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Erin Burnett Outfront

U.S. Capitol Security On High Alert For Start Of Trump Trial; Dems, Trump Team Will Have Up To 16 Hours To Present Case; Ex-WH Official: Trump Was "Loving Watching The Capitol Mob"; Trump Fixated On Punishing GOP Reps. Who Voted To Impeach; Two Alleged Rioters Argue Trump Is Reason For The Violence On Eve Of Impeachment Trial; GOP Rep. Warns Of "Chaos" If GOP Does Not Take A Stand On Trump; Interview With Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired February 08, 2021 - 19:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: I'll be back tomorrow for our special coverage of the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump. Our coverage begins tomorrow at noon, Eastern. Thanks very much for watching.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, security at the U.S. Capitol on high alert on the eve of Donald Trump's a second impeachment trial, as his lawyers formally argue don't take Trump at his word.

Plus, inside the Q, why members of QAnon still think Trump will be inaugurated, now the date has moved to March 4th.

And Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg now in quarantine after exposure to a member of his security detail who tested positive for COVID. Secretary Buttigieg joins me from quarantine. Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, the United States Capitol under extraordinary security tonight ahead of Trump's second impeachment trial tomorrow. Members of the National Guard are patrolling the complex, which is surrounded by an eight-foot non-scalable fence topped with razor wire. This is not only the site of Trump's trial, it is also, of course, the scene of the crime where five people died, including a Capitol Hill police officer.

And tonight, as we await the start of former President Donald J. Trump's trial to begin, his defense, now his lawyers have put it formally, don't take him at his word. We've finally reached the point where with a straight face in essentially the court of law, this is the court where he's going to be tried, the Senate. The best defense Trump has is don't trust him.

Trump's lawyers in their 78-page brief, which in part relies on debunked conspiracy theories, claims that Trump's call for the crowd to 'fight like hell' was not meant to be taken literally. They say, "Mr. Trump used the word 'fight' a little more than a handful of times and each time in the figurative sense." A handful of times. Well, here he is on January 6th in his own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Fight. Fight. Fight. Fighting the fight fighting. I'd fight. So I'd fight that fight. I'd fight that fight. Fight fighting. We fight, fight like hell. Fight like hell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: At least 16 times and those were in just a few moments before the riot itself. Trump though had poured gasoline on the fire of this for months and stoke the flames of a lie about election fraud.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: But you have to fight hard and then you fight hard and you hit them back.

We have to fight.

Now is the time to fight harder than ever before.

If you don't fight to save your country with everything you have, you're not going to have a country left.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And, of course, this call to fight came as Trump said the only way he lose the election if it were rigged. An outright refuse to say he'd accept the results again and again. Here is what is incredible about all of this, is that even though this big leap of a defense, it's not even a defense, some Republican senators who again are the jurors in this case are willing to grab on to that shred of a fig leaf and some are going even further, enter Sen. Ron Johnson.

He seems to be offering up this conspiracy theory that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may be the one responsible for the insurrection that left five people died.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): Is this another diversionary operations? Is this meant to deflect away from potentially what the Speaker knew and when she knew it? I don't know, but I'm suspicious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Wait, what the Speaker knew and when she knew it about the deadly riot? He's suspicious? So somehow Pelosi may be to blame for the deadly riot? Never mind, of course, that Pelosi did not say the election was rigged like a broken record or that the election was stolen like a broken record or that people needed to fight like a broken record. Never mind that her office was ransacked, rioters broke her nameplate, stole her laptop. Some of them said they were their killer.

Sen. Johnson seems to know what the person who may be responsible for the riot. Of course, he knows who it really is, the person who told his vice president to violate the Constitution and try to strike down the Electoral College vote count on January 6th, the person who told his supporters to ...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: So let's walk down Pennsylvania Avenue. I want to thank you all. God bless you and god bless America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: ... and march down the avenue, of course, is exactly what the mob did, while Trump went back to the White House to watch.

But tonight, in this defense that they've put out, his lawyer say in their brief to the Senate that Trump then took immediate steps to coordinate with authorities to provide whatever was necessary to counteract the rioters. Well, this is not factually true and it does not stand up to the most basic scrutiny, because there is a record of what Trump did during the riot.

