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Exclusive: Trump's Plan to Seize Voting Machines; U.S. and Russia Clash Over Ukraine; U.N. Security Council Holds Tense Meeting Over Ukraine; Boris Johnson Says "Sorry" As Damning Report Released; Syria's Displaced Struggle in Freezing Conditions; Powerful Winter Storm Moving Across the U.S. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired February 01, 2022 - 04:00   ET

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

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ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and right around the world. I'm Isa Soares in London and just ahead right here on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two versions of an executive order to seize voting machines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the slide of democracy into fascism.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just one more example of disregard for the office and the law.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If he were somehow to get power again, it would make that term look like a walk in the park.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: A CNN exclusive report reveals how far Donald Trump and his advisers went to undermine the 2020 election.

Plus, from Russia with love. The Kremlin responds to U.N. security proposals as Antony Blinken and Sergey Lavrov plan to hold fresh talks. We're live in Kyiv and Moscow.

And COVID pastime to the "New York Times." Wordle is the word of the today as it's bought for a seven-figure sum.

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Isa Soares.

SOARES: Welcome to the show, everyone. It is Tuesday, February 1st. We begin this hour with a CNN exclusive on former president Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 U.S. elections. Multiple sources say the Trump administration drafted two executive orders to seize voting machines in states he lost. Now, we learned about one last month meant for the Department of Defense. Now there's word of the second for the Department of Homeland Security. Neither order was actually sent and no voting machines were seized. Meanwhile, the National Archives tells CNN some of the documents

handed over to the House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol riot have been ripped up by the former president and had to be taped back together. Now that House committee has spoken to a key member of Vice President Mike Pence inner circle, Former Chief of Staff Mark Short. Ryan Nobles will have that. But first Paula Reid's exclusive report on the voting machines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Sources tell CNN that following the 2020 election former President Trump's legal advisers drafted two versions of an executive order seizing voting machines, one directing the Department of Defense to seize the machines and the other directing the Department of Homeland Security to do so.

We previously reported the existence of a draft ordering tasking the Pentagon with seizing machines. That document has been handed over to the House select committee investigating January 6 by the National Archives and now multiple sources tell CNN that a second version of the same document also exists but it instructs DHS to carry out the same tasks.

But neither memo was ever issued but it shows the length Trump's advisers were willing to go to as part of the broader effort to undermine the election results.

Now, multiple sources tell CNN that the idea of using the federal government to access voting machines was the brainchild of retired Col. Phil Waldron and former Trump national security advisor Mike Flynn. And both Army veterans were pushing the narrative that the election was stolen from Trump. It's not clear who specifically drafted, who put pen to paper to draft this executive order.

Now Trump's former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani was the one spearheading these efforts to challenge the election results. We learned that Giuliani approached Ken Cuccinelli, who is second in command at Homeland Security at the time, about seizing voting machines after the election. And Cuccinelli told him, we don't have the power. Now, Cuccinelli tells CNN his discussion with Giuliani never developed to the point of talking specifically about an executive order. But we know the House select committee is now looking into this effort to draft an executive order and how it began including the roles of Giuliani, Flynn, Waldron and former Trump attorney Sidney Powell.

Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Mark Short served as the chief of staff to the former Vice President Mike Pence. He's someone that is closely aligned with Pence. He was with him in the days leading up to January 6th. He was here at the Capitol with Mike Pence as he was evacuated and was dealing with the intense pressure campaign that was put on him to try to overturn the election results.

And we're told that Short met with the January 6th select committee last week. It was a lengthy interview. It took place in person despite the fact that the committee up until that point had been scaling back in-person interviews because of the Omicron wave.

Now, why is Mark Short important? Well, he is important because the committee has a very unique interest in Mike Pence's role in everything leading up to January 6th.

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They believe in part that this pressure campaign that was put on Pence is part of what led to the violence and chaos here at the Capitol on that day. They'd like to talk to Pence himself. Chairman Betty Thompson has told us that in the past, but that has proven to be difficult. Still, they're getting the information they're looking for by these close associates, like Mark Short. They've also talked to Keith Kellogg, his former national security adviser.

