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Initial Results Show Fmr. Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-South Bend, IN) maintains narrow lead in Iowa; House Judiciary Chief Says, Will Likely Subpoena John Bolton; Tensions Flare Between Trump, Democrats During Divisive Speech. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired February 05, 2020 - 10:00   ET

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

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NEWSROOM: Rangers found his belongings, including his wallet and phone on the bank of the Lopez River.

[10:00:05]

They then downloaded the data on Mark's phone to track his last location and found him in the end a few miles from where his phone had washed up. He was wearing a lifejacket floating face up on water.

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CPL. ED HENDERSON, COLLIER COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: Coming back and watching the video and seeing the expression on his face and holding the rescuer's hand, that was just -- yes.

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SCIUTTO: Wow, a great story, a happy ending too. He's currently in stable condition at a local hospital.

A very good morning to you, I'm Jim Sciutto. We are following all the major headlines this morning. There are lots of them. Just hours from now, the fate of the Trump presidency comes down to a final vote. The GOP-led Senate very much expected to acquit the president on both articles of impeachment, one for abuse of power, another for obstruction of Congress.

This morning, Democrats are calling President Trump's State of the Union Address a glorified 2020 campaign rally. The speech's contents seems to be garnering much less attention though than what Speaker Pelosi did afterwards, tearing up her copy of the speech in what some are calling a calculated move.

And over a day-and-a-half later, still no winner on the Democratic side. We do have a lead to those number there. The first set of results with 71 percent reporting show Pete Buttigieg ahead of Bernie Sanders by a slim margin. We should note Joe Biden, you see there, well behind in fourth place.

We have reporters following all the candidates on the trail. Let's start with Vanessa Yurkevich. She is with the Buttigieg camp. Vanessa, they must be feeling pretty good right now and trying to capitalize on this in New Hampshire.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: They definitely are feeling good. Mayor Buttigieg just wrapped up speaking here at a youth town hall on climate change, but the campaign still feeling really good after those initial results came in last night, having him in the lead over Bernie Sanders.

He reacted with a crowd he was with last night here in New Hampshire and got quite emotional looking back at how far he has come. This is what he said.

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FMR. MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG (D-SOUTH BEND, IN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And it validates for a kid somewhere in a community wondering if he belongs or she belongs or they belong in their own family, that if you believe in yourself and your country, there's a lot backing up that belief.

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YURKEVICH: The mayor there really having a poignant moment on stage, looking back at this past year, seeing how far he has come, now in the lead in Iowa. But today, the focus really is on New Hampshire. I just spoke to two senior aides with the campaign who said that strategy is not changing here in New Hampshire. The mayor did seven events yesterday. He's going to be doing many more events over the next week. And they're not changing it up because they believe that strategy is what helped him in Iowa, what helped him do so well in Iowa.

In addition to that, the other part is the message that he had in Iowa that they think had him doing so well. They're going to continue that here in New Hampshire. We'll see if voters will kind of latch on to that message that the mayor is putting out there, Jim.

SCIUTTO: That's quite an emotional message there too. Vanessa, thanks very much.

CNN Political Reporter Rebecca Buck, she is with the Sanders campaign this morning. And, Rebecca, New Hampshire, backyard for Bernie Sanders, strong showing in Iowa, what are we hearing from his team now and what's their plan for New Hampshire?

REBECCA BUCK, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: That's right, Jim. Well, looking at the results out of Iowa that we have so far, the Sanders campaign does have a lot to be happy about. I mean, he's winning right now in this popular vote, of course, with 70 percent of precincts reporting, trailing Buttigieg slightly in the delegate count.

However, I spoke with a senior campaign official yesterday who said they believe that Sanders could win both of those outright. Of course, we'll see how that goes.

There are some reasons for them to be less than happy about what happened in Iowa. They were disappointed in the turnout. Sanders told reporters yesterday that he had hoped turnout would be a lot higher in Iowa, closer to 2008 than 2016, which is where we were out of the Iowa caucuses.

And they also are having to share the spotlight now with Pete Buttigieg. Instead of having a moment all to themselves to propel into New Hampshire, it's a mixed bag for them. And so that makes New Hampshire and the primary here all the more crucial for Sanders.

It's going to be his first event of the day here in Derry. You can see folks lining up behind me. And I want you to take a listen if you can to what he had to say yesterday in Milford, New Hampshire, setting up the primary here in the first in the nation state.

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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: For some reason in Iowa, they're having a little bit of trouble counting votes. But I am confident that here in New Hampshire, I know they'll be able to count your votes on election night.

