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Scalia Death Poses Political Questions; Eliot Spitzer Assault Charges. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired February 15, 2016 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:33:35] JOHN BERMAN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Truly epic political implications this morning following the death of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia. Republicans already said President Obama should not to get to pick the next Justice. They should wait for the next president they say.

President Obama said he will present the nominations. So, what does this mean for the White House? What does this mean in the race for the White House? What does it mean for the Senate?

Joining us now, CNN Politics Executive Editor Mark Preston and, CNN Senior Political Reporter, Manu Raju.

Manu, first of, I want to get the sense of what's going on Capitol Hill. We keep presenting this as what will the Senate do. It seems to me, Mitch McConnell has made crystal clear what the Senate will do. That is nothing. They will not entertain the notion of the President nominating someone to replace Justice Scalia.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, John, actually, McConnell has not ruled that out yet. If you look at this statement from Saturday, he said that the president should not nominate anybody. Anybody does not weigh in yet on whether or not he would allow a vote on the Senate floor.

Similarly, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, that's the committee that would consider on nomination, has not ruled out having a hearing and having a vote in this committee even though he wants the next president to actually nominate someone.

Now, we do think that it's very unlikely that there will be votes on the floor and in the committee. But that has not been something they have ruled out yet, and why, because McConnell has really not taken the full temperature of his conference. There are a number of Republican senators who are in very tight reelection races, particularly in blue and purple states. If they start feeling a lot of pressure and demand a vote that could potentially change the calculation.

[07:35:12] But, as we know, John, it will be hard for the White House to get anybody confirmed in this political environment. They will need a significant amount of Republicans. And right now Republicans really are keeping (inaudible) dry or outright opposed of the president doing anything.

BERMAN: Very hard, for me, in fact, to be an understatement in this case, Manu.

Mark Preston, what Manu says tease me up perfectly for the question to you.

He says the senators up for re-election in key states, purple or blue states. Kelly Ayotte, in New Hampshire, is one of these senators. She has said she does not think the president should pick the next Supreme Court justice. There are other senators, Rob Portman in Ohio, Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania. There are open seat in Florida where there are tough races as well in states that could go either way. How does the Supreme Court pick play in these Senate elections?

MARK PRESTON: Well, it's going to be two ways. It's really a two-step thing. There is the presidential race and then there's a senate race. But what was going to be a sleepy summer here in Washington, is now going to have fire works on Capitol Hills, certainly, as there is going to be a battle over the Supreme Court nominee.

But as you said, several of those Senators as well as senators in Illinois and in Wisconsin, they are all battling for reelection right now. And these are all states that Barack Obama won back in 2012. So, it's going to be an incredible amount of pressure on these candidates, these Republican incumbents, to at least allow a vote, or at least to say they want a vote to happen. The reason being is independent voters might look at this obstruction, or this discussion of obstruction, as more Washington dysfunction, and why Washington needs to change.

But in addition to that, you'll going to see the likes of Ted Cruz, who has argued before the Supreme Court many times and Marco Rubio are going to now insert themselves in the process, two senators who can do so and try to boost their own presidential candidacy. So, we're not only going to see a battle on the presidential race, but as Manu so accurately and independently says, we're going to see this battle here in the senate.

BERMAN: OK. Few questions here, first to you Mark. Just explain quickly to me why Democrats think this helps them in the presidential election but also the senate election, why they like Democrats to the idea of fighting over the Supreme Court nomination.

PRESTON: It's all about rallying your base. It's about looking at your voters and saying, listen, if you don't come out and vote in November, this is what's going to happen. They are going to put another Conservative on the court if we can't put another Democrat into the White House. We need to try to take back the Court. You know, the Court is always a battle, John, over and over again about the future of the country. But I'll tell you what we'll also see Republicans as well. This is going to be a big base rallying argument.

BERMAN: All right, Manu, now explain why the leadership does not want the show of having hearings or might not want the show of having hearings, might not want the show of having a floor vote. What is the image they're trying to protect themselves from showing? RAJU: They don't want the really -- whoever the president nominates, to get a lot of support and get a lot of steam behind their nomination. But I think they would rather put their foot down now and say this is the time we should just punt this until the next election, or until the next president, until the next congress gets sworn in rather than having -- getting a nominee who will get a head of steam and be pushed by the White House.

Now it's similar to what Mark was saying that Republicans believe this is a base rallying cry on their side as well. They could take to the Senate races and say, look, you need to re-elect at a Republican Senate majority because that will be a firewall against a liberal justice. Even if the top of their ticket tanks, they can say a Senate majority will be instrumental in keeping -- preserving a potentially Conservative Supreme Court balance, prevent Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders from that matter from naming a liberal justice. That is going to be a huge argument in all of these states. So that one reason why reason why they want to put their -- put down early, John.

BERMAN: All right, Manu Raju, Mark Preston, thanks guys for being with us. I want to tell both of you and the audience. We did invite, I believe every member -- every Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee to come on the show this morning and talk about this. None said they would do it. It shows you how sensitive this is and what in they're willing to talk about and not talk about publicly. So, that is an interesting note. Guys, thanks for being with us. Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Or how they feel about you personally.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That could be that's it. That could be true.

