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The Lead with Jake Tapper
N.C. Election Board Says It Has Power To Disqualify GOP Rep. Cawthorn; Virginia's Deputy A.G. Resigns After Facebook Posts Surface Of Her Praising Jan. 6 Rioters; NBC: Biden Doing "Deep Dive" On "About Four People" For Scotus Pick; National Archives Asks DOJ To investigate Trump's Handling Of White House Record; U.S. Is Watching That Could Signal Russia Is Launching An Invasion Of Ukraine; Texas National Guard Soldiers Call Border Operation A Disaster; Olympic Win Brings U.S. Skater Nathan Chen Little Love In China; Dollywood Will Soon Pay For Its Employees' College Tuition. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired February 10, 2022 - 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: Let's get to CNN's MJ Lee who's live for us at the White House.
So MJ, What did President Biden have to say?
MJ LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, we now know that President Biden's search for a Supreme Court nominee is well underway. He just told NBC News that there are a handful of candidates that he has already done a deep dive on. And he also had this to say about the prospects of getting Republican support for his eventual nominee. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LESTER HOLT, NBC NEWS HOST: Can I ask you where you stand right now on your nomination process for it, Supreme Court? What your shortlist looks like? Or if you want to name the nominee right here, we'd be happy to hear you.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, first of all the shortlist are nominees who are incredibly well qualified and documented. They are -- they were the honor students, they have come from the best universities, they have experienced some on the bench, some on the practice.
HOLT: What's the number you're at? Four, five, six?
BIDEN: Well, what I've done is I've taken about four people and done the deep dive on the meeting this thorough background checks and see if there's anything in the background that would make them not qualified.
HOLT: Is it important that you believe they'll get a vote from the Republican side? BIDEN: Well, I think whomever I think will get a vote from Republic side for the following reason, I'm not looking to make an ideological choice here. I'm looking for someone to replace Judge Breyer with the same kind of capacity judge Breyer had with an open mind who understands the Constitution, interprets it in a way that is consistent with the mainstream interpretation of the Constitution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: Now, President Biden returned just a little while ago from a trip to Virginia. And what is next on his agenda for the day is a meeting with some of the Democrats that sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee. And we have seen some of those senators arriving at the White House in the last hour or so.
This comment that the President made that he is not looking to make an ideological choice, that seems really key from the soundbite that we just heard. President Biden has been emphatic, basically, from the beginning that it is very important to him to consult with Republican senators in this process, that he wants to consult with bipartisan members. We'll see if that ends up being true. The Republicans end up supporting his eventual nominee, but this is a key issue that he has pressed that he wants this to be a bipartisan process. Jake.
TAPPER: All right, MJ Lee at the White House, thank you so much.
Also in our politics lead today, a rare use of the U.S. Constitution. Activists in North Carolina are pushing to keep MAGA supporting election denying Congressman Madison Cawthorn from running for reelection to the House because of his alleged role in the January 6 insurrection. As CNN's Sunlen Serfaty for us now, Cawthorn's lawyer is saying just because his client talked about fighting and bloodshed before, during and after January 6, does not mean he literally was calling for violence against politicians and police on January 6.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
REP. MADISON CAWTHORN (R-NC): I want you to chat with me so loud that the cowards on white Washington, D.C. that I serve with can hear you.
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A chance that my call an end to running for office. North Carolina's bipartisan election board asserting in this federal court filing that it has the power to potentially disqualify Congressman Madison Cawthorn from running for Congress again over his role in the January 6 insurrection.
JAMES BOPP JR., REP. CAWTHORN'S ATTORNEY: He wasn't engage in that attack.
SERFATY (voice-over): The Republican Congressman filed a federal lawsuit this week to try to shut down the constitutional challenge to his candidacy.
ROBERT ORR, ATTORNEY WORKING TO BAN REP. CAWTHORN FROM OFFICE: It's actually the Constitution of the United States that disqualifies Madison Cawthorn from being a candidate for office in 2022.
SERFATY (voice-over): Liberal groups are launching a longshot and unprecedented state level challenge to his candidacy using an obscure Civil War era clause of the 14th amendment, banning those who engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same or giving aid or comfort to the enemies thereof from running again.
CAWTHORN: Something that hasn't been used since the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era.
SERFATY (voice-over): Cawthorn has denied any wrongdoing in January 6 and his legal team signaling they're ready for this fight.
