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Sources: Feds Looking at Trump Role in Inciting Insurrection; Sen. Chris Coons, (D) Delaware is Interviewed about Donald Trump; Sen. Coons: Trump "Does not Deserve to be President any Longer"; CNN Identifies Rioters Who Stormed U.S. Capitol; Los Angeles County Records 258 New Deaths And 11,841 New Cases. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired January 07, 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]

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We are going to see the impact of these vaccines on the metrics that matter the most.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much. I'm going to have you back on tomorrow. We'll talk about this and we'll talk about your excellent new book. Thanks so much for being with us.

And our coverage on CNN continues right now. Thanks so much for watching.

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.

Fresh fallout from one of the most shameful days in U.S. history. The House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now among a rapidly growing number of lawmakers and officials calling for President Trump's removal from office in the wake of the domestic terror attack on the U.S. Capitol that he incited.

Pelosi saying Congress may impeach the president, unless Vice President Pence and members of the Trump cabinet declare the president unfit for office and remove him under the 25th amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

And now see it in his learning that federal prosecutors are looking at Mr. Trump's unprecedented role in inciting this shameful violence. On top U.S. attorney saying and I'm quoting now, "we are looking at all actors here and anyone that had a role."

Meanwhile, the disgust among members of the President's own team is growing and growing. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has joined other members of the administration. She's become the first cabinet member to resign over these truly stunning events, saying she's deeply troubled by what she calls and I'm quoting her now, "entirely avoidable events."

We're covering all angles of the breaking news this hour with our correspondents in key locations. Let's start with our Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta. Jim, fast moving developments in the wake of one of the country's worst days.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. And President Trump is back in hiding inside the White House after inciting a bloody coup attempt up on Capitol Hill yesterday.

Now lawmakers from both parties are calling for Mr. Trump's removal using the 25th amendment of the constitution and a speedy installation of Mike Pence as an Interim President Pence is now breaking with the president refusing to overturn the election results and now planning to attend Joe Biden's inauguration, we are learning.

Resignations in the meantime of administration officials are also pouring in. But none of that may be enough to stop a president who appears to be bent on destruction during his final days in office as one Republican source close to the White House told me the President is, "unstable, ranting and raving."

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ACOSTA: One day after the President sparked a violent rebellion at the U.S. Capitol spilling blood inside the halls of Congress, a bipartisan effort is underway to kick Mr. Trump out of office.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats are prepared to impeach Mr. Trump once again if the Vice President and cabinet failed to invoke the Constitution's 25th amendment, allowing for the removal of an incapacitated commander in chief.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I joined the Senate Democratic leader and calling on the Vice President to remove this president by immediately invoking the 25th amendment.

If the Vice President or cabinet do not add, the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment. That is the overwhelming sentiment of my caucus and the American people.

ACOSTA: A small number of Republicans have begun to show their support, arguing Mr. Trump is mentally unfit.

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): All indications are that the President has become unmoored not just from his duty, or even as though but from reality itself.

ACOSTA: In insisting the country has no choice after the storming of the Capitol.

GOV. LARRY HOGAN (R-MD): I think there's no question that America would be better off if the President would resign or be removed from office.

ACOSTA: With his own social media accounts locked, Mr. Trump was forced to release a statement through an aide aimed at saving his own skin saying, "Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th."

But hold on, it was the President who incited the capital siege, starting at his rally earlier in the day.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And we're probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them. Because you'll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong.

ACOSTA: And later telling the rioters he love them.

TRUMP: This was a fraudulent election. But we can't play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You're very special.

ACOSTA: Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao became the first cabinet member to resign in protest, along with other top administration officials.

Chao who's married to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement, "It has deeply troubled me in a way that I simply cannot set aside former."

White House you Staff Mick Mulvaney stepped down from his role as special envoy to Northern Ireland.

[17:05:04]

MICK MULVANEY, SPECIAL ENVOY TO NORTHERN IRELAND: I called Mike Pompeo last night, left him a note that telling him that I'd be resigning for that. I just -- I can't -- I can't do it. I can't stay.