So let's go through it again at 2:23 p.m., here's what was on television.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this is something I have never seen in my time covering Capitol Hill that protesters have actually breached not just the building, but have come inside the building and just steps from where U.S. senators have been debating on the Senate floor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:05:06]

BURNETT: That was 2:23 pm. At 2:24, Trump tweeted about the man who is presiding over the Senate floor at that time, his vice president, and this is what he said, "Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were previously asked to certify. U.S.A. demands the truth."

The record leaves no question of whose side Trump was on during the deadly riot. So two minutes then went by, 2:26 pm, again, this is what we're all watching on TV. Trump said, tweeted, did absolutely nothing to stop it at that time. He did though pick up the phone to try to call Sen. Tommy Tuberville.

And when he finally got in touch with him when he was in a temporary holding room because they were under attack. A source tells CNN that the president was trying to get Tuberville to try to delay the vote to confirm Biden's win. Trump continuing to pound the table, the same table, the same goal as his mob.

So more than an hour of these images is all that anyone in the country and the world at this point is now watching. The situation is growing more dangerous. Trump said, tweeted, did nothing to stop it.

By four o'clock, a video was out of protesters breaking windows. We'd all then seen the image of an armed standoff on the House floor. This indelible moment, this unforgettable moment and yet one former White House official tells CNN just today that Trump was 'loving watching the Capitol mob'. Something Sen. Ben Sasse echoed after speaking to senior White House officials.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BEN SASSE (R-NE): As this was unfolding on television, Donald Trump was walking around the White House confused about why other people on his team weren't as excited as he was, as you had rioters pushing against Capitol Police trying to get into the building.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Now that sure doesn't square with Trump's legal team's claim that they just put out there that Trump took 'immediate steps' to provide assistance. It also doesn't square with the argument that fight like hell over months and months and months was not to be taken literally.

For someone who sensibly, now they say, didn't want a riot or anything like it. He didn't do anything to stop it. And my saying this goes beyond his lack of tweeting anything or saying anything in those hours to stop it. Because we actually also know that at some point, the House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy talked to Trump.

According to a source, briefed on that conversation. McCarthy tried to get Trump to realize the severity of the situation, implored him, that's the word, implored him to forcefully denounced the attackers. The exchange was heated and Trump refused to do it.

We also know, by the way, on this whole issue of taking action, it was Mike Pence, not Donald Trump, who initially helped facilitate the decision to mobilize members of the D.C. National Guard according to a source. The facts are clear, contrary to Trump's legal team's claim he did not take immediate steps to help.

And when the pressure from those around him finally got to be too much and Trump finally did speak, it was 4:17 pm and his first words to tell the world the election was stolen even as he asked the writers to go home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it, especially the other side. But you have to go home now.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: Stolen, landslide win, oh, but you have to go home now. They

took every single word literally, after all his words were why they were there to begin with and they listened to him again, every single word of what he said there. They followed his command yet again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What your message to everybody now? Like, what are you yelling at?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, Donald Trump asked everybody to go home. He just it. He just put out a tweet. It's a minute long. He asked everybody to go home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The President told people to go home, so people are going home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: I mean, they did what he told them every step of the way. They didn't take it figuratively. They took him literally every single step of the way from when he started the great lie about a rigged election last spring until that moment.

Jim Acosta is OUTFRONT in West Palm Beach near former President Trump's residence. So Jim, now we're seeing how this is going to take shape, this trial in the Senate, each side gets up to 16 hours to present its case. Trial kicks off tomorrow with a four-hour debate on the constitutionality of the proceeding. So tell us what Trump's mindset is right now.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Erin, I would say the mindset is confident but vengeful. Confident because the former president, according to our sources believes that there are not going to be enough Republican senators to vote to convict.

Those Republican senators by and large are going to rest their decision to not convict the former president on this process argument that has been advanced by the Trump impeachment team that you can't try and convict a former president while he's out of office and as a private citizen.

[19:10:00]

That gives these Republican senators the out to not really have to pass any judgment on the President's behavior when he was egging on his supporters to go storm the Capitol on January 6th.

But Erin, he's also feeling vengeful, because he is watching what is going to happen over the next couple of days, perhaps even a week very closely, because he wants to see which Republican senators may vote against him to convict at the end of these proceedings very much like the way he was watching the House impeachment proceedings.

He has been talking to aides and allies over the last several days about Congressman Liz Cheney who voted to impeach the president, the then president during the House impeachment proceedings over there. And so he is a bit of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde right now. He is confident that this is not going to end in any kind of conviction, but he's also watching very closely to see who crosses him in the end.