BOPP: -- who requires conduct. For him to say -- I mean, what they say he said at the rally and no other place he didn't go, you know, and pool and join them up at the Capitol.
SERFATY (voice-over): On January 6 Cawthorn speaking at this stop the steel rally hours before rioters stormed the Capitol.
CAWTHORN: Wow, this crowd has some fight in it.
And at 12:00 today, we will be contesting the election. Our constitution was violated.
SERFATY (voice-over): Two days before he tweeted, "January 6 is fast approaching. It's time to fight." And a month before, Cawthorn encouraging his supporters to lightly threaten members of Congress.
CAWTHORN: Call your congressman and feel free -- you can lightly threaten them.
If you don't start supporting election integrity, I'm coming after you, Madison Cawthorn is coming after you.
[17:05:02]
SERFATY (voice-over): Since coming to Congress last year, Cawthorn has been a lightning rod of controversy with social media posts showing him visiting Adolf Hitler's vacation home in Germany and referring to him as "the Fuhrer." At the time saying he was there honoring the allies when not the Nazis. Also questions over his claim he got into the prestigious Naval Academy, CNN obtained a deposition in which Cawthorn admitted that he had been rejected. And allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct by several women when he was a college student, claims he has denied.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
SERFATY: And there are a lot of open legal questions about how this provision in the Constitution would apply today. Now, where does this all go next? Well, the state level, the process there is halted for a moment while North Carolina redraws its congressional lines. But Cawthorn's own federal lawsuit, that's what asked to shut down the state challenge in North Carolina, that is progressing. And we expect to hear soon from the judge whether they will schedule a hearing or dismiss this case, Jake.
TAPPER: It's a fascinating case. Sunlen Serfaty, thanks so much.
Let's discuss with my panel. Maria, let me start with you. This -- so this is a bipartisan election board. And they're looking at this, and I'm going to read this again, just the key parts section three of the 14th amendment. "No person shall be a representative in Congress who haven't previously taken an oath as a member of Congress to support the Constitution of the United States shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof." In your view, did Congressman Cawthorn violate that?
MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Yes, absolutely. So did Donald Trump, by the way. But yes, I absolutely think that that is something that legitimately that people who are going after him can claim. Now whether it's going to work, you know, everyone is sort of pouring cold water on it. It's never been enforced in that way.
But I do think, Jake, for Democrats, it's an opportunity to focus on a message that I don't think many Democrats have done enough of. And I hope going into the midterms, they do the both and in terms of talking about local economies, everything that they need to do, and there's a lot that they need to do there. But also talk about the danger that would be electing a GOP governing majority if this is the type of people that are going to be representing it.
And right now, it is because who's the head of the GOP, Donald Trump, who called for the insurrection and people like Cawthorn support him. The RNC just passed that insane resolution that talked about the kinds of activities that Cawthorn was doing on the six, they call that legitimate political discourse. I think it's a great opportunity for Democrats to continue to underscore the danger that exists to our democracy.
TAPPER: So, Kristen, you are an expert on polling and focus groups and voters. And I'm wondering just as a pure practical level for Democrats, not morality, not ethics, not what should be, as a pure political matter, is talking about the insurrection, is talking about possible violations of the 14th Amendment, et cetera, et cetera, the erosion of democracy? Is that a winning issue, do you think?
KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST & POLLSTER: I don't think it is. And I think in part because the number one issue so clearly in poll after poll is the economy, cost of living, secondary to that things like how are you handling COVID, issues like immigration. For a lot of voters, they don't like what happened on January 6 at all, but it also feels like, folks want to look backwards instead of the voters who want to look forwards.
And Democrats, I think, got caught in this trap in Virginia by trying to focus so much on Donald Trump, and isn't he extreme, and do you want to put this party in power? And voters said, but Glenn Youngkin is going to cut my grocery tax and give me as a parent more voice.
Like the other problem with what's happening in North Carolina is if you're a Republican, now, that nonpartisan, bipartisan election board, you can say, look, they really are biased against us. And I think if you are somebody who worries about claims that these bipartisan or nonpartisan election boards are doing their job, this is just pouring gasoline on the fire of any potential, you know, Republican challenge to what's going on in North Carolina.
