trump of inciting the deadly mob that descended on Capitol Hill January 6th. And despite being an unusually bipartisan impeachment vote, it fell ten votes short of the two-thirds needed for a conviction which would disqualify Trump from running for office again.

Today Trump was seen golfing with his son Eric at Mar-A-Lago in Florida, and one of his closest friends and allies in the U.S. Senate South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, says Trump is not ready to retire from politics just yet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): He was grateful to his lawyers, he appreciated the help that all of us provided. You know, he's ready to move on and rebuild the Republican Party. He's excited about 2022.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Despite Trump's acquittal, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who voted against conviction, says Trump is not free from responsibility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office. As an ordinary citizen, unless the statute of limitations has run, still liable for everything he did while he was in office. Didn't get away with anything yet. Yet. We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being accountable by either one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The former president now facing multiple criminal investigations. CNN's Kara Scannell has been reporting on Trump's legal troubles. So Kara, where do these cases stand?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred. They're growing at this rate. I mean just this past week in Georgia, the Fulton County district attorney's office announced that they were investigating whether the president had moved to overturn the election and committed some kind of election fraud.

A lot of that has to do with the calls that he made to Georgia's secretary of state Raffensperger, where he was asking him to find the votes, to find enough votes to overturn the election.

There is also a long-running criminal investigation in New York by the Manhattan district attorney's office. They're conducting a broad investigation looking into a range of possible crimes committed by the president and his company, looking at potential violations of tax fraud, schemes to defraud and insurance fraud.

And then in Washington, D.C., federal prosecutors there are investigating the insurrection. They've charged more than 200 people. And a source told Kaitlan Collins that the president was privately voicing concerns that he could be charged in connection with the riot.

But the criminal investigations are one thing. There's also a number of civil investigations and lawsuits that are underway. In that case the attorney general in Washington, D.C. filed a lawsuit against the president's company saying that they had misused inauguration funds. That lawsuit is ongoing. His daughter Ivanka Trump was deposed as part of that lawsuit.

In addition, there are also two defamation lawsuits that have been brought against the former president by two women who have accused him of sexual assault. Those cases had largely been held up because he was the president of the United States, but he will no longer have that legal shield.

And in Mar-A-Lago where the president is living full-time, some of his neighbors have challenged that, saying that he should not be able to actually live there full-time. There was a town council meeting this week in Palm Beach. No decision was made, but they are expected to take the issue up next spring.

WHITFIELD: All Kara Scannell, thank you so much

Of course, the former president having to lawyer up now. Let's get more on the former president's legal problems straight ahead -- the road ahead. With me now is Page Pate, he's a constitutional lawyer and a criminal defense attorney and Carrie Cordero is a CNN legal analyst and former counsel to the U.S. assistant attorney general. Good to see both of you.

All right. So Carrie, you first. You know, we heard Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, saying Trump was liable for whatever he may have done while in office.

Let's begin with the D.C. and the attorney general's office. You know, what is being weighed as it examines the legal challenges and the probability from the former president facing charges for that insurrection?

[14:04:58]

CARRIE CORDERO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, the charges, Fred, from the insurrection itself, they've got a wide variety. And it primarily would be the U.S. attorney's office and the District of Columbia which is part of the Justice Department and can handle both local and federal crimes.

And so they're really the ones running the investigation into the insurrection, charging many of the individuals who were on the premises involved in that attack.

One of the things they might be looking at is seditious conspiracy, which is a charge of overtaking the government or preventing the execution of a law by force. And so it's a federal statute that really does, in my judgment, meet what took place that day. It's possible that they could be looking at the president and his incitement that day. Other individuals who were involved, not just in the storming of the capitol, but in the planning of it as well.

But I have to point out that Mitch McConnell's statements are partly disingenuous because the constitutional remedy for a president who violates his oath, which is basically what Mitch McConnell accused him of doing by inciting this activity and by not stopping it as the day was going on, that constitutional remedy was impeachment conviction.

And so while there are criminal charges available, it really doesn't absolve the Senate Republicans who failed to convict.

WHITFIELD: But, of course, you heard Mitch McConnell's earlier argument and that of other Republican senators who still believe that it was not constitutional to try to go after a former president, even though the body voted on it and said it was a constitutional matter.

