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Final January 6th Primetime Hearing to Discuss 187 Minutes of the Capitol Riot; Heatwave Scorching a Third of U.S. Population; Italy's President Accepts PM's Resignation. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired July 21, 2022 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:43]

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Christina MacFarlane in for Max Foster here in London. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MERRICK GARLAND, ATTORNEY GENERAL: No person is above the law in this country.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We should expect to see from individuals that we have not seen yet.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): There's a lot of new information for the public that sheds additional light on this terrible dereliction of duty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is hot.

BETH KEY, PARENTS LOST HOME IN WILDFIRE: My parents lost their house, everything, my uncle lost his house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's days like today, warm enough to wear short sleeves, near 60 degrees in Greenland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: It's Thursday, July 21st, 9:00 a.m. in the morning here in London, 4:00 a.m. in Washington, and we're just hours away from the January 6th Committee's final primetime hearing. In focus, the 187 minutes when the riot unfolded at the Capitol and what then President Donald Trump did or failed to do.

At least two former Trump officials are expected to testify, both resigned soon after the riots. And the committee plans to show how Trump stood by while the rioters created havoc on the capitol.

Here's CNN's Ryan Nobles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NOBLES (voice-over): During that period of time, they are going to show through White House records, call logs, the diary that took place in the White House at that time, that he just really wasn't doing all that much other than watching television and in some cases cheering on his supporters that were at the Capitol that day. So what the committee is also going to show is that there were opportunities for him to try and stand in the way and quell the violence and that there was really only one person who could tell his supporters to go home on that day and that was Donald Trump. And he just refused to do it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: We also know that the committee has video outtakes of a speech Trump gave the night after the riot. Sources say it shows Trump having a difficult time taping the message, refusing to accept the election results, attempting to call the rioters patriots and trying not to accuse them of any wrongdoing. Two key members of the committee say they plan to play clips from this video at the hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHIFF: There are people urging him to say things to try to get the rioters, the attackers to go home. There are things that he can't be prevailed upon to do or say not for hours and hours. And then ultimately when he does give a statement still things he wouldn't say.

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): The president displayed extreme difficulty in completing his remarks. Of course, you know, hours had passed when he could have simply taken a walk for 10 or 15 seconds over to address the country and address his followers, and tell them to go home. And people were beseeching him, begging him do that and he refused do that.

It's extremely revealing how exactly he went about making those statements and we're going to let everybody see parts of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well, Americans have now heard live testimony from more than a dozen witnesses, but as CNN's Kristen Holmes points out, today's witnesses will be able to elaborate on what was happening inside the White House on January 6th.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Matthew Pottinger and Sarah Matthews, two former Trump White House officials who resigned after the deadly Capitol attack on January 6th, testifying publicly.

SARAH MATTHEWS, FORMER DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president started talking about the rally.

HOLMES: After talking to the committee behind closed doors.

MATTHEW POTTINGER, FORMER DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: One of my staff brought me a printout of a tweet by the president. And the tweet said something to the effect that Mike Pence, the vice president, didn't have the courage to do what should have been done. I read that tweet and made a decision at that moment to resign.

[04:05:04]

That's where I knew that I was leaving that day, once I read that tweet.

HOLMES: Pottinger, former deputy national security adviser, served under Trump for four years. The former journalist and Marine was brought into the White House as a top Asia adviser by Michael Flynn, who he worked for in the military. According to "The New York Times," Pottinger told the committee he alerted Trump's Chief of Staff Mark Meadows the National Guard had still not arrived at the Capitol on January 6th.

Former Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews was one of several White House aides calling for Trump to condemn the violence on January 6th. A source tells CNN his inaction led to her resignation that night.

MATTHEWS: He said that we could make the RINOs do the right thing is the way he phrased it. And no one spoke up initially because I think everyone was trying to process what he meant by that.

HOLMES: Now she will testify about what she experienced in the White House that day.

MATTHEWS: It was clear that it was escalating and escalating quickly. So, then when that tweet, the Mike Pence tweet, was sent out, I remember us saying that that was the last thing that needed to be tweeted at that moment. The situation was already bad, and so it felt like he was pouring gasoline on the fire by tweeting that.

