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Donald Trump's Long-Time Political Ally Roger Stone Found Guilty; Colin Kaepernick Abruptly Moves NFL Workout Site; Donald Trump Undergoes "Quick Exam And Labs" At Walter Reed; Deval Patrick Gets Mixed Reactions In California; Trump Hotel Pitch Promises Lucrative Foreign Business. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired November 16, 2019 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Good evening. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Nearly 50 years after the phrase "follow the money" became part of our national lexicon, we are following the money again $400 million to be exact that was held up in aid to Ukraine.

Tonight in new damning testimony just released, we have learned a former top White House National Security aide told impeachment investigators that Gordon Sondland, the E.U. Ambassador at the center of this European Ukraine scandal, claimed to be acting on Trump's orders when conveying demands, demands that Democrats equate to a bribe, to get Ukraine to investigate his political rival, Joe Biden.

Also backing that theory up, a State Department witness who says he personally heard the President ask about investigations into the Bidens. David Holmes testified Trump called this EU Ambassador Sondland and was talking so loudly the Ambassador had to hold the phone away from his ear, and what he heard was Ambassador Sondland telling Trump the President of Ukraine loves your bleep, to which Trump responded, so he's going to do the investigation? He's going to do it, Sondland replied.

Let's get right out to CNN's Lauren Fox on Capitol Hill. And Lauren, this is going to be putting Sondland in even more precarious position going into these hearings next week.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right Ana, and Tim Morrison's deposition transcript, which was just released a few minutes ago, essentially builds on the case that EU Ambassador Sondland was getting direction directly from President Donald Trump, who was pushing the Ukrainians to announce these investigations.

What Morrison testified was that Sondland "Was discussing these matters with the President, and he went on to say that he believed that Gordon Sondland and President Trump had spoken approximately five times between July 25th, the date of that phone call between President Trump and Zelensky, and September 11th, when that nearly $400 million in U.S. military aid was finally released. What he said was on one of those calls on September 7th he spoke with Gordon Sondland after Sondland had gotten off the phone with Trump. He said "He told me he had just gotten off the phone with the President. He told me as it relates to Ambassador Taylor's statement there was to quid pro quo, but President Zelensky must announce the opening of the investigations, and he should want to. Ana?

CABRERA: And Lauren, that same NSC official Tim Morrison provided new details about what happened with that July 25th phone call transcript being moved to that highly classified server, right? What did he say?

FOX: Well, that's obviously a key detail Ana that was included in the whistleblower complaint, but what Morrison said was that he talked to the NSC's top lawyer, John Eisenberg, who told him it had been placed there by mistake. This is what Morrison testified "John Eisenberg relayed that he had not asked for to be put in there but that the Executive Secretary of Staff misunderstood his recommendation for how to restrict access."

Now Ana, next week is going to be a huge week on Capitol Hill because we'll hear publicly from both Gordon Sondland, the EU Ambassador, and Tim Morrison, whose transcript we're reading tonight.

CABRERA: Okay, the plot thickens, thank you so much Lauren Fox for all that. Joining us now is CNN Political Commentator and Former Special Assistant to President George W. Bush, Scott Jennings, and CNN Political Commentator and Former Democratic Mayor of Tallahassee, Andrew Gillum. Gentlemen good to have both you with us.

Let me start with you Scott, because earlier this week you described the first impeachment hearing with diplomatic officials Bill Taylor and George Kent, as a lost day for Democrats because in your opinion nothing had happened to change public opinion. Since then we've seen new transcripts, we've seen a State Department official tell Congress he personally heard Trump demand investigations into the Bidens.

And we've seen that emotional testimony from Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch about the attacks on her by the President and his allies. Do you still feel nothing has happened to move public opinion?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I don't think public opinion has changed yet. Let's be honest, folks are entrenched in their corners. I've been dubious that anything could happen in American politics for the next year that would really change public opinion.

