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Erin Burnett Outfront

Dramatic New Video From Riot: "We are Listening To Trump"; WH Official: Trump Held A Meeting On Pardons Today As He Prepares To Issue About 100 Pardons Tomorrow; NYT: Giuliani Won't Defend Trump At Impeachment Trial; Security Concerns Intensify Ahead Of Inauguration, Army Secretary Says Riot "Came Far Too Close" To Disaster; Trump Has Taped Farewell Message In Final Hours Of Presidency. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired January 18, 2021 - 19:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And may their memories be a blessing.

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"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, Trump appears to be preparing another video in his final hours in office. This as he's still telling cronies he won the election.

Plus, the Army Secretary says the nation was 'far too close' to an even bigger disaster on the day of the pro-Trump riot. Hear why he says troops were slow to show up at the Capitol.

And epic snub, the White House usher not the Trumps greet the Bidens on Inauguration Day, the White House. Plus, Melania Trump gives a farewell message you must hear to believe. Let's go OUTFRONT.

Good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, the final hours of President Donald J. Trump as Washington braces for what should be a peaceful transfer of power in less than 48 hours. The first of the Biden inaugural events is just kicking off.

You are looking at the field of lights right now on the National Mall. The nearly 200,000 flags representing Americans who are unable to travel to Washington because of the pandemic and the threat of violence, that is the result of Trump's election lie. A lie that we know Trump is still telling. We've learned he is still telling allies he won the election.

And it comes as Trump is also plotting what will most likely be his last presidential act. He appears to be preparing for a final video message to the nation. Coming to you live anytime (inaudible) these videos now. And he's about to issue around a hundred pardons and commutations tomorrow.

The big question is whether the President will try to pardon himself or his children. Aides don't think he will, but they caution, only Trump actually knows. We've learned Trump is isolated in these final hours alone. But outside the White House, some of his defenders are still trying to come to his rescue.

Republican Congresswoman and QAnon promoter Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeting, "Trump supporters could not have listened to President Trump's speech at the White House and then been 'incited' by him to walk to and attack the Capitol."

And then of course, there's Lindsey Graham.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): President Trump never said go into the Capitol and try to interrupt a joint session of Congress. That was the choice they make. Where was Nancy Pelosi? It's her job to provide capital security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: So how can Lindsey Graham top his own record of sycophancy? I mean, we kept in the part about Nancy Pelosi just because even for Lindsey Graham, this blame absolving and shifting is a new level of pathetic. Just a reminder, here is what Trump actually said at that rally.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So we're going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue, I love Pennsylvania Avenue, and we're going to the Capitol. But we're going to try and give our Republicans, the weak ones, because the strong ones don't need any of our help. We're going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country. So let's walk down Pennsylvania Avenue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Kind of pride and boldness you need to take back your country, so walk down Pennsylvania to the Capitol.

Now, of course, to allow Greene and Graham to make this about just one particular speech Trump said would be wrong, because we all know what Trump said to his followers for months. And a new video released by The New Yorker and ProPublica, the truth is there for everyone to hear. Trump lit the fire of these rioters and he did it for months.

I want to warn you that the language you are about to hear is explicit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: To protect our Constitution.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To protect the Constitution of the United States.

TRUMP: That's treason. That's treason. CROWD: Treason. Treason. Treason.

TRUMP: Antifa, antifa ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're afraid of antifa? Well, guess what? America showed up.

TRUMP: Looking out at all the amazing patriots here today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These guys are fucking patriots.

TRUMP: We got to get Nancy Pelosi the hell out of there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I speak to Pelosi? Yes, we're coming, bitch.

TRUMP: Mike Pence, I will tell you right now, I'm not hearing good stories.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mike Pence is a fucking traitor.

TRUMP: America first. America first agenda ...

CROWD: America first.

TRUMP: Make no mistake, this election was stolen from you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But if the election is being stolen, what is it going to take?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: These people didn't just echo what President Trump had been saying from his bully pulpit for months. They also admitted on camera that they were there at Trump's request. The crowd telling officers inside the Capitol that they were listening to Trump. Texas realtor Jenna Ryan, take her, and you can see her there inside the Capitol. She's now been charged with disorderly conduct. Her defense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNA RYAN, ALLEGED CAPITOL RIOTER: We were going in solidarity with President Trump.

[19:05:02]

President Trump requested that we be in D.C. on the 6th. So this was our way of going and stopping the steal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: His request. And "The Washington Post" reporting a Kentucky man told the FBI that he and his cousins stormed the U.S. Capitol because 'President Trump said to do so'. Well, President Trump did say to go there, hundreds of his supporters there on the mall did what they were asked storming the Capitol. And so here we are tonight with a fortified Capitol, Washington, D.C. a military zone ahead of an inauguration.

And there is only one person ultimately responsible for this. We all know who it is.

Kaitlan Collins is OUTFRONT near the White House. Kaitlan, what is Trump's mindset in these final hours of his presidency?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, people that we've spoken with have said the President is in a pretty foul mood and has been for several days. We haven't actually seen him since last Tuesday when he went to Texas to visit the border wall, because other than that he has stayed behind closed doors.

