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U.S. FDA OKs Johnson & Johnson Vaccine; Moderna Designs New Vaccine Version To Fight Variant; Tiger Woods Has No Recollection Of Accident; Intel Report On Jamal Khashoggi's Killing Coming Soon; Australian Law Forces Google And Facebook To Pay For News; Trump Family, Associates Under Investigation; Close Ally Of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Took Part In Capitol Riot; Pentagon Report Reveals Details About White Supremacists In Military. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired February 25, 2021 - 00:00   ET

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

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause.

Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, the COVID-19 vaccine that could be a game changer. The FDA looks set to authorize Johnson & Johnson vaccine, easy to distribute, highly effective, one shot and done.

The fans will be welcome but cheering banned pandemic rules for this year's Olympic torch relay.

And top secret documents shed more light on the gruesome assassination of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi.

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VAUSE: After so many false claims of turning the corner from the senior most elected officials in the U.S., that moment may soon be here for real. The time began turning, it seems, when Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were authorized for use in December.

Now comes a third vaccine. A panel of experts that advises the Food and Drug Administration has revised data from Johnson & Johnson and has found their vaccine appears to be safe and effective.

It also meets the criteria for emergency use authorization and could be given the go ahead within days. It requires just a single dose and protects against severe cases as well as asymptomatic infections, which means the chances of transmission are greatly reduced.

This comes as the daily death toll in the United States from the virus has fallen dramatically. This month alone, the 7-day average down by more than a third. Hospitalizations have more than halved. Daily cases also below 60 percent.

The CDC has lowered its forecast for projected deaths in the coming weeks. We have more from CNN's Amara Walker.

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AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A third vaccine on the horizon in the U.S.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will waste no time getting this lifesaving vaccine into the arms of Americans.

WALKER (voice-over): The Food and Drug Administration announcing today the Johnson & Johnson vaccine meets the criteria for emergency use authorization which come as early as Friday. The White House COVID-19 task force on Wednesday saying they already started preparing for distribution.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If authorized we're ready to roll out this vaccine without delay and if the EUA is issued, we anticipate allocating 3 million to 4 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine next week.

WALKER (voice-over): But that's less than what the White House was originally expecting.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We were surprised to learn the Johnson & Johnson was behind on their manufacturing. As you noted it was reported to be about 10 million but now it's more like 3 million to 4 million doses that they would be ready to ship next week.

WALKER (voice-over): Experts say they expect a potential third vaccine to expand access and get more people vaccinated faster because it is a single dose.

DR. MEGAN RANNEY, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: My suspicion is it's going to start with those people who are a lower risk for severe disease to begin with, so people without comorbidities, the younger, the general population.

WALKER (voice-over): Johnson & Johnson told Congress Tuesday they're ready for the rollout.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will have 20 million doses of the vaccine to be made available by the end of March.

WALKER (voice-over): Adding to the 220 million doses the Pfizer and Moderna have pledged to make ready for shipment to the same timeframe after some initial delays in manufacturing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did initially experience some problems with the initial ramp up of our vaccine.

WALKER (voice-over): Rerecord vaccine supply is getting up to states this week and White House is encouraging sites to be open 24 hours a day. To get more shots in arms, the task force says they will mobilize 1,200 National Guardsmen to service vaccinators.

Even with progress on the vaccine front, the White House today also announcing they will distribute 25 million masks, beginning next month, to get them to some of the most vulnerable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many low-income Americans still a lack affordable access to this basic protection.

WALKER (voice-over): Dr. Anthony Fauci announced the National Institutes of Health would be supporting research looking at people experiencing long term COVID-19 symptoms or long haulers, after new data shed some light on the toll it takes.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF COVID-19 MEDICAL ADVISER: Approximately 30 percent of the patients who were enrolled at the University of Washington reported persistent symptoms for as long as 9 months after illness.

WALKER: Moderna has designed an updated vaccine. It is evaluating a booster shot and a primary vaccine that would combat the South African variant. Doses of it have been shipped to the NIH for a clinical study.

