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Sources Say Trump Considering Giuliani And Dershowitz For Impeachment Defense Team; New Arrests In Connection With Deadly Capitol Riot; Interview With Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL); GOP Sen. Toomey: I Do Think The President Committed Impeachable Offenses; FBI Seeks Information On Members Of NY Fire Dept Who Were At The Capitol On Day Of Riot; Over Two Million New COVID-19 Cases & 24,000 Deaths In The Last Nine Days; Horrifying Video Shows Police Officer Being Crushed By Mob. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired January 09, 2021 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is our House. That's it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is our House. This is our country. This is our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Thanks to ITN's Robert Moore for that amazing report. An awful moment in American history indeed and be sure to join me for an in-depth special report on this capitol riot, "The Trump Insurrection: 24 Hours that Shook America," airs tomorrow night 10 Eastern, only here on CNN.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: 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. We're following breaking news.

An unprecedented push toward impeachment unfolding right now. House Democrats are on track to introduce an Article of Impeachment against President Trump on Monday, charging him with inciting insurrection for encouraging a mob of supporters to lay siege to the U.S. Capitol this week in a truly disgusting display that left five people dead.

One driver of the impeachment push says 180 lawmakers already have signed on with congressional action potentially just days away. President Trump is looking at a defense team for a possible Senate trial as he mulls the disgrace of potentially becoming the first U.S. President to be impeached twice.

Sources tell CNN his team would include his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani and possibly Alan Dershowitz.

Meanwhile, new arrests of people believed to have been involved in the attack upon the Capitol. They include a West Virginia lawmaker, the CEO of a Chicago company, the man seen on video carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's lectern, and another man wearing a bear skin headdress.

Let's get some more first on the impeachment push by House Democrats. It's rapidly dramatically gaining steam right now. Our chief political correspondent Dana Bash is joining us. Dana, this is truly unprecedented in so many levels.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: On so many levels, and not the least of which is the House Speaker and how much she -- how much push she is getting from her rank and file already.

They have 180 co-sponsors to the one Article of Impeachment, the draft of it was released yesterday and they have that many people in their caucus signing on to it. Listen to what the House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said about the feeling inside the House Democratic Caucus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM CLYBURN (D-SC): Even if he has one day left. Let's move forward and get this done, and it will send a signal to anybody who ever run for the office to know that you're not going to use precedent as established by Donald Trump in order to conduct yourself and then you carry out your duties and responsibilities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So on the one hand, it is, as you just heard from Mr. Clyburn, it is setting a precedent for future Presidents; and on the other, it is in the more short term more political to get House Republicans who have said publicly since this horrible riot that they condemn the violence, to go further -- to go further and to put the culpability squarely on the foot of -- at the feet of President Trump and do so in a way that uses their ultimate power in the House of Representatives, which is the power to impeach.

BLITZER: Dana, I want you to stand by. We have more to discuss, but I need to go to the White House right now. Our White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond is getting new information. What are you learning from your sources right now, Jeremy?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, President Trump has just 11 days left in office, but it appears increasingly likely that he will be impeached for an unprecedented second time and that's why we're seeing President Trump begin to consider who will represent him in the event of an impeachment trial in the Senate.

And two sources are telling me and my colleague Pamela Brown that the President is expected to be represented by his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and that he is also considering adding Alan Dershowitz, that controversial civil liberties and constitutional attorney Alan Dershowitz to his legal team as well.

Most notably, though, the folks who represented the President during that first impeachment trial, many of them will not be representing him this time. That includes constitutional attorney Jay Sekulow, the White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, as well as Attorney Jane Raskin, all of them represented the President the first time, but they are not expected to play a role this time.

And part of the reason for that is that we have seen the President at loggerheads with many of his advisers including Sekulow and Cipollone over how he has handled the aftermath of the 2020 election, which he lost, the false claims that he has made and the incitement to violence which we saw from him earlier this week.

Make no mistake, Wolf, the President right now is at perhaps one of his most isolated and vulnerable points of his presidency with just 11 days left to go.

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DIAMOND: We know that the President is certainly not expressing any regrets for the incitement to violence that he made earlier this week as it relates to those riots on Capitol Hill.

But one thing that we are told that the President is reconsidering and regretting is that video that aides pressured him to tape just a few days ago, in which he committed to a peaceful transfer of power and talked about healing and reconciliation moving forward.