Donald Trump's approval rating has existed in a very narrow band since he took office. However, I do think that these people that overheard this phone call in this restaurant, which as new thing, does change the game a little bit. It ups the stakes for the Sondland testimony. The only person here that I think at this point we really need to hear from is Sondland.

He talked to the President, he knows what happened? He was in the middle of this. Even Yovanovitch on Friday, who by the way I found very compelling and I'm a big fan of our career foreign service officers, she admitted she didn't have a lot of information Jermaine to the actual inquiry.

[19:05:00]

JENNINGS: So Sondland's the key. If I were him, I'd be nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs because obviously he's already on thin ice with this Committee. He is on thin ice with the President and he needs to show up and tell the truth because there's a lot of a folk out here that witnessed some of the activities he was involved in.

CABRERA: I'd like to get your opinion real fast, Mayor Gillum, about whether you think enough has been shown to the American people to actually move public opinion.

ANDREW GILLUM, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, well first, I think we have to acknowledge that the presentation by Ambassador Yovanovitch was compelling from every single angle. Most people don't really know the inner workings of the State Department. It's still very aloof, what they do abroad on behalf of the United States and frankly, our larger security.

Ambassador Yovanovitch pulled back an important layer and showed the real human element and toll. And although it was not her goal while she gave testimony yesterday, if she were a recruiter, I believe she would have recruited a whole new generation of Americans into the foreign services by showing the dedicated, committed work that was happening.

To see all of that upended by Giuliani, apparently at the direction of the President of the United States, was a deep offense, not just to her, not just to the foreign services and the career service officers, but to this country. And I think she made that argument very, very clear yesterday in a very compelling way.

CABRERA: But Mayor, when the average person at home is watching this, I would imagine there are some people who were thinking, yes, but that's in Ukraine, that's thousands of miles away, how is this impacting me as an American? Let me ask you this question, because the President tweeted this morning, DOW hits 28,000, first time ever, highest ever, gee, Pelosi and Schiff to have a good idea, let's impeach the President, if something like that ever happened it would lead to the biggest fall in market history, it's called a depression, not a recession, so much for 401 Ks and jobs.

Mayor do you believe Democrats have done a good enough job hammering him; this is about bribery this is about the constitution especially at a time when the President can boasts the DOW Jones is above 28,000?

GILLUM: Yes, well, it's also not just about those things, all though those things are important, it's also about the safety and security of this country. The Department of State and what happens abroad through our embassies, quite frankly, when they are effective at their work, we don't have to send our men and women abroad to put their lives on the line in defense of the national security interests of this country. When that goes awry, when people can no longer trust the United States and its word that we're going to act in the best interests yes of this country, but also the historic role that we have played quite frankly for the world, all of that has been upended by this administration. What is up is now down. What is down is now up. This administration has turned it topsy-turvy. And that's the lightest phrase I could use to describe this.

I believe that the American people are paying attention. I'll give you just one example. I was on a plane yesterday. And very rarely when I look around the plane do I see on every single screen the same thing playing. Everyone was tuned in for the television stations that I could see from where I sat. That means we're paying attention. The more that they see, the more that they learn I think the more deeply offended they'll become.

CABRERA: Scott, you talked about your respect for these career diplomats like Marie Yovanovitch. Three career diplomats, people who have dedicated their life to service to this country, testified about things they thought were huge red flagged, yet they were quickly dismissed and even mocked by some of the President's defenders. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSH LIMBAUGH, THE RUSH LIMBAUGH SHOW: We have here a bunch of professional nerds who wear their bowties and they have their proper diplo speak.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: Now we heard from two kind of self important, un-compelling, well, seemingly more important than they really are, bureaucrats.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just like the geniuses who testified today, the two homeless guys.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, fish are not this hydrated, he's always taking - throughout the hearing took slugs from this thing.

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: What is this, is he on the treadmill with the water bottle? Do you guys see that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This endless parade of washed-up bureaucrats and Foreign Service officers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they look like people who sat by themselves at recess.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Scott, what's happening here? Are these witnesses so credible the only thing left is to take cheap shots at their looks and the water bottle there on the table?