[10:05:04]

And when you count those votes, I look forward to winning here in New Hampshire.

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BUCK: As you mentioned, Jim, this is Sanders' backyard and he won here in 2016. Right now, the polls going into the election show Sanders leading in the primary here. We'll see if that holds. Jim?

SCIUTTO: We'll be watching. Rebecca Buck, thank you.

CNN Political Correspondent Arlette Saenz, she is following former Vice President Joe Biden. And, Arlette, I mean, no other way to describe it but a disappointing finish for Joe Biden in Iowa. What's the state of their concern in the Biden campaign and how are they planning to try to turn it around in New Hampshire?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, after that poor showing in Iowa, these next few states are going to be critical for Joe Biden. And Biden yesterday here in New Hampshire, he showed an eagerness to move past Iowa and start focusing on New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. Nevada and South Carolina are two states with more diverse populations, which the Biden campaign thinks that could be beneficial to the former vice president.

And one thing that a Biden adviser argued to me is that this is all about a delegate game, and Iowa makes up just a small portion of the total delegates that candidates can accumulate. And take a listen to what Biden had to tell reporters in concord last night after one of his events.

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JOE BIDEN (D), FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As long as I come out of there with delegates and there's been a full count. Last I heard, they didn't have a real counting and I was -- the number there, I was at 15 or something. I don't know.

Look, I said from the beginning, I want to do well, I want to do well in Iowa. The point is I count the four, the first four are the key, two caucuses and two primaries. And so we'll see what happens. Have they finished counting?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, Biden has said New Hampshire is going to be an uphill race for him. And the campaign is looking to show some signs of strength in these coming days. Today, they picked up an endorsement from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, just one of the labor groups supporting the former vice president. He hopes to reinforce that message in the coming days, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Labor support, no small thing. Arlette Saenz, thanks very much.

Joining me to discuss is Jennifer Psaki, former Obama White House Communications Director, Jackie Kucinich, Washington Bureau Chief for The Daily Beast.

So, Jen, you've been on campaigns before. How big a blow to the Joe Biden campaign here?

JENNIFER PSAKI, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: A pretty big one. I mean, I think they're valid in saying that it's a delicate game. It is a delicate game and Iowa only has 41 delegates that will be sliced and diced up but they have a couple of problems. One is they have been on a downward trajectory with polling in New Hampshire, so the question is how do they get that back up? Maybe they do but he's not up on the air in New Hampshire.

They're hoping that in South Carolina that the African-American vote stays with him. They have a sizeable lead there. But that may not be the case a couple of weeks from now. And the third challenge they have is money. They need money to compete on Super Tuesday, and South Carolina is three days before Super Tuesday.

So all of those, I would say, are challenges to the Biden campaign, but it's far from over at this point.

SCIUTTO: No question, it's early.

Jackie Kucinich, let's talk about Pete Buttigieg here. I mean, Iowa has anointed dark horses before. I mean, look back to Barack Obama's great showing in 2008. How big a deal is it for Buttigieg to emerge with what appears to be, and again this could change with 29 percent to go, but what appears to be at a minimum a very strong showing there?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It certainly gives him momentum going into New Hampshire and perhaps being the more moderate choice to someone like Bernie Sanders. Sanders, it's unlikely, is going to be surpassed in New Hampshire. He obviously has quite a bit of lead in the poll there and he is the favorite son from the last cycle.

However, he could, it's not impossible, he could surpass Joe Biden and perhaps come in second in New Hampshire and maybe New Hampshire is giving him a second look as a result of what we think is his win in Iowa. That's in New Hampshire, folks don't often take Iowa's advice.

But further down the line, this will help him with fundraising. And let's not forget the historic part of this as the first LGBT candidate to win a contest. And that also cannot be diminished.

SCIUTTO: Jen Psaki, the Buttigieg team will often make that Obama comparison, but what's missing, right, is the Obama coalition, a big piece of it, African-American support. Pete Buttigieg just doesn't have it. How big a weakness is that for him and how big a weakness would it be for Democrats if he would, and, again, way ahead of it, but if he would emerge as the nominee?

PSAKI: Well, I don't think he or anyone can emerge as the nominee without strong support from the African-American community. But we'll see what the impact of the Iowa win is.

[10:10:01]

I do think there's been some sort of confusion about what happened back with President Obama when he won in Iowa. In internal polling, he was already moving with the African-American vote. He, of course, was the first African-American president, so that certainly helped him. But it is a challenge for Pete Buttigieg.