Notable and pretty remarkable, Wolf, that that of all the things in these last couple of days is what the President is having second thoughts about.

BLITZER: Yes, it's really, really a sick situation, indeed. Jeremy, standby. We're going to get back to you later.

I want to bring in our chief political analyst Gloria Borger right now, our senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein, our chief political correspondent, Dana Bash is still with us as well.

You know, Gloria, the Democrats in the House, they're moving oh so quickly to impeach the President for a second time. How do you see these next few days playing out?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think it's going to move really quickly, as Dana was saying earlier. You could have something on the floor by midweek in the House that could potentially pass despite the fact that the Joe Biden is not very excited about it.

It was very clear from his press conference the other day, there are some Republicans who are trying to talk to Joe Biden and say, can you convince Nancy Pelosi not to do this according to Phil Mattingly from the Hill.

I think that the big question here is, of course, they can pass this and then what happens? Is he convicted? Is there a conviction in the Senate that would happen after Biden was inaugurated? How do you handle that?

I think the main message here is from Members of Congress, who are quite frankly, disgusted, members on both parties, is that there's a sense that they have to do something, they have to register their disgust with this President, whether it's by a vote, which I think is probably the way for them to do it, since Mike Pence shows absolutely no interest in invoking the 25th Amendment.

And there's also a sense that they have to show the world that this is not normal for the United States of America. This is not the way we operate, and when something like this happens, there has to be a reckoning for it.

And so I think that's what these members are talking about. Is their politics? May be. Sure, but really, they want to hold the President accountable.

BLITZER: You know, Ron, Congressmen Ted Lieu of California says some Republicans will go and support impeachment, could even potentially cosponsor this Article of Impeachment. How significant would that be?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: That would be enormous because there is no sign yet that the bulk of the Republican Party is grappling with the magnitude of what the President has done since the election and really throughout his presidency.

I mean, I don't think you get to this point in the day and you don't get here alone. I mean, the road to what we saw this week was paved by Republicans repeatedly enabling, defending, abetting, and excusing all of the ways in which the President pushed past the boundaries of the rule of law, and led him to believe that no matter what he did, there would be no consequence.

I mean, it is worth noting that even after the riot, the vast majority of House Republicans voted to overturn the Arizona and in effect, throw out the Arizona and Pennsylvania election results with the goal of making the President the President for four more years, even after he got a loud ovation on Thursday morning when he called into the Republican National Committee.

So to the extent that Republicans are willing now, at least part of the party, to acknowledge that this finally, at long last, sir, have you no decency? This is behavior beyond the pale, I think would be very significant.

And you know, Wolf, don't forget, Democrats have a much smaller majority in the House than they used to, and it is at least conceivable, they would need a few Republican votes to get to 218. I saw that Pat Toomey said today that he is open to conviction in the Senate.

And this is one last point, this is more than symbolic, because this impeachment would include a ban on the President holding a Federal office in the future. So there would be a consequence, which I think most Democrats think is the key here.

BLITZER: There would be no Trump run for the presidency in 2024 if in fact this were to go forward.

You know, Dana, this is pretty extraordinary as well. Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown is now calling on the Senate to officially formally expel Senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz. That's extraordinary, but tell us why this is so, so potentially significant. BASH: It's significant because the point that Sherrod Brown and others

are trying to make is that yes, the ultimate blame lies with President Trump, but there should also be culpability, and there should also be consequences in this case, the ultimate political consequence for people who not just enabled the President in this, you know, falsely saying that the election was rigged.

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BASH: But also, it seemed to have been encouraging the protesters not to say that they were involved in it all, but they spiked by being a part of what we saw, rhetorically and that ending up with the violence that we saw on the Capitol. That's a big deal.

And so what you saw from Sherrod Brown, I mean, it is -- it is still a very partisan time, but for one senator to call for the expulsion of two other senators, no matter if it's across party lines or not, is very rare.

We saw late last week, Chris Coons of Delaware say that he wants them to resign, He is actually going to be the Ethics Chair. So it wouldn't be surprising that he would not go as far as Sherrod Brown in saying that they should be expelled, but others who don't have those constraints might follow suit.

BLITZER: Yes, I mean, these are amazing moments that are unfolding here in Washington right now. Gloria, I want you to listen, I want our viewers to listen, as well.

