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House Democrats On Track To Introduce Article Of Impeachment Monday, Key Lawmaker Says; New Arrests In Connection With Deadly Capitol Riot; New Arrests In Connection With Deadly Capitol Riot; Biden: Treat "Thugs" Who Attacked Capitol As Domestic Terrorists; Trump Tries To Get Around Twitter Ban; Over Two Million New COVID-19 Cases & 24,000 Deaths This Year; Biden To Release Nearly All Available COVID-19 Vaccine Doses; Study Says Pfizer Vaccine Appears To Be Effective Against New Strain. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired January 09, 2021 - 17:00   ET

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

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[17:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. This is a special edition of THE SITUATION ROOM.

And we're following breaking news on the race by House Democrats to impeach President Trump over the riot at the U.S. Capitol. They're firmly on track right now to introduce a single article of impeachment On Monday, charging the president of the United States with inciting insurrection.

One key lawmaker says 180 House Democrats already have now signed on as co-sponsors as the president stares down the prospect of a second impeachment. Sources tell CNN he is considering a potential defense team that would likely include Rudy Giuliani and possibly Alan Dershowitz.

Also breaking, new arrests as authorities hunt down riot suspects. Federal charges were just filed against the man seen carrying Speaker Nancy Pelosi's lectern as well as another man who wore a bearskin headdress during the riot.

First, let's go to our Senior Congressional Correspondent, Manu Raju. Manu, walk us through these really fast-track developments on the timetable for impeachment.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it was moving very fast and expecting a vote could happen in just a matter of days. The one concern some Democrats have is the precedent they would set by moving so quickly on impeachment. Typically, an impeachment inquiry takes months, but this could take a matter of days.

And Democrats say the reason why they are moving so quickly is because the matter is urgent and they say the president is a concern to the American public's safety in the aftermath of what happened on Wednesday and the president inciting violence that led to the deadly mob attack against the U.S. Capitol that led to the death of one U.S. Capitol police officer and others as well.

Now, what the Democrats are proposing is to charge President Trump with inciting an insurrection. That would come in the aftermath of him being impeached by the House in 2019 on two other charges of abuse of power as well as obstruction of Congress. The president will be the first president ever to be impeached on multiple occasions, twice. That would be the first time ever in American history.

Right now, Democrats have 180 co-sponsors behind this resolution. We expect them to have more votes when it comes time to vote. They have not officially said, Wolf, that there would be a vote on the House floor to impeach President Trump, but all signs are pointing to that, because Nancy Pelosi has said the president must resign or Vice President Mike Pence must invoke the constitutional effort and the 25th Amendment to push the president out of office. Neither of which appear to be happening here, so the Democrats plan a vote potentially by the middle of this week to impeach the president, which is days left in his term, Wolf.

BLITZER: And as you say, they already have 180 Democrats on board. You need a simple majority in the House, 218. If there's a full House of Representatives that particular day and they presumably have those votes and I suspect a few Republicans will join them as well.

If the House, Manu, does impeach, how quickly could the Senate then take up the trial, because, as you know, as all of our viewers by now know, the Senate would have to convict?

RAJU: Yes, they would absolutely, by two-thirds majority. But there's a problem. The Senate is not in session, not until January 19th, the day before Donald Trump leaves office. And Mitch McConnell, the majority leader of the Senate, sent a memo to his colleagues late yesterday saying that, essentially, in order for them to come back for an impeachment trial, all 100 senators would have to agree to change the U.S. Senate's schedule to come back and schedule the trial.

Now, that essentially will not happen. So what is going to happen if the House does impeach is that an impeachment trial could actually take place after Donald Trump leaves office. It could happen, presumably, on January 20th and the afternoon when Joe Biden is the president that day and when the Democrats that day also formally take control of the Senate majority, or it could even happen as soon as January 21st, according to Mitch McConnell, when he will be the minority leader of the Senate.

Now, the question, Wolf, is if the Democrats do go that far, will Republicans also join them in this effort. One Republican today, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, said he didn't know if he would support voting to convict this president, but he did say the president has committed impeachable offenses.

