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Trump Again Attacking Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Democrats Over Impeachment; Trump Touts Strong Economy As Impeachment Trial Looms. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired December 26, 2019 - 10:00   ET

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

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- massive protests after the passage of a controversial immigration law that critics say discriminates against Muslim.

[10:00:07]

That's three nationalist leaders united by a level of brash tactics and strongman strategies.

For Modi and Trump this style of campaign worked. It's less clear with Netanyahu, who faces a third straight election within 12 months having already failed to form a government twice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIEBERMANN: There are six hours of voting left in leadership of the Likud Party and then we expect the result a few hours after that. Ryan, we will certainly let you know Netanyahu wants to win this one and win it big.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Oren Liebermann, thank you for that report live from Jerusalem.

Good morning. I'm Ryan Nobles. Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto are off today.

Capitol Hill, they have hit pause on the impeachment over the Christmas holiday, but President Trump has not. This morning, he continues to lash out at Democrats and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the handling of what he calls a, quote, sham impeachment.

Just before Christmas, one GOP senator, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, actually criticized Majority Keader Mitch McConnell's coordination with the White House, calling it disturbing. However, Murkowski didn't stop at criticizing Republicans. She also slammed House Democrats' investigation as rushed and incomplete.

Now, as Democrats try to sway Republicans to convict the president, some GOP senators think there are actually some Democratic colleagues who will be the ones the cross party lines.

Let's start things off, CNN Congressional Reporter Lauren Fox. She is on Capitol Hill. Lauren, of course, there is one senator we're keeping a close eye on, moderate Maine Republican Susan Collins. She, of course, is up for re-election. The president though expressing support for that re-election campaign on Twitter.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, certainly, the president is trying to make sure that Republicans stay with him as they approach the Senate trial. You have to remember, the president prizes loyalty above all else, Ryan. And as you know, he and Susan Collins had, at times, disagreed in the past. She, of course, voted against repealing Obamacare. That caused a lot of problems with the president.

But there are a very many Republicans to be watching, and I will tell you, Lisa Murkowski is another one. Given the comments that she's made over the last couple of days, especially criticizing Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, she's an important member to watch. She voted against Brett Kavanaugh. She also voted against the repeal of Obamacare. She is a member who is moderate. And she comes from a state that really prizes an independent senator.

I will also tell you that there are a couple of Democrats to be watching. One of them, of course, Joe Manchin from West Virginia. He is somebody who Democrats can always count on to stay in their caucus when it comes to these votes. He's somebody, of course, who won re- election. He's not facing re-election in 2020 but someone to watch.

Meanwhile, we still don't know when the Senate trial is going to begin or even how it's going to be structured, Ryan. That's because Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, has yet to send over those two articles of impeachment. There's still not a deal between McConnell and Schumer for how to structure the Senate trial. Ryan?

NOBLES: All right. Yes, Lauren Fox, a lot we still don't know about how all this is going to play out. Lauren, thank you for that report.

Let's go south now. President Trump has spent much of this morning sounding off on Twitter over impeachment. CNN Correspondent Kristen Holmes is in West Palm Beach, where the president is at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Kristen, what's the president talking about this morning?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Ryan. Yes, well, you know, he's been on Twitter all morning long. And I want to point out here that the tweet storm really started just a mere hours after he released his Christmas message calling on Americans to foster a culture of deeper understanding and respect. And then he was calling Nancy Pelosi crazy. In a series of tweets, he slammed Democrats. He slammed Pelosi. He slammed the impeachment process.

And I also want to point out here that a lot of what he said was not factual. He said that there were no witnesses allowed to Republicans, that Republicans and President Trump were not allowed to have any sort of counsel. We know, of course, that the White House actually has blocked witnesses, John Bolton, Mick Mulvaney, for example, from testifying, and that President Trump was given the choice to have counsel at the Senate Judiciary hearing and chose not to. But while President Trump, behind the scenes, is fuming, he's on Twitter, White House aides are preparing for that impending Senate trial. Many sources telling me that they hope President Trump will shift from the anger on Twitter to looking at that strategy.

Now, we have learned from sources that Pat Cipollone, he is the White House lawyer who is, at this point, expected to lead President Trump's defense in the impeachment trial, will be down here in Mar-a-Lago, as well as several of President Trump's very close aides, including his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Ryan?

NOBLES: All right. Kristen Holmes, thank you for that report live from West Palm Beach.