ACOSTA: CNN has learned that Vice President Mike Pence was with his family on Capitol Hill during the violence and yet the President and top aides did little to check on their safety.

A source close to Pence said of the President, "Was he concerned at all that an angry mob that he commanded to march on the Capitol might injure the Vice President or his family?" The sources the President pressured Pence to engineer a coup to keep Mr. Trump in power, something he refused to do.

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Those who wreaked havoc in our Capitol today, you did not win. Violence never wins.

ACOSTA: As one Republican senator said of the Vice President, "I've never seen Mike Pence as angry as he was today."

It's now a soul searching moment for the GOP after leading figures in their own party fueled an attack on American democracy.

RUDY GIULIANI, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S LAWYER: And if we're wrong, we will be made fools of. But if we're right, a lot of them will go to jail. So, let's have trial by combat.

(END VIDEO TAPE) ACOSTA: And there was combat now in a sign that Vice President's family has had two daughter, Charlotte Pence tweeted out congratulations today to President-elect Joe Biden.

And CNN has learned the President spent hours on Tuesday applying pressure on Vice President Pence to throw out the election results. During their meeting a source close to Pence said the President repeatedly warned his vice president there would be major consequences if he did not comply with Mr. Trump's orders to throw out the election results. The source said the message to Pence was clear.

As for the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden will be imperative to keep the Capitol safe. So today, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she called on or for the resignation of the Capitol police chief, Wolf. Obviously there was a massive security breakdown when those rioters stormed the Capitol. And all across the nation's Capitol, Wolf, authorities here, it is imperative that they keep that inauguration safe, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. At least Trump has now officially quit, quit this contest. The stepping aside, there will be a new president in 13 days. Thanks very much Jim Acosta.

Let's get some more on the investigation. CNN Crime and Justice Correspondent Shimon Prokupecz is joining us right now.

Shimon, you're learning that, what, federal prosecutors are actually looking at the role President Trump played in inciting the violence, the chaos that ensued at the U.S. Capitol yesterday. Could the President actually be facing criminal federal charges?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, you're right. The President could potentially his comments, his words on that stage leading up to what happened here behind me yesterday, those comments certainly are part of a criminal investigation.

We've learned from the U.S. attorney here in Washington, D.C. saying that Trump's comments are fair game now to investigators. These are significant comments from a U.S. attorney who you just don't normally hear these types of things from a U.S. Attorney talking about an investigation.

And Wolf, let me read to you exactly what he said in a call with reporters. The U.S. attorney is saying, "We're looking at all actors here and anyone that had a role, and if the evidence fits the elements of the crime, they're going to be charged."

The U.S. attorney saying that everything is on the table.

Now, let me just explain some of the things that the FBI and prosecutors here in Washington, D.C. are doing. They're going through a lot of the video, the social media postings, they're going through cell phone information. They're -- what they're doing is they're trying to see if people are working together here. It's obvious they were. That is something that they're going to be looking at as well. Also today, first -- the first federal charges were announced against more than a dozen people involved in the activity yesterday. One of them charged with possessing a gun and a gas mask and an ammunition. Another person charged with assaulting one of the officers here.

So this investigation, Wolf, is very much ongoing. It would seem that there are a lot of prosecutors assigned to it, that there are a lot of FBI investigators, FBI agents assigned to this and we could, the U.S. attorney says, see a lot more charges to come.

BLITZER: Including potentially the President of the United States which may inspire him to actually try to pardon himself or quit and let the Vice President give him a pardon in these final days. We'll discuss that, a lot more on that. That's coming up.

Shimon, thank you very, very much.

Let's get some more in all of this. Our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borgia is with us. Our CNN Political Commentator Van Jones is with us. Our Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash is with us. And CNN Legal Analyst Carrie Cordero.

Gloria, let's be -- I want you to be very, very clear about what we witnessed yesterday. It was awful. This was domestic terrorism, actually inspired by President Trump. You listen to the words he told all these people only minutes before they left near the White House and walked down Pennsylvania Avenue up to Capitol Hill. He clearly has blood on his hands.

