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Fate of January 6th Commission Uncertain, But Unlikely in Senate; CNN Reports, New York Attorney General Investigating Taxes of Trump Organization CFO; Netanyahu Rebuff's Biden's Call to De-Escalate Violence. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired May 20, 2021 - 07:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEW DAY: To form an independent investigation of the January 6th insurrection.

[07:00:04]

Dozens of Republicans joining Democrats, but what happens in the Senate?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN NEW DAY: And New York State prosecutors upping the pressure on a key associate of Donald Trump's as part of a sprawling criminal investigation.

BERMAN: She said what? A new book revealing some choice words during the campaign from Dr. Jill Biden about Kamala Harris.

KEILAR: And Chicago's mayor raising eyebrows with a pledge to ignore interview requests from white reporters. Hear why.

BERMAN: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. It is Thursday, May 20th.

The House approved legislation to create a bipartisan 9/11-style commission to investigate the Capitol insurrection. Next stop is the Senate where its future is very much uncertain. Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said a commission is not needed. He's against it. He's telling his members to reject it.

35 Republicans in the House did break ranks. They defy their leader, Kevin McCarthy, who is working furiously behind the scenes. These 35 Republicans sided with Democrats to pass the bill.

Before the vote, an anonymous letter written by a Capitol Police officer was sent to congressional offices. We want to read the officer's full messages to Republicans in Congress. Quote, we members of the United States Capitol Police write this letter to express our profound disappointment with the recent comments from both chambers' minority leaders expressing no need for a January 6th commission. The brave men and women of the USCP were subjected to hours and hours of physical trauma which has led to months of mental anguish.

If you look around the Capitol building, you still have doors that are broken, windows still smashed, and in some cases, missing. Officers are forced to go to work with a daily reminder of what happened that dreadful day.

KEILAR: It goes on. On January 6th, where some officers served their last day in a U.S. Capitol Police uniform and not by choice, we would hope that the members who we took an oath to protect would at the very minimum support an investigation to get to the bottom of everyone responsible and hold them 100 percent accountable no, matter the title or position they hold or held. It is inconceivable that some of the members we protect would downplay the events of January 6th.

Member safety was dependent upon the heroic actions of the USCP. It's a privileged assumption for members that have the point of view that it wasn't that bad, that privilege exists because the brave men and women of the USCP protecting you, the members.

BERMAN: Lastly, with each passing week, a new revelation about January 6th reveals itself. A new indictment comes to life. Another newsreel of Capitol Police officers being assaulted is released or some breaking news regarding somebody's involvement. With these constant reminders, it is unconscionable to even think anyone could suggest we need to move forward and get over it.

Unfortunately, this letter comes anonymously, because as U.S. Capitol Police officers, we are expected to remain neutral and to do our jobs with honor and integrity. It's unfortunate that our bosses, Congress, are not held at the same standard that we, the USCP, are.

KEILAR: And the letter is signed, proud members of the United States Capitol Police. The author tells CNN it represents the views of more than 40 officers, but a department spokesman says they do not take a position on legislative issues and don't know where this letter came from.

BERMAN: Now, this commission is part of a bipartisan deal negotiated by Republican Congressman John Katko, who reached the agreement based on specific requests from Leader McCarthy. And Katko won concessions from Democrats on nearly all the points.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN KATKO (R-NY): I encourage all members, Republicans and Democrats alike, to put down their swords for once, just for once, and support this bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: And Katko did something remarkable yesterday. Line by line, he dismantled the complaints about this bill made by Republican leadership. For instance --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): This is driven solely by politics and Nancy Pelosi, but we should not be a part of that.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): I made a decision to impose the House Democrats' slanted and unbalanced proposal for another commission to study the events of January the 6th.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now, to that, Katko who wrote the bill says --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATKO: This is about facts. It's not partisan politics. We would have never got to this point if it was about partisan politics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now, some Republicans argue the commission will be controlled by partisan staff hired unilaterally by Democrats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): Every staff members apparently are going to be selected by, guess who, Speaker Pelosi.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:05:00]

BERMAN: Katko, a Republican who wrote the bill, says --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATKO: That is simply not true. The commission creates the rules as a team. They then hire as a team.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: It's not true, Ron Johnson.

