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Capitol Fenced Ahead of Rally; TSA Ramps up Security Ahead of Rally; Republicans Distance Themselves from Rally; Rally Organizer Downplays Concerns; Milley Called Chinese Counterpart; U.S. Announces New Alliance; FDA Meets Tomorrow on Boosters. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired September 16, 2021 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Such an important message and thing that she's doing there.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Trying to make sure people don't suffer the pain that she did.

KEILAR: Yes. Unimaginable.

CNN's coverage continues right now.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: A very good Thursday morning to you. I'm Jim Sciutto.

Erica, it's almost Friday.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Almost Friday. Happy Friday eve, my friend.

And it is a busy day in Washington. The U.S. Capitol Police are not taking any chances ahead of a planned right-wing protest at the Capitol this weekend. The agency now calling on the Pentagon to provide National Guard support during the so-called Justice for J-6 rally, an event to support the insurrectionists charged in the deadly January 6 Capitol riot.

And an increased police presence not the only deterrent for potential chaos. Last night, crews began reinstalling temporary fencing around Capitol Square. The TSA also ramping up security at local airports. Still, it's unclear how many people will actually attend this Saturday.

SCIUTTO: It's amazing to see the need for all of this eight months after January 6th. Fortunately, both chambers of Congress will actually be on recess this weekend, meaning this rally poses a smaller threat, at least to lawmakers and their staffs. The man behind this rally says, we won't see, he says, the violent spectacle that took place on January 6th.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT BRAYNARD, ORGANIZER, "JUSTICE FOR J6 RALLY: We've got a largely peaceful crowd. We've had two events in Washington, D.C. so far, at the Department of Justice and at the prison. And there have been no incidences so far. No one's going to be bringing a weapon who's going to be part of our crowd. I can assure the police that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Remember, they're coming out to support people who have been charged with crimes. More than 500 this point, participants in that rally. Authorities counter that narrative saying they do expect some protesters to be armed. They're going to be looking out for it. They're prepared for it.

Our team is on top of all the latest developments around Washington. Let's begin with CNN law enforcement correspondent Whitney Wild.

Whitney, administration keeping details of law enforcement requests close to the chest. What do we know? Because one of the open questions here is how might the National Guard be used if necessary.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Right. And the big question, of course, is because that was such a debacle on January 6th. So there's a lot of -- a lot of pressure on law enforcement agencies and the DOD to come up with the answer for how they're going to deal with the possibility that there might be armed protesters because even though we know that the rally organizer says that people here will be peaceful, the intention is to be peaceful, we also know that law enforcement is working with intelligence to suggest there is a possibility that some of these protesters might be armed. They also know that because these events have the possibility of attracting these far-right extremists, that it's not unreasonable to think that there might be bouts of violence, which is why, Jim, we have this fence here now at Constitution and Delaware Northeast, in Washington, D.C. This is the sad reality that this is a familiar sight because of January 6th.

I'll swing over here to the corner where there is also a security camera. As you point out, members of Congress are not going to be here at the Capitol, which is a real plus when you're trying to figure out if there's going to be another ramping up of violence here because, you know, it really mitigates the risk. However, law enforcement is not taking any chances. We know that Capitol Police is coordinating with the Metropolitan Police Department, who has already said weeks ago that they plan to be in full force. The big question remaining, though, is what is the National Guard poised to do.

Our Alex Marquardt pressed DOD on that earlier this week. Here's what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Can you say broadly whether it's more of a law enforcement capability or, in the past, for example, they've been asked to just, like on inauguration, just to do traffic control?

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Yes, again, I'm not going to talk about the specifics of it. My understanding is, it is not an exorbitant ask. It's not -- it's not of a particularly large size or major capability. I think it's really more in the form of some manpower support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: Jim, of course, again the hope from the rally organizer, as well as law enforcement, is that this rally will be peaceful. The USCP chief says that if that happens and there are no problems, this fence will come down in pretty short order after the rally, Jim.

HILL: All right, Whitney Wild with the latest for us.

Whitney, thank you.

Capitol Police not the only ones ramping up security ahead of this weekend's rally. The TSA says travelers will see more security officers and more dogs than usual leading up to the event.

SCIUTTO: That was a real concern going back to January 6th, how many folks bringing in weapons, perhaps other threats.

CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean, he's at Reagan National Airport this morning.

Pete, I'm curious how concerned the TSA is here. How closely are they watching and what extra resources are they using?

