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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Continues To Hold Impeachment Articles From Senate; Democratic Congressman John Garamendi Comments On Possible Rules For Senate Impeachment Trial; Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's Previous Comments On Impeachment During Bill Clinton Trial Examined; Anti-Semitic Incidents Of Violence In U.S. Rising; Site Of Tourist Helicopter Crash In Hawaii Located; Presidential Candidate Joe Biden States He Will Not Honor Subpoena If Called To Testify In Senate Impeachment Trial; Top Weather Events Of 2019 Reviewed; Hero From UNC Shooting Made Official Jedi Master By Lucasfilm. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired December 28, 2019 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN HOST: President Trump is back on the golf course and back on the attack as he vents his anger over his stalled impeachment trial. He has been lashing out at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the whistleblower in a series of Twitter attacks during his holiday vacation. The president clearly frustrated by the uncertainty that's surrounding his Senate trial.
Speaker Pelosi continues to hold off on sending his articles of impeachment to the Senate as Democrats push for witnesses to testify. And Majority Leader Mitch McConnell signals that he's not in any hurry to get that trial underway. As the president fumes over his stalled impeachment, sources say he's also asking for advice about who should be on his defense team and what the strategy ought to be.
CNN's Kristen Holmes is in south Florida for us. And Kristen, the president has been tweeting and golfing and venting, just about all at the same time. What can you tell us?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Martin. And just moments ago CNN got exclusive footage of the president on the golf course. It is not common that we see him actually there taking those strokes out at his international golf club. They try to keep him behind closed doors there.
So of course, we can confirm that while he is golfing and mingling with guests and members at Mar-a-Lago, it is clear that his mind is back in Washington and on impeachment. In between all of these types of relaxing kind of activities he's doing, he has been lashing out on Twitter, hitting Democrats, hitting the impeachment, of course, hitting Speaker Pelosi. Tweeting, at one point he said "So interesting to see Nancy Pelosi demanding fairness from Senate Majority Leader McConnell when she presided over the most unfair hearing in the history of the United States Congress."
Of course, we know he is lashing out at Speaker Pelosi because, as you said, she is holding on to those articles of impeachment, refusing to transmit them over to the Senate until she says she has some sort of guarantee of a fair trial. But the impasse between Democrats and Republicans is over really what a fair trial consists of. Democrats saying they want witnesses and documents, and Republicans definitely not confirming that they would do that.
So it will be interesting to see. I spoke to several Republicans who told me they hoped it would really work itself out, that once we got back, Congress was back in session the beginning of the January, that Pelosi would feel political pressure to transmit those articles of impeachment. However, they might be in for a rude awakening. Take a listen to a Democratic congressman who talked to CNN last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DAN KILDEE, (D-MI) DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP: I think we have to wait until we have some assurance that the trial is not going to be some sort of a sham or a joke.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm talking extremes here, like into February?
KILDEE: Well, I mean, that's certainly possible, but I'm not going to get ahead of the speaker.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, it is a long ways from February, Martin. And I know a lot of Republicans are not going to be happy to hear that. Keep in mind, the snoot majority leader, he did leave January open because of impeachment. But we saw a lot on that schedule for February, so that could cause some problems.
And just to note, the Senate majority leader has now said to sources that he is open to the idea of setting the procedures, bringing them to the Senate floor without any support of Democrats. But the important thing to watch is those more moderate Republicans, are they going to be OK? Are they going to vote in favor of McConnell, of these Senate procedures without the support of any Democrats? Martin?
SAVIDGE: Kristen Holmes down in south Florida for us, thank you very much.
Earlier today I spoke with Democratic Congressman John Garamendi of California about the impasse in the Senate impeachment trial. And I started by asking him if he was concerned about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi possibly dragging that impeachment trial into February or even later by withholding the articles while she pushes for the Senate to include witnesses.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D-CA): I think I'm with the American public. The American public wants a real trial. They want to have witnesses. They want to have documents. A lot of open questions coming out of the hearings and the House of Representatives, more than 30 witnesses, all of them testifying, that, yes, indeed, there was a problem here in the Ukraine situation.
Now let's get the witnesses from the White House. American people want it. Certainly, I do. And I think the Senate must have those documents, must hear from the key witnesses that were part of the telephone call and part of the withholding of the aid to Ukraine.
