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January 6 Committee Votes to Subpoena Trump for Testimony, Docs; Jury Rejects Death Sentence for Parkland Gunman; EU: Russian Forces Will be "Annihilated" If Putin Uses Nukes. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired October 14, 2022 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:29]
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Good morning and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world, it is Friday. October 14th, I'm Christine Romans.
We begin this morning with the January 6th House Committee escalating its showdown with Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): Our institution's only hold when men and women of good faith make them hold.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney closing on Thursday's hearing calling for a vote to subpoena the former president for documents and testimony under oath. Trump is not expected to comply but committee member Jamie Raskin tells CNN's Jake Tapper that if he is innocent he should.
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REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): But even if he thinks that it was a righteous manifestation of pro-Trump sentiment, and he should come forward. If he really wants to be the Mussolini of a mass right-wing populist movement to attack the constitutional order, he should come forward and explain now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: CNN's Jessica Schneider has more from the hearing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHENEY: We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: An extraordinary move from the January 6th Select Committee.
REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-MS): Those in favor will say aye. MEMBERS: Aye!
SCHNEIDER: Unanimously voting to subpoena former President Donald Trump for testimony and documents in their ongoing probe after a hearing where members continued to make their case that Trump is a clear and present danger to democracy.
CHENEY: The central cause of January the 6th was one man, Donald Trump, who many other followed. None of this would have happened without him.
SCHNEIDER: The committee unveiled never before seen footage of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's scrambling to safety as protesters breached the Capitol.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): We've got to get -- finish the proceedings, or else they will have a complete victory. In the hours following, anger and disbelief from Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are putting on their tear gas masks.
PELOSI: Can you believe this? Can you believe this?
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): I'm going to call up the effin' secretary of the DOD.
PELOSI: They are just doing all kinds of, it's really they said somebody was shot. It's just horrendous, and all I believe at the instigation of the president of the United States.
SCHUMER: Why don't you get the president to tell them to leave the Capitol, Mr. Attorney General, in your law enforcement responsibility? A public statement that they should all leave.
SCHNEIDER: The committee also disclosed snippets from the nearly 1 million records that they received from Secret Service, detailing how officials knew days before January the 6th that violence that could have unfolded. And in a December 2016, a Secret Service field office relayed a tip the Proud Boys intended to march into Washington saying that they will outnumber the pleas so that they cannot be stopped. Their plan is to literally kill people, please take this tip seriously and investigate further.
In the days after the election leading up to January the 6th, Trump's own officials repeatedly tried to dispel the false claims of election fraud that Trump continued to repeat.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: Suitcases and ballots from under a table, also a television, totally fraudulent.
RICHARD DONOGHUE, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: There is no suitcase, the president kept fixating on the suitcase that supposedly had fraudulent ballots, that the suitcase had rolled out from under the table and I said no sir, there's no suitcase. WILLIAM BARR, FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL: I told him that it was crazy
stuff and that they were wasting their time on that, and was doing grave, grave disservice to the country. There's never an indication of interest in what the actual facts were.
SCHNEIDER: The committee released new testimony from Trump's former chief of staff and former transportation secretary, both of whom resigned in the wake of January the 6th.
MICK MULVANEY, FORMER TRUMP ACTING CHIEF OF STAFF: I was stunned by the violence, and was stunned by the president's apparent indifference to the violence.
ELAINE CHAO, FORMER TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: At a particular point events were such that it was impossible for me to continue, given my personal values and my Philosophy. I came as an immigrant to this country and I believe in this country. I believe in a peaceful transfer of power.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER (on camera): Immediately after the hearing the president quickly fired off criticism of the select committee subpoena for his testimony of documents, asking on his Truth Social platform why they did not ask him to testify months ago and wondering why they waited until the very end since the committee will likely be disbanded at the end of the year for Republicans when the House.
[05:05:06]
The committee though is saying that it finally moved forward to subpoena Trump since he has prevented many aides from testifying fully, urging them to invoke privilege.
Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.
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ROMANS: Really a remarkable day for the history books yesterday, and CNN has exclusively obtained more of the never before seen video showing congressional leaders as they transformed the Fort McNair military base into their own command center during the Capitol riot. One clip shows Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer begging to secure any help that they could get from the National Guard and local police departments to push back the mob incited by then-President Trump.