Republicans also say the scope is too narrow and it should include the April 2nd attack that killed a Capitol Police officer and the 2017 congressional shooting as well. Katko, who wrote the bill says the commission can.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATKO: If there are other issues outside of this scope, we can look into them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Others argue the commission will interfere with ongoing criminal investigations. Congressman Greg Pence, the brother of former Vice President Mike Pence, the guy they wanted to hang, Greg Pence said, un-ironically, we think, quote, Hanging Judge Nancy Pelosi is hell bent on pushing her version of partisan justice complete with a handpicked jury that will carry out her predetermined political execution of Donald Trump before law enforcement officials have completed their investigation.

Now, Republican John Katko, who wrote the bill, says --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATKO: This commission, by law cannot, interfere with criminal investigations. Criminal investigations alone won't get us what we need like the 9/11 commission concluded. It won't get us the recommendations, the insight, the expertise from the people on the commission who can come in, look at this Capitol security matrix and say, this is what needs fixing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Again, Republican John Katko, who negotiating the deal based on terms provided by Kevin McCarthy, addressed just about every alleged concern by Republicans.

But the thing is maybe it's not the terms of the commission itself that has Republicans worried. Actually, I shouldn't say maybe. We don't have to wonder. Republican Senator John Thune told us exactly what's going on here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD) (voice over): I could be weaponized politically, and drug into next year. Anything that gets us rehashing the 2020 election is a day lost on being able to contrast between us and the Democrat's very radical left-wing agenda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: This all raises the question of how you do say that this commission is slanted when it is written, the legislation written by a Republican.

Let's talk with Manu Raju, who is here in studio with us. It is so lovely to see you here in person. What's really going on here with Republicans?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, this is really all about one thing, which is control of Congress in the 2022 midterms. That is essentially what Republicans, they're saying publicly and privately.

You heard what John Thune said right there. That was my interaction with him. And I asked him, are you concerned that an investigation like this could step on your midterm election. He said there are significant concerns among Republicans that this could be weaponized politically. Now, what does that exactly does that mean? That means that this investigation will carry on -- if it were enacted, would carry on through the course of this year.

They're required to actually report by the end of this year. There is some, concern according to Senator John Cornyn, that this could actually not. They wouldn't meet the deadline. The report could come out in the end of an election year, and then the report would shine a negative light under Donald Trump, about the actions of some Republicans, and particularly members of the House, some Republican senators, and that would undermine their message going forward.

In addition to that, having an investigation keeps the issue in the news, which is, of course, a concern for them because they want to be focusing on the Biden agenda, united behind that, try to fight that going forward.

What they don't want is drip by drip steady headlines and it can raise questions about Kevin McCarthy, the potential next future speaker of the House, having to testify before that committee and give his knowledge about what Donald Trump was doing on January 6th. Of course, they were on the phone that day. All of this they want to avoid. So they would rather kill it right now, take the bad news right now and hope that come 2022, they can talk about something else.

KEILAR: It's politically inconvenient. Okay, all right. So then the question is what's going to happen. If this -- look, this looks very endangered in the Senate, as your reporting shows. What we're hearing from House Democratic leaders is they might do a go it alone approach. What would that look like?

RAJU: Yes. This is something that is under serious consideration from Nancy Pelosi on down the line of the House Democratic side. They do have the ability to create a select committee in the House, creating it by just a simple majority vote. And, essentially, that would be a standing committee of the House by members of the House, the Democrats who control the majority. They have the chairmanship. They have subpoena power. They don't need Republican support to do that.

There would be Republican members on the committee. They have the ability to call hearings and the like and they could report on this. But the reason why Nancy Pelosi and others have not wanted to go down this route is because it would come across or it would be portrayed by Republicans as partisan, because the Democrats would be running the investigation, as opposed to this outside commission, which would be consisted of no members of Congress, which would have equal representation on both sides, equal ability to issues subpoenas, that could carry more gravitas, much like the 9/11 commission would.

[07:10:14]

Which perhaps is the reason why Republicans are more concerned about that and less concerned about a Democratic-led investigation that they could paint as partisan. Nancy Pelosi made very clear, if this fails in the Senate, which it appears likely to do, will probably won't get the 60 votes, at the moment, we'll see some Republican senators are not saying whether they'll come down, but if they don't get the 60 votes, then they'll may do this unilaterally. She said, we're going to get the truth no matter what the Republicans want. But it just may not be exactly how they want to do it.

