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CNN Sources Say, Democratic Report To Lay Precedent For Trump's Impeachment; Sources Say, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) Posed To Drop Out Of 2020 Presidential Race. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired December 03, 2019 - 13:00   ET

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

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: And we have one of those just around the corner, so you can be sure that the vice president is trying to guarantee it's part of the conversation, I guess.

[13:00:06]

We'll see how it plays out.

Thanks for joining us in INSIDE POLITICS. We'll see you again here tomorrow. Brianna Keilar starts Right Now. Have a great afternoon.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: I'm Brianna Keilar live from CNN's Washington headquarters.

Underway right now, as the president hits the world stage, his presidency is in peril back home. A key House committee set to vote on its impeachment report as another is set to lay out its case.

A tense face-to-face as the French president defends his comment that the U.S. is making NATO brain dead after President Trump called it insulting.

Plus, the Dow falls after the president warned the trade war with China might not end until after the 2020 election.

And Democrats get one step closer to the president's financial secrets as he loses another court battle.

But right now, we are waiting for President Trump and the First Lady to arrive at Buckingham Palace for a Queen's reception of NATO leaders. This comes on an extraordinary day when the president and French President Emmanuel Macron publicly clashed on a number of topics, including the strength of NATO.

We're going to get to them in just a moment.

But first, there is breaking news back home. As President Trump huddles with his NATO counterparts in London, the House Intel Committee is preparing to vote on its official impeachment report. And CNN has just learned that the report, which will be released to the public tonight, is expected to give specifics on how President Trump pressured Ukraine for political gain, outlining the panel's justification for impeachment. The Intel Committee vote expected here in just a few hours is coming as Republicans from three different committees weigh in with the report of their own. It's a rebuttal of sorts, some 123 pages in total. And their conclusion is that the president did nothing wrong. Not surprisingly, the president agrees with them, saying that impeachment and any other punishment should be off the table.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Unacceptable. I did nothing wrong. I heard about it. Now they want to go to censure because they have no case for impeachment, so they want to go to censure. I don't want to go to censure, I did nothing wrong. I don't want being censured that I do something wrong. I did nothing wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We have CNN's Manu Raju live for us on Capitol Hill.

Tell us more about what you know about this impending Intel Committee report.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a lengthy report, we're told, that's going to include details, including phone logs and exhibits, to make the Democrats' case that the president engaged in a scheme of sorts to help himself politically through his dealings with Ukraine and also abused his office.

Now, I'm told also from multiple sources that it's going to include a discussion of a historical precedent of sorts as to how impeachment has been carried out in the past, what the president is for impeachment, essentially inference of sorts, a suggestion that the president's conduct here meets that threshold for impeachment.

Now, also, this is expected to discuss the president's and the Democrats' view unprecedented stonewalling of Congress, comparing it to past cases of the administrations cooperating with Congress, including an impeachment episode but saying that it's not been the case here.

Now, all this support is expected to serve as the backbone of articles of impeachment that Democrats are expected to write in the coming days. And there is already a debate within the House Democratic Caucus about the scope of that impeachment report, with some saying it should go beyond Ukraine, including those episodes of obstruction of justice as alleged in the Mueller report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DENNY HECK (D-WA): I tell you what there is a risk of. There is a risk of us not respecting our Constitution. There is a risk of us pretending that he didn't do something wrong. There is a risk in us continuing to propagate these debunked conspiracy theories about Ukraine involvement in the 2016 election. That's the risk.

(END VIDEO CLIP) RAJU: Now, this is expected to move fast in the House after the vote tonight in the House Intelligence Committee to adopt this sweeping Democratic report. Then the House Judiciary Committee tomorrow will have its first public hearing about impeachment, hearing testimony from legal experts before those articles of impeachment are officially reduced in the coming days.

And those -- the votes on the articles of impeachment in the Judiciary Committee could happen next week followed by a full House vote the week after that right before Christmas to make President Trump as the 43rd American president to be impeached.

And then, of course, the Senate trial would occur, and that trial could take a few weeks, several weeks at the moment. We expect Republicans to side with the president. But this is moving quickly, Brianna. Today is a significant step for Democrats as they move to impeach this president. Brianna?

KEILAR: All right. Manu, thank you so much, live from Capitol Hill for us.

