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January 6 Committee Makes Case Against Trump in First Public Hearing Tonight; House Passes Sweeping Gun Reform Package After Recent Mass Shootings; Uvalde School District Officials Address Safety, Counseling Efforts. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired June 09, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour, good morning, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Sciutto.

Tonight is the night that the House select committee investigating January 6th and all leading up to it and all that followed will begin to lay out its evidence. After 11 months of interviewing witnesses, scrutinizing thousands of hours of video, more than 100,000 pages of documents, the panel will hold its first public hearing, this one in prime time. Members say it will make a case that the former president was at the center of a coordinated multistep effort to overturn Joe Biden's 2020 election win.

The committee will present, it says, never-before-seen material documenting January 6th, clips of taped interviews with Trump administration officials, family members as well, also live witnesses who had an up-close view of the rioters in action.

HARLOW: Ahead of the hearing tonight, many House Republicans, including GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, have been all over conservative airwaves, trying to downplay and denigrate the committee's work. But new leaked audio from just five days after the insurrection, coming from McCarthy himself, reveals that he initially really wanted a bipartisan investigation into the attack. Listen to part of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA) (voice over): We can't just sweep this under the rug. We need to know why it happened, who did it and people need to be held accountable for it. And I'm committed to make sure that happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: He did make it happen, he had the opportunity. He directed a member of his own caucus to negotiate with Democrats that came up with a plan. He abandoned that plan. CNN's Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill this morning. Manu, tell us what we expect to see tonight. The committee is promising a lot here, saying they have new evidence, not what we've seen so far. So, what do we know?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. They're saying there's going to be a vast majority of what we are going to see is going to be new, these coming months of investigation, more than 1,000 people who have been interviewed, also 14,000 pages of documents.

And they're going to provide this in this primetime setting detailing all of the information they have her, including new video information, video of depositions of former Trump officials, Trump campaign officials, White House officials, and including potentially Trump family members, talking about January 6th, all of which that the committee hopes will show the American public, convince the American public, that Donald Trump was at the center, connecting him to the violence and the deadly violence of January 6th and all of the efforts to try to overturn the election, putting that all together in a direct line.

Now, we also are learning about all of the concerns that are happening behind the scenes among Republican members of Congress in the run-up to January 6th, including from one congresswoman, Debbie Lesko, who, according to audio that was obtained by The New York Times, raised concerns about what could happen, the violence that could happen, at the hands of Trump supporters on January 6th, just a day before. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEBBIE LESKO (R-AZ) (voice over): I also ask leadership to come up with a safety plan for members. I'm actually very concerned about this because we have, who knows how many hundreds of thousands of people coming here. We have Antifa, we also, quite honestly, Trump supporters who actually believe that we are going to overturn the election. And when that doesn't happen, most likely, will not happen, they are going to go nuts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And, of course, the committee has been interested in a number of House Republicans to come and testify before the committee. Those Republicans have rejected subpoena requests by this committee. We'll see what else this committee might divulge about the discussions that are happening behind the scenes tonight, tonight's hearing.

But at tonight's hearing, we also plan to hear from two witnesses. One of them is a Capitol police officer, Caroline Edwards, who was among one of the first injured by the rioters on January 6th, and the other, a documentarian who was involved with the Proud Boys, watching the Proud Boys, really had firsthand knowledge of those militia groups that breached this building.

So, a lot of new information, we'll see whether they'll able to move the dial forward. But, of course, this is the first of a number of hearings this month, as we're promising a lot of new details about the deadly violence on January 6th.

[10:05:03]

HARLOW: Manu Raju, thanks for that reporting on the Hill.

And at tonight's first public hearing, the January 6th committee is expected to unveil new testimony with Trump campaign officials and members of his inner circle.

SCIUTTO: The committee is trying to make the case, show evidence, that former President Trump was at the center of a conspiracy that took place over many weeks to overturn the 2020 election.

CNN's Pam Brown has details.

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): After a nearly year-long investigation, the January 6th committee will share its findings with the American people tonight. In a preview, aides say they plan to zero in on President Trump.

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): I think that Donald Trump and the White House were at the center of these events. That's the only way really of making sense of them all.

BROWN: Aides said the committee will detect the dots between Trump's election lies, his attempts to stop the transfer of power to President Joe Biden and the violence at the Capitol. While Trump was impeached by the House just days after the riot for inciting the pro-Trump insurrectionists, the committee says it has uncovered more since then.

RASKIN: The select committee has found evidence more than incitement here.