KEILAR: Yes. But Americans deserve that more equal outside commission, right? History kind of demands this, and we may not get it. Manu, it's great to see you. Thank you so much.

BERMAN: So, a Democratic congressman gave an impassioned speech on the House floor as a vast majority of his Republican colleagues voted against the January 6th commission. Here's Tim Ryan from Ohio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TIM RYAN (D-OH): I want to thank the gentleman from New York and the other Republicans who are supporting this and thank them for their bipartisanship. To the other 90 percent of our friends on the other side of the aisle, holy cow, incoherence, no idea what you're talking about. Benghazi, you guys chased the former secretary of state all over the country, spent millions of dollars. We have people scaling the Capitol, hitting the Capitol Police with lead pipes across the head, and we can't get bipartisanship. What else has to happen in this country?

Cops, this is a slap in the face to every rank-and-file cop in the United States. If we're going to take on China, if we're going to rebuild the country, if we're going to reverse climate change, we need two political parties in this countries that both living in reality, and you ain't one of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Joining me now is Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan. Congressman, if your Republican colleagues are not living in reality, where is it that you think exactly they are?

RYAN: Well, either they're pretending to ignore what's happening or they're living in a world of delusion. I mean we've had members of Congress on the Republican side say that January 6th, there was nothing more than tourists, it was very similar to tourists. I've been working here a long time, interned here, I worked here as a young staffer. I've never seen tourists scaling the Capitol, coming in, breaking doors to get in, talk about hanging the speaker and shooting the vice president or whatever they were doing.

I just think it's living in delusion, and they're putting their own politics, their own political careers in front of the truth and in front of what's needed for America and to protect these institutions. I just think it's shameful. And it's such a sign of the times, unfortunately. But we're trying to get to the truth here. This has nothing to do with partisanship. The people stormed the Capitol. It was an insurrection. And we want to get to the bottom of it. And right now, we don't have a Republican Party that's willing to join us.

BERMAN: This is what Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin says. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: The fact of the matter is, you've been calling it insurrection. It wasn't. You know, I condemned the breach. I condemned the violence. But to say there were thousands of armed insurrectionists breaching the Capitol, intent on overthrowing the government is just simply a false narrative.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: What does that do to your blood pressure?

RYAN: Well, I vented last night, so I feel a little bit better. But this is -- I mean, it's ridiculous. These guys are getting all wrapped around the axle, they're twisted up in knots trying to figure out how to spin this thing. Look, this is not about spinning.

And, look, I think we're at a real crossroads in this country. People are tired of the old way, the old politics, that kind of stuff that you just heard. Nobody believes that. I mean, come on, like the breach? I mean, it's insane. I mean, over 100 Capitol Police officers got hurt.

You know, the trauma here among the rank-and-file members of the Capitol Police is unbearable. These people have been working 16-hour shifts, haven't seen their kids, they have to put up with the insurrection, and they're going to get that from their leadership?

I think it was very well put in the letter that read earlier. I mean, you're ignoring what happened to these cops and their families. You're ignoring the fact that two cops committed suicide. I mean, come on. How could you ignore this for your own political purposes? It's wrong. It's clearly -- I mean, everyone knows what's happening here. And it just reaffirms that the Republican Party right now is not a serious political party.

And I'm a strong Democrat, but we need two major political parties in this country that can argue and debate and come up with thoughtful ideas, again, on how are we going to compete with China?

[07:15:09]

How are we going to rebuild the country? How are we going to make sure health care is affordable? You need two political parties to have that discussion. And right now, we have one that's living in a world of delusion, and it's a slap in the face to American people, and I think most people are seeing through it.

BERMAN: So, to that end, you have some progressives looking at your argument saying, look, if Republicans are not willing to say, water is wet, if they're not willing to vote for something as obvious as the January 6th commission, why would you think that they might come around to something like Joe Biden's infrastructure plan? Why should Democrats hang their hopes on that? Why not just move on?