So you're seeing a much different tune from Republicans now than what happened in 2019, the first time Donald Trump was impeached. The question is, will they get to the point where they can convict him, and if it happens after he leaves office, could they prevent him from running for office again, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. And as you pointed out, if, in fact, he is impeached, he would be the first American president to be impeached twice, twice.

Manu, stand by. We're going to get back to you in just a moment, but we have more breaking news right now on the president's potential legal defense team if this second impeachment becomes a reality.

[17:05:08]

Let's go to our White House Correspondent, Jeremy Diamond. Jeremy, so tell our viewers what you're learning.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, as the president stares down the barrel of an unprecedented, as you just mentioned, second impeachment, the president is beginning to consider who will be on his impeachment defense team.

And according to two sources familiar with the matter, I'm learning that the president is considering Rudy Giuliani, expecting Rudy Giuliani to represent him in a potential Senate trial, Senate impeachment trial, and that the president is also considering Alan Dershowitz, the controversial attorney, to also potentially represent him in an eventual impeachment trial.

These sources say though that other individuals who were involved in the president's defense during that first impeachment trial, including the constitutional attorney, Jay Sekulow, the White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, and Attorney Jane Raskin, those individuals, those attorneys are not expected to join the president in representing him. In fact, we know that the president has been at loggerheads with Sekulow and Cipollone in recent weeks over diverging views over how the president has handled the -- his loss in the 2020 election.

And, Wolf, as all of this is happening, what we are watching now is a president at his -- perhaps his most vulnerable and isolated position in his entire presidency. The president is not only losing support from Republicans, Republican lawmakers, but he is also witnessing resignations within his own administration, several senior White House officials and administration officials resigning in the last week, including two cabinet secretaries.

And to cap it all off, Wolf, the president was last night was permanently banned from Twitter, taking away one of his key outlets for venting his frustrations and attacking his political opponents. The president vying defiantly at the POTUS account, his official government account on Twitter, we will not be silenced, but he promptly was silenced, Wolf, because those tweets were also taken down by Twitter.

And lastly, Wolf, what we are also learning is that while the president has no regrets, it seems, and certainly has not reflected on his role in inciting that mob that rioted on Capitol Hill just this past Wednesday, the president does appear to regret one thing, and that is that video that he was essentially pressured into filming by White House aides in which the president committed to a peaceful transfer of power and called for healing and reconciliation. Sources telling CNN that it appears the president does regret filming that video.

BLITZER: Yes, just look at that video, you can see how uncomfortable he was uttering those scripted words that his advisers insisted that he make, and he made it and now, as you're pointing out, he's regretting doing that.

There are also, on top of all this, Jeremy, some new reports out there about how far President Trump went to try to overthrow the election results in the state of Georgia. Tell us what we're learning.

DIAMOND: That's right, Wolf. We have known for the last week the extent or the beginnings, at least, of the extent of the president's concerns about the state of Georgia and what went on there as far as the election, and his efforts to overturn the results there from his call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

But now, The Wall Street Journal is also reporting that it was the White House that forced one of Georgia's U.S. attorneys, the U.S. attorney for the northern district, that is Byung Pak, to resign on Monday because of the fact that the president felt Attorney Pak was not sufficiently pursuing allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 election.

And beyond that, Wolf, the president didn't allow Pak's deputy, who would normally be the one to succeed him as acting U.S. attorney, to actually take over. Instead, the president appointed the U.S. attorney for the southern district of Georgia, Bobby Christine, to take over Pak's role.

And we're also learning, Wolf, that the president, in addition to calling the Georgia secretary of state, that also last month he called one of Georgia secretary of state's lead investigators into voter fraud to pressure him to find evidence of voter fraud and encouraging him that he would be a national hero if indeed he found that evidence. Some legal experts, Wolf, have been warning that that could set the president up for liability under obstruction of justice charges. Wolf?

BLITZER: They certainly could. Jeremy, stay with us. I want to bring Manu back as well, also joining us, our Senior Legal Analyst, Laura Coates.