We know that privately he's been having several meetings on pardons. Of course, that's expected to be one of the President's final acts. But other than that, he has not said anything publicly. We haven't gotten any kind of farewell message from the President talking about his accomplishments despite efforts by aides to get him to actually do one similar to what you saw the First Lady put on Twitter today.

But we are expecting to hear from the President on Wednesday. We know that's going to be his departure ceremony when he leaves the White House before Joe Biden is actually sworn into. He can take that final flight on Air Force One and that's supposed to be a major military sell send off at Joint Base Andrews, Erin.

We have been told that they are expecting several - they're inviting live guests. White House hasn't specified how many, but there is a new concern that there won't be that many people there or certainly not to the President's expectation because of course, not only are these travel restrictions in Washington where it's pretty hard to get around the nation's Capitol right now. But also the President is still dealing with the fallout from his response to that attack on the U.S. Capitol.

So we've heard from several people who say they do not want to go even though they got an invitation from the White House. And then, of course, there are people that you would not expect to get an invitation that have also gotten one including Anthony Scaramucci, the President's former Communications Director who, of course, now has become a major Trump critic. He somehow was included on that list.

So it remains to be seen what that's actually going to look like on Wednesday. Of course, the President is expecting them to roll out the red carpet. But Erin, first, we are expecting that list of pardons to come out tomorrow, according to the White House so far and it should include about a hundred people on it that will include some of the President's political allies.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much. Scaramucci is wedding crasher there, I guess, that say a lot that he would make the list. I'm sure he finds that humorous on some level.

All right OUTFRONT now Laurence Tribe, one of the nation's preeminent constitutional law experts. He has been advising the House Democrats on impeachment. He's also the author of To End a Presidency: The Power of Impeachment.

So Professor, you hear Lindsey Graham's defense of the President, oh, Trump actually never said to go to the Capitol and disrupt the joint session of Congress, never said whatever else, break to windows and stop by the bathroom on your way or whatever excuse he's going to give. It's absurd, of course. Any honest person knows the instigator of all this, the person who said the election was rigged, and stolen and fraudulent that he won it by a landslide. The person who said people needed to take their country back and stop the steal, I'm sorry.

The question is, in the Senate trial, will Graham's argument hold any weight, Professor?

LAURENCE TRIBE, HARVARD LAW PROFESSOR: I don't think so. I think that all the senators and indeed all Americans watched the President incite an angry mob, basically, aimed them straight to the Capitol, lit the fuse and watched in glee while people died and while an angry mob threatened to hang the Vice President, came within seconds of doing it. This was insurrection on steroids. This was not just some kind of speech. Lindsey Graham is not going to persuade anyone.

I think the only question is going to be will they convince people that the Senate just shouldn't hold trial because Trump managed to commit his most impeachable offense very close to his presidency and I don't think that will wash either.

BURNETT: So Trump did not go to the Capitol, as you mentioned, even though he said he was going to do it. But the reality of it is, of course, he wasn't physically there. Does his 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech, which I would imagine is, yes, we're talking about the President of the United States here, right with a bully pulpit, but the free speech right, does it protect him at all here?

TRIBE: Not at all. I don't know many people who are stronger 1st Amendment advocates than I am. But even if my life depended on it, I couldn't persuade myself that he was exercising the freedom of speech. It's ludicrous.

[19:10:01]

There is no free speech defense for someone who doesn't just yell fire in a crowded theater to use the old metaphor, but sets fire to a crowded theater and watches while it burns. That's what this guy did. This wasn't just speech. And anyway, the freedom of speech belongs to citizens. It doesn't belong to the person who is at the head of government.

BURNETT: So can Trump be prosecuted criminally for what happened at the Capitol, separate from a Senate trial?

TRIBE: I think so. I mean, there are various statutes, I've found four or five that he's almost certainly violated, but I'm not going to jump ahead of Merrick Garland. He and the Justice Department will investigate systematically. And if he has committed sedition, if he has conspired to commit insurrection, I think he will certainly should be prosecuted.

But the issue now is not what happens after he's out there as a private citizen in Mar-A-Lago or wherever he is. The issue is protecting the nation from him by disqualifying him from ever again running for office, that is the fundamental power the Senate needs to exercise if he become convicted and I think it should be able to.

BURNETT: Right. Of course, they need two thirds to convict and then a simple majority to bar from future office. I mentioned pardons, Professor, at the top of the show. The President is expected to issue about a hundred of them tomorrow and commutations. It's actually not as many as some of his predecessors. President Obama had 330 individuals on the day before he left office, most commutations, low- level drug offenders, so obviously that was very different.

Clinton, though, issued many controversial pardons, including one to his half-brother, Roger and the unforgettably terrible pardon of Marc Rich. Are Trump's pardons different?

TRIBE: Very different. The issue isn't the quality, but we've never had a pardon palooza like this in terms of basically a marketplace for pardons. Looks like Giuliani who can't collect his legal fees from Trump is going to try to earn them by charging people for pardons.

There's a lot of bribery that might well be going on and pardoning your co-conspirators, the people who work with you in violating all kinds of laws and committing crimes. That's something that's quite unique, the use of the pardon power basically to cover up crimes.