TAPPER: There is a question, though, how much that this insurrection thing is baked into the Republican Party right now. And Zolan, there's very interesting story today. Virginia's Deputy Attorney General, Monique Miles, resigned after "The Washington Post" found Facebook posts of her praising the January 6 rioters and claiming Trump won the 2020 election.
Here's one of the posts, quote, "News flash, patriots have stormed the Capitol. No surprise. The deep state has awoken the sleeping giant. Patriots are not taking this lying down. We're awake, ready and will fight for our rights by any means necessary."
And just to underline the point, this was supposed to be a top deputy of the Virginia A.G.'s office who would oversee election issues for Virginia's new Republican attorney general.
ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": There's so much that has been out in the open in public when it comes to members of Congress, when it comes to some of the politicians we see day to day when it comes to their words and the days before January 6 and on January 6 and in the days after including white washing it. But the trickledown effect as well of the local officials.
[17:10:07]
You know social media posts that they might oppose, like in this case, that will be uncovered and how many more will be uncovered. That will be something to watch. I mean, it's worth mentioning again, you know, I cover the White House, I cover this administration and the false narratives in how they are continued to be amplified around that day as well as the presidential election and the trickledown effect of how that can reach people on the ground, that continues to be a top concern, not just for the White House, but also for national security officials as well.
TAPPER: And Jackie, we should point out Monique Miles' statement to "The Washington Post" has since kind of backtracked from the sentiment there. What was it saying what we know now about the election today is very different from what we knew the day Biden was inaugurated. How much do --
JACKIE KUCINICH, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE DAILY BEAST: Not so much.
TAPPER: I know.
KUCINICH: But I think --
TAPPER: Right. That's not true. KUCINICH: No. Not -- no. That is incorrect. However, I will say the difference between what's happening in Virginia versus what's happening in other states is she stepped down, she resigned.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TAPPER: Right.
KUCINICH: In other states, they're trying to politicize --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
KUCINICH: -- the election boards, they're trying to insert that partisanship.
TAPPER: No, exactly, they would run for -- she would run for governor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly.
KUCINICH: Well, exactly. And so the opposite is happening. And so, I think that is noteworthy that she was actually asked to resign.
TAPPER: Do you think that is because Virginia is a, well, let me open this to the group.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TAPPER: Is it because Virginia is a purple state? It's because Glenn Youngkin is trying to be a center right conservative? Or you know, what's your take?
CARDONA: Yes, I actually wouldn't be surprised if Youngkin was the one to be like, hey, you got to get out of here. Because, and this is where I'm going to disagree with my friend Kristen, Virginia is I think right now an isolated situation. Glenn Youngkin is not Cawthorn, Cawthorn is not Glenn Youngkin.
ANDERSON: That's true. I'll agree with you on that.
CARDONA: You look across the board and so many of the candidates who are running for office, both for Congress, as well as the down ballot secretaries of state, they are all supporters and purveyors of the big lie and support Donald Trump and said that they would not certify the election. So I do think that in specific races, and it can't be just underscoring the danger, you're not running against Trump, you're running against MAGA, the big lie, the danger to democracy. What these candidates want to do if they would be in power, they want to destroy our Constitution and take away our democracy.
TAPPER: I want to turn to this new revelation from President Biden on the Supreme Court. Becky (ph) says he's looking into for people. That's a short list now.
If you were advising President Biden, you don't like -- if you were --
ANDERSON: He might be watching. Who knows. TAPPER: Well, if you were advising him and you wanted him to do something that would help his, you know, his approval ratings are awful right now. I don't know that a Supreme Court pick would do that necessarily. How do you factor that in?
ANDERSON: A Supreme Court pick is more likely to be very contentious than not. But I think it's so interesting that you have, for instance, even Senator Lindsey Graham. Even Senator Lindsey Graham sort of championing a pick in Michelle Childs from --
TAPPER: South Carolina.
ANDERSON: And so while, I don't know who is on that list, to the extent that somebody can be put forward that even gets a couple of Republican votes, I think that would be a sort of interesting political victory for him, given that he ran on this message of unity and yet, in poll after poll, Americans do not feel like we are more unified than we were 365 days ago.
TAPPER: It does feel to me, though, that Supreme Court picks are more often pleasing for the base. And like, even if you pick somebody, like Merrick Garland, Obama pick Merrick Garland to be like a moderate pick, that didn't help him with conservatives.