HOLMES: The Kent State graduate has spent her adult life working in Republican politics, spending her college summers interning for Ohio Senator Rob Portman, then Speaker of the House John Boehner, and helping with the 2016 Republican convention. Joining Trump's re- election campaign before being brought over to the White House by Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany.

Their testimony comes after that of another young White House aide, Cassidy Hutchinson, whose bombshell revelations sent shockwaves through Washington.

(On-camera): And those two witnesses along with former White House counsel Pat Cipollone whose video testimony we anticipate seeing large portions of tomorrow during the hearing will really help shape the focus of that hearing which we expect to be 187 minutes. Lawmakers examining the amount of time that former President Trump did not do anything to stop that violence as it was unfolding on Capitol Hill.

Kristen Holmes, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Well, ever since the January 6th hearings got underway last month, there's been growing speculation over whether Trump will be held accountable. Even though it's strictly a legal question, the political fallout of charging the former president can't be ignored. On Wednesday U.S. attorney general Merrick Garland indicated where he stands on the issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARLAND: Look, no person is above the law in this country. Nothing stops us --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Even a former president?

GARLAND: No -- I don't how to -- I'm going to say that again. No person is above the law in this country. I can't say it any more clearly than that. There is nothing in the principles of prosecution and any other factors which prevent us from investigating anyone, anyone who is criminally responsible for an attempt to undo a democratic election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well, Garland may feel it's wise to go slow, but some jurisdictions like Georgia's Fulton County are moving much faster in their investigations of alleged election interference.

CNN's senior legal analyst Elie Honig says even if Trump is eventually charged, there is no sign it will happen in the near future. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Given the facts that we have here on the ground, the lack of any subpoenas, the lack of search warrants, then I think it's reasonable to conclude but here we are 18 months out, they are in no position to be indicting Donald Trump anytime soon. If they do, it's not going to be in the well of next year 2023. If they're looking at a trial, that's going to be into 2024.

The political implications and danger of that I think are obvious. And if you want to contrast, look down to Georgia. Look at the Fulton County D.A. We've been seeing news every day, things like subpoenas, witness interviews, target letters. Those are things we generally tend to learn about, we've been learning about those day by day from Georgia. They are clearly moving at a fast pace. DOJ, we're not seeing the same indicators.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well, Elie Honig just mentioned officials in Georgia are pressing ahead with their investigations. A judge has now ordered Trump's former attorney Rudy Giuliani to testify next month before a grand jury. Giuliani was subpoenaed earlier this month. He was expected to argue for blocking the subpoena at the hearing on Wednesday in New York. But he didn't show up.

Jury deliberations could begin as soon as today in the contempt of Congress trial for Trump's former adviser Steve Bannon. Prosecutors wrapped up their case on Wednesday after calling just two witnesses. It's unclear if Bannon will testify in his own defense. He is charged with failing to comply with a subpoena in the January 6th Committee.

You can catch all the January 6th hearing coverage right here on CNN. It starts at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday in Washington and New York, and that's midnight here in London, and Friday at 7:00 in the morning in Hong Kong.

[04:10:18]

MACFARLANE: Now there's no letup in sight amid the dangerous heatwave that's been scorching a large part of the U.S. 110 million people under heat alerts in more than 24 states. From California to New England, many states are recording triple digit temperatures. Across the nation officials are urging people to stay indoors. And some cities are opening public cooling centers for anyone who has no other place to hide from the heat.

In Texas, firefighters are battling several wildfires west of Ft. Worth and some residents lost everything in those fires.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEY: My parents lost their house, everything. My uncle lost his house. Another aunt lost everything. And another aunt is still battling out there trying to keep her house. Just in my family, three -- one, two, three, four are gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Also in Texas some ranchers are selling their cattle earlier than usual fearing the livestock may not survive in the heat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRYAN LUENSMANN, MANAGER, SEGUIN CATTLE CO.: We're taking young cows in the prime of their life and they are getting turned to hamburgers. We're selling just out desperation just because you don't want to mistreat the animal and make it starve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well, in Europe, more than 20 countries remain under heat warnings with some of the most severe stretching deep into Eastern Europe. In Greece at least one person is dead and dozens are hospitalized after a wildfire broke out north of Athens. Meanwhile, in southwest France, fires have burned through some 20,000 hectares. French President Emmanuel Macron traveled to the scorched region on Wednesday to thank firefighters.

