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DHS Bulletin: Extremists Motivated By "False Narratives" May "Incite Or Commit Violence"; Biden COVID Team Holds First Briefing; U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Tops 427,000 With 25.5 Million Cases; January Now Deadliest Month Of The Pandemic; Interview With Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE); Biden Focusing $1.9 Trillion COVID Relief Plan As Senate Prepares For Trump Impeachment Trial; After Being Poisoned And Jailed, Russian Opposition Leader's Apartment Raided By Police. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired January 27, 2021 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: She always remembered your birthday. Her twin sister and best friend Nancy says Penny was a pure genius with animals.

Their mother Carolyn died over the weekend. Just a week after her daughter Penny. Carolyn was 78 years old. She raised four children and adored her two grandchildren.

To the Hubbard family, our deepest condolences, may other memories be a blessing. Our coverage on CNN continues right now.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. We're following breaking news.

The Homeland Security Department is now warning of a heightened potential for violence following President Biden's inauguration. A new threat bulletin just out says there are deep concerns, domestic extremists have been emboldened by the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

And we're also following a breaking pandemic news of the U.S. Coronavirus death toll is now top 427,000 people with more than 25 and a half million cases. President Biden's COVID Task Force held its first formal briefing today with one top officials saying and I'm quoting now, "This is a national emergency. Everything is on the table."

Let's begin with the breaking news. Our Senior Justice correspondent Evan Perez is joining us. Tell us about this Department of Homeland Security warning about the threat of -- by domestic extremist violence.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. This is a relatively rare alert that we've gotten from the Homeland Security Department that is -- has to do wholly with domestic extremists. And it has to do with the belief that perhaps extremists have been emboldened by the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6. It talks about the continuing threat of violence following the inauguration of Joe Biden and the possibility that elected officials, government buildings will be -- will be targeted as part of a series of attacks.

I'll read you just a part of what the DHS bulletin says. It says, "A heightened threat environment will persist in the weeks following the successful presidential inauguration." It continues to say, Wolf, "DHS is concerned, some domestic violent extremists may be emboldened by the January 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. to target elected officials and government facilities."

Obviously with this bulletin, again, it's not a very normal thing to see from the Homeland Security Department. But it really matches what we've heard from law enforcement and other government officials in the last couple of weeks. That because of what happened, some of these groups feel that they can try to do something perhaps even more spectacular.

And a lot of it is being driven by the false narratives that the President incited in those rioters on January 6 and continues, by the way, through some of his -- some of his supporters the idea that he indeed did win the election, which he did not.

BLITZER: I'm looking at the bulletin right now, Evan, and I have it in my hand and it's a slug bulletin. But it's issued by the National Terrorism Advisory System, which suggests -- they're suggesting there could be a real threat of domestic terrorism as a result of what has happened. What specifically would this mean for lawmakers and their security?

PEREZ: Well, it does -- it does raise the idea that lawmakers, especially those lawmakers that voted with the Democrats to impeach the president, there is a great deal of concern about their security, Wolf. And we've seen, for instance, some of the people who did not follow through and support the president, former President Trump, and his false claims about voter fraud.

We've seen some of those people being followed and being harassed at the airport. Lindsey Graham is one of those for instance. And we've seen also charges being brought and law enforcement taking action against people making threats against lawmakers, including Hakeem Jeffries of New York. There is a man who has now -- is now facing charges for allegedly leaving threats to the family members of Hakeem Jeffries, for instance.

And so, there is a tremendous amount of concern that perhaps when lawmakers go back to their districts and hold public events, do town halls and so on, that they could be threatened. And so we're seeing efforts to try to beef up their security not only at airports, but also when they go back home, this is going to be a continuing threat that we're going to see for months, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. Normally, a bulletin like this would deal with foreign terrorism threats.

PEREZ: Exactly. BLITZER: This is a bulletin in dealing with domestic terrorism threats. There are domestic terrorists who are plotting against the United States right now and it could get very violent.

Evan, we're going to have much more in this coming up. Very disturbing bulletin from the National Terrorism Advisory System at the Department of Homeland Security. Standby for that.

