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Pelosi: House Dems Drafting Articles of Impeachment; Four Killed After Police Chase Ends in Shootout; Biden Calls Iowa Voter a 'Damn Liar' Over Ukraine Question. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired December 06, 2019 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump is almost certainly on a path to be impeached by the House.
[05:59:22]
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): We should introduce articles of impeachment. This is a very sad day for our country.
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: On Friday, a deadline for the White House to respond if they want to participate in the upcoming proceedings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody should be participating. And that means the White House should be participating.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO DONALD TRUMP: You're going to do something as serious as impeaching a president of the United States, you can't rush it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If we wait for an election to settle this, then we will have waited too long.
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ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Friday, December 6. It is 6 a.m. here in New York. Alisyn is off. Erica Hill joins me this morning.
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Nice to see you, my friend.
BERMAN: Almost the weekend.
HILL: Almost.
BERMAN: Almost.
HILL: Not there yet. BERMAN: All right. This morning, Donald Trump is poised to become
just the third American president ever impeached. House Democrats preparing to work through the weekend to draft articles of impeachment, essentially, the formal case against the president. It's centered around his efforts to push a foreign country to investigate a political rival.
The evidence includes notes of a phone call that are a matter of public record, where he asked the president of Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden. Everyone can see that for themselves.
The question this morning is whether Democrats go beyond that and include information from the Mueller report, specifically, the multiple cases of alleged obstruction of justice.
Overnight, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would not say which way she was leaning on that, only that the Democratic Caucus is working collectively.
HILL: All this as another important decision looms for the White House, which must decide by 5 p.m. today whether to participate in the House investigation. The Judiciary Committee will hold another hearing on Monday, ahead of a committee vote on the articles of impeachment later in the week. A full vote to impeach the president could come before Christmas.
Now, meantime, the White House is actually setting its sights on the Republican-led Senate impeachment trial, hoping to turn the tables on Democrats. The president tweeting plans to compel top Democrats to testify. One senior Republican senator, though, cautioning that approach could lead to a three-ring circus.
There is a lot to get to this morning. Let's begin with CNN's Suzanne Malveaux, who's live on Capitol Hill.
Suzanne, good morning.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, good morning, Erica.
Well, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the historic day, of course, addressing a CNN town hall last night. This after she officially greenlighted for the Judiciary Committee to go forward with drafting articles of impeachment.
And she insisted this was a move that was not made by hate. She said she does not hate Trump, that it was a move made out of her duty to the Constitution.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PELOSI: This is a very sad day, I think, for our country. It's something that I would have hoped we could have avoided. But the president's actions made it necessary.
MALVEAUX: At a CNN town hall last night, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defending the historic decision after announcing that Democrats have started drafting articles of impeachment against President Trump.
PELOSI: This is about the Constitution of the United States and the facts that lead to the president's violation of his oath of office.
MALVEAUX: Democrats say Pelosi's move was inevitable.
REP. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON (D-DC): I really don't think she had any alternative. I think the history would hold this House responsible if we let that go.
MALVEAUX: Judiciary Democrats were asked to stay in Washington this weekend to prepare for Monday's hearing where lawyers from both the Intelligence Committee and Judiciary Committee will present their findings against the president. Lawyers for the Judiciary Committee will present findings of obstruction of justice outlined in the Mueller report that could be added to the articles of impeachment.
REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT): Bob Mueller says here are ten instances of obstruction of justice, a crime that would send every -- that would send every other American to jail. I'm not quite sure how you look at those ten counts and say we ought to just let that slide.
MALVEAUX: Although that issue could splinter her caucus, Pelosi ensuring Democrats will be unified about the charges presented against the president.
PELOSI: We're operating collectively. We have our own, shall we say, communication with each other.
MALVEAUX: The White House has until 5 p.m. today to decide whether to present a defense at the hearing next Monday.
REP. SCOTT PERRY (R-PA): Everybody should be participating, and that means the White House should be participating. And also, the witnesses that the minority wants to call, because what we should be getting after is the truth.
MALVEAUX: President Trump is reportedly dreading the prospect of becoming the only third president in history to be impeached, where Democrats have the votes.
The White House shifting its strategy to focus on the Senate trial, where Republicans have a majority, to avoid convicting him. The president tweeting he wants the House to impeach him fast so we can have a fair trial in the Senate.
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MALVEAUX: And the tone really here, the mood on the Capitol, was somber. It was also tense. And speaking with lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans, they echoed that sentiment. Just get it over with is what they are saying.
In the meantime, all eyes on that 5 p.m. deadline of this afternoon whether or not the White House, the president will participate in Monday's hearing -- Erica. HILL: All right, Suzanne. Thank you.
Democrats, of course, facing this big dilemma about whether to include the Mueller report in the articles of impeachment. We have that next.
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[06:09:34]
BERMAN: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has spoken, and now the House is really in the final formal stages of impeaching the president of the United States: drafting articles of impeachment over the weekend and Monday, holding what could be the final hearing from the committees investigating the president.