Let's talk about it now. We have some great experts here to talk about this topic, Charlie Dent, former Republican congressman from Pennsylvania, and Ross Garber, who teaches impeachment law at Tulane Law School.

[10:05:08]

Congressman, let's start with you. When you look at the Senate, are there other senators that you think could break away from party lines? We've talked about Susan Collins this morning, Lisa Murkowski, some others. I mean, who are you keeping an eye on?

CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. I'm keeping an eye -- Ryan, I'm keeping an eye on Susan Collins. I'm keeping an eye on Mitt Romney for sure, Cory Gardner, Lisa Murkowski, potentially Joni Ernst and maybe Thom Thillis and Martha McSally, those ones.

Now, the flipside, the Democrats to keep an eye on, of course, are Joe Manchin, Gary Peters and Kyrsten Sinema and Doug Jones. So I think there are about seven on the Republican side and four on the Democratic side to watch very closely during this impeachment process in the Senate.

NOBLES: Charlie, to follow up on that, there really are two different conversations, right? There's the -- whether or not they vote to actually admonish the president or kick him out of office, versus just setting the rules for how this thing plays out, right? Those are two completely different conversations, correct?

DENT: That is absolutely right. In fact, I think what has prompted Lisa MurkowskI's concerns is that she thinks that senators should at least put on a pretense that they are trying to be impartial, even if they have their own biases and their minds may have already been made up, but at least make sure the process appears to be fair and impartial. So I think she's right to bring that up.

But McConnell is also correct when he says this is a political process and, frankly, members on both sides of aisle have been running their mouths far too much. They should be acting like jurors and saying much less, and of them have up to this point.

NOBLES: All right. So, Ross, you say that MurkowskI's position aligns with the oath that senators take and the appearance of neutrality they generally project in impeachment proceedings. Are we reading a little too much into her comments suggesting that McConnell's White House coordination is disturbing?

ROSS GARBER, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, I think we are. I mean, the senators take an oath to do impartial justice. I think Charlie Dent is right. What Lisa Murkowski is doing is what Mitt Romney has done and it's also what we'd expect to hear from senators. If they're going to be sitting to do impartial justice, we expect them to be sending a message that they're going to be taking in the information, they're not going to be biased toward one side or the other.

Having said that though, this is a political process, so we shouldn't read, I think, too much into what she's saying. I think it is very unlikely, incredibly unlikely she's going to break from McConnell or voe to convict here.

NOBLES: And essentially just kind of pushing the levers to try and get it to be some sort of framework she feels comfortable with.

So, Charlie, it's interesting, you list off these names of senators that could potentially breakaway. In many ways, it feels like deja vu, because this was the same situation we were in during the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation. I mean, do you expect a similar outcome when it comes to party support, that you've got a lot of senators who complain and are concerned about the process but then ultimately come around and support the Republican position?

DENT: I think this is a little bit different than Brett Kavanaugh. But at the end of the day, I do think most senators fall in line with their parties. But I would still keep a close eye, like I said, particularly on Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney on the Republican side, and keep a close eye on Doug Jones and Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema in the Senate, and potentially, Gary Peters.

I mean, all of these folks have greater political exposure, though Sinema is not up nor is Manchin, but particularly those Republican swing state senators. They have a lot to consider. They can't simply win their elections by maintaining their base. They have to actually win independents and moderate voters in order to survive politically. So they have to walk a very fine line here.

So -- but watch -- I'd say watch Collins and Murkowski, because those in particular have been known to break from the party from time to time.

NOBLES: All right. So, Ross, let's talk also talk about the battle that's playing out in the court system as it relates to President Trump. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals set to hear arguments in both the cases related to the House's access to the Mueller grand jury details, as well as case linked to the testimony of former White House Counsel Don McGahn. How could that hearing alter the scope of this impeachment process, Ross?

GARBER: Yes. So I think that's actually where the action is. I think that's what to focus on. I think it's unlikely that that is going to affect this impeachment. But what it may affect is the information that's available coming into this election. As you noted, up for grabs is the Mueller grand jury information. This is information that was transmitted to the grand jury, the testimony that was done in secret, that right now, the public and the Congress don't have access to. So that right now is a very big issue.

The second issue is potentially testimony by Don McGahn.

[10:10:04]

And the first round of that is whether the president and his senior advisers, like his White House Counsel Don McGahn was, have complete immunity from testifying. If the Supreme Court decides that there is not complete immunity, then that's a blow to the presidency. It's a blow to Donald Trump's argument. And it strengthens the House of Representatives' argument that that testimony should be compelled.

