Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Trump Acquitted in Historic Second Impeachment Trial; McConnell Makes Case for Convicting Trump after Voting to Acquit; Biden Says Democracy Must Always Be Defended; Trump Facing Multiple Criminal and Civil Investigations; U.S. Now Averaging under 100,000 New Daily COVID-19 Cases; California to Open More Vaccination Supersites; Myanmar Military Threatens Arrests. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired February 14, 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]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: Former President Trump's actions preceded the riot for a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Now despite those comments from the Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, he and other Republicans then voted to acquit Donald Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES (voice-over): Welcome and welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOLMES: Welcome, everyone. Thanks for your company.
Donald Trump may have been acquitted of inciting to violence at the U.S. Capitol last month but the political fallout from the former U.S. president's second impeachment trial will likely be long-lasting. That is especially true for the Republican Party after seven GOP senators broke away Saturday to vote with Democrats to convict.
One of those senators, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, has already been censured by his state's Republican Party. It is clear Trump still has massive influence on his base and his party.
So the question for Republicans is, how far can they distance themselves from his final days in the White House?
Some senators who voted to acquit said in strong words they were not condoning Trump's conduct and that includes Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. If you didn't know better, you would think McConnell had voted for conviction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCONNELL: President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. No question about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: But the divisions on Capitol Hill and across the country, for that matter, are stark. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump's acquittal would be remembered as one of the most dishonorable acts in the nation's history. CNN's Ryan Nobles with more on a dramatic day in the U.S. Senate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For a second time, Donald Trump has escaped conviction by the U.S. Senate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is therefore ordered and adjudged that the said Donald J. Trump be and he is hereby acquitted of the charge in said article.
NOBLES (voice-over): The final vote capped off a dramatic and unpredictable day where House impeachment managers initially announced plans to call witnesses in the trial of the former president.
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD), LEAD IMPEACHMENT MANAGER: We would like the opportunity to subpoena Congresswoman Herrera regarding her communications with House minority leader Kevin McCarthy.
NOBLES (voice-over): Calling witnesses would have most likely sent the trial in a dramatically different direction, leading to a much longer affair.
After hours of negotiations, the two sides agreed to submit into the record a statement from Republican congresswoman Jamie Herrera Beutler, which detailed a phone call from Trump to House minority leader Kevin McCarthy on January 6th, where Trump told McCarthy the rioters cared more about election fraud than McCarthy.
Impeachment managers decided to call her as a witness following a CNN report on the call Friday.
RASKIN: The point is that no number of witnesses demonstrating that Donald Trump continued to incite the insurrectionists, even after the invasion of the Capitol, would convince them. They wouldn't be convinced.
NOBLES (voice-over): With witnesses off the table, the two sides presented their closing arguments. The prosecution arguing that the evidence made it clear the riot was incited by the former president.
RASKIN: He named the date, he named the time and he brought them here and now he must pay the price.
NOBLES (voice-over): And the Trump defense warning the constitutional questions of convicting a former president were impossible to ignore. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This has been perhaps the most unfair and
flagrantly unconstitutional proceeding in the history of the United States Senate.
NOBLES (voice-over): When the votes were cast, seven Republicans joined Democrats and voted to convict Trump but fell short of the two- thirds majority necessary. Richard Burr of North Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana voted to convict, despite earlier voting the trial was unconstitutional.
After it was all over, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, who voted to acquit, hammered Trump's actions, saying he was responsible for the riot and even suggested he could be tried in a criminal court.
MCCONNELL: Didn't get away with anything yet. Yet.
[01:05:00]
MCCONNELL: 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.
NOBLES (voice-over): But majority leader Chuck Schumer argued the Republicans were using the constitutional argument as a copout. In his mind, the evidence was more than enough to convict.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MAJORITY LEADER: Look at what Republicans have chosen to forgive. The former president tried to overturn the results of a legitimate election and provoked an assault on our own government.
NOBLES: While there's no doubt that Democrats are not happy with the outcome of this impeachment trial, there are many that are happy to see it in the rearview mirror and they are ready to get focused on some of the big agenda items for the new Biden administration.
The first thing up, that big COVID relief package currently making its way through the Congress -- Ryan Nobles, CNN, on Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: So what's next for the former president?
