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House Dems Draft Impeachment Article Charging Trump with "Incitement of Insurrection"; Biden Says Trump Impeachment up to Congress, Forcefully Calls for Full Probe into Capitol Attack; WH: "Politically Motivated Impeachment" will "Only Serve to Further Divide Our Great Country"; Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), Is Interviewed About Trump Impeachment In Wake Of D.C. Riots; Sources: Pelosi Says Joint Chiefs Chairman Assured Her Of Safeguards In Place If Trump Wants To Launch Nukes; 13 People Face Federal Charges Stemming From Riot At U.S. Capitol. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired January 08, 2021 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:35]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to the viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. We are following breaking news.
President Trump now facing the historic stain of possibly becoming the first U.S. president to be impeached twice with proceedings starting perhaps as soon as Monday. CNN has obtained articles of impeachment drafted by House Democrats charging Mr. Trump with incitement of insurrection based on the president's goading of his supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol. Historic assault that led to the deaths of five people.
We have the reaction to the impeachment push just coming in from the White House saying in a statement in what it calls a politically motivated impeachment will quote, "only serve to further divide the country."
And just a short time ago, President-elect Biden said, impeachment is up to the Congress, and he's forcefully called for a full investigation of the terror attack of the U.S. Capitol, which he said has damaged America's reputation around the world. It certainly has.
Let's get straight to the White House. Our chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta is joining us right now. Jim, we are learning that House Democrats could introduce this article impeachment charging the president with incitement of insurrection as soon as Monday.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. And the White House is responding to that with a statement that they put out just in the last hour. We can put this up on screen. This is what it says about this pending impeachment proceedings.
It says, "A politically motivated impeachment against a president within 12 days remaining in his term will only serve to further divide our great country."
Of course, Democrats would disagree that this is politically motivated. They are saying this is absolutely necessary. But aides to the president say there is no way he will resign at this point despite this latest attempt in this threat of a second impeachment before he leaves office.
One Trump adviser told me there is quote, "zero chance Mr. Trump will step down," because the president doesn't think he did anything wrong.
A separate adviser said the White House is reaching out to outside lawyers to start preparing for the potential -- for a rapid impeachment and conviction of President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: USA! USA! USA!
ACOSTA (voice-over): Two days after he cited a bloody siege at the U.S. Capitol, Donald Trump is facing the head spinning prospect of becoming the first U.S. president to be impeached twice.
The sudden commitment to an orderly transition may be too little, too late.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A new administration will be inaugurated on January 20th. My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power. This moment calls for healing and reconciliation.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): Good afternoon.
ACOSTA: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats are now marching toward impeachment proceedings against the president, all the while making sure Mr. Trump doesn't do anything drastic. As Pelosi told her Democratic colleagues: "I spoke to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, to discuss available precautions for preventing an unstable President from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike."
House Democrats say they're ready to move quickly.
REP. JACKIE SPEIER (D-CA): We're not just doing this for the next 12 or 13 days. We're doing this for generations to come. And if we are not willing to state that the acts by the president of the United States to incite domestic terrorism and insurrection is an impeachable offense, then nothing is an impeachable offense.
ACOSTA: If the House impeaches the president, some Senate Republicans who didn't vote to convict and remove Mr. Trump the last time around say they may have had a change of heart.
SEN. BEN SASSE (R-NE): The House, if they come together and have a process, I will definitely consider whatever articles they might move, because, as I have told you, I believe that the president has disregarded his oath of office. ACOSTA: White House advisers say there is zero chance the president
will resign, with one source telling CNN, quote, "He doesn't think he did anything wrong."
But even former White House officials say Mr. Trump should consider stepping down.
ALYSSA FARAH, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: They allowed this myth, this lie to take a life of its own that the election might be overturned. When the moment called for leadership, he did not do the right thing, and lives were lost because of it.
ACOSTA: Some of the president's top enablers are also facing calls to resign, like Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who released a statement condemning the violence at the Capitol, saying, "Now, we must come together and put this anger and division behind us. We must stand side-by-side as Americans. We must continue to defend our Constitution and the rule of law."
[17:05:03]
That's after he was umping up voters in Georgia, likening them to revolutionary soldiers.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): You are patriots, just like the patriots gathered at Bunker Hill, just like the patriots gathered at Valley Forge.