They are looking at 3 approaches to the South African variant. First a booster shot of half a dose of the current COVID-19 vaccine; number 2, a booster shot of the new vaccine made specifically for the South African variant and, lastly, a booster shot that combines current and the new vaccine into one -- in Georgia, Amara Walker, CNN.

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VAUSE: For more, CNN medical analyst Dr. Celine Gounder is with us.

So Dr. Gounder, welcome back. Good to see you.

DR. CELINE GOUNDER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Great to see you, John.

VAUSE: There's a lot of reason for optimism with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the single dose, can be easily stored, has high efficacy, effective against the variants of the coronavirus.

How big will the impact will be, both in the United States and around the world?

GOUNDER: The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is really remarkable in that, just like the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in clinical trials it is shown to be 100 percent effective in preventing hospitalization and death from COVID once you wait a 28-day period after vaccination.

That 28-day period is important because no vaccine is going to take effect instantaneously. It does take time for your immune system to see the vaccine to respond to it and to develop an immune response.

But after that 28 days after vaccination, it is a highly 100 percent effective against hospitalizations and deaths. And where it is an advance over the prior vaccines is that this is a vaccine that does not require ultra cold storage and you only need one dose. This makes it much easier to scale up and deliver around the world. VAUSE: There are now about a dozen vaccines in use globally. So if

someone has a choice, say for example, here's the Pfizer vaccine, which uses the new mRNA code and here's the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is kind of old school. All things being equal, what would you advise them to take?

GOUNDER: My number one message to viewers would be the vaccine that is for you is the vaccine that is available to you first.

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VAUSE: Whether they both come at the same time?

GOUNDER: Whatever you can get on your hands on first, honestly, is the best vaccine for you. Some people may have allergic reactions to the Pfizer, Moderna vaccines so maybe that is not an option for them. But that is a very rare circumstance. So the vast majority of people really, it is whatever you can get your hands on first.

VAUSE: Here's a little more of the findings by the FDA advisory panel. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine against critical COVID-19 across all geographic areas was 66.9 percent at least 14 days after the first vaccination, 66.1 percent after the 28 days, which is pretty much what Johnson & Johnson announced more than 3 weeks ago.

They found that the trial was 66 percentage effective overall. And the similarities go on and on and on.

Why did the FDA panel wait so long to review the data from Johnson & Johnson and make these recommendations?

GOUNDER: We're talking about thousands of pages of data that they have to review. All of the work has been done in advance of the meeting and that is really more of a formality of them meeting together and saying this is what we thought of the data when we reviewed it.

But you don't review thousands of pages of data carefully and thoroughly in a day. That does take time. So I think this is really a testament to the fact that they are adhering to the normal gold standard of how to review a vaccine, as urgent as all of this is.

VAUSE: It just seems 3.5 weeks, 2,000 people on average dying every, day seems like a very long time to wait for this authorization.

GOUNDER: I think we should be that much more trusting of the process, understanding that these vaccines are being vetted thoroughly and so we can truly have faith in the safety and efficacy of these vaccines.

VAUSE: OK, so now that we have the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which actually I think the supplies are a lot more limited than the White House originally thought.

Where does it go from here?

When will that ramp up, do you know what the timeframe frame will be?

What are they looking at?

Here

GOUNDER: We're looking at immediate release of about 3 million to 4 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, assuming the FDA issues emergency authorization.

And then following that, probably looking at 20 million doses of that vaccine by April or so. And then 100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine delivered to the U.S. by July or so.

But the Johnson & Johnson company has promised about a billion doses for the worldwide market of its vaccine. And so I think it's not just about the U.S. It's truly a game changing vaccine for the entire world.

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VAUSE: Dr. Celine Gounder, thank you.

Brazil's most populated state, 44 million people soon under curfew as officials impose new restrictions to try and slow a rising number of COVID-19 hospital admissions. And a ban on large gatherings will also been enforced, with violators fined. CNN's Matt Rivers has the details.

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MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil's biggest state, a new curfew will go into effect starting this Friday. Every night, the curfew will run from 11 pm to 5 am and the curfew will go on until at least March 14th.

