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Don Lemon Tonight

Iowa Race Tightens With 97 Percent Of Precincts Reporting; 2020 Race Moves To NH Ahead Of Primary. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired February 06, 2020 - 01:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:40]

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Don Lemon, also here in New Hampshire with a panel of perspective, big night, big chance to make the case and a very important first primary state, my brother.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: So we're in the same city and we've got a lot of delay like you're overseas or something. It's kind of nuts, how are you doing?

CUOMO: This is, I am leaving one of my nightmares right now, which is, I hear your voice echoing in my head, because you are literally a coffee cup toss behind me right now. So I am hearing you twice with your cackling laugh, just like in the dreams that would make me wake in a sweat and in a fury.

LEMON: Let's talk about Iowa, thought, can you believe, I mean we were on the air two nights ago, that doesn't seem like -- it actually was one night, I stayed up till 4 a.m. you had to leave early because you had to get your beauty rest. But I mean we're still getting the numbers in, 97 percent --

CUOMO: Early, I left at 3 a.m.

LEMON: And it's literally almost, almost a tie. I mean 26.1 percent for Sanders, 26.2 percent for Buttigieg. But listen, no matter how. Even if you get 100 percent in and Mayor Pete Buttigieg comes out second, that's an accomplishment for him, basically an upstart in the political business especially when it comes to running to being on a stage this big. Even if it comes in seconds, still a win for him, but is he going to get the bump from it.

CUOMO: Well, he got a little bit of a bump. The state party cheated him out of the bump, cheated Bernie out of the bump. Bernie Sanders strong in Iowa, huge in the popular vote --

LEMON: Right.

CUOMO: -- advantage, even if he splits the STE, the delegate count with Buttigieg, and now we'll see in New Hampshire. Bernie may come out and reinforce his strength. But you know, you and I, we were good with Buttigieg coming out and saying he won. We believe that you know fortune favors the bold, and lot of people criticizing him, he wound up being right. Because whether he splits or he comes out a little bit ahead, it was a huge win for him in terms of perception and optics. Now the challenge is can he make it solid here in New Hampshire.

LEMON: Yes, yes, but, two things. One, when he came out, he gave such a soaring speech. I had people walking up to me saying wait a minute, is Pete Buttigieg the president now? Jokingly because it was -- he such a big soaring speech and actually he did really well. It was a really, really nice speech.

But Bernie Sanders, I mean, if you look at it, it's 97 percent. It's, you know, the 0.1, he could, Bernie could still win. But still --

CUOMO: It could.

LEMON: I still believe though it's still a win for Mayor Pete considering where he's come from and how long he's been doing this.

CUOMO: I mean look, I think the beauty of this situation is, and I guess the silver lining of this screw up by the Iowa State Party that everybody sees fault with except Mark Preston who is sitting on your set is that Bernie Sanders certainly got a win out of it, certainly showed how strong he is and so did Pete Buttigieg. And Buttigieg is the surprise. The negative implication is Warren is not in the conversation. Biden is in the conversation --

LEMON: Right.

CUOMO: -- but only in bad way until New Hampshire. Now in Monday when you and I are once again doing the labor turns together, there'll be a new story based on those results.

LEMON: And until tonight it was one of his, you know, speaking of Biden, one of his most candid moments and we're going to talk about that. By the way, Mark Preston is sitting next to me, he's like listen I got to go home, so you'd better get your show under way. So we'll see you Chris. See you tomorrow have a good one.

CUOMO: Love you, Don.

LEMON: You as well. This is CNN Tonight. I am Don Lemon. We have some breaking news for you. New numbers just in from Iowa, as we look ahead to the first in the Nation New Hampshire primary tonight.

It is a slow motion nail biter and we're still getting results but it may take a while to get everything since some of them, you know, they were sent via snail mail. The old fashion way. 97 percent of Iowa's precincts reporting right now, Pete Buttigieg is at 26.2, 26.2 percent with a razor thin lead of Bernie Sanders at 26.1 percent. Elizabeth Warren in third place and Biden in fourth. And then they are followed by Amy Klobuchar, Andrew Yang, and Tom Steyer.