Joining us now, CNN political correspondent Abby Phillip; and CNN legal analyst Jennifer Rodgers.
Jennifer, what do you think we will see on Monday? This is a House Judiciary Committee hearing, where we're going to hear from lawyers from the Intelligence Committee, which is Dan Goldman, who -- who led the questioning in those hearings; and also from the Judiciary Committee.
What arguments will they make? And are there any hints about what they will focus the articles on?
JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I think we're going to see what's akin to a closing argument. So they're going to be marshaling the evidence. And I think they'll do it organized in the way that the impeachment articles will be.
So they'll say the president abused his power. What's the evidence of that? And then they'll run through all of the testimony of the different witnesses, any documentary evidence. Of course, the president's famous July 25 phone call, et cetera. Really telling their jury, which is the House, here's why the president is guilty of this particular action, abuse of power. And then go on with the others.
HILL: And it's interesting, as they're laying it out. And I know, Abby, you pointed this out yesterday after we heard from Nancy Pelosi.
One of the things that Nancy Pelosi said yesterday when announcing, right, that she was telling them to move forward was -- was saying that all roads, essentially, lead to Russia. And that's an important point to bring up, especially if they want to craft this narrative and show a pattern, Abby.
PHILLIP: Exactly. I mean, part of this is about the president. Though Democrats arguing that the president, after Mueller testified, literally the next day picked up the phone and did what he did, in part emboldened because of not, in their view, being held accountable for the activities that were laid out in the Mueller report.
Now, I mean, I do think that, from a logical perspective, it makes sense to draw these lines of connection between the Mueller investigation and what's going on now. They do have this nexus on Russia and this nexus on the president's behavior, both on the obstruction part and on the election interference part.
But politically, I'm not sure how -- how bringing Mueller into this, bringing Mueller into the articles of impeachment specifically is necessarily going to help Democrats. Because it's become such a big part of the Republican argument that this has been a crusade from the beginning to get the president to impeach the president.
That it might be something that will be seen as playing into Republican hands if Democrats then reach back into the Mueller investigation and bring that into this debate as part of the articles of impeachment when so much of the last several months have been spent discussing the president's conduct as it relates to Ukraine.
BERMAN: But just because they talk about Mueller and possible obstruction of justice on Monday at this hearing, and just because they may allude to Mueller, there may be ways for them to allude to the Mueller investigation in the articles that don't include a specific article on the Mueller investigation, yes?
RODGERS: That's right. They can do it as part of establishing a pattern of behavior, as Abby was just saying. And I expect them to do that. Because it's really -- it's really hard to convince people about corruption cases, even in a general run-of-the-mill case, and here the stakes are even higher. It's very important for them to establish why what was going on here is so dangerous and threatening to our country.
So I think they will try to do that by talking about the Mueller report in broad strokes and the president's behavior there without going too into the weeds.
BERMAN: Abby, we're running out of time here, but I do want to bring up one bit of news that developed overnight. CNN was among the first to report these phone logs that were put into the Intelligence Committee report, which show, among other things, Rudy Giuliani had extensive phone conversation with the White House.
Now, I think we have those logs. The logs that the Intel Committee provided also suggested that Giuliani talked to OMB. We don't have that specifically, but you can see it on the chart if you get a look at it. It says Rudy Giuliani called OMB right there, OMB number.
We're now learning that it was possible that it wasn't necessarily an OMB number. It could have been a White House number and just the way that the AT&T records were, it would come up OMB. What's the significance of that to you?
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it does suggest to me that, first of all, the Democrats need to be a lot more careful about some of this evidence that they're putting out there, if they're not sure about what it signifies.
But also, I mean, I think it just raises questions. I mean, people that jump to the conclusion that Giuliani was talking to OMB about the status of the -- of the security assistance to Ukraine.
Now it opens the door of possibilities that Giuliani could simply have been calling White House aides. We don't know about what.
I mean, we do know Giuliani has had numerous contacts with people in the White House on all kinds of topics. I think it just -- we're taking a step back now in terms of what we think we know about what Giuliani might have been talking to people in the White House about.
And to be fair to Giuliani, I think we need to know more about what those conversations were about without jumping to the conclusion, as the House Democrats have, that he was talking about -- with OMB about the money specifically. I think it just takes us back on that.
BERMAN: The one way to clear it all up would be for the White House to actually release their records.
PHILLIP: Yes.
BERMAN: -- of phone calls, which they've refused to do. Which they've refused to do.
PHILLIP: And honestly, they may not know, John. That's the reality, is that they don't really know what Giuliani was up to.
BERMAN: Right.
PHILLIP: So it's hard for them to -- to rebut this, because they don't know who he was talking to.
[06:15:04]
BERMAN: But they do have the records of from where the calls came inside the White House. They have the White House side of it, which they haven't turned over yet, which could clear this up. That's it.
All right. Jennifer, Abby, thank you very much.
Two drivers in rush-hour traffic caught in crossfire. We have terrifying new video showing the dramatic end to a deadly shootout with police. Next.