Despite the Senate acquittal, some people, apparently even Trump himself, fear there might be more legal battles ahead. CNN's Boris Sanchez reports from West Palm Beach, Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump's legal team expressing relief over the acquittal of the former president, though sources indicate the legal team was surprised seven Republican senators voted to convict Trump, that number much higher than what they expected.
Notably, we are hearing from sources close to the former president who say that he is now concerned about potentially facing criminal charges. And this comes on the heels of Mitch McConnell, during his speech, saying that the criminal justice system may ultimately look at Donald Trump's role in the insurrection on January 6th.
And it's not just McConnell. Federal investigators have laid out to CNN that they are looking at anyone and everyone who was involved in the violence we saw on Capitol Hill that day, including Donald Trump.
In the meantime though, publicly, Trump expressing relief as well. He apparently is pleased with the acquittal, though he does foreshadow some upcoming political work.
In a statement, Trump writing, in part, quote, "Our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to make America great again has only just begun. In the months ahead, I have much to share with you and I look forward to continuing our incredible journey together to achieve American greatness for all of our people."
We anticipate that, in that statement, part of what Trump is alluding to and what he wants to share with his supporters is an effort to oust the Republicans that Trump feels betrayed him.
He is preparing to campaign against them, to potentially fundraise against them and get them out of office. Of course, there's always the specter that Trump may run again in 2024 -- Boris Sanchez, CNN, in West Palm Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: A lot of praise for those seven Republicans who voted to convict the former president. They are Senators Richard Burr, Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski, Pat Toomey and Ben Sasse.
Worth noting here, only Murkowski is only up for reelection in 2022. Burr and Toomey plan not to run again after this term. They are retiring. Romney is not up for reelection until 2024, while Cassidy, Collins and Sasse are set through 2026. So no immediate political risk.
Let's get more perspective on this. Ron Brownstein is CNN's senior political analyst and the senior editor for "The Atlantic."
Ron, I want to start with one of your tweets on Saturday. You said this.
"Trump incites, ignites and revels in a riot by right-wing white nationalists. He then intimidates vast majority of GOP into defending him. They then intimidate congressional Democrats into truncating the trial. No consequences means extremists are emboldened."
Explain more about that impact of acquittal for political reasons.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: If you look at the way this trial was unfolding, particularly 43 of the 50 Republican voting to say there should be no consequences for Trump, for his actions, in which he ignited, incited and (INAUDIBLE) the mob at the Capitol.
And then as we saw, in revelations by Deputy Rangel and others, ignored the request, laughed at the request by Kevin McCarthy, when he called him to call off the mob or to send more law enforcement help.
If you look all of that, Michael, it follows also the decision by House Republicans just a few weeks ago not to sanction Marjorie Taylor Greene and, in fact, welcome her into their caucus.
[01:10:00]
BROWNSTEIN: And I think both of these send a very clear signal, that then mainstream Republicans are concluding that the extremist part of their coalition is simply too big at this point to confront or excommunicate.
And I talked to experts in extremism, who believe very clearly that the fact that the vast majority of Republicans stood with Trump is going to normalize the kind of inflammatory rhetoric and use of political threats that both he and Marjorie Taylor Greene symbolize.
HOLMES: I want to ask you about Mitch McConnell too, voting not guilty but him getting up and blaming Trump anyway, saying he was practically and morally responsible. Let's call it the loophole strategy.
He obviously wants Trump's hold gone from the party but didn't vote to actually make that happen.
Where does that leave McConnell?
BROWNSTEIN: Let's walk through what Mitch McConnell did. Mitch McConnell delayed the trial, specifically refused to begin the trial until Donald Trump left office and then got up and said today the only reason he's not convicting him is because the trial did not begin until Donald Trump left office, which was Mitch McConnell's doing.
McConnell, I thought today, was desperately searching for someone, anyone to do what he lacked the courage to do, a civil suit, a criminal investigation, any kind of other legal activity that would accept the responsibility that he shirked, to take a clear stand against Trump.
And he truly believes, I think, that Trump was responsible for the mob on the Capitol. And that really encapsulates the challenge that more mainstream Republicans faced throughout the Trump presidency.
I mean, they want the advantages of, you know, the energy that he inspires among his base. They don't want the downside of all the things that he does that alienate traditionally center right, white collar, voters but they have lacked the courage to stand up to him.