SAVIDGE: And I get wanting those kind of assurances, but of course, February is awkward in timing, it's when the Democratic presidential caucuses and primaries get underway. And I'm wondering, should that be a concern for the Democrats, that an impeachment trial might overshadow your party selecting a presidential nominee?
GARAMENDI: I don't think that's of concern. What I think will happen is when we return to Washington January the 6th and 7th, this will very quickly be ironed out. There's going to be a lot of pressure on the senators, Democrat and Republican, to have a full-blown, honest trial, in which testimony is received from the key witnesses in the White House, the Office of Management and Budget, the Pentagon, as well as the State Department, and critical documents being made available.
[14:05:15]
All of those are critically important. I suspect the first week of January you'll see this ironed out. And then Speaker Pelosi will be in an appropriate position to be able to say, OK, here's what we're looking for, here's the kind of managers that will be best suited for those kinds of witnesses and the documents and the questions that are inevitably going to be asked.
SAVIDGE: I want to ask you about Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
GARAMENDI: Sure.
SAVIDGE: Because he says that he will not comply, or he's indicated that he may not comply if he's subpoenaed to testify in the Senate impeachment trial. And I'm wondering, how can Democrats demand witness impeachment testimony if one of their own members of their party won't testify?
GARAMENDI: Well, I don't know what Vice President Biden had on his mind when he said that. He was responding to a question I think came from left field to him. The fact of the matter is that Biden is not a key witness. I suspect that if somehow the Republicans were to maneuver into a situation where he would be subpoenaed, he would appropriately respond to that subpoena. But that's really a sideshow, and that's not the critical issue before the Senate.
The critical issue before the Senate is the impeachment documents that were sent to, or will be sent to the Senate. It's quite that one of those, that is the obstruction of the House of Representatives or the obstruction of Congress' investigation, could be pushed aside if the witnesses, if the information, was made available during the trial. That then leaves the question of the first article of impeachment, which has to do with the president literally bribing or extorting the government of Ukraine to investigate the Bidens and what took place there.
Now, all of the information from all the intelligence sources, all of the documents, all the witnesses that provided testimony during the impeachment process in the House, all came to the same conclusion -- there was nothing going on with the Bidens in Ukraine.
SAVIDGE: Right. I should point out, you have supported and have endorsed the vice president, correct?
GARAMENDI: That is correct. I think he's the right person at the right time to deal with the issues of trying to put our government back on track, trying to heal the extraordinary harm that President Trump has created, dividing this country.
SAVIDGE: And I want to ask you about the president, because he has been extremely active tweeting and retweeting, attacking Speaker Pelosi in the last few days. What do you think of the impact of, obviously, this very aggressive approach by the president on the speaker as she pushes to have a say in a Senate trial?
GARAMENDI: Well, every tweet that comes out, every lie that he expounds, every time he goes to one of his rallies, it's just more division. And it's in very many cases bizarre. It's weird. And he uses the word crazy. It really is one looking at the way he is responding to all of this, and the way he has acted, I guess well over 16,000 lies in the three years that he's been in office.
This is really out of the ordinary. It's bizarre and entirely beyond what we would expect from a normal person. It's kind of like that drunk at the end of the bar just mouthing off in a strange way. Not to say the president is that. We know he doesn't drink. But boy, I'll tell you, this is really strange.
SAVIDGE: Before I let you go, as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I want to get your reaction to "The New York Times" reporting that was showing the videos of Navy SEALs calling out their platoon leader, that's Eddie Gallagher, they called him toxic and evil. That was before his trial.
He was eventually acquitted of murdering an ISIS prisoner, but he was demoted in rank of a separate charge, posing of a picture with a corpse. President Trump intervened and he restored Gallagher's rank, and I'm wondering, are you worried of the impact of a president meddling in military discipline?
GARAMENDI: I know right now we have 1.4 million Americans serving our country in the armed forces in every one of those positions, many of them overseas for an extended period of time, away from their family, all of them doing the very best they can to obey the rules of conduct. And here we have a situation that brings into this entire question of how the military is going to provide discipline within its ranks. It's a very bad situation all the way around, including the pardon.
[14:10:06]
And now we seem to have Mr. Gallagher, or Chief Gallagher, becoming part of the president's campaign, campaigning for him. And so you just -- it raises a very serious issue of discipline within the ranks, all the way down. So I really do have confidence in the men and women that are out there serving this nation, oftentimes in dangerous situations.