But there's more breaking news we're following this time on the pandemic. More than 427,000 Americans have now lost their lives to COVID and the number of confirmed cases has jumped to more than 25 and a half million. This, as the month of January, and we're still in the month, is now officially the deadliest month of the pandemic over this past year.

[17:05:17]

CNN's Nick Watt is joining us in Los Angeles right now.

Nick, President Biden's Task Force, they laid out the road ahead, and it is deeply, deeply concerning. Update our viewers.

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is Wolf. We heard a lot more today about how they hope to speed up this vital vaccine rollout. The good news, confirmation that the vaccines do work against the variants that we know are out there. Bad news, even when the Fed starts shipping out 10 million doses a week, that is still not going to be enough to meet the need.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JEFFREY ZIENTS, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE COORDINATOR: This is a national emergency, 400,000 people have died. Everything is on the table. States are getting better. The federal government is ramping up its support. We got a long way to go.

WATT (voice-over): To vaccinate enough Americans, still fewer than 25 million shots actually in arms. So, what else is new?

ANDY SLAVITT, SR. ADVISER TO WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONDE TEAM: We are releasing more supply, activating FEMA and deploying many more personnel.

DR. MARCELLA NUNEZ-SMITH, CHAIRWOMAN, COVID-19 HEALTH EQUITY TASK FORCE: We're launching a robust national public education campaign to make sure people know about this vaccine, the facts and not the misinformation.

SLAVITT: To the very specific question of whether or not a factory can be retrofitted to mass produce another vaccine, that's something that's under active exploration.

WATT: This the first official Biden administration COVID-19 briefing, but the President didn't appear, just scientists and experts.

Bottom line on vaccines right now the, feds were distributing 8.6 million doses a week, say they'll up it to 10.

GOV. PHIL MURPHY, (D) NEW JERSEY: It's not enough, but it is a big step in the right direction. Let there be no doubt about it.

GOV. LARRY HOGAN, (R) MARYLAND: The demand for vaccines will continue to far exceed the supply that will be available to us.

WATT: The goal, sometime this summer enough from Moderna and Pfizer to double dose every adult in America. Johnson and Johnson's vaccine, hopefully rolling out soonish. But --

DR. CARLOS RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Up to now, if you look across the country, we're vaccinating more wide wealthy individuals and in fact the disease's more in poor African American and Hispanic individuals.

WATT: Black and Hispanic Americans are dying at three times the rate, their white compatriots.

But a CNN analysis of 14 states found that as of last week, white people were on average, more than twice as likely to have received a shot.

NUNEZ-SMITH: We're going to have to take an extra step to get to some of the people who are hardest to reach. And that work is already happening now.

WATT: Right now, average new case counts are rising in Nebraska alone. But --

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: Now is not the time to travel. But if you must, be safe.

WATT: The feds are monitoring those seemingly more contagious mutations first found in the UK, Brazil, South Africa, and there are ways to stop even more mutations, masks on faces, vaccines in arms.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WATT: And this just in, we hear that FEMA is finalizing a request to the Department of Defense for 10,000 service personnel to help with this vaccine rolling. Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. They're considering active duty and National Guard troops. They need these people to get out there and help with the vaccinations.

Nick Watt, thank you very, very much.

Let's get some more in all of this. Our Chief National Correspondent John King is with us also. Our Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Sanjay, I wonder what went through your mind as both a doctor and a journalist, as you watch the first official Biden administration COVID-19 briefing earlier today. You've been calling for more transparency. Are you satisfied with what you saw and heard today?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf. I mean, I think that there were -- there was a lot of information that was given. I mean, this is the sort of briefing that I think we have been hoping for, for some time. I mean, very specific details of what are the adverse event rates with the vaccines. We talked about those allergic reactions, as Dr. Walensky said somewhere between two to six and a million. So we get better sort of idea on that.

How effective are these vaccines against the variants? Big Question. Dr. Fauci addressed that today in the news was encouraging.

