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Intense Security In Washington, D.C. As Inauguration Day Nears; Trump Expected To Pardon More People With Four Days Left In Office; Shocking New Footage Shows Violent Mob Inside Capitol Hill; Police In All 50 States Brace For Violent Protests; Will Scenes Of The Insurrection Hurt Trump With GOP?; Incoming CDC Director Projects 500,000 COVID Deaths By Mid-February. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired January 17, 2021 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:30]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

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.

Now we begin tonight with a nation on edge. With only three days, only 65 hours until Wednesday's inauguration. A new videotape filmed by a reporter from "The New Yorker" on January 6th during the mayhem at the U.S. Capitol shows why downtown Washington right now is a fortress. And state capitols around the country, they are locked down as well probably like never before.

We must warn all of our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world the video you're about to see is graphic and contains profanity. But it also explains why there are now 25,000 National Guard troops on the streets of Washington, D.C. It's to prevent another scene like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go. Let's go, let's go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whose house?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a fucking million of us out there. And we are listening to Trump, your boss.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let us through.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let the people in.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: The fear of a similar attack is driving a truly historic push to safeguard the inauguration on Wednesday, one that has made this week's transfer of power here in the United States feel anything but peaceful.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is over at the White House. CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is tracking the security situation on the streets of Washington.

Shimon, with just, what, three days until the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, how are security preparations going right now?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Wolf, they're continuing. Right now there are 17,000 National Guard troops on the ground here in Washington, D.C. That is expected to grow to 25,000. You can see some of the National Guard troops here behind me.

This is all over Washington, D.C. At key intersections across the district you will see National Guard troops like this with military vehicles blocking traffic. This is a checkpoint because there's a lot of Secret Service agents that are in this area. Also we're just two blocks from the White House. But I wanted to show you what it is here because the ring of security is not just at the Capitol. It is all over Washington, D.C. stretching for miles and miles. And as I said, more troops coming in, more law enforcement coming in to try and keep the inauguration safe -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, they're on the way and it's going to be tense over these next few days.

Jeremy, I understand there's some new reporting you're getting on possible pardons coming from the president in these final three days of his in office. What exactly are you hearing?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, sources have told us that the president is expected to pardon more people before he leaves office. And this will cap off what has really been a scramble over these last several weeks. It's typical in the end days of an administration to see a push for pardons and to see the president issue pardons.

But this time, Wolf, it is very different in the sense that President Trump has really been doing this in an unconventional manner. Bypassing the Office of the Pardon Attorney at the Justice Department and instead doling out pardons to political allies and being much more willing to issue these controversial pardons.

So it's no surprise that "The New York Times" is reporting tonight that some Trump allies, including the former prosecutor Brett Tolman. Brett Tolman, president's former attorney John Dowd, they have been cashing in on this effort to get pardons, getting paid tens of thousands of dollars in some cases to secure pardons for convicted felons who are looking for pardons in these final days of the Trump administration. But still, Wolf, hanging over these next few days will be the question

of whether or not the president will pardon himself and whether he will issue these preemptive pardons for some of his political allies including potentially his children -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And maybe even some of those arrested in recent days and likely to be arrested up on Capitol Hill because of that attack on the U.S. Capitol.

[19:05:01]

Jeremy, stand by. Shimon, stand by as well. Right now, I want to bring in former Republican senator, former Defense secretary under President Bill Clinton, William Cohen.

Mr. Secretary, thank you so much for joining us. I want to get your quick reaction to the truly stunning footage obtained by "The New Yorker," and I want to warn our viewers we have some more of it. I want to show them right now the extreme profanity heard in this particular clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go. Let's go, let's go. Go, go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whose house?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will not stand down. You're outnumbered. There's a fucking million of us out there. And we are listening to Trump, your boss.

UNIDENTIFIED RIOTERS: Treason! Treason! Treason! Treason!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Defend your liberty. Defend your Constitution! Defend your liberty! Defend your Constitution!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 1776!

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, Mr. Secretary, you served in Congress, in the House and the Senate, what, for about 24 years, when you see this awful, awful video what's your reaction?

