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Biden Calls On Senate To Quickly Pass $1.9 Trillion COVID Relief Bill; Interview With Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA); FDA Expected To Authorize J&J Vaccine For Emergency Use; Trump Makes Fundraising Moves Ahead Of CPAC Speech; Republicans Embrace Trump & His Big Lie At CPAC; Cruz Jokes About Cancun Controversy At CPAC; White House Levels Sanctions On Saudi Arabia Over Khashoggi Killing, Except Crown Prince; Prince Harry: British Press Was "Destroying" His Mental Health. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired February 27, 2021 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:01]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: And be sure to tune in to on an all new episode of "LINCOLN: DIVIDED WE STAND", that airs tomorrow at 10:00 p.m., only on CNN.
And thank you so much for being with me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
The NEWSROOM continues with Ana Cabrera right after this.
(MUSIC)
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Hello on a Saturday. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.
A busy day of news for you.
We are one step closer to a third vaccine in the battle against the coronavirus. At any moment now, we expect the FDA to authorize the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for emergency use here in the United States. The big difference with this one is it is just one shot. And researchers say it's 100 percent effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths.
Also, major news from Capitol Hill. The House passing President Biden's $1.9 trillion relief bill, passed on party lines with no Republicans voting for it and two Democrats voting against. But a key provision to more than double the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour is expected to die in the Senate.
We should note at least a dozen House Republicans asked to not vote in person last night, citing the ongoing public health emergency. Oddly enough, the emergency it turns out was to head to CPAC to score points with Trump and his supporters.
And take a look at this. A six-foot tall golden statue of the former president was rolled into conference site. As we learn more about how Trump is weighing the creation of a super PAC. So, really, who needs words about Trump's power over the GOP when you can feast your eyes on that?
More now on the $1.9 trillion relief bill. CNN's Arlette Saenz is in Wilmington, Delaware, where President Biden is spending the weekend.
Arlette, President Biden is now urging the Senate to quickly pass this relief package.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Ana, President Biden says there is no time to waste as he is urging senators to get to work quickly on passing this measure.
Now, early this morning, the legislation for that $1.9 trillion package cleared a key hurdle as it passed the House and now will move onto the Senate. And the president wants this bill to get passed quickly to offer relief directly to Americans.
Take a listen to what he said earlier at the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH R. BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have no time to waste. If we act now decisively, quickly and boldly, we can finally get ahead of this virus. We can finally get our economy moving again. And the people of this country have suffered far too much for too long. We need to relieve that suffering. The American Rescue Plan just does that, it relieves the suffering. And it's time to act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAENZ: Now, the version of the bill that passed the House includes many of President Biden's key priorities, starting with those $1,400 stimulus checks. It includes enhanced unemployment benefits as the unemployment benefits are set to expire in two weeks. It has funding for things like states and schools and even vaccine distribution.
But here is where the bill gets a bit tricky moving from the House to the Senate. The House version include that $159 federal minimum wage, which over fl the Senate, parliamentarian said the rules process around reconciliation will not allow for the measure to be included.
Now, Senate Democrats are trying to come up with a plan B to try to address the $15 federal minimum wage. But for the time being, it doesn't appear it will be part of the bill.
Now, this does help with passage when it comes to Democrats as there were some moderate Democrats like Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema who didn't exactly like that $15 federal minimum wage.
Now, one thing to also note about this measure is that over in the House, it passed along strictly party lines. The president has prided himself on trying to work in a bipartisan manner. But so far in the Senate, we haven't seen any Republicans sign on either as the White House made clear they could pass this bill without Republican support -- Ana.
CABRERA: So many Americans are counting on this relief to come as soon as possible.
Arlette Saenz, thank you for your reporting.
As she mentioned -- I do want to reiterate because it's important. It's important to you, the American worker and to American business owners, one of the things that will not be included in the bill when the Senate votes is this provision for $15 minimum wage. And that's due to a ruling from the Senate parliamentarian who says that part of the bill doesn't comply with rules to pass the bill with just a simple majority of votes in the Senate.
