Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

President Macron Not Mincing Words; World Leaders to Face Challenge on Cutting Emissions; President Biden Expect His Agenda to Get Through the Senate; White House Press Secretary Tested Positive; Beijing Disneyland Under Lockdown Due to One COVID Case; Emotional Scene at Australia's Airport. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired November 01, 2021 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, on the heels of the G20 summit, world leaders now head to Glasgow for a major climate summit with a number of lofty goals on the table.

So much for the happiest place on earth, Disneyland in Shanghai now on lockdown after reports of a single COVID case at the park.

Plus, new details on a knife attack, on a train that's left more than a dozen injured. We are live in Tokyo.

Live from CNN center, this is CNN newsroom with Rosemary Church.

Thanks for joining us.

Well, leaders from around the world will gather in Glasgow in the coming hours for a critical climate summit as a new report warns the earth is now in uncharted territory. The COP26 kicking off just as the G20 meeting wrapped up in Rome on Sunday.

Leaders there ended their summit with an agreement on climate but no firm pledges. Several key goals included ending coal financing by years end and containing global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, above pre-industrial levels.

Now, the pressure is on for COP26 to deliver more than just the usual empty promises on climate. The British prime minister is expected to tell world leaders it's time to move from aspiration to action to limit rising temperatures and take concrete steps to phase-out coal.

Among the key goals for COP26, securing global net zero by mid-century and keeping 1.5 degrees within reach, they also want countries to deliver on their promise of $100 billion a year to help developing nations fight the climate crisis. And CNN's Phil Black is following developments. He joins us now live

from Edinburgh in Scotland. Good to see you, Phil. So, what concrete action can we expect to come out of the COP26, if any?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's really hard to say, Rosemary. Expectations are low. There is no reason for optimism at this stage. The host British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been gloomily talking about the likelihood of failure and what the consequences of that would be.

It's very different to the situation in 2015, the Paris conference, the agreement that came from that. It was a breakthrough success because it was a big picture feel good moment when the world committed to doing what the science says is necessary. That is limiting global average temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

This time in Glasgow it's going to be harder because this is when countries are supposed to put on the table the details, the plans, precisely how they're going to work towards transitioning into a low carbon future where they help achieve and they do achieve that goal. So that's why this conference will be pushing for big ambition.

But, at the moment, you know, the details on the table simply do not add up. They are completely insufficient in terms of achieving that 1.5-degree target. So, pushing for big concrete measures like setting a date to stop burning coal for electricity, to stop deforestation, to transition completely to zero emissions cars, these sorts of moves.

But not just in the long term either. Because a growing number of countries are coming into this conference with another big picture promise which is promising to hit net zero carbon by around the mid- century. But the science tells us clearly that you can't wait ten years to do that. You've got to start doing that now. Deep cuts emission reduction this decade otherwise that goal will be unachievable, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, Phil, what are environmentalists saying about their expectations, and what do they plan to do if the COP26 fails to take sufficient action?

BLACK: Well, they are worried, obviously. And they say they will maintain the pressure in whatever way they possibly can. And that is one of the, perhaps the ultimate best-case scenarios that could come out of this.

[03:04:49]

Is even if significant progress isn't made, breakthrough progress isn't made these two weeks, enough progress is made to keep the process on track and along with a commitment to come back and review the cuts and the proposals and net progress not every five years as is currently the case under the rules of the Paris agreement, but at least every year.

The hope that sort of frequency, that regularity will bring greater urgency, greater ambition and will result in more dramatic action more quickly. But at this stage that is just a hope, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes, indeed. Phil Black joining us live from Edinburgh. Many thanks.

Well during the G20 summit a few tensions flared between the leaders of France and Australia over their scrapped submarine deal. But the French president said on the whole, the talks helped re-create convergences and a sense of hope.

CNN's Nic Robertson is live in Rome, and he joins us now. Good to see you, Nic. So, what all was achieved at the G20 summit, and what more you learning about France accusing Australia of lying about the submarine deal?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, Emmanuel Macron didn't precisely use the word "lying," talking about Scott Morrison, Australia's prime minister in terms of that submarine deal. Australia was going to buy 12 diesel powered submarines from France and decided to dump out of that and go with eight nuclear powered submarines supplied by the United Kingdom and the United States.

