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U.S. Under Winter Storm Alert; Congress to Certify the 2024 Election Results; Speaker Johnson to Pass One Sweeping Bill; New Orleans Attacker Extensively Planned His Attack; U.S. Hoping to Close Hostage Deal Between Hamas and Israel; Suspected Chemical Weapons Lab Found in Syria; Elon Musk Turns His Attention To UK Politics; Biden Signs Social Security Fairness Act Into Law; Late President Lying In Repose At Carter Center In Atlanta; NYC Joins Other World Cities with Congestion Tolls. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired January 06, 2025 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States, around the world and streaming on CNN Max. I'm John Vause. Coming up, bracing for bitter cold. Millions of Americans under winter weather alerts at this hour with snow, ice, rain and storms expected to snarl schedules across the East Coast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAROUQ HABIB, DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER, WHITE HELMETS: If they fall into wrong hands, they could be used elsewhere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: A suspected chemical weapons lab in Syria. CNN is there, uncovering the deadly secret of the brutal Assad regime.
And anti-corruption investigators in South Korea seeking to extend the arrest warrant for their impeached president and asking police to serve it.
Great to have you with us. More than 55 million Americans are under winter storm alerts across the U.S. with a powerful weather system dumping a dangerous mix of snow and ice throughout the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Parts of Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana are also getting bands of freezing rain along with wintery thunderstorms. Nearly 4 million are under blizzard warnings in Kansas and Missouri, with wind gusts topping 40 miles per hour or 64 kilometers per hour.
Roads in those states are covered in thick layers of ice, causing numerous traffic accidents over the weekend. Some parts were like an ice skating rink. Tens of thousands of people remain without electricity. Some places could see more than 12 inches or 30 centimeters of snow as this system continues to move east. The nation's capital also bracing for the winter blast as Washington's
mayor declares a snow emergency. And federal police also on heightened alert as the U.S. Congress meets to certify the results of the 2024 election. House Speaker Mike Johnson says no matter how hard it snows; the results will be certified today.
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REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): I hope we have full attendance. We've got a big snowstorm coming to D.C. and we encourage all of our colleagues, do not leave town, stay here because as you know the Electoral Count Act requires this on January 6th at 1:00 p.m. So, whether we're in a blizzard or not, we are going to be in that chamber making sure this is done.
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VAUSE: Today's certification will make a stunning political turnaround for Donald Trump, who was widely condemned for his actions that day as well as his inaction four years ago when a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol. Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump in November, will fulfill her duties as President of the Senate and preside over the counting of electoral votes from each state in today's joint session. CNN's Steve Contorno is in West Palm Beach near Mar-a-Lago with the very latest on how Republicans are planning for a return to the White House.
STEVE COTORNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Members of Congress will meet on Capitol Hill on Monday to officially certify the election of Donald Trump. It's a typically mundane process, but it takes on added significance this year because of what happened four years ago when supporters of Donald Trump tried to halt the certification of Joe Biden's electoral victory.
The date also marks two weeks until Donald Trump is officially sworn in during his inauguration and Republicans are already planning how to push through an aggressive agenda in his first 100 days that includes sweeping tax cuts, border security enhancements, and raising the debt limit. However, there is already some differences among Republican leaders on how exactly that can be accomplished.
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JOHNSON: I think at the end of the day, President Trump is going to prefer, as he likes to say, one big beautiful bill. And there's a lot of merit to that because we can put it all together, one big up or down vote which can save the country, quite literally, because there are so many elements to it. And it'll give us a little bit more time to negotiate that and get it right.
SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): We have the same set of objectives. We want to get to the same destination. But I think at times there will be differences in how we get there. And understanding the unique aspects of how the Senate operates is something that I'm going to have to be able to share and convey to the president and help him understand, I think, what the contours are of what we can accomplish here in the Senate and what's realistic.
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CONTORNO: Trump's transition team is already looking ahead to his inauguration with a rally plan for the night before in Washington, D.C. as Trump tries to keep his supporters engaged and energized heading into his next term. Steve Contorno, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
[02:05:06]
VAUSE: To Los Angeles now and Ron Brownstein, a CNN senior political analyst as well as a senior editor at "The Atlantic." It's good to see you.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good to see you again, John.
