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House Begins Trump's Second Impeachment in Wake of Siege; Corporate America Pulling Plug on Trump in Wake of Riot; Melania Trump Breaks Silence, Plays Victim While Condemning Riot. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired January 11, 2021 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: So we're going to see, I think, a lot of really strong push from the Democrats and I think that the question remains whether they're going to be successful on that.

JOHN KING, CNN INSIDE POLITICS: More on the many moving parts we need to follow. Julie Hirschfeld Davis, grateful for your time and insights, grateful for your time today too. See you back here this time tomorrow.

Don't go anywhere, a busy day. Brianna Keilar picks up right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN RIGHT NOW: Hello, I'm Brianna Keilar and I want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. We are watching history in progress today as lawmakers move ahead to hold President Trump accountable for inciting a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol.

Right now, the clock is ticking for Vice President Mike Pence. Democrats want him to gather the remaining members of the cabinet and invoke the 25th Amendment to remove the president. It does seem unlikely though that he will act, even after the president hammered Pence for not subverting the electoral system in Trump's name and led two members of the Capitol mob calling for Pence's head.

If the vice president doesn't act today, House Democrats will proceed with impeachment. The single article of impeachment they have introduced says, quote, Donald John Trump engaged in high crimes and misdemeanors by inciting violence against the government of the United States. He also willfully made statements that, in context, encouraged and foreseeably resulted in lawless action at the Capitol.

We could be seeing a vote on that here in the coming days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM MCGOVERN (D-MA): -- bring it right to the floor and it will be considered by the full House. And I expect that he will be impeached. He will be the first president in history to be impeached twice.

We need to make it clear that there is a consequence to what happened on Wednesday. For those who say we should look the other way or we should move on, to do that basically says that what they did was okay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, as for President Trump, there has been silent. He doesn't have Twitter or Facebook or Instagram, but he does have a briefing room in his house, the White House, and we could hear from him today.

Democrats, meanwhile, are also pushing for accountability for members of Congress, and that could involve the 14th Amendment, which calls for the removal of any member of Congress who, quote, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.

A resolution in the House would undoubtedly target Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley as well as a handful of other senators, and, of course, there were more than 100 Republican House members who also went ahead with objections to the electoral vote, even after domestic terrorists stormed the Capitol.

We're seeing now some new video from inside of the Capitol during the insurrection and also just outside of the Capitol. The FBI is acting on as many as 40,000 digital tips so far as they are looking to make more arrests. And among the questions that federal investigators are trying to answer is whether members of current law enforcement or the military were also involved.

And after seeing rioters with zip tie handcuffs, they're wondering that if part of the plan here was actually to take hostages, which could have included the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, or Vice President Mike Pence.

Now, law enforcement is also preparing for the immediate future as they prepare for the inauguration and this possible threat of new violence. In Washington, officials are closing the Washington Monument now through January 24th.

The House speaker made the call, but will the vice president answer? Nancy Pelosi has given Mike Pence one last chance to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove the president, and if he does not respond in time, Pelosi pledged impeachment would be the way forward.

I want to bring in CNN Congressional Correspondent Phil Mattingly, who is covering all of this from the Hill. And, Phil, the resolution authored by Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin, it was actually introduced this morning. So give us the main points here and tell us what happens next.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, Brianna, you really have kind of two resolutions moving on a parallel track right now. You have the 25th Amendment resolution by Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, that basically implores Vice President Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment. Democrats tried to pass that today by unanimous consent. It was blocked by Republicans. They will pass it with the full House in an up or down vote tomorrow.

Then you have the impeachment resolution also introduced today. Jamie Raskin, one of three Democrats, David Cicilline and Ted Lieu also sponsoring that. You read pieces of it, about four pages long with one primary, and that was incitement that led to an insurrection.

Here is the reality. Even though Vice President Mike Pence has been given by Speaker Pelosi 24 hours to respond related to the 25th Amendment, every Democrat I am talking to on Capitol Hill fully expects to vote on impeachment on Wednesday, they fully expect to impeach the president on Wednesday.