The reason for this new curfew, according to the state's governor, hospitalizations. As of Monday, the number of people hospitalized in the state of Sao Paulo stood at more than 6,400 people. That is the largest such figure in the state since this pandemic began. Officials are pointing to 2 main reasons for this increase. One, gatherings during the recent Carnival holidays in the country and two, a potentially more contagious variant that continues to spread in Brazil.

Meanwhile we heard from the Pan American Health Organization during a press briefing on Wednesday. They said overall there is some good news. The number of cases throughout Latin America and the Caribbean does generally appear to be dropping in places like Brazil, for example, like Columbia, like Ecuador.

But the group's director put a lot of context on. That she said despite the fact that cases are dropping, infection rates still remain roughly equivalent to what we were seeing in the middle of 2020, a time that the group's director says many countries were sounding the alarm over those kinds of infection rates.

She says a lot of things can change in just a number of weeks. She also pointed out the vaccines continue to be in short supply in the Americas. It's why she called on all countries around the world to make it, quote, "a global priority" to get more vaccines to the Americas, where the group's director said both the need and the risk are highest -- Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.

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VAUSE: The torch relay for the Tokyo Olympics will begin March 25th but with COVID precautions. Starting the relay in Fukushima before traveling to every point of the country. CNN's Blake Essig is in Tokyo with more.

Some of these restrictions, spectators along the route, they are welcome but no cheering.

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's, right John, again this is another clear sign that the Olympic and Paralympic games might actually happen this summer. Earlier today the Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizing committee held a press conference to outline plans to hold this torch relay event. It starts in exactly one month from today on March 25th. It will last about 121 days and cover all 47 prefectures here in Japan starting in Fukushima, perhaps the hardest hit area from the 2011 great Tohoku earthquake tsunami and as a result nuclear disaster.

This gives Japan the opportunity to highlight some of the recovery efforts and reconstruction that have taken place since that devastating day.

Now 10,000 torchbearers are expected to take part in the torch relay. As you mentioned, perhaps a sign of things to come for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Spectators will be allowed to line the relay route. They will have to wear masks and they have been asked not to cheer. They can only show their support by clapping.

They have also been asked to avoid close contact with people, close spaces and crowded places. Crowded places is important because if too large a crowd gathers along the race, excuse, me the relay route, there is a chance that the organizers will suspend that leg of the relay because of those large crowds.

There's also the potential because of the COVID-19 infection rates, prefecture to prefecture, that the format will have to change regarding the relay.

So a lot of counter measures are in place to try and protect the hundreds of people that are putting on this relay. But again, a positive sign that these Olympic Games could actually happen. And while we don't know if spectators will be allowed in the stands, they will be allowed to watch the relay in person.

VAUSE: OK, Blake, thank you. Details on the torch relay. Thank you.

Australia has been named the preferred host for the 2032 Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee made the decision to move the process along, citing the uncertainty the world is facing now. It will be the first Summer Games in Australia since Sydney in 2000

and the first time Brisbane has hosted a major event like this since the Commonwealth Games in 1980.

To Los Angeles now where the sheriff says that Tiger Woods has no recollection of the car crash which has left him seriously injured.

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VAUSE: And now a review of the road where it happened is underway because there have been 13 accidents there in the past 13 months. CNN's Kyung Lah has details.

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KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR U.S. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The investigation into Tiger Woods' crash will look at speed. How quickly the SUV was traveling down this road when the golfer lost control.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully it'll be equipped with this black box and have some information about the speed and what may be a factor in this accident.

LAH (voice-over): This winding downhill road is known as a local trouble spot. Deputies did not find skid marks or indications of brakes used or any evidence of impairment. Deputies say the engineering of the SUV, airbags and the seatbelt likely saved Woods' life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a rollover with someone trapped.

LAH (voice-over): Responding officers found Woods trapped in the wreckage of the high-speed single car rollover. The hospital says his legs were broken in multiple places. Surgeons inserted a rod to stabilize fractures exposed to open air. Bones, especially in his right foot and ankle, needed screws and pins. Surgeons also worked to relieve muscle swelling and pressure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The surgeons likely believed, if they did not perform one of those procedures to release that pressure, they were worried he could lose the limb. Amputation might have been necessary.

