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2 Officers Killed at Virginia College During Standoff; ABC Suspends Whoopi Goldberg for 2 Weeks Over Holocaust Remarks; January 6th Committee to Investigate Trump's Role in Insurrection; Ex-UCLA Instructor Arrested for 'Very Violent, Alarming' Manifesto; U.S. Braces for Russian Cyberattacks Amid Ukraine Crisis; On Frontlines as Ukraine Preps for Potential Invasion. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired February 02, 2022 - 06:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to viewers here in the United States and around the world. It is Wednesday, February 2, and I'm Brianna Keilar with John Berman on this Groundhog's [SIC] Day.

[05:59:47]

We do begin with police under assault across America. The new heartbreak in Virginia, where two officers were shot and killed on the campus of a private college in Bridgewater during an active shooter standoff. Officer J.J. Jefferson and Officer John Painter, known as the Dynamic Duo, lost their lives in this, one of whom was the best man at the other's wedding just this year.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Now on the same day here in New York City, an off-duty police officer was shot by two suspects who tried to rob him while he was on his way to work. We are told the officer is in stable condition.

And it happened on the eve of the funeral for 27-year-old NYPD Officer Wilbert Mora, who was killed alongside his colleague during an ambush almost two weeks ago.

In Texas, during the emotional funeral for a deputy who was shot and killed during a traffic stop, officials called the judicial system broken.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONSTABLE TED HEAP, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS PRECINCT 5: This has to stop. Those in authority who are coddling the criminals and enabling this behavior have culpability, just as those who are pulling the trigger.

We cannot continue to do our jobs effectively when the rest of the judicial system is broken.

People need to be held accountable, because enough is enough. There's no other way to say it. We're tired. We're tired. We're tired physically. And we're tired emotionally. This is a fight between good and evil. And we will not let evil prevail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: In just the past two weeks alone, officers shot in Houston, St. Louis, Milwaukee, New York and now Virginia, which is where we are heading now to Alexandra Field, who is covering this story. Alexandra, what happened in Bridgewater?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, those were two officers killed on the campus that they were meant to protect.

John Painter, J.J. Jefferson were responding to reports of a suspicious person on campus. We know there was some kind of brief encounter before both officers were shot at.

The president of the college putting out this statement expressing his heartbreak, the community's heartbreak, really, saying, "These officers were close friends, known to many of us as the Dynamic Duo. John was J.J.'s best man in his wedding this year. They were beloved by students, faculty and staff. I hurt for their families and loved ones, as I know we all do."

Brianna, that suspect fled on foot quickly after. We know that he waded through a river and onto an island in the river, where he was detained. He's now facing a slew of charges. A 27-year-old Virginia man.

Law enforcement also investigating a number of firearms associated with him.

President Biden expressing his condolences to the families of the officers whose lives were lost. Overnight, he also tweeted, saying this in regard to the recent spate of attacks on law enforcement officers: "Gun violence against law enforcement officers is sickening, and it must end" -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Alexandra, thank you for that report.

BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight, ABC News suspended "The View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks over her comments that the Holocaust was, quote, "not about race."

The president of ABC News, in a statement, said the words were wrong and hurtful. Now, Goldberg had apologized for her remarks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHOOPI GOLDBERG, HOST, ABC'S "THE VIEW": I said something that I feel a responsibility for not leaving unexamined. Because my words upset so many people, which was never my intention. And I understand why now. And for that, I am deeply, deeply grateful, because the information I got was really helpful and helped me understand some different things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: CNN's Oliver Darcy joins me now.

Oliver, again, the suspension came after that apology, after a written apology. Is this surprising?

OLIVER DARCY, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: You know, John, I was a little surprised because it did come after that apology. But I wasn't shocked, having talked to ABC staffers throughout the day yesterday. T

I think there are really two schools of camp. Some people were saying, look, she apologized. You don't really punish ignorance. You applaud when someone goes on air, they say that they were wrong, and they use it as a learning lesson, which is what Whoopi Goldberg did.

The other school of thought was that, look, if anyone else at ABC News had said this, they would be suspended. They would face disciplinary action, and that Whoopi Goldberg not facing any disciplinary action showed that she was immune to the rules.

So there was this pressure, I think, mounting internally at ABD News from some staffers who felt something needed to be done, which led to Kim Godwin, the network president putting out the statement yesterday suspending Whoopi Goldberg.

She said in her statement, "I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her wrong and hurtful comments. While Whoopi has apologized, I've asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments. The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family, and communities."