KANNO-YOUNGS: Right.
TAPPER: When he was running for reelection. But you know, you see my point.
KANNO-YOUNGS: Yes. And look, we have to remember too, you know, the President has already been out there and the White House has been out there making it clear that they are going to choose a black woman as well. It comes at a time of increasing anxiety when you talk to, you know, leaders of advocacy groups that champion voting protections, police reform, that feel that those have been cast aside. So, is this maybe something that you can tout and say, look, you know, acknowledging that we have not made progress on those issues that do resonate in these communities, here's something that -- here's a historic pick as well, that could galvanize that.
KUCINICH: And not to take away from the historic pick because that is something that is definitely worth acknowledging. But I will say on the left, they haven't had the same momentum when it comes to the Supreme Court and running on the Supreme Court. Now, I would not be surprised if what happens with Roe v. Wade, if it is, in fact overturned, if that motivates the base more than perhaps who Biden chooses.
TAPPER: Thanks so much for being here. Good to see you all.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks, Jake.
TAPPER: Talk about a document dump, new reporting reveals Donald Trump flush documents down a White House toilet. Better called a plumber.
Then, Nathan Chen, figure skating's new golden boy, but you would not notice -- you would not know that if you only watch the Chinese government press. We're going to go behind China's wall, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:19:15]
TAPPER: And the politics lead, former President Trump with a denial today for the ages he writes, quote, "Another fake story that I flushed papers and documents down a White House toilet is categorically untrue and simply made up by a reporter in order to get publicity for a mostly fictitious book," unquote.
That's not accurate. But the reporter is Maggie Haberman, White House correspondent for "The New York Times" who won a Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of the Trump presidency. She wrote about Trump's periodical document dumps in her upcoming book called "Confidence Man," she tweeted about it this morning.
Let's bring in CNN's Evan Perez.
Evan, Trump isn't just disputing Maggie's reporting today, which I should note has been backed up by other reporters.
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Right.
TAPPER: He's also disputing other claims of mishandled presidential records, which the National Archives has actually referred to the Justice Department which seems significant.
[17:20:04]
PEREZ: It is significant. And look, I mean, the National Archives looked at what they received, this 15 boxes of documents that they received from Mar-a-Lago. And they decided that they thought there was something here to look at, whether there was some violation of federal law, and there's a number of laws that they could -- that you could look at. So they asked -- they wanted the Justice Department to take a look.
Now, it's quite a question is, what happens next? It's not clear that the Justice Department is going to actually launch a formal investigation. A lot of these referrals don't end up making it into a formal investigation. But just the fact that somebody at the Archives thought that this is something prosecutors and the FBI should look at is a big major step to take.
TAPPER: Do we have any idea what the National Archives specifically is concerned about, whether it's documents missing or classified documents that --
PEREZ: Well, they're concerned about all of that.
TAPPER: Yes.
PEREZ: They're concerned of whether, yes, exactly, where there's any violation of the Presidential Records Act, which is kind of a law that is not really -- the enforcement mechanism is not exactly there for the Justice Department, but there's a number of other laws. There's a law, for instance that says, it's illegal for you to unlawfully destroy or mutilate documents, you know, that belong to a public office and you get up to three years in prison and you could be disqualified from holding office if you were to be found guilty of that law.
So there's a number of laws, including mishandling of classified information, which of course, you know, you should remember there was a period when Donald Trump was very concerned about that when Hillary Clinton was under investigation.
TAPPER: Why concerned in quotes concerned. Right. But we know that he destroyed documents because there's all this reporting about him shredding documents, ripping up documents.
PEREZ: Right.
TAPPER: I've got Chief Political Analyst, Gloria Borger, is with us too. And Gloria, Trump said that the process to hand over documents, the National Archives has 15 boxes that were handed overseas to however you want to call it. He says has been collaborative --
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Right.
TAPPER: -- and without conflict. But I mean, the National Archives is referred this to the Justice Department.
BORGER: Right. Because as Evan is saying, they have no idea whether they're classified documents in there or maybe they do have an idea of what's in there.
Look, if he wanted to keep the note from President Obama that Obama sent him on his first day in office and all that, there are ways to do that. You know, you have -- there is a process. But this White House, this former White House knew nothing about process. We know about that.
PEREZ: They knew, but they just didn't want to follow it (ph).
