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Trump Lashes Out Over Impeachment During Christmas Holiday; Democrats Canvas Key States With Iowa Caucus About A Month Away; Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) Letter Hints Many Members Want To Be Impeachment Managers. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired December 25, 2019 - 10:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN NEWSROOM: -- how they're celebrating there today.

[10:00:01]

This year, a relic to be from Jesus' manger was returned to Bethlehem. 500 Christians were permitted to leave the blockaded Gaza area to attend these Christmas celebrations.

Merry Christmas. I'm Brianna Keilar. Welcome to a special edition of CNN Newsroom.

Right now, President Trump is spending his Christmas morning at Mar-a- Lago. But on this holiday, a looming Senate impeachment trial is hanging over his head as Democrats and Republicans continue to battle over trial rules, one Republican Senator, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, is expressing frustration over Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's coordination with the White House. She tells a CNN affiliate that McConnell's willingness to work with the president's team or certainly described his work as such is disturbing.

I want to begin with CNN National Correspondent Kristen Holmes. She's in West Palm Beach this Christmas morning. She seemed to take issue, Kristen, with this causing confusion. I mean, she could have been tougher on what McConnell did. But it's pretty remarkable that she said anything really dinging him for this.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Really, it is remarkable, and here is why. She is a swing vote. She's a Republican senator. But everyone was watching her very carefully along with Susan Collins among others to see where they might go, if there was any dissent within the ranks of Republicans. And up until now, sense the House impeachment vote, there hasn't been. It has seen as though the Republican Party is completely unified and this kind of steps away from that.

I want to read to you what she said in full here. It says, and in fairness, when I heard that, I was disturbed. To me, it means that we have to take that step back from being hand in glove with the defense, and so I heard what Leader McConnell had said. I happened to think that that has further confused the process.

So, essentially, what she is saying here is that the senators are supposed to serve as unbiased jurors. And we have heard McConnell say he is on President Trump's team. We've also heard other senators say that, like Lindsey Graham, for instance. But this is an important thing, because it shows a little bit of a brake here.

Now, Murkowski also said she wanted a fair and clear trial here. So I will definitely be watching her closely as we get closer and closer to try to figure out where her mind is at.

KEILAR: And let's talk about Senator McConnell, Because Republican sources are indicating that the majority leader might actually be opened to setting ground rules without the input and support of Chuck Schumer, who is the Democratic minority leader. Chuck Schumer came up with a whole bunch of things he wants and McConnell just really dismissed that out of hand. What more do you know?

HOLMES: So that's right. Essentially saying that McConnell is saying that he would feel comfortable, or these sources around him, bringing forward the ground rules, setting them, because all he actually needs is 51 votes, and, of course, we know that the Senate is currently controlled by Republicans. This shows that he feels he could actually get those votes.

Now, we do want to note he has said or sources close to him have said McConnell wants to strike a bipartisan deal but is now open to taking this to the floor for a vote. Again, that goes back to those swing voters there that we're watching, like Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Mitt Romney. Those are the people who would have to dissent. Those are the people who have shown a little bit of separation from the Republican Party, but, essentially, again, McConnell saying that he'd be willing to set these rules without any Democrats on board.

KEILAR: Kristen Holmes in West Palm Beach, thank you so much.

And let's talk about this now with our experts. Molly Ball, when you see that Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski is saying she was disturbed by Mitch McConnell, saying he was working in total coordination with the White House, what do you make of that and are we reading too much into it?

MOLLY BALL, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: No, I don't think so, because I think this is the only type of pressure that could potentially make a difference in McConnell's thinking. I think he's relatively impervious to pressure from the Democrats. We've seen that over and over again with the dynamic in the Senate.

But if he has a sense that there are some members of his caucus who are waffling or uncomfortable, particularly if that starts to acquire critical mass, if it's more than just one person who is a noted maverick in the caucus, that's when I think you might see him potentially make some sort of concessions. But all the signals that we're getting from McConnell's camp are that he plans to hold quite firm at least thus far.

KEILAR: So it would probably -- so you think other people basically following suit and how likely is that?

BALL: Well, we don't know. We are really in unchartered territory here. You know, we've heard some rumblings of discontent from the likes of like Mitt Romney, the other swing votes that were just mentioned. At the same time, we have seen a remarkable cohesion within the Republican ranks.

[10:05:00]

We saw even the moderate Republicans in the House, even many House Republicans who had previously voiced discomfort with the president or with his conduct falling into line on the impeachment vote in the House. And so I think there is an expectation that will also happen in the Senate, but we don't know what we don't know.

