Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
U.S. Air Strikes Target Iranian-Backed Militia In Syria; Russian Diplomat And Family Flee North Korea Crossing Border On A Rail Cart; New York Variant A Growing Concern To Epidemiologists; Yesterday's U.S. Air Strike In Syria: Its Scale And Purpose; Hong Kong's Mass Sinovac Inoculation Drive; Interview with Leader of Far Right "Proud Boys" Group; House Passes Equality Act to Boost LGBTQ Protections; Dow Sinks Nearly 560 Points as Bond Yields Keep Rising; Tiger Woods and Ben Hogan Linked by Off-Course Disasters. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired February 26, 2021 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
JOHN VAUSE, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Hello everyone, live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. I'm John Vause, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
We begin this hour in Washington. Just 36 days into his first term and Joe Biden has personally ordered the first known military strike of his presidency.
The targets were Iranian-backed, Iraqi militia based in eastern Syria, which, according to the Pentagon, were behind at least three separate attacks on U.S. assets in Iraq.
The most recent was last week when the city of Erbil came under rocket and mortar fire.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin offered few details as to what precisely was hit by the U.S. air strikes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: We're confident in the target that we went after, we know what we hit. And we're confident that that target was being used by the same Shia militia that conducted the strikes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: More details now from CNN's Oren Liebermann reporting in from the Pentagon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The air strike against the site in eastern Syria along the Iraq-Syria border is the first known military action under President Joe Biden. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said it was his recommendation and that Biden gave the final authorization for the strikes on Thursday morning.
A U.S. official familiar with the strikes said up to a handful of militants were killed in that airstrike.
And they come after a series of rocket attacks against U.S. and coalition forces operating in Iraq; first in Erbil about a week and-a- half ago then in Balad air force base just north of the city of Baghdad and then in Baghdad itself.
Austin said part of the messaging here -- and Pentagon spokesman John Kirby backed this up -- was first that there will be a response to these rocket attacks and second, to deter future rocket attacks.
Austin made it clear that they're confident that it was Iranian-backed Shia militias that were operating in these strikes that were struck by the U.S. air force and it was the same militias responsible for the rocket attacks.
Up until now, the U.S. hadn't attributed the rocket attacks to anyone but now pinpointing it on Iranian-backed Shia militias and, more broadly, holding Iran responsible for the actions of its proxies in Syria and in Iraq.
This comes at a crucial time for the Biden Administration when it comes to Iran as it tries to figure out what to do and how to work diplomatically about Iran's nuclear program. Also signaling that it wants to broaden out the agreement to include Iran's ballistic missiles and Iran's actions in the region.
LIEBERMANN (On Camera): Oren Liebermann, CNN. At the Pentagon.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
VAUSE: CNN's senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman live for us in Erbil, Iraq this hour.
So, Ben, the theory is because the U.S. air strikes hit targets on Syrian soil then Iraq should escape any type of blow back, if you like. Is that how they see it from Erbil which saw a rocket attack not far from the airport later this month?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SNR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's important to keep in mind, John, that the borders in this part of the Middle East are rather porous.
Now the strikes that occurred overnight were just on the other side of the Syrian Iraqi border, we understand near the town of Abu Kamal which is on the Syrian side.
But there are these militias, these Shia militias, many of them affiliated with Iraq that seem to move back and forth.
So whether it was on that side of the border or this side of the border it's still very much part of the continuous and now rising tensions in this area between the United States, Iran, the Iranian- backed militias and others.
Now it's important to keep in mind, however, that this is not new. These tensions go back many years.
And this is a part of Iraq where until the emergence of ISIS these Iranian-backed militias didn't have much of a presence.
But during the war with ISIS they had a much larger presence in the area around Mosul and the border with Syria, and, of course, they have been backing the regime of Bashar al-Assad in his war against the uprising there. So it's a very complicated situation.
Now it's significant that these were relatively limited airstrikes at a time, of course, when the United States and Iran are starting to perhaps take the initial steps to revive the JCPOA, the Iranian nuclear deal, between the United States, Iran, China, Russia and several European powers.
So this isn't sort of a critical turning point, these airstrikes overnight. But they do send a signal that the United States' patience does have limits when it comes to what happens here in Iraq involving these Iranian-backed militias. John.
[01:05:00]
VAUSE: So Ben, the Pentagon says that this was a measured, proportional response and it should actually lead to a de-escalation of tensions in the region. How is that meant to work and is that what will likely happen?
WEDEMAN: Well, a de-escalation in the sense that it sends a message without a lot of bloodshed and destruction happening.
Now when they talk about hitting facilities -- this is not James Bond and Dr. Evil's magic mountain somewhere, these are buildings. These are buildings that might be otherwise used as an mechanic's workshop or something.
So blowing them up with seven 500-pound bombs is going to put a dent perhaps in the ability of these -- organize these militias to operate but it is nowhere near a fatal blow.
So it sends a message that, for instance, here in Erbil at 9:30 in the evening on the 15th of February more than a dozen rockets landed in part of the city and at the airport, killing one Filipino contractor working for the United States, wounding an American National Guardsmen and four other American contractors -- so yes, it's a situation that's very sensitive.