ACOSTA: Other Trump loyalists are feeling the wrath of the Trump base. After GOP Senator Lindsey Graham told Mr. Trump to give up his election fight.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): And when it's over, it is over. It is over.
ACOSTA: Trump supporters were screaming traitor as he walked through the airport.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lindsey Graham, you are a traitor to the country! You know it was rigged! It's going to be like this forever wherever you go for the rest of your life.
ACOSTA: Mr. Trump signaled he won't congratulate president-elect Joe Biden on his Inauguration Day, tweeting, he won't be going, giving the Capitol a break from having the instigator in chief on hand for the transfer of power.
TRUMP: And we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (on camera): And we are learning, the president and first lady are planning to leave for the president's resort at Mar-a-Lago on January 19th, one day before the inauguration. And to this day, we should note, Wolf, the president still has not taken any responsibility, offered no apologies for what happened on January 6th.
A close Trump adviser told me the White House is now in crisis management mode, trying to land the plane, this adviser said in the next 12 days.
And Wolf, one thing we should go back to is what we saw earlier this afternoon just to give our viewers a little bit more context of what we saw over at Reagan National Airport. This is Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the president's long-time supporters, long-time loyalists. He was returning to Washington earlier today, and he was met by an angry mob of Trump supporters. They were screaming at him traitor. Saying this is going to follow you for the rest of your life.
Obviously, these Trump supporters are upset with him after he acknowledged the reality that Joe Biden is going to be the next president of the United States. But Wolf, this is a cautionary tale for Republicans who latched on to the president these last four years. If you live by the base, you could die by the base, too. Wolf?
BLITZER: Very good point. Jim Acosta, thank you.
Let's get some more on this drive to impeach the president for a second time in what would be record time.
Our senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns is joining us from the Capitol. Joe, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says there's even more Democratic support for impeachment this time than there was the last time when the president was impeached. What is the latest?
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Right, Wolf. We are talking about 131 Democrats on the record as supporting this idea.
Now, this is a draft resolution that they put out today. And it is very simple, very straight forward. One article of impeachment for incitement of insurrection. And it just sorts of ticks through the events of January 6th. And it also throws in some information about the president's shakedown call with the secretary of state of Georgia earlier.
So, that is what is in this. That is what the president would be charged with if they go forward. The question now, how quickly are they going to do this?
This could move very fast. In fact, sources have told myself and Manu Raju here up on the Hill that they could introduce this resolution as early as Monday, possibly with the vote mid-week, perhaps even Wednesday. So, you ask yourself, how could they move so quickly?
Pretty simple. The people behind the scenes on this resolution are saying all of the evidence is on the record. It is on television. It is on video. And one Democrat compared it to a police officer personally observing a defendant committing a crime and then arresting that person. The other question of course is how quickly could this resolution if passed by the House of Representatives actually make its way over to the United States Senate and when would the Senate act on it. Well, we're told that is very much up to the Senate.
We do know there are some Republicans who are very reluctant to move forward with this. They would rather just wait out the clock, and let the president leave office on January 20th.
But there are some signs of movement, including Lisa Murkowski, the senator of Alaska. She has now gone on the record and said, she wants the president of the United States to resign. Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House has said that she would prefer to see a resignation or the invocation of the 25th Amendment before they have to move forward with impeachment. Wolf, back to you.
BLITZER: Yes, the Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said - she told the "Anchorage Daily News," I want him to resign. I him out. He has caused enough damage.
Very strong words from this Republican senator.
All right. Joe Johns, thank you very much.
President-elect Joe Biden today dodged the question of whether President Trump should in fact be impeached, saying, it is up to the Congress. But he did not hold back in criticizing President Trump severly saying he is simply not fit to serve.
[17:10:06]
Let's go to CNN's Jeff Zeleny. He is joining us from Delaware right now. So, tell us more, Jeff, about what the president-elect had to say.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, President- elect Biden did not mince his words. He called President Trump an embarrassment to the country. And he said, if there were six months remaining in his term, that would be a different matter. He would support impeachment proceedings, but he neither expressed encouragement or to not discourage from doing it either.
Now, at this hour, he is in a phone call with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, talking about his agenda and other matters. Of course, including this.
But Wolf, the essential question hanging over all of this. If an impeachment proceeding would unify Democrats, would it make it harder for Mr. Biden to unify the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's one of the most incompetent presidents in the history of the United States of America.