SAVIDGE: Congressman John Garamendi, thank you very much for joining us today.
GARAMENDI: Thank you.
SAVIDGE: Happy new year to you.
GARAMENDI: To you and to all of your guests.
SAVIDGE: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: And this just in to CNN. Moments ago, former Vice President Joe Biden once again tried explaining why he won't testify in a Senate impeachment trial, even if he is subpoenaed. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The whole point of this is anyone subpoenaed relating to this investigation of the president has to be able to have some knowledge to shed on whether or not he committed the offenses he is accused of committing. I have no firsthand knowledge. There's no basis to that. So my point was, there would be no basis upon which to call me as a witness to an event that in fact I cannot have any impact on.
And the reason -- the point I was making in the second part of the answer I gave you was this whole idea is designed to take our eye off the ball. The ball is, did the president do his job? That was the issue. That's the trial.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Still to come, the crash site of that tourist helicopter that went missing in Hawaii. It's been found, but crews have not yet recovered all the victims. CNN is live in Hawaii.
And we're learning more about the plane crash in Lafayette, Louisiana. That, too, is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: Rescue teams in Hawaii are still searching for the seventh and final victim after a helicopter tour crashed on the island of Kauai. The remains of the other six passengers were found yesterday. CNN correspondent Josh Campbell is live in Kauai with more. Josh, what's the very latest?
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Marty, the search for the location where that helicopter went down here in Hawaii with seven people aboard is now over. Authorities announcing that they have located the wreckage, the crash site, inside a very remote area at a state park just behind us here on the northwest section of the island of Kauai.
This began Thursday afternoon after this helicopter, a tourism helicopter, failed to return to base at its scheduled time. An alert going out to the U.S. Coast Guard as well as the Navy and Kauai Fire and Rescue, the authorities launching a massive search and rescue effort by sea, air, and land throughout the night for some 16 hours. Again, the latest authorities telling us they have identified the location where the aircraft went down.
[14:10:09]
We're also told, sadly, some additional information about the condition of those who were on board. In addition to the pilot, there were two families, including four adults and two children. Authorities telling us that they have identified the remains of six of those individuals, the search for the seventh continues at this hour.
As far as the reason, the cause of this incident, that remains under investigation. We're told by officials that right now, as we speak, authorities from the NTSB and FAA are on their way here to this island in Hawaii to launch that investigation again to get to the bottom of what took place. Authorities telling us that as of right now it appears as though the weather may have been a factor, especially high winds, Marty.
SAVIDGE: Josh Campbell there on the island for us. Thank you very much for that update.
We want to bring in David Soucie. He is a former FAA safety and accident inspector, and a CNN safety analyst. And David, good to see you. You're just back from Hawaii. And you would understand first of all the challenges that investigators are going to face as they begin the investigation there.
DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Yes. That Na Pali coast, which his known as the Jurassic Park Coast, is something that's just horribly difficult to get into and out of. So the fact that they found those there and will be extracting bodies from there first, that will be the first step. But the winds there were horrible. I was scheduled for a flight with my family the day before this incident, and it was canceled due to high winds. And I can't say that that's the cause of this, of course, at this point, but I do know that we were canceled the day before.
SAVIDGE: Meanwhile, I want to get to this. At least five people are dead, we know, and four others injured after a small plane crashed in Louisiana. One passenger survived the wreck after that plane went down into a field minutes after takeoff. This morning, the Lafayette Fire Department saying that they don't really know yet how many passengers were on that plane. The chief adds that three people on the ground were also rushed to the hospital, and federal investigators are headed to the scene. Here's what they had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF ROBERT P. BENOIT, LAFAYETTE FIRE DEPARTMENT: Limited information. I'm only going to say this one time, and I'm not going to repeat it again. I'm going to let the feds take over from there. The plane had taken off from the airport and crashed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: So David, what are investigators going to be looking for first when they arrive?
SOUCIE: We understand that there's one witness that saw smoke coming from the aircraft prior to the crash, prior to the crash site. So just with that one small piece of evidence, I've worked on this Cheyenne II airplane before, not this particular one, but this model, and it's a high-performance aircraft with turbos on the engines.