Now, one of the things we should point out, you were just talking about how this is all going to be laid out over the next week or so, we're going to hear this constitutional question debated tomorrow over in the Senate and then you're going to have 16 hours on both sides. That is very likely to take these proceedings of the Senate trial well into next week before we get to any kind of vote for an acquittal or conviction.

But Erin, I will tell you, talking to people who have been talking to the president and also worked for the president in the final weeks of his administration, they are pushing aside a lot of what the Trump impeachment team is arguing and that filing earlier today, as you were laying out perfectly just a few moments ago when they say things like he was scrambling or aides were scrambling behind the scenes to get the situation under control on January 6th.

As you were mentioning a few moments ago, I talked to a former senior White House official earlier today who said, no, the former president was delighting in what was taking place on January 6th. In the words of that former White House official, he was loving the Capitol mob Erin.

BURNETT: It's incredible. And, of course, it's important to hear those words and as we all know, that's exactly what his actions show from what he did that day and what he didn't do. Jim, thank you very much.

I want to go now to one of the nation's preeminent constitutional law scholars Harvard Law School Professor Laurence Tribe. House Democrats have consulted him on the impeachment and the lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin is one of his former students. Gloria Borger is also with me tonight.

So Professor Tribe, the first four hours we focused on the constitutionality. Obviously, Rand Paul had forced to vote, so we know how Republicans are going to vote on this. Do Democrats think they're going to be able to change any minds on it on the constitutionality?

LAURENCE TRIBE, HARVARD LAW PROFESSOR: I think we will prevail on the constitutional argument because it's so strong we already have 55 votes. That's the majority. That's all it takes under the rules that were established.

We may get more because the argument that the Senate cannot try and convict and disqualify a former president, even though he was president when he was impeached has basically taken a tailspin in the public commentary, and I think will clearly prevail and then we'll move on to the merits.

BURNETT: So Gloria, on the constitutional argument, a leading conservative Republican constitutional lawyer now agrees with Professor Tribe, Chuck Cooper wrote in The Wall Street Journal, in an op-ed, I quote Mr. Cooper, "Given that the Constitution permits the Senate to impose the penalty of permanent disqualification only on former officeholders, it defies logic to suggest that the Senate is prohibited from trying and convicting former officeholders."

Joining the overwhelming majority of constitutional scholars who have all come to the same conclusion, Gloria. Yet, James Lankford, a Republican senator told our Ryan Nobles today, "I don't know of anyone that their mind is not made up already on this issue." Do you think that people like Mr. Cooper, known conservative lawyers will maybe sway just even one or two Republican votes on the constitutionality issue?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, since you've already had a vote on it, the possibility of that happening is slim.

BURNETT: Yes.

BORGER: But it's kind of remarkable that you have Charles Cooper who, as you point out, is not exactly a left-wing radical. I mean, he's a former adviser to Ted Cruz when Ted Cruz ran for the presidency. He was John Bolton's lawyer. He was Jeff Sessions' lawyer.

This is not a left-winger. This is a conservative Republican who argued the case against California same sex marriage. So this is somebody Republicans are well-acquainted with and he has said to them have courage and debate this on the issue at hand, which is whether Donald Trump incited an insurrection not upon this constitutional issue, which he points out is kind of ridiculous.

BURNETT: So Professor Tribe, when you get to the merits of this, his team is fighting back on a couple of issues, but one of them is that he did everything he could as quickly as he could to stop it. Now, as I just laid out, that's not factually true.

[19:15:01]

They do say in their brief, "There was a flurry of activity inside the White House working to mobilize assets. There is no legitimate proof, nor can there ever be, that President Trump was 'delighted' by the events at the Capitol."

Now, of course, there's the proof of everyone who's around him who's spoken to every reporter who have all said the same thing, which is that he did enjoy it and that he was delighted by it. And obviously, we saw him not telling anybody to stop and in fact only tweeting about Pence doing the wrong thing for hours into this and not even mobilizing the National Guard right away. Pence had to be involved in that. Does all of that add up to proof?

TRIBE: It adds up to compelling proof. But I also want to add a word to what Gloria Borger said about Chuck Cooper.

BURNETT: Yes.

TRIBE: He is a person of principle and courage. He was the head of the Office of Legal Counsel under Reagan. He is a distinguished conservative. He has said that any conservative who looks at the law carefully will conclude that, of course, a former president who was impeached while president can be disqualified.