CORDERO: Right. That's right. I mean they voted on it. And so once the senate voted on it, then that was the end of that issue and they were supposed to go forward.

And so that's why somebody like Senator Burr, once they moved forward in that procedural vote, looked at the merits of the case. And that was what the senator's job was, to look at the merits of the case once they moved beyond that procedural vote. WHITFIELD: And Page, outside of the insurrection, at least 2

investigation in Georgia, you know, surrounding phone calls to pressure Georgia to change the election outcome, a phone call involving the president of the United States Trump suggesting, the secretary of state find 11,799 votes.

And then a separate phone call involving South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham to Georgia officials. So what are the potential charges here?

PAGE PATE, CONSTITUTIONAL ATTORNEY: Well, Fred, I think there is certainly the potential for criminal charges in Fulton County for Trump's phone call to the secretary of state and other people in that office.

The district attorney in Fulton County is someone I have known personally for years. She is very smart, she is very aggressive. And from what I am able to tell, she is putting her foot to the gas on this criminal investigation.

Now, the potential punishment here is probably only a misdemeanor. There are various statutes in Georgia that prohibit interference with an election and certainly solicitation of interference with an election, which I think Trump was clearly doing when he placed those phone calls.

Find me some extra votes. That is a request to an election official to tamper with the vote. And that is illegal in Georgia. It's a misdemeanor, but it's still a crime.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And the most incriminating evidence, correct, is that recorded phone call that everyone got to hear that was released from Raffensperger, the secretary of state in Georgia, his office.

PATE: That's exactly correct. And it's crystal clear.

The only question becomes intent. Was that just a political statement, hey, I really hope you can find 11,000 votes? Or was he trying to instruct the secretary of state to do something illegal?

And so that will be a jury question. I mean initially it's a question for the prosecutor but if she does decide to charge then it will be a jury question.

WHITFIELD: There are also And we heard from Kara Scannell, you know, criminal and civil charges in New York into the dealings of the Trump Organization. This is also the case where his personal and business tax returns could be released Carrie. So are these cases spur this along and most threatening to the former Trump.

CORDERO: I think he does have sufficient exposure when it comes to those cases in particular because those are investigation where some of the conduct has to do with his activity before he ever became president.

So they've had the entire length of his presidency to conduct those investigations. They wouldn't have brought them while he was president, obviously, but now that he is a private citizen again and much of those investigations pertain to activity that he engaged in prior to becoming president, I would expect that if they have sufficient facts that demonstrate they can move forward that they should be able to do that now fairly soon.

[14:09:57]

WHITFIELD: And then, Page, there again are these defamation lawsuits that were largely delayed because the president was in office. Now is he fair game? You know, both of these cases that we're talking about are by women who accused Trump of sexual assault.

Do you expect these cases to be able to move forward now unlike they have been able to before?

PATE: Absolutely. I mean, Trump now has no defense that he can postpone depositions or refuse to provide information in discovery. Those lawsuits will move forward just like any other lawsuit against any private individual.

And we all know Trump is no stranger to litigation. So I'm certain he will be lawyered up, so to speak, and he'll do what he can to defend those lawsuits, but defamation is pretty clear as well.

If you make a false statement about someone and you publish it, you put it out there, you're liable. And the only question becomes the amount of damages.

WHITFIELD: All right. Page Pate, Carrie Cordero, we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much.

PATE: Thank you.

CORDERO: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. So now let's talk about the president's acquittal. Doug Brinkley is a CNN presidential historian. Doug, good to see you.

So Donald Trump acquitted by the Senate, but this is not vindication, right? He has been impeached twice. But does this second impeachment rewrite his legacy unlike the first?

DOUG BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: I think absolutely so. When he had one impeachment, he was being talked about with Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. Now he's a one-term president that lost by millions of votes, 7 million people threw him out of office. He's going to be remembered in history for the insurrection of January 6 and his bungling at best of the COVID-19 crisis.

But the double I on impeachment is going to just be an albatross around his neck. It will be in the lead biography of any textbook covering his reign of power.