CUOMO: Just saying. There's always that, want to put out, there is the possibility, I have no real judgment (ph) with myself. Baldwin says she loves you, for what it's worth.

All right, so we've talking a lot about Nino Scalia. His death is huge for the Supreme Court, it has major political implications. But at the first and at the last, this was a man, this was a man who many, many loved. And he had many deep loves himself. Let's discuss who is lost here when we come back.

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[07:43:41] COUMO: To be sure, we have lost a giant my friends. Antonin "Nino" Scalia was a much more than just a Supreme Court justice. He was a beloved family man. He had nine kids. He had rich, deep friendships with all kinds of people that make a mockery of the kind of political distinctions we see today. And then you have his huge, profound, and continuing influence on the Supreme Court as we understand law in this country.

So let's talk about what was lost in the form of this man. We have Byan Garner, He is a professor at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. But he really knew Nino Scalia. He co-authored two books on law and justice with Scalia and considered him one of his most loyal friends.

Bryan, I'm sorry for your lost. I'm sorry that you lost your friend. How is the family doing? How are his friends doing?

BRYAN A. GARNER, PROFESSOR, SMU DEDMAN SCHOOL OF LAW: I think the family is rallying together. And his friends everywhere are in mourning. It's a very difficult time. Very difficult for the few of us, my wife and I, along with our publisher, took a two-week tour of Asia just three weeks ago. So we spent two of his last three weeks with him.

[07:45:03] And having spent that much time, in speaking engagements in Singapore and Hong Kong and seeing him so robust and so strong, this does come as a real shock.

CUOMO: He was a bear of a man. Even if, you know, his statue alone didn't suggest, but certainly his presence did. When he would ask to answer this question about his background he just simply say, I'm an Italian guy from Queens. What was he about inside?

GARNER: Well he was a deep thinker. He was well steeped in the federalist papers and in English literature and legal literature. But he was in outdoors man. He loved hunting. He was a great raconteur. He was able to tell stories second to none. One of his favorite jokes was about congressional representatives and their demagoguery. Well, I might just share it with you if you like.

CUOMO: Please.

GARNER: Well he liked to regale small groups to the story about a public execution in a town square down in Texas where a man is about to be hanged. Back in the 1920s and 30s everybody would congregate. And the mayor of the town comes up tot the man and says, by the way it's a tradition in our town before execution you are allowed to say some words to the group. And he say I really would prefer not to talk but just put me to death. And the mayor said no. Sir, you get to you can criticize the execution or you can criticize the judge you can do anything you like. If you just want to address the crowd. And he said, No I think not, I'd like to just go forward with the execution. At that point a congressman out in the audience said -- yelled up let the man yield his time. And the mayor says, the congressman wants to speak. He would like you to yield his time and the condemned man then said, I don't mind that he speaks but please kill me first.

CUOMO: Very funny. Now when people looked at Justice Scalia, there is a severe demeanor of him on the court, you know, a father, a principal. But when you hear about his friendships whether it was with Associate Justice Ginsburg, or so many others, it seems that people often missed the appeal of the man by just looking at his decisions. You know just that one facet of him.

What do you miss if you just look at Scalia as the Supreme Court judge?

GARNER: He was a warm companionable man who. I've never known anybody that was just so much sheer pleasure to be with. He love to jostle (ph), he loved to cajole. He liked to do a good deal of kidding. But he was a very warm and caring man. On our trip to Asia he came up -- we were sitting probably four or five seats apart from him, my wife and I, we were in business class and he would come up six or eight times just to check on how we were doing. We would go back and check on him as well but a couple of times my wife was sleeping and he came up and shook her and said what are you doing? And she said, well I was sleeping. He said, OK I just wanted to make sure you're OK.

CUOMO: I know this comes as a big shock to you he had recently -- he was tennis player he'd recently told you he wasn't going to play anymore because his shoulder was bothering him. And he was joking that they had lost the giant of the game to tennis. He was ...

GARNER: In fact that was our -- that was our last conversation. He called me Wednesday morning and he announced, Bryan the world has lost -- the world of tennis has lost a great competitor. And he loved that phrase, great competitor. In fact we used that phrase in one of our books, great competitor, it was is a great phrase of his.

And he had though that he had frozen shoulder. We had been going to the gym everyday together in Hong Kong working out. And I had labeled myself his physical trainer. And I was trying to help him get his problems worked out with a shoulder but it turned out that it was a torn rotator cuff. And he said, he would never be able to play again but he -- he was very cheery about it he said, Bryan I can live without tennis. That makes it all the more sad.

[07:50:06] CUOMO: I know, I know that this is a hard loss. He's got such a big family, so many people who love him. And certainly we don't want the man to be lost in just a legacy of being a Supreme Court justice and it's a ...

GARNER: When people talk about Supreme Court justices' as being somehow divorced from the reality of every day society, not Justice Antonin Scalia. He had nine children in all walks of life, 35 grandchildren. And he was as dedicated a family man as you could ever imagine.

CUOMO: And certainly it stands his testimony that when people would ask about him before he would say he was a judge again, he would say I'm an Italian guy from Queens that's who I am.