And joining us now is Democratic Congresswoman Ro Khanna of California.
Congressman, good to have you here.
I know you were very upset about this ruling. And you tweeted this: I'm sorry, an unelected parliamentarian does not get to deprive 32 million Americans the raise they deserve.
[15:05:05]
This is an advisory, not a ruling.
V.P. Harris needs to disregard and rule a $15 minimum wage in order. We were elected to deliver for the people. It's time we do our job.
So, Congressman, the White House made clear it doesn't plan to overall the parliamentarian or does it like the Democrats don't even have the votes to do that.
So, where does it go from here?
REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): Well, Ana, first of all, reconciliation says that anything that has a budget impact should be in. And if you raise the minimum wage, you'd increase tax revenue. It clearly has a budget impact.
The progressives are trying to organize to get the vice president or the White House to reconsider because if Vice President Harris rules it in, it would take 60 votes to overturn her decision. So there is still the ability to rule this in and have a vote on the package.
CABRERA: Some lawmakers have suggested firing the Senate parliamentarian. Do you support that?
KHANNA: I do not. I actually think the Senate parliamentarian is a person of integrity. I have no problem with her role or her job. I don't think anyone should personally attack her.
The challenge is though she gives opinion based on her advices. The decision is for the vice president and Senate leadership. I think it's a perfectly reasonable interpretation to say that a $15 minimum wage has a budget impact. Vice Presidents in the past have disregarded the parliamentarian. We should do that in case. CABRERA: It's a possibility to disregard the parliamentarian. But even
if Democrats were to do that, there appears to perhaps not even be enough support among Democrats to get it passed with a simple majority, including Senator Joe Manchin already speaking out against raising the minimum wage to $15. So, there has been an additional idea that's been thrown out there to help with increasing the wages.
And that is this idea, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer talking about inserting a provision into the COVID bill that would penalize large corporations that don't pay their workers higher minimum wage.
What do you think of that idea?
KHANNA: It's a good idea. Senator Sanders and I actually had something called the Stop Bezos Act where we would have penalized Amazon for not paying workers $15 wage. Jeff Bezos actually tweeted at Senator Sanders that he was going to raise the wage.
So, we've seen that it can work and it will be effective. And I think it is a constructive step. But it's not a replacement for getting a broad-based $15 minimum wage. That is the ideal policy.
CABRERA: OK. Let me move on because your workplace, the Capitol, is still surrounded by fencing and other barriers. And this week, we heard from the acting Capitol police chief as she testified before Congress that militia groups involved in the January 6th insurrection want to blow up the Capitol and kill lawmakers around whenever President Biden addresses a joint session of Congress.
Do you feel safe?
KHANNA: Ana, it's a scary situation. I personally feel safe. But I am concerned for some of my colleagues, particularly colleagues, women of color and others who have received death threats. And I do think there is a high threat level that still exists amongst domestic terrorism that are threatening our very democracy.
So, it's a very serious situation, and we need to do everything we can to have the security in place to prevent those kind of attacks.
CABRERA: Have you personally received threats?
KHANNA: I have not, Ana. I -- you know, I have been fortunate. I was in the Cannon Building. We evacuated, but I did not go to the Capitol. And, fortunately, I have not.
But I know -- obviously, I don't want to say who -- but I know of a number of colleagues who have.
CABRERA: I want to ask you about the U.S. intelligence report just released that finds the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, that he is responsible for approving the operation that killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi. This was during the Trump administration.
And you said this at the time: We still have to hold MBS accountable for his crimes against humanity. He has not had any accountability for the brutal killing of the journalist Khashoggi. There has not been any repercussion.
As you know, the Biden administration still isn't planning to punish MBS directly, saying the U.S./Saudi relationship is bigger than just one person.
