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Trump White House Announces Legal Defense Team for Senate Impeachment Trial; House Democrats Release Text Messages from Lev Parnas that Indicate Devin Nunes Possibly Aware of Ukraine Quid Pro Quo; Demonstrators Gather in Washington D.C. for Fourth Annual Women's March; President Trump Comments on Death of Iranian General Soleimani During Fundraiser; Virginia Declares State of Emergency Ahead of Pro Gun Rights Rally at State Capital; Severe Weather Affecting Large Parts of U.S.: Rep. Steven Cohen (D-TN) Interviewed on House Speaker Pelosi's Handling of House Impeachment; Democratic Presidential Candidates Campaign in Iowa Ahead of Caucuses. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired January 18, 2020 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:13]

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: I hope Saturday's been good to you so far. Good morning on this Saturday, January 18th. I'm Christi Paul.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Martin Savidge. And you are in the CNN Newsroom.

PAUL: Always so good to have you. Hours from now House impeachment managers are expected to submit their facts, evidence, their arguments against President Trump.

SAVIDGE: But that deadline comes as new evidence has come to light. Late last night Democrats released new documents and text messages from indicted Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas. Those appear to show that an aide to Republican Congressman Devin Nunes may have known about the operation at the center of the impeachment trial.

PAUL: And President Trump in the meantime has beefed up his legal team, preparing, of course, for the Senate impeachment trial. Our reporters are standing by to break all of the headlines down for us. CNN's Kristen Holmes is traveling with the president in West Palm Beach, Florida. Zachary Wolf is in D.C. Good morning to both of you. Kristen, I would like to start with you because the House, as we said, released these new documents from Lev Parnas overnight. What do they tell us?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christi, there are two big takeaways here, and I want to start with what Martin mentioned, which was this Devin Nunes angle. These text messages, these documents, showed extensive communicate between a top Nunes aide, a man by the name of Derek Harvey, and Lev Parnas. All of it really seemingly surrounding this effort to dig up dirt on Joe Biden. There were various text messages exchanged as well as articles, tweets, some of them even involving that former Ukrainian Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. So lots of question marks here, because we have to keep this in mind. Devin Nunes is not just a regular Republican congressman. He is also the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee. That is the branch there, the committee that held all of these hearings, and we saw in public, we saw Nunes being a staunch supporter of President Trump. So a lot of questions here as to what exactly he knew.

Nunes originally, back in December when these first documents came out, there was records that show that Parnas Nunes had spoken. Nunes saying he didn't remember that. This week he had a different story to tell. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEVIN NUNES (R-CA): I checked it with my records, and it was very clear. I remember that call, which was very odd, random, talking about random things. And I said great, just talk to my staff, and boom, boom, boom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So boom, boom, boom, apparently Parnas did talk to the staff. But I do want to note here again, these are extensive communications that are shown here through text messages. And there is an implication of a meeting as well.

The other big takeaway is into this apparent surveillance of Marie Yovanovitch. I will remind that we saw the original document that showed conversations between Parnas and a man who is running for Congress in Connecticut, a man by the name of Robert Hyde, that seemed to show they were watching Yovanovitch's every moment. This was deeply disturbing to many people. We saw more on this. It was screenshots of conversations that Hyde sent to Parnas, between Hyde and a man with a Belgian, or excuse me, a person with a Belgian number that has not been identified who that person was, essentially more information here about Marie Yovanovitch and her movement, so raising a lot of eyebrows. In an interview Hyde said that this was all in jest, it was one big joke, he never took it seriously. But the State Department is taking it seriously. They have launched an investigation into this apparent surveillance.

SAVIDGE: And Zachary, let me bring you into this conversation. The House managers are, I believe, facing a deadline, 5:00 p.m., in order to turn over their evidence today. How is that all going to play out?

ZACHARY WOLF, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER: I think that will be interesting to see, particularly since there is so much new evidence that has come to light about the Ukraine situation since President Trump was impeached. And this is going to be a major element of this forthcoming trial. It really gets under way on Tuesday, but these legal briefs filed over the weekend, what will they include from the Parnas evidence, the new Parnas evidence, or will that be kicked forward and something that senators consider later on?