And I have had problems with those before with oil and the turbines going out. Again, it's too early to speculate on that, but it appears by the evidence of the witness on site that there was smoke coming from it, which would indicate the turbine had failed and the amount of smoke that was coming out of the engine.
SAVIDGE: And of course, this occurred shortly after takeoff. So what does that suggest?
SOUCIE: That's when the highest power is coming out of that engine. I looked at the airspeed on flight radar, and it shows that the air speed never exceeded 200 miles per hour. So that indicates that the pilot had a controlled movement. In other words, he was intending to land, and picked an area that would have been safe. However, it looks like he hit wires on the way down, which are nearly impossible to see. So that could have interfered with his ability to make a safe landing in that particular area.
SAVIDGE: Weather, it's always something we consider. And the weather conditions at the time, there was, I think, fog and mist was listed, but the visibility at three-quarters of a mile. So that's not horrendous, is it?
SOUCIE: No, it's not really that terrible. And if you look at it, it was overcast, which might affect the ability to see those wires, because they're gray wires, so that can affect that ability. On a sunny day he may have been able to see that that was not the ideal place to land, but in that case, I don't think the weather caused the accident, but it may have been a contributing factor when selecting the place to land.
SAVIDGE: David, your insights are always well received. Thank you. Thank you very much.
SOUCIE: Thank you, Martin.
SAVIDGE: Coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM, New York authorities are stepping up patrols after what appears to be a series of anti-Semitic attacks. Why police are concerned that there could be a pattern. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: At least 79 people have been killed after a suicide bomb attack in Somalia. At least 149 others are injured following the rush hour explosion at a key security checkpoint in the nation's capital city of Mogadishu. Government officials say students from a nearby university are among the dead, along with other civilians and Somali soldiers. Nobody has claimed responsibility yet, but the attack bears all the hallmarks of an attack by al Shabaab, that's the terror group linked to Al Qaeda.
This week during a celebration of Hanukkah, the city of New York saw at least eight alleged anti-Semitic incidents. The string of attacks have spurred police to step up their presence in Brooklyn neighborhoods. May Bill de Blasio reiterated that the city stands with the Jewish community.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have to show people who right now are really worried here in Crown Heights and other communities, that the city of New York will stand by them, the NYPD will stand with them. So you will see those increased patrols to protect people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: With me now is CNN's Polo Sandoval. And Polo, it's good to see you, but what more can you tell us about these incidents?
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The numbers are certainly disturbing here, Martin. You counted them, at least eight of them in the last week alone. That's why investigators are out in some of these Jewish communities, to make sure that the people feel safe.
And when you look at video of some of these confrontations, it is even more heinous. For example, the NYPD releasing video of one imagine that was captured on video. This is on the 25th. The man that you see on your screen carrying what appears to be a briefcase was wearing traditionally religious attire. He's confronted by an individual wearing a hoodie, and then is struck. And that's when that individual makes a getaway. Investigators releasing this video, hoping to try and track down that video.
Another incident that was captured on camera happened just a day after, or rather the day before, which was on Christmas Eve. And this is when another individual wearing religious attire is also struck, in this case by several individuals here. Police trying to track them down.
And then two more incidents to tell you about that took place yesterday, and one of them here in Brooklyn, three women reported being slapped. Investigators tracked down the woman who is believed to have been responsible. And according to detectives she did it simply because they were Jewish.
[14:25:08]
So the main question here, why do we appear to be seeing this spike in these kind of reports of anti-Semitic incidents? We turned to the Anti-Defamation League, the international anti-hatred organization that spoke to us, and says there are multiple factors here.
One of them could possibly be tensions in some of these neighborhoods that have been populated historically by Jewish families, some of those tensions happening because of those rising housing prices. And also the resurfacing of old stereotypes. So what you're hearing from the ADL, as you're about to hear, they're speaking to police, trying to say definitely exactly what's behind this phenomenon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EVAN BERNSTEIN, NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY REGIONAL DIRECTOR, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: We know this is not white supremacy. There's issues of white supremacy, there's been Charlottesville, we've seen Poway, Pittsburgh. This is not that. What we are dealing with right now is something very different. We're dealing with other minority groups that are unfortunately attacking a single minority group.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: As you hear from the ADL, they're confident in saying what they believe is not behind this and what they believe could potentially be multiple factors here, Martin. But ultimately what we are seeing, NYPD in some of these neighborhoods speaking to members of the Jewish community to make sure that they feel safe because, of course adding another layer, or speaking to how heinous this is, this is when many people are coming together in peace celebrating Hanukkah, and now this threat looming for many of them.
