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President Trump Acquitted And Unleashed; The D.N.C. Now Says It Is Time To Re-Canvass All The Results. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired February 06, 2020 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: All right, Brianna, thank you so much. Hi there. I am Brooke Baldwin. You are watching CNN. Thank you for being with me.

President Trump acquitted and unleashed this Thursday afternoon making his very first comments on camera after his four-month long impeachment saga came to an end.

President Trump talking for 62 minutes doing a victory lap riffing on everything from that perfect phone call with his counterpart in Ukraine, on impeachment, pardon my French, this is a direct quote from the President, "It's all bullshit."

Again attacking Senator Mitt Romney and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on their faith, getting his legal team a standing ovation, saying Congressman Steve Scalise, and I quote, " ... is better looking after having been shot," and commenting on Jim Jordan's body.

In case you missed it, here you go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've been going through this now for over three years. It was evil. It was corrupted. It was dirty cops. It was leakers and liars.

This should never ever happen to another President. Ever. It was a disgrace.

Had I not fired James Comey, who was a disaster, by the way, it's possible I wouldn't even be standing here right now.

I've done things wrong in my life, I will admit, not purposely, but I've done things wrong.

But this is what the end result is.

[APPLAUSE]

TRUMP: You have to understand, we first went through Russia, Russia, Russia. It was all bullshit. We then went through the Mueller report. And they should have come back one day later, they didn't. They came back two years later, after lives were ruined.

Adam Schiff is a vicious horrible person. Nancy Pelosi is a horrible person. These are vicious people. But they do two things -- they stick together. Historically, I'm not talking now. They stick together like glue.

That's how they impeached. It's been very unfair to the country. Think of it? A phone call. Very good phone call.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: CNN's Kaitlan Collins is at the White House, also with us, CNN's Daniel Dale. But Kaitlan, let me just begin with you, you know, watching him for that hour, I kept wondering, is this what and acquitted President Trump now looks like?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is, and Brooke, one thing he made clear as he is going to declare vindication here and celebrate his acquittal and it doesn't matter what stage he is on.

If he's in the East Room of the White House or on stage at the National Prayer Breakfast, as you saw this morning, which really provided just a little taste of what he said there in the East Room expressing no remorse about that phone call that he had or what has ensued over the last five months.

And instead celebrating, basking in his acquittal as he was surrounded by these Republican allies there in the room, and of course, as you noted at the beginning, it was a wide-ranging speech from the President that he said was more of a celebration.

But really, it was an airing of his grievances, because not only did he talk about impeachment, the President also talked about the scum as he called them at the top of the F.B.I., the Mueller investigation, which of course, he used expletives to describe what happened with all of that.

And really, he just essentially talked about all the attacks that he has endured throughout his several years in office and essentially, what's to come and how he is preparing for that to happen again, saying he is prepared to be impeached in the future if he is reelected.

But Brooke, one thing that really stood out, as you heard some of these Republican senators as they were going back and forth over how they were going to vote on witnesses and how they were going to vote on whether to convict or acquit.

They said they hoped the President learned a lesson here and that he'd be more cautious going forward and that now he knows where the line is drawn in the sand.

But, Brooke, that did not seem to be the case there as the President was essentially saying, yes, I made the right call. Other people who say that, they are totally incorrect, and he had essentially no remorse over what has happened with regards to the Ukraine situation, and he made that pretty clear.

BALDWIN: Let's go through the facts, and Kaitlan, I appreciate that. Daniel, to you, a couple of questions. You know, you were busy fact checking a lot of the President's claims there when he was speaking.

Let's just start with President Trump calling James Comey a leaker. Here he was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Chuck Grassley, he is looking to Comey, well, you tell me what did you say? Now, he wasn't being rough. That was just the way he talked.

[LAUGHTER]

TRUMP: And that was when Comey, I think that was when Comey announced that he was leaking, lying and everything else, right? He choked.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, Daniel, what's the truth?

DANIEL DALE, CNN REPORTER: What Trump said is the opposite of what happened. At the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in 2017, Grassley asked Comey in various ways, if he was leaking information to the media, if he was authorizing leaks, and Comey just kept saying no.

[14:05:08]

DALE: And so whatever you think of Comey, this was not an event where Comey made any kind of dramatic admission. Trump is just making this up.