PAUL: So Zachary, obviously, there are several high-powered lawyers that joined Trump's legal team, Alan Dershowitz for one. What do we know about the role that he's going to play during the trial? Because I think there are some question about how engrained he may in the process for the president.

WOLF: Yes, this is actually really interesting, I think, because there was a big announcement yesterday where President Trump unveiled -- or rather the White House unveiled their legal team, and it included a bunch of lawyers that a lot of everyday Americans have heard about, including Alan Dershowitz. But Dershowitz has been very careful to essentially qualify exactly how on-board with this team he is. Take a listen to what he said today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[10:05:05]

ALAN DERSHOWITZ, HARVARD LAW PROFESSOR EMERITUS: So I will appear on Friday, make my argument to the Senate about the constitutional reasons why these two Articles of Impeachment don't satisfy the criteria, and then I'll answer questions from the senators, but that will be the extent of my role. It's important for the Senate to hear from somebody who is not a partisan. I'm a liberal Democrat. I voted against Donald Trump and for Hillary Clinton. I would be making exactly the same argument if Hillary Clinton had been elected president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF: Dershowitz is essentially saying he is going to make these arguments before the Senate on the president's behalf, but he's not 100 percent on President Trump's team, which I think is kind of an interesting note to consider.

SAVIDGE: It is indeed, yes. And wait to see that evidence dropped off later today. We thank both Kristen Holmes and Zachary Wolf. We'll be talking to you throughout the rest of the day, I'm sure. Thanks.

PAUL: Thank you both.

So let's bring in CNN legal analyst Elie Honig, he is a former federal and state prosecutor and a former assistant U.S. attorney to the Southern District of New York. Elie, always good to see you. Thank you.

ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, Christi, hey.

PAUL: Good morning to you as well. So let's talk about this new evidence, these documents and the text messages. How reliable, based on what we know, how reliable does this evidence seem to be to you, and will it see the light of day in the Senate?

HONIG: So the text messages and the other documents are very reliable. They're in black and white, they're in print. Lev Parnas is the one who is not necessarily reliable. Let's remember Parnas is under indictment by the Southern District of New York. He's facing criminal charges, likely jail tie. And what he's try to do here, let's make no mistake about it, he's trying to benefit himself. So when you have a situation like that, which I had all the time when

I was a federal prosecutor, you have to look at the person and ask where are they backed up, where are they corroborated? And in a situation like this where they can see here's an email, here's a text, here's a phone record, here's a document, that's the best kind of backup corroboration that you can really have.

PAUL: So do we have to hear now from Devin Nunes? There's got to be an explanation somewhere, yes?

HONIG: He should explain himself. He sat there throughout the House hearings in this sort of righteous dander, and it turns out every day we're learning he was more and more deeply involved in this. He has denied it and then he's walked it back and walked it back again. As every new piece of evidence more closely tying him to this comes out, he walks back accordingly.

So I think his credibility is seriously damaged here. Will we ever hear from him under oath? I doubt it. First of all, he has a Fifth Amendment right here. Everybody has a Fifth Amendment right to avoid testifying in a way that might incriminate themselves. Second of all, he's just been dodging the main issue for months now. So he has very little credibility in my mind, and there's real questions about what he did.

PAUL: I want to talk about the defense team for the president, because over the last 24 hours one big name just keeps standing out, and, of course, that is Ken Starr. Back in 1999 during the Clinton impeachment, President Trump called Ken Starr, quote, a lunatic and a disaster. Granted, that was 20 years ago, but how do you go from that characterization to asking that so-called lunatic and disaster to now support you and defend you in what may be your most critical defense of your life?

HONIG: I will say this, Donald Trump has the right to retain whoever he wants to defend him. I know he said those dramatic things about Ken Starr many years ago, it maybe makes for a couple awkward interactions. To me the bigger issue with Ken Starr is his record as the independent prosecutor who went over Bill Clinton in a couple respects. First of all, he spent years fighting like mad to throw Bill Clinton out of office for lying about sex in a civil deposition. And now he's going to defend this president who's been indicted for attempting to extort a foreign country to interfere with the election.