VAUSE: It's been a minute. Okay. It's like riding a bike. Here's a little more now from Speaker Johnson on how he is expecting a mega bill to make it through Congress.
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JOHNSON: They'll be able to justify not getting all of their preferences on some of their big issues because there'll be so many other very important pieces to that one piece of legislation. So I think keeping it together is how we'll actually get it done and there's some real value to that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Is this smart politics? You know, it seems like high risk, high reward.
BROWNSTEIN: High risk, high reward. He's citing the best case for doing one bill, which is that, you know, there are plenty of individual provisions in the overall Republican agenda that are gonna be hard to swallow for certain members of this tiny house majority, the smallest one in 100 years. There are Republicans in the Northeast who are gonna want to restore the deductibility of state and local taxes.
There are a lot of Republican members whose districts have benefited enormously from the clean energy investments created under the Inflation Reduction Act, maybe uneasy about repealing those incentives. But the theory is, is that you put it all together and you have big Republican priorities in there, like extending the Trump tax cuts and funding tougher immigration policies. It'll be harder for anyone to say no.
That might be right. I still think, however they structure this, John, one bill or two, in the end, they're going to be back on terrain that has been tough for Republicans before, where they're arguing for tax cuts that primarily benefit the top while cutting programs that primarily benefit the lower half of the income spectrum in the middle class, like Medicaid, food stamps and maybe education funding.
VAUSE: Well, later Monday when Vice President Kamala Harris presides over the certification of her own loss, we know it will be a ceremonial role by law because Congress passed the revised Electoral Count Act of 2022, specifying that the role of the Vice President during this joint session shall be ministerial in nature. No one should be chanting, hang Mike Pence.
Everything about Monday's transfer of power should be routine and that is in very stark contrast to four years ago. But is this the calm before the storm?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think there are two ways to think about this. One, is that now you have Republicans placing themselves in the position of saying, hey, there was nothing wrong with this election, an election that Donald Trump won, in stark contrast to four years ago, when not only Trump and his administration, but 139 House Republicans and eight Senate Republicans effectively voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Why? What was different? Donald Trump lost. So this, I think, is now a yardstick that's going to be out there the next time Republicans lose, which surely, they will in a two-party system in 2028 or 2032. If they lose, can they plausibly say, well, there was fraud again because we happen to lose?
The other question, of course, is calm before the storm is, you know, the question you just asked me, Donald Trump tax cuts, legislative strategy, all the normal things you get in an administration. There's a whole other track of a potential Trump presidency, which is how far is he going to go in straining, if not shredding, the rule of law as we have understood it? And we just don't know how far he's going to go down those tracks, but there are certainly indications that we're going to face challenges we have not really confronted before.
VAUSE: And what's interesting with this new law about the Vice President's role in certifying the election result, it was always a ceremonial or traditional thing that there was a -- it's what the Vice President always did, and now it's actually law. To me that raises parallels between the first Trump term and this Disney movie called "Gus." It's all about a goal-kicking donkey from Yugoslavia drafted to play in the NFL. Here's a clip.
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UNKNOWN: The story of the year has got to be this amazing California Atoms team and their miracle mule, Gus.
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VAUSE: Now Gus is allowed to play because there's nothing in the rule book which says a donkey is not allowed to kick field goals in the NFL. For Donald Trump, ceremony and tradition seem almost irrelevant. If it's not in the rule book, he's just not interested. So how much Trump-proofing have the Democrats done in the past four years and how much of the first term would you expect to see being repeated, at least in style, in the second?
BROWNSTEIN: Field goal kicking donkey as a metaphor for the Trump administration is definitely was not on my bingo card for today, but is not a totally crazy analogy. The conclusion, I think, of most historians is that the rule of law gets bent to the extent the Supreme Court allows it to get bent, really. And that is the question.