Where are some of these vaccines? We hear about the numbers that are been distributed, but only about half have been administered. Why is that? Andy Slavitt sort of address that.

So, you know, there's still going to be questions. There's still obviously a lot of work to do. But this reminds me you know, Wolf, having covered this story, but obviously also Ebola and H1N1. We used to see the head of the CDC and the scientists doctors out there doing these briefings on a regular basis. And the information is so critical in terms of how we move forward.

[17:10:12]

BLITZER: Yes. So -- it's so important. I watched the whole thing. And I learned, and one of the things I did learn Sanjay and I want to get your reaction, that there is no national vaccine stockpile right now. And it will actually be months before everyone who wants a vaccine could get a vaccine.

We still don't know where in the pipeline a lot of these vaccine doses are right now. So how can it be that there are so many unaccounted for doses out there? This is such a precious life-saving commodity.

GUPTA: Yes. I mean, the most precious probably right now on earth. You know, I talked to Andy Slavitt a bit about this after the briefing as well.

I think there's a couple of issues. One is that the entire system was sort of designed to basically track these vaccines from the manufacturing facilities to the States. That was that software platform known as Tiberius. But once it got to the States, the states that were handling this differently, so some states for example, keep some of the doses on purpose for their second dose, not entirely confident that they will get the sec -- other second doses on time. They're keeping the second doses. And that's part of the shortfall.

Florida's doing that. Minnesota is doing that. So we're hearing that sort of thing.

Partly as well as I'm learning, Wolf, the state is actually pretty hard to track. So what we're seeing, as Dr. Walensky sort of described today is a -- is a sort of lag period. The numbers that you see in terms of administered versus distributed doses may reflect from a few days ago, or even a week ago. So it's not this point in time. So it may, you know, it may continue to catch up.

But it's clear, Wolf, we need to do a better job of tracking these. We also, you know, got an idea that Moderna is going to start distributing more vaccine as well, allowing them to increase to 10 million a week for the next three weeks, at least they say a vaccine around the country.

BLITZER: You know, John, the briefing today went on for more than an hour The White House says it's committed to holding these coronavirus briefings on a regular basis. The next one slated for Friday.

Can you imagine how different things might be looking today, if this was a practice throughout this year long pandemic?

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Well, especially if it was a practice in the previous administration, with just the scientists and the doctors, and if they had permission to speak candidly. And if they did not immediately after those briefings start undermining what they had just said or undermining each other. That's the big difference here.

You don't have a president walking into the room to peddle hydroxychloroquine, to suggest that maybe we should ingest bleach or some disinfectant. So you have scientists who are willing to say tough things, who are willing to say, we may not make this metric. So it's a completely different approach number one, based on science.

Number two, Wolf, they have a giant trust deficit here. They're trying to fix the briefings during the Trump administration destroyed that trust. The American people couldn't believe what they were hearing. Medical professionals like Sanjay could not trust what they were hearing. Governors did not trust what they were hearing. Health care providers did not trust what they were hearing.

So the Biden administration inherits not only the supply chain problem, but a giant trust deficit. And that's what they're trying to do here, rebuild trust across the board telling governors, here's what you're going to get. And when a governor says it's not enough, they don't trash that governor, the Trump administration always tried to blame somebody else. They say, we agree with you. It's not enough, we're doing the best we can, we will get you more.

So it's going to be fascinating to watch going forward, their transparency, their trust. But let's also be clear, they're laying down some performance markers for themselves by which they will be judged in the days and weeks ahead. This is their defining test, and they have to meet it, or they'll have political problems.

BLITZER: And I was encouraged, John, and I assume you were too, that we were listening to Dr. Fauci, Dr. Walensky, we're listening to the doctors, the scientists, the President, the Vice President, the political leadership did not show up at this briefing. We just heard from the experts.

KING: That has been the Biden promise from day one that he's going to let the science run the show. Let the scientists run the show. Take the advice from experts. He's the president. He's accountable in the end. Without a doubt he's accountable at the end. But let the scientists run the show.

And again, do not be afraid to tell people bad news. Trust the American people with bad news. Remember -- the approach is just so different.