Given what you said, previously, do you think they're wrong?
KHANNA: I do, the U.S. Saudi relationship isn't bigger than human rights. It's not bigger than our belief in the dignity of every individual.
We have to understand, MBS's crime is not just the hacking of Khashoggi, a journalist, as brutal as that is. His crime is one against Yemen. I mean, they've been bombing women and children there for years. They are not letting in food and medicine. It's the greatest humanitarian catastrophe.
[15:10:00]
And it's important to understand that's why they killed Khashoggi, because Khashoggi had the courage to speak out against that crisis.
There is no way MBS should be allowed to set foot in the United States. I can't believe that they wouldn't revoke that. And we need to make sure that the Saudis lift the embargo, that they stop the bombing campaign, that they stop funding the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world.
CABRERA: President Biden still doesn't have a full cabinet to govern. And some progressive groups are taking issue with what they perceive as unfair treatment of cabinet nominees of color. We have reported extensively on the road blocks facing Neera Tanden and the bipartisan pushback related to some of her past tweets.
Meantime, you have Deb Haaland, who would become the first Native American to become part of the cabinet if confirmed as secretary of interior, and Xavier Becerra, a Latino nominated for Health and Human Services secretary, and they also appeared to be facing challenging confirmation battles.
Do you think race has anything to do with it?
KHANNA: Unfortunately, I do. I mean, Deb Haaland is extraordinary. I've served with her. Democrats and Republicans would tell you that she is so passionate about the land, open space. I don't understand why they are giving her a hard time.
Xavier Becerra is a consummate professional, someone who is educated at Stanford, who served in Congress, who served as attorney general. And now, they're going after Vanita Gupta, who has the support of civil rights groups, who was in the Obama administration, and who they are running disingenuous ads.
So, I do think the demonization based on race is part of the strategy, and that's why I'm pleased that the Biden administration is standing on these nominees, they will get confirmed. They're not going to be cowered by these scare tactics.
CABRERA: Let me push back, though, because as you know, President Biden has nominated a very diverse cabinet and put forth a number of nominees that represented different communities and backgrounds. And he has been able to successful get through confirmation a number of people of color, including Lloyd Austin for defense secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas for DHS secretary, as well as the U.N. ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield now. Obviously, they're all people of color.
So, why do you think race is playing a role or is a possible obstacle in this confirmation process?
KHANNA: Because of these type of ads that these right-wing groups are running against them. I mean -- I give the Biden administration credit for having a very diverse nominees and for standing by them. But there are ads that are totally misrepresenting their positions.
I mean, they're distorting what Vanita Gupta has stood for, saying that she is for defunding the police but she is for anything but that. They're having -- distorting ads about Xavier Becerra's record.
So, these nominees are facing an assault, a smear campaign, and one has to think that's in part people think they can be easily demonized, and it's an unfortunate reality.
Now, they have a lot of support in Congress, and I really appreciate that Ron Klain and the Biden administration have been fighting for them to stand up to that kind of demonization.
CABRERA: Congressman Ro Khanna, great to have you with us. Thank you.
KHANNA: Thank you. I appreciate it.
CABRERA: The U.S. is poised to have a third vaccine for COVID-19. How soon Americans could start receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, next?
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:17:25]
CABRERA: Welcome back.
Our breaking news right now you're looking at live pictures as the president and the first lady are gearing up to leave Joint Base Andrews to head to Delaware for the weekend, Wilmington, Delaware, of course, is where he has lived prior to becoming president. So we'll continue to monitor any movement. And if he says anything to reporters as he boards Air Force One.
In the meantime, the U.S. is poised to have a third COVID-19 vaccine authorized as soon as this weekend. An FDA vaccine advisory committee voted last night to recommend emergency use authorization for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Now, once it receives a final signoff, shots can then go into arms.
This would be the first single-dose COVID vaccine available here in the United States.
