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Parnas Documents Suggest U.S. Ambassador Was Spied On; Trump Adds Attorneys with TV Experience to Defense Team; Trump Recounts Details before Soleimani's Death; Judge Upholds Temporary Gun Ban outside Virginia's Capital. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired January 18, 2020 - 03:00   ET

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

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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world I'm Michael Holmes.

And coming up right here on CNN NEWSROOM, as U.S. House Democrats drop potentially more damning documents, President Trump's lawyers up with high profile defenders but they bring baggage.

More cases of a mystery virus confirmed in China. Some U.S. airports are going to start screening travelers.

Terrifying video shows a close call on a snowy road. Millions of people under warnings.

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HOLMES: Welcome, everyone. The impeachment trial of the U.S. president Donald Trump begins in earnest next week and when it does, the name Lev Parnas is almost certain to come up.

Virtually unknown a short time, ago Parnas has emerged as a key figure in the Ukraine scandal. He apparently was enlisted by the president's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. And through Giuliani, he met with Mr. Trump and those closest to him.

Parnas has given Congress reams of documents, messages and photographs and among the most disturbing, documents that say that Marie Yovanovitch was still under surveillance when she was still the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. She was a target of a smear campaign by Giuliani and then abruptly yanked from her post last May.

The U.S. State Department now says it will investigate the surveillance claims, once they became public. We will get more now from Manu Raju.

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MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: House Democrats released new documents on Friday night as part of their push to have the president removed from office, ahead of their filing of a brief that will detail their arguments in the Senate impeachment trial.

Those documents from Lev Parnas, Giuliani associate, somebody who was cooperating with House investigators after he was indicted on criminal charges late last, year. He has provided a trove of documents, showing the role that he played and the knowledge of an effort, to oust Marie Yovanovitch, somebody who was pushed out of that position. Later recalled from the post by President Trump, amidst the push by Trump and his allies to launch investigations from Ukraine into the president's political rival, Joe Biden.

These text messages were given to Parnas by a congressional candidate named Robert Hyde. Now Mr. Hyde is also a Trump ally and somebody who has been in frequent communication with Parnas.

It shows Hyde in communication with someone from an unknown Belgian number. This person texted Hyde to say that they are tracking the movements of Marie Yovanovitch. This comes amid the concerns that she was being surveilled by these Giuliani associates.

According to this text message, at one point, from March of 2019, "Nothing has changed. She is still not moving. They check today again."

That is from that individual with the Belgian phone number, it said, "It's confirmed we have a person inside. She had visitors.

"Hey, brother, do we stand down or you still need intel be safe?"

And then Hyde responds, "Asked."

Also these messages show a deeper involvement of Devin Nunes and his top aide, to apparently dig up dirt that the president had been seeking or the Republicans have been seeking on Capitol Hill, against Joe Biden and to look into this theory, conspiracy theory of sorts, that it was Ukraine that interfered with the 2016 elections, something the president himself has pushed to undercut the findings of the U.S. intelligence community that it was Russia that interfered to help President Trump.

But Nunes' aide is in frequent communication, according to these text messages, with Lev Parnas about trying to set up meetings with various Ukrainian officials so they could get dirt.

At the same time Parnas provided more photographs, photographs of him with President Trump and Rudy Giuliani and all at the same time that President Trump has distanced himself from Lev Parnas, saying that he barely knew the guy, that he's always taking pictures with all of these individuals.

It's not surprising he took pictures with Lev Parnas but Parnas is saying he has lots of pictures with Trump. He was in the inner circle and has extensive knowledge of this operation, what Democrats called a corrupt scheme.

[03:05:00] RAJU: So expect all of this to come out as the impeachment trial takes shape next week in the Senate. This new evidence Democrats plan to bring forward, we'll see how the Republicans react when they're presented with it next week -- Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

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HOLMES: Donald Trump's latest picks for his impeachment trial team include lawyers ready for primetime television. They include two special prosecutors, from former U.S. president Bill Clinton's impeachment and a constitutional lawyer known for his celebrity and sometimes controversial clients. Kaitlan Collins with more on those picks.