It seems like there was just really nothing, I think, Godwin could do yesterday to satisfy everyone at ABC News and externally.

BERMAN: I guess there are two questions here. What her co-hosts on "The View" think about this. Do we have any visibility on that?

And then just broaden it out. Because this does get to the larger discussion of, OK, you screw up, you apologize. What then?

DARCY: Right. Well, I talked to Ana Navarro, who is a CNN contributor, and she's also a person who guest hosts on "The View" quite a bit.

And she had told me before the suspension came down that, look, no one thinks that Whoopi Goldberg is an anti-Semite. She's been a long ally of the Jewish community. She -- she made a mistake. She came out; she apologized. And that's what we do.

And it's unscripted live television. And things are going to be said that don't sit well with others. And mistakes are going to be made. But at the end of the day, what matters is you come out, you apologize for your remarks. And that's what Whoopi Goldberg did.

And so I think that is a sentiment on "The View" and among a lot of ABC News staffers, who were a little surprised that the suspension had come down, given that she did, you know, invite the Anti-Defamation head on the program yesterday to have this conversation. He said he accepted her apology. And it seemed to be this learning mention.

And so for the suspension to come down hours later did surprise a lot of people. But again, there was also internal pressure for Godwin to do something. She was getting it from both camps inside ABC News: people who wanted action and people who felt that the apology should stand for its own.

BERMAN: Oliver Darcy, thanks so much for your reporting. Appreciate it.

DARCY: Thank you.

KEILAR: Donald -- Donald Trump's threat toward voting machines shows just how dangerous things were for democracy. Also for the road ahead.

And now the January 6th Committee plans to investigate Trump's role in his attempt to reverse his 2020 election loss among a flurry of other developments.

Joining us is now is Pete Aguilar, Democratic congressman from California. And he's also a member of the January 6th Committee.

Sir, thank you so much for being with us this morning. We do have a lot to discuss here.

We've also -- we've learned, of course, this week that former President Trump was directly involved in these voting machine seizure executive orders. Is the committee then directly investigating Trump for a coup attempt now?

REP. PETE AGUILAR (D-CA): Well, these are -- these are details that we continue to look at and investigate. Our own investigative process is under way. We're not going to detail exactly where we are.

But to say that this is dangerous or what the former president did was dangerous is an understatement. You know, we were at the doorstep to a democratic and constitutional crisis. And I think it's important to acknowledge that.

And the committee's work will continue to unravel the pieces here and will ultimately tell the truth to the American public, which is what we promised to do.

KEILAR: One of Stewart Rhodes's lawyers -- Stewart Rhodes, of course, the founder of the Oath Keepers who was there January 6th, said that he's testifying before the committee today remotely. Can you confirm that?

AGUILAR: I'm not going to comment on specific interviews or individuals who we have talked to or will be talking to.

But what I can tell you is every day we continue to make progress. Over 475 witnesses have come forward, either voluntarily or through a subpoena. And we continue to make progress. So under the leadership of Chairman Thompson and Vice Chair Cheney, we're making significant headway.

KEILAR: The -- that lawyer also said that Rhodes would be invoking his Fifth Amendment rights. Expected to be quite a bit. What do you get out of a witness when they're doing that?

AGUILAR: Well, when that happens, we can at least put on the record the questions that we intend to ask. And then, if it's appropriate, we can have conversations about next steps to get them to answer those questions.

And so we have tools that we can use in order to compel testimony. The committee needs to decide whether we want to pursue that.

But ultimately, this is a case-by-case decision. And that individual obviously is facing, you know, federal crimes and indictments.

So I'm not certain what our path forward will be. We clearly are supportive at the Department of Justice carrying on their piece of this, which is to prosecute individuals who committed wrongdoing.

KEILAR: That lawyer represents other January 6th defendants and said that Rhodes and others would welcome a Trump pardon. Is Trump tampering with witnesses when he's talking about pardons, when he's dangling them in front of 1-6 defendants?

AGUILAR: Absolutely. And I think the question is more from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. You know, where -- where are they? Do they support this? When is enough enough?

When a mob is chanting hang Mike Pence, it wasn't enough. When the former president asked Brad Raffensperger to find him 11,000 votes, it wasn't enough. Now he's, you know, dangling pardons, if he gets back in office, for individuals. Will that be enough, or will there be more collective amnesia? You know, I just don't know where the floor is these days on that side of the aisle.