SAVIDGE: Yes, exactly. Polo Sandoval, thank you for the report.
Still ahead, a look at impeachment from 1999 when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had a much different tone on how the impeachment trial and the jurors should act.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer sounding off in recent days on his Republican rival Mitch McConnell. At issue, McConnell's recent description of himself as not an impartial juror ahead of the president's Senate impeachment trial.
[14:30:06]
But as CNN's KFile reports, Schumer himself made similar sentiments in the late 1990s in the midst of President Clinton's impeachment trial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: This is not a criminal trial. But this is something that the founding fathers decided to put in a body that was suspectable to the whims of politics. Also, it's not like a jury box in the sense that people will call us and lobby us. You don't have jurors called and lobbied and things like that. It's quite different than a jury.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Senior editor of CNN's KFile Andrew Kaczynski joins me now. And Andrew, quite a contrast there from what we were hearing from Schumer today.
ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: I don't know if it's a reverse Groundhog Day or ghosts of impeachment past. But what we're seeing with Schumer is actually, yes, it's very similar almost to what McConnell was saying just last week, where he was saying I'm not an impartial juror.
The context to these Schumer comments was that he ran -- he was in Congress in 1998 when they voted on impeachment, and he had sort of this very unique role in that he not only voted against impeachment in the House Judiciary Committee, then voted against impeachment in the full House, but then he was elected to the Senate in 1998 campaigning against impeachment. And then as a member of the Senate, he got to sit on the Senate trial.
So he got attacked, basically, by the RNC, by his opponent, by a lot of people, by saying that he had already prejudged the case. And as we saw in the clip from Larry King in 1999, Schumer basically said this is not like a jury, we come to this with our pre-opinions. And then when he voted against convicting Clinton in the full Senate, he harkened back to the earlier votes in his campaign, saying I made up my mind about five months earlier in the midst of that campaign and the House vote.
SAVIDGE: I often wonder if they look back and remember the videotape and remember the statements that they made.
KACZYNSKI: Yes, you often wonder stuff like that. A couple of, I want to say three or four weeks ago, when we met with the controversy where Donald Trump compared impeachment to a lynching, then Joe Biden attacked him. And then we posted a video of CNN of Joe Biden using the exact same words, saying lynching comparing to impeachment. So you've got to wonder, do they forget these things? Do they think no one will remember? It's up in the air.
SAVIDGE: Andrew Kaczynski, always great to show what really happens. Thank you very much.
For more on what to expect from the Senate trial, let's bring in Congressional Reporter for "The Hill" Olivia Beavers, and CNN Presidential Historian, Tim Naftali. Welcome to you both.
TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Thank you.
SAVIDGE: I should point out, Tim, you're the co-author of the book "Impeachment, An American History." And Olivia, I want to get started with you. How can senator Schumer, we have these instances thanks to videotape where we can show exactly how one person acted as a different time. So Schumer is caught in this flip-flop. And how does he explain what we've all just looked at?
OLIVIA BEAVERS, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, "THE HILL": He's saying he was in a unique position where he was in the House, so he had already seen the evidence that had been collected and presented in impeachment. And he's also saying there's differences because they had witnesses come testify. In this case the White House blocked a series of top witnesses like Mulvaney and Bolton and more that I wish I could count on one hand.
But we're also noticing that when you say something in politics years back, it will and can be used against you. So that's just something always for politicians to keep in mind. And there is some ring of truth to that.
This is a political process in many ways. You have 11 Democrats who are already saying that they will vote for the articles of impeachment. You have 37 Republicans saying they'll vote against it. So that's about half the Senate saying they have already made up their mind before the trial has even begun.
SAVIDGE: And Tim, this is where the public skepticism comes from. It's just the latest example of how lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are being forced to confront their prior positions on impeachment that appear to conflict with their present-day statements. And I'm wondering, how damaging is this to their reputation, and to politics overall as well?