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE UNDER PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, it looked like a scene out of the movie World War Z with people who had been infected with a virus storming the wall not only here but all over the world even in Jerusalem where they built a wall to keep them out and they just kept coming and coming. So that struck me as something quite comparable to it. But it's really -- it's been a long time building and it has been

building. This president has said these people are special, we love them. Well, no, they're not special and that's part of the big lie that the president has been telling and we've been telling ourselves. That if you're white, you're special and you get special privileges. If you're black we treat like we did in Ferguson or did in D.C. with Black Lives Matter.

And so that's the lie we've been told all of these years that you have white privilege, white power. And when you start to lose that because you have a multiethnic racial society building, then those people who have been holding on and thinking they're special see their special privileges being eroded. And so that's what's going on here.

And to me the most powerful images that I saw during this -- and by the way I hope you will continue to keep running that footage as obscene as it is, as pornographic as it is, I want the people in this country to have a sense of controlled anger. We need to be angry at what has taken place to our country. And I remember when Sandy Hook took place when all those beautiful children, 20 of them out of those 26 people, ages 5 to 7 were butchered by a kid carrying an AK-47 or AR-15. And they all said no, no, don't show the footage, we don't want to get people inflamed, we don't want to get people angry.

No, we have to be angry at what is taking place by these people who are said to be very special and whom the president loves very much. This is the undermining, there's a moral rot that is setting in our society. And if we allow this to continue, then we're going to see our democracy really descend into either chaos or anarchy or some form of autocracy. But this is not something we should tolerate. We should be angry about it. We should investigate.

BLITZER: Yes.

COHEN: We should prosecute, and we should educate. Those are the three things I think we have to do immediately.

BLITZER: As you know, Mr. Secretary, white supremacy, anti-Semitism really on display in this insurrection. You and I spoke after the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum was attacked on June 10th, 2009, when a white supremacist attacked and killed a security guard there. You and your wife Janet were going to be speaking at the museum.

To see the rise of white nationalists and anti-Semites in the past several years and over the past several days at this insurrection, what's your response to that?

COHEN: Well, there were those two images that I mentioned earlier that didn't follow through, one was the Confederate flag, that's -- and the scaffold with the noose. So we had classic case of racism and anti- Semitism.

When I was at the Holocaust Museum, my wife's "Anne and Emmett" was going to be put on. And what happened an 88-year-old Neo-Nazi came and killed a black security guard that day. He wanted to go out killing as many Jews as possible in his last days. So I felt that day, we felt that day we're talking about, you know, Anne Frank and Emmett Till. These are the two polar examples of what has taken place in the history, certainly in Europe, and what's taken place for four century in this country.

[19:10:01]

So that's, again, a big lie that's been taken here. But there are several things that have to take place. I'd have a top down and a bottom-up approach. Top down, every major corporation should suspend any contradiction to any politician who's refused to see insurrection or sees it as an acceptable form of political activity. Secondly, the corporations ought to pull their advertising from any platform mainstream or social media that promotes hate.

And the third from the bottom up is the citizens who look at these companies and see them placing advertising on these platforms, they ought to say we're boycotting your product. It worked during the Montgomery bus boycott, it can work now. When we finally at the lower citizen level, grassroots, say we're not going to support any companies who are sponsoring these kinds of messages going out either on mainstream media or on social media. This has to stop and we have to start at the top and the bottom to make it stop.

BLITZER: Given the fact, Mr. Secretary, that President Trump actually incited this violent and deadly insurrection, should he be banned from holding office in the future?

COHEN: I think he should be. I think if they can't do it through the impeachment process, then I think that we should do everything in our power to show what he has done to this country. Not only domestically, imagine, we have an armed camp around the city of Washington. You've got 50 capitols now under potential siege. And so now we have a situation where this president -- and by the way, I don't know that he should enjoy the privileges that go with a former president.

And perhaps some of that should go to the people who have died on Capitol Hill as a result of what's happened. No. I think what we need to do is to make sure that he is shamed if that's possible or the people who have supported him are ashamed to say we support this kind of insurrection as an acceptable form of political dissent in this country. Everybody who says that should be ashamed of themselves and we should try to shame them, because this is not a democracy they're looking for.