President Trump said we're 15 cases we'll be down to zero soon. You know, it's going to disappear in April. It's not a pandemic. This is administration that's trusting the American people, and that's not afraid of science.

BLITZER: Starting in August, the former president would say almost on a daily basis, we're rounding the turn, we're rounding the corner. It's almost over things are getting better. Well, things are getting worse as we know.

Everybody standby.

A quick and important reminder to our viewers, Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins Anderson Cooper tonight for a new CNN global Town Hall. This is very important Coronavirus, Facts and Fears. Dr. Fauci, a top doctors from President Biden's COVID-19 team, they will all be discussing the race to vaccinate America. You can watch later tonight 8 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN.

[17:15:05]

Up next, President Biden keeps the focus on his agenda despite the looming distraction of former President Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate.

Plus, the dangerous facing lawmakers amid the continuing threat. A threat posed by violent domestic terrorists and extremists. We'll help update you on a very worrisome development.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Just one week at the office, President Biden is facing the challenge of getting his massive COVID relief plan through Congress where lawmakers are now being distracted by former President Trump's historic second impeachment trial. Let's go to our Senior White House Correspondent Phil Mattingly.

Phil, so what are we learning about the strategy?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a recognition that in just 12 days the Senate will all be shut down. But the focus for the White House is not on the impeachment trial even though they repeatedly get asked to weigh in. It is Wolf, as you said, trying to push forward on the $1.9 trillion stimulus proposal the President has put on the table. This was how Press Secretary Jen Psaki framed it today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We've weighed in many times the President has been asked about the issue. We put out a statement when the House put out a vote -- voted on impeachment, I should say. But his focus is on doing -- delivering on what the American people elected him to do, which is to get relief to the -- to the American people, to get the pandemic under control, to ensure working families can put food on the table. And that's where he feels his efforts should be -- should remain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:20: 18]

MATTINGLY: And Wolf, what you've seen over the course of the last couple of days, and what you'll see even more so in the days ahead, at least behind the scenes is a full score blitz by the White House trying to get support for that plan. They've been briefing Democratic groups on Capitol Hill, lawmakers, individual discussions with senior officials from the President on down about what that package entails and about what they'd like to see in any final piece of legislation, consulting with the committees on both sides of the aisle in terms of what that package may actually look like. But also focusing on the outside game as well.

I've been told that there have been many meetings and conversations with outside groups that they think can help push public sentiment for this package.

Now, one thing to keep in mind here, Wolf, Republicans have blanched at that $1.9 trillion top line. In fact, I'm told earlier today, in a private phone call a number, moderate Senate Republicans, raising significant concerns not just with that price tag, but also with the lack of White House outreach in their view. Bipartisanship is what the President says he wants.

But when you talk to Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill, it's becoming increasingly clear this will likely be a Democrat only bill, which makes those meetings with senior administration officials, including one tomorrow with Senate Democrats, so important in the days ahead, Wolf.

BLITZER: Very important.

And it's all of this President Biden, also citing several executive orders today to combat the climate crisis saying today is climate day at the White House. How will this impact Americans and importantly American jobs?

MATTINGLY: Yes, Wolf, it's crucial to note that the President followed by saying it's climate day at the White House by also saying that means it's jobs day at the White House. This White House is keenly aware that to win the political fight, to win the rhetorical fight when it comes to climate change they need to be able to convince the general public that on the issue of jobs, jobs will be created by new clean energy, new clean energy pushed by this administration. What the White House put into place today, what the President put into place today was a halt on new oil and gas leases. Also, probably more importantly, is kind of an all of government approach, agency by agency department by department factoring in climate change, factoring in clean and energy, and everything they do going forward. Also raising the issue on the national security side, looking for an intelligence assessment related to climate change as well. It's obviously it's a sharp divergence from the last administration from what we saw from President Trump.

But Wolf, you hit on the key point, the President can do only so much through executive orders, through federal action. He will need Congress if he wants to move forward on a more ambitious package, that with slim majorities in the House and the Senate, given the jobs issue will be difficult. It's why you see the White House focus on jobs and trying to tie new jobs, new clean energy jobs to whatever they want to do on climate, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. They certainly are trying hard.

