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Deval Patrick Distances Himself from Obama in 1st Presidential Campaign Speech; Kaepernick NFL Tryouts Abruptly Moved; Roger Stone Found Guilty of Lies that Protected Trump; 5 Arrested for Shooting at N.J. High School Football Game. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired November 16, 2019 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00] ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Great to have you with us this weekend.

Under oath and on Capitol Hill right now, another witness testifying to what he knows about the charges laid against President Trump. Charges that may lead to his impeachment.

Today another closed door deposition, not on television or open to the public. And this is the man giving the testimony right now. This is Mark Sandy. He is a senior official at the office of management and budget, the agency that controls the flow of U.S. dollars. He is there now under subpoena, meaning he was required by law to show up.

Other OMB officials have so far refused to answer questions under oath even though they were invited to. That is what is happening right now. But the past 30 hours or so revealed a series of major developments one after another, each one seemingly more damning to President Trump than the last.

Testimony from two highly respected diplomats, one of whom the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine described how Donald Trump's personal attorney was operating outside normal channels at the President's direction and with corrupt figures to dig up dirt on the President's political rivals back home.

We also heard from a top diplomatic aide who said he heard the President's own voice on a cell phone call talking to another U.S. ambassador about how Ukraine's government was going along with the President's desire to investigate Joe Biden and his son. If that wasn't enough bad news for President Trump yesterday, his longtime political adviser was found guilty of lying to and obstructing Congress. Roger Stone will now learn his fate at his sentencing in February.

All of these things combined had a White House adviser to four U.S. presidents calling yesterday the worst day for this President ever.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID GERGEN, ADVISER TO PRESIDENT NIXON, FORD, REAGAN AND CLINTON: This has to be the worse day of the presidency so far for Donald Trump.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, AC 360: You think so today?

GERGEN: Absolutely. It's not just that we learned from somebody with direct knowledge that the President was directing things. He was doing it in the most graphic way, the words, the language.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: And that's from a guy who personally watched from the inside the downfall and almost impeachment of President Richard Nixon.

CNN congressional reporter Lauren FOX is on Capitol Hill. Also with us CNN government regulation correspondent Rene Marsh.

Lauren, Mark Sandy is under oath right now. He works for Office of Management and Budget. Let's remained everyone that his boss technically is Mick Mulvaney who is pulling double duty right now as acting White House chief of staff as well and who has refused to comply with subpoena testify in this inquiry himself. What is Mark Sandy expected to add to testimony that's already been given?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, Ana, I can tell what you Democrats hope he will wad which is a technical description of how this process would typically work. You know, one of the keys problems with this whole impeachment inquiry for Democrats has been, why was this nearly $400 million in U.S. military assistance being withheld? There was bipartisan support on Capitol Hill from Republicans and Democrats who had agreed to appropriate this money. The President signed it into law. Then all of a sudden this money is stalled.

So Democrats trying to understand why exactly that happened and why this process might have been different than others in the past. So that's what they are going to be asking Mark Sandy, a career official, about today. Where did this go-off the rails -- Ana?

CABRERA: Standby, Lauren, for a second because I want to turn to Rene Marsh. A source close to Mark Sandy says he didn't know at the time why aid to Ukraine was being frozen. How would that work? How does the OMB bet its marching orders?

RENE MARSH, CNN GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Right. So Congress is the one that approves the money and OMB is that one that disperse it to the agencies, kind of like the parent giving out their allowance to the agencies.

We do expect, as you point out, Ana, that he will tell them that he didn't know why this aid, this military aid was frozen. By the way, aid that Ukraine desperately needed and Congress had already approved. What we do expect that he is going to tell lawmakers and likely is telling lawmakers at this point is that political in the agency, they essentially delayed the funds and took away that authority from career officials like himself.

And I spoke to a former OMB official who told me that freezing funds is usually a task for career officials. But in this case, we know that political appointees signed at least some of the documents ordering the freeze. So that in itself we are told is very unusual and he may provide insight on how they came to be. Of course, he is the first of several OMB employees to testify. We have a screen of all the individuals who have so far defied the requests. So he is the first one to show up. He is a career, but his testimony also significant for that reason, too.