Laura, Democrats are obviously moving very, very quickly to impeach the president for a second time. How strong do you believe their case is?

LAURA COATES, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: It's far stronger than the first impeachment. Remember, prosecutors and, of course, those who were House impeachment managers, they want to draw straight lines. They don't want to have to meander through Latin terms, like quid pro quo, try to guess what somebody's intention was or only to use contextual clues to decide what somebody actually intended through whistleblowers and otherwise.

Now we've got those straight lines and it runs down Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenue where you have the president of the United States making statements that then were explicitly followed.

And you don't have to have a long presentation of evidence and fact- gathering and committee, because every single member of Congress in that all-important joint session were firsthand witnesses.

[17:10:09]

No longer do they have to have discussions about whether to call witnesses, which is a much bigger issue in the last impeachment, of whether they should call someone or not, they themselves were the firsthand witnesses.

And so you've got this now almost urgent action being taken by the House, but the question still remains, as Manu pointed out, you know, the Senate was able to confirm a Supreme Court justice in a matter of days. If they're reluctant now to return to Washington, D.C., to perform this function, well, you have to wonder if it will languish the same way the last impeachment did.

They do have other avenues available, but none like the impeachment to preclude future tenure in office or remove the perks of a former president, like Secret Service, like a pension.

BLITZER: You know, Laura, CNN, as you heard, has also learned the president is considering, once again, using Rudy Giuliani and Alan Dershowitz to defend him during a trial in the Senate, if, in fact, that should unfold. What's your reaction to that?

COATES: Well, with respect to Rudy Giuliani, if this past fall after the election was any indication about his legal prowess, I think that the House impeachment managers will have very little to worry about, about his art of persuasion. And, again, he does not present the same arguments he does in the court of public opinion that he does in a court of law, which is one of the reasons that they lost routinely in front of courts, because there was no evidentiary support for the conspiracy theories he spewed.

With respect to Alan Dershowitz, recall he was vital in the last impeachment, and he is, of course, known for his First Amendment work. I suspect you're looking to Alan Dershowitz because the president's main defense, if he were brought up on these impeachment charges, is to say, this was my First Amendment right. I was not trying to incite. I was simply making statements, perhaps overtures toward people who were questioning the integrity of our elections but I was not inciting a riot.

Alan Dershowitz has a track record of these sorts of cases and I wonder if that is precisely why they are trying to have them. Of course, he's taken more than one credibility hit and, again, the Senate does not have to try to guess at the law here. They are witnesses. They saw what happened. And America and the world did too.

BLITZER: And there's a lot of video out there as well.

You know, Manu, Congressman Ted Lieu of California also says some Republicans will actually vote for the impeachment resolution in the House, could even go ahead and co-sponsor it. That's pretty remarkable. Compare what we're seeing on Capitol Hill right now to what we saw during the last impeachment a year or so ago, which earned, at that time, zero Republican support in the House.

RAJU: Yes, much different situation, because the president's support on Capitol Hill among Republicans is eroding by the day and he has very few defenders who are coming out publicly. And with him on his way out of office, that changes the dynamics completely.

And now the fact that he doesn't even have his Twitter finger to use anymore could presumably free up some Republicans who have always been concerned about being the wrong side of a wayward Donald Trump tweet. So, perhaps more Republicans will be willing to speak out now.

And on top of that, most Republicans that I have spoken to are frankly disgusted about what they saw on Wednesday and about Donald Trump's role in inciting that mob to come to Capitol Hill.

Now, how many Republicans ultimately vote for the impeachment resolution is a question. I imagine in the House side, there will be at least a handful, maybe some will actually co-sponsor the resolution. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois is one Republican who has already called on Donald Trump to be pushed out via the 25th Amendment. So look for people, like-minded Republicans like Kinzinger.

But there aren't that many in the House Republican conference. Remember, Wolf, in the aftermath of the deadly mob violence that we saw, a majority of House Republicans voted to throw out the electoral votes of Arizona and Pennsylvania, so most of them are still in the Trump camp.