Second of all, if you look at the way Ken Starr ran that investigation, he turned over heaven and earth to find any dirt he could on Bill Clinton. He talked to Monica Lewinsky's ex-boyfriends, he talked to White House painters and window-washers. And now you have Democrats saying, OK, those people were OK to talk to, we need to talk to central witness in this case -- John Bolton, Mick Mulvaney. And now Ken Starr is going to have to take a completely opposite point of view and say, no, no, no, it was OK for mean to talk to dentists and ex- boyfriends, but it's not OK for you guys to talk to central fact witnesses who had direct conversations with the president. There's major hypocrisy there. PAUL: I want to ask you real quickly before we let you go. When we

look at this team all together with Robert Wray and Dershowitz and Pat Cipollone and Jay Sekulow, Pam Bondi, Jane Raskin, are all of the names on this defense team, one of the biggest question I think might be do any of these attorneys have the power to entice President Trump to follow their legal advice? Can anybody keep him on Twitter during what really at the end of the day is a very pivotal time for him?

HONIG: It is a very strong legal team if you just look at the credentials. I think there's real problems with Starr and Dershowitz and their background. However, can anybody truly control Donald Trump as a client? I doubt it. I think he would be one of the most difficult clients to manage from a defense lawyer's point of view.

[10:10:10]

PAUL: And how much does that matter?

HONIG: I think it would be -- look, it would be very smart of Donald Trump to stay off Twitter during this trial. I do not think he will stay off Twitter. I don't think he will be able to help himself.

PAUL: Elie Honig, always appreciate your insight. Thank you.

HONIG: Thank you.

SAVIDGE: It is a cold, wet, wintry day in Washington but, organizers of the Women's March are hoping people will brave the elements and show up to demonstrate on the streets right around the White House.

PAUL: I want to bring in CNN political reporter Rebecca Buck, who is there. I know, Rebecca, looks like in the last 45 minutes since we've talked to you, things are starting to get a little more packed there. What are you hearing? What are you seeing?

REBECCA BUCK, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: That's right, things are picking up here. The program is about to begin. We're expecting the march to start around 11:00, and it will be a relatively short march, but impactful. The marchers intend to circle the White House, and when they stop in front of the White House, there will be a bit of choreography unfolding, we're told, a dance that they practiced directed at President Trump.

But aside from the weather, it's also a very different feeling at this march than we've seen in some past marches. We're not expecting any sort of celebrity appearances, celebrity speeches. And it's a smaller crowd than we've had in the past, a very narrow focus on the issues. And, of course, all of this is happening with impeachment looming over the proceedings and the election coming up later this year.

The hope, of course, of all of these marchers is that this is the last march they will have to carry out while Donald Trump is president, hoping to rally that support for whoever is facing him in the November election. But for today, obviously, it's very cold here, but you're still seeing this crowd gathering in spite of that, fired up about sending a message to President Trump as they have for the past four marches. This is the fourth time they'll be gathering for this event. And so we're expecting to see a great deal of enthusiasm despite the elements and despite the smaller, pared down program for this year's event.

SAVIDGE: Rebecca Buck reporting for us from that march, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

And then there's this. "The Washington Post" is reporting that the National Archives exhibit meant to celebrate the centennial celebration of the Women's Suffrage movement has blurred images that are critical of the president. According to their report in the archives, admitted this week that it had made multiple changes to a photo of the 2017 Women's March that is displayed at the museum. The archives said it did blur signs that were negative towards the president. It also blurred words on signs that referenced women's anatomy.

"The Washington Post" published this example today. On the left you can see the original version of the program taken by Getty Images, and then on the right side you see the edited version that is on display at the National Archives with the name Trump blurred. At least four of the signs are altered. According to "The Washington Post," the archives said the decision to edit the photograph was made by agency managers and museum staff.