And so, the idea that I think he shouldn't be out of office yesterday is not at issue.
ZELENY (voice-over): Tonight, President-elect Joe Biden sparing no words for President Trump. But not embracing impeaching him in the final days of a tumultuous term.
BIDEN: So, I think it's important we get on with the business, getting him out of office. The quickest way that that would happen is us being sworn in on the 20th.
ZELENY: Biden insisted it was up to Congress to decide how the deal with Trump's conduct that incited deadly violence at the Capitol. He said his focus was moving the nation through its mounting and grave challenges.
BIDEN: I am focused on the virus, the vaccine and economic growth. What the Congress decides to do is for them to decide.
ZELENY: Biden issued a forceful call for a full investigation into the breach of the Capitol. An attack that he said was carried out by thugs and domestic terrorists.
BIDEN: The damage done to our reputation around the world by the president of the United States encouraging a mob, a mob. This reminded me more of a state I visited over the 100 countries that I have gone to in third, in tin horn dictatorships. It just cannot be sustained. It has to be immediately, immediately investigated in depth and people have be held accountable.
ZELENY: Tonight, Biden said the events of the week made him reconsider his hope that Trump would attend the Inauguration to show the world America's peaceful transfer of power.
BIDEN: One of the few things he and I have agreed on. It's a good thing him not showing up.
ZELENY: He said Vice President Pence was welcome and noted that he was heartened that so many leading Republicans stood against Trump's attempt to steal the election.
BIDEN: I've worked very hard with and against the former - soon to be former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. I thought what he said on the floor, the United States Senate was in fact the right thing to do. He stood up. He's ashamed.
I spoke with the guy that I have enormous respect for, enormous respect for. And I ran against him, Mitt Romney. I spoke to Mitt this morning again. This is a man that has enormous integrity. Enormous integrity who lives his faith.
ZELENY: When asked about the horrific events of the week, made his task of unifying the country even more difficult, Biden said this.
BIDEN: I think it makes my job easier, quite frankly. have a number of my Republican colleagues, former colleagues. I used to serve in the Senate for a long time, calling me. They are -- many of them are as outraged and disappointed and embarrassed and mortified by the president's conduct as I am and the Democrats are. We must unify the country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY (on camera): But tonight, a question hanging over all of, this Wolf, if there were impeachment proceedings to go forward, what would that do to the efforts to unify the country. That is one of the reasons, we are told, that the president-elect is hesitant to weigh in on this endorsement. He said for impeachment I should say. He said that he is focusing on the vaccine, on COVID and the economy.
Now, Wolf, all of this is happening as he finished announcing his cabinet, his final members here today. It is the most diverse cabinet in history. Wolf?
BLITZER: Yes, it is.
All right. Jeff Zeleny, thank you very much.
Let's to get some more on all of this. Joining us now are chief political correspondent Dana Bash, our chief political analyst Gloria Borger, CNN political correspondent Abby Phillip and our legal analyst Carrie Cordero.
You know, Dana, CNN is just now getting new details about what the president was actually doing while these domestic terrorists were attacking the U.S. Capitol. I know you're getting new information. What can you tell us?
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: And this is coming to us from our Capitol Hill team led by Sunlen Serfaty.
This is remarkable. And it is President Trump and Rudy Giuliani while the rioters were moving towards and beginning to storm the Capitol, what was he doing?
[17:15:03]
He was trying to call his most ardent supporters in the Senate to urge them to keep up the fight to object to the certification of the Electoral College, and we know this because the president accidentally called somebody who was not on his side. And that is Republican Senator Mike Lee and asked for Senator Tommy Tuberville who is a new Republican member from Alabama.
And according to this remarkable reporting, this was just right before the Senate was shut down and senators were evacuated. When Senator Lee picked up the phone, he realized that the president was looking for Tommy Tuberville, had to find that senator so that the president could use that cellphone and talk to him about again, stopping the Electoral College.
And that is where the president's focus was as these rioters were beginning to tear apart the United States Capitol. It is not where he claims it was which is calling the National Guard and we have this reality now based on a real-time phone call to the Senate. BLITZER: It is really sick. Because U.S. senators, the U.S. representatives, including the vice president himself, who was the president of the Senate, was up on Capitol Hill. Potentially, their lives were endangered as a result of all of this.
