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GOP To Filibuster Biden's DHS Nomination, Will Force Democrats' Hand; Sen. Tom Cotton Called Out For Misrepresenting Military Service While Running For Office; Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) Discusses A Resolution Pushing For Bipartisan Censure Of Trump Rather Than Impeachment. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired January 27, 2021 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: This just into CNN. Senate Republicans are planning to filibuster President Biden's cabinet pick to lead the Homeland Security Department, Alejandro Mayorkas.
The GOP moves means that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer would have to take procedural steps to overcome the filibuster, which is something that will eat up precious time on the Senate floor.
Let's bring in CNN's chief congressional correspondent, Manu Raju, on Capitol Hill.
Manu, you broke this story. Tell us about what is happening.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Republicans are making clear they are not allowing a quick vote of Alejandro Mayorkas to be the secretary of Homeland Security.
Their objections are about his views on immigration. He had already come before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. He had a confirmation hearing. He was actually reported favorably. The committee voted to advance his nomination to the Senate floor.
[14:35:01]
Two Republicans voted in favor. But there are a group of Republicans trying to slow things down, raising concerns that he won't go far enough in efforts to call for more crackdowns on immigration. And raising concerns about Joe Biden's proposal on immigration as well.
Some of those Republicans, including Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri, Senator John Cornyn of Texas, have called on the Senate Judiciary Committee to have a second confirmation hearing for this nominee. That is not going to happen.
The incoming Democratic chairman of that committee, Dick Durbin, making clear he will not have a second hearing. Instead, trying to advance this to the Senate floor. But, because of rules of the Senate, any individual Senator can slow down the process.
That's what Cornyn just told a group of us moments ago, as well as Senate minority whip, John Thune, the number-two Republican, also made clear they will force Democrats to take those procedural steps to overcome this roadblock, this filibuster, by Republicans.
That will require 51 votes in the Senate to overcome. The Democrats will get those votes, but it will take some time.
And it would be the first nominee by the Senate that attempted to be blocked by Senate Republicans by this procedural maneuver. More could certainly come.
But of course, Brianna, this comes as the Homeland Security Department just today issued a threat bulletin warning about a potential for extremists to commit violence during the president's transition period.
A lot riding on this move. But Republicans are not satisfied with Mayorkas. And Democrats to push him through but it could take several days longer -- Brianna?
KEILAR: Several days long.
Manu, thank you so much. Manu Raju, live for us on Capitol Hill.
And still ahead, one of the jurors in President Trump's impeachment trial, Senator Tim Kaine, will join me live.
Plus, Senator Tom Cotton is being called out by colleagues for misrepresenting his military service while running for office. And we're going to fact-check that, next.
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KEILAR: Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton came under fire this week after left-leaning "Salon" published an article accusing him of falsifying his military record as he entered politics, first, in his House seat campaign, and later, in in his first race for the Senate several years ago.
Here's the Salon headline: It says, "Senator Tom Cotton Campaigned on His Experience as an Army Ranger but He Didn't Have Any."
A number of middle-of-the-road outlets picked up on this story and have validated the key facts in which the "Salon" story is based. That is to say, the statements that he made himself about his service. And it explored whether he did something wrong.
Some conservative outlets backed Tom Cotton because the "Salon" story makes a serious charge and in doing so evokes a claim of stolen valor.
While possibly problematic for Senator Cotton, who is seen as a likely contender for president in 2024, stolen valor, this is not.
Cotton is a decorated combat veteran. He served in both the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Also served in the Old Guard at Arlington National Cemetery.
He received a Bronze Star and a combat infantryman badge awarded to infantryman who were in direct combat with the enemy. He also received other honors.
He attended and graduated from Ranger school, which is no small feat.
Cotton responded to the controversy on Monday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRETT BAIER, FOX NEWS HOST: Were you straightforward with voters about your military service? You're a decorated veteran. But there's a story, a couple of stories popping up about you saying you were an Army Ranger.
REP. TOM COTTON (R-AR): Yes, thanks, Brett.
I graduated from Ranger school. I wore the Ranger tab in combat, 101st Airborne in Iraq. This is about my military record. This is about my politics.
Ranger legends, like General Scotty Miller or General Craig Nixon, used the term to describe alumni of a Ranger regiment and graduates of the Ranger school, as did secretary of Army, as did most of my buddies in the Army.
A did most of the liberal media until a conservative veteran used that term that way. If they disagree, fine. I respect their views.
What's most important, I respect the service of all Rangers and, indeed, all soldiers who volunteered to serve our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: When "The Washington Post" fact-checked this distinction after it came up in a Senate race separate from Cotton's last year, the U.S. Special Operations Command, under which the Rangers fall, explained it this way, quote, "A graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger course is Ranger qualified," end quote.
That would be Senator Cotton.
Quote, "Anyone who is serving or has served within the 75th Ranger Regiment is a U.S. Army Ranger," end quote.
That would not be Senator Cotton.
The Army is clear on the distinction between being a Ranger and being Ranger qualified. Now, few Americans are familiar with this fine print of the military
lexicon because few Americans served in the armed forces. Even fewer hold one of these titles.