[17:10:17]

The question is, will he be held accountable? Do you think he will be charged?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I don't know yet, Wolf. I don't know what the legal folks are going to say maybe Carrie Cordero, can talk about that. But I can tell you that it was so stunning to watch an insurrection, to watch a mob attack the Capitol of the United States. And the mob itself was a wholly owned subsidiary of Donald Trump.

That is who they were. They were inspired by him. They listened to him. They took instructions from him. And they did this because they believed him, Wolf.

And now we're in a situation where not only do people who are serving as members of Congress feel in peril, but I think the whole country to a degree feels in peril because they're worrying about what Donald Trump could do if he remains in office for the next two weeks.

Having observed this, you have to ask the question, and if there's no remorse from the President it seems to me, you -- the next question you have to ask is what is next?

BLITZER: Yes. And Dana, the President clearly is not showing any remorse for his role in provoking this mob that overran the Capitol. Instead, he's growing and we're told increasingly agitated, what does that tell you about what we need to expect between now and January 20, 13 days from now, Joe Biden will become president United States. Donald Trump is the loser. He will be the former president of the United States.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: We don't know what to expect. The only thing we have to base the next 13 days on is yesterday, at this point.

Given what we understand from our reporting is the President's mental state there isn't a lot of remorse that I'm hearing from my sources who are in touch with people around the President. Not at all. He is doubling down, tripling down anything. He is angry, not at himself or any kind of regret that he might have. Not at all.

He is angry at people like Mike Pence. Angry at anybody who has spoken out. And that is a very, very, very long list at this point of people who are saying enough is enough. Many who have had been under a lot of pressure to say enough is enough for a long time after, you know, pick your event where the President did something that was untoward or, frankly, you know, anti-American, depending on what it was.

This was a completely different situation. And it's really unfortunate that it took this kind of desecration of the people's House, but also for the people who work in that building who are on the President's side when it comes to political party to feel personally in peril, and to feel personally and affront to, you know, what was going on as opposed to other events throughout the past year, the rest -- even just the past two months where they could have spoken out more forcefully, but it took this feeling it personally for that to happen.

BLITZER: I took it personally, I covered Capitol Hill for a long time, it was so painful to see this attack on the U.S. Capitol.

You know, Van, when Joe Biden won the presidency, you shared a very emotional moment. A lot of us remember it right here on CNN where you said, and I'm quoting enough, you said "It's easier to be a parent this morning. It's easier to tell your kids that character matters."

I wonder what you told your kids this morning.

VAN JONES, FORMER OBAMA ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, you know, they are on the other coast for me right now. I'm out here on the east coast during this coverage. So I haven't had a chance to talk with them fully. But what I what I've shared with them in general is that this is a country that is better than what you're seeing.

This is the only country that they know. The only American they've ever seen is what they're seeing right now. And my heart breaks for them and for all the children of this country to think that this is only America that they know. This is -- for us, it's a deviation, for them it's their reality.

And the sun has to come up later this month. But these are the most dangerous 13 days this country has faced since the Cuban Missile Crisis. You have someone in the Oval Office now who is out of moves. He's out of legal moves.

There's no more ceremonies for him to try to hijack. There's no more rubber stamped rituals for him to try -- to try to take over. He just has to look down the long barrel of a defeat that he is not capable of accepting and he's still more rubber stamped rituals for him to try to try to take over, he just has to look down the long barrel of a defeat that he is not capable of accepting. And he still has all the powers of the nuclear arson, of emergency powers.

[17:15:15]

This is the most dangerous 13 days, and the entire political class has to stand with one voice to press back on this president to get to him to accept his fate or to be removed from office. That's where we are.

I am -- I try not to be an alarmist in these situations. But what I have seen over the past now two months, gives me not any comfort at all about the psychological ability of the president to accept what's happening with him and to govern himself accordingly. Both political parties now to step forward and ensure the safety of the American people.

BLITZER: You know, Carrie, federal prosecutors, including the U.S. attorney here in D.C., they're looking into anyone that had a role in inciting violence yesterday, could the President, do you believe face legal, criminal federal charges?

