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Trump Tweets that he will not Attend Joe Biden's Inauguration; Soon: Democrats Talk Next Moves on Second Trump Impeachment; Growing Number of Admin Officials Resigning After Deadly Riot. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired January 08, 2021 - 11:00   ET

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


[11:00:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Well, of course, the trouble is though in a different information bubble with still the vast majority of the Republicans based on public polling he is a great President despite the facts. I mean, that's the alarming reality. David Gergen and Jeremy Diamond much to discuss in the coming days and thanks so much for joining us now.

The headline there, the president has just said he will not attend the Inauguration of his duly elected successor President-elect Joe Biden on January 20th. Thanks so much for joining me today. I'm Jim Sciutto. NEWSROOM with Kate Bolduan will start right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. Thank you so much for joining us.

Things are moving very fast this morning. Just moments ago, President Trump announced that he -- announced that his plans for the Inauguration are official, tweeting out that he will not be attending Joe Biden's Inauguration.

This is coming just let than 24 hours after a violent mob egged on by President Trump, stormed the U.S. Capitol over the election.

And today, congressional Democrats are signaling that they could be moving to impeach the President in just days.

Next hour, House Democrats are going to be holding a conference call to discuss their next move which could include beginning impeachment proceedings as soon as the middle of next week. But with only 12 days until Joe Biden's Inauguration, do they have time?

If this would happen, Donald Trump would become the first President in the United States to be impeached twice. How is that going to playout -- how that is going to playout is still very much in the air but what is clear is that the President is losing more support from more Republicans after this.

Two Republicans are telling CNN's Jamie Gangel that they would consider voting for impeachment if the articles seemed reasonable. Sources also tell CNN that the President's cabinet has been informally discussing invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office but also that Vice President Mike Pence is unlikely to pursue the option.

But more than a dozen Trump officials have resigned including two cabinet secretaries, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

Within the last hour, CNN has also learned that White House Counsel Pat Cipollone is considering resigning. A lot going on this morning. It's clear that the pressure on the President is mounting today and all of those who egged on what became a riot.

Let's begin with the breaking news. John Harwood is live at the White House. CNN's Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill.

So, John, what are you hearing about this announcement from the President that he will not be attending the Inauguration?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think, Kate, all of the pressure that you referred to that is being brought to bear on Donald Trump from his own aides within the White House, from his cabinet members, from Republicans on Capitol Hill, from Democrats on Capitol Hill all of that is beginning to bring some clarity reduced to some extent the uncertainty about these remaining days.

Obviously, we've got that video last night where the president acknowledged that he wouldn't be president after January 20th. That is something that his supporters needed to hear, specifically those people who stormed the Capitol the other day that many more people. And now the president has said he will not attend the Inauguration.

That will come I believe as a relief to the Biden team because everyone would have been bracing for whatever spectacle the president might cause at the event itself. It likely leaves Mike Pence to represent the outgoing administration. And again, I think this is simply the president feeling the heat, responding to the heat and it is --

We're all aware that the president can change his mind at a moment's notice, and he just tweeted shortly before that tweet about the Inauguration that his 75 million voters are going to have, as he put it, a giant voice going forward. But obviously, his voice, his stature has been diminished and the odds of a less eventful last 12 days appear to be going up.

BOLDUAN: John, you know, it kind of -- this announcement from the president, I would like your take on what you think it mean? How sincere if at all, the video was that he made just yesterday because in the video it said my focus turns to ensuring a smooth orderly and seamless transition of power. What this all means bigger picture?

HARWOOD: Well, nothing he said in the video is sincere. That's not the question.

BOLDUAN: Right. HARWOOD: The question is does he say the words that are -- may quell to some degree the rage of his supporters. Don't know if they will but it's better for him to say the words than not to say the words. That's a step forward from saying this was viciously stolen from me and we've got to stand up and fight. He acknowledged that there needed to be a peaceful transition.

[11:05:09]

Does that reflect his actual state of mind? No, but his aides and close family members browbeat him into doing that for a reason. And I think that is welcome for people who want to try to reduce the temperature of this situation.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Manu, when it comes to impeachment talks what are you hearing right now?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are seriously considering it in the House. Nancy Pelosi, I'm told, is full steam ahead. She is angry at the president's actions. She believes he needs to be held accountable. She's been pushing for Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment along with the presidential cabinet to remove the president from office in an extraordinary manner. Of course, there's no indication that Pence is going to move in that direction, so Democrats are planning to make matters into their own hands.

They had a conference call with the leadership team last night. I'm told that there were a couple of dissenters but for the most part overwhelmingly Democrats were on board for pushing for a quick impeachment vote by next week and Pelosi is indicating she's willing to do that as well.

The full Democratic caucus is scheduled to have a conference call in the next hour to discuss how to proceed. I'm told that right now they are talking about drafting the language for an impeachment resolution that would include potentially up article of impeachment about inciting an insurrection. We'll see what else they decide to agree on.

But they could certainly move this quickly to the House by next week, probably get enough support. They just need a majority of support in the House. They have the house majority. The Democrats do, to get it passed.