This is the President of the United States addressing that crowd just before they left the White House, marched up Pennsylvania Avenue, stormed the U.S. Capitol in huge numbers with a lot of violence, and he uses -- this is the President who uses a particular word a lot. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now we're out here fighting. He has got guts. He fights, he fights.

They are out there fighting. The House guys are fighting.

You have to get your people to fight. And if they don't fight, we have to primary the hell out of the ones that don't fight.

We're going to have to fight much harder. I'd fight that fight. I'd fight that fight. We fight. We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: You see him boxing, fight, fight, fight. Shouldn't it be obvious? You know, Gloria, why his supporters actually stormed the U.S. Capitol after hearing that kind of angry, disgusting rhetoric from the President of the United States? BORGER: Well, all you have to do is listen to the interviews with the

supporters, Wolf. The interviews that were done with people who were storming the Capitol or inside the Capitol, they say almost to a person, I'm here because Donald Trump told me to come.

Donald Trump said that if you're an American patriot, you have to show up in Washington and you have to do this. Then he goes and gives that speech. And they storm the Capitol.

And so just listen to them. If you don't want to listen to his words, listen to their words, and you put them together and it's a very dangerous cocktail. And you see what it produced. And I'm not an attorney, nor do I play one on TV, but I am sure that attorneys looking into this will put this all together.

And again, if you don't want to listen to Donald Trump, listen to the people who were at the Capitol.

BLITZER: Yes. All right, everybody stand by because we're going to continue this analysis.

We're also following other major breaking news. We're going to talk about the historic -- the troubling events unfolding here in Washington with former Trump National Security Adviser, John Bolton. He is standing by live.

Plus more arrests -- more arrests stemming from the assault on the U.S. Capitol and the search underway right now nationwide, led by the F.B.I. for more suspects they are about to be charged and arrested.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:17:42]

BLITZER: Among the breaking stories we're following tonight and we're told that at least 180 House Democrats are already cosponsoring an Article of Impeachment that will be filed this Monday. It charges President Trump with inciting insurrection.

We're joined now by former National Security Adviser John Bolton. His book about his time in the Trump White House is called "The Room where it Happened." There's the cover right there.

Ambassador, thanks for joining us. When it comes to impeachment. You previously suggested it would be better to grit all of our teeth that gets through these last few days, 11 days left. But in a new op-ed, you say President Trump knew exactly what he was doing with this violent coup attempt. Does that amount from your perspective to an impeachable offense?

JOHN BOLTON, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Yes, yes, I do believe it is an impeachable offense. I don't have any doubt about that. There's no question that there are a lot of bad things that can still be done to Donald Trump.

But the issue for those whether they are advocating replacing him through the 25th Amendment or through the impeachment process is what's best for the country as a whole.

And, you know, there are a lot of Captain Ahab's up on Capitol Hill that want to get their harpoons into Moby Dick. I understand that. But for those of us on the P Quad, along with the ride, we hope this doesn't turn out the way it did in the original.

You know, when people started talking about this on Thursday, there were 13 days left until Trump left office. Today, two big things have happened since then, two days have gone by. Now, we are 11 days away.

So the cost benefit analysis here has to be: are you doing more benefit to the country by going through impeachment than you're causing harm? And I don't think that question is answerable in the positive at this point, given the circumstances we face.

BLITZER: Well, what does it say, though, that the President, if in fact, he is impeached would become the only President in American history to be impeached twice?

BOLTON: Well, this is the same fallacy as the first impeachment effort where Nancy Pelosi said he will be forever impeached, and that's a great thing. So now he'll be forever impeached twice.

But he wasn't convicted the first time, so the goals of the advocates of impeachment were to deter and constrain Donald Trump from the activity that he had engaged in with respect to Ukraine.

But by being acquitted, I would say, in fact, he was enabled and emboldened and if he had, God forbid, won a second term, it would have been even worse.

So I don't see how you can say it's a good thing to achieve exactly the opposite of the goals you intended in the first impeachment, and now to risk doing it again.

[18:20:36]

BLITZER: Do you think he should resign during these final 11 days in office? Or do you think the Vice President should begin the process of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to force him out of office?