Now, not to take away from his moment because as Jackie said, people weren't believing that he could actually pull this off. We don't know if he won, but even if he gets second, it shows there's real energy and enthusiasm behind him and his campaign. We'll see if that helps him in New Hampshire. He has the money and resources to really introduce himself and get to know voters in a state like South Carolina and that can have an impact as well.

SCIUTTO: Okay. Jackie, Bernie Sanders, he's got a big test coming up in New Hampshire. This is home territory. It's really his backyard there. Now, he's got a contender, right, right at the top next to him. And let's not -- I mean, Elizabeth Warren is also backyard for her and Joe Biden, you can't count him out.

KUCINICH: You can't. But Elizabeth Warren is far behind if you look at just the polling averages at this point to Bernie Sanders.

I will say this, just going back to Iowa just for a minute, what this did if Bernie Sanders does, in fact, come in second to Pete Buttigieg in Iowa, it does deny him some momentum. He looks good in New Hampshire, but in somewhere like a South Carolina, he is gaining on Joe Biden with African-American voters.

There was a recent poll that showed him getting closer because that campaign has really been doing the work and according to the African- American community there, and then looking at Nevada, that's another contest that could bode well for Bernie Sanders. So that denial of that sort of momentum could impact the campaign, maybe not in New Hampshire obviously, but further down the line.

SCIUTTO: Jen Psaki, Democrats were convinced they were going to be running against a low approval rating President Trump. He just had his highest approval rating in the Gallup Polls of 49 percent. Still historically low on trend lines, but the highest, he's trending up. How big a worry for Democrats?

PSAKI: It should be a far bigger worry than a delay in the release of the Iowa caucus results. And I have been pretty disappointed to see kind of this -- so many Democrats are wrapping themselves around an axle about the impact of the Iowa caucus result is not coming out. The problem we should all be focused on is that President Trump's approval rating is rising. Maybe it has -- it certainly has a ceiling. He is about to be acquitted. He's raising a lot of money. That's where our concern should be. And I don't think there's enough alarm about that.

SCIUTTO: Jen Psaki sounding the alarm, Jackie Kucinich, thanks very much to both of you.

KUCINICH: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Just a reminder, CNN will host two nights of Democratic presidential town halls tonight and tomorrow night ahead of the New Hampshire primary. Be sure to watch tonight at 8:00 Eastern Time only on CNN.

President Trump makes a forceful case for re-election in the State of the Union Address. You might even call it a campaign rally speech. But, ultimately, it was the president's feud with Speaker Pelosi that might have stolen the show for some.

Plus, from the president's pitch to stay in office to the Senate's vote that would keep him in office, President Trump expected to be acquitted in his impeachment trial. How will the president respond to the news?

And thousands of people are now quarantined on two cruise ships amid growing concerns over exposure to the coronavirus that's spreading. We're going to have a live update.

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[10:15:00]

SCIUTTO: These are live pictures of the Senate floor as lawmakers there get ready to vote this afternoon to acquit President Trump on two articles of impeachment. We are also learning that the House will not stop their investigations of the president, and that now likely includes subpoenaing the former national security adviser, John Bolton. Of course, senators voted not to call him to testify in the Senate trial.

CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju joins us now from Capitol Hill. You spoke just now with the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Jerry Nadler. He said it's a likely yes to subpoena Bolton. In what form would that take and how likely would we see it?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it sounds like it's almost certainly going to happen. House Democrats, of course, opted not to subpoena John Bolton during the impeachment inquiry because of Bolton's attorney's threats to take them to court. At the time, Adam Schiff said that they're not going to go through rope-a-dope in the court with the administration.

Of course, they called on the Senate to issue a subpoena to John Bolton. Republicans lined up and voted against issuing a subpoena for John Bolton. Now, the question is what will they do after the president's acquittal vote this afternoon.

And what Jerry Nadler, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, have just indicated to me just moments ago is that they do plan to push forward with their investigations and a subpoena for the former national security adviser is likely.

SCIUTTO: So, Manu, a question here --

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RAJU: It is likely that the subpoena will be issued to him?

REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY): I think it's likely, yes.

When you have a lawless president, you have to bring that to the floor, you have to spotlight that. You have to protect the Constitution, whatever the political consequences. And, second of all, no. I mean, as more and more lawlessness comes out, I presume the public will understand that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So he was also asked whether or not they would just look -- continue to look into Ukraine or other matters. He indicated that the Investigation will focus on everything, everything you're referring to, everything they have looked into in the past year, things they plan to look into further, whether it's emoluments, other unanswered questions about that came out through the Mueller investigation.