And in the U.K. it's recovering from its hottest day on record with fires cropping up around London and its fire brigade reporting its busiest day since the Second World War.

Our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is joining me now from the CNN Weather Center. Pedram, this is a bleak picture across the globe. In terms of the

U.S., though, where is this heatwave hitting the hardest at the moment.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, the Central United States, parts of the southwest, we're seeing some temperatures here that are above the average of course which is the hottest time of year but also pushing into this record threshold of 110, 111. A few of these areas, these are just kind of the tip of the iceberg because you factor in the humidity. It is considerably warmer and feels considerably warmer in these areas where upwards of about 100 million Americans dealing with these excessive heat conditions. 110 what it feels like across portions of the south, about 109 across areas of the northeast, and then 115 into portions of the southwest.

But kind of speaking to the severity of the humidity here, look at this, in Memphis, 95 will feel lick 103, while in areas around Jackson, Mississippi, about 86, feels like 97. In Louisiana, the lower 90s will feel like lower 100s. So pretty incredible disparity here between what it feels like and what it is outside because of the humidity. And of course our body is pretty efficient here at cooling itself off. The most significant and most effective coolant for our body is through sweating.

Once that sweat gets on your skin, it evaporates, the evaporative cooling causes about 22 percent of the heat to be removed from your body. But when the air is so saturated and so humid, that evaporative cooling certainly doesn't take place as effectively, you continue to sweat, that alters the sodium and potassium levels in your blood that leads to of course fluid loss and dehydration, and then you have significant impacts which makes heat the top weather killer in the United States. Not hurricanes, not tornadoes, but heat.

And these sort of events, these sort of temperatures every single year take hundreds of lives with them. And you notice the perspective here. Widespread coverage of upper 90s, again factoring in the humidity will feel like the lower 100s. And the historic heat again not just confined in towards the United States. Look at the last three years across Europe. The countries of Italy, Spain, France, Germany and the United Kingdom have all seen their hottest temperatures in recorded history since the summer of 2019.

Of course most recently the U.K. joined that club with the 40 degree or 104 degree Fahrenheit observation on Tuesday afternoon. And important to note, unlike the United States that has about 85 percent of its homes with access to air conditioning units, in the U.K., only 1 percent of residents, its households have access to air-conditioning units and Germany, that number is closer to 3 percent, France closer to 5 percent. Spain 30 percent. And in Italy, only 7 percent of households with access to air-conditioning units.

So when it comes to heat across other areas of the world outside of the United States, the impacts are far more significant and dangerous, and that's precisely what has been happening across a lot of these areas.

MACFARLANE: Yes, Pedram, speaking as someone in London with no air- conditioning, I am not part of that 1 percent unfortunately.

[04:15:01]

Pedram Javaheri there from CNN Center, thank you.

OK, an update now on what investigators call the deadliest human smuggling incident in U.S. history. Federal grand juries in Texas have indicted four men in the operation that left 53 migrants dead last month. Authorities say the migrants were found in a sweltering tractor trailer. More than a dozen others were found alive and hospitalized for heat related injuries.

OK. Still to come, Boris Johnson's final message to parliament as the race to select the next British prime minister heats up.

Plus, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has just arrived at the presidential palace and says he'll meet the president as the PM's job hangs in the balance.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH CARETAKER PRIME MINISTER: Mission largely accomplished. For now. I want to thank you and, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all the wonderful staff of the House of Commons. I want to thank all my friends and colleagues. I want to thank my rival friend, opposite, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank everybody here. And hasta la vista, baby. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:20:05]

MACFARLANE: Boris Johnson there going out with a bang in his final appearance before parliament as Britain's prime minister. His tenure plagued by scandals, soon coming to an end after three short years.

The race to replace him is now down to two candidates, former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. Sunak won 137 votes and Truss got 113 in the final round of voting. They'll spend the next few weeks campaigning before a vote by card carrying members of the Conservative Party. The final results will be announced on September 5th.

Now to the political crisis in Sri Lanka where there is at least for now some stability with a new president sworn in. Six-time former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe took the oath of office just a few hours ago. He now faces the monumental task of turning around an economy in shambles, not to mention winning over skeptical public, many of whom wanted him out of the office before the job was even offered.