BROWN: The committee has interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses behind closed doors, including Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani, former Attorney General Bill Barr and obtained more than 135,000 documents.

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): We must also know what happened every minute of that day in the White House, every phone call, every conversation, every meeting, leading up to, during and after the attack.

BROWN: The committee is clearly signaling to the Justice Department, which holds the power to charge Trump with a crime related to January 6th.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe it was a conspiracy?

CHENEY: I do. It is extremely broad. It's extremely well-organized. It's really chilling.

BROWN: Just this week, a federal judge again flagged possible evidence of a crime. That same judge issued a landmark ruling earlier this year, finding it was more likely than not that Trump and a conservative lawyer committed a crime and strategizing to overturn the election.

Trump has not been charged with a crime and has denied any wrongdoing. He continues to downplay his involvement in the deadly insurrection while bashing the committee's work as another, quote, witch hunt.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: January 6th, what a lot of crap.

It's another con job, just like Russia, Russia, Russia.

BROWN: But for 187 minutes, committee members say Trump was derelict in his duty, watching T.V. and seemingly pleased supporters were fighting for him, even as Republicans pleaded for Trump to intervene in text messages to his White House chief of staff.

FMR. REP. DAVID RIGGLEMAN (R-VA): It is a roadmap. And I would have to say at this point, I think Mark Meadows is the MVP for the committee.

BROWN: David Riggleman advised the committee, helping to decode Meadows texts among the more than 2,300 messages obtained by CNN. Donald Trump Jr. texting, he has to condemn this shit ASAP. Meadows consenting, I am pushing it hard. I agree.

But it took Trump over three hours to release this recorded video.

TRUMP: So, go home. We love you. You're very special.

RIGGLEMAN: I mean, if you look at the totality of the evidence, it's apparent that, at some points, President Trump knew what was going on.

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BROWN (on camera): Well, the hearings are not only expected to explore efforts to overturn the election results but also the role for far-right extremist groups. One month after the election, Trump tweeted about the protest in D.C. on January 6. The following day, the Proud Boys begin to plan for the rally knowing they might have to break the law to stop the certification of votes. That's according to a plea agreement from one member of the Proud Boys who is now cooperating with the federal investigation.

The DOJ escalating that criminal case this week, charging several leaders with seditious conspiracy.

Pamela Brown, CNN, Washington.

SCIUTTO: Joining me now is Maryland Democratic Congressman and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. Congressman, thanks so much for taking the time this morning.

REP. STENY HOYER (D-MD): Thank you, Jim, good to be with you.

SCIUTTO: First, I want to start with ongoing efforts to pass gun legislation. Senator Chris Murphy spearheading these efforts for Democrats in the Senate told CNN this morning that he believes they can get -- Democrats can get ten Republican votes for a gun safety package. Do you share his confidence? And do you -- can you tell us what exactly is in a package most likely to pass?

HOYER: Well, I can't tell you what's in their package because I'm not privy to their discussions. You know what's in our package. We had six different provisions in a bill that we passed yesterday with bipartisan support that we sent to the Senate.

What I hope is that Senator Murphy is correct and that the Senate can obtained ten Republican votes to overcome a threatened filibuster for provisions that, while will not go as far as I'm sure I would go, I voted to eliminate assault weapons in 1994 and I was against not reauthorizing that in 2004 when the Republicans decided to jettison that.

[10:10:22]

I think that the American people thought that was commonsense. But they think that common sense is also the bills that we sent to the Senate that they have not yet been able to get ten people for, background checks, make sure that there's time to figure out whether somebody has a mental health problem or has a criminal background or is a terrorist. But I thought those were commonsense.

So, I am hopeful that Senator Murphy is right. We have moved ahead. We think we have moved ahead on provisions that the American people overwhelmingly support because they think they will make their kids safer, their families safer, their homes, schools, restaurants, grocery stores safer. Will they eliminate what happens in America? Unfortunately, it will not. But will it make it safer? I think they will.

SCIUTTO: You know, however, despite what polls say, there aren't the votes in the Senate for the vast majority of the things that pass the House. And I just wonder, what is the value with perhaps five months left in a Democratic majority in the House of symbolic votes rather than pushing measures that might actually become law?

HOYER: We haven't found what those messages are yet other than turning our schools into armed fortresses.

Now, look, I'm for having security officers in schools to keep our schools safe. I'm for keeping doors locked. But the theory that if we just give more and more people armed -- whether they're teachers, employees of the school, if we just give more and more people arms, somehow we're going to be safer. That is absolutely not the case. It's not the fact. And this happens nowhere else in the world, not in big countries, not in democratic countries, not in dictatorships, no other country in the world has the gun violence that America has.