Joe Biden speaking for an hour here after admitting that he took a gut punch in Iowa saying that he expected to do better. Elizabeth Warren saying that she doesn't think it would be hard to run against the president who knows his party will back him no matter what.

[01:05:05]

And then there's Andrew Yang telling me that he thinks the polarization in America makes the president harder to be. Tom Steyer as well right on this very stage arguing that he can put together a diverse coalition to defeat President Trump.

So here's the big question in all of this, a big question is how do you compete in a race that is likely to be one of the ugliest in our history. And in an America that's more divided than we have been in years, and we've seen in quite a long time. So, how do you run against a president who just fought and won by the way a really bitter battle on impeachment? A divided Senate acquitting him of both impeachment charges, both of those charges.

So let's be clear here. There was never really any doubt that this President would be acquitted, right? Not with Republicans in the majority in the Senate, but one of them did risk the wrath of the President, shockingly, that was Mitt Romney. Many of his fellow senators and White House -- he voted to convict this President. He shocked a lot of people, a lot of people at home. All those people watching and the president watching from the Oval Office. And he decided to go against the President and say yes on convicting him of abuse of power watch these.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Romney.

SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R) UTAH: Guilty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Romney, guilty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And Romney's vote coming after the senator and the former Republican presidential candidate took to the Senate floor with a very powerful and heartfelt speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: My faith is at the heart of who I am. I take an oath before God as an enormously consequential. I knew from the outset that being tasked with judging the President, the leader of my own party would be the most difficult decision I have ever faced. I was not wrong.

The grave question the constitution tasks senators to answer is whether the President committed an act so extreme and egregious that it rises to the level of a high crime and misdemeanor. Yes he did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So there is Mitt Romney talking about faith, duty and doing what's right. While the President of the United States tweets pretty much exactly the kind of attack that you'd expect, quote, had failed Presidential candidate Mitt Romney devoted the same energy and anger to defeating a faltering Barack Obama as he sanctimoniously does to me, he could have won the election.

What does all this say about where we are right now? It is so rare to see someone take a stand the way that Mitt Romeny did and deserves to be seen and we're going to play it for you a little bit -- the entire thing a little bit later on in this show.

In the coming months though we're going to find out whether there is still a place for that kind of a person, that kind of character, that kind of stature, stature in America's politics.

So let's get to the state of the race right now. I want to bring in my group of people here. We want to talk about New Hampshire as Iowa continues to count votes. CNN political analyst Astead Herndon is here, Senior Political Analyst Mark Preston as well, political analyst Kirsten Powers and political commentator Mr. Mark McKinnon. So good to have you all.

And boy, nothing to talk about, huh? Let's go backwards for a little bit, I mean it seems like we're looking back because we're actually not, because we want to talk about what happened in New Hampshire -- in Iowa I should say, 97 percent of Iowa's precincts are reported now. We have it put up on the screen, Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders are in a tight race, razor thin margin, 26.2 for Buttigieg right now, 26.1 for Sanders, what is going on here?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, we're starting to see the count come in a way that is accurate right, which it wasn't coming in before. And that way interestingly enough throughout the evening in just within the last half hour, I've been hearing from the Sanders campaign, proactively saying, look at the numbers now, look at the numbers now, look where they were three hours ago, look where they were seven hours ago.

LEMON: Right.

PRESTON: And they said it tonight, I'm not sure of Astead you heard the same thing from these folks, but they were saying just wait for those satellite caucuses. The ones that happened in Arizona, the ones that happened -- yes, and ones that happened down in Florida, because they're going to be the ones that help us get over the top. We'll see if it happens with things getting close.

LEMON: The put out statement earlier essentially saying and I'm paraphrasing here again. We will be victorious in the end is what they were saying. Are you hearing that Astead?

ASTEAD HERNDON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, and especially to those satellite caucuses as you mentioned. They say that when you look as they're kind of organizing tactics, so they try to target people that haven't been brought in the process before and those are people who are hard to get to particularly in the caucus system which isn't particularly accessible. And so they reached out to Mosques, they reached out to Latino voters and bilingual caucuses, and they own a campaign that was the most aggressive in organizing that. And they may see a benefit here as we get to the final numbers.