CABRERA: OK. Lauren, today's testimony of course follows the explosive day in the impeachment inquiry yesterday for the first time. A witness says he personally heard President Trump demand Ukraine investigate the Bidens.

[15:05:08] FOX: Well, that's right. We acquired David Holmes' opening statement last night. And what we learned from that statement was that on July 26th, that's a significant date because it's the day after President Trump had a conversation with President Zelensky in which he told the President of Ukraine he needed a favor.

On July 26th, Holmes over hears a conversation between Gordon Sondland, the EU ambassador and President Trump. And he said it was so loud that even though this phone call wasn't on speaker, he could hear it through the telephone. And in that conversation here's what Holmes said he heard.

He said, I then heard President Trump ask quote "so he is going to do the investigations?" Ambassador Sondland replied quote "he is going to do it." Adding that President Zelensky will do quote "anything you asked him to."

After that conversation, Holmes asked Sondland, so what is the President's view of Ukraine. And what Sondland told him was that he didn't care as much about Ukraine as he did about quote "the big stuff." Push on what exactly that was? Sondland testified that it was about the Bidens or at least he told David Holmes that now.

Testimony coming next week from Sondland on Capitol Hill in public testimony. And of course, that is going to be a place where Democrats are going to grill him about what he might actually now remember about that conversation with President Trump on July 26th -- Ana.

CABRERA: Gordon Sondland's testimony set for Wednesday this coming week.

Lauren Fox, Rene Marsh, thank you both.

One person not on Capitol Hill today is the man leading the impeachment inquiry, House Intelligence committee chairman Adam Schiff. He is on the other side of the country where he received this response just moments ago when he took the stage at the California Democratic convention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), CHAIRMAN, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Thank you, Californians.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CABRERA: That applause and a standing ovation that accompanied it lasted more than a minute. So clearly Democrats are excited about what they saw this week. But are the public hearings swaying the public at large?

I want to bring in Florida congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz who serves on the House oversight committee. She is also the head of the Democratic national of national committee.

Thanks for joining us.

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ (D), FLORIDA: Thanks, Ana. Great to be with you.

CABRERA: Let's start with today's testimony and this witness. What key information are you hoping your colleagues are learning from Mark Sandy?

WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ: You know, I sit on the appropriations committee as well, Ana. And so hearing from an OMB official on what the heck was the motivation behind President Trump ordering the withholding of $400 million of vital assistance to a foreign country that desperately needed it to keep Russia at bay. This was money that we passed into law that the President signed in law, and that Pentagon certified, that have taken steps to reduced corruption.

So all -- everything was in place for that money to be transmitted. And everything I have heard up to this point has indicated very clearly that President Trump withheld it intentionally in order to make sure that he could get the President of Ukraine to start investigations against his political opponents and interfere in the 2020 election. So that's what I'm hoping to hear from, is what did the OMB know about President Trump's involvement and what he said about withholding those funds.

CABRERA: And why did you decide not to be there to ask those questions yourself in person, since you are on the oversight committee, one of the three leading this investigation and are able to ask questions in these closed-door depositions?

WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ: I was in D.C. last night for Mr. Holmes' testimony and deposition. And we were there very late. And I had obligations here in my congressional district and also with my family. So I wasn't able to attend this one.

CABRERA: OK. Let me ask you about David Holmes. And he is the state department aide who says he overheard ambassador Sondland. Holmes said he heard the President actually ask Sondland if Ukraine was going to do the investigations. Do you expect Holmes will eventually testify publicly?

WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ: That's a decision that will be up to the intelligence committee and the head -- the leadership of the other committees. But what I will tell you is that I was present for ambassador Sondland's testimony behind closed doors as well as ambassador Taylor's. And what I heard, although I can't share what Mr. Holmes said to the committees in the deposition, nothing that I heard was in opposition to what was testified to by the previous witnesses.

CABRERA: Sure but --

WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ: I will tell you --

[15:10:00] CABRERA: You guys have faced a lot of criticism for not talking or hearing from people who have firsthand knowledge that this was directly from the President on down, these orders to investigate the Bidens. And here you have somebody who is saying under oath, I heard the President say it himself. So it seems like that person would be a key witness to put before the American people, right?

WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ: I would expect that he likely will be asked to testify in person. But since I am not able to confirm that that's the case, what I can tell you is that the transcripts will be released and that's been the -- what the committee has intended.