And at this point, it may be too late to reverse the inroads, the beachhead extremists are making in the party, especially after these back to back decisions on Taylor Greene and Trump in the last couple of weeks. HOLMES: It is interesting. We're already seeing state-level blowback
for GOP senators who voted to impeach. And that fear of MAGA nation and Trump clearly behind a lot of not guilty votes.
What evidence is there that, with Trump not on the ballot, he has sway with the broader electorate that those congressional Republicans fear?
His popularity has tanked even further. Some Republicans are leading the party. He's a sullied brand.
What are they afraid of?
BROWNSTEIN: It's an excellent question. We don't know his ability to turn out his own voters when he's not on the ballot. What they are looking at is polling, showing not only three-quarters of Republican still support Trump, they believe his lies, that the election was stolen.
Another poll by the conservative American Enterprise Institute this week showing a majority, 55 percent of Republicans, agree the American way of life is disappearing so fast that we may have to use force to save it.
They are worried about kind of this, his hold on what they see as the critical votes they need in the party. But by refusing to stand up to him and by allowing this to go past, as we talked about before, they really let go the best chance they've had to get out from under his thumb.
HOLMES: For Trump, what does acquittal in essence and he will frame it this way, a win for him, what will that mean for his future politically and in terms of that influence, his hold over the Republican Party?
BROWNSTEIN: I think they have voted in a way that maximizes his leverage in the party. From November on, they allowed him to spread this lie among the party base that the only reason he's not taking the oath the office is not because he lost, it's not because he led the party in a direction that could not command a national majority.
It's because it was stolen and that does increase Trump's leverage. What we are seeing is, in state after state, from Georgia to Arizona to Pennsylvania and Michigan, the state level Republicans are using his lies about the election to justify an entire new wave of voter suppression measures.
So in many ways, we are seeing the party pick up and run with the falsehood. It's hard to then turn around and blame him for advancing it when you are using it to justify a new R&D of attempts that make it harder to vote, particularly for minority voters.
HOLMES: Great points as always. Rob Brownstein, always a pleasure to see you.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me. HOLMES: President Biden kept pretty quiet during the impeachment
trial but he has now responded to the acquittal. CNN White House correspondent Arlette Saenz reports.
[01:15:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In his first comments since the impeachment trial wrapped up, President Biden said that, even though the Senate did not vote to convict former president Trump, the substance of the charges were not in dispute.
The president noted that there were a record number, seven Republicans, voting to convict the former president of their own party. And the president went on to say, "While the final vote did not lead to a conviction, the substance of the charge is not in dispute. Even though those opposed to the conviction, like Senate minority leader McConnell, believe Donald Trump was guilty of a disgraceful dereliction of duty and practically and morally responsible for provoking the violence unleashed on the Capitol."
The president went on to talk about that insurrection on January 6th, saying, "This sad chapter in our history has reminded us that democracy is fragile but it must always be defended, that we must ever be vigilant, that violence and extremism has no place in America and that each of us has a duty and responsibility as Americans and especially as leaders to defend the truth and to defeat the lies.
"That is how we end this uncivil war and heal the very soul of our nation."
He added, "That is the task ahead and it's a task we must undertake together as the United States of America."
Throughout the Senate impeachment trial, the president has been very careful in how he has commented. He's never directly weighed in on whether he believes the Senate needed to convict former president Trump.
But he did say that the Senate impeachment trial was critical to proceed after the House had voted for that impeachment. The president had also indicated he was anxious to see how Republicans would vote on this and suggested he thought that some minds may be swayed by that video that has been shown by the impeachment managers.
Now that the Senate impeachment trial is behind him, the Biden White House is laser focused on the tasks ahead, one of those being getting his COVID relief package passed, as well as getting his nominees confirmed in the Senate, as they are trying to look to the work of the Biden agenda now that the trial is over -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: We will take a quick break on the program. Donald Trump's second Senate trial is over.
But does that mean that he's in the clear, legally speaking?
Some legal minds say perhaps not. The cases Trump could still be facing down the road.
Also still to come, will seven prove to be an unlucky number for Republicans, after more party members voted against Trump than expected?
A full analysis, coming up.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:20:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCONNELL: President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day, no question about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell there, after he voted with the majority to acquit Donald Trump in the former president's impeachment trial.
Joining me is Jessica Levinson, a professor of law at Loyola Law School and the host of the podcast, "Passing Judgment."
Good to see you. Let's talk about McConnell's constitutionality argument. I mean, you can't impeach because Trump was out of office; yet, it was McConnell who blocked the impeachment moving forward in the Senate when he was in office.