And at this point in time, the biggest question is not whether or not they're going to have the votes, they know they're there. They are already past the 217 vote threshold they would need just in co- sponsors alone.

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What Democrats are eyeing right now is Republican support. I'm told several Democrats with relationships with House Republicans are reaching out, trying to get them to come on board.

And something I can't underscore enough, you showed those videos, Brianna, as the days have played out in the wake of January 6th, members on both sides of the aisle have gotten angrier and angrier and angrier as they recognize that this wasn't just a group that turned into a mob and got a little overwhelmed and decided to break some windows. This was very real, this was very dangerous, and the consequences, while catastrophic enough with five dead, could have been significantly, significantly worse.

And so I think right now, all eyes are on not whether Democrats will impeach President Trump, that seems all but certain on Wednesday, it's how many Republicans will join them.

KEILAR: A very good question. We know you'll be tracking that. Phil Mattingly on Capitol Hill for us.

We have yet to hear the president's reaction for this prospect of a second impeachment, and that is largely because social media knocked him off of his soapbox. We are, though, hearing from White House insiders. Let's check in with CNN Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta on that. I mean, what is happening behind the scenes here, Jim?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the president is in hiding. He is behind closed doors. He is not coming out in front of the cameras and White House aides are not anxious or eager to get him in front of the cameras. So, frankly, they don't know what he is going to do next. And that's also what we're hearing from advisers to this White House.

At this point, the president has shown no sign of remorse, that he feels bad at all or apologetic at all about the events that happened on January 6th, even though he should feel that way, he should feel some sense of remorse, but this is the take no responsibility president. He's been that way since day one, Brianna, you know that all too well. He's not going to change his stripes in that regard.

Now, as for what Phil Mattingly was talking about in terms of the 25th Amendment a few moments ago, we do know from talking to our sources over here that Vice President Mike Pence is keeping that on the table as an option, as a way to sort of say to the president, listen, if you get out of line and do something insane one more time, this 25th Amendment is a live option.

Whether or not the vice president would actually try to invoke that or attempt to invoke that, that remains to be seen, but they are sort of using that as a kind of carrot and stick with the president at this point. That is my sense of it at this point, Brianna.

Now, in terms of the president, he and his top aides, they want to try to go out with some semblance of, I guess, whatever dignity they have left. They are planning a whole slew of events throughout this week. He's going to go down to the border tomorrow to talk about the border wall and try to highlight that, even though it's a promise broken. He used taxpayer money to build portions of the wall on the border, he did not have Mexico pay for the wall, and he wants to point to other things that they consider to be, deem to be accomplishments over here.

But at this point, no sign whether or not, as you were just mentioning a few moments ago, Brianna, whether or not the president will come into the briefing room, whether or not the president will get out in front of the cameras. There is just no indication of that at this point, and it's in large part because he knows the questions that are coming, Brianna. He knows we are going to ask him about his role in those riots in that attempted coup that occurred last Wednesday, and he doesn't want any part of answering those questions.

And so now, at this point, we're really just monitoring what he does next. He's been having cabinet secretaries, he's been having aides and advisers come in. We've seen the former attorney general, Bill Barr, we've seen the Homeland Security secretary come through, the energy secretary come through. There have been people coming and going here at the White House, but no sign of the president. He is still in hiding, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. Jim, keep your eyes peeled.

ACOSTA: Will do.

KEILAR: Thank you so much, Jim Acosta at the White House for us.

As I mentioned, impeachment is the second choice, Democrats say, for them. How House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says impeachment could be avoided if the 25th Amendment is invoked. The Amendment was adopted after President Kennedy was assassinated and is meant to remove a president who is physically incapacitated. So, how specifically could the 25th Amendment be used to remove President Trump?

I wanted to bring in CNN Senior Legal Analyst Laura Coates, who is joining me with some answers. And I know this might be a bit of an academic conversation, because at this point, it seems the president is completely reticent to proceed in this manner, but what would need to happen in order to invoke the 25th Amendment?

LAURA COATES, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it provides two vehicles. Number one, the vice president could talk with a majority of the members of his cabinet, the president of the United States, and they could decide together to invoke the 25th Amendment.