But on the Senate side, a different story because you saw Pat Toomey today say the president has committed impeachable offenses. Senator Ben Sasse has said that he will be open to considering it. Senator Lisa Murkowski has already called on Donald Trump to resign. Others feel the same way and it will be only be a matter of time before they speak out too, Wolf. So we will see more Republicans. Will it be enough to convict in the Senate will be the big question, Wolf.

BLITZER: What's truly amazing is all of this is unfolding with Trump only having 11 days left in the White House, 11 days. Manu, Laura, Jeremy, guys, thank you very much, all of you will be back.

And be sure to join me for an in-depth special report on the Capitol riot, The Trump insurrection, 24 Hours That Shook America, airs tomorrow night, 10:00 Eastern.

Coming up, I'll speak live with a co-author of the new impeachment resolution against President Trump, Democratic Congressman David Cicilline, there you see him. He is standing by live. He has very strong views.

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We'll discuss when we come back.

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BLITZER: We're following the breaking news on House Democrats now moving at warp speed to try to impeach President Trump for a second time over his role in the Capitol riot.

Joining us now, Democratic Congressman David Cicilline, he's a member of the House Judiciary Committee, he's also a co-author of the new impeachment resolution. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us.

Your fellow co-author of this amendment -- impeachment resolution, Congressman Ted Lieu, tells CNN the article of impeachment will be introduced Monday if President Trump hasn't resigned by then or if he hasn't been removed from office by then. Do you agree with that timeline?

REP. DAVID CICILLINE (D-RI): Yes. We had hoped the president would resign. We had hoped that the vice president of the United States will invoke the 25th Amendment. But if those two things do not happen, we will introduce the resolution on Monday. We have 185 co-sponsors of the resolution. It's a single article, incitement of insurrection.

[17:20:03]

The American people saw our government attacked. They saw our democracy attacked during a very sacred ritual, the Electoral College, where we have the recorded votes of millions of Americans are formally recognized in the election of a new president, the peaceful transition of power.

The president of the United States incited his supporters, these violent protesters, to storm the Capitol, disrupt that process to try to prevent it from happening so he would remain in office. We have a responsibility to hold him accountable and take this action.

BLITZER: Congressman Lieu also says there will be some Houses Republicans who will vote to impeach President Trump. There were zero House Republicans last time. Are you willing to make that same guarantee?

CICILLINE: Well, I have been on the phone with several of my Republican colleagues over the weekend, and I will continue to do outreach over the weekend. It is my hope that we will be joined in this effort by some Republicans. Some have made public statements acknowledging the gravity of the president's misconduct, and I hope it will be bipartisan. It should be.

The American people watched this unfold on television. It was horrifying to see this kind of violent attack on the citadel of democracy in the middle of this sacred ritual, and we have a responsibility. We took an oath of office to defend and protect the Constitution, and central to that is defending our democracy.

And so I hope we will be joined in this effort, but it's very, very important that we act quickly and that we act in a very clear way and make it clear not only to people all across America but all over the world that we will defend our democracy, and we hold people accountable who attempt to undermine it in this way.

BLITZER: Republican Senator Pat Toomey now says he does think President Trump committed impeachable offenses, but he also says he's concerned that the House could potentially politicize all of this. What's your message to Senator Toomey and other Republicans who are deeply disturbed by the president's actions?

CICILLINE: Well, I hope the Senate will have an opportunity to take whatever action they think is appropriate. It should not be politicized. I think the experience of Wednesday taught the American people that this is a very -- that the president poses a very serious threat to our democracy. And we have a responsibility to take action to defend it. It ought not be political. We would rather not be doing this.

We're on the eve of a new president. And we're excited about that. But we simply can't say, you know what, just let the 12 days pass, let it go, it's no big deal. This is a very serious attack, an insurrection against the government of the United States. We have a sworn duty to do something about it, so we should all do everything we can to not politicize it but we can't shirk our responsibility. We have to take the action, which our framers gave us, the only action we have available to us as the House is impeachment.

And so we ought to fulfill that responsibility. And I think the more Republicans acknowledge that something must be done and take this action seriously. I leave it to the senators to do what their oath requires.