What Emmanuel Macron said was in essence is that Scott Morrison, the Australian prime minister and Australian diplomats should have respected France more and been more open with him. This is his words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE: I think you can have disagreement. I do respect sovereign choices, but you have to respect allies and partners and that was not the case with this deal. And I think this is detrimental to the reputation of your country and your --

(CROSSTALK)

UNKNOWN: And what did you said -- what did you said Scott will --

MACRON: We will -- we will feel what you will deliver. I have a lot of respect for your country. I have a lot of respect and a lot of friendship for your people. I do say when we have respect, you have to be true and you have to behave in line and consistently with this value.

UNKNOWN: Do you think he lied to you?

MACRON: I don't think. I know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON (on camera): So, Scott Morrison says that he didn't lie, that France understood that Australia was still considering its options, that it was well-understood that the current option from France didn't meet Australia's strategic needs. However, he did say that he didn't explicitly explain to France that there was a nuclear- powered option on the table from the United Kingdom and the United States. For the most part, however, the G20 fell short on the big goals. But

there were still some diplomatic rapprochement on the sidelines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON (voice over): A coin toss for good luck in Rome's famous Trevi Fountain, so daunting their task combating COVID and climate change, leaders at this G20 summit open for all help. Some successes coming on the sidelines. U.S. and E.U. reducing friction on aluminum and steel tariffs.

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: This marks a milestone in the renewed E.U.-U.S. partnership.

ROBERTSON: American French friendship put back on track after a scarpered submarine deal soured relation. Even British-French tempers frayed over fish tamp down, temporarily at least. Perhaps President Joe Biden who missed the coin toss at the Trevi Fountain and arrived beset by doubts about his and America's leadership gained most.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We have to take action now.

ROBERTSON: Hosting a global supply chain event pushing leaders to ease bottlenecks and getting sign-off on a global minimum for corporate tax.

BIDEN: Well, I'm proud that the G20 endorsed the global minimum tax, and this is an incredible win for all our countries.

ROBERTSON: But on the big ticket items, COVID and climate, gains harder to see. Commitments on COVID vaccines rollout renewed. At least 40 percent global population by years-end. Seventy percent by mid- 2022. On climate committing to reduce emission intensity but not fully eradicate, agreeing only to end international financing for coal- fueled power generation by the end of the year.

MARIO DRAGHI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER: Do we know exactly what the final goal posts of this transition is going to be? We don't. So, we go step by step.

ROBERTSON: And no specific date set for global carbon neutrality. No later than 2060, falling short of a hope for 2050, a hard deadline, not a glowing report card.

[03:10:06]

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We've made some progress at this G20. We've had a reasonable G20, but there is a huge way still to go.

ROBERTSON: Johnson not the only leader disappointed. The U.N. secretary-general voicing his frustrations in a tweet. Saying, while I welcome the G20's recommitment to global solutions, I leave room with my hopes unfulfilled but at least they're not buried. Leaders now on their way to COP26, the climate summit in Glasgow with this ominous warning from the U.K.'s Prince Charles.

PRINCE CHARLES: It is the last chance to learn. We must now translate fine words into still finer actions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON (on camera): So I think that hope that the G20 would be a powerful springboard for COP 26, really hasn't actually materialized the G20 nations in 80 percent of the world's GDP, 60 percent of the global population, 80 percent of its carbon emissions, the responsibility and the weight on the G20 to do something themselves. President Biden saying fell short. In part, because President Xi and President Putin weren't here in Rome and they are not going to be in Glasgow at the COP 26 either. Rosemary? I

CHURCH: Yes. Important point. Nic Robertson joining us live from Rome. Many thanks.

For more on this we are joined by CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein. Always great to have you with us.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Thanks, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, President Biden arrived in Rome empty-handed after his own party was unable to give him a win on his own domestic agenda.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

CHURCH: So, nothing to show on climate change. Just promises. How well did he turn things around after that at the G20 summit despite this drawback? And did he succeed in mending fences?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, first of all, I mean, Joe Biden at the G20 looked like he did the day he was able to announce the bipartisan infrastructure deal on the White House drive way. I mean, he never looks happier than when you can be with a bunch of other elected officials finding consensus of some sort and it was elusive both at home and abroad.

But I do think that, you know, as you say arriving without the lift that he expected from Congress he was able to accomplish something at this G20 meeting. The global agreement on the worldwide corporate minimum tax. The rollback of some of the Trump tariffs on aluminum and steel.