PAUL: A former congressman is set to spend a little more than two years in prison after pleading guilty to federal charges in an insider trading case. Former New York Representative Chris Collins was sentenced to 26 months in prison yesterday. He admitted to sharing non-public information with his son about a failed drug trial they were investigating -- they were investing in, rather. The judge said Collins, quote, betrayed his duty as a Congressman, and added on a $200,000 fine and a year of supervised probation. Collins emotionally addressed the court, saying in part, quote, "Now I stand here today as a disgraced former member of Congress." Collins has been told to report to jail March 17th.

SAVIDGE: And 100 million people are now under winter weather alerts today. Heavy snow is some parts of the U.S. is going to make travel conditions extremely treacherous.

When we come back, unbelievable video of a narrow escape in Iowa as a truck goes crashing off the road in deep snow.

PAUL: And Virginia is under a state of emergency over fears of for instance at a gun rights rally. We're live outside the capital building where the protest is going to be held.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: At a private fundraiser last night, President Trump gave minute-by-minute details of that operation that killed Iran's top military commander.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He was supposed to be invincible. He was saying bad things about our country. He was saying like we're going to attack your country, we're going to kill your people. I said, look, how much of this -- are we going to listen to? How much are we going to listen to?

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: The president didn't mention an imminent threat, which the administration has said justified the air strike. Instead he described in detail watching the situation unfold as Soleimani arrived at Baghdad International Airport.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They said sir, and this is from the cameras that are miles in the sky, they're together, sir. Sir, you have two minutes and 11 seconds. No emotion. They have two minutes and 11 seconds to live, sir. They're in the car. They're in the armored vehicle going. Sir, they have approximately one minute to live, sir -- 30 seconds, 10, 9, 8, then all of a sudden book. They're gone, sir, cut him off. I said where is this guy? That was the last time I heard from him.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: And then we had breaking news. But he got hit hard, and he deserved to be hit hard, because he was bad. He killed many, many, thousands -- hundreds of thousands of people, but thousands of Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:20:11]

SAVIDGE: During the fundraiser, the president also refuted claims the leader of ISIS died screaming during a U.S. raid on his compound last year.

PAUL: Let's go to the Virginia here because the governor there, Ralph Northam, has issued a state of emergency after learning of violent threats at a gun rights rally. That rally is supposed to happen at Virginia state capital in Richmond on Monday, but authorities now have stepped up security members as a precaution.

SAVIDGE: The protest is expected to draw thousands of white supremacist and other anti-government extremists. The FBI has arrested three people from a neo-Nazi group who were planning to attend that rally. All of this prompting fears of a repeat of that deadly neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville in 2017.

CNN correspondent Nick Valencia is in front of the capital building in Richmond where that rally is going to be held on Monday. Nick, good to see you. What else are you hearing about both the concerns and what's expected?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is a lot of concerns here, Martin. Good to see you as well. We're two days away from this rally but already seeing stepped-up security measures. In fact, earlier this morning I witnessed a woman holding a toddler who was down on her way into the capital. I want to be clear, this is an event that happens every year on MLK Day, and it's hosted by a group, a pro-Second Amendment group called the Virginia Citizens Defense League. And what they do year after year is they go inside the capital and they lobby their representatives for pro-gun rights.

What's different this year, though, is that for the first time in nearly a quarter century, the state legislature is controlled by Democrats. You have a Democratic governor here. And what the Virginia State Senate did once they came into office is they passed three gun control bills, which law-abiding gun owners saw as a threat to their rights. They say if it can happen here in Virginia, what does that mean for the rest of the country?

All of this is happening against the backdrop of a state of emergency that was announced earlier this week by the Democrat Governor Ralph Northam. He said that there were credible threats of violence that were going to take place here on Monday. His critics have called that political theater, but overnight, a judge, a federal judge upheld that ruling of his weapons ban. Weapons are not allowed around the state grounds, around the capital, and officially not allowed inside the state capital either. That is different from last week. Up until last week, that was allowed. But now we're seeing this ban, this weapons ban, which further angers pro Second Amendment groups.