BORGER: They did -- right. It was his sinecure. He could do anything the way he wanted. He could use his personal cell phone instead of using the cell phone at his desk, he could use other people's phones, he could use phones that were not secured. I mean, this is the way they operated and the Archives knows this. And where they're going through all these documents, they can see what's potentially missing and what's not.
TAPPER: And Evan, we should note that after Maggie Haberman put out her scoop on Twitter and also I think she leaked an excerpt of her upcoming book to Axios, Jennifer Jacobs, another widely respected journalist who covered Trump, she's a senior White House reporter for Bloomberg News. She tweeted, "Maggie Haberman reporting is 100 percent accurate. Staff did find clumped torn shredded papers and fish them out from blocked bathroom toilet and believe that had been the president's doing sources told me at the time."
A, gross. B, it's like, is that illegal?
PEREZ: Look, if you read the law, it's plainly illegal. The question is, whether the Justice Department, whether Merrick Garland have the appetite to do an investigation like this and to prosecute a former president for it. Look, I mean, there's a number of things that have been referred over there, including, of course, looking at whether these fake electors violated federal law.
But I think, you know, you -- I'm recalling, you know, scene from The Matrix, where, you know, that's Merrick Garland trying to, you know, sort of figure out --
TAPPER: Right.
PEREZ: -- how to avoid these bullets that are coming at the Justice Department trying to get them to investigate President Trump.
BORGER: Can I -- can we just so recall when Donald Trump was telling us how difficult it was to flush the toilet, because there wasn't enough water in it and that he had to flush his toilet 10 to 15 times?
TAPPER: Well, now we understand.
BORGER: Well, this may explain it.
TAPPER: Now we understand why he had to flush it 15 times.
BORGER: Yes.
TAPPER: But I mean, why have laws if you exempt? I mean, I thought the whole point --
PEREZ: Right.
TAPPER: -- of the United States is that no man is above the law. No woman is above the law. Why even have laws if you're not going to apply them to presidents?
BORGER: Well, and why have laws without teeth? I mean, that's the thing. You can have the law. But if there's no punishment for the crime, what is the point?
I think now you've got congressional committees who are going to start looking at this because I think the answer to your question is no one ever expected that a president of United States would actually do this.
TAPPER: Right.
BORGER: I mean, I think it was sort of out of the realm of normalcy, which it was.
PEREZ: Right.
BORGER: And I think now they have to take another look at it and say, well, we have to protect the country against this happening again. And they're scratching their heads and saying why, why?
TAPPER: Evan Perez, Gloria Borger, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.
[17:25:01]
From a possible war with Russia and Eastern Europe to a war within the Republican Party, we're going to talk to a GOP congressman who has served on the frontlines and is now in the political battle for his party's future. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: In our world lead today, the Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman called Russia's new joint military exercises with Belarus an escalation not a de-escalation as the U.S. and NATO Allies keep an eye on intelligence that could signal when Russia might invade Ukraine. CNN's Oren Liebermann is live for us at the Pentagon.
Oren, what are some clues Intel officials are looking at
[17:30:00]
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Jake, there are a number of different elements that might precede a Russian invasion of Ukraine if that's the direction that President Vladimir Putin wants to go. The challenge about these is that they're not definitive. And it might be one of these or some combination that Russia uses to essentially prep what would be the battlefield of Ukraine if they decide to invade.
For example, one of the key indicators the U.S. is looking for is an increase in cyber-attacks against Ukraine. Ukraine is often targeted and has been recently targeted. So it would be an increased level of that, perhaps targeting infrastructure or the government or simply trying to create chaos amongst the population.
Another key indicator would be the movement of Russian battalions that are near Ukraine tanks artillery, into firing position, that would be a key military indicator, obviously, then CNN has previously reported about the possibility of a false flag operations, a carefully manicured and produced video that seems to show a Ukrainian attack against Russia, that Russia would then use as an excuse for a war.
And then of course, the U.S. is on the lookout for information warfare, either Russian state media prepping the Russian public for what might be casualties from a war, or trying to create protests within Ukraine simply to destabilize the countries. These, Jake are some of the indications that might be a key to U.S. officials who are watching that Russia and Putin are about to act.
TAPPER: All right, Oren Liebermann at the Pentagon. Thank you so much. Let's bring in Republican Peter Meijer from Michigan. He's on the House Homeland Security Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee. He also served in the Army Reserves and was deployed to Iraq.