As to the proof, it is absolutely compelling and when the nation watches in showing detail, how the president exalted in the mob that crushed and killed cops, and that threatened to take the life of the Vice President and that threatened to assassinate the Speaker of the House, I think the country's opinion will solidify against the President of the United States, at least the guy who was president when he violated his oath and committed what amounts to treason.

And I use that word carefully, because he was waging war against the United States, what Article Three defines as treason.

BURNETT: So Gloria, though, the thing is you heard what Jim Acosta is reporting about where Trump stands right now, confident but vengeful. And that right now when it comes to the vengefulness, he wants to punish any Republican lawmaker who voted to impeach him in the House and we see that happening.

You already see that happening. His minions are out there. The Republicans in the Senate are well aware, does this have any impact on them? They'll never admit it. That's not the point of whether they'll admit it, but will it affect their vote?

BORGER: Sure, it does. I mean, they're not exactly profiles in courage over there. And I think they're worried about getting primaried on the right. Donald Trump had 74 million voters and though a lot of those voters don't support what he did on January 6th, I would surmise. I believe that they're still afraid of Donald Trump and the impact that he has.

It's this question of if this vote were secret which, of course, it shouldn't be, but if it were secret, you might have a very different outcome from if it were from the fact that it's a public.

BURNETT: Yes. All right. Thank you both very much. I appreciate your time. And, of course, hours away here from this.

As next there are more alleged writers pointing the finger at Trump, including the man you see to the far right of your screen. You see a little bit of that yellow don't tread on me flag. His attorney is going to join me next.

Plus QAnon supporters will be watching Trump's trial closely. What are they looking for and why are they now obsessed with the date March 4th? This is like the new the world is going to end thing, new date comes when the last one fails to happen.

And outrage from Republicans all over again, at Liz Cheney who doubled down on her vote to impeach Donald Trump.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:22:23]

BURNETT: Tonight, this is a live picture of the Capitol where in a matter of hours former President Trump's second impeachment trial will be getting underway. Another moment in history, the words of many of the rioters themselves will be front and center with one today even calling Trump an unindicted co-conspirator.

OUTFRONT now, Brent Mayr. He is attorney for one of the alleged rioters Christopher Ray Grider. And Brent, I appreciate your time. So I actually have a lot I want to ask you about, but let me start first by having people understand where your client was that day. He's seen in the far right of this video taken just outside the House chamber, wearing a yellow don't tread on me flag.

Prosecutors are saying that he handed a black helmet to a man who then used it to break through that glass door, which is where one of the rioters, Ashli Babbitt tried to jump through and then was shot and killed by police. How do you defend these actions?

BRENT MAYR, ATTORNEY FOR CHRISTOPHER GRIDER WHO HAS BEEN CHARGED IN CAPITOL RIOT: Well, again, you're only looking at a snippet of the picture, Erin. The entire video which we have and the government has yet to produce to us, shows that my client walked up to the door not screaming, not yelling, not acting maniacally, but went up, pleading with the officers who are at their door letting them know that look, there's people that are getting crushed in here. You need to open up the doors.

He even went so far to let them know that there was some police officers that were getting crushed. He's a former military police officer concerned for other officers. What the rest of the video shows is that as more and more people packed into that area and as Capitol Police officers moved away from the Speaker's lobby door, he turned and try to follow them away from that door while others started banging through that door breaking the glass and then ultimately, Ashli Babbitt jumps through. His back was turned and he was trying to get away from that situation.

And that's what the evidence will show in this case that he had no intent to do any harm, had no intent to damage anything and that's what we're dealing with.

BURNETT: OK. So on the day of the riot, Grider told a local news outlet that he was there, that he even came to Washington from Texas because President Trump had asked people to come. And he also said the riot calmed down because of Trump, when Trump finally as I've laid out at the top of our program he took hours to do it, finally told people to go home. Here's your client.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER RAY GRIDER, ALLEGED RIOTER: The President told people to go home, so people are going home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: So Brent, my question to you is how closely was he following Trump's messages? And he's saying right there, he told me to go home, so I'm going home. He's sounds like he's taking what the President said very literally. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MAYR: Yes. I think what needs to be understood from the very outset, Erin, is that my client never anticipated that what would happen is what was going to happen.

[19:25:05]

I mean, he went there thinking this was just going to be like any Trump rally and he was going to go and he was going to cheer for his president, he was going to go have dinner that night with a friend and come back to Texas. He never anticipated that there was going to be an order to march down Pennsylvania Avenue and the next thing you know, he's following the crowds down there.