They're looking for a white society. They want white supremacy meaning white racism. And as far as the populations are concerned, if you have -- if you're Jewish, if you're Muslim, if you're Hispanic, if you're Asian, you're not white. And therefore, they look down upon people who are not, quote, "white" as being not entitled to privileges of white society but are seen as being inferior or the other.

And I was reading Albert Einstein who he said when he came to this country to escape Hitler he said I am embarrassed, I am ashamed, and he said that racism is a disease, and I intend to speak out against it. And so he joined with another great, you know, fellow -- not fellow but star, and joined in an effort, Paul Robeson, in an effort to pass anti-lynching legislation. Think about this. Back in the '30s and the '40s they were trying to pass anti-lynching legislation. All of that time.

So this is not going away. And if good people, white people don't speak out against what is taking place, then we're just a few steps away from --

BLITZER: Mr. Secretary, you were the secretary of Defense. You used to get highly classified briefings. As you know, Trump lost. On Wednesday he'll become a private citizen, but the tradition is former presidents continue to get highly classified intelligence briefings. Congressman Adam Schiff of California, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, says this. I want you to listen to what he said today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): There's no circumstance in which this president should get another intelligence briefing not now and not in the future. I don't think he can be trusted with it now and in the future he certainly can't be trusted. Indeed, there were I think any number of intelligence partners of ours around the world who probably started withholding information from us because they didn't trust the president would safeguard that information and protect their sources and methods. And that makes us less safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: You agree that President Trump once he's a private citizen should no longer receive these highly classified intelligence briefings?

COHEN: Absolutely. President Trump has never measured up to the responsibilities of that high office that he holds. And he shouldn't be treated as a former president with any more leeway or even trust that he could carry out his obligations as a former president of the United States, so, no, I don't think he'd be entitled to it. I think what we've seen as far as his relationship with Russia in the past and here we have I think the person who's cheering most is Vladimir Putin.

I think they're opening up every bottle of vodka they have in Russia in terms of what has happened to the United States. What he, President Putin, has helped happened in this country in terms of undermining our own sense of self-confidence, undermining our intelligence community, undermining our judiciary, undermining the AG's office, undermining and trying to politicize the State Department and the military.

[19:15:07]

I don't think that we want former President Trump to be in a position of highly classified information because he can't be trusted with it.

BLITZER: Secretary Cohen, thank you so much for joining us and we'll continue this conversation down the road.

COHEN: Thank you. BLITZER: We have much more of this new and truly shocking video from

the Capitol Hill insurrection. That's coming up. We'll share it with you. We're also following how capitols across the United States right now are preparing for the threat of new violence just ahead of inauguration day on Wednesday. And with just three days left in President Trump's term, I'll speak to one of the House impeachment managers about how they see impeachment unfolding.

Stay with us. Lots going on. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Across the United States this week and in all 50 state capitols police and National Guard troops are preparing for the possibility of violent protests. It's a relatively new concern, a direct result of this month's deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

CNN's security correspondent Josh Campbell is in Lansing, Michigan, for us right now.

[19:20:01]

Josh, there was a demonstration there in the Michigan Capitol earlier today. How many people showed up? How are police preparing for the coming days?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, they had a massive security posture here with members of the National Guard and the state police. They were on guard after that FBI warning about possible armed protests across the country. But today here we did not see a large gathering. We saw no violence. There were about 25 people that showed up. We talked to the state police official here who talked about their posture and why he believes that it wasn't a very large crowd here. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. MICHAEL SHAW, MICHIGAN STATE POLICE: We kind of looked at everything from last week, some of the chatter that we had heard from the FBI and some of the social media there. So this day was kind of picked out so to speak in some of that chatter so we wanted to make sure that what happened in Washington would not happen here in Michigan. So we put a lot more security outside, a lot more visible security than normally would be there.

We had about 25 protesters total that showed up here. None of them were violent. They stated their grievance just like you're supposed to do, and they left. So, you know, you never know what's going to happen.