[01:10:10]

And as you mentioned before, the difference between 26.4 or 26.3, it's kind of small here. We know the delegates society for nomination.

LEMON: Right, they both won.

HERNDON: But they will be with -- they will be about the same. We have a top two that's close. We have Elizabeth Warren firmly in third and Joe Biden in the spot that he certainly would not want to be as he called it a gut-punch earlier today.

LEMON: Mark McKinnon, this gives you thought or for your show. This gives you content.

MARK MCKINNON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Oh we're going to have a great --

LEMON: I'm wondering though be -- we've been talking about this. Were they both robbed of the moment, Warren, I mean excuse me Sanders and Buttigieg?

MCKINNON: Well, no question that it threw a big wet blanket on the typical attention they get. Although as we'll say, it was smart for Pete to go out and declare victory because, you know, by the time we get the final results from the Pony Express and the stagecoach, it will be probably be after New Hampshire.

So, he got a, you know, he framed the message that I won this thing. And, you know, over time we may find this of this mix result or whatever. But the whole point about this is it's not necessarily who wins this. There's two beats expectations or doesn't meet expectations. We knew that Sanders was kind of the front-runner for a while. Pete beat expectations. Biden really didn't meet expectations. So those are the two big stories coming out of here.

And -- but we already have seen somewhat of a bounce here in New Hampshire, not the typical bounce but, Pete has picked up like five, six, seven points, Biden's drop here four. So, there's a -- there is an effect.

LEMON: What's interesting that he's dropping because usually when people -- if you win or come close to winning in Iowa, you'll get a bounce here in New Hampshire. But then that subsides, as the days go on, am I correct? That's --

KIRSTEN POWERS, CNN POLITICAL AMALYST: He is saying that Pete got a bump.

MCKINNON: Yes.

POWERS: Yes.

MCKINNON: But Donald is saying after the initial bump --

LEMOM: After the initial bump

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: But I saved you for last because you and I had a conversation. I thought, and this was me, that just sort of observing that people had sort of written off Bernie Sanders after the heart attack, and here he is. It could win. I got -- you can say he did win, because I agree with Astead. It's pretty close.

POWERS: Yes.

LEMON: I think they both won.

POWERS: Yes.

LEMON: But were they -- do you think they're going to -- they both over performed or out performed expectations, I think. So I'm wondering do you think they're going to miss out on the bounce --

POWERS: So I never thought he was counted out. And I --

LEMON: Oh, not at all.

POWERS: And I thought he was going to win Iowa. So -- and I think there were a lot of people who thought that. So, it's true that because Mayor Pete kind of is, you know, came out of nowhere in the cycle that it is a bigger deal, that he won there. But somehow Bernie Sanders does always seem to get robbed of everything. So, I just want to say like we need to be careful about acting like it's not a big deal that he did as well as he did in Iowa.

LEMON: I agree with you a 100 percent.

POWERS: And then he may actually end up winning and very well he's going to win New Hampshire and, you know, --

LEMON: That was the point of my question.

POWERS: Yes.

LEMON: Because people had counted him out and I think it's a real comeback for him.

POWERS: Yeah, I don't know why anybody would have count him out honestly.

LEMON: Yes.

POWERS: He's got such a base of support. He had a great organization in Iowa. And so, you know, I think it was a mistake for anybody to do that.

LEMON: Yes. And ground game is everything in Iowa.

POWERS: Right, exactly, yes, yes. And I understand that strategically that what Mayor Pete did was probably the right thing to do, but it's, it's -- I found it slightly sleazy. I mean, because he didn't win and he didn't know that he won and he went out and said something. In the end, he actually may not win.

LEMON: Yes.

POWERS: You know, and so, I don't actually think that -- I don't know, it doesn't endear to some people.

LEMON: It bothered you -- you think it bothers you the speech.

POWERS: Yes, yes, because you don't know that. I mean, and in the end, it might not even be true.

LEMON: Let's move forward tonight and talk about tonight what's-- what happened here. You were here watching the folks on the stage. Who do you -- Who stood out to you?

PRESTON: You know, you know what I said toning, when you look at the totality of the four hours of candidate town halls tonight, I really thought that when Andrew Yang came out on stage at 10:00 at night, he brought an energy and you could feel the energy in this room.