CARRIE CORDERO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think that the U.S. Attorney's Office, Wolf, is going to cast a wide net in terms of who they're going to look at for this umbrella investigation that is going to look at what transpired yesterday. And so, there were multiple federal crimes that we know just from looking at the pictures and looking at the video of what transpired the Capitol, multiple federal crimes that were committed in terms of breaching the Capitol Building. I've read reports about some individuals who were armed.

And so that in itself is going to launch the investigation. Whether or not the President will fall into that, they can look at his public statements, they can also start to investigate as part of that investigation anybody who was in touch with perhaps the leaders of the organization that was there.

Do I think the President will face criminal charges? That will be a decision that a future Justice Department, the new Justice Department will have to make. But I want to be really careful, Wolf, not to cabin the conversation about the President's conduct in the construct of whether or not he violated criminal law, because that's the wrong frame for us to look at the President's conduct.

The President should be facing his close advisers and his allies in Congress. And they should be seeking his resignation based on the incitement activity that he conducted.

It shouldn't take a criminal investigation, it shouldn't take the threat of a federal indictment, it should be the fact that we all know the public knows that he incited those individuals to conduct the aggressive actions that they did. And we are fortunate as a country that there was not greater harm and death yesterday.

We had someone who was armed, use their arms in a different way, given the massive security failure at the Capitol. We could have had a real, even more serious casualty event involving members and staff yesterday.

BLITZER: You say the President should resign. Legally speaking, Carrie, if the President, let's say decided over these 13 days to resign, but only if in advance he received a hard pledge from the Vice President who would then become the president, Mike Pence, to give him a pardon, would that be legal to have a deal like that?

CORDERO: That would be, first of all, this would be a novel circumstance where that type of deal. If he resigned and the Vice President pardon him, if he took that action, I tend to think that that would be the end of it. There would not really be a venue to then litigate whether or not the Vice President's pardon were done in a corrupt way, in some way.

The purpose of the pardon would be to end this situation, which is for the next 13 days, the country is on edge that there will be more violence and the President will potentially inspire more violent activity, particularly around the inauguration day.

BLITZER: Because I remember when Richard Nixon resigned the presidency, Gerald Ford gave him a pardon. We all remember that as well.

Let's see what happens. Thirteen days seems pretty short. But these 13 days could be very, very long.

Everybody stand by. There's more breaking news we're following. President-elect Joe Biden is reacting to the Trump inspired attack on the U.S. Capitol calling it and I'm quoting him now, "one of the darkest days in U.S. history."

[17:20:00]

Plus, what we're learning about those involved in the riot. We're going to have details of some who have now been identified.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: President-elect Joe Biden today called the pro-Trump mob attack on the U.S. Capitol one of the darkest days in U.S. history.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is in Wilmington, Delaware where Biden also announced his Justice Department nominees.

Arlette, the President-elect transition team has just, just put out a statement on invoking the 25th amendment to the Constitution to remove Trump from office. Update our viewers.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, despite growing calls for the 25th amendment to be invoked, or even potentially impeachment of President Trump President-elect Biden is staying out of this debate for now. A spokesperson for Biden, Andrew Bates, released a statement saying that the President-elect and the Vice President-elect are focused on their job of preparing to take office on January 20.

And any decisions regarding the 25th amendment or impeachment should be left with Vice President Pence, the cabinet and congressional leadership. But today here in Wilmington, Delaware, President-elect was forceful in denouncing both those rioters at the Capitol yesterday and President Trump.

[17:25:05]

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I wish we could say we couldn't see it coming, but that isn't true. We could see it coming.

SAENZ: With outrage in his voice, President-elect Joe Biden directly blamed President Trump for inciting Wednesday's insurrection at the Capitol.

BIDEN: The past four years we've had a president who's made his contempt for our democracy, our Constitution, the rule of law clear and everything he has done, he unleashed an all-out assault on our institutions of our democracy from the outset. And yesterday was about the combination of that unrelenting attack.

SAENZ: The President-elect described Wednesday's attack as one of the darkest days in American history and condemned the Trump supporting mob.