Or the second avenue that was available is that the vice president could, along with a Congressional body, a committee of some sort, could actually work together. Now, the problem is that that Congressional body was never actually formed.

In fact, Congressman Raskin, a few years ago, and as recently as last October, tried to create that very mechanism, that very committee that would be called for the 25th Amendment to say, look, you can bypass the cabinet and go to an independent non-partisan group of people which includes a medical professional, perhaps, and others to suggest or confirm whether the president -- he has capacity.

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Now, why would you want that angle as opposed to the cabinet? Well, because the cabinet, of course, Brianna, serves the pleasure of the president of the United States and, therefore, the loyalty might sometimes cloud the judgment, as many think is happening right now with Vice President Pence.

KEILAR: Well, certainly. And the 25th Amendment is not the only amendment that could be used against President Trump. The 14th Amendment is cited in the article. And, in essence, it says that no federal officer, quote, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.

So what is the process in order to use the 14th Amendment?

COATES: Well, look at the history. This was actually coming about after the civil war, trying to have a way to prevent those who are confederates able to join the actual Congress of the United States. The rebellion, the insurrection was the civil war, and, of course, the enemies you are speaking about was the confederate members who tried to divide the United States of America.

Here, we have a little different quandary here. You don't have the official declaration of these insurrectionists whose behavior was certainly antithetical and violent to be the premise of our democracy have not been officially declared enemies. That might not be the requirement because, of course, this is a prospective punishment. It's saying this person, whoever has engaged in this behavior, whether it's the president or anyone else, cannot prospectively hold office and should not have it now.

There is a time constraint right now because the president is only in office for, what, a matter of a little more than a week. So this is a way of having that symbolic censure, the ability to say, look, you cannot have the pleasure, have the right, have the privilege of being able to represent the United States of America if you have tried to undermine it, and in this case, fatally.

KEILAR: Finally, there is a Republican senator, Pat Toomey, who says that President Trump has criminal liability for the insurrection. You say that criminally prosecuting Trump would be tougher because he has the defense of the first Amendment. Explain that.

COATES: Well, he could. Remember, in order to actually prove that somebody has incited a riot, you have to first show that it's not protected speech, meaning they're not the run of the mill political speech that says, I disagree with somebody else or trying to advocate for one's belief. You have to actually incite. You have to do so in a way that you intended for what to happen happened, that it had to be talking about a moment in time that was definitive, not some moment in the future someday, and it had to be said in a way that violence was likely to occur in that environment.

Now, here, you've got those three sort of criteria, elements, that may have been met but not only the president's own words but others who spoke that day, including the likes of his own son talking about we're coming for you, Rudy Giuliani, by combat, and, of course, also Congressman Mo Brooks about kicking ass, so to speak.

And so you might have met those criteria but it's still an intentional, hard case to prove because we want, as a country, free speech.

KEILAR: Laura, thank you so much for walking us through all of that. There are so many issues to delve into. We appreciate it.

Add J.P. Morgan and Facebook to the growing list of companies that are pulling their political donations following last week's Capitol riots, J.P. Morgan urging business and political leaders to focus on addressing the health and economic crises facing the country. Some of America's biggest companies are also suspending donations to Republican members of Congress who objected to the Electoral College's votes.

This growing list of those corporations includes BlueCross/BlueShield, Citigroup, Commerce Bank and Marriott. BlueCross/BlueShield put out a very forceful statement explaining the position that they are taking, quote, in light of this week's violent shocking assault on the United States Capitol and the votes of some members of Congress to subvert the results of November's election by challenging Electoral College results, BCBSA will suspend contributions to those lawmakers who voted to undermine our democracy. FedEx and Walmart both saying just a short time ago they are now reviewing their political contributions.