Now granted, we're on a college campus but this room wasn't full of college kids. It was full of New Hampshire Democrats with college kids here as well. And I just thought that how he came out and his approach to answering questions, in fact I turned to somebody backstage when he was out there and I said, gosh, you know, when we first met Andrew Yang and had our first town hall with him, you know, last year, it could been around this time, it think it's all the same day now to me.

LEMON: Great, well good to see you.

PRESTON: But God, he has changed. His personality has changed. Look at him there. He was not like that a year ago. His personality is now popping.

LEMON: Yes. But as you know, as we were going over this with the producers, and you were there, and I said, can we make sure that there -- we bring some questions that has to do a little more with his personality, of course, policy because he's a policy wonk.

But he is the youngest acting -- I don't mean in a immature way, but he is the youngest-acting person he has. The most -- the best way to put it, the most youthful, even though he's not the youngest in age, Mayor Pete Buttigieg is, but he is the most youthful of all of the candidates who were in there, right?

PRESTON: Yes, one thing I said to you Don about half hour ago as we were sitting figuring it out what we're going to talk about tonight, and that's how things work on TV at 2:00 in the morning whatever the time it is.

[01:15:07]

I said to Don, I said, gosh, Don, I sad, he won the night. He may not have won any votes. But Andrew Yang won the night and if I owned any company in the world, I would try to hire him. I would have no idea what to do with him but I know that he would make my company better. He's really smart. He was up here talking about statistics, opioid statistics, crime statistics. I mean he was talking about world health, I don't know. He's talking about -- I was like where do you have the space in your brain for everything you're talking about?

POWERS: Well, he had me with the getting rid of pennies. That was definitely I am totally serious. I'm going to -- that is genius.

MCKINNON: He seems to be the candidate having the most fun.

LEMON: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: All right, stick around, everyone. We have a lot to talk about. We got more to come here. Next, I'm going to bring back some of the people you heard asking questions tonight. Let's find if the answers the candidates gave them helped them to choose who to vote for. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: There's a chance the directly question for presidential candidates but did the answers help them choose who to vote for in Tuesday's primary? Well, let's find out from some of the people who actually asking the questions tonight.

So joining me now is Pastor Patricia Henking, also JerriAnne Boggis, Executive Director of Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire, and Emma Goulet is a student here at Saint Anselm College. Welcome or should we say back but you were on the stage but welcome back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

LEMON: To being back on CNN. We appreciate you guys staying late.

[01:20:02]

Patricia, I want to start with you. Because you asked the former vice president, a very interesting question and let's play it and then we'll talk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICIA HENKING, PASTOR: Vice President Biden, what advice would you give a college student who has struggled with stuttering since he was a young child?

JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, stuttering, if you think about it, is the only handicap that people still laugh about, that still humiliate people about. And they don't mean to. When I was a kid, I'd talked like that. And some of you smile. If I said, when I was a kid, I had a clef palate and people made fun of me. Right they're way to run, no one smile. ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Actually, I just want to follow up on that. My mom stuttered. And even at 95, when the last couple year, in the last year of her life.

BIDEN: Incredible.

COOPER: She still had a stutter from time-to-time when she got tired, as you said. Well, how were you able to -- how were you actually able to overcome it? I mean, how did you learn how to do that with the right thing?

BIDEN: What I did was, I didn't have professional help. But I had three things going for me. I had a mother who had a backbone like a ramrod. And she'd look, she go Joe, look at me. Look at me, Joey. You're handsome, you're smart, you're a good athlete Joey, don't let this define you Joey, remember who you are, Joey, you can do it. And so everything time I would walk out she would reinforce me. I know it sounds silly, but it really matters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: There was real emotion in what he said there. What did you think of his answer?

HENKING: I loved his answer. There's a young person who is alive in my question. And I know that he watched this answer. And I know that it connected and that he feels that it made a huge impact on his life.

LEMON: And that is that why you go compelled to ask him that question because?

HENKING: I asked for two reasons. To be honest, one was because of this young person, that's why I framed it as a college thing. But I also have another parishioner, who's an older adult who stutters. I also wanted to give the Vice President a chance because I've heard some people blaming some things that I recognize as probably the late in issues of his stuttering on his age.