I mean, climate remains an enormous challenge in particular because of the recalcitrance of Russia and China. But overall, I think they are pretty satisfied with what they were able to get out of this meeting in Rome.

CHURCH: Yes. And of course, you mentioned climate that's next now. President Biden will attend the next COP26 climate summit but he needs his party to get behind him and pass his infrastructure and Build Back Better plans. What do you expect will have been Tuesday with those votes? And how will all of this impact the president standing at the summit? BROWNSTEIN: Well, first of all, I mean, the climate provision in the

Build Back Better plan really are historic. I mean, we are talking about almost one-third of the total spending devoted to carrots. They were not able to include any sticks to push utilities or other entities away from fossil fuels because of the resistance of literally one Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia. He was probably the only Democrat in either chamber who refused to support what was called the clean electricity standard.

But nonetheless, over $500 billion in tax incentive to encourage the transition across the board from utilities, from manufacturers from car buyers. And the analysis that I've seen, Rosemary, from energy analysts is that that is the vast majority of the carbon reduction.

So, I think the president can say that the U.S. is on the brink of unprecedented investment to try to speed this transition. The likelihood is that this is going to go through. But let's face it. I mean, this would've happened on Thursday last week. If Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema would've followed the president's news conference by saying yes, we accept this framework.

Which, after all, is almost completely re-written to their specifications and we will vote for the Build Back Better bill if they had simply done that than the House almost certainly would've passed the infrastructure bill that has been tied up within hours.

But they didn't. They chose not to. And that remains the biggest question looming over this vote on Tuesday. Do the progressives in the House feel that they have a clear enough commitment from Manchin and Sinema to support the broader economic bill before they pass, both of them.

CHURCH: And Ron, Tuesday is also critical for another reason the Virginia governor's race will be decided.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

[03:14:59]

CHURCH: Democrat Terry McAuliffe currently tied with Republican Glenn Youngkin. Will this prove to be a referendum on Biden's presidency do you think? And what would be the consequences if McAuliffe lost?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, there is no escaping the shadow of the president in modern American politics. You know, it's not that the Virginia governor's race is a guarantee of what's going to happen in November 2022. But it is pretty much a guarantee of what could happen if Biden does not rebuild his approval rating.

I mean, the fact that this is a neck and neck race. That McAuliffe is either going to lose or win narrowly in a state where Democrats have done very well lately is a reminder that it is simply almost -- it is becoming almost impossible to escape the undertow of an popular president.

Right now, Biden's numbers are down, he is at 42 percent nationally, maybe 43 or 44 percent in Virginia. And that I think is the biggest challenge. The biggest headwind facing Terry McAuliffe. Historically Rosemary as you know, the president's party has not done well on off- year elections in America, really since the Civil War.

And the core problem is that voters and the party holding the White House feel less urgency about voting than those who are outside. Those who are, you know, kind of locked out of the White House. And when the president is unpopular it just compounds the problem.

So, if McAuliffe can win he will be swimming against the tide and I think the message here to Democrats is going to be very clear. Win or lose the job one for them is to rebuild as much as Biden's popularity as they can between now and next November because if they don't it's going to be a long night for them.

CHURCH: Yes. Ron Brownstein, thank you so much for talking with us. We appreciate it.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

CHURCH: Still to come, Halloween fun comes to an abrupt end at Shanghai Disneyland. We'll tell you why park officials had to shut the gates and find out when they might reopen.

Plus, international travel without quarantine resumes for Australia's biggest cities as long as you are fully vaccinated. We'll go live to Sydney after this short break.

[22:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: White House Secretary Jen Psaki says she has tested positive for COVID-19. The news comes as U.S. President Joe Biden is overseas for the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. Psaki said she last saw the president on Tuesday, two days before he left but she was outside and masked at the time. She dropped off the foreign trip shortly before President Biden departed after members of her household tested positive.

Well, there's promising new data about America's fight against COVID- 19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports two-thirds of the country's population has received at least one dose of vaccine. That's more than 220 million Americans. More than 18 million people have received a third dose of booster shots since mid-August. And more progress in the vaccine campaign could come within days.

On Tuesday, the CDC's vaccine advisers will consider whether to authorize the Pfizer vaccine for children as young as five after the Food and Drug Administration signed off on Friday. If the CDC's panel and the agency's director approve, vaccinations could begin immediately.