We have CNN's Chief Political Analyst, Gloria Borger, with us now to talk about this. Gloria, Donald Trump is above else sold himself as a successful businessman, and we already had seen certainly a break between him and corporate America, but this is clearly a sharp rebuke, that corporate America is turning its back on not just him but his ardent political supporters. GLORIA BORGER, CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Right, it is a rebuke and it's really going to sting Donald Trump, because, as you said, he sees himself as a businessman, a great negotiator, businesses president, and there has been an uneasy peace between business and Donald Trump because they like deregulation, they like corporate tax cuts, and so there was a lot of stuff that they were willing to put up with because of what they got in return.

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I think the relationship started to shred after Charlottesville, after the pandemic, after Black Lives Matter, and now you see it completely falling apart.

I think one of the things that's going to sting Donald Trump the most personally, of course, is the PGA announcing that it's not going to have its 2022 Championship in Bedminster. And the Trump organization hinted in its statement, of course, that they're breaking a contract and they're hinting that they're going to sue, but I'm wondering how much they can actually do about that.

Donald Trump is not popular with business. Business is stepping up and saying those people who tried to undermine the election and those people who led that are not going to get our money anymore, period.

KEILAR: Yes, I would be curious what the contract says. Probably there's some language in there as there are with most contracts about reputations of the parties that are involved.

And one of the things that is really noticeable about a number of Republicans who are still supporting the president, who are still supporting his efforts to question the legitimate outcome of the election, they're calling for unity, but they're skipping over the accountability part.

BORGER: Yes, they are. They're now calling for unity when just less than a week ago, they were tearing the country apart. I find it remarkable. I also find it remarkable that the attitude hasn't changed. I mean, Josh Holmes, who was, you know, a top adviser to Mitch McConnell, tweeted today that the more stories that we get -- the more time, images and stories removed from Wednesday, the worse it gets. And I think we all feel that. We feel that the more we learn, the more we learn how damaging this really could have been. I mean, these people seemed to be coming in prepared to take hostages at the very least.

And when somebody like Roy Blunt says that he believes that the president touched the hot stove on Wednesday and is unlikely to touch it again, I'm kind of scratching my head about that. What does the president have to do in the past, and aren't you worried about he could potentially do in the future? And you have to acknowledge that this is not a static situation we are in right now, not at all.

And I think those people who have remained intransigent in saying, okay, well, that was wrong, but let's unite and forget the rest of it because nothing more can happen are kidding themselves. KEILAR: Yes, Gloria, thank you so much for joining us, Gloria Borger.

Melania Trump is breaking her silence five days after the attack, and she's playing the victim. Her former aide will join us live. She says the first lady has blood on her hands.

Plus, new concerns about more violence this week before the inauguration as the feds investigate the level of planning that went into the siege at the Capitol.

And Republicans predicted this violence, and they predicted the president's role in it before it happened. We'll roll the tape.

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KEILAR: Five days after the siege on the Capitol, First Lady Melania Trump has finally released a statement. She acknowledges those who died in the attack, and the first one mentioned is Air Force veteran and Trump supporter Ashli Babbit, who was shot and killed as she began to climb through a broken window into the speaker's lobby just off of the House chamber, where members of Congress were seeking refuge behind chairs.

Then in the very next paragraph, Melania Trump turns attention to herself and she says, quote, I find it shameful that surrounding these tragic events, there has been salacious gossip, unwarranted personal attacks and false misleading accusations on me from people who are looking to be relevant and have an agenda.

Now, that is likely a response to reporting that she continued a furniture photo shoot that she was undertaking even as the attack unfolded, as well as an excoriating column by her former friend and adviser, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, who is joining us now.

Stephanie, thanks for being with us. You have read the first lady's statement. It's a pretty long statement that the White House put out this morning about the Capitol siege. What is your reaction to it?

STEPHANIE WINSTON WOLKOFF, AUTHOR, MELANIA AND ME, THE RISE AND FALL OF MY FRIENDSHIP WITH THE FIRST LADY: Thank you for having me, Brianna, first of all, I would like to continue what you had been saying, and that this that this is just a very sad and tragic time in our country and very unnecessary.

And the first lady's words have come very late, and sometimes I would say better late than never, but her words are vacuous and they have no meaning. And that's the saddest part of all of this. They're just words. There have been no actions.