You know, Gloria, how incredible is it that we're now on the cusp of President Trump potentially being impeached a second time?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: It is incredible, Wolf. I mean just a year ago, just about a year ago we were all covering the first impeachment of Donald Trump. And I remember at the time we were asking the question, well, you know if he doesn't get convicted, he might be back here again. And of course, here he is.
And I think that what you are seeing is people on Capitol Hill and elsewhere just saying get rid of the guy. How can we do it? What is the fastest way even with less than two weeks left, one day might make a difference with him?
And so, you are seeing that people are pushing for the 25th Amendment. Mike Pence wants no part of that. So that goes away. People are pushing for impeachment saying that we have to do it. Senator Murkowski of Alaska saying, you know, just get out of here, just resign.
You can see the frustration from people saying he has to be held to account for what he has done and in inciting this mob to go and attack the Capitol of the United States, and people just want to do something.
BLITZER: You know, Abby, the White House, as we reported just put out that statement saying impeachment would quote, "only serve to further divide the country" and that this is a time for healing and unity. Unity has not exactly been President Trump's priority. Not just recently, but over the past four years has it?
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, not at all, Wolf. I mean, really, that statement is just give me a break. The White House knows that the opportunity for President Trump to pursue unity would have come, you know, on Election Day, and on Election Night when he could have not claimed victory before the votes were counted. It could have come on the day that Joe Biden won enough Electoral College votes, when he could have conceded this race.
He spent the last two months seeding his supporters with lies and conspiracy theories and fomenting them so much so that yesterday, they marched on the Capitol and rioted. And he could have created really awful situation that already as bad as it was, left five people dead.
So, look, this is a ridiculous statement on the White House's part, and you certainly cannot ask the people who are responsible for where we are right now to be the ones prescribing the solution to the problem.
BLITZER: That is good. That's an important point. You know, Carrie, Democrats, they are preparing just one, just one article of impeachment and titled incitement of insurrection. How strong is their standing, their evidence, their case, in this particular operation?
CARRIE CORDERO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Their case is strong, and Wolf. And those are exactly the right words and it goes to what Dana reported a few minutes ago, which was that this mob was there with a purpose.
They were not just there to protest. They weren't just there to exercise their First Amendment rights. They weren't just there to peaceably assemble.
They were there for the purpose of stopping the certification of the 2020 election results. That was their objective. And that is what the president in his remarks to that crowd earlier in the day incited them to do, and this is a circumstance where words really matter, Wolf.
And so, I am going to look at the notes, because here is what the president said that morning.
He said, quote, "You'll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength."
And then he said, quote, "We must stop this deal. You better do it before we have no country left."
[17:20:00]
And those are the words that were not just exercising his First Amendment rights, but he was inciting them to then try to stop the actual functioning of government under the constitutional process of certifying the vote. And so, that is why this article of impeachment is using exact right language.
BLITZER: Key word incitement because clearly that is what the president was doing in those remarks just before all of the rioters left where he was and walked up to Pennsylvania Avenue to the U.S. Capitol and we know what happened then.
Everybody, standby. This is an important note to our viewers for an in depth look at this truly historic event - historic events of the week, join me Sunday night for a CNN Special Report: "The Trump Insurrection. 24 hours that Shook America." Sunday night at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, only here on CNN.
There's more breaking news we're following with more on the push by House Democrats to rapidly impeach President Trump once again.
I will talk about it with one of the drivers of the effort, Congressman Ted Lieu.
Plus, the death of a Capitol police officer prompts a murder investigation as more than a dozen people are arrested in connection with the assault on the Capitol. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:25:07]
BLITZER: We are following multiple breaking stories in the wake of the pro-Trump mob's attack on the U.S. Capitol. At least 13 people now faced federal criminal charges.
Our senior justice correspondent Evan Perez is monitoring the investigation for us. You're getting new information. Evan, what are you learning?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, this is a nationwide investigation now. We have hundreds of agents from the FBI, the ATF, other Justice Department agencies as well as prosecutors around the country who are trying to help find and prosecute some of the people who were responsible for this terror attack at the U.S. Capitol.
And one of the top priorities is finding the cop killers. The people who were responsible for the death of the U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick. He's 42 years old. He was on life support and finally passed away late last night here in Washington.