What I do want to say that one thing that was very clear to me, when I came out of ambassador Sondland's testimony, I really had grave concerns about his veracity, about the fact that he had omitted so much, had forgotten far more than someone who had events he was describing just over the past few months. And the lawyers very specifically instruct witnesses that omissions are lies as well and those are prohibited. So you know, I'm going to be interested in hearing ambassador Sondland try to answer these questions about what he wouldn't admit or acknowledge in his private testimony.

CABRERA: Right. We didn't know about this other phone call we are learning about from first Bill Taylor and now Holmes. But how much do people care? Because people who are not already inclined, you know, to want impeachment. They saw the Dow at the end of the week reach a record high. What does impeachment give to that worker in Wisconsin that makes them say, time for a change?

WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ: We are focused for workers in Wisconsin, workers here in my home state of Florida on the things they care about. And unfortunately, there's a legislative graveyard in the United States Senate that includes the increase in the federal minimum wage that workers in Wisconsin and my home state of Florida would certainly benefit from rising to $15 an hour, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, making sure we pass legislation to get gun safety into practice so we can prevent these horrific school shootings and mass shootings in public places all across the country.

But workers in Wisconsin and Florida also very much care about the fact that we take an oath and the President of the United States takes an oath to uphold the constitution. And what this President has been doing is acting like a corrupt thug. He intimidated a witness yesterday in real time, a decorated ambassador who was the longest serving ambassador in our foreign service.

CABRERA: You' ae talking about his tweet in which he was attacking her and was read out loud to her during the hearing in which she was sitting in that witness chair and we saw congressman Schiff read it to her. The President says or White House defended that tweet saying it wasn't witness intimidation, it was just his opinion.

WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ: Well, I think certainly if you are a career foreign service officer and any other employee hearing the President go after and intimidate and threaten ambassador Yovanovitch in real- time the way he did, then how else woo any other employee and her take that except to know that he was trying to threaten her. And then look at the transcript of the call that he had between he and President Zelensky. In that call, he specifically said that there are some things that are going to happen to ambassador Yovanovitch. And that was repeated on a number of different occasions.

So there's been a practice of intimidation towards ambassador Yovanovitch directly by President Trump over several months. And what also has occurred over several months is it is very clear that he wanted investigations launched by Ukraine against the Bidens to interfere in the 2020 election. He essentially tried to bribe President Zelensky by withholding $400 million of vital assistance and dangling a White House meeting in exchange for that. That's illegal. It is impeachable. And we need to make sure that we continue to shine a spotlight on this because there are some cockroaches just crawling around the White House and we need to make sure we expose them.

CABRERA: Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, I appreciate you joining us. Thank you very much for taking the time.

WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ: Thank you so much.

CABRERA: Meanwhile we are learning that President Trump is now at Walter Reed Medical Center to undergo his annual physical.

CNN White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond is joining us right now.

What do you know, Jeremy?

JEREMEY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Ana. The President made an unannounced movement to Walter Reed Medical Center. And we are now being told by the White House press secretary after the President arrived there that the President is there to begin part of his annual physical exam.

Here's a statement from white House press secretary Stephanie Grisham. She says, anticipating a very busy 2020, the President is taking advantage of a free weekend here in Washington, D.C. to begin portions of his routine annual physical exam at Walter Reed.

Now, the press secretary did not say if there were any health concerns that prompted this early physical exam visit. In previous years the President has gotten his annual physical in February last year and in January the year before that. So a little bit early here. But the White House saying that it's simply to begin his annual physical exam -- Ana.

[15:15:01] CABRERA: OK, Jeremy Diamond. We know you will report back anything that you learn as this continues forward. Thank you.

So how likely is it that President Trump will be impeached and removed from office? Short answer, it's complicated. Our Tom Foreman breaks it down next.

And former President Obama has a warning for democratic candidates trying to unseat President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The average American doesn't think that we have to completely tear down the system and remake it. And I think it's important for us not to lose site off of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: I'm Ana Cabrera. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:19:15] CABRERA: Back to what is happening right now. More close door impeachment hearings on Capitol Hill.

Mark Sandy, a senior official at the office of management and budget is testifying. He's appearing under subpoena. The first official from the OMB to do so.