Congressman, good to see you again. So the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley called his counterpart in Belarus today, for the first time ever, we're told to, quote, reduce chances of miscalculation, as Russia and Belarus begin these joint military drills. How do you view these joint drills?
REP. PETER MEIJER (R-MI) FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: I mean, these drills are clearly highly provocative. There's no coincidence that they're both encircling Ukraine from the north through Bella roofs and then also conducting naval drills throughout the southern Ukrainian maritime border.
So I think we've already seen some no tam, so notices for airlines in the area that there will be potential for missiles to be fired, which is pretty routine during training exercises. But the fact that these are occurring simultaneously and circling Ukraine is deeply troubling.
TAPPER: President Biden has approved the Pentagon's plan we're told to help Americans get out of Ukraine quickly if Russia does invade. The Wall Street Journal's reporting quote, the troops are not authorized to enter Ukraine and won't evacuate Americans or fly aircraft missions from inside Ukraine official said, instead, the mission would be to provide logistics support to help coordinate the evacuation of Americans from Poland, after they arrive there from Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine likely buy land and without U.S. military support. There are about 30,000 Americans in Ukraine, we're told.
Do you think this plan is enough to avoid another catastrophic exit such as the one that we saw in Afghanistan if it comes to that?
MEIJER: Well, at the very least, the administration is being very clear about the risks rather than when Afghanistan whether we're still openly projecting the government would last for several months. And it didn't even make it through to the August 31st deadline when the clock was supposed to start.
So, you know, there is for warning here. I have a friend who is in Ukraine right now who received an e-mail basically, laying out the exact same notice that there will not be support for American citizens, if you are there leave. This particular friend is a war correspondent. So it's not a surprise that he is there. But I think it's definitely a vulnerable situation. We don't know what will occur or when and we do not want to see Americans caught in the middle.
TAPPER: You have accused Biden of not being tough enough in the standoff against Russia. Would you have U.S. troops in Ukraine?
MEIJER: You know, apart from making sure that we have security at the embassy, which is our traditional force posture, we should not be deploying United States forces to Ukraine. We obviously have had a training mission there with oftentimes National Guard or Reserve troops who've been training the Ukrainians as we do in many other countries that we partner with.
But this is not a situation where we should have the U.S. military directly involved. However, that does not mean that we should not be doing everything we can to make clear to Vladimir Putin that there will be swift and severe consequences. And I'm a bit disappointed that we have yet to see any strenuous action, responding to this provocation, responding to the threatening posture that both Ukrainian forces are under, but that both the Russian and the Belarusian forces have put on Ukraine.
TAPPER: Turning to domestic politics, Congressman, I was just wondering, what was your reaction to the Republican National Committee censoring your colleagues, Congressman Adam Kinzinger, Congresswoman Liz Cheney, partly for being on the January 6 Committee, which the RNC called, quote, a Democrat led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse, unquote. What did you think of all that?
[17:35:00]
MEIJER: You know, this was late last week. It's incredibly unproductive, you know, the motion in general, the language in there that that legitimate political discourse. I know there have been comments trying to clean that up a little bit. And just the fact that that type of verbiage is out there that we cannot recognize the reality that January 6 was a dark day, it was a violent day, it was an attempt to prevent the certification of the peaceful transfer of power from one president to the next continues to be deeply disappointing.
TAPPER: There, I mean, a lot of Republicans are pushing that idea, though. And there's a result is this new CNN poll that shows more and more Republicans believe that the January 6 insurrection was OK. Only 15 percent of Republicans said the storming the Capitol was not a problem in January 2021. But almost twice that, 27 percent of Republicans right now think that it was not a problem for democracy. How do you explain that and what needs to be done to protect democracy here?
MEIJER: I'm always a little bit skeptical because you can get tied up in the wording of the polls. You know, we've asked folks to say in their own words, you know, what they think happened. And there is a sizable minority that, you know, only sees on social media, you know, videos that support a narrative that the police let everybody in that it was very peaceful, that it wasn't violent at all, or if there was violence, it was, you know, it started off that it was Antifa, or BLM or a false flag. And now the FBI, you know, I mean, all of these just circular excuses, really. They're dangerous.
I mean, we cannot be ignoring that reality. If you minimize, if you whitewash, if you downplay, all you're doing is making it more likely that we see additional political violence if you are unable to simply and swiftly condemn that.