So, it seems as though the committee is at least heading in the direction of getting the information they're looking for as it relates to Pence.

On another matter, we learned that the committee which took possession of some 700 documents from the Trump White House as part of a court case where the former president was attempting to keep those documents secret, that within those documents there were a number of documents that were actually torn up and the National Archives had to tape them up and put them back together.

The National Archives told us in a statement that it was the former president himself who ripped up some of these documents. And we know this is something Trump has done in the past. In the past he would rip up documents, people inside the White House would have to tape them back together. That goes in violation of the Presidential Records Act. It's not something that you're supposed to do.

So, now the fact that this is a practice that Trump continued and now some of that information has become part of the January 6th investigation is significant. Now the committee did not comment on the fact that they have these documents that were torn up. It appears as though they were still able to use them after the archives was able to put them back together but as yet another interesting wrinkle in this investigation as it moves forward.

Ryan nobles, CNN on Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Thanks, Ryan.

Well, Trump's comments that he might pardon the January 6 insurrectionists is still reverberating among lawmakers. Among the officers who were there that day protecting the Capitol and Congress will CNN's law enforcement analyst Michael Fanone. He is critical of Republican's silence on Trump's behavior. Have a listen.

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MICHAEL FANONE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: On January 6th the stakes were a hell of a whole lot higher for me and hundreds of other police officers that responded to defend the Capitol and their lives that day. So, that just doesn't, you know, pass muster with me. I couldn't care less about you getting re-elected. I'm more concerned with the future of our democracy, and right now it's in jeopardy.

There's just no bottom to what it is that he's willing to say. He's like America's crazy ex and he's just decided that if he can't have us, no one can, and he's going to tear apart our democracy and our country if he can't, you know, get re-elected.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Well, most Republican's reactions to Trump's remarks about pardon totally bland -- were notably bland underscoring really his grip on the party. Some Senate Republicans called the comments inappropriate while others tried to dodge questions all together. The sharpest condemnation came from representative Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger. Cheney pointed to Trump's public admission he try to overturn the election. While Kinzinger called on Republicans to pick a side. He said there is no middle ground for defending the country anymore.

In the hours ahead, the top U.S. and Russian diplomats are expected to speak by phone amid a growing push for dialogue as well as diplomacy to calm tensions along Ukraine's border. That call between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov comes one day after Moscow responded in writing to a, yes, proposal aimed at de-escalating, of course, the ongoing crisis. The U.S. president says diplomacy is the best way forward.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We continue to engage in non-stop diplomacy and to de-escalate tensions. With Russia continuing its buildup of its forces around Ukraine, we are ready no matter what happens.

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SOARES: Russia's military buildup near Ukraine's border was the focus of a contentious U.N. Security Council meeting on Monday that saw really the American and Russian ambassadors clash over Ukraine. Ukraine's ambassador says he believes a Russian invasion is imminent but still hopes for a diplomatic solution. Russia's ambassador meantime accused the U.S. and others of whipping up tensions , as well as rhetoric. Saying that they are the ones who want the conflict to take place. The U.S. fired back at Russia's claim. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: We have heard from our Russian colleagues that we're calling for this meeting to make you all feel uncomfortable. Imagine how uncomfortable you would be if you had 100,000 troops sitting on your border in the way that these troops are sitting on the border with Ukraine. So, this is not about antics. It's not about rhetoric. It's not about U.S. and Russia. What this is about is the peace and security of one of our member states.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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SOARES: Strong words there from U.S. ambassador to the U.N. CNN producer Nathan Hodge is following the developments and joins me now from Moscow. Nathan let's start with that letter that has been handed in now to the United States. We remember clearly Russia reacting pessimistically, I think it's fair to say to the U.S. proposal. But do we know, Nathan, the contents of Russia's response or any indication or even tone that it might suggest what the conversation later between Blinken and Lavrov might be like?

NATHAN HODGE, CNN PRODUCER: Well, Isa, the Russians this morning are already starting to pushing back on the sequence of events here with a senior Russian diplomat. Saying to a Russian state media that this isn't the full answer or at least giving us a hint that it's not entirely clear basically that the Russians have actually come back with a full or a comprehensive reply to the Americans.