JENNINGS: Well, I think what's happening is that there are people who make a living defending the President at all costs, even if it means making a fool of themselves in the process. The fact is these people are career professionals. They have things to say. Not everything they had to say was Jermaine to the matter. But they had things to say, they said it, they did their professional duty, they've served their country.

[19:10:00]

JENNINGS: We ought to thank them and move on. That's what made the President's move on Friday, to attack the Ambassador with the tweets while she was testifying, frankly, strategically stupid. She was talking in a very heartfelt way about her service, about the things she thought should be happening but some of it wasn't in line with the timeline of the events that we're talking about.

The White House could have easily just let it go and frankly pointed out the places where she said she thought the Trump Administration had a better policy on Ukraine than Obama, they could have let it go. But they couldn't let it go because then he tweeted about it, which then caused the Republicans in the afternoon to have to walk on eggshells when they were questioning her so I don't agree with any of this.

These people serve our country. I believe in American soft power. They are the instruments of our soft power. It's how we project our goodness and our values around the world. They are the instruments of that, their jobs are not easy, they don't pay much. So when we ask them to come answer questions and they do it, we should say thank you.

Even if they don't line up with what we want today's political outcome to be so I reject all this, I think there's a way to argue this without being so hateful to these people who serve America.

CABRERA: Mayor, Rudy Giuliani's name came up a lot this week both in terms of pushing this investigation into the Bidens and this smear campaign against Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. I want to play for you how Congressman Jim Jordan has defended Giuliani's role?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): The President's allowed to have who he wants involved in diplomatic concerns.

AUDIE CORNISH, NPR HOST: So you think it is fine for the President to basically get one of his personal attorneys to encourage the investigation of a U.S. citizen, to demand that of a foreign policy--

JORDAN: All I'm saying is Presidents have had bono do diplomatic missions, they've had all kinds of--

CORNISH: Has bono investigated a political rival of a President that I don't know about? This seems like a stretch.

JORDAN: No, that's not what happened here. But the President was rightly concerned about what happened in 2016--

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Mayor, he says it's no different than sending bono of U2 on a diplomatic mission. What do you think of that argument?

GILLUM: I mean it's flat and ridiculous. Jim Jordan has been making Olympic moves as he has sat through these public hearings frankly because the news that has come from it has been extremely upsetting and there's no other defense than to sidetrack.

Listen, it is very clear that Giuliani played a role, designated him by the President that obfuscated the official chains of communication for diplomatic work. Even Ambassador Yovanovitch gave the appropriate steps that would have been taken had the United States, as a part of our foreign policy, been interested in a deeper investigation into what has already been debunked by the U.S. Intelligence Community which has said and stated quite plainly that it was the Russians who attempted to impact the 2016 elections not Ukraine. Yet they're chasing this personal prerogative of the President, which is inconsistent and not a part of the official U.S. foreign policy.

CABRERA: Scott, let me pivot because I have to ask you about the conviction of long-time Trump Associate Roger Stone yesterday on seven felonies, including lying to Congress. A lot of people have gone to prison in service of this President. Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Rick Gates, George Papadopoulos and now Roger Stone is on his way. Why do they do it?

JENNINGS: I don't know but if you look at that chart you just put up, there's a word in every column, lying, lying to somebody, lying to Congress, lying somewhere. So my advice to people in this world whether you're in politics or anything else, don't lie. Don't lie, just tell the truth. Most of the time--

CABRERA: I think that not what we teach our children. That's what I tell my 3-year-olds. Seems like a pretty easy concept.

JENNINGS: --completely. In these investigations lying is what gets you in trouble. The underlying issues often can be resolved by telling the truth and saying, I'm here to be honest, I'm here - when you lie, then you're in a whole world of trouble. Don't lie. I don't know what else to tell people. It seems like an old lesson. I seemed to have remembered reading it in an old text that we studied on Sundays but just don't lie and everything will be okay.