NOBLES: And, Charlie, what's your take on McGahn's testimony? Should we hear from him and could that have an impact on perhaps on additional articles of impeachment or, just at the base level, an impact on the election in 2020?

DENT: Well, I do think we should hear from some of these witnesses. And, by the way, I have a high regard for Don McGahn. I've worked with him over the years, but he was clearly a critical figure during the Mueller investigation, where he is the one who prevented the Saturday Night Massacre. I think it would be very useful to hear from Don McGahn, as well as from some of these other folks, particularly, John Bolton and Mick Mulvaney and others who had direct knowledge of what happened in the Ukraine situation.

So I think it would be very helpful to all of us to actually hear from some of these firsthand accounts.

NOBLES: All right. We're going to leave it there. Charlie Dent, Ross Garber, thank you so much for your expertise. We appreciate it.

And still to come, President Trump has been impeached, but could the strong economy overshadow that and help him win the 2020 election?

Plus, the ad wars are hearing up as we race toward the Iowa caucuses not just a little more than a month away. There is unprecedented spending from two billionaire candidates. We'll tell you all about that, ahead.

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[10:15:00]

NOBLES: This morning, the stock market is inching up slightly after Mastercard released holiday spending numbers. U.S. retail sales from the beginning of November through Christmas Eve saw a big bump, jumping 3.4 percent from last year, signs of a strong economy despite the fact that President Trump has been impeached.

Let's discuss this now with Finance Expert Monica Mehta, she's the Managing Principal at Seventh Capital. Monica, thanks for being here.

MONICA MEHTA, MANAGING PRINCIPAL, SEVENTH CAPITAL: Thank you.

NOBLES: I want to first ask you about where the president -- how he is involved in all of this. He's, of course, been impeached but the economy seems to be doing very well. We've seen other situations where this isn't necessarily the case, right? What do you believe is behind this?

MEHTA: Well, interesting, we're talking about a couple of different things. In terms of impeachment, I'm not sure that impeachment and focusing on impeachment is going to be a productive strategy for Democrats going into 2020. It may actually have the exact opposite effect. If you look in the '90s, what you saw is when the roles were reversed and you had Republicans impeaching a Democratic president, the Republicans actually lost five seats in midterm elections when they were expecting to gain five seats.

So, as far as the economy goes, the economy is incredibly important to consumers. It's a very, very important variable. And right now, the economy is definitely on the side of re-election of Trump. And I think you're seeing markets and Wall Street sort of pricing in a re- election of Trump.

NOBLES: And the president, of course, likes to take credit for the economy, right? He always says his presidency has what's driven the economy and the stock market. How sustainable is the economy in its current form right now?

MEHTA: Well, we're 11 years into a growth market, which is unprecedented. We haven't seen this since the mid 1800s. And next year, you're not going to see anything rock the boat. We're expecting GDP rise of about 2 percent, which is kind of tepid, nothing to get wildly excited about.

And while we saw 20 percent growth from the stock market this year, I don't think you will see that next year. Maybe you'll see a rise of about 5 percent. You have to remember, we had three rate cuts in 2019, and most analysts believe that those three rate cuts were really the biggest contributing factor to the rise in the stock market. What you're seeing with stocks is not that companies are showing higher earnings, it's actually that stocks are just getting more and more expensive.

But I think it's really not just the economy for all Americans that's going to be a big factor in the election. It's the economy for very select farm states and trade states, that I think you have to keep an eye on in 2020. Because you have to remember, the president won three key battleground states, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania with razor thin margins. And a lot of the trade deals that are getting cut in December, just in the last two weeks, are focusing in on the economy of these three states, specifically, and that's very important to watch.

NOBLES: Yes. So, let's talk about that. The president, of course, on the verge of completing a deal with China that he's been working on for some time. Of course, the new NAFTA deal, the USMCA, Democrats overwhelmingly support it. Two big wins for him on the economy. Expand on that a little bit. What does that mean in terms of the president's re-election prospects and how does that actually help the bottom line of the average American?

MEHTA: Well, it matters a lot. If you're talking about politics and if you're talking about Trump's re-election, what it's telegraphing is that he's laser focused on these key battleground territories and earning the votes of farmers and auto workers and trade workers in those communities. So if you look back at 2016, he won Michigan with 10,000 votes. That's it. Wisconsin with 22,000 votes and Pennsylvania was 44,000 votes.