We learned some of the identities of the people who have already been charged here in federal court. And I will give you just a snippet of some of those people. The names of those people. One of them is Richard Barnett. He is from Arkansas. And he is the one who is seen in these viral photographs with his foot -- with his feet on the desk of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. And of course, he posted some of the stuff on social media.
That is one of the things that prosecutors have found very helpful. The fact that like a lot of terrorists they are proud of what they did, and they posted it on social media. And so, Barnett is one of those people. He is charged with three counts knowingly entering restricted grounds, violent disorderly conduct, theft of public property. He took items from the speaker's office, Wolf.
Another one who has been charged is Lonnie Coffman. He is 70 years old. The police were investigating some pipes - from alleged pipe bombs near the Capitol and they found inside his red pickup truck. He is from Alabama. They found an assault rifle, 11 Molotov cocktails. They were made apparently with some kind of mixture that is essentially homemade napalm.
And there's one other - one that - who went viral with some of his images. His name is Derrick Evans. He is a delegate from the West Virginia House of Delegates. And he is charged with illegally entering the Capitol, Wolf.
BLITZER: There are so - as I keep pointing out, there's so much closed-circuit cameras all around Capitol Hill. These individuals - let's call them what they were terrorists. They are so stupid. They didn't realize there is going to be a lot of evidence to charge them and they could wind up in jail for a long, long time.
Evan, thank you very much.
Joining us now, Democratic Representative Ted Lieu of California. He's a key member of the Judiciary Committee.
Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. You are co-authoring the impeachment resolution which we're learning includes one article, it's called incitement of insurrection. So, explain briefly that charge.
REP. TED LIEU (D-CA): Thank you, Wolf. Donald Trump at the rally told his supporters to march to the Capitol. He told them that you can't take our country back if you show weakness. He told them to show strength, and as a result, he incited this mob to invade the Capitol not because Congress was debating tax cuts, but because we were accepting the certifying Electoral College results that showed that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are going to be the president and vice president. So, he was attempting a coup and insurrection. And that is what this article impeachment addresses.
BLITZER: The House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a call with House Democrats today. Take us inside that call, Congressman, if you can. How much support is there within your Democratic caucus for this one impeachment resolution?
LIEU: I don't want to go into the details the of internal deliberations, but what I will say is that call was emotional, people were angry, and there was overwhelming support to remove the president of the United States.
BLITZER: The White House put out a statement just a few minutes ago, saying -- I will read a couple of sentences. "A politically motivated impeachment against a president with 12 days remaining in his term will only serve further divide our great country."
So, what is your response, Congressman, to that? Could it serve to further divide the country at a time when a new president in 12 days will take office?
LIEU: We cannot heal our country if we just ignore what happened on Wednesday. This was an insurrection and attempted coup where multiple people died including a law enforcement officer that reportedly was bludgeon by fire extinguisher. And if we don't address this, if we just sit around and issue strongly worded press releases, we would have failed our nation. And that why we have to do impeachment. That's why we have to let the future generations know that Congress acted swiftly when our nation and our Capitol was attacked.
BLITZER: I also want to ask you something that just happened also just a little while ago, the Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, she became the first Republican senator actually publicly call for the president to resign. How much support do you think you will have in both from Republicans on this effort?
[17:30:00]
LIEU: So we crafted the article of impeachment narrowly, without any inflammatory rhetoric with the goal of gaining Republican support. I'm very pleased for Senator Murkowski's comments. I'm also pleased that Senator Ben Sasse today said he would be open to articles of impeachment, and with every day we build additional support. Right now we already have 150, actually over 150 cosponsors of this impeachment resolution.
BLITZER: Let me ask you where you were, what was going on, on the day of this insurrection when all of these rioters, these mobs, these pro- Trump mobs attacked the U.S. Capitol?
LIEU: I was in a Cannon House Office Building when Capitol Police came up my office and told us to evacuate immediately. So we evacuated. Eventually, I was able to find my way to my colleague David Cicilline's office and the Rayburn Office Building. And the momentary fear we felt passed and it morphed into anger and shock as you saw what was happening. And then we started to draft articles of impeachment that very same day.
BLITZER: Representative Ted Lieu, thank you so much for joining us. I'm really happy you're OK. Appreciate it very much. Good luck.
LIEU: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: There's more breaking news just ahead, including what we're learning about a conversation between the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the chairman of the U.S. Military's Joint Chiefs of Staff about President Trump's ability to launch a nuclear attack during these final 12 days in office. This is really worrisome. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:36:14]
BLITZER: There's more breaking news this hour. The House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is saying that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has assure her there are safeguards in place should President Trump attempt to launch a nuclear attack during his final 12 days in office.