WHITFIELD: So why do you say he does not escape that responsibility it will be that, you know, thing hanging around his neck for January 6, McConnell the Senate Minority Leader says, you know, that yes, I mean he did bad things. I mean, he is morally responsible.

But then you've got Senator Graham who says Trump remains a force leading the party. So does Trump have a unique distinction of continuing to be influential despite these blemishes, including a deadly pandemic and this deadly insurrection?

BRINKLEY: You know, Fred, the great James Baldwin, novelist/essayist, and he wrote "Fire Next Time", said that civilization or democracy doesn't die because people are wicked.

It's when people end up just not doing anything that they become spineless. And I think we witnessed 43 spineless Republicans. The evidence against Donald Trump leading that insurrection is so overwhelming that to have 43 people bury their heads turned out to be spineless, it's a sad moment in American democracy.

If we want to look at the glass half full, though, we say, well, there were these brave seven Republicans, that Mitch McConnell did set it up, teed it up for Donald Trump to be sued in courts for what happened at the insurrection.

But by and large, it was kind of a pitiful experience to watch those Republicans abdicate their -- you know, their responsibility of telling the truth to the American people, and the truth was Donald Trump did start and orchestrate that insurrection.

WHITFIELD: And spineless is a word also that impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett used this morning. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STACEY PLASKETT, DELEGATE TO HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FROM U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS, HOUSE IMPEACHMENT MANAGER: Listen, we didn't need more witnesses, we needed more senators with spines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And so do you see that there might be some greater influence in the days or weeks or perhaps months to come from perhaps those seven Republicans who did stand up, who did convict the president?

BRINKLEY: I think it is important, because seven isn't three. And Mitch McConnell has a foot in two camps, the Romney Republicans if you'd like, and the Trump Republicans.

The question is can they do business with Joe Biden? I think President Biden has had a remarkable few weeks here. He was smart to lay low during the impeachment trial. There's still this hope of a compromise deal on a coronavirus relief package we desperately need it, the country needs it.

Let's hope that that group of seven might become a group of 12 who could work with the Democrats and start getting things done so we're not living in dysfunction junction in the United States.

[14:14:55]

BRINKLEY: Congress and the Senate have just woefully shrunk in the last, really, since 2000 in their importance in the United States. We have so much executive power, and it's time that Congress starts trying to work with the White House and get things done, particularly in the midst of a pandemic like this.

WHITFIELD: Then overall what do you see the impact that this impeachment trial may have had on the office of the presidency?

BRINKLEY: I worry sometimes that we're doing impeachment, one after the other, that it's the new norm. But, I know I don't worry too much because I think Donald Trump was so weird, such an aberration, so shameless, lied so many times that we're not going to keep trying impeach presidents.

I think Biden, if the Republicans can't do business with Joe Biden -- I mean, he's a centrist, maybe center left Republican who has made his mark in Washington for decades on reaching across the aisle.

He's trying desperately to work with the Republican Party. They need to meet him, get things done in 2021 if we want to go back to the neo civil war between Rs and Ds, do it in the election cycle between of 2022 but it's no reason to have utter gridlock right now in Washington.

WHITFIELD: Historian Doug Brinkley, always good to see you. Thank you so much.

BRINKLEY: Happy Valentine's Day, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And Happy Valentine's that's right. Thank you.

BRINKLEY: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still to come, a second trial, a second acquittal, does the Senate's decision yesterday say Donald Trump is untouchable?

Plus, as many parents anxiously await the return of in-person school for their children, the CDC director tells CNN a lot is going to depend on the actions of all Americans.

This CNN programming note. Tuesday night President Biden Joe Biden will join Anderson Cooper live from Milwaukee, Wisconsin in an exclusive presidential town hall. That's starting at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time.

[14:16:57]

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WHITFIELD: More than 50 million coronavirus doses have now been administered in the U.S. That includes more than 37 million people who have now received at least one dose and over 13 million people who are now fully vaccinated.

CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said she expects every eligible American who wants a vaccine to be able to get one by the end of summer.

This follows official guidance on reopening schools for in-person learning released by the CDC on Friday recommending five key mitigation strategies including universal mask wearing, physical distancing, washing hands, frequent cleaning and contract tracing.

