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Atlanta Area D.A. Asks FBI for Protection After Trump Comments; Trump Vows to Pardon Capitol Rioters If He's Elected; Biden to Discuss Afghanistan, Global Energy with Emir of Qatar; U.N. Meets to Discuss Russia-Ukraine Tensions at U.S. Request; Biden Holds Oval Office Meeting with Emir of Qatar. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired January 31, 2022 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:29]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Hello, I'm Victor Blackwell and welcome into the actual literal CNN NEWSROOM again.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: We're back.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Back together.

CAMEROTA: Let's hope it's a sign of the times.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

CAMEROTA: And that things are improving with COVID. It's great to be back with you.

BLACKWELL: Hopefully we could stay here. Good to be with you.

CAMEROTA: And I'm Alisyn Camerota. The district attorney in Georgia investigating former President Trump is now asking the FBI for extra security protection after Donald Trump used incendiary language against prosecutors who are investigating possible crimes he committed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: If these radical, vicious, racist prosecutors do anything wrong or illegal, I hope we are going to have in this country the biggest protest we have ever had in Washington, D.C., in New York, in Atlanta and elsewhere because our country and our elections are corrupt. Their corrupt.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: At that same rally, Trump gave a glimpse into a possible second term. He said he would pardon January 6th insurrectionists if he wins in 2024.

CNN justice correspondent Jessica Schneider joins us now.

So, Jessica, tell us about this letter that the Fulton County D.A. sent to the FBI. JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the D.A. Fani

Willis here, she's really raising the alarm on Trump's rhetoric. She's asking the FBI now for help. This is a request that went out by letter. It was sent almost immediately to the FBI after Trump's rally on Saturday night where you heard him, he took aim at several of the officials in Georgia and New York, all three of whom are black. They're all investigating him and his allies or his business.

Now D.A. Willis in particular, she is very concerned about Trump's rhetoric so she's asking the FBI to step in here, and she's even telling the FBI special agent in charge that she has already heard from people unhappy with her investigation into Trump's possible election interference down there in Georgia. And now that he's ramped up the rhetoric against her and others she's asking the FBI in particular for two things.

So here's what she said in that letter to the special agent in charge in FBI's -- their Atlanta field office. She said, "I am asking that you immediately conduct a risk assessment of the Fulton County courthouse and government center and that you provide protective resources to include intelligence and federal agents. It is imperative that these resources are in place well in advance of the convening of the special purpose grand jury."

Because as we learned last week, that special grand jury, they will be sitting beginning May 2nd. Their purpose is to subpoena people for testimony in the D.A.'s probe, compel discovery and obviously here the D.A. is very concerned about possible threats to anyone involved in that investigation into Trump and his allies. Especially now that Trump is publicly promising more protests here.

And the D.A. is worried, Alisyn and Victor, that it could be a repeat of January 6th in Atlanta if Trump supporters interpret this as really a call to action. So this letter requesting the help, it was sent out yesterday. Our team has reached out to the FBI in Atlanta to find out what will happen here and if, in fact, the D.A. there will get that risk assessment of the government buildings and possibly some extra protection as well. So we shall see, guys.

BLACKWELL: All right, Jessica Schneider, we'll look for updates on that. Thank you very much.

Joining us now, Olivia Troye, she's a former homeland security adviser for former Vice President Pence, Harry Litman, he is a former U.S. attorney and CNN contributor John Dean. He was White House counsel during the Nixon administration. He's also the co-author of "Authoritarian Nightmare: Trump and His Followers."

Welcome to you all. John Dean, I'm starting with you. And I want to get straight to this promise from the former president that pardons could come for the January 6th insurrectionists. Hear what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If I run and if I win, we will treat those people from January 6th fairly. We will treat them fairly. And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons because they are being treated so unfairly.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Pardons for those who attacked the Capitol on January 6th, what do you hear there.

JOHN DEAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it's a little fuzzy, the pardon itself is an act of grace. This doesn't sound like an act of grace. It sounds like an act of excusing those who support him and went to violence, and that could well start getting into the area of abusing the pardon power and abusing, obstructing justice by doing so.