Our Pentagon correspondent Oren Liebermann is working the story for us. He's joining us from the Pentagon right now. Oren, so democrats clearly are concerned about the President's access to the nuclear launch codes. What are you learning over there?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told House Democrats in a letter today that she'd spoken with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley because of her concern of what she called a quote, unstable President having access to the nuclear codes and having the sole authority and authorization in this country to order a nuclear strike.
That was what she was worried about as you pointed out in the last 12 days of the Trump administration here. She said that General Milley reassured her that there are assurances, safeguards, and precautions in place.
It is only the President who can authorize an order a nuclear strike. And he has what's called the nuclear football near him at all times, which has the paperwork and more required to order and authorize a strike. But that doesn't mean he can do it instantaneously or automatically. There are consultations, assessments, and reviews that are a part of this process. And that includes the military Advocate General as well as the General Counsel to review the process as it moves forward.
A member or rather a former commander of Strategic Command, in charge of the newest nuclear weapons, testified before Congress in late 2017, that if he were given an illegal order to launch a nuclear strike, he would tell the President that that is an illegal order, and then work with the President to find a legal way to conduct whatever it is that the President is trying to do, the mission he's trying to carry out. And that's another key point there.
The order to launch a nuclear strike has to be legal, it has to be moral, and it has to be ethical, and proportionate. All of those are key. So there are multiple safeguards in place to make sure this doesn't simply happen. There's no as there is in popular culture, a giant red button where the President can simply order a nuclear strike. This is a process. There are safeguards. And that's what General Mark Milley reassured Speaker of the House Pelosi that those safeguards are in place, especially in the last 12 days of the administration here.
BLITZER: Good to hear that Oren Liebermann, welcome to the Pentagon. Oren Liebermann, one of our new Pentagon correspondents right now. Thanks so much for joining us.
Joining us now the former Defense Secretary and former Republican Senator William Cohen, Mr. Secretary, thanks so much for joining us. As a former Defense Secretary, do you believe it was actually necessary for the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to seek those kinds of assurances from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff?
WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: I think given the actions of the President in the last few days, I would say last four years, there's always a reason to be worried about his actions. He's impetuous, he's mercurial. He is unsteady and unstable from time to time. So there's always a concern.
What I would say now is that his remaining in office, given what has just taken place, presents a clear and present danger to our national security. And it's not only because of the issue of the nuclear codes, that's a big issue. But the question is, we've always worked during a transition period that we're more vulnerable because we have a new team coming, the old game being replaced.
Adversaries look for weaknesses when they can strike us. The danger here is just the reverse of him ordering something but rather an adversary trying to take advantage of this transition in power and do something that would warrant the President taking action. So then we have a situation with the President may be inhibited from taking action by virtue of the fact that everyone is concerned that he's doing it for immoral illegal purposes. And yet, we are in danger. So the quicker he can get out of office or we can get him out of office, the better and the safer we will be from a national security point of view.
[17:40:07]
BLITZER: Can you just explain, Mr. Secretary, the safeguards that are in place that if the President were to order some kind of rogue military action involving nuclear weapons or otherwise conventional weapons?
COHEN: Well, with respect to any order would go through the chain of command, it would go through the Secretary of Defense down to the commander on the ground as such in the various commands that we have, whether it's strategic, central, or other. He can order that on a conventional basis, which is another thing we should be concerned about.
We're worried about what Iran might do in the next 11 days, if they were to take action that threatened our troops in the region. Will the President be justified in responding or trying to preempt that? The answer is it depends, but it would be or it could be. And that's the danger where we have a President who is under siege, he is I believe, and capable of carrying out the duties of the Office of the President to protect us.
And so yes, he could make that order unconventional weapons. It would be at a very different degree than nuclear, obviously. But there are checks and balances in the system. But this is him being an office is a danger to our national security, particularly as he has been celebrating what the Proud Boys did on Capitol Hill.
And ongoing to the era, initial issue about impeachment or having him taken out of office by the legal process, it may be not, may not be time enough to do something in terms of getting him out. But I think it's really important that both Houses be put on record as saying whether they support the contents of that resolution that's going to be circulated, whether it's impeachment or condemnation, everybody on the Hill ought to be on record as to whether they support what took place on Capitol Hill at the incitement of the President of the United States.