Some of the pardons that he has issued and may well yet issue are almost certainly part of a conspiracy to obstruct justice. He pardons himself that will not have any legal effect, but it will also reinforce the kind of conspiracy engaged in. So let's just watch and see what kinds of absurd pardons he issues tomorrow. I think it's a disgrace whatever we learn.

BURNETT: And we will see them and, of course, be talking to you about them tomorrow. Professor, thank you very much.

TRIBE: Thank you.

BURNETT: And I want to go straight to Gloria Borger now, our Chief Political Analyst along with Michael Smerconish, host of "SMERCONISH."

So Gloria, Wednesday morning, Trump will depart Washington, but he is sending out invitations for a send off, including Anthony Scaramucci, which are the disarray with which this has been executed. But he did ask for a major send off on Election Day, so now we see this happening. What else can you tell us?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, we know Trump is always like the pump of the office and he loves to hear ruffles and flourishes so maybe he'll get to hear it one last time. I just got off the phone with somebody who has been a friend of Trump's in the past and is close to some people at the White House. And this purple person said to me, that everybody has disowned Trump and he's sitting there like a wounded bear, cordoned off. Nobody is talking to him.

They're planning their next gig, this source said, while he's making his enemies list. So that is what he's doing. He's trying to figure out, keeping his list of people who voted to certify Joe Biden as President of the United States and he is intending to get back at them with his 74 million voters and then trying to figure out how he's going to make some money as this ex-president.

BURNETT: So Michael, but then the question is, of course, presuming this doesn't mass pardon these individuals and some of them have already expressed, wait a minute, you're not there for us. When he is no longer have the power of the presidency behind him, how much power does he really have even with those diehard supporters, do you think?

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN ANCHOR: I have a question as to how much, Erin, he'll be covered moving forward. He's never had difficult throughout the course of his life in attracting media attention. But things have really changed recently, and the combination of the absence from the nation's Capitol as well as the social media platforms having been removed from being at his disposal. I mean, he'll continue to get coverage when he wants it in select areas, but I don't think he'll get the mainstream coverage that he's accustomed to.

[19:15:03]

And one of the things that most perplexes me is that he has completely abdicated his responsibilities in the last two months, full two months of his administration, surrendering an opportunity that he had to walk into the White House press room to approach any podium anywhere and reach the people. But he hasn't done it and I think everything significantly changes come Wednesday morning.

BURNETT: And it's amazing, Gloria, because we know he loves to do it.

BORGER: Loves.

BURNETT: He was criticized all the time for not doing press conferences, but the guy would always stop to have questions getting out. He craved that interaction, he crave the fights.

BORGER: He can't.

BURNETT: Now it's only videos.

BORGER: But he can't now because what would he have to say if he were in front of a podium? What would the -- his people in Congress be waiting for him to say that this election was not rigged and he won't say it?

I mean, I've talked to people inside the White House who say to me, you know what? He is still saying it to them. So if he were to speak publicly and were to answer a question, and he were to come out and say the election was rigged, well, then what happens when the Senate votes whether to convict? He's got a lot of problems now with what he says and everybody is going to be parsing every single word for good reason. BURNETT: So Michael, to this point about what power with his

supporters he maintains, the fact that many of their grievances are deep and would be looking for a replacement figurehead. I mean, these are all questions we don't know the answers to. One thing we do know is Joe Biden is going to be president. What can he do to break through to some of these people right away?

SMERCONISH: With regard to about half of the Republicans, nothing at all. I mean, it's really distressing. I don't trust the numbers yet, because the dust hasn't settled and it's all too raw. But I'm taking note, Erin, of the polling data, the NBC data, the CBS data CNN had reporting. And the consensus seems to be that about half the Republican Party are lockstep. They don't regard Joe Biden as being a legitimate president. He hasn't even begun.

And believe it or not, they're ready to re nominate Donald Trump if given the opportunity. And if that number should hold, putting aside any health issues or the risk of criminal indictment, that's more than sufficient for him to be nominated in 2024. Think about that.

BURNETT: I mean, it is pretty stunning. And as you say, the dust hasn't settled. But the fact that even in the midst of this fog, that that is even a possibility is so significant for us all to understand.

Thank you both very much.

BORGER: Sure.

BURNETT: And next, the White House releasing a 45-page report knocking what's become of the civil rights movement on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Plus, Secretary of the Army speaking exclusively to CNN about the riot and just how close it came to being a bigger disaster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN MCCARTHY, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF THE ARMY: It came far too close, something like this should never happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And do you remember this moment when the Obamas greeted the Trumps of the White House in Inauguration Day. We all watched it. Then, there was the Tiffany's box and all of that. You're not going to see it this time. Not going to see it for the Bidens and that is not the only snub from the Trumps.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:21:52]

BURNETT: New tonight, Rudy Giuliani will not be defending President Trump at his second impeachment trial in the Senate. This is according to a person close to the President telling The New York Times. Giuliani tells ABC News he can't be part of the President's legal team because he spoke at the January 6th rally that preceded the riot at the Capitol and is therefore a witness, perhaps also someone at risk of being charged himself.