BALDWIN: And here's another one, Daniel, there was this claim where he compared Hunter Biden to his own children.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They think that's okay. Because if it is, is Ivanka in the audience? Is Ivanka here? One of my kids could make a fortune. I think they'd make a fortune. It's corrupt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Daniel?

DALE: Trump's kids are making money right now during Trump's presidency. Ivanka, Eric, Don, Jr. are all involved in various international business ventures in which of course, the name Trump is often a benefit.

Now, I know Don, Jr. has argued that their actions are distinct from those of Hunter Biden because his claim was that we were already international business people before his presidency, whereas Hunter Biden just took advantage of his father's vice presidency. Whatever you think of that in Trump's accusations about Hunter, he

reliably omits any mention of his own kids making money internationally while operating under the name Trump.

BALDWIN: Here's another one. This claim, Daniel, about Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: But Lieutenant Colonel Vindman and his twin brother, right? We had some people that really are amazing, but we did everything. We said, what's wrong with it?

Well, they didn't add this word or that word. It didn't matter. I said, add it. They're probably wrong, but add it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: What's the fact check, Daniel, on that claim?

DALE: That is not what happened. So Alexander Vindman testified that there were a couple of, he said, substantive things that were missing from that rough transcript Trump released of the call with Zelensky in July and Zelensky testified that they did not add those things. One was a mention of the company, Burisma, the Ukrainian natural gas company.

And one was a mention in which Trump allegedly said there are recordings of something related to Joe Biden.

Now Vindman did testify that he didn't think there was anything nefarious, anything really bad. But he said it was not that big a deal that those things were not added.

But Trump is simply wrong when he said add it and that they were added.

BALDWIN: And then lastly, the false statement about Ukraine. Here was the President.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Find out what the hell's going on, and I told that to all of my people. O.M.B. I said, ask the question. How much is Germany paying? Why isn't Germany paying? Why is the United States always the sucker? Because we're a bunch of suckers.

But that's turning around fast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Daniel, what's the truth here?

DALE: It's just not true that European countries did not provide aid to Ukraine. For that, as Trump has repeatedly said, the United States was the only country providing aid. In fact, according to the OECD, Europe was the biggest contributor of

aid to Ukraine in the aftermath of Russia's invasion in 2014. Now on military aid, in particular, the U.S. has provided more. But in terms of the entire package of aid, the E.U. has provided 16 billion worth of grants and loans to Ukraine since that annexation of Crimea in 2014.

So this is a repeated claim from Trump, and there's no basis for it whatsoever.

BALDWIN: All right, Daniel Dale, thank you, as we hear the President speaking, especially as long as he did. We've got to go through all the facts. Thank you very much.

So much more on what we heard from the President today at the White House. Plus, his attacks -- continued attacks on the faith of Senator Mitt Romney and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Plus a new wrinkle in the Iowa disaster. We still don't have all of the results from the caucuses yet, and the D.N.C. now says it's time to re-canvass all of the results.

I know you're asking, well, what does that mean? We'll let you know. You're watching CNN. I'm Baldwin. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:13:28]

BALDWIN: We're back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Just before his vindictive acquittal speech, President Trump kicked off the morning at the National Prayer Breakfast, a bipartisan gathering for politicians and faith leaders that dates back five decades.

And after showing off papers where his acquittal was the top news stories, seen there with "USA Today," President Trump then used a speech to put his own twist on this idea of bipartisanship blasting Republican Senator Mitt Romney and Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): I am profoundly religious. My faith is at the heart of who I am. I take an oath before God as enormously consequential.

TRUMP: I don't like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I don't hate anyone. I pray for the President all the time.

TRUMP: Nor do I like people who say, I pray for you, when they know that that's not so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: With me now, CNN religion commentator, Father Edward Beck. Father Beck, I mean, we know that Senator Romney and Speaker Pelosi have been extraordinarily vocal when it comes to the role that their, you know, obviously very personal faith plays in their lives.

And so these attacks, multiple times today by the President of the United States are very personal. What did you make of them?

FATHER EDWARD BECK, CNN RELIGION COMMENTATOR: Well, first of all, you know, in the Gospel of John, it says, "They will know you are my followers," Jesus speaking, " ... by the way you love one another."

Well, I don't know who's going to look like a Christian and a follower of Jesus with this kind of conversation and this kind of vitriol.

[14:15:12]

BECK: I mean, the attacks are so personal and when you get to somebody's faith, to say that I don't believe you pray for me. Well, you can say that.

But I mean, why would you not want to accept at least prayer or that kind of positive gesture? It just seems to me, it's going against everything that Christianity talks about.