The guidance does not list teacher vaccinations as a key strategy but allows schools the flexibility to make decisions based on individual factors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: We have in the guidance clear language that's best advice that teachers who are at higher risk, teachers and students that are at higher risk and their families, should have options for virtual activities, virtual learning, virtual teaching.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, joining me right now to discuss, Dr. Richina Bicette, emergency medicine physician and a medical director at the Baylor College of Medicine. Doctor, always good to see you. Happy Valentine's Day.

DR. RICHINA BICETTE, EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN: Happy valentine's day, Fred.

WHITFIELD: So would you, you know, be more comfortable if the CDC guidance prioritized teacher vaccinations?

DR. BICETTE: You know, Fred, I don't think it's really about me being comfortable. I think it's about the teachers being comfortable. We all want schools to reopen. I think, you know, there is a consensus that we think it's better for children to have in-person learning.

And by doing so, we are effectively transitioning our teachers into front line workers. So why not offer them the same protection as we would to those who are working in hospitals and in health care settings.

I think it would definitely give them a lot of peace of mind, and it would help prevent our teachers who are also at high risk from developing severe COVID or asymptomatic illness.

WHITFIELD: All right. I think I heard the numbers of one out of four that teachers might be considered high risk.

So listen to what Dr. Anthony Fauci had to say about the debate over vaccinating teachers this morning?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: So vaccinating teachers are part of it, but it's not a sine qua non. It's not something that you can't open the schools unless all the teachers are vaccinated. That would be optimal if you can do that.

But practically speaking when you balance the benefit of getting the children back to school with the fact that the risks are being mitigated if you follow the recommendations and these new guidelines from the CDC, hopefully I think that will alleviate the concerns on both sides.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So what is the right balance?

DR. BICETTE: I'm not sure if there is quite possibly a right balance. Everything has to be taken on a case-by-case scenario.

Now, what we can't forget is although children are not succumbing to COVID-19 and although children don't typically develop severe disease, they're still an important vector of disease. They can still possibly transmit disease.

Over 3 million children have been diagnosed with COVID since the start of this pandemic. That's 13 percent of our COVID cases, so they still do potentially pose a risk.

We're talking about those mitigation strategies, but 99 percent of students in the United States are living in areas right now that are in that red level of risk of community transmission. So it's going to be very important that those mitigation strategies are followed to a T if we don't want to see outbreaks in schools.

[14:24:47]

DR. BICETTE: So Dr. Fauci is right. Vaccines are not the only thing that are going to help us integrate students back into school safely, but they still should be a consideration for our teachers.

WHITFIELD: Those are big numbers. The CDC guidance says classrooms can reopen for in-person learning provided that schools are able to implement five -- five mitigation strategies. That's a crucial caveat. How important is it to understand what these guidelines are, you know, that one size really does not fit all?

DR. BICETTE: It's extremely important. Because what the CDC guidelines also mention is even in places where community transmission is low, if those mitigation strategies are not followed, you could still have outbreaks in schools.

The question is though, following those mitigation strategies involves a lot of resources. And every school is not built the same. What about the schools that are in low-income areas? Where are they going to get the resources to ensure that they're following those mitigation strategies? That's another important consideration that I don't think I have heard much discussion about yet.

WHITFIELD: Right, I mean we're talking about schools, school districts, a and individuals and their families when you talk about those resources.

So Dr. Anthony Fauci also says that coronavirus vaccines could be authorized for young children coming into the first grade in the U.S. as early as September.

And researchers at Oxford University are now beginning clinical trials for the AstraZeneca vaccine with children as young as six in the U.K. So how significant and potentially promising is this to you?

DR. BICETTE: I think it's an important move that we go in the direction of starting to get our children vaccinated. We've proven that these vaccines are safe for adults, so the natural progression would be to prove that it's safe for children.

Pfizer tested their vaccine in those who are as young as 16 years old, and they actually expanded their trials, both Pfizer and Moderna to go down to the age of 12. And then we have AstraZeneca trial who is testing on children who are as young as 6 years old.

So once we can kind of prove that this vaccine is safe for children, we can start getting our children vaccinated. And I think that's going to be another important risk mitigation strategy in order to get schools fully reopened and get children reengaged into the classroom.

