Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Trump Lawyers Have History of Controversial Legal Matters; CDC to Release Updated School Reopening Guidelines This Week; U.S. Capitol Security on High Alert for Trump Impeachment Trial. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired February 09, 2021 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

DR. CELINE GOUNDER, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST AND EPIDEMIOLOGIST, BELLEVUE HOSPITAL: Because what we were experiencing was a big bump over the holidays, over Christmas and New Year's and before that Thanksgiving, where people were gathering with family and friends in groups without masks, without that social distancing indoors. And so we, of course, experienced an increase.

It is not as bad now. But the problem is that with these more transmissible variants spreading, predicted to be the dominant strain in this country by March, we're going to be in a very different situation in a couple of weeks. This is the calm before the storm.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Which is always so hard for people to handle and manage and kind of wrap their mind around when they just want to get back to some semblance of normal.

And part of getting back to natural is kind of the prevalence of testing. You and I have talked about this quite a bit. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, he has floated the idea of requiring a negative coronavirus test for flying domestically. That is separate from internationally, of course, that has been long discussed and implemented. He told CNN the following that he said the CDC is looking at all of its options.

The CDC director in the recent briefing didn't seem to rule it out straight up. Do you see the value of that testing before flying domestically?

GOUNDER: It is not just about the potential transmission that could happen in the airport or on the airplane. A lot of the transmissions are also by people traveling from one place to another and it is on the ground after they leave the airport. So there is value, not just to make the flying itself safer, but also to reduce the spread from, say, one state to another, one city to another of the coronavirus transmission.

BOLDUAN: As the vaccines become more widely distributed, does the country -- does the Biden administration, do you think, need to weigh in kind of just on the concept of not testing but I'm talking about vaccines now, of requiring vaccines to do certain things to, let's say, like traveling or going to school or other activities?

GOUNDER: I don't think there can be a requirement to vaccinate right now because we simply don't have enough vaccine for everybody who wants to get vaccinated right now. I think we will by sometime this summer.

You also need the FDA to fully approve the vaccines. Right now, we have emergency use authorizations. They're continuing to gather data as the vaccines are being rolled out and that additional data will eventually be submitted to the FDA for a full approval. So when those two metrics are hit, you have enough vaccine, you have the full approval, then there might be some considerations to those kinds of mandates.

I think, ideally, people would be stepping up to get vaccinated. Mandates do sometimes backfire because people feel like it is being imposed on them as opposed to their choice to do, but it is certainly an option down the line.

BOLDUAN: Great to see you, Doctor, thank you for your time.

We have this just coming into CNN right now. The NTSB is now releasing what could be the final determination of what caused the crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others. According to the board, the pilot of the aircraft appeared to violate bad weather flying standards that day, abandoning his training and possibly becoming disoriented in the clouds before slamming into a hillside.

Investigators believe that the pilot may have felt pressure to perform for his high-profile client. The NTSB is meeting right now to make a final determination. It is really unbelievable to think that was January 28th of 2020 when that horrific crash occurred, really, one year ago.

Coming up for us, new details on legal team defending President Trump, the other high-profile clients that they have also been linked to.

And make sure to stay with us, everyone. CNN special coverage of the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump is beginning at the very top of the hour. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:35:00]

BOLDUAN: Former President Trump will not be in Washington as his second impeachment trial begins in just hours. He is leaving his defense entirely up to his legal team now led by Attorneys David Schoen and Bruce Castor. Both signed up just two weeks ago after Trump's previous team abruptly quit.

His new attorneys might not be household names for most of us, really, but some of the controversial figures they are linked to will be Roger Stone, Jeffrey Epstein and even Bill Cosby.

CNN's Jim Acosta and Kaitlan Collins, they're here with much more on this.

First, Jim, who is Trump's legal team? What does it say about what to expect over the next few days in this trial?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they're not the household names, Kate, that we've seen at the first impeachment trial, people like Alan Dershowitz, Jay Sekulow and Pam Bondi, they are not involved at least publicly in Trump's defense team effort during this second impeachment trial. The two attorneys that are taking the lead on the Trump impeachment team this time around are David Schoen and Bruce Castor.

David Schoen represented Roger Stone as he was going through the legal process, vis-a-vis the Russia investigation.