[06:10:08]

KEILAR: Congressman, can you tell us what is the delay with asking former Vice President Pence to appear? Because Chairman Thompson said earlier, in January, that that was going to happen by the end of -- end of January.

AGUILAR: Well, we're still taking witness testimony. We're trying to be deliberate and thoughtful, but we're also being respectful of the office of the vice president.

And so we continue to -- to make progress. And if it's appropriate and when it's appropriate, the chairman will have more to share on that.

But we are making significant progress, with or without that testimony. But I understand the newsworthy nature of it.

KEILAR: What does that mean, being respectful? Is he reticent to testify?

AGUILAR: Well, it means that we're being thoughtful. We're not rushing to any decisions here. We're being respectful of the office. We're trying to get testimony from individuals who were around the former vice president. And we are still processing a lot of documents that the Archives has sent.

And obviously, in any interview we want to do, we want to be prepared. And that means we have to process the documents and get prepared for that -- for that witness. And so we continue to take on documents that the Archives have sent over from the office of the vice president, and we'll proceed thoughtfully and respectfully.

KEILAR: The former president actually called on your committee to investigate former Vice President Pence for not over turning election results. What was your reaction to that?

AGUILAR: You know, again, I'm not surprised much. He said the quiet part out loud. He clearly told and telegraphed to everyone what his intention was. And it was very, very clear to those of us who were on the House floor that day and to those of us who took an impeachment vote.

He wanted to overturn the election. And he clearly wanted to use every tool possible from November to January 6th in order to do that. Whether it was election machines or using the levers of the Department of Justice or Department of Defense or Homeland Security. All of that should be frightening to the American public.

KEILAR: Has anything surprised you from the records that you've gotten from the National Archives?

AGUILAR: Yes. I think that we learned things through all of this -- through all of these document productions. And so there have been things that -- that confirm details that we already know. And there have been new pieces that -- that have been helpful to aid in our investigation.

KEILAR: And how many of them were ripped up and had to be taped back together, and what sized pieces are we talking about?

AGUILAR: I can't comment on that. And I haven't physically seen the document that was reported in public.

But we do know through other public reporting from a few years ago, this was a practice that the former president undertook. There was -- there was actually individuals on staff who were following him around and taping back these pieces of paper, because it's out of compliance with the Presidential Records Act, when he did that. And so that's all public sourced and reported.

It's just -- it's maddening that he continued to do that, clearly, with sensitive documents. But you know, I'm no lawyer, but generally, when someone tears things up or shreds things, it's because they don't want them read.

KEILAR: Yes. Congressman Pete Aguilar, thank you for being with us this morning.

AGUILAR: Thanks, Brianna.

KEILAR: So coming up, a former UCLA lecturer is in custody after police say he sent a very disturbing 800-page manifesto filled with violent threats to the school. What court documents here show.

Plus, should Democrats endorse anti-Trump conservatives to save democracy? Our next guest believes it is the only way to take on Trumpism in the midterm elections.

BERMAN: And this just in. It is Groundhog Day. The big rodent will soon look for its shadow. We have a remarkable statistical breakdown of just how accurate this foolish beast really is.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:18:38]

BERMAN: This morning a former lecturer at UCLA is in custody and facing federal charges for allegedly threatening the university in what authorities say is an alarming and very violent manifesto.

CNN's Erica Hill with me now with the latest on this. What's going on here?

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, really disturbing. So 31-year-old Christopher Harris, as you said, a former lecturer, philosophy lecturer at UCLA, is in custody. He was taken into custody in Boulder, Colorado yesterday.

How did this all go down? Well, there was an email that was sent to members of the UCLA community, a threatening email, as it was described, which included an 800-page manifesto.

Now, ultimately, yesterday morning, after folks in California had connected with Colorado, Boulder SWAT team was activated in the morning. As they surrounded Harris's apartment, schools, homes, businesses in the area were evacuated. He was arrested a few hours later.

The police chief in Boulder stressing yesterday the importance of working together with other law enforcement agencies while also talking about just why this manifesto was so concerning, described as alarming and very disturbing. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF MARIS HEROLD, BOULDER, COLORADO, POLICE: Upon reviewing parts of the manifesto, we identified thousands of references to violence, stating things such as killing, death, murder, shootings, bombs, schoolyard massacre and Boulder -- and phrases like "burn and attack Boulder outside of the university."