Manu Raju is OUTFRONT. So Manu, what more can you tell us about how this trial is shaping up?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the biggest question right now, Erin, is the exact timing because this is dictated in part by the decision by the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to actually formally transmit the article of impeachment over to the Senate to begin the Senate trial. That article, of course, approved by a bipartisan majority in the House last week on the charge that President Donald Trump incited an insurrection.

And if 17 Republican senators join with 50 Democrats in the Senate, they can convict Donald Trump and prevent him from ever holding office again. But it still needs to begin and once the article is transmitted, that would actually lead, force the Senate to act the next day and it comes just as Joe Biden is coming into office on Wednesday and trying to get his cabinet nominees confirmed by the Senate and move on legislation, including a major COVID relief package.

So you're seeing a collision course of sorts with the Senate trying to move forward on the trial but also Biden pushing to get his agenda through, it will require cooperation from Republicans and Democrats in the Senate to do both, uncertain if that will happen.

So a lot of questions on the timing, questions of how long this trial will last, whether Democrats will bring in witnesses and the like or whether they'll try to wrap this up quickly, but also the question, will Republicans break ranks, convict Donald Trump in part or will rely on the question that Democrats lay out in the weeks ahead, Erin.

BURNETT: Right. And as you say, the length of the trial, I know, someone like Sen. Van Hollen, they say, well, look, we could pass the bill in the morning and then we could do the trial in the afternoon and we can walk and chew gum at same time. I guess, we'll have to see because we still don't know when the articles are going over.

So to that front, I want to bring in Democratic Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett. One of the House managers in the upcoming Senate impeachment trial and also a delegate from the U.S. Virgin Islands.

So Congresswoman Plaskett, this is the big question here, of course, with all of these factors. Has Speaker Pelosi told you or any of your colleagues in the impeachment managers when she's going to send that impeachment article to the Senate?

STACEY PLASKETT (D), DELEGATE TO U.S. HOUSE FROM VIRGIN ISLANDS: Well, first, happy Martin Luther King Day to you and to all of your viewers. I don't think it would be appropriate for me to divulge what the conversations are within the impeachment managers with the Speaker. I think that when the Speaker is ready to let people know when she believes it's necessary to walk over the papers, that everyone will be well aware of that. Right now, we're focused on preparing for the trial when that takes place.

BURNETT: So to that front, let me ask you, Congresswoman, about the timing, the first trial for President Trump was nearly three weeks long. I know this wouldn't be anything like that. But obviously you have one article, you could just go on that.

[19:25:00]

You might really not even need any witnesses other than the video. So, how quickly do you think you could do this trial?

PLASKETT: I think that we're deliberating that right now. We're working through the strategy of how best to present the case to the senators. But I'd like to remember in this instance, the entire world, all of us have seen the actual alleged crime take place. We know the conspiracy that has been going on for several months. All of us were witnesses to the crime, to the insurgents, and to the attempted overthrow. And the people who are going to be the jurors, those 100 senators, are not only witnesses, but also victims of the crime.

BURNETT: So obviously, you're doing something that's never been done before for a president, which is to try a president for impeachment after leaving office. There is a precedent but not at the presidential level. But it would be required in order for him to not be able to serve in office again, so that would be a practical reason for going ahead with what you're going ahead with separate from any moral reasons that you have.

But you are a former Assistant District Attorney, Senior Counsel at the Department of Justice, so when President Trump's defenders say it's unconstitutional to do this after the President leaves office, are you confident you're on solid legal ground?

PLASKETT: I think it's laughable that they're saying that it's unconstitutional, because this is exactly what the framers anticipated. A president is not going to stage a coup, is not going to stage an insurgency at the beginning of his presidency. He's going to do it at the end. And this is what they thought and this is what they have seen in other places in Britain and others.

And so the anticipation was and they were so mindful of not only to remove him from office, but to also strip him of the vestiges that we often give our former president, not just the ability to run for office, but can you imagine after what he has done, the infractions and seeing how power hungry he is, allowing this president to continue to get national security information on a regular basis, that would be catastrophic to the safety of our country.

BURNETT: So Congressman, you mentioned Martin Luther King Day and on this Martin Luther King Day, the White House has released its 1776 report. It's about how racism and slavery are taught in schools. It criticizes what the civil rights movement has become.

And they have an entire section in it on identity politics in which they assert, and I quote, "Identity politics makes it less likely that racial reconciliation and healing can be attained by pursuing Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream for America and upholding the highest ideals of our Constitution and Declaration of Independence."

They released this on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, what do you say to that?

PLASKETT: Well, you're better than me, Erin, because I wouldn't waste my time reading anything that this administration puts out about racial reconciliation or race relations. They have done more to fracture this country than they have to uplift it. Listen, what makes America great is our diversity and why would we not celebrate that diversity? I think that we've seen this past summer, during the protests, all Americans coming together to recognize that one, that this country does have a problem with systemic racism and that us all working together and recognizing that are what's going to move us forward.