GILLUM: Well, can I just ask out, with the timing of this thing is quite interesting because we expect for Ambassador Sondland now to give testimony again, and this time it will be open. The fact that we have all just witnessed what happened this last week on Friday, and obviously this chart that you've already shown, this should be a very, very, very clear signal to him that when he is before the Congress of the United States and the American people, he best tell the truth.

CABRERA: And he's already revised his testimony that was behind closed doors, now he's seen what's been publicized in terms of the other transcripts, it will be a very interesting hearing. His testimony set for this Wednesday, there will be additional testimony as well this week. Scott Jennings and Mayor Andrew Gillum, great to have both of you here, thank you.

GILLUM: Thank you.

JENNINGS: Thanks Ana.

CABRERA: Breaking news, some stunning new developments in the Colin Kaepernick saga, the embattled quarterback out of the NFL for more than three years, attacked by President Trump for his decision to kneel during the national anthem, the subject of a Nike ad campaign, finally getting his chance to work out for NFL teams today.

[19:15:00]

CABRERA: And then minutes before the most-anticipated job interview of his in years, everything changed. A live report next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: The two Soviet-born associates of Rudy Giuliani now under indictment appear to have gotten a lot closer to President Trump than we knew. Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were arrested last month as they tried to fly out of the U.S. they are charged with breaking campaign finance laws. And now sources are telling our Vicky Ward about a secret meeting between all four men the President, Giuliani, and these two shady characters at the White House. Vicky is here tonight with these exclusive details. So Vicky what happened and why did this happen?

[19:20:00]

VICKY WARD, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: So Ana, it's December last year Hanukkah Party at the White House there were 500 donors packed into the room. Lev Parnas, Igor Fruman, the two Ukraine born American a business associates of Rudy Giuliani slip out go for a private meeting with the President, where according to Parnas who confided in two sources, right after the meeting the President tasks Parnas and Fruman who speaks fluent Russian and who have high level contacts in Ukraine, to go to Ukraine to be his investigators.

Parnas called it a great crusade. He said it was like a James Bond mission. He called Trump "The big guy." And the idea Ana, there was a sort of quid pro quo, a different quid pro quo from the July 25th phone call. The idea was that Parnas would offer the then President of Ukraine a U.S. state visit if the President and his prosecutor general announced investigations into the Bidens.

CABRERA: Again, investigations into the Bidens is what the President was requesting, trying enlisting these two guys to help him get that. We have a photo actually of Parnas that he shared on social media from that night. Here you see it's with Parnas and Fruman, the President, Vice President Pence and Giuliani there, I mean, clearly he wanted people to see the level of access.

WARD: Well, he did until he went to Ukraine in February. My sources say it's quite interesting that there are no more photographs on social media of Lev Parnas with the President, who remember, Ana, came out and said, the day after Lev Parnas was arrested, that he did not know these gentlemen. So, you know, it might look like that the President wanted some plausible deniability, some distance between himself and Lev Parnas.

CABRERA: Well, as I understand it, a lot has obviously happened since then. You say that Parnas also has maybe had a change of heart about how he feels about the President?

WARD: Right, so Lev Parnas is, according to my sources, a very emotional man who really worshipped the big guy, the President. His lawyers confirmed to us that he really did believe he was working at the direction of Donald Trump and under him, Rudy Giuliani. So when the President said he didn't know him, this was extraordinarily upsetting. And that is why I think you do now see him turning, him wanting to cooperate, him wanting to tell his story.

CABRERA: CNN has found at least eight times since 2014 where Parnas and the President were with each other, but there's other reporting that shows they may have spoken even before this White House meeting, right?

WARD: Oh, for sure. As I report there is yet another meeting that no one had known about or reported on in Utica in August of 2018 where the President and Lev Parnas were in a very small group of about 20 mostly Republican donors at a fund-raiser. And they had an exchange, actually thought about Ukraine, about NAFTA and about the midterms but my sources say that Lev Parnas was clearly sort of very pleased with the interaction, and clearly proud to sort of call the President on one level a friend.