[14:05:02]

The pardon power is extremely broad. One of the really unreviewable acts by a president. But if he does it with another purpose, for example if he did it for a bribe, that would then be an illegal act. If he does it to obstruct justice, that would make it an illegal act. So he's playing with fire right now.

CAMEROTA: Oliva, let's just remind our viewers the people that Donald Trump really thinks are his people, the people that he has sympathy for, and that he wants to pardon. Let's just give everybody a little taste of those people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If these radical, vicious, racist prosecutors do anything wrong or illegal, I hope we are going to have in this country the biggest protest we have ever had in Washington, D.C., in New York, in Atlanta and elsewhere because our country and our elections are corrupt. They're corrupt.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So on the right side of your screen is you see the people that I'm talking about, which were the, you know, blood thirsty mob, they injured 140 police officers. And so I think that it's helpful, actually, to hear Donald Trump spell out for voters exactly what he plans to do if he's re-elected. And what is interesting, Olivia, and I know that you've been working on this, you know, as your other day job, and that is, what are rational Republicans to do when he says that those are the people that he wants to see again on the streets without any accountability?

I mean you even started to hear, you know, Senator Lindsey Graham and people on the Sunday shows that that is totally inappropriate. So isn't it time for Republicans to say, we don't want those people who hurt police officers to be, you know, not held accountable?

OLIVIA TROYE, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY COUNTERTERRORISM ADVISOR TO VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: It's way past time for them to come forward and actually hold these people accountable and call out Donald Trump on what he is doing. He's galvanizing people for protecting his own sort of measures, and he's also galvanizing a population out there and promoting violence. I mean, this is -- Donald Trump remains one of the most dangerous

public figures in the history of our country. That speech was dangerous. It is out there. It's pushing violence in our communities. And so what is it that Republicans want? Because this was the party that claimed to be the party of law and order. So did Donald Trump. Remember that narrative? That was the narrative that he ran on where he wanted to bring law and order to your communities.

Well, now he's telling you straight out that law and order to him means pandemonium and chaos on the streets and danger. That's what law and order is for him. I guess it's no longer a convenient narrative for him.

BLACKWELL: And, Harry, going after three prosecutors specifically, the Fulton County D.A., New York A.G. and D.C. A.G. as well as you heard in that sound bite calling them vicious, radical racist, these are three African-Americans. We know the former president's history on race. Highlighting these three as racist, you hear what?

HARRY LITMAN, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: I hear a not very silent dog whistle. That dog whistle is starting to rise, and all of this I think is supposed to be read meat to his followers and he does it to sort of, you know, get libs furious and -- but nevertheless, it's just unspeakably foul. You know, he has spent four years dividing us. There is an emerging consensus at least around the proposition that terrorists attacking the Capitol to deter the rule of law is a bad thing. So that's exactly what he goes for.

Anything that can divide, that's the one play in this playbook. But, yes, racist? Where does that possibly come from and to whom is that directed? That was fairly stunning, I'd say, even for him.

CAMEROTA: Yes. And John, I mean, I think agree with Harry, but I don't think that he's just doing this to get the libs angry, you know, and to sort of be entertaining. I think that we need to believe him when he says what his vision is.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

CAMEROTA: For his next term that he will ignore the will of the voters, and this time he would choose a vice president who would go along with the cheating scheme because he's still so miffed at what Pence did as he brought it up again. And I mean, I know that you agree, John, that this was one of the most dangerous speeches in the history of the U.S.

DEAN: It really is. In 246 years of our country, you won't find a parallel speech. This is the bottom. This is as low as we've ever gone. Particularly for somebody who still aspires the office. I think he is actually telegraphing that he wants a base that will let him obstruct justice, and they will riot if he doesn't get away with it or if anyone tries to do anything that is proper and hold him accountable.

[14:10:07] So that's why I say he's playing with fire. He is right at the edge of obstruction already, even before he has gotten in that office. And hopefully the authorities are not going to be intimidated. I think what the Georgia prosecutor, the Fulton County prosecutor did was very intelligent, to get the FBI involved, to alert them, to call attention to the violence he's calling for, and to address it. So, yes, this is a bad moment in our democracy and Trump is going to, I fear, push it further.