With us now is infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist, Dr. Celine Gounder. She's also a CNN medical analyst.
Dr. Gounder, thank you for being with us. What do you see as the impact of the single-dose vaccine if it gets authorized as we expect.
DR. CELINE GOUNDER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Ana, I think this really does open up the supply dramatically. Initially, we're looking at 3 million to 4 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine probably being released next week. Another 20 million or so by April. But then 100 million by the end of June.
And because it's a single-dose vaccine, 100 million doses means 100 million Americans. That's a third of the population. So this is a huge step towards getting everybody vaccinated who wants to be vaccinated.
CABRERA: So, with this new vaccine and others still in the queue it seems the vaccine rollout has been improving. And the CDC reports more than 70 million doses have been administered so far.
But what is your biggest concern with how things are going right now?
GOUNDER: Well, I do think it's important to recognize the good news. We're up to over 2 million doses in arms a day now. That's a tremendous scale up in terms of how we are distributing and getting the vaccine to people. Over half of Americans over the age of 65 have now received at least one dose. Of course, those are among the highest risk.
In terms of where we could be doing better, I do think with people with chronic medical conditions and communities of color we have a lot of work to do because we're not reaching all of those people who are at risk for infection and severe disease.
CABRERA: Why is that?
GOUNDER: Well, I think you have a combination of access challenges and confidence challenges. So we know that there have been greater barriers for communities of color, whether those are real barriers in terms of where they can go to get the vaccine, whether they take off work to get the vaccine.
[15:20:12]
Some of that is barriers of perception. They think they may have to pay something out of pocket which to be clear they do not. And I think there is real lack of trust. I don't think it's fair to say to communities of color that have been mistreated, discriminated against, have been the subjects of medical experimentation and abuse. I don't think it's fair to say to such communities, you just need to trust us. I think we need to show ourselves to be trustworthy, and that takes a long time to do.
CABRERA: And when you mention people with chronic medical conditions, I have received personally a lot of questions from viewers who are asking, is the vaccine safe for me, because I take medications related to these other conditions? Or I have, you know, a weakened immune system because of the other conditions.
Is there any group that may, you know, have a condition that be you would recommend not getting this vaccine?
GOUNDER: There is not. And I think big picture, this is something you should always discuss with your personal physician. But the vaccines that we have available are all safe and effective. You know, the only couple of groups that I might be concerned about are people who have a history of allergic reactions, severe allergic reactions to polyethylene glycol which is a component of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. But now, we have the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that will be an alternative for them.
And I think for -- you know, the bigger, or the real concern many physicians might have is for people who might have weaker immune systems, will have they have as good a response to the vaccine. But we still think these vaccines will be quite safe among those populations.
CABRERA: Always good to have you and have your information. Thank you, Dr. Celine Gounder, for all you do.
Up next, we'll take you live to Orlando, Florida, where many Republicans are still living in an alternate universe.
Got the moves. Convicted felon Roger Stone dancing outside CPAC where Donald Trump is still very much the center of the party.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:26:52]
CABRERA: Donald Trump even before taking the stage at this weekend's conservative gathering in Florida, announcing a move that further asserts his seat of control in the Republican Party. Just a few minutes ago, confirmation that Trump is kicking his Republican fundraising into overdrive, and moving forward on a plan to create a super PAC that can raise unlimited amounts of money from virtually any source.
Now, this is coming at the same time Donald Trump is emerging from his post-inauguration self-exile.
CNN's reporter Michael Warren is at the CPAC gathering in Orlando.
And so, Michael, tell us how big a move this super PAC creation is for Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
MICHAEL WARREN, CNN REPORTER: Well, it's a significant move. Our own Jim Acosta confirming that Donald Trump is considering starting a super PAC, the details, of course, because it's Trump are a little fuzzy. We don't know if he's going to convert an existing super PAC or if he's going to start a new super PAC. This also comes at the same time he is converting his own political, excuse me, his presidential campaign into a super PAC as well.