[11:40:01]

He also met briefly with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex trafficker who committed suicide. He also has been a fixture on conservative media. You've seen him probably earlier over the last several days on Fox News and so on. That is likely where Donald Trump saw David Schoen.

And then Bruce Castor, he is a former prosecutor from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and at one point, notably, declined to prosecutor or seek charges against Comedian Bill Cosby for sexual misconduct in that case. And so they are somewhat well-known but not as well known as we've seen with previous Donald Trump legal teams.

In addition to that, in terms what we could expect during the impeachment trial, Kate, and I think it is very much laid out in this Trump legal brief that was filed yesterday in response to the House impeachment managers as we get ready for this trial to start in just about 90 minutes from now, they are essentially going to hinge or hitch most of their arguments on this idea that Donald Trump could not be convicted at a trial after leaving office, that he's now a private citizen.

Legal scholars say obviously that is not the case. You can convict and remove and disqualify somebody from office after they're no longer president of the United States. But that is going to be what a lot of Republican senators are going to latch on to now to essentially dodge the question, the ultimate question of whether or not Trump incited this insurrection, which, of course, the president's legal team says he didn't do that either.

BOLDUAN: Right. And, Kaitlan, you have some new reporting on, really, this kind of confusion behind Trump's -- one of Trump's attorneys, his sudden change about holding proceedings during the Sabbath as he's an observing Jew. What are you learning?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you saw, we got that letter late last night that he set two top lawmakers saying he no longer needed the trial to be delayed or suspended during the Sabbath because, of course, his religion, and said he would just sit it out and that he would instead observe the Sabbath and let the other attorneys take over during that time.

And I'm told that had to do with some prompting by the president because he was concerned that if they did pause Friday night and Saturday and not start back until Sunday, then it could cause this trial to go even longer than they believe it's going to.

And what we've seen from the president and his team and Republicans is a clear sense that they would like to get in wrapped up sooner rather than later. That's a feeling echoed here at the White House by President Biden.

And one reason that former President Trump wants that to happen is, Kate, he's ready to move on with his post-presidency life, which I'm told is likely to include paid speeches overseas, a lot of domestic rallies here at home targeting those he believes have crossed him politically. So expect for that to happen.

We aren't expecting him right now to come to Washington to watch this trial. Though, of course, his team is here. They did a walk through on the Senate floor yesterday, almost identical to the one that they did just a year ago. It's so remarkable that this is happening again just a year later.

But, of course, one thing that is going to be hanging over all of this and that we're going to be discussing while talking about the influence that the president has on the Republican Party, is just that and how that factors into the decisions by these senators of what they're going to do.

And one example that they are fully aware that Trump isn't going anywhere, when the House Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy, went to Palm Beach to meet with the president in Mar-a-Lago. I'm told that he sought to get access to President Trump's donor list. Of course, knowing that is going to be important to them as they are trying to take back the House in 2022, Kate.

BOLDUAN: That seems like the least surprising thing coming out of all this, that they wanted access to a donor list. It's good to see you both. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it, guys.

Coming up for us, the CDC has said to expect very soon new guidance on how to reopen schools safely. What will they include and will they convince parents and teachers it is safe to get back to the classroom?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:45:00]

BOLDUAN: This week, possibly as soon as tomorrow, the country could finally get some answers to one of the most difficult questions throughout the pandemic, how and when to reopen schools safely. The CDC promising to lay out its guidelines for getting kids back in the classroom. So what is it going to take? And very importantly here, a key part of this equation is will teachers agree as we've seen local leader go to battle with teachers unions in some of the largest school districts already, like Chicago and San Francisco. Joining me right now is an important voice in this, Randi Weingarten. She's the president of the American Federation of Teachers, one of the largest teachers unions in the country. Randi, thanks for coming in.

When the CDC comes out with this guidance for schools, it could be as soon as tomorrow, what will you do with the guidance once it is out? Is that the roadmap for all of your members?

RANDI WEINGARTEN, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS: Well, I think it is a huge piece of it, Kate. I think that -- let me just say, we've been trying to get unequivocal guidance and the resources since last June, our union actually put out a plan last April. So I think that the guidance from CDC, which this president, unlike the last one, will actually wrap himself around because of the science of it, is going to be a huge step forward.

And then just like with vaccine hesitancy, we have to meet fear with facts and then we have to get vaccinations into people's arms, teacher's arms and other educator's arms as quickly as possible to actually have another layer of protection.