RYAN: I think it's important for the American people to see President Biden and to see the Democrats, like we did with Congressman Katko. Like he had some legitimate had concerns and our chair, Bennie Thompson, worked those out with him. That's what you do in a legislative body. You try to cooperate, you work with each other, you check your ego at the door, and you get the place you need to get to to get something done.

I think it's important for the American people to see Joe Biden do that. That's why they'll elected Joe Biden, to heal this breach, heal this rift in the country. And I think it's important that he does it. I also think it's important that we pull up at some point when we know that they're just playing politics because we have to make these infrastructure investments, we need to get broad band into rural areas so farmers can practice precision agriculture and our kids don't have to drive to a McDonald's to download their homework and the bridges get repaired, and people go back to work making good, solid middle class wages.

So we got to get to that point. It looks like the Republicans are showing us more and more every day they're not willing to compromise. They want go to the old politics of the past. They want to fight and then raise money off it on the internet, and then blame everything on the Democrats. We're tired of that.

BERMAN: Today, are you, Congressman, saying you want to leave them behind and move forward without them?

RYAN: I think we need to continue the conversation. We were at the very beginning stages of the infrastructure bill. So I think it's okay to continue to have these conversations. We're also moving forward. And at some point when we realize they're not serious, it's going to be time to mark up these bills, we're not going to wait around for them, but we should. Let the American people know we're willing to work with them. That way, it becomes abundantly clear who's not wanting to participate in rebuilding the country and lifting up middle class people and cutting workers in on the deal.

And it's going to be abundantly clear who passed the child tax credit, to give $300 to a kid for working families. It's going to be abundantly clear who sent the money to the local governments to make sure local government can get the lead pipes out and do all the things they need to do to give hazard pay to first responders. It's abundantly clear who helped to get us out of the pandemic.

And so I think that's okay. That's what the American people want. They want us to try. They pay us to try. And they also pay us to get stuff done. And we're going to get stuff done with or without the Republican Party.

BERMAN: Congressman Tim Ryan, we appreciate you joining us this morning. Thank you.

RYAN: Thanks for having.

BERMAN: Brianna?

KEILAR: The Trump Organization's chief financial officer is now the subject of a criminal tax investigation by the New York Attorney General's Office. Prosecutors are turning up the heat on Allen Weisselberg, hoping to get the longtime Trump executive to cooperate with authorities in their probe of former President Trump and the Trump Organization. Weisselberg, it should be noted, is not accused of any wrongdoing.

Here to take a deeper look now into these key investigations in the Trump orbit, Early Start Anchor and CNN Correspondent Laura Jarrett.

Laura, lay this all out for us. LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Brianna. From New York to Georgia, the former president's legal woes have only grown since he left office in January, and those around him now face increasing scrutiny as well.

Let's start in Manhattan, where prosecutors have been investigating Trump's finances for years now, and more recently, poring over his taxes. Prosecutors here are focused on two things, fraud and tax charges. But the district attorney isn't the only one looking at Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LETITIA JAMES (D), NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL : What we are investigating is the fact that the Trump Organization inflated their assets for the purposed of obtaining loans and insurance coverage and deflated their assets, same assets, for the purposes of avoiding and evading tax liability and/or limiting it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: That's New York Attorney General Tish James. And this week, we learned her office has joined forces with the D.A. on a criminal probe of the Trump Organization. That's why Allen Weisselberg matters. That's the company's longtime CFO. He's so key here because prosecutors are not only looking at his role in the company but also his personal taxes.

[07:20:02]

Now, he hasn't not been charged with any crime, but if he ends up cooperating with prosecutors against Trump, that could be critical, as he has handled the company's finances for 40 years.

Another key player here in Trump's orbit, Rudy Giuliani. The former New York City mayor's home and office was raided by the FBI last month as prosecutors try to figure out if he broke foreign lobbying laws when he was Trump's personal attorney.

Now, that's just on the financial side of things, but there's more. The lies that Rudy Giuliani told about the 2020 election when he appeared before state lawmakers in Georgia, well, those lies have peaked the interest of prosecutors in Fulton County, false claims like this one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, ATTORNEY: It is quite clear they are stealing votes. The Republican governor, the Republican lieutenant governor and the Republican secretary of state persist in the continuing and a cover-up of what is a crime in plain sight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: We also know the Fulton County D.A. is conducting a criminal investigation into Trump's call to the Georgia secretary of state. That's the call where Trump demanded that Brad Raffensperger find votes, to use his words, to reverse his loss. Election officials there have been told to preserve documents and a grand jury was supposed to convene back in March.