Phil Mattingly over at the White House, thank you.

Joining us now Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware.

Senator, thanks so much for joining us.

So let's start with the President Biden's COVID relief plan. He wants bipartisan support, but even moderate Republicans are worried about the price tag.

Are Democrats taking a risk if they don't go -- f they don't go big while they hold this rather slim majority, 50-50 as you know, in the Senate. Many remember the missed opportunities of 2009.

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Well, Wolf, I'm clear that President Biden and Majority Leader Schumer want us to do everything we can to secure bipartisan votes for a package. But we also have to be bold. The American people are suffering from this pandemic.

Just last week, 900,000 people filed for unemployment for the first time. That's as many people as in my entire state of Delaware. We've got more than 25 million Americans infected and we have new variants of the disease that are posing even greater risk. So, Wolf, it is President Biden's desire and intention to craft a bipartisan package that can pass. But it is also important to recognize that he is clear eyed about just what a big mess he's inherited, and just how much need there is in the American people for prompt and effective relief.

BLITZER: As you probably know, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says he won't be taking any tools off the table to get this deal passed. So how long do you try to win over Republicans?

COONS: For several weeks, there will be a process that goes on two tracks. One is something called reconciliation, which makes it possible to pass a bold package with only Democratic votes. The other is to try to put together a bill that could get 60 votes. I know that's kind of wonky process. But we will keep at it until there is clarity that we can't get the kind of bold package that we all believe the American people deserve through a bipartisan path. So, I'm hopeful that in the next couple of weeks, the same group that worked so hard at the end of last year successfully to deliver a $900 billion bill will coalesce around a compelling package and will find a path forward.

[17:25:11]

BLITZER: Yes, this is --

COONS: But if that doesn't happen, we'll have the other tool available.

BLITZER: This is a $1.9 trillion package, which is bigger obviously than the other one.

The impeachment trial, meanwhile, Senator Coons is looming over all these talks. Now Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, a man you know well, has drafted a resolution to censure former President Trump for his role in inciting the deadly Capitol riot. So why not consider censure with the chances of conviction during the course of the Senate trial so unlikely?

COONS: Well, look, this is a question for my Republican colleagues, because it's clear from the early stages of the impeachment proceedings that Democrats stand ready to hold President Trump accountable for his role in inciting a riot that stormed the Capitol, that beat Capitol Police including bludgeoning one police officer to death, that smash their way into the Capitol and then marched up and down chanting things like hang Mike Pence and where's Nancy Pelosi?

What is striking to me about the incident three weeks ago, was that President Trump after having summoned this angry crowd to Washington, fired them up with an angry speech and pointed them at the Capitol. Once he heard reports that they were storming the Capitol did nothing to deploy the National Guard, to check on the safety and health of his own vice president or the leaders of Congress. So, I don't see how we move forward without some accountability. And I am working with my colleagues to try and figure out what is the most appropriate and unacceptable pathway towards real accountability.

BLITZER: But wouldn't center be better than acquittal?

COONS: If we had a clear path towards 60 votes on center, I think we would debate and discuss that. Right now we don't have that path.

And I will remind you, impeachment is the tool that Constitution gives to Congress to hold an executive accountable.

BLITZER: All right, Senator Coons, we'll stay in touch with you as we always do. Thank you so much for joining us.

COONS: Thank you. BLITZER: Just ahead, more breaking news of Capitol Hill, the House Minority Leader just blasted some of his fellow Republicans. We're going to talk about the future of the Republican Party when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:31:43]

BLITZER: There's breaking news up on Capitol Hill, the House GOP leader Representative Kevin McCarthy just had some very harsh words for his fellow Republicans. Let's go to Capitol Hill, our Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju is joining us. Tell us, Manu, about what the McCarthy had to say.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he told his colleagues on a private conference call to stop attacking each other. Now this comes in the aftermath of the impeachment of Donald Trump in the House in which 10 House Republicans broke ranks, they voted to impeach Donald Trump, including the number three Republican Liz Cheney. There's been in it back and forth that has been very tense for some time about this and about other matters as well.