BLACKWELL: That rally on Saturday. On Sunday, Harry, the former president released a statement of the discussion of the Electoral Count Act and revising that. The president, former president put out a statement that said actually what they're saying is that Mike Pence did have the right to change the outcome and they now want to take that right away. Unfortunately he didn't exercise that power. He could have overturned the election.

Harry, for anybody who is still out here arguing there is nuance between overturning the election and what former president wanted his vice president to do to hold off until there was some count or some audit, he made it clear, as it's often said, he said the quiet part out loud.

LITMAN: Yes. And no nuance whatsoever, no possibility. And I do want to speak to John's point, of course, because he's shown us, I mean, right now he's lobbying the grenades from the side lines. Well, we experienced what it was like. He got into office, people might have thought he'd temp right. He didn't at all. He just reupped.

The pardon power was probably his most, you know, abusive act as president. He really is saying, this is what I'll do and people who voted for Trump last time around really ought to think, do you want, you know, four more years of these kinds of shocks to the system and outrage to the rule of law?

CAMEROTA: Yes. People need to believe what he's saying. He is telegraphing it.

LITMAN: Totally.

CAMEROTA: Olivia Troye, Harry Litman, John Dean, thank you very much.

LITMAN: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: So this hour President Biden is meeting with the Emir of Qatar in the Oval Office.

BLACKWELL: They're expected to discuss the stability of the global energy supply and the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

CNN senior White House correspondent Phil Mattingly is with us now.

Phil, tell us the goal of this meeting?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Look, White House officials are candid when they say there are several very critical components of what President Biden is trying doing and his foreign policy agenda, where Qatar is a focal point, a critical player but there's perhaps none more than when it comes to natural gas and how they're dealing right now with the need for potential contingency plans if Russia decides to invade Ukraine.

They are very aware that for their European allies, that could cause severe strain to natural gas production and that is where Qatar is one of several countries the White House is talking to, to help try and fill that gap. One of the largest gas producers in the world, one of the largest liquified natural gas exporters in the world, Qatar could fill a critical role in trying to fill any gaps that are presented by a Russian invasion and the sanctions that would follow should Russia decide to shut off natural gas or severely limit natural gas to U.S. allies in Europe.

So that's one element of the conversation. There is to question the praise heaped on Qatar and its ruler in the wake of the Afghanistan withdrawal, almost can't even be quantified in terms of the role there in helping base U.S. operations there, serve on the diplomatic side as well and to -- including the Qatari ambassador actually helping to in- person take out U.S. personnel and officials from Afghanistan during that withdrawal so that will be an issue as well. Also keep an eye on Iran where Qatar also plays a critical role, guys.

CAMEROTA: Phil, we also understand that the president is going to have an important meeting about his Supreme Court nominee. So what is happening with that?

MATTINGLY: Yes, tomorrow the president will be welcoming the top two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee which obviously will consider whoever the nominee is. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Richard Durbin as well as Chuck Grassley, the top Republican from Iowa on that committee, and Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, in announcing this made clear that the president is not just looking for the consent to the U.S. Senate, will also be looking for the advice from these top two members of the committee.

You see the White House is clear, they don't expect a ton of Republican support for whoever they put up but keep in mind, the president has a relationship with Senator Grassley, a 36-year veteran of the Senate, the president is. And Grassley also served on the Judiciary Committee when President Biden was then Chairman Biden of that committee. So very traditional process that you're seeing, the kick into the gear, and tomorrow will certainly be the start of that with a meeting between the president and those two senators, -- guys.

BLACKWELL: Phil Mattingly at the White House. Thank you, Phil.

The U.S. and Russia face off at the United Nations. Now Russia insists it has no plans to invade Ukraine. The U.S. is not buying that. Two of the country's top diplomats are scheduled to speak tomorrow. We've got the latest next.

CAMEROTA: And Joe Rogan says he'll make changes to his podcast after complaints about COVID misinformation. So we are going to ask the experts some of whom wrote the letter to force this change and see if they're satisfied.