And this perhaps might send the signal that -- don't do it again. But this being the Middle East, sometimes signals fly right over people's heads. John.
VAUSE: The stove is hot, don't touch sometimes doesn't now register. Ben Wedeman in Erbil. As always, thank you, sir.
With us now from Washington, CNN military analyst and retired U.S. Air Force colonel, Cedric Layton. Colonel, thank you for staying up and being with us.
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET), U.S. AIR FORCE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: You bet, John. It is always good to be with you.
VAUSE: Thank you, sir. Well, the Pentagon reportedly offered Biden a range of options, he went for the less aggressive approach.
There is reporting out there that says the strikes were a relatively small, carefully calibrated military response.
U.S. fighter jets dropping -- "seven 500-pound bombs on a small cluster of buildings at an unofficial crossing at the Syria-Iraq border used to smuggle weapons [as well as] fighters.
So talk to the strategy here in terms of sending a clear message to Iran that they are responsible for the militia while at the same time not risking a major escalation.
LEIGHTON: So, John, what the U.S. Administration seems to have done in this particular case is send a message.
They are sending a message to two basic audiences that are adversaries of the United States. First of all, the Iranians letting them know that any action that they do will get a U.S. response.
And the second audience on the adversarial, of course, are the Iranian-backed militias like Kataib Hezbollah, as an example. And those militia acting as Iranian proxies have been responsible, according to most U.S. intelligence reporting, for a lot of the attacks against U.S. installations, U.S. personnel.
And this is basically a message-sending operation and letting them know that we could escalate our responses should the need arise to do so.
VAUSE: They describe this as a small calculated response, 500-pound bombs. That is still a lot of firepower when there's seven of them being dropped in a small area so -- we're waiting for a battle damage assessment to come in.
But from your opinion, from the targets that were hit, the weaponry that was used, would this have done a significant amount of damage to put these militias out of business, at least for a significant amount of time?
LEIGHTON: Yes. If the targets are perfectly (ph) calibrated -- and they usually are selected very carefully -- than anything that would go through that area -- and it looks like it was a border control post or some kind of area where perhaps they would have administrative functions in that particular location -- those would be disrupted considerably for quite a few days. Of course, these militias are very adept at working around U.S.
airstrikes and U.S. offensive operations of every type, but it is still is quite a message.
And like you said, with that kind of weaponry, it does send a message and you can definitely feel it when you're in that area.
VAUSE: Earlier this week, the White House did warn of retaliation for those rocket attacks on U.S. assets in Iraq.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We do hold Iran accountable for the actions of their proxies. And, of course, we reserve the right to respond in a manner and a time of our choosing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It might not be a red line but is this the Biden Administration, I guess, establishing boundaries for Teheran, if you like?
[01:10:00]
LEIGHTON: Yes, I think so. John, when you look at the way Jen Psaki made that statement and the fact that she was basically saying you can go up to a certain point, we won't tell you exactly what that point is, but if you cross that line we will definitely respond to you. And that is what we're seeing here.
And I think the Biden Administration is reserving its most aggressive responses for more aggressive attacks from if it be Iranian-backed militias or from Iran itself.
So these are messages that are being sent very carefully. The Biden Administration doesn't want to risk harming civilians, it doesn't want to risk harming non-combatants at any time. But it will go after these militias and it will go after the Iranians.
And the message is pretty loud and clear from my standpoint.
VAUSE: There's also the separate issue but related of the Iranian nuclear deal which the Trump Administration withdrew the United States from and there is now of trying to get this deal back on track.
Of course, these things don't happen in isolation. So what message does Teheran read from this military strike in regards to negotiations or any future negotiations for that nuclear deal?
LEIGHTON: I think what they're -- the message that they're receiving right now in Teheran is this. That the United States does want to have negotiations that would in essence revive the Iran nuclear deal but it's not as important a goal as protecting American lives and American installations.
So that's priority number, in essence a forced protection goal from the United States' point of view.
But it also sends the message to the Iranians that yes, we want to talk to you and we don't want to destroy you but what we do want to do is we want to make sure that we you do not misbehave. And that is the message that the Iranians should be receiving from this air strike.
This was, in essence, a demonstration of what the U.S. can do and the Iranians are being put on notice that if they want to relieve the sanctions that are being poised (ph) against them, they need to make sure that they behave.
And that's in essence what the United States is saying to them.
VAUSE: Retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Thank you, sir, for being with us. Most appreciated.
LEIGHTON: You bet, John. Anytime.
VAUSE: Joe Biden has his had his first conversation as president with the Saudi king.
Relations between Washington and Riyadh had cooled under the new Biden Administration which is taking a much tougher approach on a number of issues including the murder of Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.
Even so, there was no mention of Khashoggi in the official readout of the call.
But a U.S. intelligence report will soon be published drawing attention to the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and his role in Khashoggi's brutal killing.
It happened in 2018. Khashoggi was dismembered with a bone saw at the Saudi consulate at Istanbul, Turkey.
Well, mass vaccinations are underway across Hong Kong. Thousands lining up at new vaccination centers with local authorities promising vaccine for everyone. A live report is next.
Also, a new fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus detected in New York City and there are fears current vaccines may be ineffective.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Well, around the world, the spread of the coronavirus, it seems, is starting to slow. The number of daily infections has been declining significantly.