It was kind of surreal for him, because he just never anticipated that it was going to evolve into what it did. And yet these directives were coming and the crowds were doing what they were being told and he finds himself in the (inaudible) ...

BURNETT: So Brent, let me ask you, the President, of course, he's in Mar-A-Lago, your client is facing serious repercussions for where he was and what he did. Trump's legal team is now distancing itself from people like Mr. Grider saying, "The real truth is that the people who criminally breached the capital did so of their own accord and for their own reasons and they are being criminally prosecuted." What do you say to Trump's team?

MAYR: Yes. I think that that's just absurd. I mean, the president abandoned his people. It is frustrating that my client is locked up in a federal detention center in Middle America while Donald Trump is down in Florida doing whatever he wants to try to pass the buck and pass the blame.

I mean, again, my client never went to Washington intending to do any harm. He never intended to end up in the capital. But it was the directives from the person that he went there to see. It was those directives that put him into that position.

There's no doubt about that. And to blame it on them and them alone, that's no different than any other of my clients trying to pass the blame off to someone else when there's evidence to show that they're just as responsible.

BURNETT: All right. Well, I appreciate your time. Brent, thank you very much.

All right. And next, Trump tonight fixated on 'accountability' for GOP lawmakers who voted to impeach in the House. So will this work to keep senators afraid and from voting to acquit?

And a chilling look inside the world of QAnon and why they think, some of them, that Trump is just weeks away from being sworn in as president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Executions will be happening on March 5th.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:31:24]

BURNETT: Tonight, Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger, one of 10 House Republicans voting to impeach President Trump, imploring Senate Republicans to convict Trump, warning in a new op-ed tonight, quote: If the GOP doesn't take a stand, the chaos of the past few months and the past four years could quickly return.

It comes as Trump's legal team is citing the Gateway Pundit, a discredited far right website that claims, quote, anti-Trump groups perpetrated the Capitol Hill riot, in a pretrial brief filed earlier.

Manu Raju is OUTFRONT.

Manu, you know, obviously, strong words here tonight from Congressman Kinzinger, appealing to his Senate colleagues as, you know, these anti-Trump groups -- saw that claim that anti-Trump groups were behind this, there are people still trying to spread that. That, of course, has been discredited by Kevin McCarthy himself as well as from the FBI.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. That is not necessarily going to help their case in the United States Senate. Republican senators that I have been talking to up and down from the most conservative to the most moderate, they want to hear arguments about the merits of the case. They also want to hear the questions about the constitutionality, that is going to be the big question.

Tomorrow is going to be a key day when this impeachment trial kicks. They're going to debate for four hours whether or not this is a constitutional proceeding to try a former president. Most Republicans have come down on the idea that it is constitutional.

They want to hear that argument going forward. If the Trump team dabbles into conspiracy theories that undoubtedly will hurt their cause, won't get up to -- almost certainly won't get up to the 17 votes needed to convict Donald Trump but at least it could cause some push-back from some fellow Republicans.

Now, I just spoke to some Republicans about the backlash and the fallout that has occurred in the aftermath of the House votes to impeach Donald Trump, including those of Congresswoman Liz Cheney, the number three Republican who said over the weekend the party should not be embracing Donald Trump.

I asked two Republican senators about that tonight, Senator John Thune, the number two Republican who told me that the party should be embracing ideas, not a cult of personality who said that would not be durable for the future. Senator Lisa Murkowski, who's one of the five Republican senators who

might vote to convict Donald Trump, told me, I have not embraced the party of Trump. I'm looking for the Republican Party.

So, as this trial kicks off tomorrow, Erin, you are hearing this debate still going forward about what the Republican Party looks like after Donald Trump -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Manu, thank you.

And I want to go now to former Republican congressman and governor of South Carolina, Mark Sanford.

Governor Sanford, I'm glad to have you back.

So, you just heard Manu's reporting there of what Senator Murkowski and Thune are saying, right, that they don't want a cult of Trump. They don't -- very clear. But saying that may be very different from how they are going to vote. Murkowski, I know, we have some indications made to impeach, Thune much less likely.

In the context of Congressman Kinzinger saying, guys, you better do this or else you are unleashing chaos on this party, do you think Republican senators will be moved?