CAMPBELL: The nation is on high alert right now. There were reports that the FBI was talking about at least prior to today possibly armed protests in all 50 state capitols. But why do you think we didn't see any type of violence here? Is it the security posture, or what did you think went into these people deciding not to come here and not to cause some type of violence? SHAW: Why they didn't, you know, I would hope that it was just people

deciding that, you know what, I want to air my grievances and I did and I left.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now, Wolf, it's also worth pointing out that we've talked to security experts who say that it's those massive number of FBI arrests after that attack in the Capitol that also may have played a role here in the deterrent. No violence today but authorities say they remain on guard especially as we head up to the inauguration -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And, Josh, as you know, we have these new videos from the U.S. Capitol riots not seen on CNN before today. I want you to take a look at this small clip. Listen to this and watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fuck you, police.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: That was going on outside the building, but this moment happened inside when a Capitol police officer confronted some of the rioters who are trespassing right in the Senate chamber. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any chance I could get you guys to leave the Senate wing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will. I mean, I sure ain't disrespecting the place.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Just want to let you guys know this is like the sacredest place.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know. Hey, no, I'm going to take -- I'm going to take --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Josh, you're a former FBI agent. How in your view did that Capitol police officer handle the situation with those intruders who barged into -- on the Senate floor? You saw what they were doing.

CAMPBELL: Yes, Wolf, you know, this is obviously going to be the subject of a massive investigation to try to get to the bottom of the planning and obviously the execution and how law enforcement handled themselves. But it's hard to look at the video and not think that perhaps a different group, a different type of protester may have been treated differently. Of course, that has been a concern that we are hearing from many critics of what took place. That you look back last summer, you know, during the Black Lives Matter protesters, officers were very heavy-handed, using tear gas, using less than lethal munitions.

Here, you know, the Capitol police officer was trying to appeal to the person based on the importance of the Capitol to try to keep them from causing destruction. Now some might look at that and say, Wolf, that perhaps, you know, this officer was outnumbered. He's one person, how's he going to round up all these people when other officers were also in the building trying to keep people out.

But again, a lot of questions being raised there not only about how they handled themselves on that day. That will be investigated, Wolf. And also we know that there are so many members of Congress that are now calling for an investigation, perhaps a commission to try to look into how this failure took place -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, they need a 9/11-type commission of inquiry to learn from what happened to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Josh, thank you very, very much.

Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett is joining us right now. She's an impeachment manager in the upcoming Senate trial against President Trump.

Let me get your reaction, Congresswoman, to the shocking new video that we've been showing our viewers. What do you think seeing this, knowing you will be the making the case for the conviction? He was impeached, now it's up to the Senate to decide if he should be convicted. I want to get your reaction to what this new video is saying.

STACEY PLASKETT (D), DELEGATE TO U.S. HOUSE FROM VIRGIN ISLANDS: Well, I think what the video is showing us is what so many of us who experienced that day know, that the Capitol was insurrection. There was a coup. There was an attempt to overthrow the rightful government of the United States and our democratic process.

[19:25:03]

Let's not forget that this did happen on January 6th. And what was supposed to be happening in the Capitol at that time? All members of Congress were there to perform their constitutional duty. That was to certify the election. And it is no mistake that the president called those individuals to Washington and to march on the Capitol to obstruct democracy, to obstruct. And what we're seeing is actually a crime scene. We are all witnesses to the criminal intent, the conspiracy of Donald J. Trump in effectuating that crime on the American people.

BLITZER: When are you expecting, Congresswoman, the Speaker Nancy Pelosi to actually send over that one Article of Impeachment to the Senate? PLASKETT: Well, my understanding is that the speaker is in

consultation with the Senate. The Senate is out until the 19th of January. And we will hear in due time what the date is that those articles -- that article will be walked over to the Senate.

BLITZER: We keep hearing that some of the impeachment managers say members of Congress were actual witnesses to the awful situation that unfolded, that uprising. Does that mean you won't call witnesses in the trial or you will?

PLASKETT: Well, I think that we're looking at all options right now. I have to tell you, Wolf, that I'm just so -- not only honored to have been asked by the speaker, but just amazed that the members that she has assembled, all of us having been constitutional or trial attorneys working on cases, and the synergy between all of us and the discussions and the strategy has just been phenomenal, to bring this awful, awful case before the Senate, as well as all of them having been victims, not only witnesses but victims of the crime.

BLITZER: President Trump has now just under three days left in office then he becomes a private citizen. He obviously lost the election. In these final few days more pardons by him are expected. What will it say if he actually pardons the rioters who stormed Capitol Hill?