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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Days before his Senate trial gets under way, President Trump is adding firepower to his legal team, bringing in Ken Starr, Alan Dershowitz and Robert Ray to help make his case from the Senate floor.

The three seasoned attorneys all have one quality in common that means the most to the president: television experience. Ken Starr is the hard-charging prosecutor whose independent counsel investigation led to President Bill Clinton's impeachment.

STARR: Those acts constitute a pattern of obstruction that is fundamentally inconsistent with the president's duty to faithfully execute the law.

COLLINS: Back then, Trump didn't always thanks so highly of Starr.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think Ken Starr is a lunatic. I really think that Ken Starr is disaster.

COLLINS: Now Starr appears regularly on FOX News, where sources say the president has watched him closely as he's analyzed his own impeachment.

STARR: There is a huge question. Will there be witnesses?

COLLINS: Another FOX regular, Robert Ray succeeded Starr as the independent counsel and issued the final report on Clinton.

ROBERT RAY, FORMER INDEPENDENT COUNSEL: You don't impeach an administration based upon policy differences.

STARR: Alan Dershowitz gained fame after defending high-profile clients like O.J. Simpson, but has since come under scrutiny for his ties to Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein and is now embroiled in a lawsuit with a woman who says she was a victim of Epstein's, all allegations that Dershowitz has denied.

ALAN DERSHOWITZ, ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: As a criminal lawyer, being shocked by an allegation doesn't mean that I won't defend somebody. STARR: Dershowitz was reluctant to take the job, but in the end, quote, "believes the issues at stake go to the heart of our enduring Constitution"

Sources say Trump has been talking about the upcoming trial nonstop and ended his celebration with the LSU football team today with this riff on impeachment:

TRUMP: But you got a good one now, even though they're trying to impeach the son of a bitch. Can you believe it? Can you believe that?

COLLINS: Now since that announcement earlier, Alan Dershowitz has been trying to downplay his role on the president's team, saying he's not a full-fledged member of the legal team, even though he is going to be making legal arguments on behalf of the president at his Senate trial, which we should note, formally gets started on Tuesday -- Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.

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HOLMES: Thomas Gift is a political science lecturer at University College London and joins us now from Palo Alto, California.

Great to see you, let's just sort of work through a few things here, more evidence every day as this trial approaches. The question for you is whether Republicans in the Senate are going to continue to maintain, don't need more evidence, should not be allowed, no witnesses.

Can you see that changing as it drips out every day?

THOMAS GIFT, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: I really can't see this changing, Michael, even with all the new evidence that we've seen, I think it's doubtful that any Senate Republicans will end up voting to remove Trump from office.

As long as the president's popularity is high among conservative voters, Republican senators have no incentive to turn on him. And according to recent data from Gallup, his approval rating among Republicans is about 89 percent. And it's actually gotten slightly higher since Nancy Pelosi launched the impeachment inquiry informally back in September.

So as long as that's the case, I don't see too much changing there.

HOLMES: It's as if, the evidence doesn't matter. I want to talk to you about the colorful group of lawyers that are going to be assisting in the defense, including the famous attorney, Trump confidant Alan Dershowitz.

Also Ken Starr, former independent counsel in the investigation into Bill Clinton. Dershowitz has got baggage, vis-a-vis his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and other things. He has taken some extreme positions in the past.

But when it comes to Ken Starr, the special counsel with the Clinton impeachment, let's listen to both Starr and Trump talking about the other.

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KEN STARR, FORMER INDEPENDENT COUNSEL: If I'm on his criminal defense team, I would be very concerned.

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TRUMP: I think Ken Starr is a lunatic. I really think that Ken Starr is disaster.

I hated the way the president handled it. It was a long and terrible process. I really think that Ken Starr was terrible.