And with just a day to go, until the House Judiciary Committee holds its first impeachment hearing, the president, along with his attorneys, has declined to show up tomorrow as he once again lashing out at the process.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: These are very unfair hearings. And this gives these unfair witch hunt hearings. As an example, I just heard today, they get three constitutional lawyers. It's all nonsense. They're just wasting their time. And we get one.

When it's fair, and it will be fair in the Senate, I would love to have Mike Pompeo, I would love to have Mick, I would love to have Rick Perry and many other people testify.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, a few things to point out here first. This hearing tomorrow is titled Constitutional Grounds for Presidential Impeachment. And the expected witnesses, all of whom are constitutional law experts, will give their thoughts on whether the president's actions meet that threshold for impeachment.

Second, the White House has blocked many of the president's inner circle, including Mike Pompeo, Mick Mulvaney and Rick Perry from testifying to Congress.

We have Sophia Nelson with us. She served as House Republican Investigative Counsel during the Clinton impeachment. Carrie Cordero is a CNN Legal Analyst and former counsel to U.S. assistant attorney --- to the U.S. assistant attorney general, and Gloria Borger is our Chief Political Analyst here at CNN. Carrie, to you first, as we're looking at this report that we're expecting to get out later today. So this report from the Intel Committee makes the case for why President Trump should be impeached. How does this influence what we're now going to see in the Judiciary Committee where they're writing up the articles of impeachment?

CARRIE CORDERO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I think it's going to be highly influential. Because what this report is going to do, it's not -- I don't expect to learn many new facts in this report.

What it's going to do is it's going to assimilate all of the evidence, much of which is already out in the public, that was obtained through the two weeks of hearings that the House Intelligence Committee conducted, plus other documentary evidence or also maybe some information from depositions or closed testimony that the committee held.

And what it's going to do is it's going to put all that information together, take the most important parts from these lengthy many, many hours of testimony that was heard, and put it together in a story that then they can deliver to the Judiciary Committee for them to be able to write the articles of impeachment.

So what we're not going to see is we're not going to see the Judiciary recall all the same witnesses. That work has been done for them by the Intelligence Committee. And so this will provide the factual background, as well as assimilate that information into a compelling narrative.

KEILAR: If we can hold on just for one moment as we are watching the president in London, he is arriving at Buckingham Palace where the Queen is welcoming NATO leaders. I want to bring in Victoria Arbiter to discuss this. We see right there the first lady, Melania Trump, exiting as well.

So what are you watching, Victoria, as you see this? How key is this visit by the president along with other NATO leaders, and what are some of the potential land mines, because there's always some here?

VICTORIA ARBITER, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: There's always some. But I have to say, Brianna, actually, I think the Queen is the one person since his presidency started that Trump has not managed to disrespect in any way. When he was there for the state visit in June, he showed her tremendous deference. He's very impressed with royalty. He's very impressed with the Queen.

Now, for disclosure, I do want to say I can't see the arrivals at the moment. But the Trump, they are really capping off what's been a big day in London. And this reception at Buckingham Palace is an opportunity for everyone to enjoy the hospitality that the Queen puts on so well. It's an opportunity to come together and relax a little bit before the security discussions get underway tomorrow.

KEILAR: All right. Victoria, thank you.

I want to bring in Jeff Zeleny. Jeff, obviously, we have a lot of breaking news here. There are some breaking news when it comes to the 2020 race. Bring us up to speed here.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: There is indeed, Brianna. We're being told by multiple sources that California Senator Kamala Harris is ending her Democratic presidential bid. She is advising staffers as we speak here. She canceled a fundraiser that was scheduled for New York for tomorrow, but she is advising her campaign team that she's closing her presidential campaign.

Now, this comes on the heels of a very rocky period for the California senator. She started this campaign really one of the first candidates in the field with a big announcement, a big splash and so much promise. She had the hope of so many Democrats who thought that she was one of the strongest candidates to take on President Trump.

Then, of course, her campaign has several rocky spells during it. She had a strong debate performance at that first debate in June. She rose in the polls throughout the summer but then had an uneven performance. And, of course, it was also complicated by a lack of fundraising ability.

The reality here is she was hoping for a lot of California money, a lot of California donors. But that was split several ways. Pete Buttigieg, the rise of his campaign, also cut into her.

