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New Day

Soon: House Impeachment Managers Begin Presenting Their Case; Sources: Trump Fuming over His Legal Team's Performance. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired February 10, 2021 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:33]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): Cannot have presidents inciting and mobilizing mob violence against our government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prosecutors unveiled a documentary style video that meticulously constructed the timeline of events on January 6th.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Presidents can't inflame insurrection in their final weeks and then walk away like nothing happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump no longer is in office. The abject of the constitution has been achieved.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The House managers made a compelling cogent case and the president's team did not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They didn't have anything to defend them. That is the root of this issue.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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 a special edition of NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, February 10th, it is 5:00.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Is it?

BERMAN: Five o'clock here in New York.

And they say if you can change one mind, you can change the world. Well, despite so many people saying everyone's mind was made up in the historic impeachment trial of the former president, at least one Republican senator changed his mind. And that was just on day one of the trial.

House managers begin presenting the main part of the case in just a few hours. We are expecting lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin to introduce new video evidence that directly connects the former president's words with the attacks on the capitol. Raskin unveiled 13 minutes of horrifying video at the open.

Now, I'm supposed to warn you that it is disturbing and the language is profane. But truthfully, Americans should be more concerned about the reality of what happened in the capitol than dirty words on TV.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

BERMAN: So, as stirring as it was, our reporting is that some Republican senators couldn't be bothered to watch. A maskless Rand Paul doodled squiggle lines on a white pad of paper. And "The Washington Post" reports that Senators Rick Scott, Tom Cotton and Marco Rubio studied papers on their laps as the video played.

CAMEROTA: Maybe they have to avert their eyes from the horror of it.

The case laid out by impeachment manager was in sharp contrast to the one presented by Trump's legal team which let's just call it meandering. Even most Republicans say it was a weak defense, including Senator Bill Cassidy who joined the Democrats and five other Republicans voting that, yes, in fact, this trial is unconstitutional.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): President Trump's team was unorganized. They did everything put talk about the question at hand and when they talked about it, they kind of glided over it almost as if they're embarrassed of their arguments. Now, I'm an impartial juror. And one side is doing a great job, and the other side is doing a terrible job on the issue at hand. As an impartial juror, I'm going to vote for the side that did the good job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: CNN has learned that President Trump was reportedly fuming over his lawyers' performance and screaming at the TV.

Sources closed to the former president tells CNN's Jamie Gangel that the opening day of the trial, quote, may not change votes but it should.

This morning, we've obtained the talking points sent out by Trump's team to Republican senators. So, we will read for you the excuses you're bound to hear a lot today.

CNN's Lauren Fox is live for us on Capitol Hill on this historic trial -- Lauren.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, look, the impeachment managers came prepared to the Senate floor yesterday, knowing exactly what they needed to do to try to convince 100 people, 100 senators, 100 jurors, that this case was constitutional.

Meanwhile, the former president's defense team flailing on the floor with a shaky performance that many Republican senators, even those who voted that this was not constitutional said was a shaky argument, moving forward. [05:05:09]

So, today, we expect those house managers will come back. They will begin their meat and potatoes, if you will, of their argument. Sixteen hours, we expect to be spread out over two days, that they will have to make their case for why senators should convict Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOX (voice-over): House prosecutors will present their case against former president Trump today, explaining why they believe he should be convicted of inciting the insurrection at the capitol last month. They will have up to 16 hours over the next two days to do so. And without Trump as a witness, they are expected to rely heavily on video evidence.

RASKIN: Our case is based on cold, hard facts. It's all about the facts.

FOX: House managers immediately presenting a chilling preview of their strategy on the first day of the trial.

CROWD: USA! USA!

FOX: Playing a video highlighting some of Trump's words from January 6th.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: We fight, we fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.

FOX: And the deadly storming of the capitol that followed, the clip showing rioters breaking into the building and attacking police officers in the rampage.

RASKIN: People died that day. Officers ended up with head damage and brain damage. An officer lost three fingers that day. Two officers have taken their own life.

FOX: A grim reminder to Senate jurors most of whom were inside that chamber on the day of the insurrection. You ask what a high crime and misdemeanor is under our Constitution, that's a high crime and misdemeanor. If that's not an impeachable offense, then there is no such thing.

RASKIN: The 13-minute video, just a small recap of the terrifying footage from the riot.