And I think there's a lot of Republican senators and probably Democratic senators going home and having conversations with their families, maybe conversations with a higher power on Christmas as they try to grapple with what to do.

KEILAR: Because the stakes for them, personally, are so high.

And, Shan, I mean, it's important. We're noting that Senator Murkowski was disturbed by what McConnell said. We have to mention that she was very critical of the House impeachment process. She thinks it's rushed. She thinks it's incomplete. How much stronger would Democrats -- how much stronger would their case be if they had waited for the courts to weigh in or is that just something they couldn't have done because it would have taken so long?

SHAN WU, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think it would have taken too long for them. And actually from this vantage point, I think Pelosi's, I think, rather masterful move in delaying the delivery of the articles of impeachment kind of gives them their cake and allows them to eat it too, maybe on Christmas Day, because as time gets on, they get a little closer to those court decision and particularly the ones like McGahn or the grand jury testimony that they want from the Mueller investigation, those could yield them more damning evidence against the president for impeachment.

So as they move closer to those decisions, they don't lose the ability to bring other articles of impeachment. That's still an option for them right now.

KEILAR: When you hear, Shan, and you said cake, it should be fruitcake and eat it too, don't you think, on this Christmas?

WU: I think you're absolutely right on that.

KEILAR: So when we hear the speaker saying in this letter to her caucus, she said that there are lots of Democrats -- because the process here is that that the House sends managers, both Republicans and Democrats. And she is saying that there are a lot of Democrats who want to be impeachment managers, she says it's an indicator of the strong case that they have. Do you think that's the case? Is it that they have a strong case? Is it that this is a very visible and potentially political advantageous position for some folks to be in or is it both? What do you think, Shan? WU: They definitely have a very strong case. The evidence they put out is not only voluminous, but what's really important is it's uncontradicted. The Mr. President and his defenders have not put out any really substantive defense, they just attacked the process. So it's no wonder that there are lot of politicians who would like to be those House managers to be in the limelight and to present what they think is going to be a straightforward and not very substantively contested case.

I think though from the point of view of really trying to put on a trial in the Senate, I think they would do well to take their lead from what the House did and maybe have some of the staff counsel who are more experienced to actually prepare the questions and executing them and play a role as well.

KEILAR: And Monday, on Monday, Molly, we saw the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, saying he's planning to force the Senate to vote on hearing witnesses and getting documents. And the whole idea here is he has the ability to force some votes and all he needs is a simple majority and these are votes basically that would symbolize, hey, do you want to know everything you can know about what happened or do you want to hide your head in the sand and then exonerate the president by not voting for impeachment. How tricky a position will this put some senators in?

BALL: Well, again, I think we'll see how tricky they consider it. Right now, this is all sort of shadow boxing. They are maneuvering to sort of make political arguments. I think the negotiations behind the scenes are a different story.

But, you know, we do see that the Democrats really want to send this message politically that they are more interested in a fair proceeding. I think that there're two things to say about that. Number one, we have seen in polls very strong majorities of Americans, bipartisan majorities saying that they do want to have a full trial with -- that is conducted in a way that seems fair and that isn't just a rush to acquit the president. And so the Democrats feel they have a winning message there.

I think there is also a feeling though that the president and the Republicans' attacks on the process in the House were pretty successful. They got a lot of traction with Republicans and some independents, convinced a lot of people that the process was unfair and that ended up, as Shan was saying, being the main objection that the Republicans had that justified, you know, their votes against impeachment was these attacks on the process.

So I think the Democrats want to reverse that. They want to make a process argument. They want to be the ones who are calling for a process that's fair in order to sort of reverse that dynamic.

[10:10:04]

KEILAR: Molly Ball up bright and early for us in Seattle, we appreciate it, and, Shan Wu, thank you so much to you both. Happy Holidays. WU: Happy Holidays.

KEILAR: Still to come, it's December 25th, but most Democratic presidential candidates have their eyes fixed on February 3rd, the day of the Iowa caucuses. We're going to break down the 2020 race, next.

And while Boeing 737 Max remains grounded, the company is reportedly laying the groundwork for how to win back the public's trust. We'll tell you about that, coming up.

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KEILAR: New this morning, The New York Times is reporting that Boeing has asked thousands of passengers if they will be too scared to fly on the ground in 737 Max when it comes back into service.