BLITZER: We're learning the president will likely be represented, if there is a Senate trial, by Rudy Giuliani, among other lawyers, and an eventual trial, as I say. Of course, Giuliani also played a role in inciting that pro-Trump mob on Wednesday after unsuccessfully fighting the president's claims of election fraud in court, so many court cases, all failed. What's your response to learning that could be part of -- that he, Giuliani, who spoke in that -- in those remarks about a trial by combat, if he could be part of that defense team?

CICILLINE: Well, I think it poses a real challenge. He's very likely to have to be a witness to this incitement of insurrection count in a trial. But I think everyone must be held accountable from the president on down who contributed in any way to the violence that occurred at the Capitol, and obviously, I'll leave it to the president of the United States to select his own defense counsel.

But our responsibility in the House is, in my view, to move forward with an article of impeachment that captures the gravity of the conduct of this president, that responds quickly and urgently to the threat he poses, and that gives the Senate the opportunity to take corrective action by convicting him of this impeachment count.

BLITZER: It might go forward as early as Monday. These articles -- this one article of impeachment, and right now, 11 days, as I keep saying, for Trump to remain in office.

Congressman Cicilline, thanks so much for joining us. CICILLINE: My pleasure.

BLITZER: Coming up, a new arrest in the wake of that angry mob attack on the U.S. Capitol. Stand by. We have details.

And we'll also check in on President-elect Joe Biden. Will he be able to keep sidestepping questions about congressional Democrats' serious push to impeach the president?

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[17:25:00]

BLITZER: The breaking news we're learning of new arrests as authorities identify and catch up with the rioters seen in pictures and videos, the mob attack on the U.S. Capitol. Our Crime and Justice Correspondent, Shimon Prokupecz, is keeping track of this nationwide manhunt that's under way right now. So, Shimon, what are you learning?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, you're absolutely right, this is a nationwide manhunt with every FBI office across the country involved in this investigation. Now, and each hour almost, we're getting new numbers. We may be as high as 18 or 19 arrests.

Now, some of the more significant members who were part of this mob that are now in custody by the FBI, one individual by the name of Adam Johnson, he was seen walking through the halls with the Pelosi, the lectern, there he is on your screen, he was arrested by the FBI today.

[17:30:03]

Also, another very well-known photo at this point, a man by the name of Jacob Anthony Chansley. He's there, as you can see, in this outrageous costume with the horns. He, too, was arrested by the FBI.

However, significant here is that he actually talked to the FBI when they questioned him. And what he told the FBI, it's pretty significant, Wolf.

He said that he came her at the request of the president because the president asked that all patriots come to Washington, D.C.

He also said that he was part of an organized group to come here. And that is something that the FBI is looking at. It is a key part of this investigation.

They want to know if this was some kind of organized group effort to try and overtake the capitol as they all stormed the capitol.

And this FBI investigation, Wolf, is really, as you said, it stretches all across the country. They know what they're looking for in many cases. It's just a matter of finding them. In some cases, it's just a matter of talking to their lawyers.

Some of them, I was told, have hired attorneys so the FBI is working with those attorneys to take them into custody. And this is going to continue.

The other thing here, Wolf, is that because some of them are talking, it's allowing the FBI to learn more about what was going on, what exactly they were up to. Is this an organized effort?

This is something very new for the FBI, in some ways, in terms of dealing with this type of extremism. They are certainly concerned about it.

They are concerned about it in the days and weeks ahead as we get into the inauguration, as the impeachment trial gets under way. This is all something that they are looking at.

They are very concerned and they are also working actively to try and get ahead of some of this activity now -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Yes. And as we all know, there are so many close-circuit video cameras all over Capitol Hill so the FBI, other law enforcement, they have a ton, a ton of pictures and evidence that they will be using.

Shimon, thank you very much. Shimon Prokupecz, reporting.

President-Elect Biden, meanwhile, says the thugs -- his word -- the thugs who attacked the U.S. capitol should be treated as domestic terrorists. Biden made no comment today while leaving and going to church.