[06:20:07] I can't state this more strongly. The importance of having collaboration at the federal, state and local levels was critical to the swift resolution of this incident this morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Now, in November, Harris allegedly tried to purchase a firearm but was denied. There is a -- there is a protection order in California, and that is likely why that was denied.

Again, he was arrested facing state charges. On Tuesday night, he was being transferred to federal custody. The Boulder D.A. saying federal charges are pending, because these threats, John, were made across state lines.

BERMAN: Got to say, there's a lot there.

HILL: Yes.

BERMAN: It's a good thing they caught this when they did. Erica Hill, thank you very much.

Happening now, U.S. officials bracing for Russian cyberattacks as the Ukraine standoff escalates. What the FBI is now warning businesses here in the United States.

KEILAR: And CNN's Clarissa Ward visiting Ukraine's front lines, where she got rare access to what it looks like on the ground and how Ukrainians are preparing, should Russia invade.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: We have some new CNN reporting this morning. The U.S. on high alert for potential cyberattacks by Russia as its border standoff with Ukraine escalates. The FBI is advising businesses to report any increase in hacking threats that could target critical U.S. infrastructure.

CNN's Sean Lyngaas joining us now on this story. Sean, what can you tell us about this threat?

SEAN LYNGAAS, CNN CYBERSECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, the FBI is asking businesses to scour their networks and provide any up-to-date information on potential Russian hacking activity.

We should say that there's no specific significant threat to U.S. infrastructure, but U.S. officials have been for weeks, if not months, preparing for any potential backlash in cyberspace from Russia because of the tensions in Ukraine.

And we talked to a number of experts who looked at some of the issues here. And they've been quietly, behind the scenes, combing networks for their clients, including liquefied natural gas utilities that may have been probed.

And all to say that there's sort of a heightened alert right now. And the resiliency of critical infrastructure has improved in recent years. And -- and they're preparing for any potential repercussions because of the Ukraine crisis.

KEILAR: We've seen some interruptions because of Russia-involved, at least, cyber-intrusions. Do you think that companies and agencies have figured this out, how they need to protect themselves?

LYNGAAS: Yes. I think it's never a perfect thing. You know, the attacker needs to only be right once, while the defender has to be right all the time. So there's a lot more awareness and investment in these defenses. And there's a lot of learning also from what's going on in Ukraine right now.

There was a cyberattack about 10, 15 days ago that -- aimed at Ukrainian government agencies, and U.S. officials have been in close contact via the embassy in Kyiv and other points of contact with their Ukrainian partners, saying what are you seeing, is this a new type of malicious code, and how can we learn from it to better defend ourselves?

KEILAR: All right. Sean, we'll be keeping our eyes peeled for that. Sean Lyngaas, thank you.

BERMAN: This morning, CNN with rare access to the Ukrainian front lines, amid growing alarm that Russia is prepared to attack at any time. Thousands of Russian soldiers and tanks massed just miles away.

CNN's Clarissa Ward live in Mariupol in Ukraine. Clarissa, you know, how would you describe the sense of urgency?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: it's pretty extraordinary, John. Because if the Russians did cross that border, the people of Mariupol would be among the first to know. We spent two days now around the city, on the front lines. And we found that, basically, no one seems to be that worried.

They have lived under Russia's shadow for many years. They've had a war with pro-Russian separatists for eight years. And they see what's happening at the moment as largely being a political issue. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WARD (voice-over): This is Ukraine's first line of defense if Russia decides to invade. And it is basic. Half a dozen soldiers in snow- covered trenches. No sign of heavy weapons.

Russian-backed separatists are just half a mile away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WARD (on camera): (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

He's saying that every night, there is fighting once it gets dark. (voice-over): These front lines have been frozen for years. A Russian

offensive would change that in an instant. But the alarm in Washington is not shared here.

(on camera): What's amazing to see is that, despite the buildup of tanks and heavy weaponry on the Russian side of the border, which is less than 20 miles from here, here on the Ukrainian side, there's no sense at all that anyone is preparing for an invasion.

(voice-over): The sergeant here asked we not give his name. He says he doesn't expect conflict, but he is prepared.

"Our commanders told us that we must be alert," he tells us. "We are ready to meet guests from Russia."

(on camera): What kind of weapons do you have at this position? Do you have any heavy weaponry? I don't see any. But I just want to make sure.

(voice-over): "You don't need to see. And the enemy doesn't need to see," he says. But we have everything."

What they don't have here are many layers of defense. Driving from the front, we see just a handful of checkpoints.

If the Ukrainian army can't hold this area --