CABRERA: Quickly if you will, what are Giuliani and what the White House saying about this?

WARD: So the White House did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Giuliani through his lawyer, Robert Costello, denied that the meeting took place and said that Lev Parnas is no Sean Connery, that he has delusions at the ground which is interesting, Ana.

CABRERA: Referencing to James Bond.

WARD: Yes. It's interesting, because if he thought Lev Parnas was such an offense of this, then why did he spend so much time hanging out with him?

CABRERA: Great question. Amazing reporting, really interesting and thank you so much.

WARD: Thank you Ana.

CABRERA: Thank you for sharing with us.

CABRERA: We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:25:00] CABRERA: More in our breaking news, involving Colin Kaepernick after being off the field nearly three years, the 32-year-old free aging quarterback practiced in front of representatives from several NFL teams in Atlanta today. But the workout was abruptly moved to a high school football stadium south of the city at almost the last minute. It was supposed to be held at the Atlanta Falcons Training Facility in a northern suburb but the location was switched. We're told so media could be present, so the process could be more transparent.

Kaepernick's football career took a hard turn after he began kneeling during the national anthem to protest social and racial injustice. That sparked arguably the biggest social justice movement in sports a powerful Nike campaign, NFL settlement, and even tweets from President Trump. CNN's Andy Scholes joins us now. Andy, you guys had a busy day, tell us more about this decision to move the practice and what came of it?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: It certainly was a wild day, Ana. It wasn't the plan but Colin Kaepernick finally did take the field here at this high school stadium south of Atlanta. In what he hopes are the next step of getting back into the NFL. Once he was on the field he did some stretching, he then threw many pats to the receivers that he brought with him here to this stadium, there were some short passes and some deep passes.

[19:30:00]

SCHOLES: And after the workout was over Kaepernick walked down the field and went and greeted and signed autographs for the hundreds of fans that just showed up to this stadium once it became public that Kaepernick did not speak with the media and take questions, but he did give us a statement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN KAEPERNICK, FORMER SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS QAUARTERBACK: I've been ready for three years. I've been denied for three years. We all know why I came out here, showed it today in front of everybody. We have nothing to hide. So we're waiting for the 32 owners, the 32 teams, Roger Goodell, all of them, to stop running, stop running from the truth, stop running from the people.

We're out here, we're ready to play. We're ready to go anywhere. My agent Jeff Nalley is ready to talk to any team, interview with any team at any time. I've been ready, I'll stay ready and I'll continue to be ready.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: As I said a moment go this stadium was not the plan today. The plan was to have this workout at the Atlanta Falcons Practice Facility. The NFL was going to hold the workout; it was going to be a closed session. The media was not going to be allowed. Now the media, myself and others, were outside the Falcons Practice Facility, waiting for Kaepernick to arrive. I watched many team personnel, scouts, arrive at the facility. Other people were there, waiting for this workout to start. And then about 45 minutes, right before it was to begin, Kaepernick's representatives announced it was off. One of the reasons they announced it was off was because the NFL wanted Kaepernick to sign a liability waiver that included some employment terms. I caught up with Kaepernick's agent here at the field, Jeff Nalley, and asked him what went wrong today?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF NALLEY, COLIN KAEPERNICK'S AGENT: Colin worked out yesterday here at a university. They asked for an injury waiver as well. So Colin and the four receivers here, they all signed it, no problem. We allowed them to sign it. We sent that form to the NFL Legal Office and they denied it. The one that they sent over was five or six pages, and his lawyers had problems with it.

SCHOLES: What was the biggest problem with it?

NALLEY: I'll let the lawyers talk about that. But there were - they wanted him to waive his right to certain claims and issues. Again, the purpose for a waiver like that is to protect them if he gets hurt or his receivers get hurt, and that's not what that waiver was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Nalley also telling me that in the end he feels that the NFL putting on this unprecedented workout for Kaepernick was in just a PR stunt. Now the NFL did release a very lengthy statement saying they were disappointed that Kaepernick and his representatives decided to move and leave their scheduled workout to this stadium here, and they did say that they sent Kaepernick just a standard waiver.