But the bottom line of all this sort of organizational movement is that Trump is getting back into the political sphere. And as you note, Ana, this is happening before his public appearance at CPAC here tomorrow. This is very much a moment where he is trying to show the party and the conservative movement that he is still here and he's still dominant.
And, frankly, that's exactly what you can see here at CPAC over the past couple days, a lot of paraphernalia, clothing that suggests nobody here is ready to leave Donald Trump behind, t-shirts saying Trump won. Joe Biden is not my president, plenty of MAGA hats.
This is very much still Donald Trump's party. Donald Trump's conservative movement. There's even been this now famous golden statue of Donald Trump that's on display here, basically every time I've been by that, there have been people in line to get selfies. This really is Donald Trump's party and Donald Trump's movement and it continues to be that.
CABRERA: I see they got the hair color right on the golden statue.
Thank you so much, Michael Warren, for your reporting.
I want to bring in our CNN political commentators Ana Navarro and Paul Begala. He's also a former Clinton White House adviser.
We just showed again that golden Trump statue at the top of the show as well. But it doesn't stop there, guys.
Here is just some of the fawning over the only U.S. president impeached twice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP JR., SON OF FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP: How is it going CPAC? Or I heard someone earlier phrase it a little bit better. TPAC.
KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE, FORMER TV HOST: The Republican Party is being reborn thanks to President Trump. . The party of America first, the party of President Trump.
SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): President Trump did something that has never been done in our lifetime. He stood up to all of establishment Washington and said, no.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): They want him to go away. Let me tell you this right now, Donald j. Trump ain't going anywhere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[15:30:00]
CABRERA: Ana, last night, the former chair of CPAC, Mickey Edwards, told Erin Burnett the GOP is now a cult. Is that how you feel?
ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I mean, listen, it used to stand for conservative PAC. Right now, it could stand for conspiracy PAC, cult PAC, crazy people PAC. But, certainly, the last thing is stands for is conservative values or principles.
The most ironic thing is Donald Trump is a guy who wasn't even a Republican until a few years ago.
Let's remember, CPAC is an annual event put on by the American Conservative Union. It was created to debate ideas, to come up with policy suggestions, to have healthy debates.
I remember being there when Paul Begala, as a Democrat, would be invited on stage to have healthy policy debates.
There's always been a spectacle aspect to it. But this is all spectacle. It's all Trump. It's no ideas, no principles, no convictions. It's the cult of Trump.
CABRERA: Paul, the former president speaks tomorrow at CPAC. But even before that, we're seeing in full embrace of not just Trump but his big lie.
Here is current CPAC organizer, Matt Schlapp.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT SCHLAPP, CPAC ORGANIZER: Were there illegal ballots cast in the election.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I suppose there might have been.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So how many?
You just told me, if there was illegal voting in the last election, you don't know how many. Did you sit down with the team in Nevada --
(CROSSTALK)
SCHLAPP: Let me finish.
Did you sit down with the team in Nevada or Georgia and Arizona, in these states, and ever go through the information that good patriotic Americans came up with.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not enough to overturn the results of the election.
SCHLAPP: How could you know that when you don't know the number? (CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Biden won by seven million votes --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- and 306 electoral votes. How is it there's no way that that's physically possible?
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Paul what's your reaction to that.
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it's sad. They do cling to a lie. I'm kind of with Ana, CPAC, for me, is crazy people are coming.
And I was invited. Do you know who invited me? The chairman of CPAC, Al Cardenas, who is way over married. He's married to my friend, Ana Navarro.
Back then, CPAC stood for ideas. I didn't agree with those ideas, right?
Micky Edwards, conservative congressman from Oklahoma, used to run it. Al Cardenas, a conservative leader from Florida, used to run it.
But we could have honest and fun debates. I had a great time there. People were really good to me. They were kind and polite and generous and fun.