NAFTALI: First of all, impeachments happen so rarely in our history that politicians are not actually -- it's so unusual for them, that they don't fully understand that they have a constitutional duty that is beyond politics. So Chuck Schumer in 1999 was not speaking the way he should have been speaking. Chuck Schumer now is in a different position. He's now one of the leaders of Senate.
[14:35:01]
The leader of Senate, whether the majority leader of the Senate or the minority leader of the Senate, has to set an example. And the example they have to set is a constitutional example. They have to make clear to the American people that they have required under the Constitution to handle the data, the information that the House brings over, as if they were part of the jury.
And as a member of a jury, they cannot and should not express their particular point of view until they have examined the data, the information. That's what we would require of any ordinary American who sat on a jury, and that's what we require of our senators. In 1999, that Chuck Schumer was not speaking like a constitutionalist. I hope he's learned his lesson. That's the way he should be speaking now, and that's the way Leader McConnell should be speaking now.
SAVIDGE: Olivia, how much does this hurt Democrats and their approach leading into the Senate trial?
BEAVERS: It's certainly going to be weaponized by Republicans saying, hey, look, you want this to be a fair trial, but look what Schumer said. But I think it's also, Democrats are going to move past it in that there's going to be a new thing being thrown back and forth by the time that the Senate and the House are back in session. And hopefully they can decide where to go next.
SAVIDGE: I have asked this of other guests, Tim, but you, of course, have the expertise here. And I'm wondering comparing the impeachment process so far to that which we saw in the 1990s with President Clinton, how do they compare or contrast?
NAFTALI: First, let's keep in mind that it was partisan back then. I think we do talk about the hyper-partisanship of today, and it's true, it exists. But let's not be naive. These are always occurring in partisan times. But one big difference this time is, first of all, the Democrats control the House, and the Republicans control the Senate.
In 1998 and 99, the Republicans controlled both houses. So what Speaker Pelosi is doing this time around is unprecedented because actually she's the first speaker of a different party to be involved in an impeachment process when dealing with her Senate colleagues.
So what she's trying to do is use what little leverage she has to try to influence the shape and the rules of the trial in the Senate. And that's unprecedented because we've never had a divided Congress in an impeachment process before.
The second difference is that it looks as if Leader McConnell does not have the same relationship with the rest of his Republican House colleagues that's similar to the relationship that Leader Trent Lott had with the House in 1999. In 1999, Trent Lott, who was then the Senate leader, the Republican Senate leader, he worked closely with Democrat Tom Daschle, in part because he did not like the antics that his House Republican colleagues had engaged in against President Clinton.
I'm not saying that Trent Lott thought that Clinton should stay in office, and in the end he actually voted for removal. But he didn't like the antics. There was a sense I think he had that his colleagues in the House were not living up to their constitutional responsibilities.
I don't believe that Senator McConnell feels the same way. I don't see Senator McConnell working with Chuck Schumer the way that Trent Lott did with Tom Daschle. So there's more politics on the House side, and there's a different kind of politics on the Senate side. This is why I think Leader McConnell has not shown the kind of bipartisanship that Trent Lott did.
So right now we're in this awkward situation where there doesn't seem to be a path forward for the Democrats and the Republicans to work together in the Senate the way they did in 1999. And you know who loses? The American people lose, because it undermines the American people's understanding and trust of government and of their Constitution, and that's a bad thing for everyone.
SAVIDGE: I want to bring in Olivia before we run out of time. The president has been openly talking, Olivia, taking aim at Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Twitter. What does that signal to you about his current mindset? He's clearly upset here.
BEAVERS: Right. As you said, I can't talk about his mindset, but my sources have been telling me that he's frustrated these articles have basically been held up. They're looming over him, over the Senate, and Democrats in the House are trying to dictate how the Republicans in the Senate are going to run their impeachment trial.
And because Pelosi said I'm not going to send in impeachment managers without knowing whether it's going to be a fair trial, she's taking this political gamble to see where -- to see if she can maybe push McConnell to allow witnesses to come in. And as Tim was saying earlier, this kind of just shows that the Constitution -- there's a lot left for either party to kind of decide, with a lot autonomy to decide where to go next, because it's not really mapped out.
[14:40:01]
SAVIDGE: Correct. It's not. It's actually got a limited number of accounts inside the Constitution. Tim Naftali and Olivia Beavers, thank you very much. There's much more to come on this subject. I know we'll talk again. Thank you.