Well, COVID concerns have temporarily shuttered a major amusement park in China. Shanghai Disneyland announced Sunday the park will be closed for at least the next few days after reports someone with a confirmed case of COVID-19 visited. Now this video from Sunday shows medical workers and police officers inside the park. Officials say guests were required to take a COVID test before they left.

And CNN's Steven Jiang joins us from Beijing with the very latest. Good to see you, Steven. So, talk to us about this lockdown, very serious and in response to just one confirmed case. And when will those gates reopen, do we know?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BUREAU CHIEF: Not yet, Rosemary. But as you mentioned this is how they deal with this kind of situation in this country because China is now the only major country in the world that sticks to this zero COVID policy with the reemergence of new local cases in recent weeks.

We have seen officials around the country adopt some very harsh measures that we have previously only seen during the peak of the pandemic last year, including locking down entire cities with millions of residents inside, and more recently stopping high-speed trains midway through their journeys because of close contact with one confirmed cases -- confirmed case were found to be onboard.

Now, this Disney episode of course is going viral because of the extraordinary visuals and setting with a large group of medics in hazmat suits descending on the park when people were celebrating Halloween. And of course, later on you see that visual image of spectacular fireworks exploding into the night sky when thousands of people were being tested down below.

Now as of now the latest we've heard from the government is they have tested some 34,000 people who have visited the park during the two-day period last weekend. And all the results have come back negative. But those people along with thousands more who fit into that category will now have to self-isolate for two days and going through more rounds of testing in the next two weeks or so.

So, this, of course, is again being touted by the state media here as another vivid example of the efficiency and effectiveness of the COVID policy here. And given how this country works with its top down power structure and the leadership priorities you're probably going to see things get greatly tightened again in the coming weeks and months with the Winter Olympics coming but also with a major communist leader party meeting being held here in just a week. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Many thanks to our Steven Jiang joining us live from Beijing. I appreciate it.

Well, Thailand is now welcoming fully vaccinated tourists from dozens of countries considered low risk for the coronavirus. And they won't be required to quarantine. Bangkok and Phuket have welcomed the first visitors with the rest of the country to follow.

[03:25:03]

And this should give a much-needed boost to Thailand's vital tourism industry which has taken a massive hit during the pandemic. After 18 months of closed borders international travel has returned

for parts of Australia. And with it, emotional reunions like these a few hours ago at Sydney's airport. Thousands of Australians living abroad had been unable to return home due to the country's tough pandemic restrictions. But now the state of Victoria and New South Wales have ended quarantine rules for fully vaccinated travelers, thanks to soaring vaccine rates.

So, let's go live not to CNN's Angus Watson. he joins us from Sydney International Airport. Good to see you, Angus. And of course, emotional homecomings for so many Australians who were actually locked out of their own country for about 18 months, some living under dire circumstances. So, what have you witnessed at Sydney's International Airport?

ANGUS WATSON, CNN PRODUCER: Rosemary, this morning at the airport it was really a celebration of the end of fortress Australia, this incredibly strict border policy that the Australian government put into place last March to try to isolate the country from the rest of the world as the pandemic began to take hold.

Now, what Australia did was it told its citizens that only so many of you can come back each week. And when you do, you have to quarantine for 14 days in state-managed hotel isolation. Well, on November 1st, today, those rules went out. Here in Sydney and in Melbourne as well, two cities which are really leading the charge on vaccinations here in Australia. Meaning that those communities here in Melbourne and in Canberra as well ready to live with the virus, expecting adults to be well over 90 percent double vaccinated.

But, Rosemary, the scenes at the airport this morning were mixed. There was a lot of emotion, a lot of disappointment about how people had been treated by the government. Some 40,000 Australians as you mentioned have been locked out of their own country. Here's what one had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK COSTELLO, TRAVELER: Really mixed emotions to be back in Australia. I live in the U.S. and I'm just here now for a wake to attend my father's funeral. He passed away last week. I've been trying to get back the last couple of months to see my dad. I feel like this there's been a huge human cost that's been paid for a lot of Australian citizens that live in other places or travel overseas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Now, the Australian government says that it has saved some 30,000 lives with its strict border policies which continue at least at a domestic level. States here in Australia are cut off from one another as there are strained differences between the states with COVID-19 in the community like New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian capital territory and states which haven't had a bad outbreak of COVID-19 this year like Queensland and western Australia.