WHITFIELD: In terms of encouraging mask wearing, there are some places whether it be states or even communities that are now relaxing that. And the latest projection from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation shows that nearly 615,000 Americans will have died of coronavirus by June 1.

Nearly 35,000 lives could be saved if most people were to wear masks. So now what are your concerns about those areas that are kind of relaxing such restrictions?

DR. BICETTE: Now is not the time. You know, we look at the numbers and you see that the number of hospitalizations have decreased. It's been decreasing everyday since January 12.

We have the lowest number of hospitalizations since the end of October and November. Our number od daily cases is finally averaging less than 100,00 per seven-day rolling average.

These are great signs, but relaxing on mask use is going to get us back to where we were at the top of the year. We just had the deadliest day of the pandemic thus far on February 12 where over 5,000 people died.

So although some of our numbers are improving, our death rates are not at the point where we can relax mask use yet.

WHITFIELD: All right. Everyone still be vigilant.

Dr. Richina Bicette, thanks so much. Good to see you.

DR. BICETTE: Thank you Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, the future of the GOP. Will it still include Trump?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM: Trump plus is the way back in 2022.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Coming up, we talk with a leading conservative voice who says, no, it's not.

[14:58:38]

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[14:30:00]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. Many Republicans are taking a victory lap today after once again after saving once again former President Trump from conviction in the U.S. Senate, but not all senators. Seven members of the president's own party voted to convict him for his role in deadly January 6th Capitol riots, and others, like Mitch McConnell, excoriated the president for tge mob's actions but ultimately did not convict Trump. This is the deep division playing in real-time within the GOP.

And today, Senator Lindsey Graham gave his take on where Trump's acquittal will lead the party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): The biggest winner, I think, of this whole impeachment trial is Laura Trump. My dear friend, Richard Burr, who I likened, have been friends too along time, just made Laura Trump almost a certain nominee for the Senate seat in North Carolina to replace him if she runs. And I certainly will be behind her because I think she represents the future of the Republican Party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Joining me right now, the executive director of Stand Up Republic, former Chief Policy Director for the House Republican Conference, Evan McMullin. Good to see you.

EVAN MCMULLIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STAND UP REPUBLIC: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: All right. How much of what Senator Graham said would you agree with?

MCMULLIN: Not much. I mean, look, Senator Graham has chosen to be on the side of President Trump and a part of that wing of Republican. And he understands that if the Republican Party moves in a new direction, if it leaves Trump in the past, as I think it should, and recommits to democracy and foundational American values, that Lindsey will probably be on the outside of that. He may still be in office, but he's not going to lead that effort.

He also wants to be in the majority again in the Senate in 2022, and he knows that if the party has to go through a transition period, a reform period, that that may not happen, that probably won't happen in '22.

[14:35:03]

So I think he's looking out for his own personal interests, but those aren't the interests of the country.

I mean, can you imagine, Fred, a Republican Party that decides to stay loyal to a person who led as president a violent insurrection against the government to overturn an election?

WHITFIELD: Well, we just saw that yesterday though.

MCMULLIN: We did, we did. But we saw a number of senators, a small number, but an increasing number stand up and say, you know, this is not the direction we want to go in. And don't take that to mean I'm optimistic in the near term about the Republican Party's prospect for reform. I'm not.

The challenge is very serious and it just may not be possible. But that certainly is not the -- going in that direction, staying in this direction of violence and insurrection is not the right direction for the Republican Party. And that's what Lindsey Graham, for his own personal interest, is pursuing that, but it's damaging for the country and it's damaging for the party.

And lastly, I would say, this is a president, former President Trump, in his movement that lost the House twice, the Senate once and the White House all in a period of two years while doing immense damage to the country by mismanaging this pandemic and the millions of job losses that it's created, not to mention the half a million lives that we've lost largely, many of them, unnecessary. Can you imagine if we would continue in the same direction? I hope we don't and we need to fight against that.

WHITFIELD: So, last week, we talked about how you have been leading this movement within the Republican Party to potentially start a new faction or split from the GOP. Do you feel like the vote yesterday or at least your disappointment in what the party is exhibiting, in your view, and the former president, does that allow or help you gain momentum?