CNN's Athena Jones is in Wilmington, Delaware, following the transition.

Athena, what signals is -- are being sent by Biden over whether to actually push for impeachment right now? ?

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf. Well, there are two competing themes here. There's accountability, holding the president accountable for that attack on the capitol on Wednesday.

But there's also healing, something that President-Elect Biden has made a centerpiece of his whole argument, and something that he has said is very important to him, to unify the country.

So it's clear that Biden is not eager to add his voice to those calling for impeachment.

In fact, when he was asked about this at his press conference here in Wilmington on Friday, he was asked if it's a good idea to bring an article or articles of impeachment.

He didn't answer directly. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've been saying for now well over a year, he is not fit to serve. He's not fit to serve. 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 the issue. The question is: What happens with 14 days left to go or 13 days left to go?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And Biden went on to stress that he is focused on the virus, the vaccine, and economic growth.

That he wants Congress to be ready to hit the ground running on a whole series of legislative priorities, not least of them a direct stimulus, these $2,000 stimulus checks he wants to give to most Americans and, of course, help to states with vaccine distribution.

And because, no matter what happens in the House, there's no expectation that the Republican-controlled Senate will take this up and begin this trial.

And there's real concern that having the Democrat-controlled Senate take up this trial after January 20th, while then newly inaugurated President Biden is trying to get his team approved or his team confirmed by the Senate and also to get his ambitious agenda off the ground, is going to end up being a major distraction -- Wolf?

BLITZER: We'll see what happens. As they say, 11 days to go until the inauguration.

Athena, thank you very much.

Coming up, President Trump tries and fails to get around the permanent suspension of his Twitter account.

The former national security advisor to the president, John Bolton, is standing by live. We'll discuss that and a lot more, including this very dramatic push for impeachment.

[17:34:39]

We'll be right back.

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BLITZER: President Trump wasted little time in trying to get around Twitter's permanent suspension of his account.

He posted several tweets on an official White House presidential account last night, but those tweets disappeared almost immediately.

Let's bring in our chief media correspondent, Brian Stelter, to discuss what's going on, what may lie ahead.

How might this ban impact the president's influence? Presumably, this ban is going to continue post-presidency after he leaves office in 11 days. BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, "RELIABLE

SOURCES": That's right. It's a permanent ban on Twitter. And his megaphone has also been taken away across virtually the entire mainstream Internet from Facebook to Twitch.

Smaller services as well. Even Pinterest has been trying to take down pro-Trump lies about trying to stop the steal.

So this is a really astonishing moment for the president. It's now 24 hours since he's been stripped of his Twitter account.

And, so far, today, it does not seem, Wolf, like he's trying to get around the ban by posting on other people's accounts. Maybe he has received the message.

But, look, this is bigger than the president. The well of information has been poisoned.

These lies about the election being stolen, these lies about needing to overturn the election and stop Biden, they are still spreading in the dark corners of the Internet. And that's not going away, even though the president has been banned.

[17:40:04]

BLITZER: Yes. It's a really significant development.

I just want to point out, when he was on Twitter, he had 88 million followers.

But I just want to tell our viewers, who are not on Twitter, if you're a follower, that doesn't mean you support the president. You just want to hear what he is saying.

It could be a very severe critic of the president, not necessarily what we consider to be a follower.

STELTER: Yes.

BLITZER: But 88 million people were getting his tweets and now zero on Twitter getting his tweets.

Has the president, I'm curious --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: You want to make a point, Brian?

STELTER: I think it matters, in part, because the president is thinking about his future, his business future, his commercial interests.

People have speculated about what he will do when he moves down to Mar-a-Lago. People have wondered: What's he going to do? How's he going to profit off his post-presidency? It's going to be a lot harder to profit if he doesn't have these megaphones. There's even an E-commerce Web site called Shopify that took away his

e-commerce accounts so it's harder to sell merchandise.

I think the events of the past few days, tragic in so many ways. But personally for the president, also very problematic for his business interests. It may be even harder for him in the future to make money.