The last week we did get a little bit of an indication of the tone with which the Russian side has taken, the U.S. letter that were sent -- the U.S. and NATO letters that were sent last week with Russia's top diplomat. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov saying that they generally took a negative view of this. Saying that there may be some places, some secondary issues where there's common ground or where there could be some sort of room for common ground between Washington and Moscow.

But on the big picture issue, which is whether or not Ukraine has a path to joining NATO or whether or not Russia can effectively have a veto over future NATO membership, Washington and Moscow stayed very, very far apart. And the important thing to remember here is not about the back and forth, the sequence of events, who sent a letter when, but what we're waiting for in Russia is to hear Russian President Vladimir Putin weigh in fully and publicly about what his response is to the U.S. and to NATO about what they've said in response to Russia's security demands over Ukraine. He's already laid those grievances out in public many, many times saying what has upset him about NATO enlargement, about the stationing of U.S. military assets in Eastern Europe.

None of these are secret but how he will respond to practice with Russian troops amassed on the border, that's the real question here. So, the ball is very much in Putin's court and we're going to be waiting to see. He's going to be traveling to China at the end of the week to attend the Olympics. That's going to be an important opportunity as well. So, that's where we stand here in Moscow -- Isa. SOARES: We shall see what Putin says. When was the last time -- very

quickly , Nathan -- that he spoke, Putin spoke on this? Just remind me.

HODGE: Well, on Friday he chaired his security council. He didn't give any sort of public remarks about that. But we did get a readout from the Kremlin of a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron which was very brief. So, we're waiting to see if maybe later today we might get some more full remarks from him -- Isa.

SOARES: Appreciate it. Nathan Hodge there in Moscow. Thanks very much. And of course, we'll have a live report from Ukraine in about 15 minutes' time or so.

Now the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has granted full approval to Moderna's COVID vaccine for people ages 18 and older. Earlier it was only available under Emergency Use Authorization. There is no difference between the approved vaccine and the one that's been available. They are exactly the same. The FDA's acting head says the full approval though is a significant step in the fight against the pandemic and may still instill additional confidence, of course, in some to get vaccinated.

Meanwhile, new data shows children ages 5 to 11 have the lowest vaccination rates in the U.S. among eligible groups. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says only about 22 percent of young children are fully vaccinated. Every other age group ages 12 to 17 have vaccination rates well above 50 percent. But there are still many unvaccinated people. About 20 percent of the eligible population has not received any dose of a COVID vaccine.

Here in the U.K. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's "Partygate" scandal is threatening his political future. London police say they still have hundreds more documents and photographs to go through as they investigate parties held by his administration during COVID lockdowns. The story of course we have been reporting on right from the beginning.

A preliminary report on Monday accused the Johnson government of, quote, failures of leadership, as well as judgment and a culture of excessive drinking. Mr. Johnson says he's sorry for the things he didn't get right and he promised lawmakers he would fix it. Have a listen.

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BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It isn't enough to say sorry. This is a moment when we must look at ourselves in the mirror and we must learn. And while the Metropolitan Police must yet complete their investigation, and that means there are no details of specific events in Sue Gray's report, I of course accept Sue Gray's general findings in full.

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And above all, her recommendation that we must learn from these events and act now.

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SOARES: Let's get more on this. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has been on this story from day one. She joins me now. And Salma, he was completely savaged yesterday in the Commons, even from those within his own party. I'm thinking of Theresa May, the former Prime Minister. But what does this tell us about whether he can hang on? Is he starting to lose support? Bigger numbers basically saying he doesn't -- they don't have the support of parliament.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: I think what we saw yesterday was another half apology from Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The kind of sorry you say when you get caught but you're not sorry about the actions that caused you to get caught. Because to many people in this country, I'm sorry means taking accountability. I'm sorry means taking responsibility. I'm sorry would mean resigning. And that's not what the Prime Minister is doing.