[13:10:02]

But, Brianna, at the end of the day here, this is something that, from within her own campaign, she found a hard time finding her voice. She struggled to find a consistent message on Medicare-for-all for other matters.

So she, leaving this campaign here, this race, of course, coming just a couple weeks before the next debate out in California, it also allows her to not be on the ballot in California. Of course, a big Super Tuesday state. It preserves her political strength going forward.

But, Brianna, this is a significant development because we are seeing the race consolidate dramatically. Steve Bullock, the Montana governor, he got out of the race earlier this week. Now, she, of course, is the biggest name to get out of this race yet, and she does have supporters out there. So where they go will be certainly very interesting.

But she is informing her campaign team right now that she is going to be out of the race. I'm told she'll be making an announcement of some kind or some message will be coming out that she is indeed ending the campaign. Certainly not how they planned this year would end for her. She started out so strong. Brianna?

KEILAR: Yes. I mean, I guess they were hoping this year kind of ended next in 2020, when she would make it to South Carolina where she put a lot of eggs in that basket.

You know, Jeff, there were a lot of Democrats who thought maybe this is someone who can bring together the Obama coalition. She's actually someone who really owes some of her political success to former President Obama.

What does that mean now for this field and for maybe where there -- I mean, there may or may not be holes in it when it comes to appealing to voters or caucus-goers?

ZELENY: Brianna, you're right about that. She talked about rebuilding the Obama coalition. In fact, that was one of the central messages at the debate just a couple of weeks ago in Atlanta. She said, look, I can build, reform that Obama coalition.

Of course, she was talking about younger voters, older voters, black voters, white voters. It was an implicit knock on Pete Buttigieg, who has struggled to really appeal to African-American voters. But I think at the end of the day here, we see a couple different lanes in this Democratic primary, the progressive side and the more moderate side. And she found herself sort of not knowing exactly which side to be in here.

So as this campaign goes forward, the contours of the race are not changing but they are sharpening and crispening (ph). There is a side here for Bernie Sanders, without question, and Elizabeth Warren. And then there is more of a moderate sensation going on in the primary as well. That's where Joe Biden is, Pete Buttigieg is, Amy Klobuchar is.

I think I'm struck by, Brianna, when you sort of take a step back, we're in December now, this field started in one of the most diverse field of candidates. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Senator Kamala Harris, of course, Senator Cory Booker also struggling, has not qualified for the next debate stage here.

So we're going to be ending the year with a lot of older candidates, several white candidates. So this is something that certainly the field is not ending in as much of a diverse fashion as it started in. Of course,, the question, will she endorse anyone else? We don't know the answer to that. Most of the former candidates are sitting on the sidelines, watching like everyone else to see how this primary fight is going to go. Brianna?

KEILAR: All right. Jeff Zeleny with that incredible news today, Kamala Harris dropping out of the 2020 race. Jeff, thank you so much.

I want to talk Gloria Borger. Just assess this for us. And I thought that was a really interesting point there at the end Jeff made. This becomes an older and wider field for the top-tier candidates.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: It certainly does. And I think it's a lesson how when you run for the presidency, you need to have a message and you need to stick to it.

And I think Kamala Harris' problem was, she's a great candidate, she's terrific on the stump, but you have to be able to tell people what you stand for and what you want to do for them. And I think she started out with a middle class tax cut, she talked about pay raises for teachers. She couldn't decided, if you recall, what her plan for Medicare-for-all was, was she for, was she against it. I don't think she counted on Joe Biden staying so strong. You remember in that debate where she took on Joe Biden and she understood that she needed to get some of his African-American support if she was going to be able to win, and she didn't. So Biden stayed strong. She didn't add to her support, and I think there was a real problem there. And she didn't want to lose the California primary, which could be a real embarrassment to her.

So I think you put this all together, and I think she made a decision and her staff made the decision that she just didn't want to be embarrassed in her home state. And you're right, the field is looking a lot wider and a lot older.

[13:15:03]

KEILAR: All right. Gloria, thank you so much. We're going to have much more on this and other topics, including an extraordinary scene, President Trump and the French president openly clashing on a variety of topics, including NATO. See what happened. It really is something to watch.

Plus, the Dow falling after the president says the China trade war could last beyond 2020. I'll have a farmer joining me live to respond.