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You know, there were times in Trump's first term when the five-member Republican majority at that point said no to him, for example, on trying to doctor the census by adding a citizenship question. It was a very different Supreme Court. We saw that 6-3 handed down that extraordinarily broad immunity ruling for Trump. And I think Trump will be able to go to go as far in exceeding the traditional understandings of presidential authority, the arbitrary exercise of authority opponents. He will be able to go as far as this Supreme Court majority lets him.
VAUSE: Ron, so good to see you. Thanks for being with us. Appreciate your time.
BRWONSTEIN: Thanks for having me. Yeah, good to be back with you.
VAUSE: Okay. In the coming hours, U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to attend a vigil in New Orleans for the 14 people killed in a New Year's Day terror attack. Officials have now released a timeline detailing the events leading up to the attack and shedding light on the extensive planning which was involved and CNN's Rafael Romo has our report from New Orleans.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A crucial question that has surfaced here in New Orleans after the New Year's Day terrorist attack is how long in advance did the attacker know what he was going to do, what he was planning to do. And we have gotten information from the FBI saying that perhaps it was weeks, if not years before he knew that he was going to do that. And that's because we now know that he came to New Orleans at least twice in the months preceding the attack.
Once in October where he was here for several days. At one point, he was riding a bicycle and recording video here in the streets around the French Border and then he returned in November. And we have also learned that he traveled internationally. According to the FBI, Jabbar went to Cairo Egypt in the summer of 2023 and a few days later he also traveled to Ontario Canada. I asked the special agent in charge of the FBI here in New Orleans whether they know at this point if the attacker was financed by a terrorist organization and this is what he had to say.
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LYONEL MYRTHIL, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, FBI NEW ORLEANS: At this time, we're still trying to determine the answers to that. That is exactly what our priority is for those international trips. Essentially, we're looking at who has he encountered during those trips, who is he meeting with, where has he traveled while in those specific countries, and whether or not any visits to those countries may or may not have any indication as to the reasons behind this attack in our city.
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ROMO: All 14 fatal victims have now been identified. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry earlier said that the final victim identified was Latasha Polk, a certified nursing assistant and a mother of a 14-year- old. Rafael Romo, CNN, New Orleans, Louisiana.
VAUSE: A glimpse of progress in the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks in Doha, Qatar. According to Reuters, Hamas has approved an Israeli list of 34 hostages to be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners. But the Israeli government says it has not received that list. Reuters reports the exchange is contingent on Israeli forces withdrawing from Gaza, as well as a permanent ceasefire. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is hoping for a hostage release and ceasefire deal before the end of Joe Biden's presidency.
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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: What we've seen in the last couple of weeks is a re-intensified engagement, including by Hamas, but we have yet to see agreement on the final points. So what I can tell you is this, we very much want to bring this over the finish line in the next two weeks, the time that we have remaining. And we will work every minute of every day of those two weeks to try to get that to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Ukrainian troops occupying parts of Russia's Kursk region have launched surprise counter-attacks in response to increased pressure from Russian forces. Russia's defense ministry says those attacks are being repelled, but one Ukrainian military official says, quote, "Russia is getting what it deserves." In the meantime, Russia's military claims advances have been made in Ukraine's Donetsk region. Russian military blogger says fighters have raised a flag near a key Ukrainian transit hub.
Ukraine's president is paving the way, at least trying to, for a good relationship with the incoming U.S. president. Volodymyr Zelensky praised Donald Trump during a conversation with an American podcaster.
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VOLODOMYR ZELENSKY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: I think that President Trump not only has will, he has all these possibilities. And it's not just talk. I really count on him. And I think that our people really count on him.
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VAUSE: And Zelensky says neither he nor anyone in Ukraine will accept an unjust compromise with the Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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LEX FRIDMAN, PODCASTER: The reality is that a compromise is needed in order to reach an agreement.
ZELENSKY: So in your understanding, the fact that he is not in jailed after all the murders? He is not in jail assuming all the murders. And no one in the world is able to put him in his place. Send him to prison. Do you think this is a small compromise?
FRIDMAN: This is not a small compromise and to forgive him will not be a small compromise.