But that trend may be short-lived as variants rapidly spread.
Many countries are now focusing -- are focusing, rather, on ramping up vaccinations. But the European Council president is warning Europe's vaccine rollout may continue to struggle for a few more weeks. He says their top priority is ramping up production as well as distribution.
Meantime, promising news in the U.S. Regulators could be days away from green-lighting a vaccine. Advisers from the Food & Drug Administration will meet in the coming hours to consider emergency use authorization for the Johnson & Johnson candidate.
In Asia, South Korea's launching its vaccination rollout. At the same time, it's decided to extend social distancing measures and bans on gatherings of five or more until next month, the 14th.
Mass vaccinations underway in Hong Kong after regulators authorized two vaccines for emergency use.
Kristie Lu Stout live outside a vaccination center there with the very latest. And I guess, this is a good day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It is a big day for Hong Kongers. This is the first day that the COVID vaccine is going to be rolled out to the public.
We've been watching people line up, go inside to be vaccinated. And the vaccine's that's on offer, the very first one, is China's Sinovac vaccine.
We know that already 70,000 people have signed up for the jab and that all of the appointments, the bookings, have been booked solid for the next two weeks.
Now the World Health Organization has yet to approve the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine but the Hong Kong health department and authorities here have approved it for emergency use.
Those given priority include individuals over the age of 60, caregivers, health care workers as well as workers in cross-border transport like pilots and drivers.
This morning, we've been talking to a number of local Hong Kongers about their feelings right now. They feel happy, they feel confident in the Chinese vaccine.
But I'm joined now by Aaron Goodman (ph). He's a 61-year-old New Zealand national. You're the first, I guess, overseas person but a long-term permanent resident of Hong Kong I've seen come out of here.
You just got vaccinated, how did it go?
AARON GOODMAN, HONG KONG RESIDENT: It went OK. I'm quite happy to get the vaccination. The reason that I trusted the vaccination was the chief executive Carrie Lam, and the principal officials, they took it first. So if they took it then we have confidence in it.
STOUT: Yes. In Hong Kong, this is voluntary. You can choose which vaccine.
GOODMAN: You can choose.
STOUT: Sinovac is available first but BioNTech (ph) is coming in tomorrow --
GOODMAN: Yes.
STOUT: -- AstraZeneca will be coming in soon. Why did you decide to go for Sinovac?
GOODMAN: I went for the Sinovac because it was the first one available. And we want to be able to travel on business to China and so on and so forth as soon as we can. Therefore, we have to have some vaccination, I think they're all going to be similar.
STOUT: So even though it hasn't been approved by the World Health Organization, you trust the effectiveness --
GOODMAN: Yes. Because --
STOUT: -- the safety of the China Sinovac vaccine?
GOODMAN: I do. Because the doctors here who've looked at it, right, have said that it's safe for us to take it, so therefore, I've taken it.
STOUT: On a personal level, how are you feeling? Because here in Hong Kong, we've had to deal with the fallout of the pandemic since January --
GOODMAN: Yes.
STOUT: -- for a very long time. Do you think your life will get back to normal anytime soon?
GOODMAN: I hope so. Because it's been very disruptive to business with cross-border travel. We can't have this 21 days quarantine and no ability to travel and 14 days the other side.
We need a digital health certificate, we need the vaccine. We need proof that we're safe and that we're OK that we can come forward and back.
STOUT: Do you feel the China Sinovac vaccine is something that would be respected in vaccine passports with other nations when that system rolls out?
GOODMAN: I think so. I think it finally will get that WHO approval. And the other thing is, of course, if you're a Hong Kong guy mainly traveling to China and Southeast Asia and China made the vaccine then for sure, they'll respect (inaudible).
STOUT: You got your first job this morning, you got --
GOODMAN: Yes. One month later, the second one.
STOUT: One month later you're going to get your second Sinovac jab. GOODMAN: Yes.
STOUT: Congratulations yet again.
GOODMAN: Thank you very much.
STOUT: Take care. Stay well.
GOODMAN: OK.
STOUT: All right. So confidence from Aaron Goodman there, a Kiwi national here in Hong Kong who's lived here for decades in the Sinovac vaccine.
But, John, as we've been reporting, according to a recent survey from Hong Kong University, about 30% of the people questioned said that they would not accept the Sinovac vaccine. But a number of people, like him, very confident.
John.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: OK. Kristie, thank you. Kristie there with the very latest in Hong Kong. Thank you.
After weeks of encouraging news concerning coronavirus in the U.S., here comes some bad news.
Researchers say they found a new variant in New York City and elsewhere in the northeast. It's spreading at an alarming rate.
There's more. It might sicken people who've already been vaccinated.
One of the scientists who helped identify the variant spoke to CNN's Erin Burnett a little earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. DAVID WHO, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST, COLOMBIA UNIVERSITY: We know that there are many cases that we have detected. And by the time we find so many cases, undoubtedly, the virus has spread beyond.
[01:20:00]
And then if you look at the global database that contained the sequences from isolates, viral isolates, from everywhere, one could see similar viruses being reported from the Mid-Atlantic region. So we know it has spread beyond just the New York area.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Infectious disease expert and epidemiologist, Ravina Kullar, joins me now live from Los Angeles. Ravina, thank you for taking the time to be with us.