You know, Arthur Brooks began the introduction of the President, and he kind of had a call for unity and said, "Let us love our enemies," quoting Jesus again.

And when President Trump got up there, he said, Arthur, I don't know if I can agree with you. Well, you know, he wasn't disagreeing with Arthur. He was disagreeing with Jesus because it's Jesus is the one who says love your enemies.

So I just think it's remarkable to me what we're seeing played out here on the national stage -- international stage about faith, when it's seemingly the antithesis of faith.

BALDWIN: Not just disagreeing with Arthur, but disagreeing with Jesus, and that was this morning at the Prayer Breakfast.

He then was at the White House, spoke for an hour, doubled down on the attack against Mitt Romney. Here he was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Then you have some that used religion as a crutch. They never used it before -- an article written today -- never heard him use it before.

But today, you know, it's one of those things, but you know, he is a failed presidential candidate. So things can happen when you fail so badly running for President. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: When he says, Father Beck, when he said the idea of using religion as a crutch. What do you think he meant by that?

BECK: Well, I mean, I think it was the wrong word and the wrong term. I think what he was trying to say was using religion to justify what you're doing and in that sense, a crutch.

But it seemed to me if you watched Mitt Romney, and you listen to what he said, this was a very hard and labored decision for him, and it was his faith and his conscience, he said, that led him to have to do this, to do what was right in his eyes and his conscience, not what was wrong.

So seemingly the President totally twisted Romney's comments and seeming authenticity. I mean, he was near tears, the man, in making his statement and turning it right against him, and I don't know why you'd do something like that. It doesn't make any sense to me.

BALDWIN: Yes. This is the faith side. I'm curious, too, on the political side, you know, some conservatives who have been on the fence with regard to President Trump, maybe this pushes them one way or the other come November. We'll have that discussion later.

Father Edward Beck, a pleasure to have you. Thank you.

BECK: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Question. What's going on in Iowa? The D.N.C. now says it is time to re-canvass all the results. What that means amid a virtual tie for the lead, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:22:39]

BALDWIN: And we're back for more news on yet another twist in the chaos that's engulfed the Iowa caucuses.

D.N.C. Chairman Tom Perez is now calling for a re-canvass of all of the results. I know it's been three days since those caucuses closed and we still don't have 100 percent of the precincts reporting.

Harry Enten -- okay, we'll get to Harry in just a little bit. Let's move on to this.

Next Tuesday, voters in New Hampshire will have their say on the 2020 Democratic field, but one newspaper in a neighboring state says it's time for the first in the nation primary state and the Iowa caucuses to play less of a prominent role in selecting presidents.

The Editorial Board of "The Boston Globe" putting it bluntly in this new op-ed, "Kill the tradition: New Hampshire and Iowa should not vote first." Bina Venkataraman is the editorial page editor of "The Boston Globe."

So Bina, thank you so much for being here, and this is so huge coming from your paper. Why did you guys decide to write this now?

BINA VENKATARAMAN, EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR, THE BOSTON GLOBE: Well, it's been about a century since New Hampshire has gone first in the primary since 1920, and in that century, a lot has changed. And we feel that it's really important not just to use our influence as an editorial board, to play kingmaker and choose political candidates, we like to really ensure and protect the democratic process.

And the New Hampshire Primary no longer reflects the U.S. electorate or for that matter, the Democratic Party.

Take for example, the fact that Latino voters are going to make up a very significant bloc, the largest non-white voting bloc in this election in 2020 according to Pew.

Well, the nation's percentage of Latinos is triple that of New Hampshire's percentage of Latinos. Take, for example, also, New Hampshire's black population, which is about 1.7 percent, whereas the country is around 12 percent.

But it's not just about race. It's also about economics and demographics. New Hampshire nor Iowa really represent the youthfulness of the nation. They're both -- well, particularly in New Hampshire, I should say. Iowa is a bit younger, but New Hampshire's median age is 43.1, whereas the country is around 38.

And that means that some of the issues that are priorities for young voters like climate change, like investment, education and student loans, those issues aren't getting propelled into the political candidate's campaigns in the same way that they could at an early stage.

[14:25:05]

BALDWIN: So to your point, you know, diversity, race, demographics, economics, not to mention the debacle that that has been Iowa, do you think that's enough this go around for it to change because ultimately it is up to the Democratic Party.