BIDEN: All of U.S. here, grieve the loss of life. Grieve the desecration of the people's House. But we -- what we witnessed yesterday was not dissent. It was not disorder. It was not protest. It was chaos.

They weren't protesters, don't dare call them protesters. They were a rioter's mob, insurrectionist, domestic terrorists. It's that basic. It's that simple.

SAENZ: The incoming president called out the disparity in how police responded to the rioters at the Capitol compared to Black Lives Matter protesters over the summer.

BIDEN: No one can tell me that it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday there wouldn't have been, they wouldn't have been treated very, very differently and the mob of thugs that storm the Capitol. We all -- we all know that's true. And it is unacceptable. Totally unacceptable.

SAENZ: Biden's comments came as he introduced the team that will lead the Department of Justice. With the President-elect signaling the clear departure he intends to take from President Trump.

BIDEN: You won't work for me. You are not the President or the Vice President's lawyer. Your loyalty is not to me, it's to the law, the Constitution.

SAENZ: His choice for attorney general Judge Merrick Garland laying out his views of justice.

JUDGE MERRICK GARLAND, ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE: The rule of law is not just some lawyers turner phrase. It is the very foundation of our democracy.

The essence of the rule of law is that light cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans. One rule for friends, another for foes. One rule for the powerful, another for the powerless. One rule for the rich, and another for the poor, or different rules depending upon one's race, or ethnicity.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

SAENZ: And tonight, we're learning President-elect Biden has also made decisions on three other top cabinet positions. He is expected to name Rhode Island's governor Gina Raimondo as Commerce Secretary, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as Labor Secretary, and Isabella Guzman as the person to lead the Small Business Administration.

The President-elect is viewing these picks as people who can take on the economic crisis in the wake of this coronavirus pandemic. And those announcements are expected to come tomorrow. Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Arlette, thank you very much.

We're joined now by key Democratic senator, Senator Chris Coons of Delaware.

Senator, thank you so much for joining us.

Last night you said President Trump, in your words, "Does not deserve to be president any longer." Does that mean you agree with your colleagues like the Minority Leader soon to be the Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who want to remove him from office using the 25th amendment to the Constitution?

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Yes, Wolf.

And frankly, more importantly, there are several senior former members of the Trump administration, cabinet officials who've said that they agree as well. John Kelly, who was chief of staff to President Trump has publicly said, I think it was just announced on CNN earlier this evening, that if he were still in the cabinet, he would invoke the 25th amendment. Attorney General Bill Barr, who has just resigned, Elaine Chao, Secretary of Transportation, who will soon resign, Mick Mulvaney, his former Chief of Staff, have all said that President Trump bears responsibility for inciting the riot that assaulted the Capitol, and that there should be consequences in different ways.

[17:30:00]

The larger point here is that if the 25th amendment is to mean anything, if it was ever important, it is exactly for this kind of moment for which it was written when an unhinged president has demonstrably abandoned his post.

Today was the deadliest day of the COVID-19 pandemic for the American people. And yet, President Trump spent his time issuing a Presidential Medal of Freedom to golfers and trying to communicate about his continued fantasy that he actually won the election two months ago that he lost. He is not keeping the American people safe. He's not expressing any regret about yesterday's assault on the Capitol. And frankly, for the next 13 days, we would all be better off if he were no longer actually our President.

BLITZER: Thirteen days is a long time, but would removing him from office, Senator, let's say under the 25th amendment, create those some problems potentially for the incoming President Joe Biden, who has the monumental task of trying to unite the country after all the chaos because some have suggested removing him under the 25th amendment could cause riots in the street. He has a lot of supporters out there.

COONS: He does. The 25th amendment provides that the Vice President would become the acting president for a brief period of time. So it would be a transition to someone who was elected alongside President Trump, someone who's been tirelessly loyal to President Trump, and someone who has enjoyed up until the last 48 hours, a lot of the support of President Trump and his supporters.

Wolf, you raise a good point, that exactly this sort of mob violence that happened in the Capitol last night could happen if there were a move by the Vice President and the Cabinet to suspend Donald Trump as president and make Mike Pence the acting president.