MCMULLIN: Look, I've been helping to lead discussions about what is needed to either correct the course for the Republican Party or to challenge it directly. And I think the sentiments among our group after the acquittal of Trump in the Senate by Republicans is that it only makes more serious the demands for something new, whether it's a faction within the GOP that's committed to democracy or it is an independent faction that works outside of it, or something entirely new.

And so I think there is increased energy among us to pursue that after having some discussions in the last couple of weeks.

WHITFIELD: Is it a big assist when you got the former ambassador, Nikki Haley, who says, we were misled, we shouldn't have followed him?

MCMULLIN: Well, I think it's -- look, it's great when people like Nikki Haley say those things and change the course that they have been on. She is not the only one. There are others. There are far too many or far too few, rather, but we hope there will be more. I haven't given up hope that somehow this party can have a change of heart and, again, recommit to our democratic republic and our values to move forward.

But it will only be when people, leaders like her and Mitt Romney, who has been doing it, and Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney and others, the more who stand with them in elected office or who run and gain elected office and lead the party away from its current direction to a better place, that's the only way it's going to happen. It requires leadership, and so far too few are standing up, but I'm encouraged by those who are.

WHITFIELD: All right, it sounds like you are encouraged. One Republican voting to convict the president last year, Mitt Romney, and now seven Republicans, so I hear what you're saying. Evan McMullin --

MCMULLIN: Modest progress, but it may not be enough.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you so much. Thanks for being back with us today.

MCMULLIN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, two women share a gut-wrenching story. Their parents got sucked into QAnon lies and it's tearing their family apart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIELLE MARSHALL, MOTHER BELIEVES IN QANON: I just want to have a mom who loves me. We're just -- we're past that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:40:00]

WHITFIELD: More than 200 people have been charged with federal crimes in connection with the insurrection, some of whom have shown support for QAnon. And even now, the pain caused by loved ones within QAnon's grip is continuing to tear families apart.

Here now is CNN's Donie O'Sullivan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARSHALL: I live just a few blocks south of the Capitol. And so I started seeing people walking on the sidewalk heading to the Capitol with Trump flags and red hats, and I thought to myself, I wonder if my mom is here? I just thought to myself, let me check her YouTube. And, lo and behold, she was.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will never stop loving my parents, but it's this switch that flips in them when they're talking about what the latest Q drop means. They're not logical anymore, they're not understanding, and often they're not kind.

MARSHALL: Not only does she really believe it but it intersects in her mind with her religion. She has never put anything else on the pedestal equal to the bible. And it really feels like that with this QAnon stuff.

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER (voice over): A conspiracy theory has taken over both these women's lives, but not by their choosing.

MARSHALL: I just want to have a mom who loves me. We're just -- we're past that.

O'SULLIVAN: They say their parents have been sucked into QAnon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My childhood was as perfect as any childhood could be. In the recent year or two years where this has become so much stronger within them, they've become completely different people.

[14:45:01]

O'SULLIVAN: This woman is still desperately trying to save her relationship with her parents. It's why we've agreed to hide her identity.

How did this all start with your parents?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All through growing up. It was constantly, oh, my gosh, the Clintons, oh, my gosh, the Illuminati, things like that. But it all started, really, in the 2016 election cycle. Hillary Clinton and all of the Democrats are pedophilic and cannibalistic people that are trying to control the world.

Things definitely heightened when I got to college. They would background-search my professors. Hey, your professor, yes, like they're a registered Democrat.

MARSHALL: She knows my wife is a Capitol police officer. When she did that, that said everything to me, that she was willing to put my wife's life in danger. And if she had called me up or texted later that day or the next day and said, hey, listen I was at this rally, it got way out of hand, I'm really sorry. How are you guys, that would have changed everything. But it's been crickets, I haven't heard from her.

O'SULLIVAN: We repeatedly reached out to Danielle's mother for comments and she did not respond.

Have they changed their lifestyle in any way as a result of this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, the last time I was at my family's house, they told me that they have a three-year supply of meat in the freezer. They told me they've rounded up a bunch of ammo.