ZELENSKY: To forgive. No one will forgive. This is absolutely impossible to forgive him. We cannot get into the head and soul of a person who lost their family. Nobody never will accept this. They simply took away the most precious thing from you, will you ask? Who ruined your life before going to rip their head off? I'm just curious. They took your child away. Are you going to ask who did this? And they will answer that dude did this. You will say, oh, well, then there are no questions. No. No, no, you will go (BLEEP) hell and bite their head off. And it will be fair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Still to come, after the end of the Assad regime, a toxic legacy. Up next, CNN goes inside a lab which may have been used to develop chemical weapons.
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VAUSE: Welcome back. After a month since dictator Bashar al-Assad fled the country, Syrians are slowly learning about the extent of devastation left behind after decades of cruelty, violence and inhumanity. Residents of Jobar, a Damascus suburb and opposition stronghold have finally been allowed home. But the town is in ruins. That includes the local cemetery, where many are searching for graves of missing family members.
Syrian officials have urged the United States to lift sanctions during a meeting in Doha Sunday, according to the Reuters news agency.
[02:20:00]
The sanctions were imposed on the ousted President Bashar al-Assad for a number of reasons, including the development and use of chemical weapons, often in barrel bombs dropped on civilian areas from helicopters. And as CNN's Jomana Karadsheh reports, since Assad fled, a number of possible chemical weapons laboratories have now been uncovered.
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JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're gearing up for one of the most dangerous missions in Syria. And they have to be prepared. Exposure could be lethal.
HABIB: While we are searching for these secret prisons, we received information that there could be hazardous materials in this facility.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): The White Helmets volunteer rescue group suspects this is a chemical weapons research site. We joined their hazmat team at a former state security building. They wanted us to witness what they find. Throughout the war, the regime and its Russian backers have repeatedly tried to discredit them. With respirators fixed and suits sealed, the final touch, chemical agent detector patches.
With oxygen tanks and detection devices, these two men lead the way into the unknown. They have to move carefully and methodically. Looters got here first. Every surface is scanned for traces of chemicals. A suspected weapons delivery system sits in the middle of this room, but no traces detected so far. Their advanced team already told them it's the upper floors where they need to be.
Slowly, they move upstairs. Step by step, on every floor and in every room, they're searching for clues. What was the Assad regime doing here? Evidence of what appears to be a secret chemical lab emerges. In several rooms, they find countless labeled bottles and containers filled with chemicals.
(On camera): Their main mission today is to document, try and find out as much as they can about the chemicals they're finding in this facility.
(Voice-over): Something sets off the detector. We take pictures for experts to review the reading. It says TIC, Toxic Industrial Chemical. He checks his patch and carries on. Until another alarm goes off. They realize it's one of the oxygen tanks. He has to get out fast.
It's becoming clear they were experimenting with dangerous substances here. Tucked in the middle of a residential Damascus neighborhood, the local Druze community had long suspected this was more than just a state security building. As regime forces withdrew, people rushed in to see what was really inside this feared compound.
It was a local pharmacist who sounded the alarm, and the white helmets were called in. Securing sites like this one is critical amid a post- regime vacuum and a volatile security situation.
HABIB: These materials could not only pose a risk to the civilians in neighboring areas, but also if they fall into wrong hands, they could be used elsewhere and pose a threat to other communities and maybe other countries.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): CNN shared images with four experts. Based on that snapshot, they all agree this was a chemical lab. It's unclear whether it was used for chemical weapons research or something else, including analysis of environmental threats or illicit drugs, among other possibilities.
Strewn about, they find what they describe as a trove of documents. One we can't independently verify mentions communications between the facilities command and a Russian military officer. Preserving documents like this is now part of the team's mission. They also find weapons, storage and production rooms. We see all the necessary components to build modified and improvised explosive devices.
HABIB: It was shocking how the previous regime used all these government institutions as multipurpose facilities.
[02:24:59]
KRADSHEH (voice-over): Down this dark and dingy cockroach-infested basement is perhaps the most dangerous discovery so far. Almost every surface and sealed container sets off the detector. It registers lewisite, a blistering chemical agent. Experts say it could be a false positive. Unlike everything here, it will need additional testing. The fall of the regime may be uncovering what until this day had been hidden in the dark, leaving Syria and the world a dictator's toxic legacy. Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Damascus.