PLASKETT: Well, it will say and just be another demonstration of who he is. An individual who has used the office of the presidency for his own purposes. You know, this is a terrible embarrassment to our country. And we have an opportunity to right that wrong. There are good people in the Republican Party. I don't want people to believe that the Democratic impeachment managers are coming over there to cast aspersions on the entire party.

This is something that Donald Trump has done. This is something that he has incited among the American people. And we have in this trial an opportunity to let the world as well as to let citizens of this country who are fearful, citizens of the country who feel wronged that America still is the greatest country in the world. We are a democracy. Our founders anticipated something like this, and we believe that justice will be done.

BLITZER: As you know the nation's Capitol here, Washington, D.C., is bracing for possible violent threats to the inauguration. Do you believe, Congresswoman, lessons have been learned since January 6th? For example, do you feel safe?

PLASKETT: Well, as I've told other people, you know, safe is a relative term. I feel as if I am going to be at the inauguration to demonstrate my commitment and the fact that my constituents believe in the peaceful transfer of power. And I think that can't be demonstrated without us being there. So I will be there. I'm grateful for troops that are there. My own Virgin Islands National Guard members have flown up and are part of the contingent of so many other soldiers, servicemen, law enforcement officers that are there to protect us, and I believe that they will do everything in their power to keep us safe.

BLITZER: Stacey Plaskett is the U.S. -- is the delegate from the U.S. Virgin Islands and she's a House impeachment manager. Thank you so much, Congresswoman, for joining us. Good luck --

PLASKETT: Thank you.

BLITZER: Stay safe up there. Appreciate it very much.

PLASKETT: Thank you. You, too.

BLITZER: Thank you.

As we see security stepped up at capitols across the United States right now a new video of the violent insurrection on Capitol Hill some two weeks ago. Just how much do these violent scenes hurt President Trump's standing with his fellow Republicans? We've got some new information. We'll discuss when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:34:05]

BLITZER: So how much did Wednesday, January 6, actually hurt President Trump's standing with his own Republican Party? It's hard to forget scenes like the one I'm about to show you. It's from the "New Yorker" video just released. And once again, this video is very graphic.

[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS]

BLITZER: A scaffolding and a noose -- a noose -- on Capitol Hill and in the meantime, at the Capitol, these were rioters and this is what they were chanting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: (Chanting "Hang Mike Pence.")

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: "Hang Mike Pence." Let's discuss with CNN politics reporter, Chris Cillizza.

So Chris, what do you think? How will January 6 impact the President's power within the Republican Party? I mean, the fact that they were hanging a noose at the scaffolding over there and then they were shouting, "Hang Mike Pence" because he did what the Constitution requires. He certified the results of the Electoral College. He had no choice. And they were saying - suggesting kill him.

[19:35:18]

CHRIS CILLIZZA, CNN POLITICS REPORTER AND EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Yes. First on, Mike Pence. I can't imagine a guy as Vice President who would back up Donald Trump's agenda any more than Mike Pence did, I would argue much to his political detriment, Wolf.

The idea that Mike Pence would have to go around the Constitution in order to win the approval of this mob speaks to, I think, how misguided their priorities are. That's point one. Point two, to your broader question, you know, I think for some Republicans, it was a little bit of a wake-up call.

But I will remind people after what happened on January 6th, Congress came back into session, the House had a chance to vote on the objections in Arizona, objections to the Electoral College in Arizona and Pennsylvania. A hundred and twenty one House Republicans voted to object to the Electoral College votes in Arizona; 138 in Pennsylvania. That's after the overrunning of the Capitol and the riots, Wolf.

And so that makes me just -- I'd say, it's possible, but let's give a pause here because I just don't know that even an event like that changed things.

BLITZER: You know, six out of 10 Republicans still approve of the job President Trump is doing, 60 percent, it sounds strong. It has actually dropped a little bit from 77 percent in August in this new poll. What do these numbers say to you?

CILLIZZA: Yes, that's a Pew poll from November and then this past week. I mean, it makes clear that at the moment, Wolf, that these riots and the way in which these people acted and behaved themselves had an impact. That there are some Republicans one in five-ish, who dropped out and said, this isn't for me anymore, right? I can't -- I can't be for this.