BOLTON: Well, I think he should resign, but I think there's absolutely zero chance of that. You know, the 25th Amendment has no applicability here at all. Section 4, which is what we're talking about, it is not a license to a coup. It applies when the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.

The complaint here, as I understand it, is that he is able to discharge the powers and duties of his office. That's what people are afraid about.

Section 4 is intended for a Woodrow Wilson situation. It is the complement to Section 3. Section 3, which has been used on several occasions, when a President undergoes an operation, goes under general anesthetic, he turns over power to the Vice President and reclaims it when he comes out. Section 4 is for the case where the President, let's say has a stroke,

is unconscious, flat on his back and somebody has to clarify who is in charge.

It's not going to happen, and it shouldn't happen, because this is not what it's intended for.

BLITZER: Well, there's 11 days to go. We'll see what happens. Ambassador Bolton as usual, thanks so much for joining us.

Let me remind our viewers, your new book is entitled "The Room where it Happened." Appreciate it very much.

Meanwhile, the breaking news continues here in THE SITUATION ROOM with more on the unprecedented push by Democrats to go ahead and impeach the President within a matter of a few days.

We're going to talk about it with a key member of the House Judiciary Committee, Congressman Ted Deutch. He is standing by live. We will discuss.

Plus, the disturbing video of the D.C. police officer being crushed by rioters, pro-Trump rioters trying to push their way in to the U.S. Capitol. This is awful what they did to this police officer. It is disgusting. Standby.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:27:05]

BLITZER: More now on the breaking news. House Democrats on track to introduce an Article of Impeachment against President Trump on Monday, charging him with inciting insurrection by goading his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol this week.

Joining us now Democratic Congressman Ted Deutch of Florida. He's a key member of the House Judiciary Committee. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us.

Your colleagues who are writing the impeachment resolution now say it will likely be introduced on Monday. What message do you hope this swift action by the House of Representatives potentially? What message would it send the President and those who have supported this really dangerous effort to overturn the democratically held certified results of the U.S. election?

REP. TED DEUTCH (D-FL): Well, thanks, Wolf. It sends a very powerful message. The message is that it's time to turn the page.

We need, after seeing the incitement to insurrection, which follows a long line of behavior in this administration that culminated in this, we need to turn the page. We need to move forward quickly.

If the 25th Amendment won't be invoked, then we need to impeach and the Senate needs to convict and the President needs to be removed from office. We shouldn't have to wait another 11 days to see what he might do to further debase the office of the presidency or diminish America's standing in the world.

Our national security is at risk. Our standing in the world is at risk. We need to move forward before he has an opportunity to pardon himself. We needed to act now to send a very strong message that it's time to move on with that peaceful transfer of power.

BLITZER: Your colleague, Congressman David Cicilline, who is a coauthor of the impeachment resolution joined me here in THE SITUATION ROOM in the last hour. He said he has been in talks with Republican House members throughout the weekend, hopes this will be a bipartisan effort as opposed to what happened during the first impeachment where no Republicans supported the impeachment.

Have you spoken with any of your Republican colleagues who are in fact prepared to join you this time around and impeach the President?

DEUTCH: What we know, Wolf, is that there are Republicans, many of them, who have now stepped up and said, this is enough. We've seen it, whether it's those closest to the President serving on his Cabinet, whether it's commentators and conservative press outlets, or whether it's Members of the House and Senate, all of whom have been very clearly saying on the record that what the President did, what we witnessed in this attack on the very symbol of our representational democracy cannot stand. The President must be held accountable and he must be removed from office.

BLITZER: Republican Senator Pat Toomey, I don't know if you heard about this, Congressman. He says he does think President Trump committed impeachable offenses, but did not say how he would necessarily vote if the Articles of Impeachment were to come to the floor of the U.S. Senate in a trial.

What's your message to Senator Toomey and other Republicans who are weighing this critically important decision?

[18:30:07]

DEUTCH: Well, this is a moment of truth, Wolf, for elected officials who serve in the House and the Senate and it's a moment of truth for America. What we saw was repulsive. It was atrocious. It was sad and we need to come together, Democrats and Republicans, to be able to move on from it.

If Sen. Toomey believes that this is an impeachable offense, then Sen. Toomey should join the effort to actually impeach and remove the President. This is by no means a partisan issue anymore. Look at all of the Republicans, senior Republican officials and senior conservative commentators who are very clearly on the record joining all of us who watched what happened at the Capitol this past Wednesday, shook their heads and said it is time for the President to go. It's a solemn moment for America and it's one that elected officials need to step up to. That's where we are.