KEILAR: What would you like to see when you're talking about wanting to see actions?

WOLKOFF: Well, at this point, the administration, Brianna, there are no actions that this administration could possibly take except for the president to resign himself to this position and walk away and let us begin the process of peace and transition.

When I was producing the inauguration for the 45th president of the United States of America, it wasn't about President Trump or party, it was about our country. And as we've come to, unfortunately, all know and realize that this president and this administration and this family is just about just that, the Trump family.

KEILAR: You have an article that's in The Daily Beast, and it's called Melania's ex-BFF, there is blood on her hands, in which you call her, quote, complicit in the destruction of America.

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You write of Wednesday's revolt, quote, it was an assault on human life and our great democracy. Unfortunately, the president and first lady have little, if any, regard for either.

And, Stephanie, I'm sure you know that allies of the first lady's would say, you know, she didn't speak at this rally, the president did. How can you claim that she is responsible? What would you say to that?

WOLKOFF: This isn't the only complicit, you know, event that's occurred throughout these four years. Melania Trump has a voice and she hasn't used it. She's had a platform. She hasn't used it. As the first lady of the United States of America, whether you're president or not, you have the ability to speak loudly, clearly and for the rest of Americans.

She can say all she wants about the vulnerabilities of children and how much she wants to help them, but so far, unfortunately, nothing has happened. So she is not just complicit, she is his enabler and she is his biggest cheerleader, and, unfortunately, she's done nothing but that.

KEILAR: She laments in her reaction here, gossip, she says, personal attacks and misleading accusations. When you read that, do you think she's talking about you?

WOLKOFF: Unfortunately, Brianna, if that's what's on her mind, then that's really an embarrassing thing to be thinking about at this moment in time.

KEILAR: You spent a lot of time with the first lady, and I wonder how that has informed your thinking about how she rationalizes going along with her husband's behavior, which, in this case, was inciting a crowd to violence.

WOLKOFF: Brianna, really, I'm glad that you've asked me about this because I have had several years to really sit back and think about the time I spent with her as her friend, then as her adviser, then as someone that tried to help her balance the time that she was in office versus allowing her just to enable him to do whatever he wanted.

I take responsibility for my role in thinking that I could have made a difference next to Melania Trump, but no matter how close to proximity of power within the Trump dynasty you are, you will never make a change.

So some people are there to make a difference for the good, but it's not possible.

KEILAR: And how -- in your experience with her, does she accept that role, rationalize that there isn't something to be done and then essentially then accept this behavior?

WOLKOFF: Well, she's still married to the president of the United States. Some people say easier said than done. But, again, as someone who does have a voice that means something, there were so many opportunities where she could have gone on national television and not just on her Twitter feed and put a mask on her face and told children all around the country to please just wear a mask.

As a mother who adores her son and speaks of children all the time, but nothing else for children, there is so much more that could have been done not just during the pandemic but also think about what are children and their parents talking about today? Where is Melania Trump? I mean, it's disheartening.

KEILAR: It sounds like, Stephanie, and you correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you believe that there is no way that she could actually change the president's behavior but that there is a place for her to serve as a role model.

WOLKOFF: That's exactly what I'm saying. And I do think that by being married to Donald and by enabling him to continue doing what he wants to do, she may give her opinion, which, again, as we've all seen, he's discredited generals, which are far more experienced than Melania, but maybe he listens to her more, as we've learned that too, but she is responsible for everything that's going on right now.

To be able to just block it out and not think about it and think that that's okay and that's an excuse, that's not rational. That is not okay. And that is not part of being a human being.

KEILAR: Stephanie, thank you so much for being with us. We really appreciate your time, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff who is a former adviser and friend to Melania Trump, thank you.

And, again, you actually author a book, Melania and Me, The Rise and Fall of my Friendship with the First Lady.

The FBI is asking the public for help in identifying the man carrying the confederate flag through the Capitol.

Plus, the outgoing Capitol police chief breaks his silence. He says that he called for backup six times.

And moments from now, President-elect Joe Biden gets his second dose of the COVID vaccine live on T.V., and we are going to see it, next.

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