RAVINA KULLAR, INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERT & EPIDEMIOLOGIST: Thank you, John. Thank you for having me on.
VAUSE: It's a pleasure. Now what are your concerns about this new variant that they've identified by two different research teams and they say it's spreading rapidly.
And the mutation means that the current vaccines could very well be less effective.
KULLAR: It's very concerning. We are seeing things get better with the number of cases which are decreasing over time and we are rounding the turn. But we have a very long turn due to these very concerning variants.
And we have this variant which was first identified in New York, the B1526 variant, which has been shown to be much more contagious and much more deadly than the original strain which was identified in Wuhan.
And it's not only this variant. There's also another variant which is identified here in California which has emerged which has been shown to display the similar characteristics as this New York variant.
So very concerning that there are these new variants which are coming about that are very deadly and which are very contagious.
VAUSE: I know that the virus mutates many, many times, there's thousands of different mutations, normally they don't matter. But what we're seeing with these mutations is that they're mutations within the protein spike, which is what has been targeted by the two -- Pfizer and Moderna vaccines; is that right?
KULLAR: That's correct. So what's so concerning about these variants is that they are able to (inaudible) our immune system and the fact that they are able to potentially bypass -- prevent our antibodies from neutralizing the virus. So, these vaccines are very affected by that.
So there's a decreased effectiveness that's seen with the Moderna vaccine and the Pfizer vaccine with this B1526 variant which was identified in New York.
VAUSE: If there's an upside here, is it the fact that it's been identified -- or the new variants, the New York and California versions, have been identified the first place?
KULLAR: That's correct. John, we here in the U.S. are unfortunately one of the worst countries in really sequencing our strains here and identifying variants.
But the good, the positive news here is that President Biden has allocated for the CDC 200 million more dollars to really focus on genome sequencing.
So what's going to happen is that from the 7,000 strains which are sequenced per week, that's going to jump up to 25,000 strains which are sequenced per week. So with that comes more identification of these variants as well.
VAUSE: A wise men never said never say what if. But what if is important if when you're looking forward as to what to do.
So what there had been successful intervention in the early days of the pandemic in terms of lockdowns, mask wearing, social distancing -- if the chain of transmission, if not being broken globally, significantly dented, would these new deadly and more contagious mutations be able to mutate and develop? Would there even be any new variants at this point?
KULLAR: It's very concerning that there are new variants here. What's going to have to happen is that these manufacturers of these vaccines are going to have to almost think ahead about these variants which are coming about and plan for how we can really target these new variants and really work against them and almost outwit those variants.
VAUSE: Very quickly. Are they coming faster than you had expected?
KULLAR: They are. I am in shock that we are -- almost every week, you hear in the news of a new variant which is being identified. And that's showing that the CDC is putting a lot of effort in identifying these variants but it's very concerning that there are new variants.
And that's why we have to got to still mask up, we have to physically distance and we have to follow those infection prevention measures which have been put forth by the CDC.
VAUSE: Ravina, we're out of time. But great to have you with us, really appreciate it.
KULLAR: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: Take care. Well, infectious disease expert Ravina Kullar there. Thank you.
Now COVID restrictions in North Korea are so severe, conditions inside the country so bad that eight Russian diplomats were desperate to leave and they loaded their families onto a hand -- a rail hand cart, finished their journey by pushing and pumping their way to the Russian border.
CNN's Paula Hancocks following the story live from Seoul.
Just to be clear, this is one of those rail carts? The old-fashioned ones in the movies where they pump by hand and this was the end part of a 900-kilometer long journey. And the Russian diplomats had to do this -- and they're allies of North Korea.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. If this is how they treat their friends, clearly.
[01:25:00]
But the issue is -- and what this really highlights is just how concerned North Korea is about the coronavirus, about COVID-19.
The fact that they will not allow any plane or automobile, or train to come across the border to pick these diplomats up. So this is really what the Russian diplomats at to resort to.
Now we heard about this from the Russian ministry of foreign affairs' Facebook page, they're the ones that published these photos and the images.
And apparently, the embassy staff themselves are the ones that had to build these contraptions and put them on the rails, pile them up with luggage and then put the children on top.
So the images that you see -- this is the third secretary for the embassy, Vladislav Sirolon (ph)-- Sirolov [sic], excuse me, and his family including his 3-year-old daughter that had to do that very final part of the journey across the border into Russia by that hand cart. And it is quite remarkable.
But, as I say, it does show the paranoia that Pyongyang has.
Now it was 32 hours they had on the train, two hours on the bus to the border and then going across in this particular way presumably filmed by those colleagues in Russia on the other side of the border who then took them to Vladivostok, and then on to home.
But it really speaks to the fact that North Korea has sealed its borders extremely tightly. They were the first to do so in January of last year -- so over one year ago now.
And the Russian ambassador to the DPRK did an interview with Interfacts news agency a couple of weeks ago. And he was saying just how difficult it is inside the country. There's a lack of certain staples like pasta, flour, vegetable oil, sugar because they're not allowing imports in.