So, of course, he would put something out like that on Martin Luther King Day, because he has been so disrespectful to not only the legacy of Mr. King, look at an insurgency, a man of peace Martin Luther King was and he brings individuals to the Capitol on the day that members of Congress are supposed to be certifying the election, upholding our constitutional duty, and he has the most dreadful act of violence occur in our nation's Capitol in our most sacred place.

BURNETT: It is true. One of the first things that a child learns about Martin Luther King, Jr. is his commitment to non-violence and his belief that that is how you affect change. Thank you so very much. I appreciate your time, Congresswoman.

PLASKETT: Thank you. You take care.

BURNETT: And next, stunning video of the mob as it stormed the Senate chamber and the rioters' excuse for rifling through senators' desks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... (inaudible).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: All for you, Ted (ph).

Plus, hear Melania Trump's farewell message. You'll hear.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:32:59]

BURNETT: Breaking news, the U.S. Capitol is a fortress tonight as security concerns intensify, less than two days out from President- elect Joe Biden's inauguration. It comes as we're hearing the secretary of the army, Ryan McCarthy, opened up just how close the riot at the U.S. Capitol came to, quote, a disaster. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN MCCARTHY, SECRETARY OF THE U.S. ARMY: It came far too close. Something like this should never happen. This country has the talent and the resources to do anything. But the preplanning and coordination, and the intelligence were not really managed well. We were not in a position to be successful that day as a country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Barbara Starr is OUTFRONT.

So, Barbara, what did Secretary McCarthy tell you about his experience that day at the riot? I mean, this is very sobering.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It is, indeed. Good evening, Erin. Well, you know, the Army likes to have everything orderly and well planned out. That is exactly what did not happen that day. The army secretary who is in charge of getting the National Guard up to Capitol Hill talked about just what happened and how little anybody knew.

(BEGIN VDEO CLIP)

MCCARTHY: No one really understood the situation. No specifics or clarity, what the size of the crowd with, they were. Did they actually breach the building? There was great confusion. We were trying to get clarity and understanding.

Then the mayor called with the police chief after that. So, I ran down the hall to get the authority to launch because I knew something was happening but didn't have great understanding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Running down the hall of the Pentagon. Look, of course, they were all watching it on television. But to get the guard up there, they had to figure out exactly what the threat was.

What tools, what equipment did the guard need? Where would they go? What would their mission be? All of this took some time.

The secretary also told us that what he thinks now is after two of these episodes in some seven months -- of course, Lafayette Square back in the summer -- that the whole system needs to be looked at it.

[19:35:00]

That it's archaic and outdated, how Washington D.C. is defended on the ground when there's a situation like this. There are so many government agencies involved, he says, it's difficult to see who has the real authority and who can actually make a fast decision, which is what was needed that day, of course -- Erin.

BURNETT: That's right. That didn't happen, obviously, for too long.

Thank you very much, Barbara.

And we also break in tonight, have new video, which give us a better, shocking picture of who took part in the Capitol Hill riot and their motivations. A warning that the language they use is explicit.

Tom Foreman is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The videos are violent and triumphant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Walk past the police. Look at that. They can't do nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I speak with Pelosi? Yeah. We're coming, bitch. Mike Pence, we're coming for you, too, fucking traitor.

(YELLING)

FOREMAN: They are profane and pious.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh, we just got tear gassed in the middle of a prayer. Are you kidding me? We were kneeling down and praying.

FOREMAN: But the hours of images and related GPS signals are also enormously powerful to police for identifying, tracking and perhaps prosecuting hundreds of people.

TIM CLEMENTE, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: It's very easy, one, to identify people. Very easy to dictate in court where somebody was at a particular time. It's going to be very hard for somebody who is on video at that time, with a time stamp and a GPS stamp to deny that they were there.

FOREMAN: Potential trespassing and property damage may be just the start. The videos also include evidence of what appears to be attacks and threats aimed at police, journalists and others.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stand down. We have you outnumbered!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Traitors to the guillotine!

FOREMAN: Remember that video of Officer Eugene Goodman holding back the mob by himself? This is what it looked like from their side as he was chased up the stairs.

There is video of rioters digging through the papers of Republican Senator Ted Cruz.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Cruz would want us to do this, so I think we're good.

FOREMAN: Certainly some in the crowd seem aware of their legal jeopardy. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, cover your face.

FOREMAN: And some suggest there are limits even during an insurrection.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't break anything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't do that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't break stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shut the door.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't break stuff.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN (on camera): Despite that, treason, sedition, murder, could all be on the table. Thanks to the rioters themselves, investigators may have video to back those charges up -- Erin.

BURNETT: Tom, thank you.

And I want to go OUTFRONT now from Alec MacGillis. He is a reporter from "ProPublica, who reviewed more than 500 videos posted to Parler on the day of the Capitol Hill riot, and our national correspondent Sara Sidner who's been extensively reporting on this far-right groups now for a long time.

So, let me start with you, Alec. The videos you obtained from Parler, and it's just incredible work you were able to do this and tell this narrative, never before seen, of what happened. You see the crowd pushing against a wall of police officers. You see the chaos in the Capitol, people going from room to room, going through the notes, throwing things, attacking officers.