REP. JOE NEGUSE (D-CO): What we experienced that day, what our country experienced that day, is the framer's worst nightmare come to life. Presidents can't inflame insurrection in their final weeks and then walk away like nothing happened.

FOX: Tuesday's debate before the Senate voted on whether the impeachment trial is constitutional. Trump's legal team arguing he cannot be convicted because he's no longer in office. BRUCE L. CASTOR, TRUMP'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The majority in the House

of Representatives does not want to face Donald Trump as a political rival in the future. That's the real reason we're here.

FOX: Six GOP senators ultimately joining Democrats to vote the impeachment trial is constitutional. Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy becoming the only Republican to switch his vote on the constitutionality of the trial.

CASSIDY: The House managers made a compelling, cogent case, and the president's team did not.

FOX: And with the Senate Democrats needing 17 Republican votes to convict Trump, some hope that being witnesses to the attack will make this impeachment trial different than the first.

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): We happen to be meeting at the crime scene. We're in the Capitol. Don't have to prove it up, as they say it in the courtroom. It's been proved up to each and every one of us as individuals.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOX (on camera): And we expect that House managers today are going to introduce more video evidence, as they try to create a direct line between former President Donald Trump's words and the action of that insurrection at the Capitol on January 6th -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Big day.

Lauren Fox, thank you very much. Please keep us posted on developments.

Joining us now, CNN's senior political analyst John Avlon and Laura Jarrett, anchor of CNN's "EARLY START" who are spent years covering the Justice Department.

I think Bill Cassidy, the senator, did us a big favor in reminding us that there's a case being presented here, right? That everyone gets so caught up in counting votes one way or the other that they forget there is a case being made here, not just to the senators, but to the American people. And we're going to hear much more about that case today, John. And I just think it's important to remember what this is about.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: That's exactly right. They take an oath to do impartial justice. And apparently, Bill Cassidy was the only person paying close enough attention to actually fulfill that oath yesterday. And it does retain the force of revelation. They all should be listening to the evidence and if they were listening to the evidence and substance of the arguments, just the contrast between sort of the meanderings of Trump defense and the prosecutorial clearly argument built by the Democrats, you would have had more folks in that camp, but it raised the question what will get their attention.

So looking towards today, I think that's the real question. [05:10:00]

What new evidence can they put forward that can snap some of these senators out of their partisan stupor and make them pay attention.

CAMEROTA: Yeah. I mean, I find the old evidence pretty compelling. Like, you know, we need constant new stuff. Where's the new video, where's the surprise, where's the smoking gun.

It's like when they played that video yesterday, Laura, just seeing again because at some point, we do avert our eyes because it's so upsetting. Seeing it all again. Seeing how cruel they were to the capitol police. Seeing how violent they were. How disgusting they were.

And yet, you know, we are promised that there will be new video that we haven't seen yet. Yesterday, there was new video. Obviously, John and I have seen some of this video every single day. Yet, I don't remember seeing that video of Senator Lankford on the floor. And being interrupted and having said there's protesters in the building, okay, let's go.

Like that -- seeing them react in real time was just, you know, startling all over again and more of it today, Laura.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR, "EARLY START": It's hard to imagine Democrats having any more compelling evidence at their disposal. And if it were not for all of the partisan politics, I think any objective viewer looking at this would say this is an open and shut case. This is a violent mob attacking senators for doing their job. Coming to storm the capitol, because the president told them to do so, to another branch of government.

I think as John mentioned, the question is what other evidence is out there that could possibly change minds? Is it worth calling a witness?

I think everyone has decided that the result here is a foregone conclusion. But how powerful would it be to call a police officer who was injured? We've learned so much about some of the harrowing things they've gone through -- spinal injuries, gouged eyes. How incredible and remarkable would it be to hear from some of the people who were actually hurt that day?

BERMAN: And another witness who could testify to how delighted the former president was as it was all happening.

JARRETT: Exactly.

BERMAN: Those could be very important. Guys, I feel it, too, we all have this tendency to jump forward to what might convince a senator or not. And I get that. Because there is a calculation of what would win this case.

But to the case itself, John, to what needs to be proved, or what will be proved or shown to the American people over the next day, what do you think that is, really? And why is it so important? AVLON: I think that just adding more texture to Donald Trump's state

of mind which perhaps witnesses could provide. You know, the reporting that he was enjoying watching the attack on the capitol, as it unfolded on television in real time, that he resisted deploying the National Guard. The point Liz Cheney made about sending out a tweet calling Mike Pence a coward as his supporters were storming the capitol, calling for him to be hung.