And I've had conversations with folks who have told me that there were only six Capitol police officers on duty that day, because they talked to a friend of theirs who talked to a friend of theirs. And even when I say I was there, I saw it. I was in the House chamber. That was not the case.
You know, it is a very challenging environment when you have a lot of different groups. And this is true on both sides of the aisle. But when they are just caught up in echo chamber, where there is very little information being presented that contradicts whatever narrative they want to believe.
TAPPER: Republican Congressman Peter Meijer from the great state of Michigan. Thank you so much for your time today, sir, we appreciate it.
MEIJER: Thank you.
TAPPER: Amid a border crisis, CNN gets a rare inside look at a Texas operation launched to help ease problems, but some Texas border officers say this is all political theater, stay with us.
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[17:41:58]
TAPPER: In our nationally trouble at the border complaints piling up for Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott from his own state's law enforcement officers, calling out Abbott's operation Lone Star which uses thousands of National Guardsmen on the border to try to help stop migrant crossings as CNN's Priscilla Alvarez reports from the border for us now, some of the Guardsmen are calling this poorly executed political theater.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): This is the Texas-Mexico border, where thousands of National Guard soldiers show up every day to patrol for migrants even legally crossing.
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R) TEXAS: We have the National Guard as well as the Texas Department of Public Safety. About 10,000 of them all together, who are working day and night.
ALVAREZ: Texas Governor Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star last March with the intention to help federal authorities amid an influx of migrants. The operation started with 500 personnel, and within months, it became a mandatory mobilization of more than 10,000 service members.
The rapid deployment and the lack of preparedness is fueling frustrations within the guard. CNN obtained audio from a January townhall hosted by senior commanders for deployed units.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm currently shy 46 sets of night vision goggles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's guys out there that are short for OCIE and they're having to trade out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They've only got five or six toolboxes that are full of old rusty and half missing tools.
ALVAREZ: In the two-hour long audio, other common complaints reported include living conditions and delayed paychecks for those who put their lives on hold. Abbott billed the mission as protecting the U.S. border, but some guardsmen think he's more concerned with scoring political points ahead of the elections. CNN agreed to shield one soldier's identity since they're not authorized to speak, and so they could talk candidly,
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's really no set mission for us. We don't, like I said, there's guys standing up points doing nothing. So they don't really see a mission. They just see this as we're just used as political pawns for an election year.
ALVAREZ (on camera): did you think there was a clear mission when you first got your deployment notice?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We weren't really given an end goal on this.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): The guard generally doesn't have jurisdiction to arrest migrants. That means that they can only notify Border Patrol to come pick them up. Multiple guardsmen tell CNN the long hours with nothing to do, poor planning and a lack of mission is contributing to low morale among soldiers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As military people know like the term hurry up and wait, is just the biggest hurry up and wait I was a part of, and there's really no set. Hey, we're doing this or Hey, go and do this as we're sitting around doing nothing.
ALVAREZ: Border arrests remain high. In December, U.S. Border Patrol arrested more than 33,000 migrants in the Del Rio sector up from the previous month according to the latest available data.
[17:45:04]
Local Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez says the mere presence of authorities is keeping residents of his town safe.
SHERIFF JOE FRANK MARTINEZ, VAL VERDE COUNTY, TEXAS: Because their duty is to, you know, sit down at a post and make sure nobody comes across and if somebody comes across the call Border Patrol, well, so be it that I think is needed.
ALVAREZ: But there are serious concerns over the execution of the operation. Abbott's office has defended the state's action. And in a lengthy statement, the Texas military department said they're working on improving the equipment and living conditions. Back in Del Rio, Sheriff Martinez sees the operation right now as their best option.
(on camera): What do you see as the end goal?
MARTINEZ: You know, I think if policy doesn't change, it doesn't end, it continues. We'll be like this two or three years down the road. But until policy changes from this administration, we're going to continue to see more of the same.
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ALVAREZ: And, Jake, we should note that there have been four casualties of service members linked to Operation Lone Star. Two of those were suicides. Two were non-mission related accidental firearm discharges this according to the Texas military department, which is investigating those incidents. But for some of those deploys -- deployed these are unsettling incidents as they wait for when they get to go home. Jake.