Their vaccination rates are lower, and they remain closed to the states where COVID-19 is in the community. So, what they've done is they've said that even if you're flying from overseas into Sydney today, you can't come across the domestic state borders without quarantining for 14 days, Rosemary.

CHURCH: That is tough, isn't it? But New South Wales, 80 percent vaccination rate. That's pretty impressive. Angus Watson joining us live from Sydney. Many thanks.

A knife attack on a Japanese train has injured more than a dozen people. What we know about the suspect and what witnesses are telling police. That's next.

Plus, American Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights over the weekend, stranding passengers. The response from the airline coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Welcome back, everyone. Well, we are following reports of a knife attack on a train in Tokyo. Let's go now to Blake Essig who's live outside the train station near where this happened. Blake, what more are you learning about this horrifying attack?

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, look, it happened around 8 p.m. local time on Sunday night as large amounts of people were streaming into the city center to celebrate Halloween, but that train never made it. Stopping here at the station behind me about 30 minutes shy of its final destination after a chaotic and horrific scene broke out onboard involving a deadly weapon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ESSIG: This was no Halloween prank. As commuters in Japan headed for Tokyo city center on Sunday, some ended up running for their lives. This video shows streams of panicked people trying to escape a train car where witnesses say a man who might have been dressed up as the comic book character of "the joker" or possibly a different character was attacking passengers. Observers say the suspect was waving a long knife.

And according to Japan's public broadcaster, NHK, set fire to the train after spraying lighter fluid across the seats. At least 17 people were injured including one man who police say is in serious condition after being stabbed in the chest.

(Inaudible) was on the train and captured this video. He told CNN he was incredibly scared and couldn't escape fast enough.

UNKNOWN (through translator): I do feel scared by this incident, but it's something you can't ever plan for. I think if it happened to me again all I can do is flee.

ESSIG: Shortly after the attack began train operators say the train made an emergency stop. Video here shows frightened passengers scrambling out of the train's windows and onto a platform to try to get to safety.

Police say they've arrested a 24-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder. They say the suspect dropped his knife when they approached him and told investigators that he, quote, "wanted to kill people and be given the death penalty."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ESSIG (on camera): Now, the reason that trail was full as people as it was on a Sunday night was because of Halloween. But unlike in the United States where Halloween is geared toward kids, here in Japan it's more for the adults. People will dress up in costume and celebrate in popular places like Shinjuku or the famous Shibuya Crossing which is the general direction in which this train was heading, Rosemary.

[03:35:00]

CHURCH: And Blake, how often does Japan see this sort of violent attack?

ESSIG: Yes, you know, Rosemary, very rare. Again, while violent crime is rare in Japan when it comes to mass killings, those responsible often result to using knives or arson instead of guns. Now, this is the second attack on a train since August involving a man and a knife.

During the attack a few months ago, 10 people were stabbed with the suspect confessing to police that he just wanted to kill women who looked happy. Of course, the situation last night could have potentially been a whole lot worse if guns were involved. But in Japan gun violence is almost nonexistent.

Just to put that into perspective the number of annual deaths resulting from guns hasn't reached triple digits here in Japan since the year 2000 with the number often in the single digits. And the reason for that according to gun control advocates is because firearm regulations are extremely restrictive under Japan's 1958 firearm and sword law. Most guns are illegal in the country. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Terrifying experience for those people on the train. Blake, Essig, many thanks for joining us live from Tokyo.

Well several people are injured after two trains collided Sunday night in England. Officers have been responding to the crash at the Fisherton Tunnel near Salisbury station. Police and rail investigators have declared it a major incident, but there are no critical injuries we know of and no one was killed.

Britain's transport secretary tweeted his thoughts to those affected and says an investigation is underway.

Still to come, abortion rights groups have found an unexpected ally in their fight against Texas' near total ban on the procedure. We're back with that in just a moment.

[03:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH (on camera): A newly released investigation by The Washington Post reveals in chilling detail the missed warning signs of violence by Trump supporters before the January 6th insurrection. Here's just one part. One of the most striking flares came when a tipster called the FBI on the afternoon of December 20th.