Meantime, the first week of open public hearings has now ended. Where do things stand now? How likely is it that President Trump will be impeached by the house and removed by the Senate?

CNN's Tom Foreman has the big picture on a complicated process.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Any effort to impeach a President must begin in the U.S. House of Representatives. The constitution says so. And even those such efforts are exceedingly rare, certain procedures are more or less standard.

Most often the Judiciary Committee would kick it off although others may be involved by investigating allegations which have been raised against the president. Now this can happen with or without an authorization both for impeachment inquiry. We have had such votes in other impeachment proceedings but the law doesn't require it.

In any event, what comes next is lawmakers from both parties listening to witnesses reading documents reviewing evidence to see if the President might have engaged in treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors such as seeking personal game with the office or abusing power.

If they think he has, then those committees can push for the full house to have a vote on articles of impeachment. A simple majority can impeach the President. Does this mean he is guilty? No, not necessarily. Does it remove him from office? Not necessarily. All this does is formally charges the President and moves the process over into the Senate which the constitution says must hold a trial. The chief justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts would sit up front

while House impeachment managers would present the charges against the President, and the President's lawyers would try to dispute them. Witnesses can be called and questioned. And senators sit and watch all these serving as jurors.

Many procedural pitfalls could come up and short circuit the process but so far Republican leadership has suggested that any trial would be allowed to run its course. At the end each senator must deliver their verdict. And if two-thirds say guilty then the President is convicted and would be removed from office. Something that despite three serious pushes toward impeachment has never happened before.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[15:21:42] CABRERA: Tom Foreman, thank you.

Is there something to be learned from previous impeachment investigations like that of President Nixon? Watch HBO's documentary, "Nixon by Nixon, in his own words." That's tonight at 9:00 eastern here on CNN.

Up next Barack Obama issues a warning for the 2020 candidates. Stay with us.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:25:58] CABRERA: President Obama issuing his most direct warning to Democrats hoping to be the next President. A room full of liberal donors he cautioned don't swing too far to the left.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: This is still a country that is less revolutionary than it is interested in improvement. They like seeing things improved but the average American doesn't think that we have to completely tear down the system and remake it. And I think it's important not to lose sight of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Our senior political analyst Ron Brownstein is with us now. He is also the senior editor at the "Atlantic."

Ron, President Obama says he was not targeting any specific democrat with that message, but does he not appear to be talking to senators like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Sure does. I mean, there were some other language in his remarks that were more conciliatory through the activist in the party, but that is a pretty big foot coming down in what is I think the core debate among Democrats in 2020 which is do you want a nominee who will try to inspire a vast new turnout among young people and minority voters, ostensibly with a very liberal agenda or you need a nominee who can reassure center-right voters and normally vote Republican but are alienated mostly on cultural and personal grounds from Donald Trump.

You know, he didn't point any fingers. He didn't name any names. But when he is talking about a revolution and improvement as opposed to for example eliminating the affordable care act and replacing it with Medicare for all, I don't think there's much doubt of which side of that debate is coming down on.

CABRERA: President Obama also touched on some regrets during his won presidency. He says he should have spent more time building the party from the bottom up. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: If you ask me my regrets during my presidency, I give myself a little bit of a break, because I had a potential great depression and two wars when I walked in. But what I couldn't do as well as I would have liked, because I was governing on the political side, was just being attentive to state races, state legislative races and secretary of state races, as well as governs races and Senate races, because those matter in terms of building up the kind of infrastructure, that sort of party building.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: And that caught my ear, Ron, because when you think about what President Trump has done with the Republican Party like stacking the courts with conservative judges or how he has really made an effort to appear in the campaign trail in tight races across the country and those states, those crucial state roles, what is the lesson for any future Democratic President?

BROWNSTEIN: Well first of all, President Obama is right. I mean, the Democrats suffered significant losses at the state level, obviously in Congress, and in the Senate as well losing control of the Senate in 2014, which a hinge point in American history because it prevented the name from putting Merrick Garland in the court and establishing a liberal majority that potentially could last for many years as opposed to a conservative majority that now seems in place until the 2030.