MARK SANFORD (R), FORMER CONGRESSMAN FROM SOUTH CAROLINA: No. At the end of the day, they won't. I mean, I think Adam is making the right call. But, I mean, this is a pre-cast vote. With the 45 folks that voted for Rand Paul's amendment earlier, I think the die was cast.

I would ask them, I might encourage them to look at the op-ed that was in "The Wall Street Journal" just yesterday by Chuck Cooper, which I think is fascinating. Here's a credentialed Republican in the Justice Department with Reagan arguing if -- Rand Paul would be right if it were only about Article II.

[19:35:04]

But there's Article I Section 3 that lays out a number of different scenarios by which the Senate can act and I think he makes a forceful case in that op-ed of saying, no. you know, Republican senators, if you don't vote to throw him out. He is already gone. Got that. You can censure him from office for the rest of his life and I think it would be worth doing it.

BURNETT: So, you know, there's this whole issue, right, that focusing on the riot itself, the insurrection in the president's words, that led to that, OK? And then his lack of doing anything on that date to stop it.

And there's also the issue which Democrats originally mentioned right in the article, which is Trump's efforts to overturn the election to try to strong-arm people, specifically here in the state of Georgia, right? In that phone call, that infamous phone call with the Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger where he said, find me, you know, just one vote more than the margin of victory, right? Find enough votes to win Georgia.

We now have learned tonight the secretary of state's office has launched an investigation into Trump's efforts to overturn the state's election results.

How significant do you think it could be, Governor?

SANFORD: I think significant and there's another shoe to drop. But insignificant as it relates to the trial that begins tomorrow. I don't think that will move the senators at the end of the day because that's already baked in the cake. They have known about this call for quite some time.

I -- you know, again, I think Adam was making the right call. I think in this case, the secretary of state is making the right call. I don't think it will have a material effect on the election. I would ask senators to read that "Wall Street Journal" article -- or op-ed, rather --

BURNETT: Right, right, by Chuck Cooper, which -- so let me ask you about what is happening here in your party, because, you know, Liz Cheney survived that referendum among House Republicans over her leadership post, third ranking Republican, of course, in the House, and she didn't mince words over the weekend when she was talking about Trump's responsibility for the riot. She is not backing down at all, Governor. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): President Trump claimed for months that the election was stolen and then apparently set about to do everything he could do to steal it himself. And that ended up in an attack on the Capitol, five people killed that day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Governor, why is it that so many Republicans are afraid to state those basic facts. There are so many of them. They are afraid, right? They are afraid of Trump, even now.

SANFORD: Well, they are not afraid of him, necessarily. He maybe a passing figure, but they're certainly afraid of his base. And a lot of the folks flying Trump flags around the country and have Trump stickers on their cars. You can go down the list.

So, I mean, the nightly game for many people is stay in the game. A lot of people, based on self-preservation, are going to cast the vote they're going to cast.

But, I mean, I think that Liz was exactly right in the beginning of what she says. And I think that's a part that needs to be emphasized, which is lawyers are going to argue the degree of culpability based on what was said, and how much the crowd reacted. But the real issue for me is that two months between November and the beginning of January when he went around the country basically saying that the election didn't count. It was stolen. You cannot do that as a federal office holder when you swear to uphold

the Constitution. Our constitutions are predicated on elections which he was working to undermine.

BURNETT: Right, and, of course, it was all false and he knew it to be false.

Governor, I appreciate your time. I'm glad to see you again.

SANFORD: Yes, ma'am.

BURNETT: All right. And next, QAnon supporters, they believe Trump's return to office is just weeks away. We are going to go inside the group peddling this latest conspiracy theory. I'm not kidding you. They just moved the date to March.

Plus, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in quarantine after a member of his security detail tested positive for coronavirus. He is with me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:42:28]

BURNETT: Tonight, federal prosecutors charging the youngest suspect in the Capitol Hill riot, 18-year-old man from Georgia. He allegedly shoved a police officer outside the Senate chamber and supports QAnon.

This comes as QAnon followers gear up for a new conspiracy theory that is being pushed on them, and this is that former President Trump will actually be sworn back into office as a president of the United States in a matter of weeks. Yes, you heard me correctly. The people that believe it think that Trump will be reinstated as president in early March.

Donie O'Sullivan takes inside the Q.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't believe -- this sounds so crazy and I recognize how crazy it sounds, but I don't believe Joe Biden is going to be sworn in as president today.