VENKATARAMAN: It is up to the Democratic Party. The states have their own individual laws. New Hampshire sort of declares by its own state law that it go first.

And what we saw in 2008 was very interesting, because Florida and Michigan tried to kind of jump the line and have their primaries be held before New Hampshire's or earlier in the process, because they know what's been documented, which is that voters -- one voter in early primary like Iowa, or New Hampshire, has about the power of five voters in a later primary.

And what the Democratic Party did was actually punish Florida and Michigan for trying to jump the line. So that's actually a precedent for what the party could do now, which

is set up a new system whereby states could rotate. Who goes first, there could be a selection of states that more reflects the diversity of the country.

Some of them could be small states so that you don't lose that feel of candidates coming to a state like New Hampshire, having those spaghetti dinners and pancake breakfasts, getting to know real voters on the ground and not just sort of playing the media.

But you could also balance that with states that are much more diverse.

BALDWIN: Yes, note again, the fact that this is coming from "The Boston Globe," as you pointed out, you guys have been kingmakers in this space. So I think it speaks volumes.

We'll see what happens. Bina, thank you very much. As promised, Harry Enten is with us today. Harry, let me go to you on what's been going on in Iowa.

We know Tom Perez says it's time to re-canvass. What is re canvassing?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN POLITICS SENIOR WRITER AND ANALYST: Re-canvassing is essentially you're going to check the spreadsheets, it's not a recount. You're going to check the spreadsheets to make sure that what's been reported by the precincts is then accurately is what's reflected by the state.

But I should point this out. Tom Perez has no real power in this situation. The Iowa Democratic Party Chairman has essentially said, hey, look, the individual campaigns, they can request a canvas.

So Tom Perez can say this, but that doesn't actually make it so.

BALDWIN: Okay, so they recanvass, potentially depending on Iowa, right, but at the end of the day, what changes?

ENTEN: I mean, what can change is, you know, Iowa has this very arcane process, right? We have this first alignment, and then this final vote after the reallocation, and then you're trying to transfer that out and find out how many statewide delegate equivalents people are winning.

That math -- that math could potentially change. And we've seen with the satellite caucuses, as those who have come in, people who weren't voting in those traditional caucuses.

The math does seem very, very interesting to say nothing else. And so that math will be redone if in fact, there is a recanvass and obviously, as you're looking at the screen right now, you can see the race is so, so tight that a recanvass whenever if it does in fact get done, could in fact change the final result, whatever it actually is.

BALDWIN: Okay, Harry Enten. Thank you very much. That is Iowa.

ENTEN: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Let's go back to the campaign trail in New Hampshire now where moments ago, Senator Bernie Sanders reacted to all these calls for this recanvass in Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We won an eight- person election by some 6,000 votes. That is not going to be changed. What may be changed in this so-called recount is a few is a few SDEs here.

And what's certainly is not going to change is the fact that in terms of the popular vote, we won a decisive victory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The Sanders campaign feeling pretty confident, also announcing they have raised $25 million dollars in the month of January. That is the senator's highest monthly total since entering the race.

Sanders is off the campaign trail right now. He is preparing for tonight's CNN Town Hall, but the rest of the candidates are still swarming the state from Derry to Manchester, so let's check in first with CNN's Jessica Dean in Manchester. Hey, Jessica.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jessica Dean following Joe Biden's campaign. Now, Joe Biden himself is off the campaign trail today.

But last night, he participated in CNN's Town Hall where he really had this viral moment where he talked about overcoming his stutter as a child and the importance of reaching out to others and finding common ground.

We also heard him go more directly at his competitors yesterday, Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders calling both of them out by name. Those are sharper attacks than what we saw in Iowa, and likely a preview of what we might see at tomorrow night's debate.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I am here in Merrimack, New Hampshire with the Pete Buttigieg campaign. We are awaiting Buttigieg's arrival here at an event for veterans in New Hampshire.

But just three days after the Iowa caucuses, we still don't know who actually won that race. That has not stopped Buttigieg from claiming to be the victor.

He has spent the last day and a half trying to ride that momentum from his caucus night victory speech doing some fundraisers over the last day and a half and even on a conference call with supporters telling them that this has been a victory for his campaign, but warning them that the race is about to get even tighter. Over to you, Kyung.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm in a snowy Manchester, New Hampshire, with the Klobuchar campaign. The Senator from Minnesota holding a foreign policy round table that is ahead of a CNN town hall appearance that she will be having this evening.