But will it go through an impeachment trial in the Senate? That is the big question. Mitch McConnell is showing no indication he would move quickly to bring the Senate back.

They are out of session until January 19th. He presumably wants to run out the clock until January 20th and not have to deal with this question but that is going to be something that Republicans have to deal with in the days ahead as well, Kate.

BOLDUAN: John, Manu, thank you both.

Joining me right now is Democratic Congresswoman and House Senior Whip Debbie Dingell. Congresswoman, thank you very much for coming in. I just want to get your first reaction to what we just learned from the president's Twitter feed. That he will not be attending Inauguration.

REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): Well, I guess I have mixed reactions sort of what like what -- was saying. It shows that he's not real about this move then orderly transition of government but after he said that on Wednesday night what we saw on Wednesday already show that he did had zero commitment for good faith in those words. On the other hand, he won't be a distraction on that day either.

The comment that he continues to make the last thing -- hearing about this democracy or so evident that -- it would have been good I hope the American people know that he decided not to participate in a very important government function that every other president of the United States has done in their history but we won't be sidelined by his antics out there.

BOLDUAN: So, more immediately I'm very curious as your thoughts because you're always very candid about this. How real is this move towards impeachment?

DINGELL: I think it's very real in the House. I had talked to a lot of members. You know, I have -- I think it's complicated. I think the light is as crystal clear as everybody wants to be. I would have preferred the 25th Amendment.

I think that I've had a number of conversations with people that are very worried about the president's behavior in the last few months and have seen a noticeable change in it in the last few weeks and we're all worried about the damage that the president can do in the 12 remaining days of his presidency and that's very real.

And I think a lot of Americans -- I hope that Wednesday was a wake-up call to America about what is happening by the division of fear and hatred. But the Democrats in the Congress feel very, very strongly that President Trump must be held accountable. And we have had the signals in the last 12, 14, 16 hours that Vice President Pence who is critical to any exercise of the 25th Amendment isn't interested in pursuing that.

So, Democrats who do believe that this president needs to be held how accountable are very -- are looking at that. I've talked to many of my colleagues who really want to go that route. We'll have a caucus meeting. Nancy is always very good to listening to her caucus and hearing what they want to do. But I think we're probably ready to go down that path next week.

BOLDUAN: I also heard from Republican Senator Ben Sasse this morning. He said that he essentially would definitely consider -- definitely consider it if it came over to the Senate if the articles of impeachment were reasonable. What are you hearing from other Republicans?

[11:10:01]

DINGELL: So, I've talk to a number of them. I think yesterday they were hopeful that it would not come to this. Although I have to tell you very bluntly, a lot of Republicans are as worried as we are about the damage that could be done the next 12 days.

I think that they would prefer to not be put on the spot about having to vote on impeachment but I've had those conversations today as it becoming more real that this is the path that Democrats are likely to go down. And there are a number of them who are you know, feel that they are not going to have a choice but to support that impeachment. They are talking to each other.

So, it's going to -- it's a very challenging time for this Congress. How do you hold somebody accountable for the damage that they have done to our democracy? That is a real question and how do you manage this without causing further division to this country, without fanning the flames of fear and hatred and still holding someone accountable (AUDIO GAP).

BOLDUAN: Your sensitivity to that I think is very important and very interesting because if it -- for him to be removed obviously it would -- it would need to go through -- it would need to happen in the Senate. If there was no action in the Senate on this, I'm curious if you think it is still worthwhile for the House to go down this path.

I'm looking down at my email only because Senator Lindsey Graham supporter of the president, he just posted on Twitter that he thinks that impeaching the president would do for harm than good. He will not support impeachment which I guess is no surprise as he says, it would be unsuccessful in the Senate.

DINGELL: You know, I've heard -- I've not talked to any Republicans in the Senate. I think Ben Sasse statement today was very significant. And I also think it's very significant that he is open to censoring one of his Republican colleagues for their behavior.

I think there a lot of them Democrats. I do believe that we need to hold our colleagues accountable for not inciting violence on the street and many people want to censure colleagues that have increased that kind of action as well.

Look, I do believe because that how we hope this president accountable and how we ensure that there is no more damage to think country? What happened on Wednesday has shaken people's faith in democracy. I think in many ways though.

I was very worried about what was happening that day part of what happened happening? I said to people -- we always knew that Joe Biden was going to get elected that day but were we putting a crack in the foundation of our democracy.

And when the French President has to go and have a press conference in front of the American flag and say democracies are strong, America will survive this, that's what we normally do when we see a crisis in another country.

We all have to participate in protecting our democracy. I do a daily blog that some days in some days I wish I had never started because I have to do it every day but I found a Will Rogers' quote that -- that he talks about democracies are very hard to preserve and that people that participate in them are normally commit suicide. I'm not going to let that happen, but that means we all have to work together.

BOLDUAN: Just really quickly, I know I'm keeping you too long. But it's -- if Mike Pence -- if -- the thing we heard from Nancy Pelosi was you know, if Mike Pence doesn't act to remove the president, then we will move forward to an impeachment. Where's the deadline? Like when will you move forward do you think?