The FBI has also expressing some concern as well, which is what we saw earlier this week. Seven members, suspected neo-Nazis arrested, some of whom the FBI says were planning on attending this rally and causing problems. Martin, Christi?

PAUL: All right, Nick Valencia, always good to see you. Thank you for the update.

SAVIDGE: A close call for a state trooper and truck driver in Iowa. Take a look at this video. Emergency crews were helping a truck that had crashed into a ditch at the side of an interstate.

PAUL: Here we go. The officer is walking around the front of the truck. And then another man walking around the truck. And look at that, another truck losing control on the icy roads, slamming into the truck in the ditch. I mean, this was so close. The state trooper and truck driver, I am happy to tell you, were not seriously hurt. They are probably saying some prayers, though, and thanking somebody.

SAVIDGE: That is remarkable. Thank goodness they're safe.

PAUL: So more than 110 million of you are under winter weather alerts this morning. This is a powerful winter storm that's slamming a big chunk of the U.S. here.

SAVIDGE: We have snow, freezing rain, sleet, you name it. It's making for treacherous conditions throughout the central plains and the Midwest. Accumulating ice is knocking down trees and power lines and causing power outages. Plus, it's making travel a mess. Almost 1,600 flights are canceled overnight across the U.S.

PAUL: CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar tracking this system from the CNN Weather Center for you and for all of you who might be stuck in the airport right now. We apologize. Allison?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and it's not just the airport. You also have large portions of the interstates in the Midwest that are even shut down, particularly around areas of North and South Dakota. Again, as this system makes its way from the Midwest, crossing the Great Lakes region and into the northeast, it's going to take a lot of those same hazards with us.

The southern focus is mainly going to be in the form of rain. On the north end it's a little bit of everything. There are cities like Detroit and Cleveland, for example, that may end up getting rain, sleet, freezing rain, and even snow all over the course of 24 hours. You even still have some snow on the back side of this system still coming down for states like Minnesota and even Iowa.

Take a look at this video out of Iowa. This shows the Missouri River. You can see chunks of ice kind of just flowing down that river there, again, just kind of going to show you not only do you have winter weather coming down, but also frigid temperatures that are out there behind this system as it moves off to the east.

[10:25:00]

Now here's a look at what we can expect over the next couple hours. Again, the majority of that snow in the winter precept will continue to push across portions of the northeast. That stretch basically from Pittsburgh over to Philadelphia, that's where you're going to have your greatest threat for ice accumulations. You've got nearly half a dozen states under blizzard warnings, the rest of these under winter weather advisories or even winter storm warnings.

So yes, airports also likely going to have significant delays, places lying Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, New York, Boston, D.C., even some of those southern cities again because we talked about the rain and very windy conditions for cities like Atlanta, Memphis, and even stretching down towards Houston. Snowfall accumulation most likely widespread areas getting about six to eight inches. But some of these spots are going to get some lake-effect enhancements. So states like New York, Pennsylvania, even Michigan, Martin and Christi, could end up getting 10, if not even as much as 12 inches of snow before that system finally pushes out.

PAUL: You're talking to people who live in the snowbelt there near Cleveland.

SAVIDGE: I've shoveled a drive or two. Allison Chinchar, thanks very much. Good to see you.

PAUL: Everybody stay safe out there. So after holding the Articles of Impeachment for weeks, Speaker Nancy

Pelosi is facing some questions now about rushing the impeachment trial. Why she says all of the new evidence from Lev Parnas incriminates the president, but was it necessary for his impeachment?

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[10:30:51]

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): We knew there was plenty of other, shall we say, information to come forward, but it wasn't necessary to impeach the president. It would be further incriminating, but not necessary. And I didn't want to in any way weaken a case that had the support of my caucus and was more clearly understood by the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: That was Nancy Pelosi speaking last night. Joining me is now is Representative Steven Cohen. He is a Democrat from Tennessee and a member of the House Judiciary Committee. Sir, thank you very much for being with us this morning.

REP. STEVE COHEN (D-TN): You're welcome, Martin.