LEMON: Right.

HENKING: And I have felt like he deserves some sort of moment, not to defend himself, but to broaden that --

LEMON: To be able to explain that.

HENKING: -- sensibility.

LEMON: I did an interview with him. But he'd someone had written an article about his stuttering. And I felt that he should be able to explain that. Because some people say that it had something to do with his cognitive abilities or his mental acuity. Then it was it's basically the stuttering issue that he was overcoming. JerriAnne, I want to bring you in. Because this is what you asked Senator Warren tonight. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JERRIANNE BOGGIS, EXECUTIVE DIR. BLACK HERITAGE TRAIL OF NEW HAMPSHIRE: Given the critique that New Hampshire should not have first in the nation status for our party's primary, because of our perceived lack of diversity, what have you done to engage this population in conversation? What have you learned from this underrepresented group? And how does this reflect on the issues faced by this population across the country?

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One of the groups I spent a lot of time with is Black Women Four. I don't know if you're familiar with them. But it's a wonderful group of women, who I have to say, are really outspoken. And there I say it, pushy.

And I mean that in the nicest meaning of the word. They push me on ideas. They give me ideas, great ideas. And have helped inform a lot of what I've done. But they also call me out when I get it wrong. And they called me out publicly when I've gotten it wrong. And you know what? They were right to do that. Because ultimately, I want to be better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: JerriAnne, were you satisfied with her answer?

BOGGIS: Well, the first part that the description of the women being pushy was a little off-putting. But she redeemed herself in redefining the word pushy. And that they were pushing her to be better. But it played so much in the stereotypes of black women, you know, that was, again, just a little off-putting.

LEMON: Did you think she redeemed herself? Or, you said in a little bit. But, you -- that made you uncomfortable?

BOGGIS: Well, the thing is she if -- I tried to understand that when we talk about race, for people who just work is not something they do all the time, but they don't have the right words and they don't have the right understanding. But they try. And for us to get to a place where we're comfortable talking about race, we have to be willing to be on, you know, to be uncomfortable, to be in the places where we're uncomfortable, and we may say the wrong thing.

[01:25:01]

So I gave her points for that. But it's not her first go-around.

LEMON: Right, right.

BOGGIS: So, I do -- at this stage, I want a little bit more.

LEMON: OK, understandable.

BOGGIS: Yes.

LEMON: Understood. Emma, you were in the town hall that I hosted. So, and this is what you asked entrepreneur Andrew Yang. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMA GOULET, STUDENT AT SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE: So, voters today are faced with the difficult challenge of discerning truth from political spin. And making matters were social media has brought new opportunities to target individuals would carefully corrupted messages, design by social scientists to sway their opinion. So what actions would your administration take to ensure that the citizens have access to accurate information about their government in order to make informed decisions?

ANDREW YANG, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you for this question, Emma. It's crucial. One thing I would do immediately is hold Facebook to the same standard as cable news networks where they have to actually verify the truth of a political ad on their network.

My first preference is to sit down with a major organization like Facebook and say, hey, do the right thing. But if they want to do the right thing, then we have a legislature for a reason. And we should just past the law saying Facebook should not have verifiably false political advertisements on their platform. And if they do, then they should pay a penalty accordingly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: He wants to hold Zuckerberg and Facebook accountable. What did you think?

GOULET: I think I absolutely agree with his decision to hold Facebook accountable. But I also think it's really important to note that this is also a part of so many other social media apps, such as Twitter, too. I know that's super prevalent.

LEMON: I ask about that it's prevalent --

GOULET: Yes.

LEMON: -- on all social. But, yes.

GOULET: Yes, sure.

LEMON: People who spread misinformation. And untrue things, why should you be able to just go and spread on a global platform lies about anyone? But go on?

GOULET: Yes. Well, I mean that it's so important to have some kind of a social media to be able to share your ideas. But I think it's also just so incredibly easy to spread misinformation on the world today. Especially with social scientists, that then look at our information and kind of tailor ads and such to each individual one of us.

And I think that, of course, that's so hard to combat, to decide what is fake news and what isn't and especially to decide what news is biased or unbiased.