BLITZER: Yes. These are dramatic historic moments as well. Congressman Ted Deutch, thanks so much for joining us.

DEUTCH: Thanks for, Wolf. It's good to be with you.

BLITZER: Thank you. For an in-depth look at the historic events of this week, join me tomorrow night for a CNN SPECIAL REPORT The Trump Insurrection 24 Hours That Shook America, tomorrow night 10 pm Eastern only here on CNN.

Just ahead, we're going to get the latest on the nationwide search from members of that pro-Trump mob that storm the U.S. Capitol along with details of new arrests.

And there's also breaking news as the new year brings a truly horrific new surge in coronavirus cases and deaths here in the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:57]

BLITZER: We have some more breaking news coming into the situation room right now. Listen to this, the FBI is seeking information on members of the New York City Fire Department who were at the U.S. Capitol the day of that mob attack. Let's go to our Crime and Justice Correspondent, Shimon Prokupecz.

Shimon, tell our viewers what you're learning.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME & JUSTICE REPORTER: Yes. The FDNY, the fire department in New York is confirming to CNN that they have turned over information to the FBI after the FBI came to them saying they had anonymous tips that indicated that either current for FDNY members or retired members were at the Capitol. The FBI receiving this information, then going to the fire department, asking them for information, they are trying to identify those individuals.

The FDNY saying that they have anonymous allegations that active or retired members were present at the events at the United States Capitol on January 6. And so the FBI, working on those tips, went to the fire department and the fire department turning over that information.

And as we've been saying, the FBI actively investigating what went on at the Capitol. It's still very much active all across the country from Hawaii to Florida, New York City, all states outside of Washington, D.C. And we've learned some new information from other people who've been arrested, including a man by the name of Adam Johnson, he was seen in a photo carrying the Pelosi's lectern.

We also know of another arrest, a man by the name of Jacob Anthony Chansley. He was wearing that ridiculous outfit. There you see with the horns. He was arrested as well. Significant here, Wolf, is that he told the FBI, he basically confessed and said that he was there as part of a group that he came to the Capitol at the request of the President, because the President had asked that all patriots come.

So the FBI is trying to as they work through this investigation to see what group efforts here who was part of a larger group and coming here and, of course, attacking the Capitol. Also another arrest a person by the name of Derrick Evans. He was a he was a West Virginia lawmaker. He has since resigned. He too be arrested by the FBI.

Of course, Wolf, this is a very active FBI investigation. Yesterday, the FBI telling us that they're working all sorts of tips, the public coming in with all sorts of information. They're also working this from an intelligence perspective. They want to get a better handle on exactly what these groups of people were up to and what they are continuing to want to do.

There are still potential threats out there and the FBI is working on that, Wolf.

BLITZER: As they should. It's a massive manhunt nationwide underway right now for these individuals. Shimon, thank you very much.

Let's hit some analysis from our senior legal analyst. The former U.S. Attorney, Preet Bharara. Preet, thanks for joining us.

PREET BHARARA, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Sure.

BLITZER: As you know, Democrats they're pushing toward this second impeachment. At the same time the President is actually considering already Rudy Giuliani and Alan Dershowitz to defend him if there's a Senate trial. What's your reaction to that, especially considering Giuliani's role in the remarks he made before this mob left the White House, moved up Pennsylvania Avenue to Capitol Hill in inciting that mob?

BHARARA: Well, my reaction is it's interesting that a lot of lawyers who have represented President Trump before both in the prior impeachment and in other matters are nowhere to be found. And the reporting is and I think common sense tells you that the President of the United States has crossed a Rubicon in a way that causes prior legal defenders of his not to want to have anything to do with this, not to have any part of this in the same way that multiple cabinet officials has stepped down from office, so that's number one.

Number two, in an ordinary trial situation, there will be a question raised about the participation of Rudy Giuliani as counsel, given what you just said among statements he made on the day of the rioting.