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VAUSE: Donald Trump will be sworn in as U.S. President two weeks from today. And so with that, U.S. election over, it seems Elon Musk has some spare time, a few loose ends, and he's turning his attention now to U.K. politics. Well, look at his impact just ahead.
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VAUSE: We're just hours away now from the expiration of an arrest warrant. South Korea's anti-corruption agency will now seek for the extension of that warrant, at the same time handing over responsibility to serve that warrant on the impeached President Yoon Seok-yeol to police. Yoon is accused of abuse of power and leading an insurrection of his brief botched attempt to impose martial law last month.
Police and protesters, both in support of and against Yoon, having gathered near his official residence in Seoul. These are live images, 4:29 p.m. That arrest warrant expires in about seven and a half hours from now.
[02:30:00]
Investigators try to arrest him on Friday, but were prevented by Yoon's security detail from reaching him.
The U.S. secretary of state traveled to Seoul amid this political chaos, and during a meeting with the acting president, says the U.S. has faith in the power of Korean democracy. According to the State Department, Antony Blinken reaffirmed U.S. confidence in the enduring strength of the U.S.-South Korean alliance. Blinken is the first high level U.S. official to visit South Korea during this month long political crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We had serious concerns about some of the actions that President Yoon took. We communicated those directly to the government at the same time, we have tremendous confidence in the resilience of South Koreas democracy and the strength of its institutions, and in the efforts that it's making to work through those institutions pursuant to the Constitution and the rule of law, to resolve differences and to do so peacefully.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, after helping Donald Trump win the U.S. presidential election by spending $260 million, Elon Musk now turning his attention to British politics, posting Sunday on X, which everyone knows is Twitter: The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage, as in Nigel Farage, doesn't have what it takes.
For -- Nigel Farage has been trying to get Musk's financial backing, but it looks like that may have failed. One reason for that, jailed British far right activist Tommy Robinson, Musk wants him released. Farage has been distancing himself from Robinson.
Musk is also targeting the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, posting this: Starmer was complicit in the rape of Britain when he was head of crown prosecution for six years. Starmer must go. He must face charges for his complicity in the worst mass crime in the history of Britain.
Musk claims Starmer failed to act against grooming gangs while he was director of public prosecutions. Starmer supporters say that's not true. Meantime, the prime minister is working to get on Donald Trump's good side and hold back the growing influence of Farage's reform UK party.
CNN European affairs commentator Dominic Thomas joins us now from Los Angeles live this hour.
It's been a while. It's good to see you.
DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Right. Thanks for having me on, John. Good to see you back.
VAUSE: Thanks, mate.
Well, musk has no love for the ruling labor party. We know that. Even the Tories, it seems, aren't conservative enough for him. Now comes this disagreement with the far right nationalist Nigel Farage. So, given all of that, does musk actually have a political home in the UK?
THOMAS: That's a great question. I think at the end of the day, Nigel Farage is Reform UK. This is an outgrowth of the of the Brexit party. Without Farage at the helm, there's little future for this particular organization.
And so even, Nigel Farage knows that in order to have any kind of electoral success on the national scale, he needs to distance himself from the extremist fringes of the far right in the, in the UK. And to that extent, Elon Musk's latest interventions on Twitter have derailed some of those efforts. And I think have undermined Nigel Farage sort of move forward in that regard.
VAUSE: You know, money buys influence no matter where you are. Musk used his billions or $260 million, actually, to help elect Donald Trump. Can he actually do the same in the UK if he decided to?
THOMAS: Well, I think the question is still open there. I mean, it's clear that the UK politically is a deeply fragmented system and that the sort of post-Second World War Labour Party, Conservative Party division has broken down to, to a certain extent. So there is room for a kind of a new party to come in.
It's ambiguous, though, because in many ways, the landslide victory of the Labour Party in the recent election was a rejection of conservative party policies, especially the sort of far right fringe, the Brexit, a fringe of that party.