[14:15:14]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Despite objections from Russia and China, the United Nations Security Council had an emergency meeting today on the potential Russian invasion of Ukraine. More than 100,000 Russian troops are still positioned at Ukraine's border. President Biden says the U.N. meeting is, quote, "a critical step in rallying the world to speak out in one voice."

BLACKWELL: And the president went on to repeat his warnings to Vladimir Putin, "If instead Russia chooses to walk away from diplomacy and attack Ukraine," the president said. "Russia will bear the responsibility and it will face swift and severe consequences."

[14:20:04]

But the Russian ambassador continued Moscow's denials. He said that there will be no invasion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMB. VASILY NEBENZYA, RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS (through translator): You are almost calling for this. You want it to have -- you're waiting for it to happen as if you want to make your words become a reality. This is despite the fact that we are constantly rejecting these allegations.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: CNN Pentagon correspondent Oren Liebermann is with us now.

So the U.S. ambassador then responded to Russia's comments. Tell us about that.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, the U.S. called for this meeting as a chance to show first of all Russia that the world is united standing behind Ukraine. Obviously with the exception of Russia and interesting to note China also objecting to this meeting. But also for a chance to Russia to answer why it has so many forces along Ukraine's eastern border in Russia and along the northern border in Belarus.

But U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas Greenfield said those questions didn't get any answers and there was no explanation offered by the Russian side as to what they intended to do with these many forces. The U.S. concern, the NATO concern and international concern is that Russia intends to use these of course to potentially invade Ukraine, and that's what the U.S. was trying to head on, to give Russia an opportunity to show on off-ramp here.

Instead Russia accused the U.S. and the West of hysteria, a charge that Thomas Greenfield flatly rejected. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMB. LINDAY THOMAS GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: I cannot let the false equivalency go unchecked. So I feel I must respond. Let me be clear, there are no plans to weaken Russia as claimed by our Russian colleague today. On the contrary, we welcome Russia as a responsible member of the international community.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: Meanwhile, Ukraine's --

BLACKWELL: Meeting now with the Emir of Qatar.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our guest about Russia and Ukraine. I had a productive talk last week with President Zelensky and we continue to engage in nonstop diplomacy and to de-escalate tensions and attempt like the devil to improve security for our allies and partners and for all of Europe for that matter.

And today, in the United Nations, we've laid out the full nature of Russia's threat to Ukraine's sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Ukraine as well as the core tenants of a rule-based international order. And we continue to urge diplomacy as the best way forward. But, with Russia's continuing its buildup of its forces around Ukraine, we are ready no matter what happens.

I also want to note that the UAE defeated a ballistic missile attack launched by the Houthis, a separate issue, from Yemen yesterday. And we've been in daily contact with the UAE to address those threats. And I directed Secretary Austin to do everything he can to communicate the support of the United States for the UAE, Saudi Arabia and throughout the Gulf region. America will have the backs of our friends in the region.

Today, but I'm honored to be here with a good friend who has been wonderful relationship since I've been president and before, the sheikh, I want to welcome you to the White House. 50 years of partnership. You're not that old. But 50 years of partnership. And this past year our partnership with Qatar was -- has been central to many of our most vital interests. Relocating tens of thousands of Afghans, maintaining stability in Gaza, and providing life-saving assistance to the Palestinians.

Keeping pressure on ISIS and deterring threats across the Middle East. And a lot more. And the and the Emir and I have a lot on our agenda today, and we want to talk about the security in the Gulf and the broader Middle East, ensuring the stability of global energy supplies, continuing our work together to support the people of Afghanistan, and strengthening commercial and investment cooperation between our two countries.

And speaking of that, on that front, I want to applaud the new deal that Qatar Airways Group signed with Boeing for $20 billion deal. One of the largest deals that Boeing aircraft has ever had. And it will support tens of thousands of good-paying U.S. jobs here in America. [14:25:04]

Qatar is a good friend and reliable and capable partner, and I'm notifying Congress that I will designate Qatar as a major non-NATO ally to reflect the importance of our relationship. I think it's long overdue. And I want to thank you again, Your Highness, for being here and for making this trip, for you, your commitment to our friendship and between our nations and I look forward to our discussion today.