And what we -- when you ask me, I don't know what the Republicans will be for. I say facetiously NRA stands for No Republican Action. The Second Amendment, obviously, the Supreme Court said, allows people to have guns in their homes, allows them to hunt. I'm for that. That's fine. What they're not allowed to do is to have criminals have guns, because the court said, you can make reasonable efforts to oversee the use of guns because they kill people. And these are all consistent. What we propose in the House, you say they're message bills. They're not message bills. The message is, the Democratic Party is responding to the will of the American people. They think these are reasonable, important things to do to make the kids safer, their families safer and their communities safer. They're not message bills. They are substantive bills that will make a difference in the safety of our country.

SCIUTTO: January 6, if I can. David Brooks wrote in The New York Times today the following, we don't need a committee to simply regurgitate what happened on January 6th, 2021. We need a committee that will preserve democracy on January 6, 2025, on January 6, 2029.

I don't want to diminish the importance of establishing the facts about not just today but the efforts more broadly to overturn the election, but has Congress missed an opportunity to pass remedies to prevent a similar effort in the future?

HOYER: Well, look, we've just been talking about remedies. You had the overwhelming majority of Republicans vote against setting up a commission, that was a fair commission, in the United States Senate, across the board, equal number of Republicans, equal number of Democrats, to find the facts and provide remedies. They voted against that. So, I don't know whether that's the answer.

But let me tell you who the jury is. The jury is the American people. The jury is the people who are going to vote on 2024 to determine what our policies are going to be in '25. The jury is now going to get the facts. They're going to get testimony. They're going to be able to see for themselves witnesses who say, this is what happened.

They're going to see the facts that the president invited people to Washington. He then spent time inciting those same people. And then he deployed those people to come to the Congress of the United States, to the capital of the free world, if you will, to the symbol of democracy and undermine the election of a president of the United States. That's called treason.

SCIUTTO: Quick question before we g, on another element of the Democrats' agenda, Democrats say they are optimistic about the prospects of a smaller reconciliation package, discussions between Manchin and Schumer right now.

[10:15:01]

Are you optimistic? And what survives in any bill?

HOYER: Well, I don't know the specifics of what will survive because that's going to be, frankly, up to Joe Manchin and the Democrats in the Senate. And, hopefully, we're going to have a number of the pieces survive because they are all good pieces, from my perspective.

Therefore, I've said that whatever the Senate sends back to us on reconciliation, I will urge the members of the House to pass. Because whatever it is, it's going to be positive for American families, American jobs, American businesses and as well for our climate, the existential threat of our age. So that --

SCIUTTO: Understood.

HOYER: I hope that -- I am optimistic. I hope they will pass something. I look forward to dealing with it and send it to the president.

SCIUTTO: Congressman Steny Hoyer, thanks for joining us. I know you have got a busy day before you.

HOYER: Yes. Thank you very much.

HARLOW: Still to come, political disagreements going to the extreme and getting more violent. What this says about the state of discourse in America.

And the republic of -- a replica, I should say. Look at those shoes. You remember seeing them at the White House earlier this week, a replica of a Uvalde victim's green Converse shoes have become a symbol of the tragedy and a call for action now on guns. Listen.

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MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, ACTOR AND UVALDE, TEXAS NATIVE: Maite wore green high top Converse with a heart she had hand-drawn on the right toe because they represented her love of nature. These are the same green Converse on her feet that turned out to be the only clear evidence that could identify her after the shooting. How about that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Next, Maite Rodriguez's cousin, Destiny, joins us on how she wants the world to remember her and her demand for action.

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[10:20:00]

SCIUTTO: Moments ago, officials from the Uvalde school district held a press conference, addressing some safety and security counseling efforts, offering some other updates. They laid out steps to strengthen security, also plans to have police at all summer school campuses.

A key investigative committee for the Texas statehouse has also just begun a closed door hearing to review the response to the shooting that left 19 children and 2 teachers dead. That committee is expected to complete a preliminary report by the end of this month.

HARLOW: Attorney General Merrick Garland has announced that the Justice Department is also investigating the response to the Uvalde massacre. Garland says that came at the request of the mayor of Uvalde who has promised full cooperation.

Well, bottom line, the victims' families want answers. They deserve them and they want action as they grieve the loss of their loved ones. Ten-year-old Maite Rodriguez is remembered as a little girl who was kind, who had a sweet soul. Her family says she was ambitious and friendly, loved animals and the ocean.