Trump supporters were discussing online how to sneak guns into Washington to overrun police and arrest members of Congress in January. The tipster offered specifics. Those planning orders believed they had orders from the president using code words such as pickaxe to describe guns and posted the times and locations of four spots around the country for caravans to meet the day before the joint session.

On one site a poster specifically mentioned Senator Mitt Romney as a target. According to the Post tips about extremist groups came pouring into security agencies during the weeks ahead of the insurrection, but the FBI regarded many statements to be protected via first amendment speeches.

The Washington Post investigation found some Pentagon leaders feared Trump would misuse the National Guard to stay in power. And an official who warned Washington area hospitals to stock up on blood and prepare for a, quote, "mass casualty event." The paper also described then President Trump as a, quote, "driving force in the weeks before the coup attempt inciting, supporting and freezing key federal agencies tasked with protecting the capitol."

The report also dives into what happened as the insurrection unfolded.

Investigative reporter Aaron Davis told CNN's Jim Acosta about that part of the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AARON DAVIS, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: We kind of took a little bit different turn in the story where we look more at the 187 minutes in between when the capitol was breached and when Trump said anything to call off the supporters of his that were raiding the capitol. And so many things happened in those couple of hours. People died, people had heart attacks.

You know, obviously the Ashli Babbitt shooting, there was just numerous tragedies in the course of those hours while he was doing that.

With everyone we've looked at, you have to question why this crowd was allowed to get that close to the capitol that day. We are able to document I think in greater detail than I think has been done before. But there were warning signs of this violence dating back not just hours or days but weeks in advance.

And then, you know, fast forward to the actual day on January 6th, there were signs of violence in the hours leading up to the breach as well. There were numerous firearms taken off members of the crowd after they left the ellipse where President Trump was speaking.

And they even surrounded at one point in time park police officers around the Washington monument and started beating on the doors there. There were violent signs all the way down the mall as this crowd moved, and yet there were basically allowed to walk straight into the capitol.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (on camera): And that was Aaron Davis from The Washington Post speaking to CNN's Jim Acosta.

House Democrat Ruben Gallego was there at the capitol on January 6th. A day later, Gallego, a marine veteran who served in Iraq told The Washington Post he thought he might have to fight his way out. He spoke with CNN about the latest investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RUBEN GALLEGO (D-AZ): To be honest it's nothing that surprises me. It's very good reporting goes really, really into deep, deep detail. You know, for me it does make me wonder, though, what had been -- had this been a group of, you know, Muslim men trying to operate this way across the country would there have been as much lax of a reaction or Latino men or black men?

The only reason, you know, this unit got close is because for some reason it's OK to be a white terrorist trying to attack your country. And somehow, we just allowed it to happen, and it's ridiculous. There was a total failure upon everybody up and down the security spectrum, and they really need to be held accountable.

And lastly, you know, it's one thing security failed. It's the other that the people that enabled it to actually get to that point. The president and all the president's men including people like Mark Meadows who tried to play both sides according to this report, really are the lawyers that put all of us in this spot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (on camera): All eyes are on the U.S. Supreme Court. In the coming hours justices will hear arguments and the two challenges to the nation's most restrictive abortion law. The law took effect in September after the Supreme Court and a federal appeals court failed to intervene.

[03:45:00]

The law bans abortions as soon as a fetal heartbeat can be detected usually around six weeks. That's before many women even know they're pregnant. It also makes no exceptions for rape or incest. Perhaps most significantly the law will not be enforced by the state. Instead it allows, private citizens to sue abortion providers for allege violations.

For more on this, we are joined by Jessica Levinson. She is a professor of law at Loyola Law School and joins me live from Los Angeles. Always great to have you with us.

JESSICA LEVINSON, PROFESSOR OF LAW, LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL: Good to be here.

CHURCH: So, a big day ahead at the U.S. Supreme Court as abortion providers backed by the Biden administration prepare for arguments in their challenge to a near total ban on the procedure in Texas, and now they have an ally in a right leaning gun rights group ally. How is this likely to play out do you think?

LEVINSON: How is this likely to play out obviously is the big question. But it's so interesting that obviously a right-wing group has now joined with basically the Department of Justice anti -- excuse me, abortion providers and say, we need to do something here because of how Texas set up its law.

Let's think about this for a minute. Normally, a state passes a law and they enforce it. So, if you want to stop enforcement you are a group of people go to federal court and you say this clearly violates the Constitution as Texas' law does clearly violate the Constitution as it's currently understood.