But according to multiple sources who are on the call, they're saying that McCarthy's message was blunt, he said cut that crap out. He also said that they need to stop attacking each other. Doing so, he argued, would help Democrats retake that House -- keep the House majority when the Republicans are trying to take back the House majority in 2022.

His argument, keep the focus on the Democrats, not on each other. This comes, Wolf, as there are those Trump defenders within the House Republican conference who were trying to push out Liz Cheney from that leadership position in the aftermath of her support for impeachment.

Now, Liz Cheney's defenders believe they have enough support to keep her in that pose but that topic did not come up at today's call, that is expected to come out in a separate call. But questions two about McCarthy's hold the top the conference in the aftermath of his criticism of Donald Trump on the House floor about President's -- then-President's role in inciting that riot on January 6th, but he has privately tried to reassure his colleagues that things are OK with him and the President even going to South Florida tomorrow to meet with the former President who has been talking to his colleagues, raising concerns about McCarthy's public comments.

So we'll see they can continue to patch things up privately. But his message to his colleagues was clear. We're on the same team, in his words, cut that crap out, focus on Democrats and not on each other, Wolf.

BLITZER: Interesting. There's another development that it's really important that one very, very controversial Republican freshmen creating lots of division within the GOP ranks, has just been elevated to join a key congressional committee. Update our viewers on this because there is total outrage out there. RAJU: Yes, Marjorie Taylor Greene, she is the controversial freshman from Northwest Georgia. She was just named to serve on the education and workforce committee in the House. Now, the reason why this is particularly controversial is in light of some of our social media activity specifically on Facebook in which seem to agree with the theory of a -- that the Parkland massacre from 2018 was somehow a false flag conspiracy that was staged somehow, which of course is completely false and a total lie.

According to this Facebook post from 2018, someone posted, "It's called a pay off to keep his mouth shut since it was a false flag plan shooting. Greene responds in that Facebook post exactly. This comes in the aftermath of our own CNNs KFile reporting of her liking posts about executing Democrats. She has tried to distance herself at in the last day or so. But, Wolf, on this conference call today, I'm told she pledged to contribute $175,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee, that committee aimed at keeping the House majority.

[17:35:10]

McCarthy says he'd have conversations with some of those with her. We'll see if how she responds. But at the moment, she's on the Republican team.

BLITZER: But she's also going to be a member of the Education Committee, which is outrageous, given her -- this is not something she said 10 or 15 or 20 years ago, this was two years ago.

RAJU: Yes, two years ago, before she became a member of Congress on multiple posts, raising this suspicion about this Parkland massacre, a horrific massacre in Florida killing 17 people. Course, it was not a false flag. It was not a lie. It was not a conspiracy. It actually happened, which is why it has prompted so much outrage and the Republican leader says you'll talk to her. We'll see what he actually says. Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. If they get rid of her from that committee and maybe from Congress all together. Manu, thank you very much.

Let's get some insight from our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger. Gloria, there's a huge Gulf in the Republican Party right now. How far does this lecture from Kevin McCarthy probably go to this Congresswoman.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: It's a lecture that I think they probably expected. Because he said, you know, you're just killing each other. But I don't know how it's going to be taken, Wolf. I mean, she pledged money maybe that'll do it. But this party has a lot of soul searching to do right now and they have to figure out who they are and what they stand for.

Is somebody like Marjorie Taylor Greene welcome in a big tent if she tweets what Manu was talking about, if she says Parkland was a false flag, if she likes tweets that advise violence against her colleagues and leaders in the Congress. Remember when Steve King said that he didn't see why white supremacist -- supremacy was considered offensive. After that, they took him off of his committee assignments. I mean, it took them a long time to do it, Wolf, but eventually they stripped him of his committee assignments. Instead, Marjorie Taylor Greene has been rewarded with a great committee assignment, even after what she tweeted about Parkland. I don't see how that can stand.