Now Ana, when we were at the Falcons' Practice Facility waiting for the workout to begin, I saw at least 20 scouts enter that facility to watch that workout. Once we got to the stadium here, only eight scouts came to this workout. Will one of those eight scouts end up signing Colin Kaepernick? We'll have to wait and see.

CABRERA: Yes, we'll see where it goes. Thank you so much, Andy Scholes. President Trump didn't tell anyone he was going to the hospital today. The White House says it was a quick, routine exam. He had nothing else on his schedule anyway. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has questions. You'll hear from him. And we're live from the White House next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:35:00]

CABRERA: President Trump today made an unexpected and unannounced trip to the doctor's office. Reporters covering the White House were asked to keep quiet about the President's visit to Walter Reed Medical Center until he arrived there. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is at the White House for us. So Jeremy why the hush-hush around this visit, and what is the official explanation for it? JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, President Trump headed to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center earlier today for what the White House says was the first part of his routine annual physical exam. Now it is early, considering that the President last got his physical exam about nine months ago. He typically gets it at the beginning of the New Year.

The White House Press Secretary, Stephanie Grisham, said that the President was simply anticipating a busy 2020 and wanted to take advantage of some free time that he had in Washington. But Ana, it's the White House's handling of this trip to Walter Reed that is raising concerns and questions.

Unlike the last two years when the White House had announced the President's physical visit ahead of time, put it on the daily schedule, today it was an unannounced visit to Walter Reed Medical Center. In fact, the reporters who were traveling with the President today were not told where they were headed, they were not allowed to report that the President was leaving the White House, was making movements as we call it in town.

And Stephanie Grisham, the White House Press Secretary, has sought to dispel any notion that there were any other concerns, any health concerns afoot that prompted this visit. She said in a statement after a quick exam and labs the President is headed back downtown. The President remains healthy and energetic without complaints as demonstrated by his repeated vigorous rallying performances in front of thousands of Americans several times a week.

The White House also said that the President did meet with the family of a Special Forces soldier who was recently injured in Afghanistan while he was at Walter Reed. Ana.

CABRERA: Okay, Jeremy Diamond at the White House, thank you. A short time ago I spoke to our Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who told me the reason, could very well be routine, but as a physician he has some questions.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CHIEF CORRESPONDENT: It's definitely a bit curious. I would like to know, did the medical team at Walter Reed, had they been planning for this, planning for a presidential visit?

[19:40:00]

GUPTA: The Walter Reed process as Jeremy mentioned did they know far ahead of time as they usually do, or were they sort of told about it today? That would be an important question to know. It's unusual in that it's early. Typically it's a yearly physical there's many routine tests that can be done at the White House.

So if he's going to Walter Reed what were the specific tests? Things like scanning; those types of things can be done at Walter Reed that maybe can't be done at the White House. We know he has a common form of heart disease. Was there a particular test that was being done for that? Was he having some sort of symptoms? Nobody is suggesting that he had any kind of symptoms but if someone goes into the hospital a few months early, I think that would be a reasonable question to ask as well. But I really like to know when did the medical team at Walter Reed, who would again usually spend a lot of time preparing for this sort of thing, when did they know about this? Again, we don't have the answer to that question right now.

CABRERA: We'll bring you any other updates to this story as we get them. Coming up, a big Governor's race tonight but the President is casting as a referendum on impeachment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Republicans are coming sir? Our poll numbers are going through the roof; do you think we could keep this going? I said, do me a favor, let's get it ended. They said, let's keep it going, President, it's so great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:45:00]