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SCHUMER: Okay. Well, D.C. has requested the national guard, it's been denied by DOD. I would like to know a good reason why it's been denied and I apologize.
RYAN MCCARTHY, SECRETARY THE ARMY: Don't apologize.
SCHUMER: Please, the whole capital's rampage. There is a picture of somebody sitting in this chair at the Senate. Shots fired, we need a full National Guard component now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Another clip shows part of a call congressional leaders had with then Vice President Mike Pence to quell this insurrection and finish certifying the 2020 election.
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MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: I'm at the Capitol building, I'm literally standing with the chief of police of the U.S. Capitol police. He just informed me that their best information that they believe that the House and the Senate will be able to reconvene in roughly an hour.
SCHUMER: Good news.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The video was shot by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's daughter Alexandra. She is a documentary filmmaker. It shines a devastating light on Trump's inaction during the riot in the face of the danger posed by that mob.
Two former Trump administration officials have been spotted at the federal courthouse with the grand jury investigating the meeting. The source says Marc Short, former chief of staff to Mike Pence, was compelled to testify to the January 6 grand jury yesterday and it was his second time testifying. Reporters try to talk to him as he left the courthouse.
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REPORTER: So were you with the grand jury?
MARC SHORT, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO VICE PRESIDENT PENCE: We've got nothing for you today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Trump advisor and former national security aide Kash Patel was also seen in the area where the grand jury meets.
Let's bring in criminal defense attorney, Katie Cherkasky. She's also a former federal prosecutor.
Good morning. So nice to see you here.
The former president has posted on his Truth Social that he will respond to the committee's subpoena request at 8:00 a.m. today with a couple of insults thrown in there.
What are the president's options here, Katie?
KATIE CHERKASKY, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, obviously, this subpoena with a unanimous vote from the committee to have Trump respond to this allegations that were laid out here. And I mean practically speaking I do not think that we can expect him to actually come and testify, he can take the Fifth Amendment, can try to fight the subpoena on other kind of constitutional grounds and in terms of being the executive at the time this all went down.
So I would not expect a substantive response from but certainly I think that he will respond in some way.
ROMANS: There was just so much to unpack from yesterday's hearing. Again, Cassidy Hutchinson has been a prominent witness behind the scenes.
Here's what we heard yesterday from her, listen.
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CASSIDY HUTCHINSON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE AIDE: He had said something to the effect of I don't want people to know that we lost, Mark. This is embarrassing, figure it out, we need to figure it out. I don't want people to know that we lost.
Mark, you can't possibly think we're going to pull this off. That call was crazy. And you look to mean just started shaking his head, no, Cass, he knows it's over. He knows that he lost. But we are going to keep trying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: I mean, she is right there in the midst, very close aid to what was happening, how crucial is that testimony?
CHERKASKY: I think her testimony is crucial in terms of showing what the committee has sought out to show which is not only that Trump told people that he did not lose but that he actually knew that. That he accepted that and was not under a missed impression about the status of the legal battles or the chance that he had to really overturn this.
So I think that is very critical including the testimony from her and all of these other folks in his inner circle is I think significant politically speaking.
Now, I do not know in terms of the criminal side of things if that is still kind of the thought of a potential indictment, that is a different conversation. But I don't even know if that is necessary when you show such high level, all the folks that were initially on Trump's side if you will, that changes their own minds and so I think that is the point of the committee. If these people can change their mind, knowing all of this and certainly I think that sends a strong message to the electorate in general.
ROMANS: There was so much yesterday in the January 6 committee and then you zoom out and there are around the Trump orbit some seven different probes going on, this parallel probe for -- with the Justice Department.
[05:10:05]
Do you think the committee has done enough to handle all of this over to the Justice Department to bring charges to Trump at this point -- against Trump at this point?
CHERKASKY: I think that there is a big calculation that would have to be made if they are trying to move forward in a criminal way because a loss -- a criminal loss would be very, very devastating in my mind and I do not know that it's necessary. I think the committee has done an outstanding job in really demonstrating how reprehensible his behavior was. Whether it crosses a line into a criminal act that can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, is a completely different conversation and I do not know if it's even necessary in terms of achieving the goal to keep him out of power if that is really the overarching concern.
ROMANS: All right. Katie Cherkasky, nice to see you. Have a great week, have a great rest of your day. Thank you.