[10:20:08]

So those are matters that will still be pursued by the House Democrats. So even as we're seeing the end of the impeachment inquiry, House Democrats are signaling that there's no end to what they plan to pursue in the months ahead, Jim.

SCIUTTO: And, Manu, we know during the Senate trial, the White House was already working on plans to block Bolton's testimony somehow, even if senators voted for it. So what would happen here? Would the White House try the same thing? Would there still need to be a court ruling on this? I mean, he's sort of been out there as a possible witness for so long. I imagine folks at home are wondering will this actually happen.

RAJU: Yes, it's a good question because we're not entirely clear even what Bolton would do, because Bolton never agreed to come and testify before the House but he did say he would come and testify before the Senate if the Senate issued a subpoena. So what will he do if he gets a subpoena from the House and will he go to court to fight that in any way? Those are still unanswered questions. And if he were to do that, of course, it could get tied up once again.

And as you mentioned it, the White House is showing no interest in allowing John Bolton to come forward. They have warned the president would assert executive privilege. So what form will that take in terms of a court fight to come. So even if the Democrats do move forward, and it sounds like they probably will move forward to bring in John Bolton, will that lead itself to testimony either behind closed doors or in public, all open questions, but it sounded the fight is still to come. Jim?

SCIUTTO: Well, they're also trying to block his book too. But we have a Senate trial. We have a vote coming in a couple of hours on the Hill. What are the key votes to watch? Do you see some Democrats going to acquittal? I mean, do you see some Democrats going to acquittal? Are there any Republicans who might vote to convict?

RAJU: The only Republican we're looking at right now who's a possibility is Mitt Romney. He has not announced his position yet. The Utah Republican, of course, voted for witnesses. He also has been critical of the president's conduct. He has not said what he would do. We do expect him to make that clear sometime today. Of course, he will when he votes at 4:00 P.M. Eastern.

But also three moderate Democratic senators from red states, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who refuses to say what he would do, Doug Jones of Alabama, who's in a difficult re-election race and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who also just won her election but has not said what she would do. So those are the key questions. But, ultimately, the outcome will be the president will be acquitted later today, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Manu Raju, thanks very much.

President Trump's State of the Union Address might have sounded to you at home more like a campaign rally complete with claims that have been fact-checked over and over and found to be misleading.

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[10:25:00]

SCIUTTO: Despite the pre-speech spin, the president did more dividing than uniting at his annual State of the Union Address. His speech really sounded more like a campaign rally and it was filled with several half-baked truths, things we fact-checked.

CNN's John Harwood is at the White House. So, John, let's walk through some of the president's claims and reality. Listen to the first.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I've also made an iron clad pledge to American families. We will always protect patients with pre-existing conditions.

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SCIUTTO: Lots of applause. True or false?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It is true, Jim, that President Trump has made that pledge to protect pre-existing conditions. It is false that his policies would actually preserve them. We know that he's tried to repeal Obamacare, which is what brought nationwide protection for pre-existing conditions.

But more than that, the policies that he touted last night as cutting healthcare costs for some people, that is giving some people the ability to buy smaller plans that are cheaper would actually make covering pre-existing conditions impossible, because the more people who have plans like that, the more difficult it is for insurance companies to cover everybody else.

SCIUTTO: All right. Another claim, Trump said thousands of factories have been built while he is president. Have a listen, I want you to fact-check that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: After losing 60,000 factories under the previous two administrations, America has now gained 12,000 new factories under my administration.

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SCIUTTO: So, true or false?

HARWOOD: It is true that the number of establishments that he cited that engage in what is called manufacturing have increased. They're not all factories. Many of them are very tiny establishments that have just a handful of employees, bakeries, tailors, that sort of thing. It is also the case that the manufacturing sector of the economy is in recession right now in part because of the president's trade policies that have diminished business investment and diminished manufacturing work.

SCIUTTO: The president claimed he's created millions of jobs since his election, but went further. Have a listen.

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TRUMP: Since my election, we have created 7 million new jobs, 5 million more than government experts projected during the previous administration.

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SCIUTTO: True or false?

HARWOOD: It is true that that number of jobs has been created, Jim, during the period of time that he mentioned, but this is a very good illustration of what was fundamentally false about the overall message of the president's speech. He cast this as a situation where I alone have fixed the economy. In reality, the economy has been growing since six months into Barack Obama's administration.

[10:30:05]