SHEIKH TAMIM BIN HAMAD AL-THANI, EMIR OF QATAR: Well, thank you very much, Mr. President. Good afternoon to everyone. I'm very happy to be here, Mr. President. 2022 is a very important year. It marks the 50th anniversary of our diplomatic relationship between Qatar and the United States of America. It is a very strong relationship and we're very proud about it. We're very proud of what we have achieved.

Of course, this afternoon I'm going to be talking with the president about different topics. Mainly about the security of our region. I think we demonstrated that how solid and how strong we can work together and cooperate on what we did in Afghanistan. We're very proud that we managed to evacuate tens of thousands of people of Afghanistan.

Of course we have other issues as well that we're going to talk about. The equal rights of the Palestinian people, and other issues in the region. So, you know, we're very happy and proud of this great relationship and we're going to continue working together to find ways and means to bring peace in our region.

So thank you very much for, you know, seeing me today, Mr. President, and as you mentioned, that we'll be talking about several topics.

BIDEN: Welcome.

AL-THANI: Thank you, sir.

BIDEN: Welcome.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, guys. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right, President Biden there with the Emir of Qatar, making some remarks off the top about the West's solidarity in its reaction, response to the Russian aggressions along the border with Ukraine. Many other topics also on the table.

CAMEROTA: Let's bring in CNN Pentagon correspondent Oren Liebermann who was listening along with us there. It was interesting, he said he's engaging in non-stop diplomacy to try to prevent the Russia- Ukraine tensions or tamp them down. And then he also just said that he'd like to make Qatar a non-NATO major allies. So what did you hear?

LIEBERMANN: So a couple different issues there. First he addressed Russia and Ukraine right off the top. He's aware of what's going on and tracking what's happening at the U.N. Security Council and he underlined the position of not only the U.S. but of NATO and Europe as well, which is if Russia decides to invade Ukraine, that is to say if Russian president Vladimir Putin makes that decision, NATO and Europe basically stand united in the sanctions that many have described as punishing and nothing like it's seen before.

So he underscored that position and this comes after U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas Greenfield said at the U.N. Security Council that Russia was given an opportunity to provide explanations, answers, perhaps even an off-ramp for its build-up of Russian forces, and chose not to do so.

In terms of Qatar, he addressed the partnership not only when it comes to, for example, liquified natural gas, which plays into Russia, but also the help Qatar has given and continues to give when it comes to the evacuation of U.S. citizens, Afghans and others from Afghanistan. But also, and I'll underscore the issue of natural gas, that's one of the major concerns, if there is conflict with Russia, the U.S. is looking for where else and what other countries could provide natural gas to Europe given Qatar's natural gas supply, given its status as an exporter of natural gas.

That will be one of the key topics of conversation in the event that Russia chooses to cut off Europe from natural gas. So all of this ties together. And underscoring that he said that Qatar could be a non-NATO ally. That's the relationship they're speaking. And also another underscore for how important NATO is and how powerful it is in terms of what happens when it stands united which is also something Biden is trying to show here.

CAMEROTA: OK, Oren Liebermann, thank you.

Joining us now is Michael Bociurkiw, he's a global affairs analyst and the former spokesperson for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Michael, thanks so much for being here. You probably just heard the president's comments there. How do you describe the state of play right now, this hour, between the tension of Russia and Ukraine?

MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Good to be with you, Alisyn. Well, I had to pinch myself this morning listening to that U.N. Security Council session. This was Cold War rhetoric that the Russian were putting out. A lot of tit-for-tat. Diplomatic theatrics does not get any better than this. But, you know, the Russians show no sign of relenting. Their accusing the West of pumping Ukraine with weapons, of destabilization. They're even denying that they have 100,000 troops on the border.

So clearly there is this deep diplomatic divide. Very, very interesting, Alisyn, to see the procedural vote take place. So as you know, China and Russia blocked the vote but they also got Gabon, Kenya and India to abstain.