[18:40:05]

And the insurrection was let's have trial by combat and people are interpreting that in various ways depending on where they stand. But if there was involvement on the part of the Giuliani in the events of that day, it's not usually appropriate. But the proceeding that will happen in the House and in the Senate is not an ordinary trial, is not susceptible to the same complex rules and motion practice and all the other things that lawyers like to argue about in court. So I suppose the President of the United States can have whoever lawyer he wants.

BLITZER: Giuliani is not just the former mayor of New York, he's also like you, a former U.S. Attorney. Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu and other Democrats are already publicly calling for Giuliani to be disbarred in New York State. What do you think, should that happen? BHARARA: I'm not going to take a position on that. I think the bar, if

you will, for disbarring is quite high and that should be left up to the bar authorities. And if there's sufficient evidence of a violation of both or improper conduct in a court, especially, then I think that'll wind its way through that process and I'm going to stay out of that one.

BLITZER: What about this report we just had? You heard Shimon report that the FBI is investigating whether some members of the New York Fire Department, current or former, actually participated in this angry mob, what do you think about that?

BHARARA: Look, I think it's unfortunate. I think some people's initial reaction was to characterize the people who are involved in insurrection in a particular way, a particular stereotypical way and as we're learning more about who participated, we had a West Virginia elected official to the legislature there who I think has since resigned. We have a CEO of a company. We have law enforcement officers, fire department officials.

And so it just makes me a little bit sad that you have people among others who are sworn to uphold the Constitution based on the jobs that they have in their particular states, going and engaging in this kind of anti-American insurrectionist conduct.

BLITZER: House Democrats are preparing one article of impeachment entitled incitement of insurrection. How strong do you think the case would be to go ahead and not only pass and get him impeached in the House, but actually then go ahead and convict in the Senate?

BHARARA: Well, we've been through this. We've been on this horse before, Wolf, at some length. And as we learned from the prior occasion, whether or not it would be something provable in federal court as a crime, incitement would be, I think, a little bit of an uphill battle, given what the elements are that you would have to prove and given the free speech that is accorded to public officials and to others.

But this is a political act and so the strength of the case is a function of how strong the people who are hearing the case, the senators, think it is. I mean, as a political matter and as a breach of authority and the provisions in the Constitution that separate the branches, I think you have a powerful political case that you can make in the chamber of the House and the Senate that you have a President of the United States who, through a series of actions and bits of conduct, encourage the violent mob to go to a co-equal branch of government, to disrupt an electoral process. And not only that, to put the people who are in that co-equal branch of government, members of the House and the Senate, in harm's way.

People in Congress could have been killed. Lots of bad things could have happened and I think it is not an unpowered argument for senators to stand in the way of the Senate lawyers representing the side of impeachment and conviction to say this is something that the founders contemplated should be resolved in Congress with an impeachment process and Donald Trump should be held accountable for that. It's a very serious thing.

BLITZER: It certainly is. Preet, as usual, thank you very much for that analysis.

BHARARA: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Just ahead, we're going to get the latest on the coronavirus crisis unfolding here in the United States. U.S. records over 24,000 deaths in just the last nine days.

Plus, shocking and disturbing new video from that capital riot showing a police officer being crushed as the pro-Trump mob storm the building. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:48:42]

BLITZER: More breaking news we're following, the United States has now recorded more than 2 million new coronavirus cases and 24,000 new deaths in just the first nine days of this year. This as the incoming Biden administration says it's considering changing the guidance on vaccine prioritization as it plans to release all available doses.

Let's discuss with Dr. Megan Ranney, an Emergency Room Physician with Brown University. Dr. Ranney, thanks so much for joining us. Would it makes sense to change the prioritization plan for vaccinations now that the Biden administration is going to potentially hold back vaccines for second doses to let Americans at least millions more get the first dose?

MEGAN RANNEY, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY: Wolf, right now we have so many more vaccine doses out there than have actually gotten in arms. We're hearing reports from across the country about demand outstripping supply. Meanwhile, we have some sites where appointments are going unfilled, where there are no shows.

At this moment in the pandemic, it does not make sense to waste any doses of the vaccine and we can't let perfect be the enemy of the good. It would be great to have a terrific algorithm to get the right dose to the right person. But right now, we have to get as many doses in arms as possible.

[19:50:01]

So shifting that prioritization a little bit to maybe get it to folks who are a little bit younger before all of the nursing home folks have been vaccinated. That makes sense right now and I'm fully supportive of the Biden's administration's statements around allowing states to have a little more flexibility in administration of the vaccine.