LAH (voice-over): Woods' family says he is awake, responsive and recovering in the hospital. Emotion continues to pour in from the sports world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love him and, you know, anytime someone you care deeply about is hurt, it hurts. And it's not me, it's everybody out here.

LAH (voice-over): To those marking the barrier-breaking figure in a sport largely dominated by white athletes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There were some people who were able to look at Tiger Woods and understand Black excellence in this arena in a way they hadn't understood before. TIGER WOODS, GOLFER: I had come to the realization I would never play

competitive golf again.

Woods has faced potentially career ending injuries before. This video, featuring Woods from a health care company, explains his comeback after one of his five back surgeries, a reminder of why, even after this devastating accident, Tiger Woods cannot be counted out yet.

WOODS: I went from accepting it and having a peace of mind that I would never ever do this again, to all of a sudden walking around with my kids, with great hope just hanging around the living room. It's wild.

LAH (voice-over): Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

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VAUSE: We'll take a short break. When we come back, a new link emerging between the Saudi crown prince and the barbaric murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Details on that and a new long awaited U.S. intelligence report into the killing.

Also, the compromise between the Australian government and Facebook over who pays for news content, now being looked at by regulators around the world. Details in a moment.

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VAUSE: There is new evidence providing another link between the Saudi crown prince and the brutal murder of "Washington Post" writer Jamal Khashoggi. The U.S. intelligence community is to soon release a report with new details about those responsible. Alex Marquardt has details.

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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: What people are telling me is that the report from the Director of National Intelligence is expected as early as Thursday. We've been waiting a long time for this unclassified report.

It was passed into law in 2018 but the Trump administration chose to ignore that. It's declassified, it will be released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which is required to lay out what the intelligence community has found out about what Saudi officials knew and what they did.

After Khashoggi's murder in 2018, the CIA assessed, with high confidence, that the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman himself ordered the brutal killing. The prince denies it. And we are learning about yet another link between Mohammed bin Salman

and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. We've obtained documents from a Canadian court case which revealed the 2 private jets that carried the Saudi Arabian hit team were operated by a company the crown prince had taken control of less than a year before the murder.

He had ordered that this aviation company be transferred into the country's investment fund, which MBS controls. I did speak with a lawyer for Khashoggi's former fiancee, who calls the revelation of these documents "extremely important."

He says that it shows a direct line to MBS killing Jamal Khashoggi. We asked Saudi officials for a response and we did not get one. They are likely worried about that intelligence report that is coming and what it will say about the crown prince, whether this declassified report holds a smoking gun, proving MBS ordered the killing, is what everyone is looking out for.

Meanwhile President Joe Biden says he has read the unclassified report, has not offered details, just saying he will be speaking with the Saudi King Salman soon, which is notable, because he still hasn't done that after more than a month in office -- Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.

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VAUSE: The standoff between Facebook and the Australian government is over, with both sides claiming a win. Australia's parliament passed its media reform law which originally intended to force social media and tech companies to pay publishers for news content.

But Facebook won concessions after blocking news pages for Australian users of Facebook. Will Ripley live in Hong Kong following this.

If you look at it on balance, Facebook got out of this the better, if you look at those concessions.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, initially the version of this legislation, which has been the focus of this bitter dispute for months between large social media platforms, like Facebook but also Google involved in this as well, this would have basically forced them to accept collective or individual bargaining with local news media and if those negotiations didn't go, well it could go into binding arbitration.

They could be forced into arbitration. This new version softens it up a , bit they amended the code on Tuesday. Now saying they have to take into account whether a particular platform has made a significant contribution to the sustainability of the Australian news industry.

In other words, it's encouraging commercial negotiation with arbitration only as a last resort. Facebook put out a statement, saying they are pleased with, this they say they've already entered into agreements with some large Australian media companies but would want to keep it open to choose to work with small publishers as well. Google also announcing a deal as they begin negotiating with

individual media organizations. The story goes beyond Australia, because this really is an unprecedented new law.

Regulators around the world are looking at this as a possible blueprint for legislation in other countries. This may not be the first time that we see and hear about disputes like this.

And we've covered extensively how Facebook really played hardball last week when they pulled news off of the Facebook news feed for Australia users. They're in the process of getting it back up and running.