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HOLMES: Well, Ken Starr is on his defense team now. The other interesting thing in the Clinton impeachment, is that Ken Starr was a huge fan of witnesses. He interviewed Monica Lewinsky's hairdresser.

But witnesses, firsthand witnesses here haven't been heard because they've been blocked by the Trump administration.

How much will hypocrisy hurt the defense?

GIFT: I think the American public has a short memory and so I'm not sure if that is going to be the central issue here. But certainly it is ironic to see the statements in light of what's happened.

Really what Donald Trump is doing is looking for high powered people, defense team. He wants to find attorneys who have extensive experience, in these type of areas, controversial cases in the public limelight.

Dershowitz in particular is a constitutional law scholar and he claims the impeachment of Trump isn't premised on committing an actual crime and that it sets a dangerous precedent for future administrations. He has long been an outspoken critic of Trump's (INAUDIBLE).

HOLMES: I guess the argument, among others, is that you don't have to commit a crime, criminal statutes didn't exist when this was framed to begin with. But that's a whole other debate.

When it comes to the new evidence, where does the Republican argument against more witnesses stand in light of this new information from Parnas and others?

I mean the Government Accountability Office says Trump violated the law.

Should that not be part of the evidence?

GIFT: Well, certainly Democrats are going to continue to try to make the case, for why witnesses need to be called to the Senate trial. And why new evidence needs to be considered. That was part of Nancy Pelosi's goal, for weeks in delaying sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate.

Problem is I just don't think that she has much leverage here, even moderate Republicans, who Democrats thought that may cross party lines and would possibly allow witnesses, have mostly been silent.

And most Republicans are criticizing this impeachment as politically motivated and baseless. So the GAO came out with a statement, saying that the administration acted illicitly. That's an independent federal agency. It might scale up the pressure on the Republicans to call witnesses but I think that's unlikely.

HOLMES: There is a lot of damning testimony already on the record. The GAO, the Government Accountability Office, said the law was broken, just imagine, what would have been, if that had been a political earthquake at any other time.

What damage though, I wanted to ask you, is done in terms of precedent?

If what we already know about the president's behavior, is ignored, essentially okayed or excused by the Republican majority in the Senate, what leeway does that give future presidents down the road?

GIFT: Well, I think it certainly an issue that we need to be concerned about. Not for just future presidents down the road but also on the chance that Donald Trump gets a second term.

The fact that he has kind of, acted, with what some would say is reckless abandon to the law, I think does set a really dangerous precedent, especially if he isn't reined in by the Senate.

HOLMES: Thomas Gift, thank you so much, always good to see you thank you.

GIFT: Thanks, Mike.

HOLMES: We are learning more about what may have led to the killing of the Iranian Qasem Soleimani. At a fund-raising event at his Mar-a-lago resort, Trump claimed Soleimani was, quote, "saying that things about the U.S.," which led him to authorize the strike.

He also spoke about listening to military officials, as they watched the strike take place.

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TRUMP: That shook up the world because 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, we're going to -- and I said, look, how much of this (INAUDIBLE) do we have to listen to?

How much are we going to listen to?

"Sir, they have two minutes and 11 seconds."

There's no emotion.

"Two minutes and 11 seconds to live, sir. They're in the car, they're in an armored vehicle. Sir, they have approximately one minute to live, sir. Thirty seconds, 10, 9, 8 ..."

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HOLMES: Now Mr. Trump did not speak of any imminent threat, which, of course, his administration is saying to justify the, attack. The killing heightened tensions in the region and led Iran to retaliate with an airstrike on an Iraqi base housing U.S. troops.

Tehran has yet to respond to these latest comments by Trump. It comes as Iran's supreme leader was slamming U.S. officials. First time in eight years, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led prayers and called U.S. officials, quote, "American clowns who lied when they said they stood with the Iranian people."

He called European leaders their servants. U.S. president Donald Trump responding by tweet, "he should be careful with his words."

When we come back, a state of emergency declared in Virginia's capital city, police have been deployed, guns are banned, we will tell you why next.