All right. The Supreme Court rejecting an emergency request for Trump to intervene in the dispute over classified documents taken from his Mar-a-Lago home.
The former president asked the justices to reverse a federal appeals court ruling and allow a special master to review about 100 documents marked classified. The court denied the request with no noted dissents. That means for now, documents will remain out of the reach of the special master.
New York's attorney general wants a state court to block the Trump Organization from moving assets. In her to earn a $50 million lawsuit against Trump, Letitia James alleges the former president and three of his adult children were involved in rampant fraud. On Thursday, she filed a motion for a preliminary injunction. The state says that the same day announced the lawsuit against the former president, his company, the Trump Organization incorporated a new entity in Delaware called Trump Organization II LLC.
Police in Raleigh, North Carolina, say that a teenaged gunman is now in custody after an hours-long rampage that left at least five people dead. One of those killed was an off-duty police officer.
Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin calling it a sad and tragic day for her city.
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MAYOR MARY-ANN BALDWIN (D), RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA: We have to end this mindless gun violence that is happening in our country. We have work to do, but there are too many victims. We have to wake up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Police have not determined a motive for the shooting. The identities of the victims have not been released.
Elon Musk now says that his company can't keep paying for satellite systems crucial to Ukraine's fight against Russia. Plus, President Biden trying to put a positive spin on more tough inflation news.
And Parkland parents reeling from a jury verdict that spared the killer of their children from the death penalty.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've let someone off that murdered 17 people in cold blood.
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[05:16:48]
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This jury failed our families today. He should have received the death sentence today.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If not now, the death penalty, than when? When?
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ROMANS: Families of the Parkland school massacre victims inconsolable after a Florida jury recommended life in prison and not death, for Nikolas Cruz. He is, of course, the gunman who killed 70 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in 2018.
More now from CNN's Brian Todd.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We the jury unanimously find the average rating --
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The facial expressions and body language were excruciating, as the sentencing verdict for Nikolas Cruz was already in court. Mothers shook heads, wiped tears, fathers slumped down with heads and hands, or could barely contain their anger.
JUDGE ELIZABETH SCHERER, BOWARD COUNTY, FL CIRCUIT COURT: The jury containing a verdict of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
TODD: Cruz, who pleaded guilty to the 2018 massacre of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida, avoided the death penalty. Victims' relatives pouring out their heartache in graphic terms.
ANNE RAMSAY, MOTHER OF PARKLAND VICTIM HELENA RAMSY: Today, we let someone off, that murdered 17 people in cold blood. How do you describe someone dying, bursting open their head? LORI ALHADEFF, MOTHER OF PARKLAND VICTIM ALYSSA ALHADEFF: I sent my
daughter to school and she was shot eight times. I am so beyond disappointed and frustrated with this outcome.
TODD: Lori Alhadeff's 14-year-old daughter Alyssa was one of 14 students killed that day. As with other victims, Judge Elizabeth Scherer read the jury's fighting, that the aggravating factors of Alyssa's murder, factors which would prompt the sentence of death, outweigh mitigating sentences that would prevent the death penalty.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
TODD: Prompting a modern expletives from her father, and her mother covering her face in anguish.
Ilan Alhadeff later told reporters what he thought of the outcome.
ILAN ALHADEFF, FATHER OF PARKLAND VICTIM ALYSSA ALHADEFF: I am disgusted with our legal system. I am disgusted with those jurors.
TODD: The jury foreman said three jurors voted against the death penalty, one believed they that Cruz was mentally ill. Mental illness was at least 40 mitigating factors the defense presented to pursued jurors that death wasn't the appropriate sentence.
Other mitigating factors? That Cruz had been exposed to alcohol and drugs in the womb, that he had been sexually abused by a trusted peer.
AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: The mitigating factors in this case, particularly those that went to his state of mind and mental health, were critical in sparing his life.
TODD: But those factors only seemed to draw fury from parents like Tony Montalto, whose daughter Gina was shot four times.
TONY MONTALTO, FATHER OF PARKLAND VICTIM GINA MONTALTO: Pressing the barrel of his weapon to my daughter's chest, that doesn't outweigh with the poor little what's his name, had a tough upbringing?
TODD: Another father saying what he now wishes for the shooter.
FRED GUTTENBERG, FATHER OF PARKLAND VICTIM JAIME GUTTENBERG: In prison, I hope and pray here receives the kind of mercy from prisoners he showed to my daughter and 16 others.