And now it's just this political death cult formed around a big lie, not a big idea. And it's -- it's just tragic.
This is the party that gave us Abraham Lincoln. This is the group -- CPAC launched the presidential career of Ronald Reagan.
It was 160 years ago today, Lincoln gave the speech at the Cooper Union, which elevated him to the presidency.
And 160 years ago on this day, the founder of the Republican Party, said to his opponents this, your purpose then plainly stated is you will destroy the government unless you be allowed to construe and enforce the Constitution as you please on all points of dispute between you and us. You will rule or ruin in all events.
CPAC has become the rule or ruin party, the rule or ruin cult of Trump. And it's a political death cult. It's not a victory plan.
(CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: The other thing that happened in our lifetime is the Republicans lost the White House, the House and Senate in four years, which hasn't happened since Herbert Hoover, 90 years. So Trump is a political death for them.
NAVARRO: I remember being, you know, at CPAC in 2008 when John McCain spoke.
He was he was not the most Republican with Republican conservatives back then because he just tried to do immigration reform with Ted Kennedy.
But he went and spoke and got a good reception and he talked about unifying the party.
I remember being at CPAC when Mitt Romney won the presidential straw poll in 2012.
And today, if Mitt Romney or John McCain showed up at the stage they'd be worse than booed. They'd probably be in physical danger, as they were -- as Mitt Romney was on January 6th.
Something that hasn't been mentioned and should be is that let us remember that the people who are running CPAC right now, specifically Matt Schlapp and his wife, have benefitted tremendously from Donald Trump's administration.
Donald Trump is the hen that lays the golden eggs for these people.
Matt Schlapp -- it's been widely reported -- got $750,000 from somebody who was trying to get a pardon from Trump in the last days. Didn't get it but got the money.
His wife worked at the White House and went on to work at the campaign. And they have milked this cow fairly well.
[15:35:03]
So they have a very personal, personal financial interest in keeping the Trump movement alive.
And in part of that, they've sold out the conservative movement and are pretending that this is about conservativism, when it's not.
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: Because they're not conservative -- it's their paychecks.
CABRERA: I was about to say, it's about serving Trump. It's not just about the Trump movement staying alive. It's all about Donald Trump. We saw the golden statue, Roger Stone there dancing.
Didn't CPAC used to be about helping to launch presidential hopefuls for the party?
I'm curious, Paul, as a former campaign adviser yourself, what you thought of Ted Cruz, who has made no secret of his own political ambition, and what he said following the controversy over his departure to Cancun in the middle of that, you know, horrible storm that turned deadly in his home state.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I got to say, Orlando is awesome!
(CHEERING)
CRUZ: It's not as nice as Cancun --
(CHEERING)
CRUZ: -- but it's nice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Paul, too soon to joke?
BEGALA: Good god, no. My son, my Billy, sat in his apartment in Texas for 60 hours without heat or light. It was 40 degrees inside. He is young and strong and OK.
But I have a friend whose aunt died. She froze to death in a nursing. An 11-year-old in Conroe, Texas, froze to death in his bed while Ted Cruz laughs about it days later?
Our president, Joe Biden, went to Texas and did a great job of bringing aid and bringing attention.
Senator Cornyn, the conservative Republican Senator from Texas, he was there. He did his job.
Mr. Cruz decided instead of going to Texas and help the citizens, who are grieving, hurting, some of whom are still boiling water, he took off to a crazy person convention and mock them.
I'm sorry to be emotional. But this is my family and friends. For this man, whose job it is to serve them, to instead mocking them, it's really galling.
CABRERA: Paul Begala and Ana Navarro, thank you both.
NAVARRO: Thank you.
CABRERA: Good to see you.
Coming up, new developments in the search for the capitol rioter who killed Officer Brian Sicknick.