This federal court says, OK, you are right, the state cannot implement the law and there's an injunction. This is different. Because in this case Texas decided private individuals will actually be the ones to sue and enforce the law, they outsourced this.

And so, the question for the Supreme Court really is, who can sue ad stop this law, and who can be sued? It maybe doesn't sound as sexy as this is law unconstitutional but it's incredibly important because if we allow Texas to do something like this, then we will see potentially blue states, Democratic states doing the same thing. And that's why this gun rights group is like, no, no, no, we need to weigh in here.

CHURCH: Exactly right. Let's look deeper into that because how dangerous the precedent could this be if it stands?

LEVINSON: It could totally upend our understanding of how we enforce laws, who can be sued when we are trying to stop unconstitutional laws and it would really take power away from federal courts. And that's why, the new solicitor general, she's been on the job for, I think about 9 to 10 hours now, she is going to be the one arguing this on behalf of the Department of Justice.

The opening line of her brief says, Supreme Court basically don't do this to yourself. Don't take this power away from yourself. It has to be the Department of Justice can sue a state who passes a law like this. And so, it's so consequential because otherwise we've essentially allowed states to just take the power of federal judicial review away from us. And we shouldn't see that power.

CHURCH: And the, as you point out, the Texas abortion law, it was -- it was coming and it's writing, wasn't it? Written to impede courts from ruling on constitutionality before it takes effect. How could that possibly be legally acceptable when we know that abortion is protected under the Supreme Court 1973 Roe versus Wade ruling which recognized a woman's constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy and subsequent decisions.

LEVINSON: How could this possibly be is basically what Justice Sonia Sotomayor said in her defense --excuse me -- in her dissent when this case went up to the Supreme Court we all remember they did nothing for 24 hours that this was challenged. And then they said, you know, this is just so procedurally complicated, we're going to have to let this law stay in effect while we kind of sort it out, but you can bring other challenges to us.

Now let's remember, that this is another challenge now. It's the Department of Justice and abortion providers saying, we're coming up with a new question. Can we sue, and who can we sue?

But, you know, to your question of how this can happen, let's imagine that you hurt your ankle and you go to a doctor. The doctor says, that's a bad break. I'm really just not sure, walk on for a few more weeks and then come back to me, and maybe come back to me and I'll have a better sense when you're injured on what to do. That's essentially what the Supreme Court did here.

CHURCH: Yes. It's a good analogy. Many thanks to Jessica Levinson joining us and explaining all that to us. I appreciate it.

[03:50:03]

LEVINSON: Thank you.

CHURCH: And coming up, facing elimination the Houston Astros battle from behind to win game five of the World Series. The highlights after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH (on camera): Baseball's World Series is headed for a game six. The Houston Astros battle from behind in game five to beat the Atlanta Braves nine to five Sunday night. It was a wild slugfest. The Astros came back from a four-run deficit in the first inning denying Atlanta a chance to clench the title in front of their fans.

The Braves still hold a three to two series lead. They'll now return to Houston for game six Tuesday night.

It's been a rough weekend for travelers flying American Airlines as they canceled hundreds of flights Sunday. The airline has now canceled more than 1,500 flights since Friday.

CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean has our report.

[03:54:58]

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: The truth is no airline is immune to these cascading kinds of issues. It was Southwest Airlines three weeks ago. Now it is American Airlines which canceled more than 800 flights on Sunday, more than 500 on Saturday, more than 300 on Sunday. That means about one in every 10 flights over that period was canceled. But American says this really all started on Thursday when high winds

and bad weather hit its main hub at Dallas Fort Worth that kicked off a chain reaction of cancellations leaving the planes and crews out of position.

American COO David Seymour sent a letter to the entire airline saying he wanted to build certainty into the operation, so the airline began proactively canceling flights. But that left thousands of passengers stranded in long lines across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: I don't understand why it's canceled. I heard they didn't have enough staff. Well, you sold me a product. I paid for it, now it's your job to get me there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN (on camera): Remember this is not just about staffing. That is only part of the issue here. But good news, though, American says about 1,800 flight attendants are returning from pandemic leaves of absence starting on Monday. The airline insists that this problem will be over soon.

Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.

CHURCH: And thanks so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Enjoy the rest of your day. CNN Newsroom continues next with Isa Soares.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)