And he said that the foreigners there are under fairly strict instructions that they shouldn't leave their compounds, there's only certain shops they can go to. The children, according to the Russian ambassador, are not allowed to leave the Russian embassy compound.
So, certainly, it would have been a long year for those who were at the embassy. And you can see them looking fairly pleased coming across the border there.
VAUSE: Yes, I guess it had to be (ph). Almost home.
Paula, thank you. Paula Hancocks, live in Seoul.
We'll take a short break. When we come back just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.
Our exclusive interview with the leader of the far-right group, the Proud Boys. His reaction to the Capitol riots and a whole lot more.
You're watching CNN. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:29:59]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm John Vause. Thanks for staying with us.
The insurgents who attacked the U.S. Capitol last month may have more ambitious plans. There's intelligence reports saying there is chatter about blowing up the building during President Biden's first address to Congress.
The acting chief of Capitol police made the revelation while being questioned by lawmakers on Thursday. She said the current security measures there like barricades and razor wire will remain in place around the Capitol because of a continued security threat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YOGANANDA PITTMAN, ACTING CHIEF OF CAPITOL POLICE: We know that members of militia groups that were present on January 6th have stated their desires that they want to blow up the Capitol, and kill as many members as possible with a direct nexus to the State of the Union, which we know that date has not been identified.
So based on that information, we think that it's prudent that Capitol police maintain its enhanced and robust security posture until we address those vulnerabilities going forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The Proud Boys is accused of playing a prominent role in the violence on Capitol Hill last month. Canada recently declared the group a terrorist organization.
CNN's Sara Sidner sat down for an exclusive interview with the leader of the Proud Boys.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, a couple of things stood out. One that Enrique Tarrio admitted to testifying in front of a grand jury in an investigation, an old investigation albeit of Roger Stone. And his reaction to members of Congress as they were facing people hunting them down on the Capitol on January 6th.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ENRIQUE TARRIO, CHAIRMAN, PROUD BOYS: I am not going to cry about a group of people that don't give a crap about their constituents. I'm not going to -- I'm not going to sympathize with them.
SIDNER (voice over): The leader of The Proud Boys is talking about the members of Congress who feared for their lives on January 6th --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody stay down.
SIDNER: -- as a mob attacks the Capitol.
TARRIO: They should not have reached the Capitol with violence.
SIDNER: He says that now.
CROWD: Fight for Trump.
SIDNER: But the day after the violent breach, Enrique Tarrio posted this a picture on social media of members of Congress trying to hide as the attackers began their siege.
(on camera): You write, "When the people fear the government there is tyranny. When the government fears the people there is liberty."
Doesn't that show that you are celebrating terrorizing people?
TARRIO: I was celebrating -- and I'll you, I'll celebrate the moment that the government does fear the people. At that point, again I didn't have all the information that came in. Why they were carrying or anything like that.
SIDNER: Do you wish that you --
TARRIO: But I think --
SIDNER: -- that you didn't do that now that you know what happened?
TARRIO: No, I don't. Another thing is I will never regret something that I said.
SIDNER: They are doing the job that the people put them there to do. If they don't like it they can vote them out.
They are still Americans. They are still human beings who felt that their lives were in danger. How can you not feel any sympathy or any empathy towards them like that?
TARRIO: I'm not going to worry about people that they're only worry in life is to be reelected.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got a whole boat load of Proud Boys walking through here, folks.
SIDNER (voice over): Tarrio was not there on January 6th. He was arrested in D.C. two days before for burning a Black Lives Matter flag stolen from a church and having empty weapons magazines that are illegal in D.C.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're walking with The Proud Boys to the state Capitol.
SIDNER: But a group of Proud Boys was there. The far-right group is known across the country for brawling with members of Antifa, the left wing antifascist movement. They are also known for throwing their support behind Donald Trump, whose words to them in a September presidential debate exploded their popularity.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Proud Boys. Stand back and stand by.
TARRIO: I think we've doubled in numbers since the debate.
SIDNER: Tarrio has close ties with one of Trump's longest-serving advisers and friends, Roger Stone. Stone was in D.C. on January 6th as people rallied against the election results that showed Trump lost.
Stone did not march to the Capitol and wasn't charged with a crime. Instead, Stone was seen with members of extremist groups like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys who have now become a central focus of law enforcement in the Capitol attack investigation.
Tarrio had such a close relationship with Roger Stone, he revealed this.
(on camera): You have access to Roger Stone's phone?
TARRIO: There were a couple of times when I went to go see him, you know, I'd help him with like a social media post and things like that.
SIDNER (voice over): Tarrio's access to that phone landed him in front of a federal grand jury, a detail not revealed until now. At the time Stone was facing seven charges in the Russia probe including lying to congress and witness tampering. Trump pardoned him after he was convicted on all seven charges.
[01:34:52]
SIDNER: During his trial, Stone was accused of threatening the judge in the case with a social media post. An image of the judge and what appear to be a target behind her head.
TARRIO: I actually testified in front of the grand jury but no, there was no -- that picture was brought up on a Google search, right. So you used to be able to search, not now obviously because --
SIDNER (on camera): Wait, wait, wait -- back up. Back up, back up. I just heard -- you just said there what you said.
Did you say you are on a grand jury panel?
You did.
TARRIO: I did.
SIDNER: It's too late to take it back now.