BLITZER: Yes, either why. He's -- Kevin McCarthy, scolding his fellow Republican members say, be nice, don't say anything bad about other Republican members. But when it comes to this sitting member of Congress, this woman, Marjorie, Taylor Greene actually promoting, liking the execution of her now --

BORGER: Yes.

BLITZER: -- colleagues, what, she's not -- at least so far, she's barely got a slap on the wrist.

BORGER: Right. And also, Liz Cheney, for example, among those 10 House Republicans who voted for impeachment, they're trying to be ostracized by their colleagues in the Republican Party. Some members have called for her to be off of leadership in the Republican Party. I mean, McCarthy has said, well, I don't think you've checked her off from leadership but I have, quote, concerns about her. What are those concerns? What are their concerns about Leader McCarthy, who has been all over the place and how much Donald Trump had to do with the interaction?

You know, one point he said on the floor, he had responsibility, then they got a lot of blow back on that. So he said, well, everyone's responsible. What does that mean? You know, now he's going to meet with the President to try and kiss and makeup, I guess, because he wants to have a majority in the House in the next election and he feels like he needs the President. This is a party that has to figure out what it stands for. And we see these fights in public.

Adam Kinzinger, as you know, a Republican has continually taken on Marjorie Taylor Greene, and McCarthy wants that to stop. But why shouldn't McCarthy be able to speak his mind and say, she has no place in the Republican Party?

BLITZER: Yes, as you pointed out, Kevin McCarthy, flying down to Palm Beach --

BORGER: Yes.

BLITZER: -- to meet with the former President and see how that goes. All right, Gloria, thank you --

BORGER: Sure.

BLITZER: -- very much. There's more breaking news we're following. We have more on the Homeland Security department's warning today of potential violence by domestic extremists and terrorists. Plus, safety concerns from members of Congress traveling home. We're going to discuss the situation and it's very disturbing with the former FBI Deputy Director, Andrew McCabe. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:42:56]

BLITZER: We are following multiple breaking stories, including a truly alarming new bulletin from the Department of Homeland Security, warning that even though the inauguration has now come and gone, the nation still faces the threat of violence and terrorism by domestic, by American extremists. Let's discuss with the former FBI Director Andrew McCabe.

Andrew, thanks so much for joining us. This bulletin, which came out and its headline, National Terrorism Advisory System, that's the bulletin, how serious are these terrorist threats in this bulletin?

ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: Well, Wolf, they're very serious. I think you'll remember that the National Terrorism Advisory System is the system that replaced the old color system that we used after 911. The fact is, the government doesn't put these out unless they are acting on and feel compelled to warn us about a concerning level of intelligence that they have about possible threats. And I have to say this, may be the first time I've ever seen one issued on just a domestic terrorist threat, a domestic violent extremist threat. So this is -- the details in the bulletin are quite concerned.

BLITZER: So what is the great fear is -- the fear that they're going to just do rioting and destroy buildings, or they're actually going to go out and kill people?

MCCABE: I think they're afraid of all of that, Wolf. I think what they're acknowledging here is there is a groundswell of support for these domestic violent movements that used to be really just fringe operators, you know, far-right extremist groups, white supremacy groups, things like that.

And what you're seeing now is they have really banded together under this support for the former President and the following of such, you know, crazy conspiracy theories like the QAnon theories and things of that nature. And all of that has given them a force and an ability to act that we really haven't seen before.

So, the threat advisor is specifically calling out groups that they're afraid might try to attack state capitals or engage in political violence or racial violence. So it's really an across the board, very concerning, potentially violent threat.

[17:45:06]

BLITZER: How worried should the members of Congress who voted in favor, for example, of impeaching the former President Donald Trump? How worried should they be and should they beef up their own personal security?

MCCABE: I think members of Congress are probably thinking long and hard about that right now, and they should be. We've all seen the videos of people like Lindsey Graham and others who are approached by angry crowds in the airports and things like that. And as those videos propagate and get more, you know, retweets and likes on social media, it inspires others to act out in the same way.