Plus, a U.S. intel report finding the Saudi crown prince directly approved the operation that killed journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. So why is President Biden stopping short of punishing MbS?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:41:53]
CABRERA: We are fowling a developing story. CNN learn the FBI has identified a suspect in the death of capitol police officer, Brian Sicknick. Still, that suspect has not been identified by name.
Now, the theory is that Sicknick became ill from bear spray used by the mob. And video evidence in the hands of investigators appears to show the attack that could have caused his death.
Sources tell CNN it remains a difficult case for investigators. And it's not clear what charge they will be able to bring.
Moments ago, President Joe Biden reacting to a long-awaited intelligence report made public, confirming what has long been suspected, that Saudi Arab's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, or MbS, personally approved the operation to capture or kill "Washington Post" journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, a leading critic of the Saudi royal family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: President Biden are you going to punish the crown prince?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You'll see the -- there will be an announcement on Monday on what we're going to be doing with Saudi Arabia, generally.
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: But as CNN has been reporting, Biden has no plans to hold the Saudi crown prince himself accountable.
CNN's Alex Marquardt has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEXANDER MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In black and white, the United States is saying that the de facto ruler of a close ally is responsible for murder.
The intelligence community concluding Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.
The long-awaited unclassified report is barely three pages long and doesn't offer any new, hard evidence of an order from MBS, as the prince is known.
It's based on MBS' control of decision making in the Kingdom since 2017 and support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad.
The report describes MBS as having absolute control of the Kingdom's security and intelligence organizations.
The team of assassins, the report says, includes people associated with top MBS lieutenant, Saud al-Qahtani, and MBS bodyguards, including Maher Mutreb, who travelled with MBS to the United States.
This public intelligence report comes more than two years after the brutal murder in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul of "The Washington Post" columnist, who was long critical of MBS.
The crown prince took responsibility but denied any personal involvement.
And the Trump administration, despite having access to all the classified details, ignored the law requiring a public intelligence report, and instead provided cover for MBS.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The fact is, maybe he did, maybe he didn't.
MIKE POMPEO, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: There's no direct evidence linking him to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
MARQUARDT: Now the Biden administration has said that MBS is responsible, but it's not sanctioning him.
Instead, the Treasury Department on Friday announced sanctions against a former senior Saudi intelligence official and an entity known as the Tiger Squad, several whose members allegedly were members the assassins.
Failing to immediately punish MBS comes as a major disappointment to Khashoggi's family and supporters.
[15:45:04]
HATICE CENGIZ, JAMAL KHASHOGGI'S FIANCEE (voice-over): I am -- I am more devastated than ever before. Now -- now I believe he will never come back.
MARQUARDT (on camera): I asked the White House why MbS isn't being punished despite the fact that the report clearly says he is responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
The senior administration official tells me that they are fulfilling their requirement to the law. And the goal is to make sure nothing like this happens again.
The CNN team at the White House is also being told that sanctions against MbS were, quote, "too complicated" and could jeopardize U.S. military interests in Saudi Arabia.
Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CABRERA: Let's talk about different royalty now. Prince Harry opening up about his split with the royal family, and who he blames for destroying his mental health. Plus, why he says it was never about just walking away.
Back here in the U.S., see how former President Lincoln navigated the dangerous days leading up to his inauguration. The CNN original series, "LINCOLN, DIVIDED WE STAND," airs tomorrow night at 10:00 right here on CNN.
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[15:50:50]
CABRERA: Lady Gaga's two French bulldogs are back home. They were stolen Wednesday night in Los Angeles following a brutal attack on the singer's dog walker who was shot but survived.
Police say a woman, who is not being named, returned Koji and Gustav to Gaga's staff and detectives at a local police station last night.
But at least two suspects are still out there. And police are poring over this home surveillance video, obtained by CNN, which shows one attacker restraining the dog walker as another appears to point a gun.
A gunshot is heard before the victim falls backward as the assailants race back to the car with the dogs. The dog walker is recovering from non-life-threatening injuries.