Now, my question, though, Wolf going forward is do they stay in that place? Do they come back to Trump? I'll give you another number. Ten -- 10 Republicans crossed party lines and voted to impeach Donald Trump last week. That's not that many, Wolf.

The vast, vast, vast majority of Republicans in the House, even after all we saw, the riot. After everything we've learned since then, all the video including this video from the "New Yorker" that's come out, even then, only 10 crossed party lines, and that's why I'm always skeptical to say oh, yes, the fever has broken among Republicans, because I don't know that it has.

BLITZER: Look at this little clip from this chilling video posted by the "New Yorker." Watch and listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ted' Cruz's objection to the Arizona --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is objection. He was going to sell us out all along.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Objection to counting the electoral votes of the State of Arizona.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's take a photo of that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, that's good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's actually okay. All right, all right. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hawley and Cruz. I think Cruz would want us to do

this, so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we're good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: They got to the desk of Senator Ted Cruz, and they were looking at the papers. They were confused at the beginning. Then they realized from their perspective, he agreed with them that he would object to the certification of the Electoral College results.

Talk a little bit about that.

CILLIZZA: Sure. Words matter, Wolf. And while Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley out of Missouri were objecting the Electoral College results, largely for political reasons to curry favor with the Trump base. The people who stormed the Capitol, they don't get that.

They don't get that this was a put on for political reasons. They think it's real. You know why? Because they've spent four years being told by Donald Trump and affirmed by a Republican Party that's been way too complicit, that all the lies that Donald Trump has said are true.

They believe the election was stolen, because not enough -- barely any -- Republicans elected in office came out and said, look, I like Donald Trump. I voted for Donald Trump. I wanted Donald Trump to win. But the election wasn't stolen. I haven't seen any evidence of it.

Why? Because they're afraid of their own party's base. When that happens, you get events, unfortunately, like what happened on January 6. So no, was it Ted Cruz's fault? That wasn't his fault. Well, does he bear some blame? He absolutely bears some blame. Words matter in politics.

BLITZER: They certainly do. Chris Cillizza, thank you very, very much. We're going to have much more coming up on the capital cities across the United States tonight, ramping up security, but we're also following the deadly coronavirus pandemic The United States is nearing yet another very bleak milestone.

The incoming CDC Director says it could get sadly a whole lot worse. A member of the Biden-Harris transitions COVID advisory board standing by live, we will get the very latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:43:32]

BLITZER: We're going to have much more in this very, very disturbing video on the assault on the U.S. Capitol and the preparations for the Inauguration on Wednesday. That's coming up. But right now, I want to turn to the coronavirus pandemic. President-

elect Joe Biden's nominee for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning that we should all brace for what she calls dark weeks ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, INCOMING C.D.C. DIRECTOR: Nearly 4,000 deaths a day, almost 400,000 deaths total. By the middle of February, we expect half a million deaths in this country. That doesn't speak to the tens of thousands of people who are living with a yet uncharacterized syndrome after they've been -- after they've recovered.

And we still yet haven't seen the ramifications of what happened from the Holiday travel, from Holiday gathering in terms of high rates of hospitalizations and the deaths thereafter. So yes, I think we still have some dark weeks ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Here's the math. It took 117 days to go from 100 to 200,000 us deaths, only 84 days to go from 200,000 to 300,000 deaths. Here we are just 35 days later, we're already at more than 397,000 deaths. We're likely to hit 400,000 -- 400,000 Americans dead by tomorrow. Mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters.

Joining us now is Dr. Celine Gounder. She is on the Biden-Harris transition COVID advisory board. Dr. Gounder, thanks so much for joining us. So we're actually seeing upwards of 3,500 deaths in the United States every day. How much worse you expect things to get?

[19:45:10]

DR. CELINE GOUNDER, MEMBER, BIDEN-HARRIS TRANSITION COVID ADVISORY BOARD: Well, as Dr. Walensky noted, we are still going to be experiencing several dark weeks ahead, at least.

This is a virus that spreads exponentially, which means the curve right now in cases and in deaths is still shooting up. And as she said, we're still dealing with the aftermath of people gathering in in families with friends over the Holidays, and so there is still a lot yet to come.