TARRIO: Well yes, that's -- I mean that's the story. It's not a secret. That's a story that came out that, you know, that they wanted to see who was at that post today at that point. The actual crosshair isn't really a crosshair, it's a logo of the organization that wrote the article.
So it's just like a graphic. And then that was posted. I have no idea who actually posted it but I know that I had nothing to do with it.
SIDNER (voice over): Stone is one of the architects of the "Stop the Steal" rallying cry. But Tarrio does not buy into the lie that the election was stolen. He says he just wants more transparency.
(on camera): Do you believe that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump?
TARRIO: No, I don't. I don't believe that the election was stolen.
SIDNER (voice over): And yet he encouraged his Proud Boys to show up on January 6th in record numbers.
EDDIE BLOCK, PROUD BOYS: There's all the Proud Boys, guys.
SIDNER: A group of them did show up. Here they are marching together towards the Capitol. At least eight Proud Boys Tarrio knows have been charged in the Capitol siege.
This is one of them, using a police officer's shield to bust out a window in the Capitol allowing people to flood in.
TARRIO: I condemned the actions. I don't think that you should've done that. I think it was completely wrong. But the other seven individuals were trespassing. I think that they got caught up with the entire -- with like the entire crowd. And they made a poor decision to go in there.
SIDNER (on camera): Members of the Proud Boys didn't appear to just be getting caught up in this. Some of them were leading this attack. You had people removing barriers who are Proud Boys. You had someone threatening an officer, breaking the Capitol window.
They weren't just following in this insurrection. It appears that some of them were leading the charge.
TARRIO: No. Those three accusations -- I do want to touch on those. The breaking of the window we've already hit.
SIDNER: You think that's wrong.
TARRIO: Yes. Definitely. Unequivocally I think that is wrong.
But the threatening of police officers, I did not see that.
SIDNER: The feds have. They have video of William Chrestman (ph) yelling "You shoot and I will take your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out."
TARRIO: As of right, now I can't tell you about Chrestman because I can't locate who he is affiliated with, like if he's even a Proud Boy.
SIDNER (voice over): Chrestman's defense attorney said he was just following Trump's orders that day. But Tarrio says some of his Proud Boys who did breach the Capitol are unfairly being charged with conspiracy.
(on camera): Did The Proud Boys have a plan to go --
TARRIO: Into the Capitol.
SIDNER: -- into the Capitol?
TARRIO: Absolutely not.
SIDNER (voice over): Tarrio put some of the blame for what happened in January 6th on police for being unprepared to thwart the mob.
And he claims some of the Proud Boys simply walked into record history.
TARRIO: There's nobody that's telling them -- that stopped them from going in. You feel like it's something that is wrong that you shouldn't do.
SIDNER (on camera): But are you blaming the police for telling people not to break the law?
TARRIO: No, I'm not blaming the cops at all.
SIDNER: So what are you saying?
TARRIO: Now, I can blame the police officers and the feds for their inability to respond to this. So was it a mistake to even go into the Capitol?
SIDNER: Was it?
TARRIO: Yes.
SIDNER: Do you condemn those people? Can you say that right now?
TARRIO: Ok. I can't say that.
SIDNER: Why not.
TARRIO: Because I think condemn is a very strong word. And I think it's a little bit too strong.
SIDNER (voice over): He thinks the FBI is trying to make an example of the Proud Boys but Tarrio also has a history with the FBI after being sentenced to federal prison for fraud in 2012.
(on camera): Were you ever eat informant for the FBI?
TARRIO: I was -- to put it simply, I was put in a very tough situation where the federal government had wanted me to testify against my brothers.
SIDNER (voice over): He said he refused, and instead his defense attorney said that Tarrio cooperated with the FBI and other law enforcement on many cases, one involving prescription drugs, another a marijuana raid, an illegal gambling bust and more.
But Tarrio would only admit to cooperating on one case.
TARRIO: The only thing that I actually gave them was the human trafficking ring. And again, I'm not going to apologize for it.
SIDNER: What is next for the Proud Boys and the country? Tarrio has already made a plan.
[01:39:57]
TARRIO: I think right now is the time to go ahead and overthrow the government by becoming the new government and running for office.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER: Henry Enrique Tarrio says that he himself is looking at potentially running for office. He says he may even step down as chairman of the Proud Boys to concentrate on that and help others with like-minds do the same, John.
VAUSE: Kathleen Belew is a CNN contributor, a history professor and author of "Bring the War Home: the white power movement and paramilitary America". She's with us this hour from Chicago. Kathleen, thank you for taking the time to speak with us.
KATHLEEN BELEW, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: Ok. The big takeaway for me anyway is that from Thursday's hearing it is the intelligence which says at least some of the militia groups which carried out last month's attack are still plotting. They want to blow up the Capitol apparently when Joe Biden delivers, you know, the state of the union.
If anyone thought the worst of the threat from this groups is behind us, clearly they're mistaken. It's just getting worse.
BELEW: I think that's absolutely right. What we saw on January 6th was not meant to be a culmination or even a major mass casualty attack. It was meant as a recruitment event and a radicalizing event that white power activists could used to reach out to new followers.