BLITZER: And we know that's something he clearly wants to do.

Has the president -- I'm wondering if you've checked -- made any public remarks at all about that Capitol Hill police officer who was killed during the riot on Wednesday?

STELTER: He has not. He has not and that's the much more important story here.

You know, it has been more than 24 hours since we learned of the death of this officer. And, yet, the flags have not been put at half-staff in Washington at the White House.

They are flying at half-staff in the capitol but the president has not directed flags to be at half-staff. He has not issued a statement about this fallen officer.

Look, the president still has the White House podium. He can still release press releases. He can still put out statements like every other president in the past.

He is not even doing the basics of the job, like speaking up to express his condolences for the death of this officer. Of course he's not doing anything about the pandemic either.

But it is so striking what he's not doing right now, not expressing condolences for this officer's death.

BLITZER: It's really, really sad to hear that the president of the United States not expressing condolences for a capitol police officer who was slain doing his duty.

A young individual, doing what he was supposed to be doing, and trying to protect the U.S. capitol.

STELTER: Yes.

BLITZER: And all of a sudden, he is killed in the course of this storming by these pro-Trump rioters of the U.S. capitol. It's a remarkable situation, indeed.

So, he's off of Twitter for good. What about Facebook and Instagram?

STELTER: Well, Facebook said this suspension was indefinite, but didn't say it's permanent.

But Twitter, they say it's permanent.

With Facebook, maybe there's a way to get back on. You know, look, these companies are making up these rules as they go

along. That's the reality. These big technology companies are trying to figure out as they go along.

Trump supporters, of course, very angry about this, claiming free speech has been violated.

However, technology companies are privately owned so this is not a First Amendment issue. This is not about freedom of speech in a literal sense.

This is really about the power of technology companies when they fear that the president might use their platforms to incite further violence.

BLITZER: All right, Brian, I know you're going to be coming back later. We have more to discuss.

And I want to alert our viewers, be sure to tune in tomorrow morning, 11:00 a.m. Eastern, when Brian hosts "RELIABLE SOURCES," only here on CNN.

We're also following breaking news in the coronavirus pandemic. We've now seen more than two million new cases in the United States -- get this -- since the start of this year. We're going to have all the headlines. That's coming up.

And we'll also have much more on the push to impeach President Trump.

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[17:48:16]

BLITZER: We are also following breaking news in the coronavirus pandemic right now, which continues here in the United States, worse, worse than ever.

Even though we're only nine days into the new year, the United States has now seen over two million new cases and 24,000 deaths just this month.

Let's go to CNN's Evan McMorris-Santoro. He is watching all of these horrifying numbers exploding here in the United States.

Evan, what are you seeing? What's the latest?

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, as you say, we're in a very, very bad place with this pandemic right now. And it comes just a month after seeing those beautiful pictures of the first vaccine being distributed.

What we're seeing now is that the challenge of the pandemic and the challenge of getting that vaccine out are kind of coming together right this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice-over): While the pandemic continues to rage, the biggest question facing U.S. Officials is how to distribute the vaccines as quickly and effectively as possible.

Many states are shockingly slow on ministering vaccinations. The CDC says these states have administered fewer than 25 percent of their vaccine supplies.

The agency says only four states have administered more than half of the doses they received.

In New York, once the epicenter of the pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo bowed to pressure and loosened restrictions on who can get vaccinated after local leaders complained that strict parameters meant doses were going unused.

Starting Monday in New York, an expanding list of frontline workers and residents over the age of 65 can start signing up to get vaccines.

But Cuomo says to expect a long wait.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): I just want to be clear with my mother and with everybody's mother and with everybody's father and with everybody's grandfather, we talked about 14 weeks until the federal supply is increased.

[17:50:07]

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: President-Elect Biden will aim to releases doses currently in federal reserve now. That's instead of holding some of the second doses as the Trump administration had done.

But experts tell CNN that plan has its own pitfalls if it results in delays of the second doses.