VAUSE: Explain to me how this differs from what Facebook is already doing now in terms of side deals, with individual use content providers. That's what this legislation now, does right?

RIPLEY: That's right. For example, there are a number of news organizations that enter into paid contracts with Facebook in order to provide their content on the platform. What they're trying to do in Australia is to make sure that happens, to make sure all news organizations that have new stories appear on Facebook are adequately compensated for that.

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RIPLEY: Basically, it comes down to this issue of control about who Facebook chooses to put on their. Site that was the big issue for Facebook. They didn't want collective bargaining to force them to post content from a media organization that they do not approve of.

It doesn't necessarily meet their own editorial standards. That's where the real back and forth was about. This is not that the platforms are opposed to paying for content, they've been doing that for quite some time. They don't want to be forced to put content on their site, that they don't want there.

VAUSE: It wasn't just about the money, OK, thank, you Will Ripley live for us in Hong Kong.

Few hours from now, the U.S. Labor Department expected to release another troubling jobless claims report, likely showing more than 800,000 Americans filing for unemployment benefits last week. They say the economy is still in a slump and recovery is a long way off.

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JEROME POWELL, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE: We have 10 million fewer people working on payroll jobs than we did just one year ago today and the unemployment rate, the reported rate 6.3 percent but if you include people who were in the labor force and working in February, you would get to almost a 10 percent unemployment rate.

So there's a lot of slack in the labor market. And a long way to go to max unemployment.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: Economists looking to the vaccine rollout and more outdoor activity as well as a boost in employment. It'll take at least several weeks.

One of our -- the safest airlines in the world struggling because of the pandemic. Qantas is posting a little more than $1 billion lost in 2020. Compare that to a $770 million profit just a year earlier, before travel restrictions are put in place.

Qantas grounded its fleet in March and pushed back the target date to resume in October. That's when the Australian airline expects to wrap up the vaccinations.

Just ahead, it's the friends and family plan for investigators looking into Donald Trump's finances. Updates on his sons and former adviser, daughter as well, everyone, it seems, it's investigations the entire family can enjoy.

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VAUSE: For 3 of the Trump siblings, it may be may be a case of the family that is deposed together stays. Together Don Jr., Eric, and Ivanka have all faced questioning in recent weeks over various investigations. Sources tell CNN prosecutors in New York have subpoenaed financial records relating to Steve Bannon's crowdfunding scam to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.

Trump's sons, Eric and Don Jr., have come up in multiple investigations of the Trump Organization's finances. Earlier this month, the Washington D.C. attorney general questioned Trump Jr. about alleged misuse of inaugural funds.

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Joining me now from La Jolla, California, former U.S. attorney and host of host of the "Talking Feds" podcast, the one and only Harry Litman.

Harry, good to see you.

HARRY LITMAN, HOST, "TALKING FEDS": Thanks, John. Good to be here.

VAUSE: OK. The investigation, which alleges the 2017 inaugural committee coordinated with the Trump family to grossly overpay for event space at the Trump Hotel in Washington, payments the D.C. attorney general says not only were blatantly unlawful but also "unreasonable and improperly served to enrich the Trump entities and its owners."

In terms of legal jeopardy, this is pretty small beer, right? The problem for Don Junior may be that he told the D.A. the truth and contradicted earlier testimony from the deputy chairman of the committee.

LITMAN: Yes. So for starters, you're right that the attorney general of D.C. doesn't have -- doesn't pack the big punch. It's a civil suit. He's saying maybe $100 million, as much as that, was misused, meaning that the inaugural committee, which is a 501(c)3. In other words, they're -- they're -- can do things without taxes because they serve a public purpose. But you can't then use it to enrich yourselves, which they are accused of having done. The suit just says give it back.

But we've just learned that Trump Jr. was deposed, and he said. it seems ingenuously, No, they were friends of mine who were staying at this hotel, whereas the famous Rick Gates -- remember him? -- had testified, Oh, no, it's all inaugural committee people who give money to the -- to the inauguration.

So somebody is lying, then there's potential of a criminal violation within the federal government. Otherwise, it's a matter of disgorging what they say is inappropriately spent money that should have gone for only nonprofit purposes.