Even the civilian media struggles with this distinction. There are many examples of reporters using the term Ranger as shorthand for Ranger qualified servicemembers, including at CNN. But military news services do not tend to lump them together.
Senator Cotton, no doubt, knows the difference between these two things.
Now, he is right that, in the military, it is not unheard of that a servicemember right refer to Ranger school graduate, a Ranger qualified folk, colloquially as Ranger, maybe in a greeting, a tip of the hat.
While it's a courtesy that some in the military might bestow on a Ranger-qualified servicemember, it's not a courtesy that a Ranger qualified servicemember usually bestows on him or herself.
Which is what Senator Cotton did as he made his service record front and center in his election bids.
Let's look at facts here. In the leadup to Senator Cotton's 2012 House run and his 2014 Senate run, he repeatedly he claimed he was an Army Ranger.
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COTTON: I'm made tough decisions as an Army Ranger in Iraq. I'll make them again as your Senator.
I did join the Army and become an infantry officer and Army Ranger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: According to "Salon," he also told the Hot Spring "Sentinel Record," in February of 2012, quote, "My experience as a U.S. Army Ranger in Iraq and Afghanistan and my experience in business will put me in very good condition."
Cotton's office doesn't dispute that he has referred to himself as an Army Ranger in the past.
He is a graduate of Ranger school, which is a grueling two-month course that can last even longer if a candidate repeats or recycles a phase of the school, which is very normal.
The goal of Ranger school is equipped servicemembers to lead in combat situations.
By the very end, they are severely sleep deprived and significantly thinner than they were when they entered the school. For two months, they operate on a delirium-inducing amount of sleep,
little food, and extreme physical and mental exertion designed to find the best of the best.
"Salon's" story described the course as a, quote, "small-unit tactical infantry course that literally anyone in the military is eligible to attend."
Technically, it's true. But being eligible to attend and actually graduating are two very different things.
Ranger school is not summer camp. More than half who go, fail to complete it, according to the Army. Tom Cotton was one of the few who did.
That made him, quote, "Ranger qualified," able to wear a prestigious Ranger tab on his shoulder that he says he wore as an infantry officer in Iraq, serving in the 101st Airborne, which is a storied unit, you may remember if you've ever seen "Band of Brothers."
But there's another path that servicemembers can take after graduating Ranger school. That is getting another assessment and joining an elite Ranger battalion.
This is where Cotton claims about being a Ranger has gotten him into trouble.
The folks who serve in Ranger battalions are indisputably U.S. Army Rangers. And they can get bent out of shape if someone who did not serve in a Ranger regiment, like Cotton, refers to themselves as a Range, even if you passed the school.
Like this Democrat Congressman Jason Crow, who served as a Ranger in the 75th Ranger Regiment.
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REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): Brianna, I'm deeply disturbed with the level of comfort our nation is getting to with respect to the truth and misinformation or disinformation from their elected officials.
I think it's really important that we let the truth be known, that the truth is still important in America, and with respect to public service.
And, in this instance, Senator Cotton exaggerated his service. I thought it was important to point out.
No, not stolen valor. Stoven valor is a different thing. That's when people say they received awards or commendations that they didn't receive.
I think it's really important that I say that Senator Cotton's service is legitimate in its own right.
Really, I wonder, I struggle with why he felt like he needed to puff his service up and claim he was a Ranger, because he's a combat veteran, an infantry officer as I was, served in a storied unit. He didn't need to do this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: After the "Salon" story broke, Crow tweeted Senator Cotton with a picture of himself saying, "Unless you wore one of these berets, you shouldn't be call yourself a Ranger. Truth matters."
Retired four-star general, Tony Thomas, a former head of Special Operations Command, and a legendary Ranger, criticized Crow. He tweeting to him, "You are a congressman now. Act like it."
And he called it a dumb debate.
But here we are. This issue has been widely discussed. It's important to nail down the facts here. It's not the first time this has become a political football.
Most recently, in last year's New Hampshire Senate primary, both candidates, Corky Messner and General Don Bolduc, were Ranger qualified.
But Messner's campaign described him as a Ranger.
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ANNOUNCER: As an Army captain and Ranger during the Cold War, he led men in our battle against Socialism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Now, Bolduc rebuked Messner. And Messner clarified to the "Washington Post" he was not in a Ranger regiment. But je defended himself, saying there are different views on this issue within the military.
And reflecting the nuance of this issue, "The Washington Post" gave Messner's claim two Pinocchios out of four.
Rangers are the premiere infantry raiding force in the world. They're a strike force. Think, sliding down ropes, dangling from helicopters in the middle of the night, kill-and-capture operations in search of high-value targets.
Maybe the best pop-culture reference her would be "Blackhawk Down." Perhaps you've seen the movie "Platoon." That is infantry.
Tom Cotton served as an infantry officer. Infantry are frontline combat units. So think day to day patrols. In Baghdad, in Cotton's case, on the lookout for IEDs, suicide bombers, manning checkpoints, working with local police and soldiers. It is hard. It is dangerous work.
[14:49:59] Which is all to say, why wasn't that enough for Senator Cotton when he spoke about his military service during his first campaigns for office?