Actor and Uvalde Native Matthew McConaughey spoke about her at the White House on Tuesday, highlighting a pair of green Converse sneakers with a heart there on the toe, just like the ones that Maite was wearing when she died.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCONAUGHEY: Maite cared for the environment so strongly, that when the city asked her mother if they could some release balloons into the sky in her memory, her mom said, oh, no, Maite wouldn't want to litter.

Maite wore green high top Converse with a heart she had hand-drawn on the right toe because they represented her love of nature. Camilla has got these shoes. Can you show these shoes, please? Wore these every day, green Converse with a heart on the right toe. These are the same green Converse on her feet that turned out to be the only clear evidence that could identify her after the shooting. How about that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Let me bring in Destiny Esquivel, one of Maite's cousins. And, Destiny, let me just say that you have done just such a beautiful and meaningful job of making sure the world remembers Little Maite, and the hero that you call her. So, thank you for talking to us today.

MAITE ESQUIVEL, COUSIN OF UVALDE VICTIM MAITE RODRIGUEZ: Thank you. Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity, as well.

HARLOW: I was so struck by what you have said about what she was going to become, that she was only ten years old, and she didn't have the chance to become more. And you said, she was everything that I hadn't learned to be. What do you mean?

ESQUIVEL: What I meant was Maite was naturally the way she was. I mean, she was smart. She was ambitious. She was a lot of things I had to learn to be. And a lot of people -- a lot of people you know are -- have to work on certain things as a person. But I can honestly say Maite was just -- I mean, that's just how she was.

[10:25:00]

And that was the best part of her, that if she wanted it, she was going to get it, no matter how hard it was. She was going to put in the work.

HARLOW: Her name has very special meaning. Can you share with everyone what that is?

ESQUIVEL: So, the meaning of Maite means love from an Italian and Hispanic point of view. So, basically, it means love.

HARLOW: I want people to watch a little video clip of the two of you playing around. This is just recent, the last time she came to your house. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ESQUIVEL: I love you, Maite.

MAITE RODRIGUEZ, UVALDE SHOOTING VICTIM: I love you, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: You have said, since she was murdered, that I hope they get it now, talking about the people, the only people with the power to change laws in our country. What do you think lawmakers in Washington owe her?

ESQUIVEL: They owe her a lot of changes to schools, honestly, the whole community. Because they were talking about 19 children and 2 teachers who sacrificed their lives to save them, 19 children whose lives were cut short., whose mothers had to say goodbye, who couldn't get one last hug, who couldn't get one last kiss. And some of them had seen them hours before for award ceremonies. I mean, they deserve more than just condolences or anything else, but we all know that that isn't going to bring them back but we can prevent it from happening to other Americans and to other schools in the United States.

HARLOW: Do you think it will happen this time, Destiny? I mean, I can't believe I have to ask a 15-year-old this question, but you've lived through watching mass shootings on television in schools across the country, and now it's Maite. And I just wonder because they failed to act so many times. Do you think they will this time?

ESQUIVEL: I have hope that they will, that they will make changes, that they will pass laws. But part of me is also thinking if they let it go on for this long, that they could have prevent it from the first shooting that ever happened. What makes them think that it won't happen again?

We can try. We can try to prevent and help and make laws to make a difference in this country. But you look back and you ask yourself, why did you wait so long? This isn't the first time that it's happened. This has been 12 years since the first elementary shooting. So now you ask yourself, is there really a difference?

HARLOW: Yes, that's a good question. Let's end on this. And if you want to lift up your shirt, we see in loving memory, and there's a picture of her there. Yes, there's a picture there. I know you and your family have been wearing those in her honor. And I know that you had a chance to speak with Matthew McConaughey and his wife, Camilla. And I wonder what you said to them, what they said to you and what it meant to see him there at the White House.

ESQUIVEL: I didn't talk to Matthew but I did talk to his wife, as she was getting in the car. And I said, ma'am, and she turned around. And I told her, I was like, she was brave and courageous. I want you to know that. And I want the people to know that, that she just wasn't a little girl who was scared. She was brave. And she turned around and she told me, and she told me that she was going to make sure that people knew that and she gave me a hug and I hugged her back.

HARLOW: I'm so glad --

ESQUIVEL: But I know that Maite would want a change. I know that she is looking down and she doesn't want this to happen to anyone else. I don't want any more mothers to bury their kids because it shouldn't be like that. It shouldn't.

HARLOW: It shouldn't. Destiny Esquivel, thank you very much.

[10:30:00]

You are remarkably strong.

ESQUIVEL: Thank you.

HARLOW: We'll be right back.