And with this new phase one deal that he has cut with China, one of the biggest things that you're seeing is a mandate of a 66 percent increase of agriculture exports to China, so that's for 2020 and 2021.

[10:20:02]

That's pretty huge.

Is it going to happen? I have no idea. But what it does tell farmers and tell those constituents is that I'm working on it, I care about you. And these farmers actually, 67 percent voted for Trump in 2016. It's very important for him to lock in those votes. And they were the ones that have really been impacted the most with a lot of the trade back and forth over the last two years.

You saw soybean exports, for example, just completely crash, crashed by more than 75 percent. So even though these farmers have been really hurt by the back and forth with trade, you've also seen a lot of behind the scenes deals with like $12 billion of incentives going to farmers in 2018 and another $16 billion of incentives going in 2019. So there is very much a courting of these communities. And it's with an eye on the prize of getting re-elected.

NOBLES: That's interesting that he's targeting that economic message to those specific voters because, of course, the Democratic candidates are arguing that this economic windfall is not trickling down to the average American and that the system needs to change in some way, shape or form. We'll have to see which of those arguments wins at the ballot box in the fall.

Monica Mehta,, terrific information, thank you s much for being here. We appreciate it.

Still to come, 2020 candidates Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg are flooding the airwaves with political ads and they're spending a pretty penny to do so.

The two of them have spent more than $2 million on T.V. and digital ads, with Bloomberg shelling out over $110 million since he joined the race nearly three weeks ago.

CNN's Abby Phillip joins me now to more talk about this. Abby, it seems like every day we're getting emails about the volume of money both of these men are spending. How has it impacted the race at this point?

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Ryan. Well, it is really unprecedented, what we're seeing in terms of the money and what the impact has been. I think a little bit of it remains to be seen. But, clearly, this is something that they other campaigns are going to have to contend with, because when you have two candidates, both independently wealthy men, spending $22 million, spending probably as much as you've seen some candidates spent in an entire election cycle in the span of several weeks, it really changes the dynamic.

It's going to force some of these candidates to start thinking about what happens after the first four early states, in some of these Super Tuesday States, where, for example, Bloomberg is spending a lot of his money. And then even in states like South Carolina, where Tom Steyer is spending a ton of money, he has a big campaign organization on the ground, he is starting to see some of those results. Steyer is showing up in the top five in a state like South Carolina that's become really critical to the nomination, doing about as well with black voters as someone like a Pete Buttigieg. And that really is starting to get people's attention.

So, clearly, the money is starting to matter in terms of how much oxygen it's taking up. But there are still questions about whether it's going to be enough to actually allow both these men, Bloomberg and Steyer, to be real contenders for the Democratic nomination, which is ultimately about winning delegates and ultimately about getting to the convention and winning the actual party nomination.

NOBLES: And there's also an interesting side battle to all of this, right, Abby, because this idea of pouring big, huge amounts of money into elections is something that Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have just railed against. And they're actually using this as a tool to go against these campaigns, right? It's actually giving them ammunition to say that this is a problem, right?

PHILLIP: Yes. I mean, it's a really helpful foil, if you're Bernie Sanders, to say, well, here are these two billionaires who are trying to buy their way into this election. This is exactly the kind of thing that I am running to change about the political system. It makes that argument a lot easier. And it really has helped both Warren and Sanders highlight their message, which is not just about specific policy issues, like Medicare-for-all, but it's also about a culture of American politics. It's about changing the way money is raised and the impact of money on American campaigns.

So it's really brightened this line between the candidates, like Warren and Sanders, who are about changing the entire system and then the other candidates who are working within the system to try to win support in more conventional ways.

NOBLES: Right. And there's a big difference between of one billionaire throwing $200 million of his own money versus Bernie Sanders and 4 million or so individual donors contributing to his campaign. And the argument he's making is that shows that he has more support. We'll have to wait and see when votes actually start being cast.

Abby Phillip, thank you so much for being here. We appreciate it.

And what will be the legacy of President Trump's impeachment? Up next, I'll talk with a Democratic congressman who says he voted to impeach the president with his grandchildren in mind.

[10:25:00]

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NOBLES: President Trump is spending his morning tweeting about impeachment while Congress is in recess. But while they've been on break, we've heard senators on both sides deviate from their party's message.

Republican Lisa Murkowski said that she is disturbed by Senator McConnell's coordination with the White House. And Democrat Doug Jones suggested the dots aren't connecting for him yet on the case against the president.

[10:30:01]