Also passengers arriving from Wuhan, China, at some U.S. airports are being checked for a new deadly virus. When we come back, how American health officials are trying to keep it from spreading. We'll be right back.

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HOLMES: Three U.S. airports have begun screenings of passengers arriving from Wuhan in China. That is where a mysterious new coronavirus has been identified. It has killed two people and infected dozens of others in China and several cases of SARS-like illness have been reported in Thailand and Japan.

U.S. health officials are deploying more than 100 staffers to airports in New York San Francisco and Los Angeles, looking for symptoms such as coughing and high temperatures. Officials say anyone infected with the new virus will be hospitalized and isolated.

Now Richmond, the capital of the U.S. state of Virginia, is on edge this weekend after the arrest of three more alleged neo-Nazis. Authorities fear they may have been headed to Monday's gun rights rally. As Brian Todd reports, governor Ralph Northam says he's worried about a violent confrontation and history repeating itself. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A state of emergency in Virginia's capital city, state and local police, deploying, guns and other weapons banned on the grounds of the state capital in Richmond, ahead of a gun's rights rally this Monday. It's on the orders of Virginia governor Ralph Northam.

GOV. RALPH NORTHAM (D), VIRGINIA: No one wants another incident like the one we saw in Charlottesville in 2017.

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TODD (voice-over): That's when pitched battles unfolded in the street at a far right rally in Charlottesville, just an hour's drive from Richmond.

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TODD (voice-over): A woman was killed when a car slammed into a crowd. Governor Northam says state law enforcement has intelligence on threats of violence at this Monday's rally, possibly sparked by white supremacist group converging on the city for the event.

NORTHAM: This intelligence comes from mainstream channels, both offline and online, such as alternative Dark Web channels, used by violent groups and white nationalists from outside Virginia.

TODD (voice-over): The FBI has arrested three men, who a law enforcement official tells CNN, they believe were planning to travel to the rally in Richmond. The men, including one who officials say came into the U.S. illegally from Canada, were picked up on weapons charges.

A charging document said they put together and tested a functioning assault rifle. Officials say they are members of a shadowy organization called The Base.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a white supremacist group that is very much active online. It's known for memifying and glorifying violence and white supremacist tropes. They believe that now is a moment in this country to create a race war.

TODD (voice-over): Earlier this week three alleged members of The Base were arrested in Georgia, accused of planning to murder a couple and wanting to overthrow the government.

There is no evidence of any connection between white supremacists and the people organizing Monday's rally. Gun rights activists who were protesting against the prospect of new, stricter gun laws in Virginia.

But hate group monitors say extremists often hijack issues like gun control to cause trouble.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we're seeing extremists do, especially those white supremacists online, is try to take this issue, stoke the fears and anxieties in a community and try to bring more uncertainty into the situation. And that's what white supremacists thrive on, confusion, anger.

TODD: One key question, with state officials saying that they are securing the capital grounds, some people connected to the rally are concerned about what happens outside of the capital grounds in Richmond.

Nearby streets, where observers fear there could be violence between extremist groups and others.

What are law enforcement officials doing to prevent, that?

Officials from the Richmond and state police and the governor's office were contacted by CNN about that. They won't discuss specific tactics but they do say they will have a big law enforcement footprint throughout the city -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

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HOLMES: A powerful winter storm creating headaches for travelers in the U.S. When we come back, who has been hit, who is in line. Stay with us.

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HOLMES: Forecasters say a powerful winter storm could affect more than 100 million people across the U.S. this weekend. It's already causing havoc in the U.S. State of Minnesota. More than 170 vehicle crashes have been blamed on the storm; 1,700 flights canceled Friday, hundreds more canceled for Saturday.

And one person is dead and another badly injured after an avalanche at a ski resort near Lake Tahoe on Friday. The cause unknown but the area was under an avalanche watch, after a storm dumped more than 63 centimeters of snow on Thursday.

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HOLMES: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes. I'll have your headlines in a moment.