From hurricane Dorian to catastrophic wildfires, 2019 was full of tragic weather events. We're going to take a look back at the year in weather next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: 2019 marks the fifth year in a row in which 10 or more billion-dollar weather disasters have hit the U.S. Chad Myers brings us the top nine weather events worldwide that have impacted our earth and our lives this past year.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: As we end one decade and head into another, there's even more uncertainty of what's to come for the U.S. and our planet. Here are the top nine events related to weather, climate, and the planet for 2019.
Number nine, the sudden and deadly New Zealand volcano.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just incredible images there. At least five people are dead in the eruption overnight of a New Zealand volcano popular with tourists.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at that. Wow. It really does look like complete and utter devastation.
MYERS: Forty-seven people were visiting White Island on a day trip when plumes of steam, ash, and rock began to explode out of the crater. At least 16 people were killed, dozens more suffered extensive burns. Number eight, a powerful storm system produced widespread severe
weather on Palm Sunday weekend, including more than 75 tornadoes, damaging straight line winds, and flooding.
[14:45:05]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Saw the trailer flying over and land on their house. The power polls were sparking out the top. And then there was like a funnel that you could see the debris just going in it.
MYERS: Alabama and Mississippi suffered the worst damage, but tornadoes reported as far north as Pennsylvania.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have breaking news on CNN, two children in Texas now confirmed dead after at least two powerful tornadoes touched down there today.
MYERS: The rash of storms killed at least eight people, including three children.
Number seven, in October more than a dozen wildfires tore across California.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now a brand new brush fire has flared up this morning if Simi Valley, California, threatening neighborhoods and, we should note, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're obviously right here in front of the Reagan Library, a statue of the president on horseback here. And there goes the bomber right on cue. We've seen helicopters coming through, the super soakers dropping retardant.
MYERS: A Library spokesman telling CNN the fire caused a half-a- million dollars in damage.
In a precautionary measure, Pacific Gas and Electric shut off power to thousands in an effort to prevent wild fires due to the windy and dry conditions. Firefighters worked tirelessly to save people and homes from the flames. Hundreds of thousands were forced to evacuate.
Number six.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hundreds of active bushfires raging across Australia after a record-breaking heat wave. The unprecedented number of fires has already burned millions of acres and destroyed hundreds of homes all over the country.
MYERS: More than 100 fires burned across New South Wales at the end of November, fueled by strong winds, high temperatures, and low humidity. In Sydney, dozens were treated for asthma and breathing problems as thick smoke engulfed the city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of seasoned firefighters are actually saying it's just a bit different. It's running harder, it's running faster, and it's just far more intense.
MYERS: It couldn't have come at a worse time, in the midst of one of Australia's worst draughts in decades.
Number five, typhoon Hagibis. In October a deadly storm rocked Japan, one of the strongest storm systems to hit the country in years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In terms of the size, we're talking about a wind field of 54 kilometers per hour sustained winds stretching over 1,400 kilometers. This storm is huge.
MYERS: Tens of millions of people were ordered to evacuate, and Tokyo was put on lockdown as the storm packing 122-mile-per-hour winds, the equivalent to a category three hurricane, approached Japan. Dozens of people were killed and thousands left without power or water.
Number four, Amazon on fire. In August, wildfires ravaged Brazil's Amazon rainforest, burning at a record rate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN getting a rare aerial look at the newest fires ravaging the Amazon rain forest known as the earth's lungs, providing 20 percent of the world's oxygen.
MYERS: Brazil's National Institute for Space Research Center said that there were nearly 73,000 fires in Brazil through August of this year, with more than half in the Amazon. That's more than an 80 percent increase compared to the same period last year, the majority them blamed on loggers and ranchers who set the fires to clear land for cattle, a practice that's on the rise and baked by Brazil's pro- business president.
Number three, there was no ignoring the growing impacts of climate change, including the dangerous heat waves that scorched parts of Europe and the U.S.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A dangerous heat wave is about to scorch Europe, and scientists say this is only the beginning of a world Climate crisis.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is what Parisians have been reduced to to try and cool in the sweltering heat. A new record has been set today in France, 45 degrees Celsius. It had not been that hot in the country since records began.