Well, some of the protesters who helped force the last president out say their fight is not over. All right, some breaking news now. Italy's president has accepted the

resignation of Prime Minister Mario Draghi. You can see some images coming into us here in the last hour of him arriving at the palace.

For more, let's go to Barbie Nadeau who is live for us in Rome.

Barbie, it's the second time he's attempted to resign and this time it appears it has been accepted. What more can you tell us?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: That's right. You know, the president really had no choice but to accept the resignation of Mario Draghi who's led this government since February 2021 but who lost support over the course of the last couple of weeks with kind of a classic Italian shambolic political infighting among the parties.

Now, last night Mr. Draghi did win a confidence vote in the Senate. But he won it on the back of three major parties abstaining from the vote, and that was a message that was just too clear to Mr. Draghi who realized from that vote that he could not go on and lead any sort of government. You know, this mandate that was elected in 2018 was set to end in May of 2023. That is a five-year mandate here in Italy.

And so now the country has no choice but to go to snap elections which we think will likely be held in October. But no date has been confirmed yet.

Mr. Mattarella, the president of Italy, President Sergio Mattarella, has asked Mr. Draghi to stay on as a technocrat to lead, you know, to continue, you know, as best he can through these summer months and into the election campaign to keep the government afloat. But the parties that abstained last night are crucial to this. They are the center-right leading parties, one led by Matteo Salvini, one led by Silvio Berlusconi, a name very familiar in Italian politics, and the other, the Five Star Movement which actually won the most votes in the last election.

Now they'll be looking toward this upcoming election. Everything is changed in Italy, you know. Five years ago before the pandemic, the economic situation was different. We're in a very troubled country right now and whoever is elected in these upcoming elections whenever they will be held has a very difficult task on their hands -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yes, it sounds like this was politically calculated, you know, behind the scenes. But, Barbie, how potentially damaging is this for Italy? Because Draghi was praised for bringing some stability to the country, some unity, you know, took them through some of the energy crisis, social inequality, and of course the war in Ukraine. So how detrimental could this be for Italy?

NADEAU: Well, you know, I think on the global stage it's very detrimental. You have a leader like Mario Draghi who was a -- he's a Eurocrat. He was the head of the European Central Bank. He's very respected globally but he's never run for office, he's never run in a political campaign here. So he isn't the choice of the people per se. He may be accepted by the vast majority, but he wasn't -- he did hasn't stood for election and that does mean something in this country.

He's not affiliated with any of the parties, at any of the people that, you know, were instrumental in pulling him down, let's say. Italy is often in political uncertainty, this is the 67th government to fall essentially. And what's going on forward is a difficult time for this country. The economic situation here is dire. You know, I don't -- no one can say that Italy has fully recovered from that drastic effects of the pandemic and things like that.

You know, you've got the drought, the heatwave, all of these things, the war next door. All of these things are going to be a big factor going forward. You know, there'll be a lot of disappointment on the world stage in Mario Draghi's resignation but it's hard to say how that's going to play in Italy. I think they're ready for an election and let their voices be heard here.

[04:25:03]

MACFARLANE: All right. Well, we will wait to see how this evolves in the months to come with that election as you say potentially scheduled for October.

Barbie Nadeau, in Rome, thanks very much.

OK, still to come, the U.S. president promises swift action on climate change despite key lawmakers standing in his way. The plans he already has in place.

Plus easing the pressure at the pump. We'll look at how much U.S. gas prices have fallen compared to last week and a month ago.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Christina MacFarlane. If you are just joining us, let me bring you up-to-date with our other top stories this hour.

In the coming hours the U.S. House Select Committee Investigating January 6th Capitol Riot will hold its final hearing. Two former Trump White House officials are set to testify.

And 110 million people under heat alerts in more than 24 U.S. states. From California to New England, many states are recording triple-digit temperatures.

U.S. President Joe Biden announced more than $2 billion in funding for clean energy development on Wednesday. The money will also go towards helping communities cope with the impact of climate change. The president says it's his responsibility to take urgent action.

CNN's MJ Lee has more from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MJ LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden's message on Wednesday could not have been more clear. And that's that the earth is simply getting too hot. He pointed to a number of different things that are happening as a result of climate change including the wildfires that are raging across the country, record-breaking temperatures, and he even said that supply chain issues are being exacerbated by extreme weather.

[04:30:00]