Just to add sort of meat on the bones of what we're seeing, because as horrific as this is, and as self-interested senators should be, they attacked their branch of government, their lives were in danger. A lot of them, apparently, have decided to discount it all in the name of partisan politics. What would it take other than a Democrat doing exactly what Donald Trump did? What would it take to get their attention?

CAMEROTA: You make such a good point, John, I mean, such a good point, because when Donald Trump said he could shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue and get away with it. I'm not sure senators thought he meant them. Yesterday, it came back. That they -- how close it was that they could be hurt.

And then again, the treatment that the capitol police got from the supposed -- from the Trump supporters who supposedly believed in law and order. I just want to play the horrifying clip of what the police who were outmanned had to endure.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

CAMEROTA: They're saying fight for Trump. I mean, seeing it again, Laura, all in one place, you realize how heroic they were that day. Seeing it again, sometimes, it was one capitol police officer alone re-routing the mob.

JARRETT: And just set up for failure, right? They were not prepared -- they were not given the adequate support in order to fight off a mob that was obviously outnumbering them by a high degree.

I just want to underscore John's point here about the president's mindset. We put so much focus on the mind-set of the mob, because they told us exactly what they were thinking. We have so many of them on tape saying what Trump told them to do and how they were going to carry it out, almost repeating verbatim sometimes the words of the president.

But what we don't have here is what was going on in the president's mind in terms of evidence.

[05:15:01]

We have all of the reporting on it, there's been plenty on how he was gleeful. But there are questions, I think, to be answered about why he did not send in the National Guard right away. What was going on there? What was he saying to aides?

I think all of that is worthy. It might be difficult to tease out and query about who they call for that, but I think it's worthy teasing out here because he's actually the one on trial, not the mob.

BERMAN: So, we've all done a good job restraining ourselves without talking about the elephant in the room.

JARRETT: Here we go.

BERMAN: Which was the president's lawyers -- the former president's lawyers were awful. I mean, they were terrible.

CAMEROTA: How do you really feel about their performance?

BERMAN: It's not just me saying that. The president's own people calling it a disaster in lunacy. Again, those are sources closest to the president privately describing his defense yesterday.

Much more on that and the possible impact it has. This is -- this is not irrelevant going forward.

We'll be right back.

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[05:20:10]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASTOR: House managers who spoke earlier were brilliant speakers. Senators of the United States, they're not ordinary people. They're extraordinary people in the technical sense extraordinary people.

Senator Dirksen recorded a series of lectures that my parents had on a record. And we still know what records are, right? On the thing you put the needle down on and you play it.

You know, it's interesting because I don't want to steal the thunder from the other lawyers, but Nebraska, you're going to hear is quite a judicial thinking place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Hmm.

All right. Former President Trump's impeachment attorney Bruce Castor has been widely criticized, including by some Republican senators. Senator Bill Cassidy called the speech unfocused and disorganized, quote, almost as if they're embarrassed of their arguments, end quote.

Senator John Cornyn said the opening lawyer, quote, rumbled on and on.

Senator Ted Cruz said they did not do the most effective job.

Senators Lisa Murkowski and Kevin Cramer said it was disorganized and rocky start.

John Avlon and Laura Jarrett are back with us. John, I too like waxing nostalgic record players and albums, as you know. But I was -- I did lose the thread there. What was the point there?

AVLON: The point is you enjoy doing that not on the Senate floor without impeachment trial.

CAMEROTA: OK.

AVLON: And he was just rambling without notes. I mean, this was the Castor disaster. It was a dumpster fire defense. Except to call that really -- you know, to call it hot garbage is an insult to hot garbage. It was a waste of everybody's time.

And for that to be believed, well, it really set a terrible tone. So, no wonder Donald Trump was fuming and Republican senators were scratching their heads why this guy was talking and what he was talking about. It really was probably the worst speech ever given on the Senate floor. I don't know what's a close second at this point.

JARRETT: But let's be clear, he's rambling because he's unprepared, right?

AVLON: Yeah.

JARRETT: We all know that, that's what's really happening here. This is not the A-team. The president of the United States is being impeached with people who are not constitutional scholars. This is not their day job and it showed.