So we're seeing a very aggressive, very confrontational groups that are fueled by grievance and fueled, as the bulletin itself says, fueled on false narratives. I think it's remarkable that they're calling out essentially the false narrative of the fifth (ph) of the election by Democrats, which of course, we know is ridiculous.

BLITZER: You know, the threat is very broad, racially motivated domestic terror, white supremacy, threats from conspiracy theories about the pandemic and all of that, how much of this boils down to the lies and misinformation that's circulating out there, deliberately circulating by evil people?

MCCABE: Well, really, that is the pool, the groundswell of ideology and grievance and violence from which all of these movements pull from and use as their motivation. And I shouldn't say that the events on January 6th, are really ringing in the ears of these extremists as an incredibly inspiring event. So the fact that they were able to take the Capitol and cause that kind of mayhem and chaos, has really kind of put some air behind the sales of these groups and the folks that would pursue violence from within them.

I think the question for us, Wolf, tonight is why now, where has this warning been for the last several months, honestly, for the last couple of years, because these groups and this discontent and this thread has been growing right beneath our nose. We just see DHS and our law enforcement and intelligence infrastructure, acknowledging it publicly. Now, I think there's a good question as to why they waited so long.

BLITZER: Yes. That is a good question. Andrew McCabe, thanks so much for joining us.

Coming up, a very blunt assessment of the U.S. vaccine stockpile as President Biden's COVID Task Force holds its first briefing. We'll be right back.

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[17:52:03]

BLITZER: Russian police have raised the -- rated, I should say, the apartment of the detained opposition leader Alexei Navalny. He was arrested on his return to Moscow from Germany where he was treated after being poisoned with a nerve agent. Our Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance has the latest developments from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's always been the Kremlin's instincts to silence its critics. Why these Russian police are raiding the offices of Alexei Navalny in Moscow say supporters, and the family apartment banging on the door even while the opposition leader is held in jail. This is real pressure being ratcheted up on the man the Kremlin appear to see as a major threat.

He's already survived an agonizing attempt on his life with a nerve agent. Now the anti-corruption campaigner faces multiple criminal proceedings and years potentially behind bars. He's only the latest to fell (ph) Vladimir Putin drug (ph).

Take Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest oligarchy. He famously fell out with Putin by funding opposition groups and highlighting official corruption before being arrested, serving 10 years in a Russian jail while his oil company Yukos was broken up.

Looking back, I was one of the lucky ones, he told me, from exile in London. I lost a decade of my life in prison, but others who challenge Putin have paid a far higher price, he tells me. That list is long.

Russia's most prominent investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya shed light on Russian operations in a brutal war in Chechnya for being gunned down in her apartment building in 2006, on Putin's birthday. Then there was Boris Nemtsov, a fierce Putin critic and opposition leader shot dead in 2015, outside the Kremlin's walls, as he walked home from a restaurant. The Kremlin denies any connection with the killings. Opposition figures say beatings and threats are commonplace.

Political opponents are also shamed and discredited, sometimes with secretly recorded sex tapes, like this one for the former Russian Prime Minister turned Kremlin critic. Mikhail Khodorkovsky says the new U.S. administration must not take the global lead to protect Alexei Navalny. Personal sanctions must be imposed by President Biden and others in the West on those closest to Putin, he tells me. This would be extremely painful for Putin's entourage and will affect the stability of his power, he says.

He would also show Alexei Navalny himself and the tens of thousands across Russia protesting for his release, that they have powerful allies.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[17:55:12]

CHANCE: Well, Wolf, tonight Alexei Navalny's lawyers are preparing for a day in court tomorrow where they'll be appealing the decision to detain Alexei Navalny. But despite international calls for his release, including a direct phone call from President Biden to President Putin of Russia last night, the authorities are showing very little sign of easing that pressure on a man they clearly now consider to be a dangerous rival.

BLITZER: Matthew Chance reporting from Moscow, thank you. There's more breaking news we're following, a new U.S. Homeland Security Department bulletin says domestic extremists and terrorists may have been emboldened by the attack on the U.S. Capitol and warns of a heightened potential for violence.

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