MYERS: In June and July western, central, and northeastern Europe dealt with sweltering heatwaves that shattered records. France, Germany, U.K., the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxemburg all broke all- time high temperature records. And in the U.S. from September to October it felt like an endless summer. Atlanta hit 90 degrees for a record 91 times in 2019. Many other cities from Nashville to Baltimore broke their records for number of 90 degree days as well.
Number two, catastrophic springtime flooding in the Midwest and the Mississippi River Valley. From March until the end of July, historic flooding hit the middle of the country. Storm after storm along with melting snow brought record flooding to the Missouri, Arkansas, and Mississippi Rivers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In Davenport, Iowa, water levels the highest they have been in 157 years.
[14:50:00]
MYERS: Across the Midwest, hundreds of farm animals drowned or were stranded, grain storage bins submerged, and fields turned into lakes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This river a very surreal thing to watch just how quickly it's come up.
MYERS: The record March flooding blamed for at least four deaths in Nebraska and Iowa. And it didn't stop there. The wet spring continued to wreak havoc on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. The flooding continued along the Mississippi well into July, causing billions of dollars of damage.
And number one, the worst natural disaster to ever hit the Bahamas, Hurricane Dorian.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please pray for us. Please pray for us, pray for us, please, I'm begging you all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We in the midst of a historic tragedy in parts of northern Bahamas.
MYERS: The brutal storm lingered over the Bahamas for days, continually battering the islands with heavy rain and strong winds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sounds like a jet engine just roaring all night long.
MYERS: When it was over, what was left looked like a warzone, homes flattened or completely wiped away, entire neighborhoods were swept away, thousands without power or running water.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The unprecedent devastation in the Bahamas after the monster storm parked itself on top of the islands for nearly two days, moving just 30 miles in 30 hours.
MYERS: The storm weakened, brushing the U.S. east coast as a category one hurricane. In all Dorian killed at least 70 people in the northern Bahamas, with hundreds still reported missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My poor little wife got hyperthermia, and she was standing on top of the kitchen cabinets until they disintegrated. And then I kept with her, and she just drowned on me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm so sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know.
MYERS: Damage from Dorian has been estimated at over $3 billion.
Chad Myers, CNN, Atlanta.
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SAVIDGE: Coming up, we'll tell you how the hero from the UNC shooting became an official Jedi master.
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SAVIDGE: A big "Star Wars" fan who died a hero in North Carolina is honored as part of the new "Star Wars" film, "The Rise of Skywalker." CNN's Natasha Chen has more on the newest Jedi master.
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LAUREN WESTMORELAND, RILEY HOWELL'S GIRLFRIEND: When I first saw you, it was like the sun came out, bright and beaming on the cloudiest of days.
NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Riley Howell's family remembers him as a ray of light, and now he'll also be known for fighting dark forces in a galaxy far, far away.
WESTMORELAND: It's kind of like a really nice way to round out the worst year of all of our lives.
CHEN: Howell died in April, shot tackling a gunman at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. His girlfriend, Lauren Westmoreland, shared a letter from Lucasfilm to the Howell family saying they would like to create a character in Howell's honor. They asked the family to keep it secret until later this year, saying Riley's courage and selflessness brings out the Jedi in all of us. Turns out Lucasfilm has made Howell a Jedi master and historian in the "Star Wars, The Rise of Skywalker, The Visual Dictionary," a book companion to the final movie of the Skywalker saga.
WESTMORELAND: It's still Riley Howell, but it's spelled RI-LEE, or L- E-E. And he's technically just like a Jedi master historian who, I guess, has preserved these books.
CHEN: Fitting for a young Padawan who loved all things "Star Wars."
WESTMORELAND: His fifth birthday was all "Star Wars" themed. So his little cake had a bunch of figurines on it, and he named all of them. He was everybody be quiet so he could name all the toys.
CHEN: Mark Hamill, the actor who played Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, tweeted on Christmas Eve, "This real-life hero has become Jedi Master RI-LEE HOWELL in the official "Star Wars" canon. May his memory live on from here to eternity." Just as Hamill's character says in the films --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nope is ever really gone.
CHEN: Closing out the letter to the Howell's Lucasfilm wrote, "The force will be with Riley and all of you always."
Natasha Chen, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: A wonderful way for us to finish. CNN NEWSROOM continues at the top of the hour with Jessica Dean.
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