Mr. Garner I'm sorry for your loss. Your friend will be remembered for much more than just his decisions. Thank you for being with us on New Day, our best to the family.

GARNER: Thank you, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: That was just special Chris, thank you so much. Meantime, former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer finds himself in a bit of trouble this morning. He's facing accusations of assault. We have those details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: This morning an investigation is beginning into whether former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer assaulted a woman at a ritzy hotel in New York City.

According to sources who've talked to CNN, the woman is claiming that Eliot Spitzer choked her. But let's be clear Spitzer spokeswoman denies that completely.

[07:55:04] Joining us this morning to walk through this criminal defense attorney and civil rights attorney Midwin Charles. Hello Midwin Charles.

MIDWIN CHARLES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good Morning.

BALDWIN: Hello Midwin Charles, good to see you. Good morning

CHARLES: Good to see you too.

BALDWIN: All right, so like I said the spokesperson for the governor denying, she says she was choked. She went to the hospital. What is -- No charges have been filed,

CHARLES: Right?

BALDWIN: What is our standard procedure here moving forward?

CHARLES: Well, standard procedure is prosecutors, if they are involved, and the police they are looking at the facts of the case and the extent of her injuries. That usually is what drives an assault charge. And that to me is what this sounds like.

Now, third degree assault in New York usually is defined as the intentional and reckless cause of injury against someone or being criminally negligent with a weapon. It is a minor charge in the sense where it's a misdemeanor. It carries usually a jail time of up to just a year. But that's in the third degree.

Now, here is where it gets interesting is if they are charged with second degree assault that charge is a little bit different. It's a bit more stiff and carries up to seven years in jail. And the distinction is whether or not there are serious injury to the victim.

BALDWIN: Let me move back to the victim in a second, just to be clear and let me read a statement from NYPD.

"Manhattan detectives are currently investigating allegations of an assault which occurred yesterday at the Midtown Hotel. The victim has indicated the subject is Elliot Spitzer. Through an ongoing investigation we are attempting to further establish the identity of the subject and the nature of the incident."

So, according to sources I think at the hospital here telling CNN, she has already -- she came to the hospital with self inflicted cuts to the wrist. He did appear at the hospital as well. And she has already gone home to Russia. So, how would that affect the case if she is not here, if charges were to be filed? CHARLES: Well, I think it would be difficult just from the perspective

of how are you going to assess what her injuries are.

It is possible that you perhaps could look at medical records at the time she went into the hospital. But usually prosecutors like to talk to the victim. They like to get a sense of what happened. And they also like to get a sense of what is the relationship between the two people because that often time will we heavily ask to the credibility. In other words, if you know someone there is a likelihood that perhaps something happened or there may have been impetus for something to occur.

BALDWIN: What about, and I should mention, he used to work here, Eliot Spitzer at CNN, what about past transgressions as an elect official, how would that factor at all?

CHARLES: It may factor into it from sort of court of public opinion, right. I think you may have seen as a cover of today's paper here in New York. You know, he is seen as someone who perhaps is not necessarily of the moral high ground. He was the former governor of New York in 2008. He resigned, some would say in disgrace, because of a prostitution scandal. But it should have no bearing on this particular case. As you know everybody is innocent until proven guilty ...

BALDWIN: Right.

CHARLES: ... and what have you. So, one of the things that the prosecutors and police have to do is work together to ensure or at least figure out what happened. That really is what they have to do,

BALDWIN: Get the facts.

CHARLES: To just get the facts. Get the facts.

BALDWIN: OK. Midwin Charles, thank you so much.

CHARLES: Its good to see you.

BALDWIN: We are following a lot of news this Monday morning. Let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Justice Antonin Scalia was a larger than life presence on the bench.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The American people don't like this obstructionism. That's not going to apply.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a potential minefield for everyone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The next president will pick a replacement for Justice Scalia.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: President Obama should make that nomination. DONALD TRUMP: It's called delay, delay, delay.

This guy will say anything. Nasty guy ...

TED CRUZ: There is more than a little irony in Donald accusing anyone of being nasty.

TRUMP: George Bush made a mistake.

JEB BUSH: I am sick and tired of him going after my family.

TRUMP: The world trade center came down during the reign.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is "New Day" with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Periera.

CHRIS COUMO: CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your New Day this February 15th, 8:00 in the East now. Alisyn and Mich are off. Brooke Baldwin is here. John Berman just won't leave.

So, we have very hard news.

Justice Antonin Scalia is gone. His death is a huge loss for his family and for the Supreme Court. It also sets up an epic political battle. Republicans including those who want the president's job say President Obama should not pick a successor. That should come for the next president.

BALDWIN: The question emerging, Could vulnerable Senate Republicans ask party leadership to reconsider the fight instead of risking losing their majority. All three major branches of government in play to the stakes could not be any higher.

Let's begin our coverage this hour with CNN Senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns there, right in front of the Supreme Court.

Joe Johns, good morning.

[07:55:17] JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Brooke. It's a snowy day here at the United States Supreme Court, the flag is at half stop. Body of Justice Scalia now back in his home state of --