LEMON: Emma, and JerriAnne, Patricia, thank you so much very well.

HENKING: Thank you.

GOULET: Thank you.

LEMON: You guys did great jobs. Did the great job. Thank you, we really appreciate it.

Democrats say their priority is beating President Trump in 2020. But, if just the last 24 hours is any indication it's going to be a long and ugly road to Election Day. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:31:50]

LEMON: Just a few hours from now, President Trump will make a speech on impeachment at the White House. He is calling his acquittal a victory for the country. So, what does this say about the state of the race? Astead Herndon, Mark Preston, Kirsten Powers, and Mark McKinnon are all back with me.

So Mark, we had this Senate acquittal, extremely partisan State of the Union Address, and on and on and on. That the, you know, the President tweeting about Iowa --

PRESTON: Yadda yadda yadda. Sure.

LEMON: What is this 2020 is going to -- it's going to get uglier, right?

PRESTON: Yes. But you know what, I mean, we can talk about the near team ugliness of politics but, like to be serious, and I'm not serious all the time, but to be serious, I have kids. And I've just look at where we have come in the past, like two years, just in politics. And, you know, I've only been around for 20, 25 years in the game, so to speak. And where we are now, compared to where we were just a few years ago is just, we're in a morally bad place.

And I just think that when you see that speech that was given last night, you know, in basically, a hallowed ground and, you know, it resulted in the Speaker of the House ripping up speech and throwing it on the floor. I mean --

LEMON: What's that she's throwing it on the floor?

PRESTON: Whatever.

LEMON: Explain what you mean, yes.

PRESTON: I mean, I'm just saying in the lies that he said, you know, from the Dyess, it's like we were watching a third world country.

LEMON: Right after this interview, you're talking about the, you know, the acrimony and all that but right after the acquittal, Republican students requested Hunter Biden's travel records from the Secret Service. I mean, as long as they more -- yes, I mean, as long as he's in this race, they're not going to let go. Is this a new Benghazi or the new e-mails? What is this -- again, what did they learn from this? Because now they're investigating a political rival as, you know, are they doing the President's dirty work for him?

HERNDON: I mean, these are political calculations. What we know from both the acquittal to even the actual list with Hunter Biden said these are Republican senators who believe that the President rightly is the united leader of the Republican Party who holds their electoral futures at his hands. And so they're worried about that presidential tweet that we would see in the midterms that would shift Republican races.

They're worried about the base turning on them. And so what we're going to see going forward through 2020 as we've seen in the four years prior, is that Republicans have understood since the day that 2016 happened that this is Donald Trump's Republican Party. And if that -- if crossing him is a line, they have not shown a mass willingness to do that. It's a political decision.

LEMON: You know what, you know, the Democratic voters are saying, right. The priority, Kirsten, is to beat Trump. And you had -- what do we had, a Biden, Warren Yang, Steyer on the stage tonight talking to these candidates about, you know, talking to these folks about what they can do. But can they -- are they up to the job?

POWERS: Yes. I mean, I think some of them are up to the job. So I certainly -- I mean, I think that Bernie Sanders is definitely up to the job. In my mind, there's no question if you look at the match-ups. I mean, he seems to do well against him. And I think actually, tonight, all of the candidates acquitted themselves pretty well. I think that they've all groan during this process. And so you have to see how they do, you know, when they're actually -- whoever gets to go up against Donald Trump, but no, I don't buy the idea that no Democrats can beat Donald Trump.

[01:35:04]

I do want to say one thing about what you were just talking about, though, about the Republicans. You know, they're not all up for reelection. So when you're in the Senate and you have a six-year term, it should actually allow you to be able to make some difficult decisions. You're not running for office every two years like you are in the House. It's a little more defensible there, I guess, in some ways.

But for the senators, I don't think it is really defensible for them to feel like they have to kowtow to the President, who for some of them, probably will, I mean, potentially could be gone, you know, when they run for reelection.