And let's see how many Proud Boys there are on Capitol Hill, who will say no, it's OK.
BLITZER: Thank you for bringing that. That's an important point, either the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, she issued a statement in part saying this, let me read it to you. The situation of this unhinged President could not be more dangerous, and we must do everything that we can to protect the American people from his unbalanced assault on our country and our democracy. So in these final 12 days, Mr. Secretary, what's your biggest concern right now, worst case scenario of what potentially could happen, assuming he stays in office for the next 12 days?
COHEN: Well, he could incite others throughout the country as he has done. There have been other attacks upon the capitals and other states. And he certainly could start a group of them. And remember, as he's saying, let's have a time for healing. I'm prepared to step down, even though I won't come to the swearing out of Joe Biden. What did he say to the people who have incited this, right, he incited.
And this edition is called for sedition. What did he say? We love you. That's the last words we should remember. As he put those pictures up of the people who stormed the Capitol, and who killed, killed a number of people, four that we know about at this particular point. And not a word comes out of our commander-in-chief to the families of those who have been murdered and killed in the stampede and whatever, not a word of condolence, not a word of compassion, simply saying, we love what you've done on Capitol Hill.
BLITZER: Yes, man, as they were leaving to go up to Capitol Hill, he called them patriots. Don't forget about that. Secretary Cohen, thanks so much for joining us.
COHEN: Seditionist.
BLITZER: Seditionist is so but that's, you know, that's actually correct as well.
Also tonight, at least 13 people are facing federal criminal charges stemming from the unprecedented riot over at the U.S. Capitol by this mob urged on by President Trump. Law enforcement was caught stunningly off guard. But this shameful assault on democracy here in the United States didn't come without warning.
CNN senior investigative correspondent Drew Griffin has that part of the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Caught flat footed federal and local officials insist they had no idea the siege would happen.
CHIEF ROBERT J. CONTEE III, DC METROPOLITAN POLICE: There was no intelligence that suggests that there will be a breach of the U.S. Capitol.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): But that seems hardly believable. In the days and weeks before the insurrection the warning signs were clear. Violent and threatening online posts and online call to arms, Operation Occupy The Capitol, one viral post called it. Go to Washington January 6th and help storm the Capitol. We will storm the government buildings, kill cops, kill security guards, kill federal employees and agents, and demand a recount. Trump or war today, that simple, another user posted.
JOEL FINKELSTEIN, DIRECTOR, NETWORK CONTAGION RESEARCH INSTITUTE: The writing was on the wall months ago that this could turn into something extremely violent.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Researchers who track hate violent speech and extremist groups say what happened at the Capitol shows what some dismissed as just online boasting, was actually a plan of action. And some of those who siege the Capitol were prepared.
[17:45:07]
JOHN SCOTT-RAILTON, CITIZEN LAB, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO MUNK SCHOOL: There were men on the Senate floor wearing tactical equipment, carrying zip tie restraints of the kinds that police used to handcuff people. I somehow doubt that they just brought those to a protest.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): The violent rhetoric had wide reach, the nonprofit advanced democracy track 14,080 violence related QAnon Twitter posts just since January 1st on TikTok videos promoting violence reviewed 279,000 times.
SCOTT-RAILTON: If you look at the work of anybody who has been tracking violent extremism in the United States, you will find that they have been issuing warnings regularly about these groups and the language that they're using.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): One of the main Stop the Steal rally organizers, Ali Alexander, told followers on Periscope he and three congressmen were planning something big.
ALI ALEXANDER, PROTEST ORGANIZER: We four schemed up of putting maximum pressure on Congress. We could change the hearts and the minds of Republicans who were in that body hearing our loud war from outside.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): He told followers bring tents, sleeping bags, and other supplies. And added this, if D.C. escalates, so do we. A follower responded to the post, bring a gun. Investigators at the Anti-defamation League say they were sharing the violent posts and concerns about January 6th with law enforcement right up until this week.
JONATHAN GREENBLATT, CEO & NATIONAL DIRECTOR, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: We've been in touch with law enforcement on a very regular basis.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Fearing the warnings were being ignored, the ADL went public.