Having said that, I think that ultimately the real litmus test here will be with Trump in power and the impact of economic policies and the ways in which they will impact the UK. And I think that will determine the extent to which that political agenda can potentially impact UK politics moving forward.
But it's clear, we saw it with Brexit, the sort of use of platforms, social media and so on. Disinformation, misinformation strategies have been very effective in the U.S., have already been effective in the UK and could also be so moving forward, John.
VAUSE: And possibly even Germany as well. Again, Musk sort of getting involved there, in particular backing the far right alternative for Germany party or AFD, you know, let's call it what it is. This party has clear Nazi links. That doesn't seem to bother Musk in any way. It seems Musk is going very far to the right.
And -- but does his support bring AFD? You know, sort of legitimacy, if you like?
THOMAS: Well, there's a remarkable parallel between, I think the situation that's been unfolding in Germany, not just over the past, you know, a year, but certainly over the past decade.
[02:35:07]
So, the AFD -- yes, of course, is, as you outlined, this party with these neo-Nazi links, extremist factions, anti-EU and so on. But the fact is they are, according to polls, the second most important political party in Germany today. And that firewall against them, that Chancellor Scholz has talked about has already been eroded in different areas around the country and local governments and so on.
And the appeal there is that this party isn't just a racist, xenophobic, anti-immigration party. It's also a party that has tapped into deep seated disaffection with ruling parties that have been switching at the helm since the end of the Second World War. And unless those parties can genuinely challenge the kind of empty, far right rhetoric of Musk and Trump, then the pathway to them gaining political power is very much there. If they're not able to address some of those economic, cost of living, energy prices, grievances, John.
VAUSE: And what we've been seeing, you've mentioned this over the last decade, especially since 2016, the rise of Trump, the MAGA movement, you know, sort of drifting across the Atlantic, if you like, having a -- having an influence on politics there.
And obviously that influence growing. But it seemed almost a, you know, organic, if you like in a way. Musk's involvement, though, seems to be taking that one step further. It's a very direct involvement. Is it a step too far?
THOMAS: I think -- well, it is, but then the situation and the game is no longer what it was just a few months ago. Things have changed dramatically. What's interesting about Musk's intervention is that this particular stage, we're not really sure who's speaking. Is it the private citizen articulating his views of global politics? Is it the wealthy, internationally known entrepreneur, or is it a surrogate for President-elect Trump?
The fact that we know that Musk is entering this administration and is part of that hemisphere of the Trump world, means that this entanglement is more complicated than it was previously. What is unprecedented is him going after not just important leaders, the chancellor of Germany, the prime minister of the UK, but undermining institutions like the EU, NATO and the G7.
By doing this, allies (AUDIO GAP) were entering here, John, is simply an unprecedented, unchartered territory of sort of political behavior and a kind of recalibration that is about to come once President Trump enters -- enters office. And there's no reason to think that this kind of aggressive, insulting and lack of diplomatic approach is going to characterize the years to come with this administration.
VAUSE: The words "unchartered territory" do not sum up what were heading into at this point. It seems to be a gross understatement. As always, Dominic Thomas, great to have you with us and good to see you. Thanks, Dom.
THOMAS: Thank you very much.
VAUSE: And we'll take a short break.
Back in a moment. You're watching CNN.
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[02:40:52]
VAUSE: The NFL's New England Patriots have fired head coach Jerod Mayo after just one season. The Patriots scored a win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, but finished with a dismal 4-13 record overall this season. He took over from legendary Patriots coach Bill Belichick. Mayo is a former player for the Patriots and became an assistant on the team's defensive staff in 2019.
A football-loving nun in Brazil is now believed to be the world's oldest living person. Close to 117 years old, Sister Inah Canabarro assumes the title after the death last month of Japan's Tomiko Itooka, who was 116 years old. Canabarro was born in 1908 to a large family in southern Brazil. When visitors arrive at her retirement home, she tells them, quote, I'm young, I'm pretty and friendly, all positive qualities that you have, too.
For our international viewers, up next is "WORLD SPORT". For our viewers here in the United States. Please stay with us. More CNN NEWSROOM after a short break.