SAVIDGE: So let me start with the point that it seemed that Nancy Pelosi was talking about there. There's a tremendous amount of new information that has come forward since the president was impeached, and that has raised some questions about, it goes back to you see the House speeding through this impeachment process. This all could have been introduced. And yet now the question is will it even see the light of day in a Senate trial? Do you believe or have second thoughts about how quickly the House moved on impeachment given the new information that's come to light at what appears to be the 11th hour?

COHEN: No, not really. Speaker Pelosi's done a masterful job of bringing about impeachment. She opposed for a long time, and it would not have occurred about her endorsement. She's seen that it went through the committee that Alan Schiff is chairman of, Intelligence Committee, and that was the right way to do the investigation because there wasn't an opportunity for a special prosecutor and investigative commission to look at it. And then Judiciary got it. She's done a great job. And I think it was right. I might have held the articles a little longer, but there was getting to be a lot of pressure, and I think she kind of gaged it where it was the right time to acquiesce.

SAVIDGE: Yesterday your Democratic colleagues released new documents, this came from indicted Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas, and it includes new information about the apparent surveillance of former U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. Do you know how much more Parnas may have informationally, and will that remaining information be released to the Senate trial?

COHEN: Well, I think what's been introduced, as I understand it, as part of the House's matter have been the interviews with Rachel Maddow. So that's going to be part of what they can consider if they choose to. I don't think Speaker Pelosi could have foreseen Parnas coming forth and as fulsome as he has been, but he has.

And I think with this president there is going to be more information every week. Every day there's more and more violations of the Emoluments Clause. There is more and more that will come out about obstruction of justice because eventually the courts, I believe, will have McGahn testify and others who know about his obstruction. This is going to go on and on.

And the Republicans in the Senate are not going to vote to put Donald Trump out of office in an impeachment trial because they're tied together. Their fortunes are in the same boat. So it's not going to happen. What's going to happen is November of 2020, and as this material comes out and the House will continue to investigate and the Judiciary Committee continues to investigate and the information comes out to the American public, the ultimate jury will be the American public in November of 2020, and I think that will be resounding defeat for Donald Trump.

SAVIDGE: You're saying that it's not just 100 members of the Senate, it is the overall public as they vote. I want you to listen, speaking of senators, to Lamar Alexander, the Republican senator from your state. And I'm going to ask you some questions on the other side here, but he's basically talking about how the House handled things versus how he believes the Senate will handle this. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER (R-TN): Just because the House of Representatives was a circus doesn't mean the Senate needs to be. We're approaching the impeachment trial according to our constitutional responsibilities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:35:00]

SAVIDGE: So, obviously, a dig at the House there and members, but also the question becomes witnesses. Do you believe that witnesses are essential, and do you believe that they will in some cases be called during the Senate trial?

COHEN: I think they are essential to a trial and they're essential for the American public and their representatives in the United States Senate want to see the truth. The American public does by 70-plus percent want to see witnesses. I don't think that Mitch McConnell and the Republican senators want to see them because it makes their vote not to convict Donald Trump look even worse.

I was surprised at Lamar. Lamar is a gentleman. He's had quite a nice career in Tennessee. He usually doesn't take a shot at anybody. If there was any clownishness in the House during this investigation, it was the Republicans when they dove into the Intelligence Committee and then made a scene for about two, three hours, and it was Doug Collins and others in the Judiciary Committee who made some outrageous comments. Otherwise, the Democrats, who were in charge of the Intel and the Judiciary Committee, I think did a marvelous job at bringing the facts together, bringing the law together, and bringing the Articles of Impeachment. Now it's up to the Senate, my friend Senator Alexander and others, to let witnesses appear and to let the truth come forward so justice can be served.

SAVIDGE: Can I ask you real quick, this new information coming to light about the Ranking Member of the House Intelligence committee Devin Nunes and what he may or may not have known about this effort to dig up dirt in Ukraine on Joe Biden, it's quite striking. And I'm wondering what you think of it?