[09:05:02]

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, the TSA says it's always on high alert, but those extra officers and extra canines are pretty similar to the position the agency took after the original January 6th attack when it stepped up security screening here at Reagan National Airport, also at Dulles, also at BWI. The TSA says in a statement, it recognizes this is a period of high awareness and it will continue to work with our law enforcement partners in the D.C. region to address security posture for the weekend.

Remember, the January 6th attack changed aviation security everywhere. It was then that the federal government adopted a zero tolerance approach against unruly passengers. That became a problem right after the 6th. And the agency says there's still about 4,000 cases of unruly passengers since the beginning of this year. The head of the TSA, David Pekoske, and I spoke in an exclusive interview and he says that's still a concern of his and the entire agency's.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID PEKOSKE, TSA ADMINISTRATOR: It's a big concern of my. I know it's a big concern of every traveler out there. Nobody wants to be at 30,000-plus feet and have somebody create an in-flight disturbance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Airlines say they're also looking at this. Remember, American Airlines moved its flight crews from downtown D.C. hotels after the January 6th attack. It also suspended alcohol service on flights to and from D.C. That's still a policy airline wide. American says it is not changing anything just yet, but it is monitoring this.

SCIUTTO: They're taking it seriously, both the private sector and law enforce. Pete Muntean, good to have you there. Thank you.

Well, right now, Republicans are making their best effort to at least distance themselves from the rally. Aiming to separate themselves from an event supporting the Capitol insurrectionists.

HILL: CNN's Melanie Zanona joins us now from Washington.

So, Melanie, is it working?

MEANIE ZANONA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Republican members won't be speaking at the even, nor are they promoting the rally on Saturday. Clearly there is concern in the GOP about potential political fallout and how Democrats might try to weaponize the rally against them.

But at the same time, Republicans are not condemning the rally or its cause either. In fact, there have been several members of Congress who have actively expressed support or sympathy for the jailed insurrectionists and there are some GOP congressional candidates who are speaking on Saturday. A sign that they view this as beneficial for their primary campaigns.

All of it is putting GOP leaders in a tough spot because, on the one hand, they want to move on from January 6th. They don't want to be seen as pro-insurrectionists. Yet, at the same time, their basin increasingly believes the big lie, increasingly believes the attack was just, and has been increasingly sympathetic towards the rioters.

That being said, there are some members of the Republican Party who want GOP leaders to speak out more.

Take a list to what Peter Meijer, a House Republican who voted to impeach Trump, had to say about this at a recent "Washington Post" live event.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PETER MEIJER (D-MI): We see what can actually be done when individuals feel like they're being, you know, winked and nodded to. These are literally life or death implications of some of these decisions and of these opinions, and leaders need to be clear where they stand, need to be clear what they believe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZANONA: Democrats, meanwhile, are signaling that in the midterms they plan to paint the entire GOP as extremists. So, look, bottom line, even if Republicans are not in attendance on Saturday, this is threatening to open really old and ugly wounds for the party.

Jim. Erica. HILL: Well, we will -- we'll be watching and, of course, seeing what is or isn't said in the lead up through tomorrow as well.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HILL: Melanie, thank you.

The man behind Saturday's right-wing rally downplayed concerns of potential violence, telling CNN it will feature a, quote, largely peaceful crowd.

SCIUTTO: CNN justice correspondent Jessica Schneider joins us now.

And, Jessica, OK, he says it will be a largely peaceful crowd, but this is a crowd where law enforcement has concerns they're bringing weapons. And, by the way, it's a crowd supporting folks who have been charged with federal crimes here, right? Hundreds of them for the violence we saw January 6th.

What else did he tell you and is it credible?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Jim, I've talked with him twice now in the past week, most recently yesterday. He does insist there will be no violence and he's blasting that message out to his supporters online and over Twitter. saying that they should be respectful to law enforcement. So the organizer of this rally, he's actually a former Trump campaign staffer from 2016. His name is Matt Braynard. He, after 2016, founded a conservative group called Look Ahead America. And he says he's organizing this event for one reason only. He wants to seek what he terms justice for the hundreds of people who are charged for the January 6th insurrection.

Now, he stresses to me, this is not a rally about the election, and he says extremists looking to cause any trouble aren't welcome. But I've talked to extremism experts and they have actually looked at chatter online, and they say they're not seeing much. It seems like many of the people who might cause trouble may, in fact, stay away.

[09:10:01]

DHS says they're expecting a crowd of about 700. And the people watching the buzz online say there just doesn't seem to be much excitement for this rally. But, nonetheless, law enforcement is prepared for this.