But frankly, after the events of yesterday, all of us have to step back and pause and say what else is President Trump capable of in the remaining 13 days of his presidency?

BLITZER: Well, you say he's unhinged, your word. What's your biggest worry about what he might do over the course of the next 13 days?

COONS: Well, obviously as commander in chief, he retains a great deal of power over our military. I am encouraged that all 10 living secretaries of Defense, former secretaries of Defense, who've served Republicans and Democrats have urged President Trump to accept the results of the election to move forward with a peaceful transition of power. And it's been made very clear by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Chairman Milley, that he believes that the military has absolutely no role in an election dispute.

My concern would be that President Trump would get us into some sort of conflict in his last 13 days that would then leave President-elect Biden not only with the challenge of responding to a pandemic, but getting us out of or unwinding and unplanned and unnecessary and needlessly disruptive conflict somewhere in the world.

BLITZER: Yes, record nearly 4,000, 4,000 Americans died from the virus just yesterday. It's an awful situation. Clearly, the current President of the United States is completely ignoring the death toll, the cases that are exploding across the country right now. Senator Coons, thanks so much for joining us. COONS: Thank you, Wolf.

[17:33:28]

BLITZER: Stay with us. So we're learning about some of the people who were part of the mob that ransacked lawmakers offices up on Capitol Hill and committed federal crimes. We're going to talk about that much more with the former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. He's standing by live. We have lots to discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: More now on the Breaking News. The FBI is now asking for help in identifying the rioters, the terrorists who breached the U.S. Capitol. Our senior investigative correspondent Drew Griffin has already learned details about some of them. Drew, share with our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world what you're finding out.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they're very easily identifiable, identifying themselves on social media. And what we can tell you is these are no patriots. These are members of hate groups like Proud Boys, Neo-Nazis, Boogaloos, a white supremacist, white nationalist from Alaska, gun advocate from Arkansas.

And you can see some of them on your screen now that we've identified, many of these men are trying to and they're mostly men are trying to scrub their social media but you just can't scrub the video that is all over the internet now of these men. Let me point one out to you Jake Angeli that is the buffalo horned man with no shirt on who was all through the Senate yesterday, marching through the Senate.

He is known as the QAnon shaman is what he calls himself. He believes that in the conspiracy theory that the Washington D.C. is somehow controlled by Satan worshippers. He also has posted in the past a selfie of himself with Rudy Giuliani at one of Giuliani's sham voter investigation hearings in Arizona.

I want to also point out Richard Barnett he goes as Bigo. He is the man who broke into Speaker Pelosi's office, put his feet up on the desk, stoled an envelope. And he is not hiding. He is actually speaking to one of our affiliates so boldly saying why he actually went in and put his feet up on her desk. Take a listen to just that audio that was one of our affiliates just obtained.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[17:40:04]

RICHARD BARNETT, LEADER, PRO-GUN RIGHTS GROUP: I set my flag down. I sat down there at my desk. I'm a taxpayer. I'm a patriot. That ain't her desk. We loaned her that desk, and she ain't appreciating the desk so I thought I'd sit down and appreciate the desk. I threw my feet up on the desk.

(END VIDEO CLIP) GRIFFIN: That is a belligerent Richard Barnett. He is from Arkansas. The FBI, the police want to speak with him. What is striking about all of this is just how much of it was pre planned and talked about on the internet before January 6th. We know the president. We know what he said.

But we also have seen evidence that thousands and thousands of messages were passed on the internet between these groups preparing for exactly what took place, bring guns to D.C., bring your violence to D.C. we are going to storm the Capitol. Hundreds of thousands of views of violence messages passed between these groups, Wolf, and yet somehow the Capitol Police, the Capitol itself was either looking the other way or simply unprepared. Wolf?

BLITZER: Yes. Yesterday, President Trump said that these individuals he said, we love you, you're very special, awful words from the president after we saw so much of the destruction up on Capitol Hill. All right, thanks very much, Drew, for that report.

Let's discuss with the former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. Mr. Secretary, thanks so much for joining us. You're not just the former Homeland Security Secretary, you're the former General Counsel at the Department of Defense. Let me get your reaction briefly to what we witnessed over the last 24 hours up on Capitol Hill.