COHEN: He's obviously been involved with the Trump team since he took evidence from Intelligence over to the White House months and months ago. He's been in on it just like Sondland said, they were all in on it. Lev Parnas said they were all in on it, and they've all been in on it. This has basically been Trump and his allies in the Congress doing an end run around the Constitution and the law.

And now he's got Dershowitz representing him, who has lost much of his credibility. And I think it's unfortunate he's being judged by the people he has represented in the past like Claus von Bulow and Jeffrey Epstein and O.J. and Helmsley, and all, because everybody has a right to a lawyer. But he's going to put a show on next Friday. He's not going to talk about the Constitution the way it really was. He's going to make up his own arguments, which Laurence Tribe has well discussed. It's just sad that he's going into a courtroom at 79 at the end of his career -- not a court, but the Senate at age 79, and make arguments that almost no other constitution lawyer -- and he's not a constitution lawyer, he's a criminal lawyer --- would make. But he's going to do that, and he will probably be effective at it because he's a bully and a showman.

SAVIDGE: He's a man who definitely brings celebrity into the courtroom. We will see how it plays out in the Senate. Thank you, Congressman.

COHEN: He's the new Roy Cohn.

SAVIDGE: Yes.

COHEN: Thank you, Martin. Thank you.

SAVIDGE: Thank you, sir.

PAUL: So the Iowa caucuses just over two weeks away now. Of course, this week we're watching for the president's impeachment trial, and that could put senators in a bit of predicament who are in the race of 2020. Their days left to campaign in Iowa are dwindling now. So which candidates are making the most of the last weekend before they take to the trial? We're live in Iowa for you, next.

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[10:42:48] SAVIDGE: We are just 16 days away from the Iowa caucuses and today several of the candidates are campaigning in the state, including Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar. They are two of the four senators in the race who have to head back to Washington soon for the start of the impeachment trial on Tuesday.

PAUL: Senator Klobuchar is making the most of her time left in Iowa. She is going to be bouncing between three town halls today in three different cities, and Senator Elizabeth Warren is going to be Des Moines area for events all day long. Both Senators Warren and Klobuchar are at an education conference in west Des Moines right now, and that's where CNN's Jessica Dean is as well. So Jessica, I'm sure that it's a lot of fun there. Talk to us about what's going on, and how we know these senators might try to balance what they need to do in Iowa and what they need to do back at Washington.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Christi, this just is an unprecedented time in an election cycle where they're both going to be running for president and also being jurors in the impeachment of a sitting president of the United States. So it's a very unique situation.

To zoom out here for just a second here in Iowa, to give everybody the state of play, here we are just a little over two weeks out and poll after poll shows that there is that top four cluster, it's a top tier that really could be anybody's game at this point. It's a very tight race here in Iowa. It's notoriously difficult, also, to poll the caucus situation here. But you have Biden, Sanders, Warren, and Buttigieg there in the top tier. And you have Senator Amy Klobuchar, you have Senator Michael Bennet, you have Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Warren who are all now going to have to play double duty in going back to Washington like you're talking about, and also campaigning here in Iowa.

So as you mentioned, they are definitely trying to make the most of this last weekend before the impeachment trial starts. We are seeing them crisscross all across Iowa. Some have been in New Hampshire. And look, when it comes down to it, Iowa is certainly a place where retail politics matter. Iowans are used to seeing these candidates in person. They go see them multiple times, they ask questions. So it is important for them to get that face time with as many Iowans as they can leading up to the Iowa caucuses.

[10:45:00]

So in here today talking to a whole group of Iowa educators, we see Senator Klobuchar there on the stage right now. We're also going to hear from Senator Warren, Pete Buttigieg, and Vice President Biden all on the docket today, Christi and Martin, as they make the most of this Saturday.

SAVIDGE: And that's what they have to do. Jessica Dean, thanks very much.

PAUL: Thanks, Jessica. So there's cold winter weather, but take a look at all of the people that don't care about that because they're gathered for the fourth annual Women's March in Washington. The crowd you're looking at there is expected to start moving through the streets soon. We're talking to one of the board members of the Women's March next.