I talked with Matt Braynard about why he's holding this rally. He says he wants the vast majority of charges brought against the rioters dropped. But he did peddle some misinformation. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT BRAYNARD, ORGANIZER OF RALLY SUPPORTING INSURRECTIONISTS: The vast majority of the nearly 600 people who have been arrested have not been charged with any violence. They've been charged with expressing their First Amendment rights in the public building at the wrong place at the wrong time. These are buildings where people ordinarily can walk, even today, without any incident. And the fact that they are being treated so harshly and being held in solitary confinement for nine months without access to medical care --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: All right, so right there is when I interrupted Braynard in our interview because the fact is that everyone has been charged for a reason. Either they illegally entered the Capitol or they committed violence. There have also been charges for conspiracy. And that last fact that he tried to claim there, it's just not true. There are only a few dozen people held in jail right now. And those people were determined by a judge to be either a flight risk or they had previously committed crimes or they're accused of committing a violent crime at the rally.

So a lot of the premise of this rally on Saturday is just false.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

SCHNEIDER: But, nonetheless, they're moving forward with this rally. They're calling it Justice for Jan 6.

And, you know, this organizer has written these letters, Erica and Jim, to the FBI, to DOJ, trying to get these charges dropped. But the fact is, there's a premise for these charges. These people were at the Capitol, illegally entered the Capitol, and many of them assaulted law enforcement.

Guys.

SCIUTTO: And, by the way, caught on video, right?

SCHNEIDER: Yes.

SCIUTTO: I mean we've seen the video repeatedly. And many of them promoted themselves on video, right? They were sharing videos as they were doing it.

Jessica Schneider, so good to have you on the story. We'll be watching events on Saturday closely.

Coming up next this hour, President Biden says he has great confidence in the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Mark Milley, despite criticism for Milley for a series of calls with his Chinese counterparts during the turbulence at the end of Trump's term. The concern, would Trump stumble the U.S. into a war. A defense official now telling CNN there was nothing secret about those conversations.

Plus, in a direct challenge to China, the U.S., U.K. and Australia are now working together to help Australia get nuclear-powered submarines. It's a big development.

HILL: And later, a young woman on a cross-country trip with her fiance disappears. Now her family is pleading with him to break his silence.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [09:17:11]

HILL: Current and former defense officials are now speaking out in support of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley. This, of course, follows revelations in a new book that he single-handedly took action in the waning days of the Trump presidency in an effort to limit the former president from possibly ordering a military strike or launching nuclear weapons.

SCIUTTO: CNN's senior national security correspondent Alex Marquardt has been following this from the Pentagon.

Alex, the key here is that as this was initially reported, it was somehow portrayed as Milley saying to China, hey, if we're going to attack you, I'm going to tell you first. That's not what happened here. He was concerned that China, right, thought that the U.S. was going to attack them and was trying to pursue some de-escalation in the background. Is that right?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we have now learned that, you know, there were concerns on the Chinese side about what they were seeing here in the United States. And so now this debate is heating up over whether Milley crossed a line in the conversations with his Chinese counterpart when he assured him that everything was 100 percent stable here in the U.S., that the U.S. would not carry out any sort of kinetic action against China and importantly, as you mention, Jim, if the U.S. were to attack China, that Milley would give his counterpart a heads up. Some have accused Milley of carrying out his own foreign policy.

I think what is important to understand here is that when Milley made these calls, it's not like he's doing it one on one by himself. These calls, we are told by a defense officials, on October 30th and January 8th there were some 15 people who were also on them listening, including a representative of the State Department. And after calls like this take place, you know, obviously notes are taken and then what are called read outs are then sent to other agencies and departments.

And it wasn't Milley alone who was reaching out to the Chinese. It was also the secretary of defense, Mark Esper, at the time. As I mentioned, there was this perception here in the Pentagon that the Chinese were unusually concerned about what they were seeing in terms of the rhetoric leading up to the election in November. And so Esper ordered his top defense official, his -- sorry, his top policy official to send a back channel message to the Chinese as well to also reassure them.

A senior -- a former senior defense official told our colleague Katie Beau Williams that this was part of a -- what he called a two-step process. Both the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. It is standard practice when someone like Milley, the chairman, would reach out to his counterpart, that the secretary of defense would be kept abreast of these conversations.

And, in fact, what Milley's office is now trying to portray this as is standard practice. There has been no denial from the pentagon or from Milley's office.

I want to read you part of the statement that Milley's spokesman put out just yesterday. This is Colonel Dave Butler. He says, Milley's calls with the Chinese and others in October and January were in keeping with these duties and responsibilities, conveying reassurance in order to maintain strategic stability.

[09:20:11]

All calls from the chairman to his counterparts, including those reported so in the book, are staffed and coordinated and communicated with the Department of Defense and the inter-agency.