LEMON: Right. Mark, I want you to -- I'm going to get your opinion on this. I saved this one for you because I want you to stay with me. Speaking of senators, you were talking about Senator Mitt Romney going against his party today voting to convict President Trump of abuse of power. You're going to hear his powerful speech from the Senate floor. You want to watch this believe me, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:40:08]

LEMON: The Senate voting largely on party lines today to acquit President Trump. But Mitt Romney of Utah, breaking with his fellow Republicans, voting to convict the President on the charge of abuse of power. I've got my A-team with me. They're going to talk about in just a moment. But first, let's listen to Romney's powerful, emotional speech, right on the Senate floor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator from Utah.

ROMNEY: Thank you, Mr. President. The constitution is at the foundation of our republic's success. And we each strive not to lose sight of our promise to defend it. The constitution established the vehicle of impeachment that is occupied both Houses of our Congress this many days. We have labored to faithfully execute our responsibilities to it. We have arrived at different judgments. But I hope we respect each other's good faith.

The allegations made in the articles of impeachment are very serious. As a senator juror, I swore an oath, before God, to exercise impartial justice. I am profoundly religious. My faith is at the heart of who I am.

I take an oath before God as enormously consequential. I knew from the outset, that being tasked with judging the President, the leader of my own party, would be the most difficult decision I have ever faced. I was not wrong.

The House managers presented evidence supporting their case, and the White House Counsel disputed that case. In addition, the President's team presented three defenses. First, that there could be no impeachment without a statutory crime. Second, that the Bidens' conduct justified the President's actions. And third, that the judgment of the President's actions should be left to the voters.

Let me first address those three defenses. The historic meaning of the words high crimes and misdemeanors, the writings of the mound founders and my own reason judgment convinced me that a president can indeed commit acts against the public trust, that are so egregious, that while they are not statutory crimes, they would demand removal from office. To maintain that the lack of a codified and comprehensive list of all the outrageous acts that a president might conceivably commit, renders Congress powerless to remove such a president defies reason.

The President's Council also notes that Vice President Biden appeared to have a conflict of interest when he undertook an effort to remove the Ukrainian Prosecutor General. If he knew of the exorbitant compensation his son was receiving from a company actually under investigation, the Vice President should have recused himself. While ignoring a conflict of interest is not a crime, it is surely very wrong. With regards to Hunter Biden, taking excessive advantage of his father's name is unsavory, but also not a crime. Given that neither the case of the father nor the son, was any evidence presented by the President's Council that a crime had been committed, the President's insistence that they'd be investigated by the Ukrainians is hard to explain other than as a political pursuit. There's no question in my mind that were their names, not Biden. The President would never have done what he did.

The defense argues that the Senate should leave the impeachment decision to the voters. While that logic is appealing to our Democratic instincts, it is inconsistent with the constitution's requirement that the Senate, not the voters, try the President. Hamilton explained that the founders decision to invest senators with his obligation rather than leave it to the voters was intended to minimize, to the extent possible, the partisan sentiments of the public at large.

So the verdict is ours to render under our constitution. The people will judge us for how well and faithfully we fulfill our duty. The great question the constitution tasks senators to answer is whether the President committed an act so extreme and egregious that it rises to the level of a high crime and misdemeanor.

Yes, he did. The president asked a foreign government to investigate his political rival. The President withheld vital military funds from that government to press it to do so. The President delayed funds for an American ally at war, with Russian invaders.

[01:45:02]

The President's purpose was personal and political. Accordingly, the President is guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust. What he did was not perfect. No, it was a flagrant assault on their electoral rights, our national security, and our fundamental values. Corrupting an election to keep one's self in office is perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one's oath of office that I can imagine.

In the last several weeks, I received numerous calls and texts. Many demanded in their words that I stand with the team. I can assure you that that thought has been very much on my mind. You see, I support a great deal of what the President has done. I voted with him 80 percent of the time.

But my promise before God, to apply impartial justice, required that I put my personal feelings, and political biases aside. Were I to ignore the evidence that has been presented, and disregard what I believe my oath and the constitution demands of me, for the sake of a partisan end, it would, I fear, expose my character to history's rebuke and the censure of my own conscience.

I'm aware that there are people in my party and in my state who will strenuously disapprove of my decision. And in some quarters, I will be vehemently denounced. I'm sure to hear abuse from the President and his supporters. Does anyone seriously believe that I would consent to these consequences other than from an inescapable conviction that my oath before God demanded it of me?