And, finally, what about all the others that Trump has surrounded himself with? Well, there is former chief strategist Steve Bannon, who was pardoned in a last-minute scramble during Trump's final hours in office, but that pardon, remember, it doesn't protect Bannon from the trouble that he is facing at the state level from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. The same office that's investigating Trump is now looking into a phony crowd-funding scheme, where Bannon allegedly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of money that people thought was going to Trump's border wall on personal expenses.

And then there is Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz facing a sex trafficking investigation by the Justice Department. He has denied all wrongdoing, but one of his longtime associates just agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Brianna?

KEILAR: What a tangled web that is, Laura. Thank you so much for that flowchart, really. I appreciate it.

A new round of violence overnight in Gaza, as President Biden calls on Israel to de-escalate the ongoing crisis. Is a ceasefire truly imminent as some Hamas officials claim?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Do you agree today that you were wrong to oppose bussing in America?

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: No.

HARRIS: Do you agree?

BIDEN: I did not oppose bussing in America. What I opposed is bussing honored (ph) by the Department of Education.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: It got even more heated than that. We all remember that exchange on the debate stage. A new book now reveals what Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden thought about Kamala Harris then.

KEILAR: And the mayor of Chicago vowing to only take interviews from reporters who are black or brown. Why she is posing a challenge to the media.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

KEILAR: At least three Palestinians killed in Gaza overnight as the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants enters its 11th day now. No rocket fire out of Gaza for more than eight hours, had raised hopes for a ceasefire, which Hamas officials say is imminent, but then a short time later, Israel reported impacts in open land. The White House now ramping pressure on Israel for a ceasefire as progressives in Congress introduce a resolution to block arm sales from the U.S. to Israel.

Joining me now is Peter Beinart. He is the Editor-at-Large of Jewish Currents and author of the Beinart Notebook on Substack.

Okay, Peter, where is this? Is a ceasefire really imminent here?

PETER BEINART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The report suggests that there will be a ceasefire probably in the next couple of days. I think that the really important question is not whether we'll get to a ceasefire, but, really, have any of the underlying issues been resolved. I think the answer there is no. This will be a ceasefire but probably just a pause between now and the next conflict.

KEILAR: So what needs to happen during a pause that we seem to be expecting?

BEINART: So, one thing that I think is really important for people to understand is what it's like for the people in Gaza. The U.N. said a couple of years ago that Gaza was unlivable for human beings, very little water, very little electricity, this blockade that has made it really virtually possible for Palestinians to have normal, decent lives. Unless you do something about that fundamental lack of freedom that is producing this deep, deep misery in Gaza, you're going to have continued conflict.

And we know in our own country, our own history, that unless there's basic freedom and dignity for people, it's likely going to be a recipe for violence. And those underlying issues, so far, there's very little evidence either from the U.S. or Israeli fast of an appetite to address those.

KEILAR: President Biden had been pressuring Benjamin Netanyahu to take action here. Do you think that that pressure, which it seems like Netanyahu really just swatted away, seemed to rebuff it do, you think that has helped at all in getting to what seems to be a pause coming our way?

BEINART: No, because the U.S. really hasn't imposed pressure. I mean, the U.S. has enormous leverage over Israel. We give Israel $3.8 billion of virtually unconditional aid, military aid every year. We protect Israel at the U.N. and other international institutions from any international condemnation. We have a lot of leverage over Israel, and yet the Biden administration has not been willing to use any of it to the contrary. He has very specifically said, we will never condition military aid no matter what Israel does.

So when you make a statement like that, you essentially throw away your potential to actually, significantly influence Israeli behavior.

KEILAR: And progressives, to that point, have been trying to stop a $735 million U.S. weapons sale to Israel. They are unlikely to be successful for the reasons that you laid out there. Are they having any success in this pressure campaign? [07:30:00]

BEINART: I think they've laid down a marker for what will be a shift inside the Democratic Party. It's worth remembering that from the 1950s and the 1970s to 1980s.