How disingenuous an argument is that?
JESSICA LEVINSON, LOYOLA UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL: Well, I think very but not just for the reason that you point out, which he said basically, something really bad happened here but my hands are tied constitutionally because we are holding the trial after the president's term has ended.
Of course as you point out, it was then Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell who had the power to call back the Senate so the trial could at least begin while president Trump was still in office.
The other thing to remember is, one, the Senate has just voted a few days ago and the Senate ruled by vote, saying, no, it is OK to proceed, so that decision was made.
The other thing is every legal expert, I should say virtually every legal expert, who looks at this issue, agrees that, absolutely, you can have a trial when somebody is out of office because if you couldn't, imagine what would happen. We would incentivize people to engage in the worst type of behavior, either at the very end of their term or in the middle of their term with the ability to resign and then say, oh, but you can't avoid one of the two punishments of impeachment. Don't worry about disqualification. That is off the table because your term ended. That does not make any sense constitutionally, either.
HOLMES: It's a worrying precedent, absolutely.
The other thing, Mitch McConnell did raise this issue, that the president can be prosecuted as a private citizen.
In your view, how vulnerable is he to say -- there's a bunch of things, the outcome of the official investigations into January 6th, Georgia officials are investigating potential Trump interference there. Or even the lawsuits from some of the families of the victims hurt or killed during the insurrection.
LEVINSON: Yes. My gut tells me that the president absolutely will face legal exposure and it could be both on the federal and state level but it's much more likely not to involve the insurrection.
Whether or not there is a federal prosecutor who wants to go forward on a charge of inciting violence, inciting the insurrection, I think they could do that with a straight face. I think more likely, as you point out, maybe civil lawsuits with a lower standard of proof from family members or people themselves who were injured.
And then as you point out, lots of other places where the president faces -- the former president faces potential legal exposure.
On the federal level, let's remember the Mueller report, potential obstruction of justice. Also the campaign finance violations that Michael Cohen, the president's personal attorney, had talked about. Financial crimes are potentially on the table.
And when it comes to state crimes, we know New York has an ongoing investigation into the Trump businesses. We also know, coming out of Georgia, there'll be an investigation into potential election fraud.
[01:25:00]
LEVINSON: So this is not the end of the president's potential legal trouble here. This is not the last time he's going to talk to a lawyer.
HOLMES: Exactly. For Trump personally, does acquittal, because it is essentially a win for him, what does it mean do you think, putting a political hat on now, what does it mean for him politically, going forward?
LEVINSON: I think it means he has more political capital. And I don't know if he will actually run for office in 2024. But I think he will say he's running and I think he will try to avail himself of the benefits of the campaign finance system.
So that basically blocks the Republican field, the presidential field, from being able to develop because he would take up all the oxygen in the room and he might be able to shore up a lot of the money, too.
So for him psychologically it's a win and I think it's a win because, at this point, there's nothing to prevent him from either running again or saying he's running again, then dropping out at the last minute but having raised a good deal of money.
HOLMES: And when it comes to the impeachment trial, what did you make of the political aspect of the vote to call witnesses, then backtracking on that?
Clearly going ahead would have led to not just a delay in the Senate but on the Biden agenda. But you also have the specter of Republicans, calling on Nancy Pelosi and the whole Pandora's box.
What did you think of the Democrats raising that and then stepping back?
LEVINSON: In the moment, it felt like, Democrats, you just had a really big win.
What's going on here?
Why did you pull back?
I think it's the reasons you just pointed out. One, I think a lot of Democrats and certainly the Biden administration would like to move forward. We are facing a pandemic and economic crisis, a climate change crisis, deep issues of racial injustice.
And I think a lot of people would like to move forward. Of course, I think the constitutional provisions, like the impeachment clause, is there for a reason and we need to use it when the moment arises.
But you know, I think that people are going to be analyzing for a long time, what if we had heard from witnesses?
Would it have created a greater impact?
And I just can't help but feel that the real difference would not have been, would there be one witness or 100 witnesses. The real difference would be if Mitch McConnell said, I'm voting to convict.
And I suspect there might've been 10 senators who would've joined him. He would've basically opened his arms, given enough cover that that, more than the so-called trial statute, could've made the difference.