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[02:45:31]
VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. Forty-five minutes past the hour. I'm John Vause.
President Joe Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act into law Sunday. This bipartisan bill was passed by Congress in December and will increase benefits for almost 3 million federal, state and local public sector workers. The reform eliminates policies which reduced Social Security payouts for retirees who receive pensions from state or local governments.
Critics say the change will only hasten the day when the Social Security trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits. But President Biden says it's all about fairness.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The bill I'm signing today is about a simple proposition. Americans who have worked hard all their lives to earn an honest living should be able to retire with economic security and dignity. That's the entire purpose of the Social Security system crafted by Franklin Delano Roosevelt nearly 90 years ago. Social Security is the bedrock of financial security for retirees and survivors and for millions of Americans with disabilities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Later today, President Biden will attend a vigil in New Orleans to remember those killed in the New Year's Day terrorist attack.
CNN's Julia Benbrook has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Their visit takes place just five days after the terror attack on Bourbon Street killed 14 people and wounded dozens of others.
A White House official says that the president and the first lady will grieve with the families and community members impacted by the tragic attack on January 1st, and meet with officials on the ground.
A source familiar with the planning tells our team that the president is expected to attend a vigil in New Orleans and deliver remarks there. Local clergy and law enforcement, community members and family members of the victims are likely to attend. Following an event here at the White House on Sunday, Biden took questions from reporters and he was asked what message he would like to share with the families impacted.
BIDEN: There's nothing you can really say to somebody who has had such a tragic loss. And my message is going to be personal to them. If I get -- if I get to get them alone about, they just have to hang on to each other. There will come a day when they think of their loved ones, and they'll smile before a tear comes to their eye. That's when they know they're going to make it. But it takes time.
BENBROOK: The president has pledged federal resources to assist with the investigation. This trip marks one of the final displays of Biden as consoler in chief, a role that he's had to regularly step into during his four years in office.
At the White House, Julia Benbrook, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Monday is the last day for the public to pay their respects in Atlanta to the 39th president of the United States. Jimmy Carter's body will remain there at the Carter Center until Tuesday morning. Live images there, 2:47 a.m. here.
Then the casket will be flown to Washington to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol until a state funeral service on Thursday.
Meantime, the Carter family's former home church held its first Sunday service since President Carter died.
CNN's Eva McKend reports now from Plains, Georgia.
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EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: At President Carters hometown church, a Sunday service that contained both elements of sorrow and joy as people that knew the president for decades showed up to worship and also to remember President Carter's life and legacy.
We also saw people travel from neighboring states who in the past saw President Carter teach Sunday school here, which he did for many decades.
Now, his niece, Kim Carter Fuller, has taken over Sunday school lessons, and she leaned into the Book of Psalms, where she talked about how their hearts were heavy, but they were leaning on the strength of God in this moment.
And what's also remarkable about Maranatha Baptist Church is that it is now led by a female pastor. We know that President Carter very notably broke with the Southern Baptists on this issue. He believed that women should be equal in all spaces, including religious ones.
Take a listen to how the pastor is thinking about this moment.
ASHLEY GUTHAS, PASTOR, MARANATHA, BAPTIST CHURCH: In this country where, to speak bluntly, we still live in a patriarchal nation. We still live in a place where white men are often -- their voices are often elevated and listened to and believed more strongly than a woman.
[02:50:01]
And so to have a president of the United States who realized within his lifetime the importance of speaking out to the harm that's been done. But I am just incredibly grateful for the legacy and the work that we have to continue to do, because women are still not equal, and we have a long way to go. But his voice was one of power that was used for good.
MCKEND: And in her sermon, she talked about how President Carter really lived a life where he hungered for God and was an incredible man of faith. And at the end of the service, we saw the choir go to the head of the church, where they seem to be preparing, going over the final details for President Carter's final tribute, which will take place here in Plains on Thursday.
Eva McKend, CNN, Plains, Georgia.