So he paid a high cost on that. Some of that, Ana, was inescapable because a lot of it happened in 2010. 2010, you know, was the worst midterm election for a President probably since 1938 and Franklin Roosevelt and that was a backlash against the affordable care act which have not yet gone into place. And the benefits of it were not apparent. The opponent saw kind of cause ad the ideological that it represented.

I think as he wept on the case becomes more clear because 2014 was another miserable midterm election for Democrats even when the economy was recovering. Now certainly President Trump has suffered losses as well. I mean, that is the reality. President's parties usually lose ground in Congress and in the states during their presidency.

[15:30:00] But there's no question that Obama's focused on kind of this national majority that he built. You know, first Democrat to win the popular vote, went over 50 percent of the popular vote twice since Franklin Roosevelt, I guess. He took his eye in some ways off of what was happening way down below at the grassroots.

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Let's move on because we have a newcomer to the 2020 race this week. Former governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, is making his debut on the campaign trail this weekend.

Just a couple of hours ago, he gave his first official campaign speech where he distanced himself from President Obama and says, now is the time to be, quote, "woke."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEVAL PATRICK, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR: I am not running, my friends, to be president of the Democrats. I am running to be president of the United States. There's a difference. I'm not talking about a moderate agenda. This is no time for a moderate agenda. I'm talking about being woke while leaving room for the still waking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: I mean, just getting into the race is an 180-degree turn for Deval Patrick, who said less than a year ago he decided not to run for president. What do you think his strategy is? It's very late to get into the game, isn't it?

BROWNSTEIN: It is. The strategy for Deval Patrick and the rumblings of Mike Bloomberg are both reflections of the same thing, the concern among the more centrist parts of the Democratic Party, the question whether Joe Biden has the stuff to go the distance.

What's interesting is that both Patrick and Bloomberg, even as there have been signs of stabilization if not recovery for Biden. He's still struggling in Iowa and New Hampshire in a new CNN poll out tonight in Iowa.

When you look at the states further down the line, where the diversity of the Democratic Party plays more of a role, his big advantage among African-American voters and his competitive position among Hispanic voters, he's leading in Nevada, Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, a number of polls that have come out in the past few weeks.

So for Deval Patrick, he's got to assume Biden is going to collapse, that he will perform reasonably well in New Hampshire, his neighboring state from Massachusetts, and he can slingshot that into carving into the African-American vote in South Carolina.

It's a needle-through-a-keyhole thing, I think, at this point. But that would be the strategy.

CABRERA: Ron Brownstein, as always I appreciate your inside expertise on all of this. BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

CABRERA: And, yes, we do have that poll coming out up at 8:00 coming out of Iowa on CNN. We'll bring you that new information when that happens.

Up next, former NFL star, Colin Kaepernick, is hoping to begin his comeback today. We'll have the details when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:36:45]

CABRERA: This is a developing story and we just got an update right now on controversial quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, who was supposed to be trying out in front of several NFL teams right now. Change of plans.

CNN's Andy Scholes joins us by phone.

Andy, it's not happening right now, but it is supposed to happen. Explain what's going on here.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR (via telephone): It was a wild scene, Ana. I was one of many media members at the Atlanta Falcons practice facility in a northern suburb of Atlanta waiting for Colin Kaepernick to arrive.

We were watching scout after scout, team personnel arrive for this workout. And then, all of a sudden, people started getting this release from his representatives saying that the NFL workout in front of those scouts was off because Colin Kaepernick and his representatives were having a disagreement with the NFL over signing a liability waiver.

They are also having a disagreement over whether the media should be allowed to attend and film it because Colin Kaepernick and his team wanted transparency. There's still a lot of distrust between Colin Kaepernick and the NFL.

Colin Kaepernick's people said, we are moving this workout. Not only did they move it, Ana, not to someplace close, but to the other side of the city, about an hour and 10 minutes away from where it was scheduled to be at the Atlanta Falcon's facility. It's now going to be at a high school near the Atlanta airport. All the media packed up.

What's fascinating is Colin Kaepernick's people said they were going to start at 4:00. There's no chance, Ana, that any of those scouts at the Atlanta Falcon's facility are going to be at this high school by 4:00.

CABRERA: Then I start to think about daylight and all of that, if that becomes an issue.