Prince Harry opens up about his mental health and why he and his wife, Meghan Markle, chose to step back from their royal duties.
Here's part of Prince Harry's intimate conversation with CBS host of "The Late Late Show," James Corden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRINCE HARRY: It was never walking away. It was stepping back, rather than stepping down.
JAMES CORDEN, HOST, "THE LATE LATE SHOW": Right.
PRINCE HARRY: You know, it was a really difficult environment, as I think a lot of people saw.
We all know what the British press can be like. And it was destroying my mental health. I was like, this is toxic.
CORDEN: Yes.
PRINCE HARRY: So I did what any husband and what any father would do, is I need to get my family out of here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: I want to bring in CNN's Anna Stewart in London.
Anna, this was a wide-ranging sit down. It was 20 minutes. What else did he say?
ANNA STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There's some thoughts there heard from Prince Harry about why he felt he had to step back as a working member of the royal family in the U.K.
And he really stood out in this interview because it was so unorthodox and so fun. It starts on top of the bus, touring through L.A. In the middle, Prince Harry is rapping lyrics to "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air." And it ends with a military style assault force with James Corden. This is great TV to watch.
We got great nuggets of information about the royal family. We find out that the queen gave Archie, for Christmas, a waffle maker. And that Prince Philip -- well, he ends there rather abruptly. He just slams the laptop down.
All sorts of great information there. And one nugget I particularly liked, we know Prince Harry has watched "The Crown."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CORDEN: How do you feel about "The Crown?"
PRINCE HARRY: They don't pretend to be news. It's fictional. But it's loosely based on the truth.
CORDEN: Yes.
PRINCE HARRY: Of course, it's not strictly accurate.
CORDEN: Of course not.
PRINCE HARRY: But loosely.
CORDEN: But you think, loosely, it does feel like --
PRINCE HARRY: It gives you a rough idea about what that lifestyle, what the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, what can come from that.
I'm way more comfortable with "The Crown" than I am seeing the stories written about my family or my wife or myself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: They want to tell their own story. The duke and duchess of Sussex, no longer working members of the royal family, can have much more control over the narrative and who they speak to in the media.
And they have chosen James Corden. And that is one chapter. And next week, Ana, we get the next sit-down with Oprah.
CABRERA: OK. This is just a little appetizer for us. I did love that little bit about the waffle maker. That makes them that much more relatable.
Anna Stewart, thank you. That was great.
This week, we launch "CNN Heroes" for 2021 and celebrate the 15th anniversary of the "CNN Heroes" campaign, a decade and a half of inspiring moments and stories of everyday people who are changing the world.
We began this year with an update on the man at the center of the most inspiring moment you selected from last year. Patrick Hutchinson, a London father and grandfather, who rescued a vulnerable man caught in the middle of street protests turning ugly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICK HUTCHINSON, CNN HERO: There was a lot of unrest. There was a lot of frustration.
I didn't see color. I just saw somebody who needed help. I just had the presence of mind to scoop him up and put him in my shoulder.
And I had a message come up on my phone from my sisters that said, "It's going viral. You're going viral."
[15:55:00]
(MUSIC)
HUTCHINSON: I've spoken to the likes of Reverend Al Sharpton, Prince Harry. I've been on the cover of "Men's Health," BBC News. I've been ITV, CNN, CNBC.
I've received a humanitarian award. I've had Michelle Obama write a message on her Instagram. It hasn't stopped. It's still going.
We started Unite to Change and Inspire. And we call it UTCAI. We're inspiring other people to be the change in the world that you want to see.
Go out there and do what's right. Don't stand by and watch certain things unfold when you know you have the ability to do something about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Patrick is so awesome.
If you want to learn more about the campaign and hear more about Patrick Hutchinson's whole full story, go to CNNheroes.com. And while you're there, nominate your own "CNN Hero."
We'll be right back.
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