We should note, Jim and Erica, that Milley will be facing questions on September 28th. He's due to testify on Capitol Hill. As you can imagine, as a result of these revelations in this new book, he will face quite a grilling.

SCIUTTO: We should note it was not the only time that U.S. officials backchannelled their counterparts. We know with Iran and North Korea, U.S. diplomats also backchannelled with concern that President Trump might stumble the country into war with those countries. Part of a pattern.

Alex Marquardt, thanks very much.

Well, the U.S., United Kingdom and Australia announced an historic security pact. A newly minted defense partnership will allow Australia to acquire at least eight nuclear powered submarines and it is also seen as a major step encountering China in the region.

HILL: CNN national security correspondent Kylie Atwood joining us now from the State Department.

So what more do we know about this partnership, Kylie, and what is the response from the Chinese government here?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, this is a hugely substantial new partnership. The U.S., Australia and the U.K., the Brits, are all coming together to work on essentially forward leaning efforts in the defense space. Artificial intelligence. These new submarines. At the center of all this, as you guys noted, is an effort to help the Australians get nuclear-powered submarines. And that's going to happen over the next 18 months here.

And this isn't just, you know, some idea that they've come up with. They actually have a plan for implementation. The reason that those nuclear-powered submarines are so significant is, number one, the technology that goes into building them. There's only a handful of countries globally that even have that technology. The fact that the U.S., who has these nuclear powered submarines, is sharing that with Australia, demonstrates just how close the alliance is. It is extremely sensitive.

The second part is that these submarines are much more stealth. They can move much more quickly. They don't have to come up to get gas as frequently as the conventional submarines do. So they are a really powerful tool in the military space. And, of course, these are going to be in China's backyard. You know that Australia is in the same region, the Indo-Pacific, and so, therefore, that is why China, of course, feels threatened by this.

Now, the Chinese foreign ministry came out today saying that this undermines regional peace and stability in the region. It also called the move irresponsible. So we will watch for more from the Chinese, but this is something clearly that they are frustrated by, challenged by, and we will watch to see just how quickly the United States, Australia and the U.K. are able to get these submarines, nuclear powered, up and running.

HILL: Yes, we certainly will.

Kylie Atwood, important development this morning. Thank you.

Up next here, a new twist in the debate over booster shots. What one drug maker is now revealing about its vaccine.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:27:35]

SCIUTTO: All right, so important information because this is a big new question, booster shots. There are new details this morning on COVID- 19 vaccine boosters. Three separate reports support the need for a third dose for the Pfizer vaccine. Those reports suggest the extra shots would be safe. All this as FDA vaccine advisers are set to meet tomorrow when they'll consider Pfizer's request to approve a third shot.

HILL CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard is following all of these developments, and there are a lot of them this week, I have to say.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HILL: So, Jacqueline, this FDA advisers meeting, they meet tomorrow. There could be a decision tomorrow afternoon. The White House has said, of course, that boosters could start rolling out as early as next week. They gave that Monday date. The question is, are states ready at this point if, in fact, they get the go ahead?

JAQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Well, Erica, I can tell you states are getting ready. I spoke with the National Association of County and City Health officials, and the head of the group, Lori Tremmel Freeman. She says this, quote, the plan is to be ready after the FDA review of the Pfizer data. We have been hearing from local health departments without any confirmed information coming their way, they are beginning to assess who on the ground will have the capacity to do boosters, who will remain as a provider of vaccines, and who is pulling out.

Now, what this means, health departments are getting potential sites in place to administer boosters. This could look different state by state. Could be pharmacies leading the way in some states, hospitals, doctor's offices and others. But, overall, while we wait to hear what comes out of tomorrow's meeting, states are getting plans together.

SCIUTTO: OK, so this comes on the heels of Moderna as well saying they're developing a new booster to fight, in particular, COVID-19 variants. What more do we know and how quickly does that move?

HOWARD: Yes, Jim, earlier this month, Moderna initiated submitting data to the FDA. And the latest data that we've seen regarding Moderna's booster, this is a small study, including 80 volunteers, and Moderna looked at antibody levels in volunteers who were fully vaccinated. Six months later they received a booster and Moderna looked at the antibody levels again.

According to this data, again, it's coming from Moderna, but they say that their booster dose was able to boost the antibody levels, so to speak, to be equivalent to what was seen just a couple weeks after getting fully vaccinated. So that's what we've been hearing.

[09:30:01]

But if you look at how vaccines were initially rolled out back in December, Pfizer came first, and then Moderna, right? So, we can