But is it your sense then, Andy, that this move is something Kaepernick's team welcomed? That it wasn't something that is only going to impact them in a negative way?

SCHOLES: Well, I will say this. I would imagine they negotiated as long as they could to get this to work the way it was scheduled to work. Because as I just said, all of these scouts flew in for this. We confirmed 11 teams were going to be there. I saw many more than 11. I would say about at least 20 teams were represented at the Falcons facility.

Like I said, now those guys all had the rugs pulled out from them as well. They have to drive all the way across the city to come to this new workout, which I imagine they wouldn't be happy about.

That being said, it is near the airport. If they were going to get on a flight, they'd have to come back down.

It's not ideal to drive all the way to the Falcons' facility, which is about 30 minutes north of Atlanta --

CABRERA: Yes.

SCHOLES: -- to come all the way down immediately when that wasn't your original plan.

CABRERA: If this is going to create more transparency, as a member of the media, as journalists, we like that? I'm sure a lot of those fans are wanting to see him in action.

Andy Scholes, thank you. Please keep us updated.

Let me bring in L.Z. Granderson, an ESPN host and sports and culture columnist for the "L.A. Times."

L.Z., you're a supporter of Kaepernick. I like the jersey you've got on. You'd like to see him return to the league.

What's your reaction to this abrupt location change for his workout?

[15:40:09]

L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It's par for the course of this whole saga, if you will.

Ever since it was reported that Colin Kaepernick was protesting during the national anthem, you've seen the messaging from the NFL go from, we support First Amendment rights, to we need to get rid of him, to we're not blackballing him, to we are now going to settle the lawsuit, to this out-of-nowhere workout that caught everyone, including Colin Kaepernick, off guard, to now a confusion about the location and transparency with the media.

The whole thing has been a P.R. nightmare from the NFL's perspective.

CABRERA: It's been three years since Kaepernick left the 49ers. Since then, there was a private settlement with the NFL regard allegations the league conspired to keep him out. Kaepernick's former teammate, Eric Reed, who also settled, had this to say about today's trial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC REED, SAFETY, CAROLINA PANTHERS: My gut feeling is it's disingenuous. They want the appearance of they're giving Colin a chance, but they give him two hours' notice and tell him it has to be on a Saturday when they know that decision making, people are traveling. Is this real? We'll see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: L.Z. do you think this tryout is a legitimate effort to facilitate his return to the league?

GRANDERSON: I do believe it's more P.R.-driven than anything.

I will say, of the 25 teams reported supposed to be there, many of the people are eventually going to end up in a G.M. pipeline. While there might not be G.M.s and coaches present today, some of the men and women will be interviewed to take those jobs.

I don't think it's completely futile that he does this, but it does not seem very genuine on the onset, that's for sure.

CABRERA: I got 30 seconds or even less. But in a short answer, do you think he'll ever be able to just be another football player again?

GRANDERSON: He was never just a football player to begin with.

CABRERA: Fair enough.

L.Z. Granderson, thank you. I appreciate your time.

GRANDERSON: Thank you.

CABRERA: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:46:24]

CABRERA: Welcome back. President Trump's longtime political adviser, Roger Stone, is now a convicted felon, convicted of witness tampering, lying to and obstructing Congress. He will be sentenced in February. He could face decades behind bars.

Stone joins a growing list of people who pleaded guilty or were convicted in Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.

CNN's Sara Murray has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A jury in Washington agreed with prosecutors that truth still matters and found Roger Stone guilty on Friday of seven criminal counts, including lying to Congress.

Stone, a longtime friend and political adviser to President Trump, was convicted of five counts of lying to Congress, one of witness tampering, and one of obstructing a congressional committee proceeding.

Prosecutors argued that Stone lied about his contact with Trump and other campaign officials about WikiLeaks 2016 release of hacked Democratic emails because, "It would look really bad for his longtime associate, Donald Trump."

They told the jury "truth still matters." After two days of deliberations, the jury agreed.

Stone, a veteran of public and political operative, known for his flamboyant style, offered no audible reaction as the verdict was delivered. His wife let out a sign of relief when the judge announced Stone could await his February sentencing from home rather than behind bars.

The verdict marks the conclusion of one of Robert Mueller's highest- profile prosecutions.