You know, there's an old adage for lawyers, when you don't have the facts, you argue the law. When you don't have the law, you argue the facts.

Castor has none of this, and it really showed. And I think the senator's reaction here is telling because it's also a sign of disrespect to them, right? They are the ones who were the victims here. They were the ones under attack.

And to come on the Senate floor and really just have no plan at all, I think it's quite telling.

BERMAN: I have a few things to say here, number one, they are the A- team in the sense of the affordable team. They got rid of the last lawyers because they're too expensive. These were the lawyers that the former president apparently can afford.

As an aside, I was watching this with my wife. I was paying close attention. She was paying less attention. She kept asking me, you know, what's he saying? And I was saying, I don't know. I'm not sure, she's like, no, really, what's he's saying, I want to know. I'm like, I don't know, I can't figure it out.

And, Laura, to your point, I do think this is important, though, this has an impact going forward. It's like when you fix a fight, at least in the movies, you have to make it look like it's real, right? JARRETT: Yes.

BERMAN: If this is a fixed fight. If this is rigged like a lot of people say it is anyway, these attorneys are making the Republican senators look awful at this point. And I believe -- you know, Cassidy switched. I mean, Cassidy switched his vote on constitutionality because they were so bad and the house managers were so good. And I don't think it's impossible going forward there could be more of that.

JARRETT: Well, and the question is, if Cassidy switched on the constitutionality, is he willing to switch over when it comes to conviction? Which is the real meat of what's happening here.

You know, it's interesting, Castor's main argument seemed to be this curious idea that it was actually disenfranchising Trump voters by convicting the president and disqualifying him from future office. You know, just let -- trust the voters was his main argument, which completely glosses over the fact that this president -- this former president tried to steal the election. That's the whole reason he was at that really before the riot, telling people to stop the senators, stop Mike Pence, from doing his job.

So, the question is, are the senators going to listen to this argument and really buy this? Are they going to buy the idea that this is about disenfranchising people.

CAMEROTA: John, also, there's open-mindedness which apparently Senator Cassidy was. And then there's the shame and anger. I mean, you know, I think John King has really made the point that these senators were angry, President Trump is again hanging them out to dry. They're having to go through this exercise as you say.

[05:25:03]

And the shame of having to go along with people who are not prepared.

AVLON: Yeah. And I think that is a risk that may be one leverage point, because the more incompetent and incoherent the defense is, the more it will make their slavish devotion to party over country look that much worse for them, because it's going to say, look, we're not going to pay attention -- it forces them to give up the ghost. This is not about the facts, it's not about the argument, it's just about checking the box because they're afraid of the base.

And at some point, that becomes a deep embarrassment. And that maybe goes to the realm of a TKO. But it's something to keep an eye on in the coming days for sure.

BERMAN: Yeah. The president -- first of all, the president's action put these Republican senators in a bad position.

AVLON: Yes.

BERMAN: But the legal offense has put them in an even more tenuous position going forward. About the House managers, Laura, and I think this is interesting, Jamie Raskin and Joe Neguse I think specifically were really, really strong.

JARRETT: Well-prepared.

BERMAN: Well-prepared, and they presented a very clear linear argument there, into an extent less political than certainly we saw in any way and David Cicilline, and then we've heard from Democrats. And again, there are a lot of other House managers.

I'm just curious, I wonder if Eric Swalwell, Ted Lieu, some of the other managers that we know are on this list if they will continue this tenor which was very effective.

JARRETT: Well, the benefit are -- you know, these people in their previous lives were lawyers. They were criminal lawyers. They were prosecutors. They know how to do this. They know how to tell an effective story well.

The people on the other side -- they're just outmatched, right? They came in late to the game. The previous lawyers were fired. These ones came in days before the brief is due. And they're clearly not up to the job here.

I think the question again for those House managers, though, is how do they target some votes that could potentially flip here?

And how do they lay a record for history, right? The world is watching this trial. They are looking to us as a beacon of democracy. Are we going to hold the former president of the United States accountable for inciting violence?

CAMEROTA: Yeah. We do have a segment coming up on how the world is viewing this.

Laura, John, thank you both very much.

JARRETT: Thanks, guys.

CAMEROTA: As the Senate is consumed by the impeachment trial, President Biden says he'll remain focused on the pandemic. New numbers on how the vaccination efforts are going and what's next.

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