When you went through all of this, Alec, what did you take away?

ALEC MACGILLIS, REPORTER, PROPUBLICA: I found it just overwhelming and I really urge people to have a look at it for themselves at our website, propublica.org. It gives you an immersive experience into this extraordinary, awful day. All these different angles you haven't seen before. You really kind of feel like you're there and get a better understanding of what happened.

My big -- the thing that really hit me is how familiar it all felt. I've been through a lot of Trump rallies, Sarah Palin rallies over the years, these last dozen years, Republican campaign events. I've had such a familiar feeling. So many of the same mixes of people at those events as you saw here.

There's been so much talk about a lot of the sort of organized white supremacist type of organizations in this rally. But what I saw was actually a lot of, quote/unquote, regular people. You saw men who just looked like they had come from the country club or office, women who were there in nice shawls, and young women. One young woman said, I wish I brought my better shoes so I could climb the wall, too. She looked like she had come straight from college.

A lot of older men bashing windows. This was not just angry, young, ruthless men. This was an incredible cross section of people.

BURNETT: I think that's incredibly powerful and I think it's also important what you pointed out that you've been covering this for a dozen years, right? That this -- it started as something. It has grown, right? It has snowballed into something much bigger and brought more people in.

And, Sara, as you have covered these far-right groups, you spoke to a man who said he is a member of the anti-government Boogaloo movement in Michigan.

[19:40:01]

So, you asked him about these growing tensions and I want to play for everyone what he told you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do not want a civil war or anything. We want to exercise every possible way before that comes an option.

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Is that an option, in your mind, a civil war?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will not fire the first shot. But if it comes to that, I will fight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: It's pretty stunning. You reported that, you know, people feel that the capitol attack was the beginning, right? Not a culmination, but the beginning.

Where do these movements go from here when Trump leaves Washington?

SIDNER: Yeah. It's a really good question, and one that authorities and we as Americans need to be paying attention to. And that is that every single expert who tracks extremism and who is constantly researching this far more than I or anyone else I know tells us that this is not the end. What you saw on January 6th is another beginning. We saw something happen in Charlottesville. Guess what happened after that? You had even more extremist attacks.

We saw what happened in some of these other attacks. You saw it happened in Walmart, El Paso, where someone went in because he hated immigrants and went in and started shooting people.

A lot of these people are being radicalized online. I think it's really important, what you heard there from the ProPublica reporter, that this isn't just a small group of people anymore. The radicalization that's happening in America is extremely disturbing because it's going a lot farther and wider than it ever has before partly because of social media. And in talking to Oren Segal with the Anti-Defamation League, he said,

look, what we're seeing is quite extraordinary. And the fuel for that fire is social media. Social media gives it the oxygen. That's where people have been gathering. Everywhere from the ones you know really, really well, like Facebook and Instagram, to those that are relatively new like Parler or 8chan or 4chan as it were.

And so, what you're seeing is people becoming radicalized here in the United States. We're talking about regular people, your neighbors. People you see at the grocery store. And that is the difference now. And that is what makes this so much more disturbing, because it's not just following those people that they know are white supremacists or they know are extremists with violent tendencies. It's now a much wider breadth of people.

BURNETT: We have all traveled to places in the world, covering al Qaeda and stories like that, right? We've all seen that. We've seen the role that the U.S. place in that.

But, Alec, what I thought was really fascinating in some of the videos you found was actually the role of religion here. You can hear people praying in the midst of this. And I want to play one of the videos you found.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm fine, man. I'm great. I'm great. I'm great, man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: So, Alec, when you looked through all these videos -- these were videos that a lot of protesters were posting, rioters were posting on Parler themselves. How did you see religion play a role in this?

MACGILLIS: You saw it quite a bit, actually. Several moments mini prayer sessions, including one that was led by a man in a cowboy hat leading a prayer from sort of one of the inaugural stands after they seized that high ground. The clip that we showed, I believe, was a woman praying for -- she said praying for the police.

And what that also showed to me was something I picked up in the video was an incredible ambivalence about -- really kind of confusion about the police, people who felt that the police -- were kind of stunned to see the police fighting back as much as they did against them, the sense of betrayal, the sense that they thought, they assume the police were on their side because they had been sticking up for the police all summer during the Black Lives Matter protests and couldn't believe that the police were now being so resisting so forcefully against them.

And this is real back and forth. Some people saying, oh, you know, take it easy on the cops. Don't be too violent with them. But then other people, of course, being very violent with them. And just this real confusion -- about the whole part of it, that's what really came through to me.

BURNETT: All right. Well, I appreciate both of your time very much, and as Alec said, please, go to ProPublica. Watch it all, because it is incredible with the time stamps and that these are videos people took themselves, the power of seeing it. Thank you both very much.

And next, Senator Lindsey Graham. He's telling Joe Biden to stand down on impeaching Trump. It's an incredible answer -- it's incredible that Lindsey Graham could give this answer when he looks in the mirror every day.

Plus, forget the tea and tour. How First Lady Melania Trump is breaking with tradition and aggressively snubbing Jill Biden.