Senator Cotton, who has served this nation heroically, who has engaged in direct combat with the enemy.
Why did he knowingly run the risk of being called out for being less than fully accurate about his honorable service?
Notably, Cotton's description of himself as an Army Ranger is one he has stopped using the way that he did in his early elections.
Even while he defended doing it in his past in his appearance on FOX Monday, just days ago, he did not repeat his past claim that he's a Ranger.
We've extended an invitation to Senator Cotton to come onto the program. He, so far, has passed on that. But, again, he is welcome to join us.
And the likelihood that former President Donald Trump will be convicted for inciting an insurrection in our nation's capitol is very slim.
All but five GOP Senators voted against the constitutionality of the impeachment trial yesterday. That signals there won't be enough Republican support, nor close to it, to support convicting, unless witnesses are able to sway their opinions, and that's very much in doubt.
There is another way that Democrats may try to hold Donald Trump accountable, and that is a bipartisan censure.
I want to talk now with the Democratic Senator from Virginia, Tim Kaine.
Senator, today, you said you drafted a resolution pushing for this alternative. Some of your Democratic colleagues are pouring some cold water on the idea.
So where does this stand? And why do you think that this is way to go?
SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): Well, I think, Brianna, having alternatives on the table is important. There has to be accountability for the actions of January 6th, including accountability for the president who fomented this violent attack on the capitol.
I've put an alternative on the table for folks to consider in lieu of or after. It's just an alternative and I want folks to contemplate it.
Here's what it does. It declares that the attack on the capitol was an insurrection against the Constitution of the United States. It was an effort to stop Congress from undertaking its constitutional duty to count electoral votes. It then finds that President Trump gave aid and comfort to those who
carried out the insurrection by repeatedly lying about the election, slandering election officials, pressuring others to come to Washington for a "wild event." And then encouraging them to come up to Congress.
Those two findings, that it was an insurrection that President Trump gave aid and comfort to the insurrectionists is language pulled right out of Section III of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
That amendment says that anybody who has taken an oath to defend the Constitution, who either engages in an insurrection against the Constitution or gives aid and comfort to those who do, will be barred from office again.
This is an alternative that -- that would impose, in my view, a similar consequence. But it does not require a trial, and it does not require a two-thirds vote.
And so that's what I have crafted. I'm contemplating an introduction next week. I'm still talking to other Senators about it.
But I think it's important for the Senate's leadership to understand that there are alternatives. If we can't get to 67 votes for impeachment, there may be another way to hold President Trump accountable.
KEILAR: I mean, it also kind of sounds like an admission that you very likely -- I mean, this is what's apparent from what you're hearing, that you won't get to 67 votes.
Do you think it's harder for Republicans and are you trying to make it harder for them to, you know, to -- is it harder for them to say no to a censure than it is for impeachment?
KAINE: I would say, Brianna, it's not an admission but it's a recognition. The vote that took place yesterday was extremely clarifying.
As you've reported, Senator Paul put a question to the body and basically said it's unconstitutional to have an impeachment trial and convict someone, who is a former office holder.
Now legal scholars actually have a wide range of opinions on that. And I think the best scholarship suggests that you can have such a trial.
But 45 out of 50 Republicans yesterday voted in support of the Paul proposition, that it is unconstitutional to impeach a former office holder.
I think all of us in the chamber understood that once you voted that it's unconstitutional to try a former office holder, the evidence is unlikely to change anyone's mind.
If that's the case, we're at least 12 votes short of the two-thirds needed for impeachment.
So we have to sort of grapple with, if we want accountability, how do we want this to end.
Do we want it to end with Trump acquitted again, or do we want to have it in with Senate input that finds that - and censures President Trump and finds it was an insurrection and possible bars him from holding office?
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KEILAR: Do you have at this point.
KAINE: -- alternative -
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KEILAR: Do have any Republicans on board for this alternative?
KAINE: I'm intending to file next week. I'm not going to file it if I can't file it bipartisan. And I think I'll be able to.
But I can say right now, as I'm, you know, this day Thursday, I don't have 10 Republicans that have said they will do it. The idea though is to see if there's an alternative --
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KEILAR: Do you have any?
KAINE: Yes. You'll see me file it, and it will be bipartisan.
KEILAR: All right. Senator Kaine, thank you so much for joining us. This is some interesting developments.
KAINE: Absolutely, Brianna.
KEILAR: Appreciate you being on.
We have some breaking news ahead. A government warning about potential violence by domestic extremists upset by Biden's election.
Plus, new details on the vaccine rollout. And how the Biden administration plans to ramp up the number of shots states are receiving.
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BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: You are watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thanks so much for being with me.
We're seeing the Biden administration begin a process of undoing, so to speak, in these last four years, and crises they say were exacerbated by former President Donald Trump.
First, as the nation's vaccination process continues to disappoint, long lines, gridlocked, appointment times, only 23.5 million administered out of the over 44 million distributed.
[14:59:57]
The White House Task Force, though, is promising they will ramp up vaccinations to states by 16 percent immediately. That's in addition to the 200 million doses that the president just committed to purchasing by this summer.