JEH JOHNSON, FORMER SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Wolf, where do I begin? There -- it was tragic, one of the saddest days of -- in our country. And it was filled with all sorts of tragic irony and hypocrisy.

I was responsible for the security of the inaugural event on the Western Front of the Capitol four years ago. I had overall responsibility for that. And we all remember that, in that address on the Western Front of the Capitol, President Trump talked about American carnage. And a number of us including reportedly, George W. Bush said, what the heck is he talking about?

And over the last four years of the Trump presidency, kept by yesterday's event, that's exactly what we now have brought to us by Donald Trump. American carnage on the Western Front of the U.S. Capitol Building in the wake of COVID with over 350,000 Americans dead, there were many, many images from yesterday that will be burned into my memory for the rest of my life.

I have to tell you that the two that were the most shocking to me, aside from the destruction of property, and so forth, was the hangman's noose on the on the Western Front of the Capitol, hangman's noose on the U.S. Capitol grounds, as well as people brandishing Confederate flags in the U.S. Capitol.

Wolf, you and I know we fought an entire civil war to prevent exactly that from happening. But that's how far Washington descended yesterday.

BLITZER: I mean, if you think about it, to see a guy walking around with a confederate flag in the U.S. Capitol, as we know, you spent most a lot of your professional life working to protect our country. Did you ever imagine, Mr. Secretary, that one of the greatest threats against the U.S. would be domestic terrorism coming from within our own borders, the terrorism that we clearly saw yesterday from these rioters?

JOHNSON: Domestic terrorism coming from within our own borders encouraged by, incited by the sitting President of the United States. No, I never would have anticipated that in my lifetime. It was a sad, sad state of affairs. And let's not beat around the bush. This was insurrection. This is the very definition of insurrection.

We heard a lot of talk about insurrection last summer from this President. But this was the insurrection incited by this President. And no, I never could have imagined such a thing. And, Wolf, the breach of the Capitol grounds did not have to happen. We know how to protect the perimeter of the Capitol grounds. We do that with planning for the inauguration. We do that with planning for State of the Union addresses. We do that up here in the New York area for the U.N. General Assembly when you have over 100 heads of state, heads of government assemble.

So we know how to establish perimeters around security zones. And what happened here was obviously a failure to anticipate the security challenges of yesterday's event in Congress.

BLITZER: You're a lawyer among other things. Does the President of the United States have blood on his hands? Should he be charged with a federal criminal offense?

[17:45:07]

JOHNSON: Well, Wolf, I can't say I'm an expert on what constitutes inciting violence. I will say that I believe that President Trump, first and foremost, is responsible for lighting the match that caused yesterday's conflagration. He is responsible and whether he is held accountable legally or not, this is the capstone of his legacy. He needs to appreciate that this is what his legacy is going to boil down to. This is what people are going to remember about the presidency of Donald Trump, American carnage that he incited right there on the U.S. Capitol grounds.

BLITZER: When you and I spoke a few months ago, I remember you sharing a very personal story, and we spoke about it, about why that Confederate flag is so offensive to you. You shared a photo of your grandmother, as you explain your family history. We watched that Confederate flag, a rioter walking through the Capitol yesterday with it. There you see it once again, waving this Confederate flag. What was your reaction as you saw that? And what does it say about where we are as a country right now, that's something like that could even happen?

JOHNSON: Wolf, I think we're at a place now where it's more than just bridging the divide. You know, we hear a lot of talk about bridging the divide, bringing us together, reaching across the aisle. Seventy million people voted for Donald Trump. That's the single biggest vote tally of any loser of a national election. There is among that group of people, an awful lot of people who are angry, who have been actively misled into believing that the election was stolen. They really do believe that. How did we get here?

And so, I'm counting on and I believe that President-elect Biden will make every effort to bring us together. But there needs to be a harder look at how a large segment of this country could get to a place where they believe that the election was stolen, and that they therefore have to take the streets and invade the Capitol to somehow seek redress. That's a very, very sad state of affairs.