HOLMES: Interesting. Jessica, good to see you, Jessica Levinson. Appreciate it, Professor, thanks.
LEVINSON: Thank you.
HOLMES: We'll have more coverage from Washington in just a moment, including what now for the Republican Party after a seismic series of events?
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:30:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. STACEY PLASKETT (D-VI), HOUSE IMPEACHMENT MANAGER: I think that we proved that he is in fact an inciter in chief. That is in fact criminal, for an individual to raise themselves up, to try and destroy this republic.
He led an insurrection, albeit an attempted one that failed, but an insurrection against the republic. That is a high crime and a misdemeanor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Scathing words there from Stacey Plaskett, one of the House impeachment managers, after a historic evening in Washington. But the Democrats did not get the votes from across the aisle that they needed to convict Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is therefore ordered and adjudged that the said Donald John Trump be and is hereby acquitted of the charge in said article.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The final vote, of course, was 57 guilty, 43 not guilty, 10 short of the two-thirds super majority needed to convict the former president.
Seven Republican senators did vote to convict Trump, a significant increase from the first impeachment trial, where Mitt Romney was the only Republican to break ranks with his party. Now the Democratic and Republican leaders spoke after the judgment was rendered. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MAJORITY LEADER: This trial wasn't about choosing country over party, even not that. This was about choosing country over Donald Trump. And 43 Republican members chose Trump. They chose Trump.
MCCONNELL: Former president Trump's actions preceded the riot for a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty.
We have no power to convict and disqualify a former office holder, who is now a private citizen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: President Biden has responded to the verdict, saying this, quote, "This sad chapter in our history has reminded us that democracy is fragile, that it must always be defended, that we must be ever vigilant, that violence and extremism has no place in America and that each of us has a duty and responsibility as Americans and especially as leaders to defend the truth and to defeat the lies."
Republican strategist Pete Seat joins me now. He's also the former White House deputy assistant press secretary under George W. Bush.
Thanks for being with us, Pete.
What, in your view, is the damage done to this party with this acquittal, which is basically a refusal to do something about the president's role in the insurrection, to hold them accountable?
What damage does that do?
PETE SEAT, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: It's a foregone conclusion that former president Trump was going to be acquitted. And I would point to something David Gergen said on this network earlier in the day and that is, the vote in the Senate mirrors almost exactly the polling we were seeing.
Americans were split in almost the exact same percentages as that Senate vote. What was surprising to me was a couple of the senators voting to convict, like Richard Burr from North Carolina and Senator Cassidy from Louisiana. But other than that, it went precisely as expected.
HOLMES: I think out of all of those brave senators, only one of them is running for reelection in 2022, so it was not that brave. They are not up against voters anytime soon and incurring the wrath of the president.
[01:35:00]
HOLMES: To that point, though, why the fear among senators to go against Donald Trump?
He lost the House, he lost the Senate, he lost the White House, his popularity has gone down since leaving office. A lot of Republicans are leaving the party.
Why is there the fealty to him?
SEAT: There is two ways to answer this question. One is you've got the constitutionality of the proceedings that took place; 45 United States senators and scores of legal experts did not believe this process was constitutional.
Secondly, you have constituents -- and a lot of these senators, I can't speak to their motives, on how they voted, but you look at their residencies and the states they come from and they have constituents who have stood by former president Trump through thick and thin.
Many of these senators said that his refusal to concede the election and his comments made on January 6th were unbecoming of a sitting United States president. But they saw this as an unconstitutional exercise and they voted accordingly.
HOLMES: The Senate held the vote on that and it was decided it was constitutional, which kind of weakens that argument.
In terms of standing by the president, he's not the president anymore.
What are the risks to the party going forward, maintaining that fealty to one man, especially now that he's out of office?
Isn't that a pretty extraordinary, eggs in one basket situation for the party?
SEAT: We need to be careful not to fall into the trap of the cult of personality. Democrats have had their problems with cult of personality in the past. We are in the midst of one right now nationally, at the federal level.
Republicans are struggling with that. I think, moving forward, we have to recognize that Donald Trump was successful in 2016, he was successful in getting a Republican majority in the Senate in 2018 but he was unsuccessful in 2020.
And that's largely because people were turned off by his personality and some of his antics, particularly on social media. But Republicans on the ballot still did better than expected, better than the prognosticators predicted.
Voters were able to separate Republican policies, traditional Republican policies, from a personality they did not like.