[10:15:07]

CNN's Business and Politics Correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich is joining us. This is so interesting. Tell us what Boeing learned.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, good morning, Brianna. Yes, we are learning that Boeing has been doing a lot of behind the scenes damage control. We know through The New York Times reporting in documents they have obtained that Boeing has been doing calls to passengers around the world, thousands of them, asking them whether or not they would feel safe flying on this Max 737 once it goes back into the air.

And we found through this reporting by The New York Times that about 40 percent of passengers say they would not feel safe flying on these airplanes again. And that is the same percentage in October and December. So passengers clearly feeling like they aren't going to be keen on getting on those airplanes any time soon.

We also note that The New York Times reporting that Boeing held a series of 30-minute conference calls with airlines just last week. And what they did was they presented the airlines with different options of how they could address passengers if any passenger became nervous either at the gate or in the air.

Some of the tips that Boeing has been providing airlines is if someone gets to the gate and finds that they are a little bit nervous about boarding the plane, they can always rebook that passenger. But if you are in flight, what they have suggested to airlines is using emergency medical response if someone is panicking in the air. So, clearly, Boeing really understanding they have a lot of work to do.

We reached out to Boeing and here is the statement they gave us. They said, quote, we routinely engage with our airlines customer's communications teams to seek their feedback and brief them on our latest plans. Each airline is different in their needs so we provide a wide range of documents and assistance that they can use or tailor as they see fit.

So, clearly, Boeing realizing that they have a lot of work ahead of them. This comes on the heels, Brianna, of just earlier this week, Boeing firing their CEO and replacing their CEO.

But, Brianna, really interesting that Boeing has been doing this sort of surveying of passengers since May of this year trying to get ahead of all this, Brianna.

KEILAR: It's so interesting. I hadn't thought about that, Vanessa. But, of course, so many people are afraid to fly. And then they're going to be on a plane that was in the middle of all of this, they're going to be even more scared, some of them.

Thank you for that report, Vanessa Yurkevich. Happy Holidays.

YURKEVICH: Happy Holidays.

KEILAR: Today marks 40 days, 40 days only until the Iowa caucuses and the Democratic candidates are fanning out across the early voting states, fighting to shore up this crucial support that is essential. This is what will keep them in the race or sink them.

Joining me now to discuss is CNN Political Commentator David Swerdlick. He is an Assistant Editor for The Washington Post.

Good morning, David.

DAVID SWERDLICK, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hey, Bri.

KEILAR: Okay. So we're 40 days out, like it makes me feel so good to say that. We're getting close, right? So we're 40 days out.

SWERDLICK: This is not a drill, right. This is real for Democrats.

KEILAR: It's not a drill, finally. So we're like a month out or so. What is this time period? What does this mean for the candidates as Iowa is approaching?

SWERDLICK: Yes, good morning, Bri, and Merry Christmas.

I think the candidates are really going to have to look at maximizing their time between now and February 3rd. You've got this shaping up to be a big four race, Biden, Sanders, Warren and Buttigieg. Nationally, Biden has got that advantage. In Iowa, the first state to caucus, Buttigieg is up. If you look at the RealClearPPolitics average in Iowa he's up with 22 percent of the vote.

So the question for the senatorial candidates, Warren and Sanders, who will spend some of their January in an impeachment trial is how did they get the most amount of time in Iowa to have the best showing. And then for the two who aren't in the Senate, Vice President Biden and Mayor Buttigieg, how do they use that to their advantage to connect with Iowa caucus-goers while their two main rivals are sort of stuck back here in Washington?

KEILAR: Well, let's talk about Biden and Buttigieg, because they're really -- they're in the same lane, according to same voters, but they have very different messages. Biden is all experience. He was there with President Obama through it all. He's been there. Buttigieg is -- he's shinier, right? He's newer. He's got a more kind of inspirational message. How is this shaping up?

SWERDLICK: Well, I think it's going to be interesting. Buttigieg has an opportunity to get that name recognition if he -- if the polls hold up and he comes through in Iowa. Biden, on the other hand, I think, is just trying to show that he is steadily going to maintain this overall national lead.

A year ago, many of us thought that the energy was with the progressive wing of the party. These two are in the sort of more moderate lane and they've sort of flipped the script on a lot of the candidates.