DINGELL: Well, as we speak, there are only 9 days left as of Monday so the notice will have to go out to leadership. I think that the Democratic Caucus will -- there will be a vigorous discussion of the path in which we go but then if we're going to do this, if that's where the Caucus wants to go, you will see something soon.

That will call the House back in next week and there are only nine days left so you're limited in your time frame and your ability to take that up and at the same time I think all of us are much focused how do we make sure that there isn't any other threat?

BOLDUAN: Congresswoman, thank you very much.

DINGELL: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, reporting on how White House aides -- new reporting on how White House aides convinced the president to release that scripted video that he did last night, that concession? And what is being planned now at the White House for the final days of the Trump Administration?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:19:00]

BOLDUAN: Moments ago, President Trump announced that he will not attend Joe Biden's Inauguration in just days, his tweet following his attempt that somehow cleaning up his role and citing the violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol building Wednesday.

The cleanup attempt came in a video by the president that he was essentially forced to make by his top aides. Who's CNN's Kaitlan Collins and Kevin Liptak are reporting warned him that he could be removed from office if he didn't do it.

But the side by side of Trump from one day to literally the next day is remarkable. I want to play for you here he is last night in that video we just discussed versus what he said as the violence was unfolding on Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To those who engaged in the acts of violence and destruction, you do not represent our country. Go home, we love you. You're very special. And to those who broke the law you will pay. We're going to the Capitol. We're going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:20:08]

BOLDUAN: Joining me right now is Olivia Troye. She was a Homeland Security Counterterrorism and COVID Task Force Adviser to Vice President Mike Pence. Thank you for coming, Olivia.

Should anyone trust that the president will even -- forgot that he believes it because he doesn't but will stick with this position condemning this violence in the next 12 days?

OLIVIA TROYE, FORMER COUNTERTERRORISM AND COVID TASK FORCE ADVISER TO VP PENCE: No. There is absolutely no way that Donald Trump has suddenly had an epiphany and decided that he is wrong about everything that has happened.

I mean, he is the same person from when he was campaigning to the day he got elected to who he is today. And anyone who is using this as an excuse to get out of what have has happened in this administration is delusional and wrong.

BOLDUAN: You worked for Vice President Mike Pence on his team. There's a lot of talk of what moves will happen on Capitol Hill against the president here. What do you think Mike Pence should do here?

TROYE: I think he should invoke the 25th Amendment. I think, you know, every day that passes, is another day that this dangerous man sits in office. And so, I think he should convene the cabinet and have a serious discussion about what has happened and look in the mirror and do what's right for the country and if not, I do believe this president should be impeached.

BOLDUAN: I want to play for you what something that Trump's Former Chief of staff John Kelly told Jake Tapper yesterday about the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KELLY, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: From a distance you have -- it's impossible to understand who he actually is. But when had you work closely with him, you understand. He's a very, very flawed human being.

When you first meet or start working with him -- in my case at least -- no idea at the flaws. And when you start working for him and begin to understand how flawed he is. Then it's a matter of staying in the job as long as you can stand it to try to prevent some disaster. I stood it as long as I could, until I left.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: I'm wondering if that's -- if that's how you see it if you agree with John Kelly because you have a lot of people -- a lot of people jumping ship now resigning after what happened on Wednesday but a lot of people sticking with the president and just what you see with the people that are around the president right now?

TROYE: Well, you know, Donald Trump's language and rhetoric has been consistent from his campaign days. This is a president who espoused racist language. I mean, let's not forgot that he called Mexicans thugs and criminals.

That is the same person who continued to speak this way while in office. So, he has enabled all the culmination of movements such as conspiracy theorists like the QAnoners, the far right, the Proud Boys, all of these movements existed before but he enabled and he empowered them.

And so, why I respect John Kelly for sticking it out and trying to control the chaos from within I disagree that you can't go into this administration without eyes wide open when the president is true to himself and he shows you every single day what he is. This is the same man.

BOLDUAN: And 12 days left. Olivia Troye, thank you very much. Really appreciate your time.

Still ahead for us, beyond the president who is to blame for the massive security breach at the U.S. Capitol. And what needs to be done now to secure the Inauguration ceremony that's just 12 days away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:28:45]

BOLDUAN: New this morning, following the deadly riots on Capitol Hill U.S. attorneys are now planning to launch a federal murder investigation into the death of a Capitol police officer. Brian Sicknick, he died as a result of injuries sustained while engaging with the rioters at the Capitol on Wednesday. That is according to Capitol police.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has ordered the flags at the Capitol to be lowered to half-staff in honor of -- in honor of Officer Sicknick. And in a statement, she said this part, that the perpetrators of officer Sicknick's death must be brought to justice.

Sicknick's death makes a total of five people now who have died because of the chaos that played out on Wednesday.

In addition, the Chief of the Capitol Police is resigning his post. Both the House and Senate sergeant-at-arms they are also resigning. The mobs have gone away but the threat here is not over and that's a critical point as President-elect Joe Biden's Inauguration is 12 days away.

Joining me right now is Former Secret Service Agent under President Obama Jonathan Wackrow and Former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern district of New York Elie Honig. It's good to see both you thank you for coming in.