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HILL: A UPS driver is killed in a dramatic rush-hour police chase through south Florida. Two robbery suspects and a bystander also dead.
Police say all of this started when two men robbed a Miami-area jewelry store. Moments later, they say those suspects hijacked that UPS truck, with dozens of officers in hot pursuit for more than 20 miles.
[06:20:08]
The chase ended, as you can see here, when the truck got stuck in traffic at an intersection. Police exchanging fire. Drivers caught in the chaos, trying to take cover.
Rosa Flores is live in Miramar, Florida. You have some new video, too, Rosa, of this deadly shootout.
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erica, this was like a movie that unfolded live on local television. I was watching it. People here locally were watching it. And it all ended in the intersection that you see behind me.
You've got to picture this. Because police officers got out of their police cruisers and started using the cars of the people that were stuck in traffic as shields to shield from the gunfire that was being fired.
Now, you've got to take a look at this video. And we've got to warn you that it's a little graphic, but you've got to take a look at these -- at these final moments. Take a listen.
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(GUNSHOTS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down! Get down!
(SIRENS)
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FLORES: Now, it's hard to imagine, but all this started on a quaint street in Coral Gables with an armed robbery. Those two suspects exited that jewelry store and then hijacked the UPS truck and took the driver hostage and triggered a police chase in the middle of rush hour across two counties, more than 20 miles.
And all through that stretch of road, there were also reports of gunfire being exchanged. There were reports at city hall in Coral Gables of gunfire, because apparently, there was a bullet that -- that -- that hit part of the -- of that area.
Now Erica, I got to tell you, I watched this live on television here on local news, and you could see every twist and turn, every U-turn, every maneuver that the driver made. And of course, it all ended here in the intersection that you see behind me. According to the FBI, four people are dead, including the two suspects, the UPS driver, and a bystander.
Now when asked if the UPS Driver and the bystander could have been shot by the -- the officers that were on scene, the FBI said that all of that is under investigation.
The names of the deceased have not been released by authorities -- Erica.
HILL: Rosa, thank you. Just wow. What a story.
BERMAN: All right. A big day for former Vice President Joe Biden. He will be joined on the campaign trail by former Secretary of State John Kerry, who just endorsed him.
And Biden is riding the aftermath of this heated exchange with a voter at a town hall that is getting all kinds of attention this morning.
CNN's Jessica Dean, she was there in the middle of it all and is live in Cedar Rapids for us this morning. Tell us about it, Jessica.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you, John.
Well, we have been traveling the state of Iowa along with Vice President Joe Biden on his bus tour, the No Malarkey bus tour. We've been going to a lot of rural towns all around the state. And yesterday in New Hampton, Iowa, there was an exchange with a voter in the crowd. That voter started talking about these conspiracy theories that have been thrown out by President Trump and other Republicans. Here's a little bit of what happened.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You, on the other hand, sent your son over there (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to work for a gas company that he had no experience with (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in order to get access for the public for the president. So you're -- you're selling access to the president just like he was.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You're a damn liar, man. That's not true. And no one has ever said that. No one has --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw it on the TV.
BIDEN: You seen it on the TV.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
BIDEN: No, I know. And by the way, I'm not sitting there. I get up and -- let him go. Let him go.
Look, the reason I'm running is because I've been around a long time, and I know more than most people know. And I can get things done. That's why I'm running.
If you want check my shape, let's do push-ups together. Let's run. Let's do whatever you want to do. Whatever you want. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
No one has said my son has done anything wrong. And I did not on any occasion -- and no one has ever said it --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't say you were doing anything wrong. I said --
BIDEN: You said I set up my son to work at an oil company. Isn't that what you said? Get your words straight, Jack.
(END VIDEO CLIP) DEAN: So after that exchange, I asked the vice -- I asked Vice President Biden, I said, Do you get frustrated? Because clearly you were getting frustrated in that moment that you're having to talk about this to the media, to people here in Iowa.
And he said, look, I have conflicting feelings, because I love my son very much. I want to protect him, but at the same time I don't want to lower myself down to President Trump's rhetoric. I wanted to shut that down, and that's what I was trying to do.
[06:25:13]
DEAN: The bus tour rolls on here in Iowa today. And Vice President Biden is going to be joined by former Secretary of State John Kerry, who announced his endorsement of him yesterday.
And he's also saying he would love to replicate John Kerry's 2004 stint here in Iowa when was the come-from-behind winner here in Iowa. So they're hoping to kind of capture, maybe, some of that magic again.
And also, Erica, don't forget. Former secretary of state, they are leaning into this whole idea that Vice President Biden is the most prepared person to be president in 2021 when the next president will be inaugurated, whomever that may be, Trump or a Democrat. And they want to lean into all of his foreign policy credentials. They're hoping to kind of tie all of that up together with John Kerry here in Iowa today -- Erica.
HILL: We know what the message is for today. Jessica, thank you.
The question, of course, is how will that message play with that heated exchange that we just saw? What will Democrats do with that? We're going to take a closer look, next.
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