And that's exactly what we see in the aftermath of January 6th as the more organized and longer organized contingents of this groundswell begin to recruit very purposely from newcomers and the Trump base and Qanon.
VAUSE: How much of this is being driven right now by, you know, the big lie from Donald Trump? His delusion that he really won the election.
And is this only going to continue to get worse? It will continue to go on until he does what he rarely does and come out and tell the truth?
BELEW: I think that we would be mistaken to put too much weight on Trump's actions moving forward. And the reason for that is that the contingents that are involved here, there are three main groups of people.
We have sort of garden-variety Trump supporters who came out on January 6th because they have very intense feelings for Donald Trump. There are QAnon proponents who are deeply engaged in these radical conspiracy theories.
And then there is a much longer and more organized thread that goes back to the Oklahoma City bombing back to the 1970s, which is the organized white power movement. Now those activists are using the Trump moment to their own advantage the way that they have used many other moments of historical context to their own advantage.
But they're not led by anyone and they are certainly not commanded by Trump himself. So it would be a mistake to think that he can call off this movement.
What that tells us is that what we must attend to are the many ways that these groups are already deeply ensconced in American institutions and communities in the way that, you know, really reckoning with this will require us to look for solutions that go across multiple levels of our society and don't rest in any one place.
VAUSE: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has been pushing for a 9/11 type commission into what happened around the attack on January 6th. And much to her surprise, she says the Minority Senate Leader, Republican Mitch McConnell said no. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I had the impression that he wanted to have January 6 similar to 9/11 commission. But what he said on the floor was really a departure from that.
It seemed when he spoke that he was taking a page out of the book of Senator Johnson. It was really disappointing. He said we can do something narrow that looks at the Capitol, or we could potentially do something broader to analyze this full scope of political violence problem in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Senator Johnson is now being referred to as Ron-Anon -- for his embrace of QAnon conspiracy theories. So that's the reference there.
But what do Republicans have to fear from a full investigation into what happened January 6th?
BELEW: You know, this is an interesting question. And it would be a mistake to paint all Republicans with the same brush here. But certainly we have seen too many episodes where people in the GOP have dismissed the problem of white power violence with all kinds of different tactics.
We see this in sort of both sides-ism that seems to attempt to say that there are equal problems on the right and the left when the data simply don't bear that out. And that's not what we are hearing from law enforcement. We see that in, you know, talking points memos that circulate after acts like the mass shooting in El Paso that direct people to talk not about white nationalism but about how both sides are to blame.
[01:44:52]
BELEW: These are not genuine attempts to engage in the real problems that we face in the United States today. And notably, we have not in the United States had any kind of collective process to reckon with the racial violence and racial inequalities of our past and present.
We have not had a truth commission or a national conversation or anything like what Senator Pelosi (SIC) is proposing here. And I think that what we are seeing in many cases is the result of that.
VAUSE: Kathleen Belew, thanks so much for being with us.
BELEW: Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Equality Act which is meant to protect LGBTQ Americans from discrimination. Some conservative lawmakers are not happy with the legislation but none are responding more hatefully than the freshman Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene from the great state of Georgia.
Started Wednesday when Democrat Marie Newman posted this video of herself hanging a pink and blue transgender pride flag outside her office door. Newman has a transgendered daughter.
Marjorie Taylor Greene's offices is right across the hall. She responded with her own video posting this. A transphobic sign that read, "There are two genders, male and female. Trust the science." Her actions caused a lot of outrage.
Newman tells our Chris Cuomo how even Republicans are backing her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARIE NEWMAN (D-IL): Several members of the Republican Party did reach out to me privately and expressed that they were horrified by her behavior and they were horrified by her general being in Congress to be honest with you.
A few actually spoke out publicly. Adam Kinzinger is among them and I really appreciated those comments.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: This is the woman who after all harassed a survivor of a school shooting while out with a gun. Anyway.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) VAUSE: Stay with us because while this may sound kind of wonkers (ph) there are some significant financial implications from this. Bond yields are on the rise.
I know normally it's a trigger for a great big giant snooze fest but the 10 year-treasury yield is at its highest level in more than a year. And that's bringing inflation fears which helped send the Dow down nearly 560 points on Thursday. The S&P and Nasdaq also dropped.
To help explain all of this now, CNN's emerging markets editor John Defterios live from Abu Dhabi.
I hope I kind of got that right because, you know, the-10 year yield is really closer to the 30-year mortgage in the U.S. And you can still get a 30-year mortgage in this country which is incredible.
But the issue here is not so much what the evidence of inflation but rather the perception of inflation.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: That is correct, John because historically these are not high rates of inflation that we're expecting, maybe going from 1.4 percent, maybe peeking out at 2.5 percent that we've been in this low interest rate environment for so long with so much liquidity that eventually the market is going to turn.
I call it a trifecta at play here. The yield jumping to 1.6 percent with the biggest jump since 2016. We also have that pending stimulus package. Will it happen or not? And the impact it will have on inflation because of that liquidity I was talking about.
[01:49:58]
DEFTERIOS: And then the mean stocks has got crazy speculation in that sector of the market.
But the number one factor you talked about is the rise of the 10-year yield in the United States to 1.6 percent.