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A popular QAnon conspiracy convinced some Trump supporters that Biden was not going to be inaugurated on January 20th.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please raise your right hand and repeat after me.

SULLIVAN: But as soon as Biden was inaugurated, a new conspiracy theory took hold.

UNIDNTIFIED FEMALE: Trump will take office as the 19th president of the United States on March 4th under the restored republic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, hey, hey, it's your favorite truth seeker, holding the light for everyone out there who's giving up hope that Trump is not the president of the United States of America when in fact, he is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you think about it, Biden is not in the White House and they have proof that he is out in California and it's all staged.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Executions will be happening on March 5th. That is a big statement and I am really looking forward to it.

O'SULLIVAN: Trump will return as president in March, they falsely claim. It is apparently rooted in a belief that an 1871 law turned the country into a corporation and any president elected after that is illegitimate. The last president to be sworn in after that law was Ulysses S. Grant on March 4th, 1869.

It is this latest bizarre conspiracy theory that Trump would be president again in March.

That made a former QAnon believer Ashley Vanderbilt realize the whole thing is a fraud.

ASHLEY VANDERBILT, QANON BELIEVER: It doesn't make sense that all of this is happening and, all of a sudden, Trump will come back March 4th and it will change. It does not seem right. That is I guess what started it. I had that little bit of doubt.

O'SULLIVAN: But while Ashley was able to get out, others are clinging on to QAnon. Repost if Trump is still your president, write a message posted to Gab late Sunday after the Super Bowl.

[19:45:00]

Gab is a hate-filled social media platform that some QAnon followers have turned to since platforms like Twitter shut down some QAnon accounts after the insurrection. A QAnon account on Gab has more than 200,000 members and in it, believers continue to look for signs that QAnon is a real thing.

A photo purportedly of the White House that night with Q did say something about if the lights go out, please know we are in control.

Echoing the false conspiracy about executions on March 5th, a person posted a picture of the media risers outside the White House used during the inauguration with a message, it's beginning to look a lot like gallows.

And ahead of the impeachment trial, a plea for QAnon believers to call their senators. It is not Q, it's you that makes the difference.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: Donie, it's just incredible. And you have talked to so many of these individuals, you know, people who are, you know, willing to buy into this March 4th, March 5th idea. Do you think that the impeachment trial that is going to happen over

the next few days and next week has a potential to make Trump more of a martyr amongst some of these QAnon followers or not?

O'SULLIVAN: Yeah, absolutely, Erin. I mean, QAnon believers like the so-called QAnon shaman, Jacob Chansley, who went on to storm the capitol. He -- Trump is the hero. Trump is the hero in the QAnon story. That is why perhaps we have heard Trump praise QAnon followers. So, we are likely to see this impeachment trial, you know, embolden QAnon supporters further.

You know, you heard from Ashley Vanderbilt in that piece, the mom who left QAnon. She said one thing before she left QAnon, that could have get her out of this sooner, was that if President Trump himself came out and disavowed the movement. Of course, we haven't seen that.

On the other side of things, we've seen Marjorie Taylor Greene being embraced by the Republican Party.

BURNETT: Right, of course by Trump himself.

Donie, thank you so much very much. All of this is amazing to hear all of those things Donie brings us.

And next, Secretary Pete Buttigieg is my guest. He is now quarantined after a member of his security detail has tested positive for coronavirus. He's next.

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[19:51:00]

BURNETT: Breaking news, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg quarantining for 14 days after a member of his security detail tested positive for COVID. According to his office, the security agent had been in close contact with Buttigieg as recently as this morning. Buttigieg has received his first vaccine dose and tested negative earlier today.

And he's OUTFRONT now, joining me as the transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg.

And, Secretary, really appreciate your time.

I know you're taking the necessary precautions and obviously, you know, you're going ahead and doing this interview, which you agreed to do before and you're doing it under these circumstances. At this point, are you fairly certain that that's all this is a precaution?

PETE BUTTIGIEG, SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: Yeah, we have to be careful. We have to take this seriously. I did have a negative test today and I feel fine.

I spoke to the agent and he feels all right, as well. He's not having symptoms but he did test positive. But it's a reminder, you know, as we go through our days, that this is

why masks matter, this is why testing matters. You can get up, go to work and feel fine and turns out that you're positive.

So, you know, we've gone through the steps and following protocols. Of course, as it is for so many Americans that have been through this, frustrating to be confined to quarters, especially frustrating to be separated from my husband who was not exposed when I was, but making sure we do the right thing and, you know, thankfully, I'm among the Americans who's fortunate to be able to do that job from home.