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VAUSE: Being stuck in New York City's notoriously bad traffic now comes with an extra cost, $9 a day. Its new congestion pricing scheme, which is meant to reduce traffic by charging drivers a higher toll to enter Manhattan during peak hours. New York is the world's biggest -- one of the busiest cities or biggest cities, rather, and its streets are often crippled by gridlock.
Officials hope it will mean fewer drivers on the roads at the busiest time of day, and they hope to raise millions of dollars to try and improve the city's public transportation. Other cities around the world have already implemented similar schemes like London and Stockholm, but this is a first in the United States. It already has many critics.
Peter Furth is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northeastern University. He is with us this hour from Washington.
Peter, thank you for taking the time to speak with us.
PETER FURTH, PROFESSOR OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AT NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: Glad to be here.
VAUSE: So day one in New York, no hiccups, but I guess the real issue here is what happens long term. And if you look overseas, according to a study by Lund University in Sweden, the best way to reduce car traffic is in fact, with congestion pricing like they have in New York. But also pointing to this London, where city traffic dropped by 33 percent, and that was after the charge was introduced back in 2003. They went on -- went on to add, most success stories involve both carrots to encourage sustainable mobility and sticks to restrict cars.
So looking at how New York's congestion pricing and program is actually working out here. Do they have the right balance here, in your opinion, for a successful program?
FIRTH: Yes, because the money that they make with the congestion charge that will all be reinvested in improving public transportation, and they will they will work on public transportation on on two sides, on the rail side and also on the bus side.
In London, the tremendous success came. Imagine now the busses that are inside the ring are driving on uncongested roads. Bus service is faster, it's more reliable. And with the money that they had, they were able to provide more frequent bus service.
So New York is doing some of the same thing with the first ever bus lanes on 96th Street on 14th Street on 42nd Street, and they'll be able to do more and more of that. And then they'll also use the money to improve rail reliability, rail quality service, so that people have genuine alternatives.
VAUSE: And looking forward when these new measures are implemented, when those improvements take place, would you then expect a lot of opposition to this plan to fall away?
FURTH: Oh, opposition will always be there. I mean, this is the human nature. People will all be grumbling. What will mostly make the opposition go away is when people see what uncongested streets in Manhattan, you know, the congestion charge aims to deter -- I don't know, 15, 20 percent of traffic.
That means 80, 85 percent of drivers will still be there. Taxis will still be going up and down, but now they're going to be on less congested streets. And that's going to be the thing that people love. I mean, you have to pay for it, but you're getting something for it, quality.
And you know, when you're an affluent nation, as we are and, you know, successful people that most of us are, you don't like waiting in line. You don't like being stuck with lousy, lousy quality. And that's what our streets are giving us now. And they simply can't give good quality when they're overloaded. So the congestion pricing is system is a system to give us what we all want, good quality at a fair price.
VAUSE: If we look at the most congested cities around the world when it comes to traffic, New York is up there, number one, followed by Mexico City. We then have London, Paris as well as Chicago. So if this congestion charge works in New York, how soon do you think it would flow to cities like Chicago and other cities across the U.S.?
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FURTH: Well, I should -- I certainly know that transportation planners in those cities are all hoping it's a big success in New York so they can bring it to their city, because its so much needed in the cities where, where, where the problem is congestion in the downtown.
Now, a lot of our big American cities Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, there's tremendous congestion on the freeways. And they're -- yeah, the solution is the same kind of thing. Pricing -- that is what will get some people to say ill travel at a different time of day, or I'll carpool or now ill use transit, especially when the revenue from the congestion pricing is being used to create express bus routes and other good transit alternatives.
VAUSE: Peter Furth, thank you so much, sir, for being with us. Great to talk to you about this. Appreciate your time, sir.
FURTH: Glad to.
VAUSE: Before we go, a new documentary about Melania Trump is due out later this year. There's no title, few details at the moment, but the incoming first lady will serve as executive producer, meaning she'll have total editorial control.
The documentary began filming in December, slated for theatrical release as well as streaming on Amazon Prime Video. This follows the release of Melania Trump's autobiography in October, which remains a bestseller on Amazon and hit number one on "The New York Times" bestseller list.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. Max Foster in London will be in the chair after a very short break. Thanks for watching.