VAUSE: OK, well, "The Daily Beast" also reporting the Manhattan district attorney, which earlier this week was given access to Donald Trump's tax returns, expanding an investigation into Trump's business empire, possibly new indictments. Also focusing on Donald Trump Jr.

Potentially how serious is this for the Trump family, not just Senior and Junior but also Eric and Ivanka?

LITMAN: Yes. And Bannon. Very.

So this -- this and the Fulton County matter and then, of course, depending what happens with the January 6 investigation by the Department of Justice. There's six or so fires they have to put out. These are the big ones. And the New York D.A. shows a lot of apparent resolve to push forward.

He's now got in his hands the tax returns that could really, with the proper sort of forensic accounting, can really skewer them. And not just Trump Sr. but he put these properties and the real crown jewels -- the Trump family estate upstate; 40 Wall Street, big building; Trump Tower itself. He turned it over to Don Jr. and Ivanka to handle.

Now geez, you've got to imagine that, you know, it shouldn't have been so hard to stay out of committing crimes for a few years, even if it was the Trump family pastime.

But there -- at least the allegations are that there have been a lot of shenanigans, and it's broadening. They're now bringing in the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, a 74-year-old man who started out with Trump's dad and I'm sure has no intention of spending the rest of his life in jail. He very possibly knows where all of the bodies are buried.

But it certainly seems as if it's broadened well beyond Donald Trump himself into his children and maybe his children-in-law.

VAUSE: OK, so, you know, no one will ever forget this chant from 2016.

LITMAN: Yes.

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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will build a great wall along the southern border. And Mexico will pay for the wall.

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VAUSE: So that brings us to Steve Bannon, who came up with his idea for a crowdfunding scam, basically asking people for money so they could go off and build that wall. It's just that it never happened.

But the -- the deal here is that Trump pardoned Bannon for any federal crimes relating to that -- that scam, if you like. But now you've got the -- again, the Manhattan D.A. subpoenaing banks like Wells Fargo, also the GoFundMe website for financial records. So they're going to pick up where the federal government basically left off, which is incredible.

LITMAN: Precisely. And Bannon was indicted by the federal government for this fraud. He told people, I won't keep a nickel, and I guess, strictly speaking, that was accurate. He only kept $100 million or something like that. But -- and it was so flagrant.

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Again, it's like what is wrong with these guys? If it's -- if it's true, can't you just, like, tamp it down for a few years? And what a brazen fraud this was.

Now, there's a dynamic here. It used to be New York law provided that, if there was a federal pardon, they wouldn't go after the same conduct. It was their sort of double jeopardy principle.

But when Trump started giving them out to political patrons like hotcakes, New York changed its law, expressly for this situation, saying if there's a pardon of a federal defendant, we can still go after that conduct. And that's what has landed Bannon in hot water.

As you say, it's just passing the baton on the very same conduct from feds to state.

VAUSE: Got a very quick question. We're out of time. But if -- if accepting a pardon from a president is an admission of guilt, shouldn't this be an open-and-shut case?

LITMAN: No. The short answer is it's really not an admission of guilt. People see that as a misnomer. If it's an open-and-shut case, it's on the evidence, but the feds have already developed it.

VAUSE: OK.

LITMAN: Thanks, John. VAUSE: Thank you, as always. Fantastic to have you with us.

LITMAN: Likewise.

VAUSE: Some U.S. officials have seen their lives change forever after traumatic invisible attacks. Up next, a former U.S. intelligence officer shares his own experience with us after an attack like that in Russia.

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MARC POLYMEROPOULOS, FORMER CIA SENIOR INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: I couldn't, you know, make it through the day. Not even close. I've had a headache every day since that night in Moscow. It's never gone away, day and night.

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VAUSE: A new CIA task force will investigate suspected microwave attacks on U.S. intelligence officers. About 40 officials working in countries like Russia, Cuba, and China seem to have been targeted.

CNN's Kylie Atwood reports from the U.S. State Department.