CABRERA: The latest candidate to officially join the 2020 race makes a pitch to California Democrats, but how many Democrats in California or elsewhere are open to supporting Deval Patrick at this stage of the game? CNN's Kyung Law said there were booing and some thumbs down when Patrick took the stage today in Long Beach. She later asked Patrick about that negative response to him getting into an already crowded race. Is he hurting the Democratic Party?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEVAL PATRICK (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, I - I understand it. Although I think, you know - they'll - I understand it because that's sort of a - a narrative that some people want to pursue. Look. I'm going to have to win everybody's confidence and everyone's vote, whether they have a first impression that's favorable or a first impression that's not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: So this is just one topic up for discussion tonight with CNN's Senior Political Writer and Analyst Harry Enten. Harry, this was Deval Patrick's really first major event on the campaign trail since he entered the campaign just a couple of days ago. We're still waiting to see what happens with Michael Bloomberg. But what does it do to the party to have a late entrant to a race like this?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER AND ANALYST: Well, you know if it was a powerful late entrant like Michelle Obama, right, I would think that would completely screw the field up and everything would be very strange. The fact is most voters don't know who Deval Patrick is and the fact there is this that most voters are actually quite satisfied with the field as it currently as or at least was before Patrick got in.

Well, Fox News Poll at the end of last month show about 69 percent of voters were satisfied with their choices, a little under 30 percent wanted more voices, so the question that I am asking myself is, what is Deval Patrick exactly seeing right now in the democratic electorate that makes him think that he himself, who is not well known by voters nationwide, can go and shake up the field? So I just don't really get it, if I'm being honest with you.

CABRERA: And we've been following the field for months. All these candidates, all 18 of them now, except for Patrick, have been in places like Iowa and New Hampshire that have those early contests. They've been there for weeks, for months, working the ground, meeting with voters. I mean, does Patrick have a chance in a place like Iowa or New Hampshire?

ENTEN: You know, the only polling that I've seen from any of those places is about a year old and it suggested that Patrick was running well behind in New Hampshire, despite the fact that he was from right next door in Massachusetts, where he was Governor. What I really should point out is that Patrick does probably need to make a strong showing in Iowa.

If you look through history what you see is that if you're going to be the nominee, pretty much all of them finish in either first, second, or third. The one exception since 1972 was John McCain, he finished fourth. But the media spun that as a third place finish with Fred Thompson. So if Deval Patrick is going to have to make up ground, he's going to have to make it up in Iowa and he is going to have to make it up very, very quickly.

CABRERA: And just a quick tease, we have a new Iowa poll that we're going to be debuting in about 12 minutes, stay tuned for that. Meantime, we're following another developing gubernatorial election this evening in Louisiana. The polls are still open there. This is a race that pits Democratic incumbent John Bell Edwards against Republican challenger Eddie Rispone. Now President Trump we all remember was there is Louisiana this week campaigning for Rispone. What are you watching?

ENTEN: Look, I think that this is going to be another great example of pitting local factors versus national factors. John Bell Edwards is a popular Governor in that state. His approval rating is above 50 percent. But so is Donald Trump's approval rating in that state, it's above 50 percent. So I think there are going to be a lot of voters there who may like the job that Edwards as doing as Governor, but also like the job that Trump as President.

And those are the voters that I'm really keep an eye out on. Do they go with the local factors? Do they go with Bel Edwards, do they like him? Or do they go with Donald Trump because they like him? If the voters go with Trump, the Republican Rispone wins. If they go with what they feel about Governor Edwards, he's going to win. I'm expecting a very, very close match. It's going to be a barn burner tonight.

CABRERA: Okay, we'll be watching and you can stay with cnn.com for those results. Thank you, Enten.

ENTEN: Thank you.

CABRERA: Good to see you.

ENTEN: Nice seeing you.

CABRERA: Coming up it is the kind of clientele that has gotten the President in trouble with Watchdog groups. So why is the Trump Organization touting that whoever buys their hotel in D.C. will get to keep the turnstile spinning for wealthy foreign leaders?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:50:00]

CABRERA: More rain is expected to fall in the waterlogged city of Venice over the next few days putting even more strain on Venice as it struggles to clean up from high waters. Get their subs Tuesday. Venice has seen some of its most devastating flooding in a half century. Six- foot high tide levels engulfed some 85 percent of the streets and buildings there in Venice damaging huge parts of the city, soaking many of its most valuable cultural and historical sites including St. Mark's Basilica.