BURNETT: So, let me ask you. You know, you mentioned that agent. Obviously, you yourself had a negative test. You said the agent had a positive test but doesn't have symptoms, right, and of course, that's the case with up to a third of people, right, and they can spread it.

So, to this point, I know you said that there was an active conversation, those are the words you used, with the CDC about requiring COVID testing before domestic flights, right? So you catch asymptomatic, symptomatic, but also asymptomatic people.

How close is this to happening, Secretary?

BUTTIGIEG: Well, I would say that the CDC is looking at all its options. You know, there has got to be common sense, medicine, science really driving this, and what we know that it's the appropriate measure for international travel, people traveling into the U.S., giving some of those considerations.

You know, I'd say the domestic picture is different but, you know, the CDC is always evaluating what can best be done to keep Americans safe.

BURNETT: So, of course, the travel industry doesn't like this idea at all, right?

More than 20 travel organizations sent a letter to you saying you'll have cases moving across state lines anyway. Now, I guess, supposed people could drive or bus or whatever else they will do.

Their, quote, there is no question that a mandate of this magnitude would siphon public health resources away from the more vulnerable populations.

What do you say to them and their push back?

BUTTIGIEG: They're raising very already points and those points I know will be taken very seriously.

BURNETT: So do you support the idea of requiring proof of a COVID vaccination, like a vaccine passport, before any air travel? I know you mentioned, certainly, internally, you're being more for this? But do you support that idea of a passport?

BUTTIGIEG: So that's not a step that has been taken, and again, CDC is really in the weed on deciding what the right measures will be. I think right now, the focus especially at a time when most Americans haven't had a vaccine, haven't had access to a vaccine, that is to make sure that while we're getting those vaccinations out to everybody we possibly can, we're also maintaining measures we know are available and that work like wearing a mask.

But let me also say, this is part of why the president's American Rescue Plan is so urgent because that is going to push the resources out to these states, out into the community to make sure we really can accelerate that vaccination that we know is our best chance to beat this virus.

BURNETT: So, in your confirmation hearing testimony, you talked about a generational opportunity to transform America's infrastructure, which, by the way, is in dire, dire need in many cases, right? That people -- you can see a lot of people dying with things collapsing that could happen if something is not done.

And in this, you are not alone. It's bipartisan. In fact, it is something President Obama and President Trump both ardently said they wanted to do. Here they are.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[19:55:01]

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want America to have the best infrastructure in the world. We used to have the best infrastructure in the world. We can have it again. We are going to make it happen.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: My goal, my mission and my commitment to each of you is very simple. America's infrastructure will be the envy of the entire world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: They each said it. They each started with, you know, their party in the House in control, right, of both houses of Congress and they both failed.

How are you going to succeed?

BUTTIGIEG: Well, we've got to make sure that we succeed this time because we simply don't have any more time to act. The number of roads and bridges in our country that are structurally deficient right now, it's not just repairing and fixing what we've got. America should be leading the world when it comes to infrastructure and there is bipartisan support to get it done.

Now, there are definitely challenges, especially in terms of making sure that we have a sustainable way to fund it, but I would argue that however we decide to invest and fund these programs, these are the kinds of things that are going to pay for themselves. You know, sometimes promises have been made in the past about certain policies like tax cuts for the wealthy when I was young, supposedly paying for themselves and they didn't. But what definitely does pay for itself is good infrastructure

investment. I really think you can see it during the process of my hearings and confirmation that there is an extraordinary level of support to do it. You couple that with the fact we're in an economically precarious situation in the county where we need to be making good investments for the good of the economy anyway, and I think we have a remarkable moment on our hands.

BURNETT: All right. Well, I hope you're right and I know people in both parties all agree. It's time for this to succeed and rooting for you in doing that because it is -- it is amazing how there has not been the will so far.

Thank you so much, Secretary. I appreciate your time tonight.

BUTTIGIEG: Thank you.

BURNETT: And next, the first sitting member of Congress to die after being diagnosed with coronavirus.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: We end tonight on a sad note. Representative Ron White of Texas, that's who you see on your screen, he passed away after being admitted to the hospital for coronavirus and he is the first sitting congressman to die after being diagnosed with COVID. He tested positive on January 21st, at the time he had mild symptoms. White was 67 years old.

"AC360" starts now.