GREENBLATT: Our level of concern rose so dramatically that on Monday, we actually published a blog to put it out on the public record about our degree of alarm. We weren't surprised by the intensity of what happened.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): What's next? January 20th, researchers are worried about the increasing chatter about violence at the inauguration.
FINKELSTEIN: I think it's very plausible that we are just the beginning of this.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Round two on January 20th, one poster writes on the online forum, The Donald, I don't even care about keeping Trump in power. I care about war. Please take urgent action to save our country. On January 20th it says another post, it's our last chance.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: Wolf, all of us means the same groups who came to the Capitol and stormed the Capitol on January 6th, may already be planning to be back on January 20th. Hopefully, Wolf, hopefully this time law enforcement will be much better prepared.
BLITZER: Yes, what a blunder and intelligence failure, an enormous intelligence failure all around up on Capitol Hill. All right, thank you very much, Drew Griffin reporting.
There's more breaking news we're following and this time involving the pandemic, a very somber record, as COVID-19 kills more than 4,000 Americans in just 24 hours. And now deep concern about a possible homegrown U.S. variant of the virus, we'll talk about it with Dr. Sanjay Gupta when we come back.
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[17:51:37]
BLITZER: The breaking pandemic news tonight, the U.S. coronavirus death toll is now just top 368,000 people. And tonight, the country is facing more than 21.8 million cases following the single deadliest day yet in this crisis.
Let's bring in our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He's got a new book, a really important and fascinating, critically important book entitled "Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age" really important stuff, Sanjay. Thanks so much for writing this book.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: At some point in the next few days, I want to really get into it. But let's talk a little bit about what's going on right now, the breaking news. Specifically, I want you to weigh in on President-elect Biden's plan to release more vaccines after he becomes President immediately rather than a holding them in reserve to guarantee a second dose. Is that the right move?
GUPTA: It could be, Wolf. But it comes with some caveats. I mean, there's a lot of discussion around this. You have doses you want to get them into people as quickly as possible. That's understandable. And if you do that, what the model show if you just like withhold 10 percent of doses as opposed to 50 percent like we are now, you're going to probably reduce hospitalizations and save lives.
The big question, though, Wolf, is are you going to have enough manufacturing capacity to meet the second dose sort of timeframe because, as you know, Wolf, three weeks after the Pfizer vaccine, you need to get the second dose four weeks after the Moderna vaccine. You don't want to run into a situation where there's a shortfall at that point.
Right now, the United States has purchased 200 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine. But 100 million of them may not come until the summer so that timetables probably got to change a little bit. And Moderna they've also purchased 200 million. They got to make sure that the manufacturing is keeping up.
I will add, Wolf, quickly that as you know, Johnson & Johnson and Oxford-AstraZeneca are both in phase three clinical trials. They could be authorized over the next few months as well to try and make up some of this shortfall.
BLITZER: Yes, that would be really important as well. You just got your second dose of the vaccine earlier today. As a practicing physician, which you are, you were one of the first in the line. But as slowly as the rollout is going right now here in the United States, should states begin vaccinating people outside priority groups simply in order to speed things up?
GUPTA: I think so, Wolf, I've talked to several people around the country about this. I mean, the first group was healthcare workers and people in long term care facilities. Talking to people at CVS and Walgreens, the expectation is that by the end of the month, January 25th, that the CVS and Walgreens should have gotten most of the long term care residents inoculated.
But there are people who are elderly, people over the age of 70, people who have preexisting conditions, who could be getting the vaccines now, instead of those vaccines sitting in freezers. So it's -- right now, it's a pretty scattershot approach, Wolf, each state is sort of handling this differently.
And even within states, counties, separate counties are handling this differently. So but I do think that we understand this vaccine helps prevent illness. So the people who are most at risk of developing serious illness really need to be, you know, part of these priority groups now.
BLITZER: Yes, they've distributed about 25 million doses of the vaccines. But only about 5 million Americans so far have received the shot. I still don't understand it. We'll talk about this down the road, Sanjay, why they don't do what they do in a hurricane or tornado. They activate FEMA, the military, and get this distribution out there so people are vaccinated and do it very, very rapidly.
[17:55:13]
Sanjay, thanks once again for joining us. The book once again is entitled "Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age". It's really terrific.
There's more breaking news we're following with more on the rapid push by House Democrats to impeach President Trump for inciting insurrection with proceedings possibly beginning up on Capitol Hill as early as Monday.
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