And you're looking at live pictures of what's being called the field of flag. One of the many events for the swearing in of Joe Biden, 200,000 flags representing Americans who cannot make it to inauguration this year.

(COMMRERCIAL BREAK)

[19:47:50]

BURNETT: Tonight, out of bounds. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, warning President-elect Joe Biden that he needs to come out against Donald Trump's second impeachment with the reason that you must hear yourself to believe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): You talk about unifying the country. If you do not stand up against the impeachment of President Trump after he leaves office, you are an incredibly weak figure in American history. President Trump is trying to heal the nation. Pursuing impeachment after he leaves the office will further divide the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Okay, let's just start with President Trump is trying to heal the nation. He hasn't even spoken live once. Never mind, have you looked at our nation's capitol, Senator? It looks like a war zone ahead of the inauguration because President Trump forced baseless saying that the election was a fraud.

And if you want to talk about weak, Senator Graham might want to look in the mirror because definition of a weak figure in American history is this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM: You know how you make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.

In 100 days plus, he has done more to reset the world than Obama did in eight years.

The bottom line is that I believe Donald Trump would be an absolute utter disaster for the Republican Party.

I am all in. Keep it up, Donald.

I think his campaign is opportunistic, race baiting, religious bigotry, xenophobia. Other than that, he would be a good nominee.

I don't believe President Trump is a racist person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Senator Graham became the sycophant-in-chief under President Trump

And then there were times, do you remember, where he would try to maintain his credibility by pretending to take a stand, like when President Trump said that they were, quote, very fine people in both sides in Charlottesville.

Senator Graham at the time said to Trump, quote: Your words are dividing Americans, not healing them. President Trump took a step backward by again suggesting there was moral equivalency between the white supremacists, neo-Nazis and KKK members who attend the Charlottesville rally and people like Heather Heyer.

And months later, Senator Graham became one of the president's favorite golfing buddies, golfing with him and bragging about it, tweeting: Really enjoyed a round of golf with President Trump today.

[19:50:07]

Great fun. Great host.

What about the Supreme Court? He tried it again to dabble in credibility. In 2016, Senator Graham defended the Senate's refusal to hold hearings from Merrick Garland. He vowed, he refused to do so at an opening happened four years later.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM: I want you to use my words against me. If there is a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs and the last year, the first term, you could say Lindsey Graham said, let's let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: But then it was his president, his dear Donald.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM: There is nothing unconstitutional about this process. This is a vacancy that has occurred through the tragic loss of a great woman and we are going to fill that vacancy. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: That from the same man who said this just hours after a violent pro-Trump mob stormed the capitol, from insurrection President Trump helped incite -- Graham's last statement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM: Trump and I, we've had a heck of a journey. I hate it to end this way. Oh my God I hate it.

From my point of view, he's been a consequential president. But today, first thing you'll see, all I can say is count me out. Enough is enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: He took the stand? No, no, no. Once again, time healed all wounds for Senator Graham. In this case, time was less than a week. Graham counted himself back in, flew with Trump on Air Force One to see the border wall with Mexico and heaped glowing praise on him for finally admitting after two months that there would be a new administration.

Graham tweeting quote, President Trump's statement tonight hit the mark. His speech helps move the country move forward.

OUTFRONT now, CNN Senior Political Analyst, John Avlon.

John, you know, Senator Graham, obviously. I feel deserves this, deserves all of this being played. What in the world happened to Senator Lindsey Graham?

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I'll tell you one thing. Do you know what didn't happen is Donald Trump didn't change. Lindsey Graham did.

When Lindsey Graham was lying into him in 2015 when he was the wing man of maverick, John McCain's best friend, he told the truth. Then Donald Trump came into power. And Lindsey Graham started realizing he enjoyed sort of sniffing the throne and get whatever power he could out of that. And look, some folks that maybe it was all about partisan politics, he was afraid of getting primaried and he -- you know, reelection coming up and he knew he wouldn't get primaried of Trump was in his corner.

But since that primary is over, the tune hasn't changed. He can't resist sucking up to the strongman. And it is a real disservice to the memory and to the independence of John McCain that he was such an advocate for, for so long.

BURNETT: I mean, it is amazing, and all of it, right? Enough is enough. I'm out. It's been a great journey and it was an even a week later. He was on Air Force One, congratulating him on his tone. I mean, it is stunning that Lindsey Graham could look at himself in the mirror and act in such a way. In his new memoir, John, former President Obama said Senator Graham

would be at home in a spy thriller or heist movie. He writes, Lindsey is the guy who double crosses everyone to save his own skin. Okay, well that is where he obviously really thinks.

Does he have a point? Has this changed the way that Republicans in Washington respect or don't respect Lindsey Graham?

AVLON: Well, I think you can't say he is someone who is always going to speak his mind and until it like it is. I mean, Obama quote still brings to my memory, Peter Lorian (ph) Casablanca, you know? But, you know, your word is your bond.

Not that long ago, Lindsey Graham was saying that Joe Biden was as good a man that got ever put on this green earth. And then he was telling Donald Trump not to concede the race. He was doubling down on the big lie.