I sought to hear testimony from John Bolton, not only because I believed he could add context to the charges, but also because I hoped that what he might say could raise reasonable doubt and thus remove from me the awful obligation to vote for impeachment. Like each member of this deliberative body, I love our country. I believe that our constitution was inspired by providence.

I'm convinced that freedom itself is dependent on the strength and the vitality of our national character. As it is with each senator, my vote is an act of conviction. We have come to different conclusions, fellow senators, but I trust we have all followed the dictates of our conscience.

I acknowledge that my verdict will not remove the President from office. The results of this Senate court will in fact be appealed to a higher court, the judgment of the American people. Voters will make the final decision, just as the President's lawyers have implored. My vote will likely be in the minority in the Senate.

But irrespective of these things, with my vote, I will tell my children and their children, that I did my duty to the best of my ability, believing that my country expected it of me. I will only be one name among many, no more, no less, to future generations of Americans who look at the record of this trial. They will note merely I was among the senators who determined that what the President did was wrong. Grievously wrong.

We are all footnotes at best in the annals of history. But in the most powerful nation on earth, the nation conceived in liberty and justice, that distinction is enough for any citizen.

Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That was Senator Mitt Romney. Very powerful speech, explaining why he voted to convict the President, President Trump. My team of experts has -- they have a lot to say about this. And we're going to talk about it, that's next.

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[01:53:22]

LEMON: Mitt Romney taking the heat after breaking ranks with the GOP and becoming the first Senator in U.S history to vote to convict the President of the same party. Back with me now Astead Herndon, Mark Preston, Kirsten Powers and Mark McKinnon.

Mark, I said I was saving you because, and I was, he spoke about swearing an oath to God, right? We hear politicians, senators talked about God all the time, but it feels that taking oath to be impartial. He took his, both of those, seriously.

MCKINNON: Answer to a higher calling. Because that's a speech that will be remembered and it's -- by the way that Mitt Romney, had he -- if we tune that Mitt Romney in 2012, I wouldn't say he would be president but it would have been a lot closer. And it's that Mitt Romney, by the way, there was the inspiration for our television show, "The Circus", when he did a documentary called Mitt after the election and we saw that side of him.

And I think what just drives me a little bit crazy about him, is that there really are two Mitt Romneys. There's the Romney who governs and really has a moral code and conscious. And there's a Romney who campaigns and turns into a pretzel. But this is the public servant Mitt Romney. And he's really powered -- by the way, he is the only person of a party of the President being impeached who's voted against the President.

LEMON: Yes, he may --

MCKINNON: So, I mean, think of -- what is the upside for him for doing this? Laura Ingraham apparently has already announced that she's going to out to Utah and run against him. I mean, his life is going to be hell for the next five years.

LEMON: Yes. Well, I mean, you know, what do you think? I mean, the President, they thought it would -- they thought it would be bipartisan. It wasn't bipartisan in the way that they thought. But it means he has already been attacked by a president, the Chair of the Republican National Committee, his own niece is publicly going after him. He's been rebuked by the Utah Republican Party. I mean --

PRESTON: By the way, he is the Utah Republican Party in many ways, right? I mean, he's the one who has all of the money. He's the one who has the name recognition.

[01:55:01]

You know, he -- and we saw Donald Trump Jr. today saying that he should be thrown out of the party, OK, which is rather interesting. You know, Mitt Romney has given some pretty important speeches in his life, right? And we saw this speech and I looked down, I said, wow, this is -- you know, I've seen this before and it reminded me of when he had to come out and explain his religion to people so that, you know, very much in the way John F. Kennedy had to do, you know, as a Catholic back in 1962.

And then Mark over here says, remember the speech or not '62, forgive me, you know, when he's running for president, Mark says, well remember the speech that when he rebuked Trump, so as he's sitting there, and we're watching him do it, I go back and read through the speech, holy-smokes, it was tough on Mitt Romney -- I mean, on Donald Trump.

LEMON: I can't get you guys in because I'm out of time. You know, you'll be back. Thank you all. Thanks for staying up late, I appreciate it.

Fascinating evening, fascinating day.

What a week so far. Thanks for watching, everyone. Our live coverage continues with Rosemary Church right after this quick break.

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