SAVIDGE: Plus, we're getting a sneak peek at the new uniform for the U.S. Space Force. However, there are some who say the design is not quite out of this world. Coming up, the new command is defending the uniform explaining why it looks very terrestrial.

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[10:50:25]

PAUL: You are looking at the buildup to the 2020 Women's March in Washington. Some drummers and a lot of cheers. And you can see people taking pictures on their phones. They're going to be marching through the streets and circling the White House. Thousands of people came out for the first march three years ago. The movement today is branching out to support several different issues, and that has caused some confusion for some people. But obviously it's not dampening any enthusiasm, as you see there.

Isa Noyola is a board member of Women's March and a Latina transgender activist. Isa, thank you so much for being with us.

ISA NOYOLA, BOARD MEMBER, WOMEN'S MARCH: Thank you for having me. It's an exciting day.

PAUL: It is. And we're so glad to see so many people who showed up. We understood there would be about 30 to 50 buses expected there, mostly from New York and New Jersey. But I'm just wondering, I had heard the primary focus of the march was going to be to immobilize for the 2020 election. What does that mean to you? What are you going to be doing?

NOYOLA: It means our communities are coming out for Trump this year. We are so angry and channeling that rage into empowering our communities into coming out and engaging our communities in a powerful way so this administration can come to an end, because our communities, our powerful women deserve so much more.

PAUL: There have been weeklong issues, or weeklong events, as I understand it there, targeting immigration, talking about LGBT, and even the youth movement there, the Youth Rising 2020 that was last night.

NOYOLA: Yes.

PAUL: So there seems to be a much broader scope of what you're focusing on, and that has caused some confusion for some people. Let's listen together here to Marissa Lang from "The Washington Post" as she talked about why this is maybe contributing to some dwindling numbers for the group. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARISSA LANG, REPORTER, "WASHINGTON POST": I think the struggle for this particular organization is finding their place. When the Women's March started in 2017, there was a clear purpose. It was a reaction to the 2016 election. It was to turn people out the day after Trump's inauguration. And now as we're entering 2020, it's struggling to sort of find its place. When it takes up issues like immigration and climate change and reproductive rights, there are a number of other organizations also doing that work. So I think the question is where do the Women's March fit, and what is their role as we move forward and we go into another election cycle?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Isa, where does the Women's March fit?

NOYOLA: The Women's March fits in supporting an intersectional movement for all women, and really interested in answering the question, what does feminism look like in the fight for our planet, in the fight for immigration, for immigrant rights, in the fight for communities that are incarcerated and criminalized?

And so we have a role to play. And unfortunately, reporters who lack that sort of intersectional analysis have a harder time catching up with what the movement has been doing historically for so many years that the women's movement is actually falling in line with the larger legacy of women's resistance in this country and around the world.

PAUL: OK, so, and real quickly, there have been some declines in numbers, as I understand it. Please correct me if I'm wrong on that, in terms of people who are coming out for some of these marches, because there have been some problems in the administration. There have been accusations of mismanagement of funds, and accusations of anti-Semitism. We know that you have new leadership at your helm, you being one of them. So what has changed?

NOYOLA: What has staying is our commitment to the fight. What is staying is that the Women's March is a brand new organization who has so much to win for, so much to fight for, and so much to gain. At this moment, we continuing the courageous path that so many of our ancestors have laid the groundwork for, and we are following that legacy with integrity.

And the Women's March is so much ahead this year, not just in marches. There is going to be so many opportunities and offerings for women to engage and to empower themselves and their communities. This is one moment. This is not the only moment, and our communities are powerful together.

[10:55:03]

PAUL: Isa Noyola, it's so good to have you here. Thank you very much. And again, you see behind her the Women's March as it's getting ready to start in just about six minutes.

NOYOLA: Yes, yes.

SAVIDGE: There is much more ahead in the next hour of CNN's Newsroom. Fredricka Whitfield is up next.

PAUL: Thank you so much for being with us. Go make good memories?

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FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Good morning. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.