Tim Cook teases Wednesday announcement, calls for Capitol siege accountability

Apple CEO Tim Cook has teased an announcement coming on Wednesday, and said that everyone involved in the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol should be "held accountable."

The Apple chief executive sat down with "CBS This Morning" host Gayle King to speak about an unspecified company announcement slated for Jan. 13. During the scheduled interview, however, King asked Cook about the storming of the Capitol.

"I think it's key that people be held accountable for it," Cook said. "This is not something that should skate. This is something that we've got to be very serious about and understand. And then we need to move forward."

When asked about if President Donald Trump should be held responsible for his part in inciting the riot, Cook didn't mention the president by name but did say that everyone involved should be held accountable.

"I think no one is above the law. I mean, that's a great thing about our country, and we're a rule of law country," Cook said. "I think everyone that had a part in it needs to be held accountable."

In the wake of the Capitol Hill attack, Apple took steps to remove conservative-leaning social media platform Parler from the App Store because of its failure to moderate content that may have incited violence.

The comments about the Capitol siege and President Trump were just small snippets of a longer interview that "CBS This Morning" is set to release Wednesday. The previously scheduled interview was arranged for a different purpose, King noted. Cook agreed to comment on the Capitol Hill situation.

It isn't clear what the interview will be about, though King said that it's a significant company announcement. She said it isn't a new product, but "something bigger and better" that is "very exciting." The clip on Tuesday contained few clues about the announcement, although the interview itself was conducted remotely with King at an Apple Store and Cook speaking at Apple Park in Cupertino.

As far as pending announcements, Apple has yet to debut the App Tracking Transparency feature that it promised would arrive in early 2021. The fact that the announcement is occurring in the middle of CES 2021 may be of note, since Apple has taken to promoting its privacy policies during the annual tech showcase in the past.