BOLDUAN: One of the things that we do know is we have heard some indicators from the CDC, right? We know that the director, Randi, has already said that vaccinations, she doesn't think are needed to be a prerequisite for safe reopening for teachers.

[11:50:02]

So if that is what the science is telling the CDC director, are you okay with that not being a factor in reopening if other measures are in place?

WEINGARTEN: Well, let me be clear about this. Being -- there is a difference between being a prerequisite and being a priority. So, for example, with hospitals, it wasn't prerequisite for medical personnel to have a vaccine. But because medical personnel are so essential and educators are so essential, we need them to be a priority and to align in-school learning with educators who wanted to get those shots. And I think that's what the CDC director will say repeatedly. That's what being in prioritization 1B means.

So I think that you -- to answer your question --

BOLDUAN: But, really, what distinction there is -- just a quick tweak about is that those hospital workers, they were showing up with or without vaccines.

WEINGARTEN: Well, what I'm saying is that -- look, my sister and my brother-in-law are both emergency room docs. I've watched this and we have 200,000 nurses in our union. So I've been watching this from Front Street, and they have been amazing. There are tons of educators that are in school right now.

And so what we need -- this is not a binary choice, Kate. This is how do we make sure that in-school learning happens, because we know how important it is, and how do we make sure that everybody is safe? What the vaccines do, it is a layer of protection so that essential workers, when you have huge community spread, are protected outside in their communities as well as doing their work.

BOLDUAN: Yes. There are some districts now that are talking about having mandatory summer school, Randi, to make up for the learning loss that has happened in the last year. Do you support that?

WEINGARTEN: I support a very aggressive summer school program. There is no one that I've talked to who says mandatory summer school. They know that it needs to be a voluntary, super-charged program. I have been calling it a second-second semester. But it needs to be about enrichment and joy. Because our kids have been so deprived for so long, it can't simply be remediation.

And I think, in Biden's plan, there is a lot of money that is set out for this kind of, you know, learning recovery, and that's part of why it's so important to pass Biden's -- the president's rescue plan.

BOLDUAN: But not mandatory, you don't think it's necessary in order to make up for what was lost in the last year?

WEINGARTEN: Look, Kate, it's really -- there is a lot of -- there is a lot of things that are necessary. Social/emotional learning is necessary. There is a lot of things that we need to do to make up for what has happened. But the point is, there is a lot of wealthier kids that go to camp. We should make sure that other kids can go to camp. We need to actually have options for parents and for educators to actually deal with all of the loss that people have faced.

BOLDUAN: I think the way you talk about it is meeting feels with facts is an important thing, and where you've got a really tough job ahead, Randi. Thank you for your time.

WEINGARTEN: You're welcome, Kate, thank you.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, authorities are ramping up security ahead of the impeachment trial. We're going to have more on what's being done to protect the U.S. Capitol. We're just moments away from CNN's special live coverage of the impeachment trial of Donald Trump. Stay with us. We're going to cover every moment of this unprecedented moment in American history.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:55:00]

BOLDUAN: Following last month's riot, any major event on Capitol Hill is now requiring increased security, unfortunately. The second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump is no different. The Capitol is taking extraordinary security measures to ensure the safety of everyone on Capitol grounds during the trial. It's a painful reminder of the violence that took place on January 6th.

CNN's Whitney Wild, she is joining us now. She's watching these developments in Washington for us. Whitney, what kind of security measures are we talking about here? WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they really stretch from the very heart of the Capitol all across the country. Inside the Capitol in Washington, D.C., impeachment managers are flanked by a security detail. Access to the Senate is highly, highly regulated. It's very tight security within the confines of the Capitol building itself.

Outside, if you look at any of the windows from inside the Capitol looking outward, you would see eight-foot, non-scalable fencing with barbed wire on top. And then along that fencing, you would see National Guard troops patrolling the entirety, virtually, of the Capitol complex. That's just here in D.C.

Across the country, federal officials are using every tool at their disposal to try to root out anybody with an inclination to commit the kind of violence we saw on January 6, and, Kate, that includes federal officials actually contacting suspects if they have any kind of indication that they are interested in reorganizing and, again, committing another act of violence.

It's important to note that law enforcement tells us here at CNN that they don't have any specific credible threat. There is no reason to think that there is an organized attack that is imminent, but it's important to note that they are looking for any signs that this security posture in the district is capable of handling.