Having said that, moving forward, we still need to couple that passion and energy that trump supporters brought to the party with the traditional policies working in state capitals across this country to advance the conservative movement forward.
HOLMES: To the point you just made with the election, Republicans did do well down ballot. The president did not, which brings me back to this point again of why do they seem so afraid of him?
He lost and there is that hardcore base but it's not a big enough base to win an election, as we have seen.
So why stick with him at all?
Why not take this opportunity to move past the Trump party?
SEAT: You know, politics is interesting. We have a very perverse incentive structure in how we incentivize behavior in the part of political officials. Criminals get more strikes than politicians it seems. Criminals get three strikes before they are out, politicians get a single strike before they are out. But when some of these Republican senators support Donald Trump, they
hear cheers from their constituents. They are incentivized by that support and that positive outcry that they are getting.
But to your point, we do need to move away from that cult of personality. I think we would be best served if former president Trump took a back seat. He should still be involved behind the scenes. President Bush is still involved behind the scenes, his father before he passed away was still involved behind the scenes.
But having Donald Trump front and center will not help a party that needs to turn to page not just for one presidency to the next candidacies to come, in 2024 but turn the page generationally and start reaching out to younger Americans to ensure the party can thrive for years to come.
HOLMES: Pete Seat, thanks so much. Really appreciate your time.
SEAT: Thank you.
HOLMES: The latest on the pandemic in a moment and even some reasons for the optimistic view in the U.S. and Europe. We will show you that and much more, coming up.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:40:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOLMES: The U.S. is now averaging less than 100,000 new COVID-19 cases per day. That's looking at data from Johns Hopkins University. The last time this happened was back on Election Day in November. Think about that.
Here's another encouraging sign. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control said Saturday that more than 50 million vaccine doses have now been administered. That is about 2 million more doses compared to the previous day.
And a new forecast estimates the number of Americans who will lose their lives to the virus by June 1st may be less than previously thought. The estimate has gone down from 630,000 to 615,000, another positive sign.
The institute behind that forecast says the recent pickup in vaccinations, that's got a lot to do with that. Of course, it goes without saying, there are many, many challenges left, even though the U.S. does seem headed to the right direction. California is expanding the list of those who qualify for a coronavirus shot, while facing a vaccine shortage. CNN's Paul Vercammen explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The major development in California is expanding the vaccine list. On March 15, people with serious health conditions will be added to the list. That would include someone, for example, who's been an organ transit recipient or have severe heart issues or pregnant women, who will be added to that list on March 15th.
But what do you do when the vaccine distribution has been so scattershot?
Look at Dodger Stadium this weekend. This is a major vaccine site in Los Angeles. It is shut down. They don't expect to get up and running until Tuesday or Wednesday. And this is all because of this vaccine shortage that the mayor Garcetti has called uneven and unacceptable.
There is a glimmer of hope: Cal State Los Angeles. This is one of President Joe Biden's 100 new federal supersites they expect to open here on Tuesday.
[01:45:00]
VERCAMMEN: This is a joint effort between FEMA and California Department of Emergency Services as well as the U.S. Army. They expect to vaccinate some 6,000 people a day. That is seven days a week and members of the Army are so happy that they're able to help fellow Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. RYAN CATES, U.S. ARMY: We're just proud and happy to be able to support this hugely incredible, this hugely important mission. The DOD does not get to do a lot of direct support missions to help Americans on a regular basis. So we're just really proud to be here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERCAMMEN: This vaccine site is in hardhit east Los Angeles. This Latino community has been ravaged by COVID, so this will be both a drive-through site as well as a walk-up site.
It's extremely close to an important metro hub as well as a bus station hub, so they think that many people who could not drive to the site will be able to walk up and get their important COVID-19 vaccination shots -- reporting from Los Angeles, I'm Paul Vercammen. Now back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Thanks, Paul Vercammen there.
Now the United Kingdom's prime minister said he is optimistic he will be able to ease some of the lockdown measures soon. This as the government nears an ambitious vaccination target. CNN's Phil Black is in Essex with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Confirmation is expected imminently, that the U.K. has met the first important goal of its mass vaccination program. The speed and scale of this rollout has been unprecedented.
This first goal was ambitious, by Monday, offering around 15 million of the most vulnerable people across the U.K. a first dose of a vaccine. That includes everyone aged over 70, all health and care home staff and everyone deemed to be extremely clinically vulnerable.