O'SULLIVAN: Are you concerned they might blow their life savings on these freeze-dried foods and 300 pounds of meat?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Their life savings and my college tuition, right? That's hard.

O'SULLIVAN: Whoever is the person that was running this Q account, what would you say to him if you could sit down and talk to them?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would tell them that they ruined my life, that they ruined my family, that they took what's supposed to be the best, most consistent, most loving part of my life and they've turned it into evil.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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WHITFIELD: Award-winning actor and best-selling cookbook author Stanley Tucci is now a member of the CNN family. CNN's Brooke Baldwin takes a look at Stanley's Hollywood career, his Italian roots and his love for cooking.

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STANLEY TUCCI, CNN HOST (voice over): I'm traveling across Italy to discover how the food in each of this country's 20 regions is as unique as the people and their past.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Good Italian food has been a constant in Stanley Tucci's life.

TUCCI: My mom was an incredible cook, is an incredible cook.

BALDWIN: Born in New York to Italian-American parents, Tucci spent a year growing up in Florence.

TUCCI: It was the start of a lifelong love affair with Italy.

BALDWIN: When Tucci first became an actor, he was often cast as a mobster.

TUCCI: All right. Here we go. I don't want to make bail and get out in time for my racket ball game.

BALDWIN: But his career blossomed beyond any stereotype.

TUCCI: Well, hello there.

BALDWIN: Appearing in more than 100 films and T.V. shows. tucci has filled his roles with humor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You kind of look like a stripper.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mom.

TUCCI: A high-end stripper for governors or athletes.

BALDWIN: Drama.

TUCCI: No adults allowed.

BALDWIN: And big budget action.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this a turning point in your career?

TUCCI: Could be.

BALDWIN: His directorial debut, 1996's Big Night, starred Tucci and food. Two Italian-American brothers struggle running a restaurant while cooking family recipes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a secret recipe they brought from their hometown.

BALDWIN: Not much has changed.

TUCCI: I'm on the hunt for the perfect timballo. It's a dish I'm obsessed with.

BALDWIN: Food is an important part of many of Tucci's films. He played Julia Child's husband in 2009.

TUCCI: What is it that you really like to do?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eat.

BALDWIN: The same year, Tucci's real wife, Kate, died from breast cancer.

TUCCI: All right, everyone, curb your loins.

BALDWIN: But he found love again when his co-star in the Devil Wears Prada, Emily Blunt, introduced him to her sister, Felicity.

TUCCI: This is where we met.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You got some poetry?

TUCCI: Not on me.

BALDWIN: The two share a love of cooking and cookbooks have resulted along with some viral quarantine cocktails.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are you going to make me?

TUCCI: (INAUDIBLE).

BALDWIN: Family, friends and food, a theme of Tucci's life --

TUCCI: I think it's time to feed the film crew.

BALDWIN: -- and his new show.

TUCCI: I'm going to make them one of my favorites.

BALDWIN: Brooke Baldwin, CNN, New York.

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WHITFIELD (voice over): And the all new CNN original series, Stanley Tuccim Searching for Italy, premieres tonight on CNN at 9:00 Eastern and Pacific.

And now, this week's Human Factor.

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JESSICA LAUSER, U.S. BLIND CHESS CHAMPION: I am the current U.S. blind chess champion and I have won three years in a row. And I'm in the top 3 percent of women, top 10 percent of the men (ph) in the regular adult side or division.

When I play chess, it's as close as I've ever come to a sense of equality, because when you start the game, no matter who you are, no matter what your physical condition is or where you come from, both sides start with the same thing.

[14:55:00]

My vision loss is the result of being born premature, that I needed high levels of oxygen when I was born. The way it was administered caused the damage to my retinas. I have no visible perception out of my right eye. My visual field was very narrow.

I think when somebody has a disability, kids, of course, don't understand that so they can be cruel. I did encounter a lot of teasing, but I wound up realizing that if I could beat them in chess, in a way, it showed I was smarter than they were, so then there really would be nothing they could say.

The biggest thing I get out playing chess is that it helps me cope with a lot of things I can't change. When people are facing challenges, they too should focus on what they do have, what they can do as opposed to what they don't have or what they can't do.

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