This is CNN special live coverage.

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[13:20:00]

KEILAR: All right. There is some big news coming in on the 2020 race. Kamala Harris, the senator from California, is now out of the race. Let's get to this with our panel.

Okay, Jeff, you caught us up just before the break, and, really, this is an issue of she struggled to cultivate some of the interest that I think a lot of Democrats were hopeful that she would. She struggled to bring in the money that would allow her to keep going.

I do want to get your input on this, Sophia Nelson. You're someone -- you're very familiar with Kamala Harris. We had you on because you're the former House GOP Investigative Counsel during the Clinton impeachment, but then this news just came in. You're very familiar with her and you shared an interesting thought during the break about what really strikes you about Kamala Harris getting out.

SOPHIA NELSON, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR, USA TODAY: Well, there is a lot. I mean, but as an African-American woman, whether republican or otherwise, of course, you're rooting for the sister that's running for president, right? And she's also my sorority sister. She's an AKA.

So on a personal note, I'm sad to see her have to drop out because I think that she brings an interesting dynamic. She's a woman of color. In that last debate, I think Kamala Harris was unleashed and she was unabashed to talk about black women, she was unabashed to talk about social justice. I felt like she kind of freed herself and said, I'm going to say to the Democratic Party, you just can't come to black women when you need our votes. You have to elevate us and give us a shot at this opportunity as well.

So I've always thought she would be Joe Biden's running mate. I'm going to say that here on national T.V. That's my prediction for the ticket, ultimately, if Biden gets the nomination, which I think he will. But I've always thought she was the right choice.

ZELENY: And also be another person's running mate though if Pete Buttigieg gets the nomination or Bernie Sanders could as well.

I was talking to just a couple people as I was coming up here. And her staff is shocked by this, actually, like she had a campaign schedule so soon, why did it come so soon. The reality is she is a very young and talented political figure of the figure. She wanted her name not to appear on the California ballot to not suffer a massive loss there on Super Tuesday and wants to preserve her options.

I think, as you said, she's going to be one of the leading contenders to be a running mate. But the question is did she strengthen herself in this process or did she weaken herself? We'll find all that out down the road.

But I think this could potentially reshape things in Iowa and New Hampshire. She has a lot of support out there more than polls indicate. She was building a big round organization. So where these people go right now will be interesting, but Joe Biden the first one to put out a release congratulating her. How interesting is that?

KEILAR: So the Harris campaign has actually sent out their official email to supporters and it says this. My campaign president simply doesn't have the financial resources we need to continue. I'm not a billionaire. I can't fund my own campaign. And as the campaign has gone on, it's become harder and harder to raise the money we need to compete.

In good faith, I can't tell you, my supporters and volunteers, that I have a path forward if I don't believe I do.

So to you, my supporters, it is with deep regret but also with deep gratitude that I am suspending my campaign today.

There was this hope, we were discussing this, Gloria, that she could put together kind of this Obama coalition or reunite this Obama coalition.

So when you're doing -- I mean, let's do a little postmortem here. When you're looking back at how she performed, I think, to the debate performances, I though the first one, she was really strong.

I thought she was more likable than the average candidate could be even as she took on Joe Biden. She did that much more slickly.

And then you saw the second debate. She kind of seemed a little like burdened by some of the flak that she had taken. You almost could see it at the debates.

What about her performance struck you that maybe she needed to improve to have a better run here?

BORGER: Don't forget, she started out in Oakland, California with an announcement speech that had 20,000 people at it. So there was a lot of hope and there was a lot of promise. And she is a great candidate. There is no doubt about it. In fact, I think she's a better candidate now than she was when she started.

I think the problem is, as we were talking about earlier, is what's your message. And you can't kind of shift around every other week about, well, am I talking about tax cuts, am I talking about teacher pay raises, what am I going to do on Medicare-for-all? You have to have that kind of a structure in your campaign.

I don't know if you disagree with me, but I think that was missing from her campaign, and she is, as I want to say, a great candidate, and I agree with these guys that she could be a formidable vice presidential candidate.

KEILAR: And we have much more ahead on this breaking news, special coverage here at CNN.

[13:25:05]

This is a key development today. The 2020 field shrinking by one, but this is a big candidate, Senator Kamala Harris out of the race.

We'll be right back.

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