BLITZER: Dr. Walensky also said that there are some serious bottlenecks in vaccine distribution across the United States. How will the Biden administration address those problems to reach Biden's goal of a hundred million injections during his first hundred days in office?

GOUNDER: Well, the President-elect is really committed to making sure we do get those hundred million shots in the people's arms in the first hundred days. And this is why he has announced a 1.9 trillion -- with a T -- dollar package, the American rescue plan to rescue the American economy and to rescue the American people from the pandemic.

And I think the name of the game here is partnership. It's going to be partnership between the Federal government, state and local health departments, pharmacies, as well as primary care providers and all of the different health systems, community health centers that people go to for their care.

This is not going to be top-down, us telling them what to do. It's really going to be saying, hey, how can we work together? What are the resources you need? The staffing? The supplies? How can we get this done together?

BLITZER: Dr. Celine Gounder, thanks so much for all your important work. We're grateful. We will continue this conversation down the road. Good luck in the new administration.

GOUNDER: Thank you.

BLITZER: As cities around the country on high alert after threats of violence, we are going to show you more of that new video from the insurrection up on Capitol Hill.

Plus, on Wednesday, Kamala Harris will make history here in the United States. We have a special preview of the CNN special report airing later tonight, looking at her personal life. We'll be right back.

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[19:51:36]

BLITZER: We're following the massive security ramp up of capitals around the country, but we're also just three days away from a truly historic moment with the nation inaugurating its first female Vice President and also the first woman of color in that role.

CNN's Abby Phillip recently sat down with Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, for a CNN special report and titled, "Kamala Harris: Making History." It airs later tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern right after THE SITUATION ROOM. Here's a quick preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGLAS EMHOFF, HUSBAND OF KAMALA HARRIS: I violated every rule of dating, I believe. I believe this long rambling voicemail ended the call and if you remember that scene in "Swingers."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You should call me tomorrow or in two days, whatever. Anyway, my number --

EMHOFF: That was me leaving the voicemail and I thought I'd never hear from her. But then --

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Harris had a break in her schedule and called him.

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: We ended up talking for like 45 minutes to an hour and just laughing the whole time.

PHILLIP (voice over): A couple of days later, their first date.

EMHOFF: It felt like we had known each other, and I just didn't want it to end. And so the next morning, I pulled the move of e-mailing her with my availabilities for the next four months, including long weekends.

And I said something like I'm too old to hide the ball. You're great. I want to see if we can make this work. Here's when I'm available next, and I guess it worked.

PHILLIP: How did you feel about that?

HARRIS: I was terrified.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I love -- I love her laugh. Abby is joining us right now. This inauguration is supposed to be such a historic moment, but now we're seeing these new security measures after threats of violence. Just how sad is it that we won't see the usual crowds of Americans on the Washington Mall witnessing this truly historic moment?

PHILLIP: You know, Wolf, sad is definitely the right word for it. I mean, so many Americans are clearly looking forward to this moment, who, you know, not just because maybe they supported Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, but also because of what Kamala Harris specifically represents for women, for black women, for South Asian American women who are seeing for the first time someone who is like them, ascending to the second highest office in the land.

So it will be a little bit of a bittersweet moment for the country that there won't be the crowds there. You know, her sorority sisters from Alpha Kappa Alpha, her classmates from Howard University, who some of whom we spoke to are so excited about this moment, but will have to be celebrating back home.

And you know, Kamala Harris has made it clear she is not going to let that get in the way of her recognizing the significance of this moment for her and will not let the sort of concerns about security overshadow the history that's going to be made.

BLITZER: Normally, normally, there's hundreds of thousands on Inauguration Day on the Washington Mall. That's not going to be the case this particular time and it is so, so sad.

Congratulations by the way. Abby is the new anchor of "Inside Politics." That airs Sunday mornings at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. We're looking forward to that, Abby.

And I want to alert our viewers once again later tonight, join Abby for her CNN Special Report. "Kamala Harris: Making History" once again 10:00 p.m. Eastern right after THE SITUATION ROOM.

Abby, thank you very, very much.

[19:55:08] BLITZER: As cities across the country on high alert right now, after

threats of violence new video gives us a closer look at the mindset of the rioters who actually stormed Capitol Hill. So how much blame rests with President Trump? Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace standing by live, we'll discuss.

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