BLITZER: As you probably heard, Dr. Fauci says the second vaccine dose given either three weeks or four weeks after the first, in his words are absolutely critical. I know you got your second dose today, do you worry the Biden ministration plan to release all doses as quickly as possible could potentially jeopardize people waiting for their second dose?

RANNEY: I don't. We are foreseeing significant increases in production of both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines over the next month. There's no reason to think that they won't be able to continue to produce at the rate that they have to be able to get those second vaccines out and distributed in time to get them into arms on the right schedule.

But even under that new Biden administration plan, they're still planning on withholding a little bit of vaccine just in case, god forbid, something goes wrong with manufacturing or sterilization. They'll have a little bit in reserve. But to hold back this much right now, when we're facing almost 4,000 deaths a day, when we're facing these new strains of virus from the U.K. and South Africa, that's just foolhardy and, once again, not fair to the American public.

BLITZER: I like that Buffalo Bills hat behind you as well, Dr. Ranney. I know you're a Bills fan. I'm a Bills fan. They won today which is a good news. You feel OK, after the second shot, because I know sometimes after a second shot, whether a shingles shot or pneumonia shot, people don't necessarily feel that great. How do you feel?

RANNEY: I will say there was nothing like watching the Bills win to make me feel fine. But I did get a little bit of a headache, sore arm, a little bit fatigued. I took some Tylenol a couple of hours ago. I'm feeling OK, but definitely feel my body, the ribosomes working making that immune response. And that's to be expected.

Like you said, when we vaccinate kids or adults, we expect folks to feel a little tired, a little sore, maybe even a little fever that shows you that the vaccine is working and it's nothing to worry about. But I do hope that people plan to take a day off after that second vaccine in particular, when we know that about 70 percent of people will get some sort of side effect.

BLITZER: Good advice indeed. Dr. Ranney, thanks so much for joining us.

RANNEY: Thank you, Wolf. Go Bills.

BLITZER: Go Bills indeed.

All right. Just ahead, chilling video of pro-Trump rioters crushing a D.C. police officer and showing no mercy as he's screaming and screaming in pain. We're learning new information. That standby, we'll be right back.

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[18:56:58]

BLITZER: Of all the truly terrible scenes we've seen from this week's brutal attack on the United States Capitol by a mob, an attack that the President apparently actually encouraged. One scene especially captures the brutality of the rioters loyal to a president who falsely claims he's for law and order. CNN's Brian Todd is joining us right now. Brian, I want to warn our

viewers of what we're about to see in this video is very hard to watch. Tell us what's going on.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this video is nothing short of jarring, depicting the ferocity of the mob on Wednesday and an officer desperately fighting for his life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD(voice over): A rioter sprays a chemical at police, then it gets worse.

This was the horrifying scene on Wednesday inside an inference on the west side of the Capitol. At one point, a rioter tries to pry the gas mask off an officer's face.

The rioters organized their push even chanting in unison.

Then, sheer terror.

An officer crushed against a doorframe pleading for help.

We spoke with Jon Farina, a photojournalist for a media outlet called Status Coup who recorded this video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON FARINA, STATUS COUP: There was no, absolutely no talking to them. Nothing fazed them, and there was no one main person, one main leader, that could have calmed that mob down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD(voice over): Farina told us rioters rip shields and batons out of officers' hands and seem to get more organized as they went along.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FARINA: People were hurt and being crushed. So, whenever somebody was hurt they would kind of like pull them out of there or they would walk out themselves. But then they would say, "We need more people. We need fresh patriots." So they would just kind of like rotate in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD(voice over): Eventually the police pushed the mob back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES RAMSEY, FORMER WASHINGTON, D.C. POLICE CHIEF: Get out of our house. Go. Get out of our house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD(voice over): Former Washington Police Chief, Charles Ramsey, a CNN analyst says he contacted current D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee, who Ramsey says confirmed to him that the officer seen being crushed is a Washington Metropolitan Police Officer, not a Capitol Hill officer. As for the officers condition ...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAMSEY: He went through an MRI and there was nothing broken. I mean, so he's sore as hell. There's no question about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[19:00:00]

TODD: We reached out several times to the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police and the Police Union as well as the Capitol Hill Police for more information on the officer in question.