And that's not something you do if you actually believe your word is your bond, and what it is its profile in situational ethics, and that's the opposite of a profile in courage or commitment to principle.

BURNETT: And, you know, there have been so many times, I'm sure you felt the same way as well, but Senator Graham would say something in people would say oh, Senator Graham said that's. He called out the president.

We always have great trepidation and even mentioning it because it was clear that within a certain amount of time he was going to completely go back on what he said and go back to being a sycophant.

I want to focus in on the view of impeachment, though, because, you know, back when President Clinton was in the impeachment crosshairs, here's what Lindsey Graham said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM: Impeachment is not about punishment. Impeachment is about cleansing the office. Impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:55:06]

BURNETT: Okay. So, now, he has got one more vote to cast on this.

AVLON: Yes. And, obviously, if your principles change when partisan politics come into play their, they were never principles in the first place. Full stop.

BURNETT: And that's the bottom line. Well, John, I appreciate your time. Thank you.

AVLON: Thank you, Erin. BURNETT: And we do have some breaking news on President Trump and what

he's doing tonight.

I want to go back to Kaitlan Collins near the White House.

Kaitlan, what have you just learned?

COLLINS: Well, we learned that the president has taped a farewell address. He did so today, my colleague Jeff Zeleny is told, on the state floor on the resident side of the White House, and he ticked through several things in this recorded message that he believes should define his administration. Of course, we know there are several events of controversy like the president's response to the attack on the U.S. Capitol that will define his presidency.

But this is notable given that he's been trying for two weeks now to try to get the president to do a video, listing his accomplishments, he now has finally agreed to do so and my colleague has told -- my colleague Jeff has told us that they are going to release this likely tomorrow. The timing is still unclear.

In this video, we are learning that the president did reference the new administration. He did not necessarily concede. We'll be waiting to see that, because of course we know there has still been no contact between Joe Biden and Donald Trump at this point, that he has recorded a farewell message as he is getting in his last few hours of his time in the White House.

BURNETT: It's amazing, just the bizarreness of these videos. It's like the guy is an exile or (INAUDIBLE) somewhere. I mea, he could still come out and talk whenever he wants to talk. He is the president of the United States. He's just not doing it.

COLLINS: Yeah.

BURNETT: All right. Kaitlan, thank you very much with that new reporting from near the White House.

I want to go now to the Trump's historic snub of the Bidens. In 2017, we all saw the Obamas greet the Trumps at the White House on inauguration day. It was awkward, right? It wasn't full of love, but there was respect, and, you know, it was all appropriate and professional and the way it should be.

That will not happen on Wednesday. Instead, the White House chief usher will have that honor. And it's not just the president completely abdicating the handover responsibility, the current First Lady Melania Trump will not be providing the First Lady Jill Biden, the incoming first lady, with the White House toward prior to departure.

Kate Bennett is OUTFRONT.

And, Kate, we have never seen a snub like this in the U.S. presidential transfer of power even though there have been a couple of presidents who have and puffed not wanting to be there on Inauguration Day. We have never seen anything like this. KATE BENNETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It is so true. You know,

there have been very contentious battles. I mean, you know, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and, you know, we have seen these moments go through history but there has always been that iconic moment where the new president and his family meets the old president coming out of his -- that won't happen this time.

And, in fact, as you said, the chief usher of the White House will be one of the people who will still be sticking around to greet the Bidens as they come in. And so, there are a lot of norms being broken. And people have said that this is bad optics that, they should do it, but it's more about doing the right thing.

I think that's the point that we need to make here is that the Trumps have decided, both of them, to just leave town, and that is truly a first in history.

BURNETT: Right, but there are just some traditions you do, just because you do them, because people want the imagery and they want the sort of this -- the feeling of safety. Goodness knows no more than ever people want.

So, the first lady today released a farewell message video again. This is about her best campaign, which is which he called it. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: I ask every American to be an ambassador of the best, to focus on what unites us, to raise above what divides us and to always choose love over hatred, peace over violence, and others before yourself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Okay, so go ahead.

BENNETT: Well, I was going to say as Kaitlan just mentioned this is a video from the first lady telling -- touting her accomplishments.

However, you know, Be Best was a very sort of convoluted platform. I don't think I could ask the average person on the street who were the great pillars of Be Best and they would know. But this is a first lady who is leaving office with the lowest favorable ratings of anybody -- any first lady of modern history and most of her most recent predecessors.

Melania Trump right now in the CNN poll has a 42 percent favorable rating among people that CNN polled. That is 52 percent is the next favorable rating higher. That was Hillary Clinton when she was first lady. Rosalynn Carter was at 59 percent.

And, of course, the two most recent first ladies, Melania Trump's predecessor Michelle Obama and Laura Bush -- Michelle Obama was at 69 percent when she left. And Laura Bush at 67 percent favorable.

So, clearly, the American people are going to remember her tenure as a first lady as one that, you know, was just as challenging as her husband in terms of popularity.

BURNETT: Yeah, yes. Her acquiescence.

Thank you very much, Kate. I appreciate your time.

BENNETT: Thank you.

BURNETT: And thanks to all of you.

Anderson starts now.