TAPPER: All right, Priscilla Alvarez at the border. Thank you so much for that important reporting.
Solid gold for America's and Nathan Chen and men's figure skating but you wouldn't know it. If you're only watching Chinese government media. We're going to go behind China's wall next, stay with us.
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TAPPER: And now our Behind China's Wall series in which we go behind the fanfare and the glamour of the Olympic Games. The Chinese government hopes to use the Olympic Games to distract the world from its crackdowns on freedoms and its crimes against humanity and its genocide.
American figure skater Nathan Chen electrified the world today with a flawless performance earning him his first Olympic gold medal. Chen is an American. He is of Chinese descent but unlike other Chinese- Americans, his victory is being ignored and overshadowed by the Chinese government's propagandists and censors. CNN's David Culver joins us now live from Beijing. David, how is Nathan Chen responding to the reaction in China to his victory?
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, so he says he's isolating himself to just focus on competing didn't even bother checking out social media. But Jake, here's where we're talking about a Chinese- American, a gold medal performance. It was incredible, but the domestic audience here want nothing to do with him. Why? He's Team USA.
In the stadium, you had a divide on the so called closed loop side folks who are in the Olympic bubble, roaring cheers from athletes and other spectators there. On the other side, you had primarily invited Chinese fans that kept mostly quiet during Chinese performance and state media giving Chen little to no attention at all. Instead, they're focused on a Japanese skater who placed fourth at a Chinese skater who plays nine. Nathan Chen, the gold medalist hardly got to mention.
And on Chinese social media, the comments really harsh, some consider Chen a disappointment, others even like getting him to a trader. Jake it cuts deeply personal for him here.
TAPPER: Eileen Gu is a Chinese-American freestyle skiing athlete who has chosen to compete in the Olympics for China as is her right but the coverage in China of her gold medal performance that was very different, right?
CULVER: Yes, and that's nothing compared with Chen, Gu is a hero. She's the star likewise, U.S. born. Her mom's from China, but the difference who's competing for team China. She's all over the ads here carries huge endorsements. State media has made documentaries about the 18-year-old freeski sensation.
Both she and Chen, as we've said Chinese-American athletes, born and raised and trained in the US, but treated so differently here perhaps the biggest factor one chose to represent China, the other team USA, Jake, a disappointment if not an insult to the host country because of that.
TAPPER: Yes, I thought the games are supposed to be free of politics. But as long as I have you here, David, multiple sources you're telling CNN that a minor on the gold medal winning Russian Olympic team and the figure skating team event tested positive for a banned substance.
The only minor member of the team is 15-year-old star Kamila Valieva. We should also point out that the team is not competing under the Russian flag. It's not allowed to because of the doping controversies in previous Olympics. So what are you learning about this case?
CULVER: Yes, here we are yet another Olympics, Jake, yet another time where you've got swirling questions over Russian athletes suspected use of banned substances. And as it is, Russian athletes, as you point out, they're unable to compete under their flag or anthem because of the prior punishment for state sponsored doping.
So they now compete under the ROC, or Russian Olympic Committee, the minor on the team, as you mentioned, Kamila Valieva is the biggest star in skating. She already has set nine world records. On Monday, she made history becoming the first woman to land a quad at the Games.
Now the Russians, they won gold, but the medal ceremony got the late Tuesday because of what the IOC said, was a legal issue, CNN sourcing point into a positive drug test. If these doping allegations are true, it's not clear what exactly is going to happen, Jake, but of course, folks watching it very closely.
TAPPER: Almost as if the Russians don't take the punishment seriously if the punishment isn't real. CNN's David Culver in Beijing. Thank you so much. They've been working nine to five at Dollywood. And now, Dolly Parton is giving them a really awesome bonus. Stay with us.
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TAPPER: In our pop culture lead today, working nine to five is paying off for employees of Dolly Parton's Dollywood theme park.
The legendary country singer is now offering money to all 11,000 park workers if they decide to pursue a higher education. This starts at the end of February. The money would cover everything tuition, books, room and board. The park's parent company made the announcement file in the footsteps of Target and Walmart which started tuition assistance programs last year, it looks as though this whole trend is a whole new way to make a living. [16:00:08]
You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and the TikTok at Jake Tapper. You can tweet the show at THE LEAD CNN or listen to our podcast if you miss an episode. Our coverage continues now with Jim Acosta filling in for Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