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POLYMEROPOULOS: I woke up in the middle of the night with an incredible case of vertigo. The room was spinning. I wanted to throw. Up

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mark Polymeropoulos, a former U.S. intelligence officer at the CIA, was hit in 2017 by an invisible attack in a Moscow hotel.

POLYMEROPOULOS: I've been in place like, you know, Iraq and Afghanistan. I've been shot at. But this was, by far, the most terrifying experience of my life.

ATWOOD: It's a mystery that has plagued the U.S. intelligence community and the State Department for years. An attack which brain Esper say was likely the result of a microwave weapon, hitting American personnel in Cuba, China, Russia, and other places around the globe.

The U.S. government has not identified the perpetrator, but current and former U.S. officials believe Russia is to blame. The Russian government did not respond to CNN's request for comment.

The attack impacted his balance, sight, and hearing. The pain has never wholly subsided.

POLYMEROPOULOS: I couldn't, you know, make it through the day. Not even close. I've had a headache every day since that night in Moscow. It's never gone away, day and night. ATWOOD: He had to retire early, and for a dedicated CIA officer who spent his entire career fighting terrorists in the Middle East, it hasn't been easy to accept that an invisible strike took him out of the game.

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POLYMEROPOULOS: I rather would have been shot. This is a silent wound. You know, it's --

ATWOOD (on camera): You would have rather been shot?

POLYMEROPOULOS: Absolutely.

ATWOOD: Why?

POLYMEROPOULOS: Well, I mean, it's something that I could have shown people. I had a really hard time initially at the agency, because people didn't necessarily, the senior medical staff didn't necessarily believe me.

ATWOOD (voice-over): Polymeropoulos had to fight to get expert healthcare. Just this month, he finished specialized treatment at Walter Reed Medical Center, more than three years after that dramatic night in Moscow.

POLYMEROPOULOS: When they provided me the piece of paper with the diagnosis that said I had a traumatic brain injury, I had tears in my eyes.

ATWOOD: Some 40 U.S. government officials have experienced symptoms similar to his.

In 2017 U.S. embassy in Cuba slashed its staff, because the attacks were so pervasive.

A newly-declassified State Department report points to systemic disorganization when the department began handling this crisis during the Trump administration.

New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen has been fighting to get the victims medical assistance and answers about who did this.

SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-NH): If we don't hold those responsible accountable, then we can be sure it's going to continue to happen, and that's a national security risk to the United States into our personnel.

ATWOOD: According to U.S. intelligence documents obtained by CNN, Russia has been developing this microwave attack capability for decades.

Today Bill Burns, President Biden's nominee to lead the CIA, telling Congress --

WILLIAM BURNS, CIA DIRECTOR NOMINEE: I will have no higher priority than taking care of people, of colleagues and their families. I will make it an extraordinarily high priority to get to the bottom of who's responsible for the attacks.

ATWOOD: Polymeropoulos created a Superman mask in art therapy, thrusting a dagger through Superman's skull to represent the headaches which have changed him. The CIA agency seal, cracked.

His family was emotional when he showed them his project.

POLYMEROPOULOS: My son and my daughter both said to me, You know, Dad, you're -- you know, you're still my Superman.

Before the attack happened, how would you describe your relationship with the agency in, you know, one or two words?

POLYMEROPOULOS: It's a love affair.

ATWOOD: And after?

POLYMEROPOULOS: A divorce. With -- with perhaps some reconciliation in the future, I would hope.

ATWOOD: I have just learned from a U.S. official that, in recent months, the CIA set up its first ever task force to focus on the suspected microwave attacks.

Now, the official explained that this task force will draw on the vast resources available at the CIA. And it will ensure that there is a team and process in place to address any future suspected attacks.

Now, we should also note that the CIA press secretary, Timothy Barrett, said the agency's top priority has been and continues to be the well-being of their officers.

Now, we will continue to watch this, because what those who have been monitoring this for a long time say is that there needs to be a whole of government approach to this investigation to get those who are attacked what they need and to get to the bottom of who carried out these attacks.

Kylie Atwood, CNN, the State Department.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Thank you for watching, I'm John Vause. Stay with us. I'll be back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. We're just getting started.

In the meantime, WORLD SPORT is up next.

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