DR. NORMAN BAYLOR, FORMER DIRECTOR, FDA OFFICE OF VACCINES RESEARCH AND REVIEW: Giving one dose and delaying the second dose beyond what was discovered in the clinical trial we take a risk of those individuals not necessarily being protected sufficiently.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: The vaccine crunch comes as the United States faces the darkest days of the pandemic so far, a week that includes a daily death count, ominous strain on hospital capacity, and more evidence that the potentially more contagious variant, first identified in the U.K., is here.

For the moment, health experts say the current vaccine should protect from the new strain.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We will also be looking at that very carefully and following it carefully. But right now, the data indicate the U.K. mutant is still quite sensitive to the antibodies induced by the vaccines.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: How quickly Americans will receive that vaccine, though, remains an open question.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Wolf, we have some good news on this topic just today from Pfizer, who said that that Biden plan I mentioned, about trying to get the vaccine out a little faster, they said they will have the capacity to actually make that happen.

So it's possible we might see some of these bad numbers when it comes to distribution and getting it out into people's arms, may be turning around soon -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Let's hope, because that will be really, really lifesaving.

Evan McMorris, thank you very much.

Stand by. We will have more on this breaking news. House Democrats are on track to introduce formally an article of impeachment this Monday in light of the deadly mob attack on the U.S. capitol. Will they get any serious Republican support?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:56:17]

BLITZER: You are about to see what Wednesday's deadly invasion of the United States capitol looked like from the inside as it happened.

It's the most terrifying news report, recorded as the protestors smashed the doors, the rioters, they moved in, destroyed windows. The halls of the United States Congress. It was disgusting.

And ITN reporter, Robert Moore, was caught up in the chaos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CROWD CHANTING: USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA.

ROBERT MOORE, ITV NEWS WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For four years, we have witnessed turmoil in America, but nothing quite like this.

(SHOUTING)

MOORE: The pro Trump crowd fought with the police.

(SHOUTING)

MOORE: Trying to breakthrough their lines.

(SHOUTING)

MOORE: Intoxicated by the unlikely prospect of reversing America's election outcome.

(SHOUTING) MOORE: We watched as a standoff continued for at least an hour.

(SHOUTING)

MOORE: Tear gas canisters were fired from the very stage on which Joe Biden will be inaugurated.

(SHOUTING)

MOORE: But for the Capitol Hill police officers, this was a losing battle.

(on camera): This is exactly what was feared. But in no way is this a surprise. It has been fueled by the president's rhetoric.

And it's increasingly clear this election has not healed the wounds. It has simply amplified them.

(voice-over): We follow the aggrieved and infuriated Trump supporters as they storm the building.

(SHOUTING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I swear that's CNN and they just said we can't --

MOORE (voice-over): Through broken windows and doors they had forced open.

(SHOUTING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, we're home, we're home.

(SHOUTING)

MOORE (voice-over): And for a few heavy moments, they felt they had won their precious victory.

CROWD CHANTING: USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA.

Stop the steal, stop the steal, stop the steal, stop the steal.

MOORE: They were now in the very heart of the Congressional building.

(SHOUTING)

(on camera): What's the purpose of storming Congress itself?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because they work for us! They don't get to steal it from us. They don't get to tell us we didn't see what we saw.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We respect the law. We are good people. The government did this to us. We were normal, good, law-abiding citizens, and you guys did this to us.

We want our country back. We are protesting for our freedom right now. That's the difference. MOORE: What's the purpose of storming Congress?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do I know that?

MOORE (voice-over): They reached and entered the speaker's office itself. Although Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers had already been evacuated to safety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go. Here we go, brother.

MOORE: As we filmed, protesters tore down Pelosi's name plate.

(on camera): And so here we are right now inside the halls of Congress. This is exactly what so many anticipated. And yet, the Capitol Hill police are doing their best but failing to control the situation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all know they changed the rules mid game, and they're not being held accountable, and that's a shame.

MOORE (on camera): What's your message to the Capitol Hill police and to lawmakers here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is our country, and this is our house. That's it. This is our house. This is our country. This is our country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[18:00:08]

BLITZER: We like to thank ITN's Robert Moore for that amazing report.