Stone was arrested in a predawn raid at his Florida home in January as Mueller's team was winding down its investigation.

The trial revealed new details that had been redacted from the Mueller report, like how eager the Trump campaign was to get dirt from WikiLeaks in 2016 --

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: WikiLeaks. I love WikiLeaks.

(CHEERING)

MURRAY: -- and a number of phone calls between Stone and Trump at a time when Stone was claiming he had direct contact with WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange.

ROGER STONE, POLITICAL OPERATIVE: I actually have communicated with Assange.

MURRAY: A claim Stone now denies.

On one call in July 2016, Trump and Stone apparently spoke about the upcoming release of hacked Democratic emails, according to testimony from former Trump campaign official, Rick Gates, earlier this week.

Trump, though, told Mueller's team, "I do not recall discussing WikiLeaks with him."

President Trump, who has weighed whether to pardon Stone in recent months, slammed the verdict, tweeting, "So they now convict Roger Stone of lying and want to jail him for many years to come."

He called Stone's conviction "a double standard," claiming Hillary Clinton, Adam Schiff and even Robert Mueller had lied.

Stone declined to comment on a possible pardon.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. Stone, what's your reaction to the verdict?

STONE: No comment.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Will you be seeking a pardon from President Trump?

STONE: No comment.

MURRAY: Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

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CABRERA: Chaos at a high school football game after a gunman goes on a rampage.

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(SCREAMING)

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[15:49:25]

CABRERA: Now police are trying to piece together a motive. Details on this horrifying moment, ahead.

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CABRERA: Now I want to highlight this week's top-10 "CNN Hero." Afroz Shah, a lawyer in India, is trying to clean up the more than eight million tons of plastic in the world's oceans. He decided to tackle this will growing problem after seeing a beloved beach from his childhood.

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AFROZ SHAH, CNN HERO: The beach was like a carpet of plastic. For the first time in my life, I didn't want to be near the water because the garbage was like five and a half feet. It's a problem of pollution created by us.

With this in my mind, I started to clean the beach. Then I told myself, it would be difficult for a single man to do it, so I said, why not take this journey to others.

(CROSSTALK)

SHAH: This huge ocean is a problem. We'll have to rise up in huge numbers. When you have a complicated problem, sometimes solutions are simple.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: His movement has collected more than 60 million pounds of garbage from the ocean.

Go to CNNheroes.com to vote for him for "CNN Hero" of the year or any of your favorite top-10 heroes.

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CABRERA: Five men are under arrest in New Jersey linked to a terrifying shooting at a high school football game last night.

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(SCREAMING)

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CABRERA: Screaming fans and players ran and dove for cover as the shots rang out at this game between Camden High School and Pleasantville High.

Polo Sandoval is following this story with more.

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An evening of Friday night football in Pleasantville, New Jersey, brought to an abrupt and violent end with the sound of gunfire.

The chaos was caught on camera. It was at the end of the third quarter of a high school playoff game. Shots were fired off the field, sending terrified players and fans scrambling for cover. Some huddled under bleachers for protection.

[15:55:10]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just saw everybody from the crowd running. That's when the whole football team -- the coaches were telling us get down. But we didn't want to get down. We wanted to get somewhere safe inside the school, so we all ran up there, ran through the fence and we went through here.

SANDOVAL: Those out in the field could only drop to the deck as police and paramedics rushed to treat the three wounded. Among them, two minors. Officials say several off-duty first responders were at the game and immediately sprang into action to help.

JESSE TWEEDLE SR, MAYOR OF PLEASANTVILLE: I just want to thank my retired captain battalion chief for being there, who assisted the victim immediately.

SANDOVAL: In a statement Saturday, prosecutors said the motive had nothing to do with the students or either high school. "The venue simply presented an opportunity for criminals to pursue their own form of petty vengeance against one another. As a result, an innocent child was caught and injured in their crossfire."

Authorities say that child, only 10 years old, remains in critical condition.

Police have a 31-year-old Atlantic City man in custody and charged him with three counts of attempted murder. Four other men at the game were also arrested and face various weapons-related charges in connection to the shooting.

Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Still ahead for us, the deposition of a key White House budget official is over. What does he know about the president's controversial call with Ukraine? We're live from Capitol Hill, next.

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