Because he still has, as you said, the support of his own party. Yes, there is that growing rebellion. Yes, he's taking jabs from members of his own party like Theresa May, the former Prime Minister. But after that session in Parliament yesterday, he met with his own party and he was able to woo them and buy himself just one more day.

SOARES: But how does he woo them? I mean, clearly if they're listening, he clearly didn't hear -- didn't get the tone right from the room. He hasn't felt what the country is feeling. What exactly -- I mean, he has promised reform. Is that enough for many of his own -- for many members of his party?

ABDELAZIZ: I think what Johnson is dealing with now is just sort of buy myself more time every day. So, he pointed to the police probe. Right? For his own party he said, look, there's still police investigation underway. Why don't we wait and see what the result is from that? And he's also lucky in that there's not a great alternative to Johnson for the party.

SOARES: Yes, that's critical.

ABDELAZIZ: And that's critical, because you have to remember, Johnson is considered a success at the ballot box. He might not be anymore. He may no longer be any asset, but it's that gamble they're going to have to take to push out a Prime Minister at a time they really don't need to because there's no election.

SOARES: And there's no election and also this investigation may take some time which really buys him time. Selma Abdelaziz, thanks very much.

Now this winter is among the hardest to hit Syria in decades. And ahead on CNN, a look at how desperate the situations for people living in camps in freezing temperatures.

Plus, no rest for the U.S., another winter storm system is waiting in the wings. PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Quiet weather conditions for now

but changes in the store over the next couple of days mainly across the Central United States where parts of 14 states spanning about 1,500 miles underneath winter weather alerts. We'll touch on this here in a few minutes. Snow and maybe even some ice accumulating over the next several days.

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SOARES: Some North Carolina residents were forced to evacuate their homes after a massive fire at a fertilizer plant in Winston-Salem amid fears of an explosion. Fire crews were also forced to pull back their efforts. Officials say the site contained a large storage of ammonium nitrate, a chemical common in fertilizers, that's also being blamed for several deadly explosions including the 2020 port blast in Beirut.

All 122 federal prisons across the United States were placed on temporary lockdown on Monday after a fight broke out at a Texas facility. The Bureau of Prisons says two inmates died at U.S. federal penitentiary at Beaumont. Beaumont is a high-security facility with almost 1,400 male inmates. The Bureau of Prisons says it's continuing to monitor the situation.

On Monday a federal judge rejected a plea deal in Travis McMichael's hate crime case that would have averted a trial. Travis on the left, his father Gregory on the right along with a neighbor were convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery in a state trial last year in Georgia. They still face federal hate crimes charges that accuse them of targeting Arbery back in 2020 because he was black. The next hearing for the McMichaels is on Friday. The hate crime trial is scheduled to start next week with jury selection.

A medical examiner confirms that Ms. USA 2019 Cheslie Kryst died by suicide. Police say she jumped from a building in Manhattan on Sunday morning. A law enforcement official tells CNN she left behind a note which is now part of the investigation into her death. Kryst was an attorney who focused on social justice, as well as prison reform. Of course, if you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can help. The number -- I'll read it out to you -- is 1-800-273-8255.

For many Syrians displaced in their country's civil war, the camps they now called home offer little protection really from brutal winter weather. Aid groups are pushing the international community for more support to help people struggling in just freezing temperatures. CNN's Arwa Damon shows us how desperate some of these Syrians are to stay warm. Have a look at this.

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ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): What do you do when your home cannot protect you from the whipping winds? When you can't warm the chill away from your children's cheeks or frozen hands, or when the snow collapses the only shelter, you have? Look at all this, Fahim says. Can anyone have mercy? Don't bring us food or water. Just a home. Her son's clothing lies drenched on the flooded floor. The children don't have proper shoes. The lucky ones, they run around in rubber boots, most are in flip-flops, and some, none at all.

This winter is among the harshest to hit Syria in decades. And for those living in camps, it's unbearable.

Just help us to stay warm, Dahlan pleads. The kids are crying from the cold. We've collected everything there is to burn. Even from the garbage. From plastic, to wood, to anything else but it's not safe.

Idris was burned when his parents used this paste that's left over from pressing olives for oil.