Forecasters say tides of more than 4 feet could still hit Venice in the next few days. It is the cultural and financial center of the United States and it's also a big target for terrorists.

[19:55:00]

CABRERA: On tomorrow's brand new episode of "This is Life" Lisa Ling embeds with the NYPD to find out what it takes to keep the city safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For everyone who sees something and says something, calls are routed to a quiet, cubicle lined office building in the financial district. It is here where a handful of detectives process all terrorism related tips across the five boroughs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, sergeant, your team fields hundreds of calls week to week. Can you give me examples of what kinds of calls would warrant further investigation?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suspicious packages, something that sounds out of the ordinary just based on a phone call. We have to determine whether or not it is something that has to be investigated further.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Most tips on the hot line end without incident and today the city appears quiet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, this substance, what was it in that it was found in? It was just thrown into the garbage bag? Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But when a call comes in the mood changes. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Be sure to tune in a brand new episode of "This is Life with Lisa Ling" airs tomorrow night at 10 rights here on CNN.

And now a "CNN Exclusive", the Trump Organization is courting potential buyers for its glitzy Downtown Washington hotel with a very unusual sales pitch. CNN's Brian Todd has the story.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For sale a crown jewel in the Trump real estate empire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: With the notable exception of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, this is the most coveted piece of real estate in Washington, D.C. the best location.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Since its opening just before President Trump was elected the Trump International Hotel just a few blocks from the White House has been one of the places to be seen in the Nation's Capital. Saudi officials, business elites, political power brokers, constantly shuttling through the lobby.

CNN has seen but can't show a glossy brochure for possible buyers of the hotel. It highlights the elegant architecture, the luxurious suites, the Himalayan Salt Chamber Spa but the brochure also says there is "Tremendous upside for a new owner to fully capitalize on government related business". Trump's been skewered by ethics watch dogs for doing just that booking rooms to officials from foreign governments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY NOBLE, FORMER FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION ATTORNEY: Every time they do that, it violates the constitutional prohibition, the President making profits from foreign governments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: The new brochure says the Trump Organization has actually turned down a lot of foreign business at the hotel more than $9 million worth. But it doesn't say how much of that business the hotel has accepted. Several groups are suing Trump for making money from foreign officials' visits to the hotel and legal experts say the new brochure won't help the President in court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL ROSENZWEIG, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: It'll make it harder for the President to deny that foreign governments are a significant portion of his business there.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TODD: Trump's lawyers deny he is violating the constitution with the hotel bookings. Trump turned over day-to-day operations of his hotels to his sons, put the properties in a trust, and the Trump Organization has promised to donate the profits from foreign governments spending at their hotels to the U.S. Treasury.

Still, the President's son Eric recently said that because people are objecting to us making so much money on the hotel in Washington, we may be willing to sell. "The Wall Street Journal" reports the Trump Organization is hoping to get more than $500 million for the property. One of the highest prices ever paid for a hotel in Washington. But there are questions about whether it will turn out to be worth it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If he sells the hotel does it lose its cache?

DAN HAWKINS, BROKER, BERKADIA HOTELS AND HOSPITALITY: It shouldn't lose its cache at all. There are other hotel companies that have loyal followers and if the Trump brand is to come off the hotel and another brand goes on the hotel the followers would be more than happy to stay in a hotel with this location with the recent renovations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Trump previously reported on financial disclosure forms that the Trump International Hotel pulled in just over $40 million in revenues each year in 2017 and 2018. But the Trump family has never disclosed whether the hotel actually makes a profit. The Trump Organization did not respond to CNN's request for comments on the brochure and on the possible effort to sell off the lease. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

CABRERA: Hello. On this Saturday evening you are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Topping this hour with breaking news in the 2020 race a critical clue about how voters are feeling just 79 days out now from Iowa's first in the nation caucuses.