And if you look at the selling in Asia -- just getting as one email just sent to me from a market strategist -- hammered. We're looking at losses of better than 3 percent for Tokyo and for the Hang Seng market. and then Shanghai was down sharper earlier but down 1.8 percent now. And the Seoul Kospi down 2.7 percent.
These are all markets, John, that have had a terrific run in that post pandemic rally with liquidity that was there.
And now we have GameStop that shot up to 160 percent yesterday and then finished up 18 percent. So we are looking at swings of better than 100 percent.
So the chief market strategist from JP Morgan said this low interest rate environment with a lot of liquidity is causing a lot of speculation.
Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID KELLY, CHIEF GLOBAL STRATEGIST: JPMORGAN: I think it should send a message to the Federal Reserve. Is there some price to have -- or having easy liquidity and very low interest rates forever because it is fueling some bubbles in different areas.
You know, I think for long term investors you have got to realize that you get your Vegas money and you've got your long-term investment money. And your long term investment money should not be put into things that do not make fundamental sense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS: And we have seen other stocks in that mean area like (INAUDIBLE) headphones was undervalued. AMC Entertainment was in and back out of favor and then a sell off at the end of the day, John.
And then final thing we should mention here about that stimulus package. We have Jay Powell, the head of the Federal Reserve and Janet Yellen, the Treasury Secretary -- they have to manage expectations.
They have the minimum wage block yesterday at $15 an hour, something that Joe Biden's not happy about. But they have to say can we get this across the line because right now in the market this is being factored in.
And if you don't deliver the stimulus package and it gets stuck on Capitol Hill because of Republican resistance, the sell off we see today is not finished tomorrow. That's for sure.
VAUSE: Yes. What's interesting is the stock market hit an all-time high just a day earlier. So clearly some troubling days and difficult days ahead, John.
DEFTERIOS: Yes.
VAUSE: Thank you. John Defterios in Abu Dhabi.
We'll take a short break. When we come back here on CNN NEWSROOM, looking to a legend from the past for hope for the future for Tiger Woods as he recovers from major injuries after that serious car accident.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Los Angeles police have released new surveillance video showing a Lady Gaga's dog walker being shot -- two of her dogs stolen. A warning, some may find this video disturbing. You'll see two individuals drive up and then attack the dog walker. They open fire, he screams, and then they leave with the singer's French bulldogs.
This all happened Wednesday night. Police say the dog walker is in a critical condition. Lady Gaga has offered $500,000 reward for the two dogs, Koji and Gustave and no questions asked. Everyone loves a comeback. But it might be hard to imagine right now how Tiger Woods could return to golf after suffering those serious injuries from a car accident on Tuesday. Doctors say his path to recovery is long and uncertain. But if history is prologue, we can find inspiration in another golf legend, Ben Hogan.
Omar Jimenez has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Two golfers considered among the greatest of all time. Now intertwined by horrible disaster.
[01:54:55]
JIMENEZ: Ben Hogan won nine major championships but only three before he nearly lost his life in 1949.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The story of little Ben Hogan, the giant killer.
JIMENEZ: Hogan and his wife Valerie were driving home from a tournament in Texas one foggy February morning when a bus hit them head on.
Hogan fractured his pelvis, collar bone and left ankle, smashed a rib and endured nearly fatal blood clots. Doctors feared the 36-year-old would never walk again.
Two months later he started regaining strength. The next year he returned to tournament play, legs frequently swollen and that very same year, at the 1950 U.S. Open he won. Then kept winning.
RICHARD III, MERION GOLF CLUB CHAIRMAN: He was not even expected to live after his automobile accident, let alone win this open and three of the next four opens after 1950.
JIMENEZ: In 2018, Tiger Woods said "As far as the greatest comebacks I think that one of the greatest comebacks in all sport is the gentleman who won here, Mr. Hogan."
One can't help but draw comparisons. Tiger's comeback spanned over a decade with a car crash, DUI, pain killer addiction and back surgeries in between before his nearly unbelievable win at the 2019 Masters.
RORY MCILROY, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: Look, I don't want to take anything away from what Ben Hogan did after his car crash or any of the other comebacks that athletes have had in any other sports. But right now I can't think of any greater comeback in sports than the one that, you know, the journey that he made from that launch we had in 2017 to winning the Masters a couple of years later.
JIMENEZ: But this may be Tiger's steepest hill yet. At the age of 45, this car crash has left his legs in pieces. But he is expected to survive and will face a long journey ahead.
Passed his physical survival comes the survival of his career. JAY MONAHAN, PGA TOUR COMMISSIONER: Tiger is a human being. Tiger has
had some really difficult injuries. When Tiger wants to talk about the golf we'll talk about the golf.
All the energy right now is going to be poured into supporting him in the days and months ahead.
JIMENEZ: Across the sports world support pouring in for Tiger. Jack Nicklaus with the most golf majors of all-time, tweeted "Offering heartfelt support and prayers at this difficult time. Please join us in wishing Tiger a successful surgery and all the best for a full recovery."
Likely what would be a similar response to Hogan's crash. Two journeys connected by tragedy with many hoping Tiger's too will end in triumph.
Omar Jimenez, CNN -- Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Please stay with us. We are just getting started.
I'm John Vause.
I'll be back after the break with another hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Can't wait.
[01:57:51]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