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I don't know what happened exactly but the stove exploded, his father says. Idris' skin melted as if you had poured acid on it.

Burn injuries brought on by unsafe living conditions are common throughout these camps, especially in winter. And the weather is not just aggravating already hazardous living conditions.

According to the World Health Organization, the inability to stay warm is causing an increase in severe respiratory illnesses among children, especially the little ones. Dr. Abdurrahman Shufan (ph) tries to stifle this baby's cries. But when he finally comes down, you can hear just how labored his breath is.

This is what we were talking about, Dr. Shufan says. Children this young with bronchi allergies and bronchiolitis, it can be deadly.

Hospitals don't have the support or medicines they need. Aid agencies don't have the funding they need. And while there are local efforts on the ground to help, it's hardly enough. The international committee never stopped the mass killings of Syrian civilians. Will it now help them survive the winter?

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DAMON (on camera): And, Isa, there were just so many gutting and heartbreaking images in that footage that we got out of Idlib in Syria. The one really striking one I found was that little child barefoot walking across the freezing, snowy ice water. And I was just thinking about how for so many other children, you know, around the world snow is this welcome thing. Everybody loves it, the snow day knowing you can go inside, have your hot chocolate and get warm. And how these kids just stay with the chill and the dampness of it all.

And the thing is, what I really don't understand, Isa, is how we allow these types of conditions, people living in these types of conditions to continue to suffer like this. Because this is all fixable. Yes, there are so many other problems that the world faces that are quick for fixes and politics does plays such a big role when it comes to trying to end the circumstances that bring about war, that create these conditions. But right now, Isa, the world, the international community can do something to alleviate the suffering of people like this.

SOARES: We should all, Arwa, be ashamed that this is the situation for so many children. That poor child struggling to breathe really broke my heart. Arwa Damon there in Istanbul, thanks very much.

Now a huge winter storm developing in the U.S. is said to affect more than 30 million people in its path. States from Colorado to Michigan under winter storm watches with the potential for the heavy snowfall. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has the latest forecast -- Pedram.

JAVAHERI: Yes, good morning, Isa. Happy February. You're looking at the conditions across the U.S. starting off as you expected in February, some cold temperatures, wintry mix across portions of the central U.S. and certainly some mountain snow to be had as well. But also watching the winter weather alerts being prompted over an expansive area spanning about 1,500 miles or so from Texas into portions of the Great Lakes region even into say Western areas of New England. And this is all in advance of an incoming system over the next say 36 to 48 hours that has the potential to bring down light to moderate amounts of snowfall from Dallas into areas of OKC, again Wednesday into Thursday.

But notice the concern as we shift the attention towards areas of say Missouri into Illinois, eventually into Indiana and Ohio. Some higher pockets of maybe a foot of snow possible across those region. Now, we've got the mixed bag here. We've got the rain. We've got the snow in just south of the snow zone.

There's also a potential for some ice to begin to accumulate going in from that period of Wednesday into Thursday. And the ice secretions generally going to be about say 1/10 of an inch to 1/4 of an inch, but there are pockets especially into Kentucky, into portions of say southern Ohio and into portions of southern Illinois as well. Where we could see a decent amount of ice accumulate. And certainly, could lead to some disruptions across this region. So, watch that as the forecast progresses.

And watch Boston, because of course, they picked up almost two feet of snowfall in the last couple of days. And temperatures dramatically warming up as we go into Wednesday into Thursday. We do expect it to maybe transition back into a wintry mix come Friday across the region. But temperatures nose dive, you begin to see the dry weather pushing for the weekend at least. And more seasonal for this time of year, into the upper 20s and middle 30s.

Leave you with this, highs in Chicago today aiming for 43 and 33 degrees in Salt Lake City. And temps in Houston, the warm before the storm, almost 70 degrees -- Isa.

SOARES: Thank you very much Pedram.

Now, tense exchange between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine on Monday, but how is their clash being received in Kyiv? A live report is just ahead for you.

And Wordle takes the internet by storm. How a daily puzzle game that's only a few months old exploded into a "New York Times" product. That is next.

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