Officials say take-up of the vaccines has been very high. In England alone, more than 9 out of 10 people have accepted a vaccine when offered. The government's expert committee on vaccines says the take- up typically among care home staff has been far too low, around 66 percent.
Prime minister Boris Johnson said he's feeling cautiously optimistic about being able to lift lockdown restrictions and eventually making COVID-19 a manageable disease.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: I do think that, in due time, it will become something that we simply live with. Some people will be more vulnerable than others. That's inevitable.
BLACKWELL (voice-over): Monday also marks the implementation of another key government policy. From that day anyone arriving here from a list of 33 high risk countries must submit compulsory hotel quarantine.
With just one day left to prepare for this, Heathrow Airport has released a statement, saying there are still significant gaps in the plan and said the government must ensure there are protocols in place at every stage to ensure passengers are moved from planes to hotels safely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: The government says safety is a priority and it's working hard to make sure this new process runs smoothly -- Phil Black, CNN, Essex, England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: When we come back, military leaders in Myanmar are trying to shut down voices of dissent. But so far it's not working. We'll have more on that, when we come back.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:50:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING) HOLMES: Right now thousands of protesters marching in Myanmar. But
after nine days of public outrage over the coup nearly two weeks ago, military leaders are losing patience. They've issued arrest warrants for seven high-profile protest supporters, accusing them of disturbing public order.
The United Nations says it is concerned by the military's arbitrary detentions, arrests and violence. Ivan Watson is tracking all of this for us from Hong Kong.
I mean have the Burmese people heard directly from those who carried out the coup from the military?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure. The military has kept the military-owned TV stations on air while restricting broadcasts of privately-owned, independent television networks that do news.
And it has been putting out statements. Interestingly, the military has continued to put out statements on the military's Facebook pages, even though the same military dictatorship has effectively banned Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. It is still using this as a mode of communication with the outside world.
So there's a bit of a contradiction there. There was a shutdown of the internet across the country last weekend but after a two-day period it was turned back on. So you really do have competing narratives taking place.
The military, which has the monopoly on -- largely on weapons and the levers of government, and then this street movement, that has been unfolding in cities and towns across the country and has been protesting for nine straight days since the military coup on February 1st -- Michael.
HOLMES: And I guess, you know, the international condemnation of the military for what has happened, it has been widespread. It has been daily.
But ultimately, does it mean anything?
Will it make any difference?
WATSON: Well, you know, that is this discussion here because you do have some foreign companies, like Japan's Kirin brewery that have announced they're going to end joint ventures with companies in Myanmar that have strong ties to the military.
You have the U.S. President Joe Biden, announcing that he's going to stop the military government's ability to tap some $1 billion in assets in the U.S.
But in the same breath, everybody knows that, prior to the opening up that Myanmar has seen over the last 10 years, that it was largely ruled by a military dictatorship for nearly half a century.
[01:55:00]
WATSON: And for most of that period that dictatorship was internationally isolated and it continued to survive while the rest of the country and the populace was kind of kept in the dark from the outside world and limited from opportunities to grow economically.
So real questions about whether the military wants to go into another period of international isolation like that and what impact that could have on the broader population.
HOLMES: Yes.
Meanwhile, I mean is there any word on the status of Aung San Suu Kyi?
I mean the level of -- you know, she lost some international support. She still has huge internal support on the streets.
But do we know, you know, where she is, how she is, any communication?
WATSON: No, she is not being able to broadcast to her supporters, who, many of them are out on the streets, you know, waving portraits of her. Meanwhile, we are hearing more and more arrests of top officials in her National League for Democracy.
Largely these arrests seem to be taking place at night and raids of the offices of that political party as well. An interesting kind of rhythm that's developing, where you have kind of street protests during the day and, at night, the demonstrators get off the streets and then, at night, around 8 o'clock at night eyewitnesses in Yangon, that's the commercial capital, that everybody engages in banging of pots and pans.
Again, it is a test of wills between these two sides and the military has, largely, with the exception of the armed rebel groups in the ethnic, kind of border areas, the monopoly on the use of force -- Michael.
HOLMES: A great analysis. Good to have you on the story, Ivan, thanks. Ivan Watson there in Hong Kong.
I'm Michael Holmes. Don't go anywhere. The CNN NEWSROOM continues in a moment. I will see you on the other side.