[10:20:05]

In Biden's case, I think he's in a hold on mode, Bri, if you will. Whereas, like you said, because Mayor Buttigieg is shinier, newer, he still is fighting for some name recognition. He still also wants to define himself in contrast to the other three of the big four who are all in their 70s and he is a millennial. And that, I think, is both the strength and a weakness for him when people are evaluating who will go up against President Trump.

On the one hand, Biden can say, look, I'm a return to normalcy. On the other hand, Buttigieg can say, look, I'm going to break with all of this political noise and start something fresh. We'll see which message wins.

KEILAR: Let's talk about Bloomberg, Michael Bloomberg.

SWERDLICK: Yes.

KEILAR: Because this story is -- who knew that this kind of thing happened? But the campaign said it ended a relationship with a contractor. It was a call center company that would make calls for the campaign. Well, that call center actually used prison labor, unpaid prison labor, it appears. And the campaign spokesperson said, we didn't know about this and we never would have allowed it if we had.

First off, do you think they'd handle -- I see how they had to say, no, we're not going to use this call center anymore. And, look, if they didn't know, they should have known, that should have been disclosed. Did they handle this the right way?

SWERDLICK: Bri, I'd say they are handling it as best as possible as they can now that this is sort of out there and they're scrambling to move away from it. The problem for Mayor Bloomberg is twofold here. One is that he already has a sort of a knock on his record, really, a mark because he persisted as mayor with the stop and frisk policy for so long.

So now, in tandem, this issue looks like he is way out of touch with both Republicans and Democrats when it comes to issues of criminal justice reform. It shows that like even though he's a Democrat and even though he's a moderate, on this issue, which is near and dear to Democrats, especially African-American Democrats, he is way out of step.

The other thing is that if your campaign is premised on the idea that you are worth $50 billion and you can spend sort of an unlimited amount of money, why are you searching for the cheapest call center option? Why aren't you sort of making a statement by paying people a good wage to do your campaign phone banking? It just doesn't make sense.

KEILAR: And vetting and making sure, where is the labor coming from. That's so important. David Swerdlick, thank you. Merry Christmas.

SWERDLICK: Merry Christmas, Bri. Thanks.

KEILAR: Still to come, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sends a Christmas message to Democrats, calling their vote on impeachment overwhelming. But what has the speaker planning next? We're going to talk to a Democratic lawmaker.

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[10:25:00]

KEILAR: As Congress ushers in their next legislative session here in just a few days, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent her caucus a holiday letter outlining the next steps in the impeachment process, and that includes appointing impeachment managers for the Senate trial.

Joining me is Congresswoman Kim Schrier. She is Democrat representing a huge district in Washington State. Merry Christmas to you and thank you so much for joining us.

REP. KIM SCHRIER (D-WA): Thank you, Brianna, and Merry Christmas to you.

KEILAR: So in this letter to you and your colleagues, the speaker says, quote, the number of people who want to be managers is indicative of our strong case. Is that a job you would want?

SCHRIER: Well, first of all, I'm not on either of the investigative committees, and that is not a job that I as a freshman congresswoman would want. There are so many qualified people who I think would do an excellent job, and I know she'll decide well.

KEILAR: What do you want to see in a manager? What kind of person should she pick? Because when we look at Kevin McCarthy, the leader of the Republicans, he's saying Doug Collins, Jim Jordan, John Ratcliffe, these are Trump fire brands. What kind of person would you want to see on the Democratic side?

SCHRIER: Look, I don't think that you fight fire brands with fire brands. I think you fight that with a reasonable, rational voice that will simply speak the truth, present the evidence and make a strong case. This is about evidence. And our case is so strong and we don't need to twist ourselves in circles. We just need to present the evidence that is already there in a very rational way and the people in this country will see for themselves what the right decision is. KEILAR: The speaker right now is holding on to these articles of impeachment. She says she wants to make sure that there is a fair trial in the Senate. She's not giving the articles over until then. You know, it doesn't seem like Mitch McConnell is particularly going to cooperate with that but she is certainly sending a political message that she doesn't think Republicans in the Senate are being fair. Do you think she's doing the right thing by holding on to these articles?

SCHRIER: I absolutely think she is doing the right thing and she has proven herself to be an incredible leader. I mean, look, nobody is served by a sham trial. The American people are not served by that because the evidence is not laid out. Mitch McConnell is not served by that because he is then presiding over a sham trial. Our democracy is not served by that because, ultimately, we have a balance of power in this country.

[10:30:01]

And if you throw that away by saying, we're just going to have a very partisan, very partial trial in the Senate, I think that just really undermines the foundations of our democracy.