TODD: The judge will official be sentenced on November 1st, but she cannot depart from the jury's recommendation of life in prison. The judge has also said in early December date, when victims' relatives can give statements, saying why they believe the depth sentence should have be imposed.
[05:20:07]
But that too cannot change this sentence.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington. (END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: The looks on the faces of those parents are just awful.
All right. Police in Bristol, Connecticut, say two officers may have been lured into a deadly ambush by a fake 911 call. The officers Alex Hamzy and Dustin Demonte, gunned down Wednesday night, about the responding to a report a domestic disturbance between two siblings. A third officer was seriously injured.
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CHIEF BRIAN GOULD, BRISTO POLICE DEPARTMENT: Our men and women of the Bristol to police department for privileged and honored to serve the front lines, and that is what he did last night. They answered a call to duty and responded without hesitation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Police say the suspect was shot and killed at the scene. His brother was wounded. Connecticut's governor has lowered the flags to half staff in honor of the officers.
A suspect in custody in the fatal shooting of a veteran Las Vegas police officer. The county sheriff says officer Truong Thai list killed after he and another officer answered an emergency called about a domestic disturbance. The suspect fired on the officers and fled, he was captured several blocks away.
A judge in Virginia blocking part of the federal law that prohibits the position of the fire alarm, with a serial number altered, obliterated or removed. The judge writing in his opinion, quote, firearms with no serial number are just as bearable as the same firearm with a serial number. Though he did acknowledge the guns with missing serial numbers are likely to be used in violent crime.
U.S. allies put them on notice, in Ukraine, they face annihilation. Dropping to the low for barges to afloat.
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ROMANS: All right. The Europe Union is putting Russia on notice as Putin threatens to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine.
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JOSEP BORRELL, EU FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF: Any nuclear attack against Ukraine will create an answer. Not a nuclear. Answer, but such a powerful answer from the military side that Russia will be annihilated, and Putin should not be bluffing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Russia unleashed more deadly strikes on targets in Ukraine last night including rocket fire in the city of Zaporizhzhia.
CNN's live in central Ukraine for us.
What do we know about these latest strikes? This is been 4, 5 nights in a row now of strikes in many cases against civilian locations.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yeah, I think it's fair to say we're seeing a slightly different pattern, a new pattern, possibly this week since the vast wave of strikes on Monday. There are persistent bids that seem to hit energy or other parts of infrastructure.
But locals when it comes to Zaporizhzhia saying little. I think there is a concern not to provide the doubt of how damaging strikes have been the energy and structure of been here for one of the districts, no top yet of injuries are precisely what kind of damage, but this something Russia's trying to contain this week. The question remains, how many of these missiles do they actually have?
And I should also point out that hitting civilian targets is nothing new. One thing that's remarkable today is that Vladimir Putin is in Kazakhstan for a meeting of regional countries. And he's made an interesting comment, not specifically about the Ukraine war but saying they need goodwill at this point.
He says: Everyone has good will and we need to use this goodwill to the maximum in resolving conflicts. We strive to find ways out of the current situation where this rises. In the past, before the Kremlin say one thing into another.
But now we've heard for a few days, the persistent noise from Moscow about perhaps finding a way out of this. And given the pressure that Putin is under domestically to make a public statement saying that goodwill could be required to find a way out of the situation, that is a change in tone certainly, and over the past days, while they were at least the wave of missiles than nuclear rhetoric that hurt in the past, that has lessened the response in the West to what potentially might occur if Russia uses a nuclear weapon. That's been forceful and public.
You heard the EU for policy chief there. More comments from Putin in Kazakhstan. He's meeting his -- whole new move towards diplomacy by Russia, and it's one that the West and Ukraine has been clear to reject because there was absence of trust about what Russia does at the diplomatic table. They've used in the past does a strolling mechanism.
Winter come to Russia some of the severe trouble on the battlefield. They've just said they're going to evacuate civilians out of the city of Kherson, because supply lines for weeks, or maybe the winter ahead will require greater fighting, but a lot changing, and an odd message now from Putin.
Back to you.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks so much, Nick Paton Walsh, for us in central Ukraine, this morning.
Elon Musk now says his company SpaceX will no longer pay for the portable satellite systems used by Ukraine on the battlefield. The company has spent over $100 million.