BLITZER: Indeed, it is. And Trump had 74 million votes by that 81 million votes, 7 million more. Former Secretary Jeh Johnson, thanks so much for joining us.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

BLITZER: There's more breaking news we're following. Coronavirus deaths in the U.S. set a single day record amid growing concerns about the pace of vaccinations. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:51:23]

BLITZER: We have much more on the attack on the U.S. Capitol in just a few moments. But there's also breaking pandemic news we're following. The U.S. coronavirus death toll is just top 364,000 people with more than 25, excuse me, 21.5 million confirmed cases. And the number of deaths just yesterday was at an all-time high here in the United States more than 3,800 Americans lost their lives to the virus in just 24 hours.

The crisis by the way is especially severe in Los Angeles County right now. Let's discuss with the mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti. Mayor, thank you so much for joining us. I want you to take a look at this unprecedented surge in new cases in L.A. right now. How did things get, and we're putting it up on the screen, how did things get so bad so quickly?

MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI (D-CA), LOS ANGELES: Well, it's every six seconds now a new case and every eight minutes somebody's dying here. But we've seen this across the country. And we've seen it particularly here where we have the densest metropolitan area in America. And while you've shown us so powerfully cower to the Capitol, political pyromaniac as our President, we're seeing heroes in our hospitals, we're seeing angels in our ambulances stretched thin to just deal with the onslaught right now of what's happening here at the epicenter, Los Angeles, Kansas, a couple other places around the country really are where we're seeing this fight continue.

And despite the distractions in Washington, we won't stop saving lives. And we're still very hopeful that the country will recognize this and get us the resources we need.

BLITZER: Despite all the restrictions you have in place. Someone in Los Angeles, as you've correctly pointed out, is dying from this virus every eight minutes. How do you get this back under control?

GARCETTI: Well, I think three ways, Wolf. First of all, we need more vaccinations. And its clear vaccinations are not being handed out where we need the most. Dr. Fauci said this about California and Los Angeles, we've got the capacity to do much more. And we need those vaccinations to come directly to local governments who can get those out.

Second is we need that funding too. The Congress, unfortunately, the Senate leadership and the President walked away from their promise to help cities out. They're the ones defending our first responders. They're the ones walking away from those who are on the frontlines. And third, it's on us as individuals. We have to continue doing everything in our own behaviors to tighten up our bubble, to make the right decisions. And to make sure especially in our households where the majority of the spread is happening, to make sure we're doing everything we can to stop this now.

Those things together give me hope that by the end of this month, we'll see the worst behind us. But we still have tough days ahead.

BLITZER: Your hospitals are pretty full. I have friends in L.A., who tell me they're ready to leave because they're afraid if they had to go to the hospital for some unrelated illness there. There wouldn't be any room for them. The doctors and the nurses, everybody is so busy with COVID right now. How tough is the situation as far as hospitalizations are concerned?

GARCETTI: It's very tough, Wolf. We learned lessons from March and April. So we got ready. We had the PPE, more ventilators, plans to surge and all of our hospitals are in surge mode. Luckily of the 90 hospitals in L.A. County, just three in the city of L.A. are in crisis mode. They come in and out of that depending on how many people to admit each day.

But just as we sent doctors from California to places like New York when there was that surge, I'm asking for folks across America, if you can spare a doctor or a nurse, if you can spare anything, please send it here. We're Americans. Despite what we see in Washington, we care about each other across geography. Send it to Kansas. Send it to those places that right now are going through that surge.

We can get through this in a much better way than we saw early on in this pandemic. But only if we come together as a nation and have that national leadership, we've been so lacking.

BLITZER: Mayor Garcetti, good luck to you. Good luck to everyone in L.A. This is an awful situation that we're following. Thanks so much for joining us.

[17:55:04]

GARCETTI: Thank you. God bless.

BLITZER: Thank you. There's more breaking news we're following. There's more on the growing number of lawmakers and officials now calling for President Trump to be declared unfit for office and forcibly removed under the 25th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. We're going to talk about that and more. The former Secretary of State General Colin Powell, he's standing by live, we will discuss when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:00:02]

BLITZER: 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 tonight.