The School Shooting survivor she harassed. David hogg will join us next hour. Instead, she seems to blame some giant, mystical force that allowed her to believe it all and repeat it all and lie all over the place. And that leads us right to the second trump Impeachment Trial. House managers making a highstakes gamble, asking the former president to testify. Mr. Trumps defense Team Shooting down that idea. And breaking this morning, moments ago, Vice PresidentKamala Harris cast a tiebreaking vote to pass a Budget Resolution that allows President Bidens 1. 9 trillion Coronavirus Relief package to go forward without republican support. Joining us now, cnns senior political reporter, niamalika henderson, and cnn political analyst, david gregory. And nia, you say, Marjorie Taylor greene, while she lost her committee assignments, you say qanon won and keeps winning. Why . I think thats right. Even if you listen to her words in that speech, at some point, she equates the media with qanon, and says that both are equally guilty of presenting truths and lies. So the question there is, what are the truths. She thinks that qanon is still presenting and whether or not she believes him. I think its pretty clear from that speech if you were somebody who is qanon, you saw in her a fellow traveler. The problem here, i think, for the Republican Party, and more broadly, of the country, is that there is no moral authority in the Republican Party that is going to stand up to her. That ship has sailed. Kevin mccarthy and other leaders in the Republican Party had a chance to do that when she was bubbling up in those republican primaries, in georgia. They passed on that opportunity. And of course, more importantly, the head of the Republican Party is a kind of messianic figure among qanon followers. So he, of course, is not going to reject them or denounce them. In fact, he has all but embraced them. Certainly embraced Marjorie Taylor greene. So this is a real Inflection Point for the Republican Party and for the country. They have essentially opened the door to Conspiracy Theorists like Marjorie Taylor greene. These are dangerous ideas. The fbi has called qanon a domestic terrorist threat. And so this was a real missed opportunity. And it came down to democrats to be the kind of authority there and say, this will not be present on these committees in congress. But going forward, i think youll see these Conspiracy Theorists flourish in the Republican Party. Much different from what happened in the 1960s, when there were leaders of the Republican Party who said no to the birchers and kicked them out of the Republican Party. Remember when the Republican Party liked to claim the mantle of personal responsibility. They felt they were for personal responsibility. The ethical pretzels they have now had to twist themselves in to support Marjorie Taylor greene are almost as tortured as the language that she used yesterday in trying to explain why she used such violent rhetoric. Let me just play it for you so you can try to parse it. I was allowed to believe things that werent true. And i would ask questions about them and talk about them. And that is absolutely what i regret. Because if it werent for the facebook posts and comments that i liked in 2018, i wouldnt be standing here today and you couldnt point a finger and accuse me of anything wrong. She was allowed to believe them . By whom . Whos controlling her mind . Did her mom and dad allow her to believe that . Was it Kevin Mccarthy . Or who who was the adult in the room who allowed that . Look, its sad that someone like representative greene can become a congresswoman. But the bar is low. And by the founders, that Something Like this could happen. So thats a reality. I would underline everything that nia just said, because i agree with it. And i was thinking this morning, as we were coming on, imagine this were 2002. Way back in 2002, still much fresher off the 9 11 attacks. Dennis hastert, republican, was Speaker Of The House. Can you imagine what would have happened to a democrat who said that 9 11 didnt happen or that there was no plane that was flown into the pentagon. Theyd be out in a new york minute. And thats because that was the prevailing views of the time that would not countenance those kind of conspiracy views. Whats different now is Republican Leaders want very much to court greenes supporters, trumps supporters in this party. They will condemn it, but they dont want to strip her of her committees, because mccarthy wants to be Speaker Of The House and feels very strongly that hes got to have this element of crazy in the Republican Party in the fold, in that tent he talks about, in order to prevail. And thats what trump believed and thats how he acted, as well. So really this is a risky move for democrats. Theyre assuming this risk to take this action against another party. But it is risky and its simply a reflection of the fact that republicans, the leadership refused to come down as hard as they should have on a member who would espouse these this nonsense. The 2002 point is such a good claim. You couldnt even say french fries back in 2002, 2003. Oh, my gosh. Think about that for a second. It was just absolutely unimaginable. And its why, by the way, that some of the republicans who did vote to the remove Marjorie Taylor greene come from new york, the Staten Island members, members from new jersey, members from south florida, the republican members for whom parkland is close by. Because they know it, because they were there. You cant say this stuff out loud when you live through it like that. In terms of what this means for the party going forward, nia. I was struck by republican senator ben sasse, who is dealing in his state with a move in the party, the nebraska Republican Party wants to censure ben sasse, whos got like a million percent conservative voting record. I mean, no one questions ben sasses conservative credentials and they want to censure him, because he has supported in the past the notion of impeaching or convicting maybe even the former president. Listen to how sasse is making his case. You are welcome to censure me again, but lets be clear about why this is happening. Its because i still believe, as you used to, that politics isnt about the weird worship of one dude. The party could purge trump skeptics, but i would like to convince you that not only is that civic cancer for the nation, its just terrible for our party. The weird worship of one dude. That really does sum it up. It really does sum up where the Republican Party is right now. I described donald trump as messianic figure. To qanon, hes a messianic figure. To republicans, more broadly. You saw Kevin Mccarthy go down and get his Marching Orders from donald trump. And he, of course, hung very heavily over all of the Marjorie Taylor greene proceedings there. Marjorie Taylor Greene is Donald Trumps girl. And that is why a lot of those republicans didnt want to cross him. Those are the same republicans who told the big lie about the election, which of course led to what we saw on january 6th and which will lead to an Impeachment Trial in the Senate Next Week of this president. Republicans cannot quit donald trump. Its not clear that they have much of a kind of governing philosophy. What is the ideology of the Republican Party at this Point Beyond Trumpism . Its hard to really say, so now people like sasse, people like lisa murkowski, people like susan collins, theyre the fringe of the Republican Party. And then people like jim jordan, even Marjorie Taylor greene wi, i would argue, are much closer to the mainstream of the party. So you have these moves all over the country to censure people like cindy mccain, censure people like ben sasse, censure the folks like liz cheney, who will certainly face a primary in her state, because she voted to impeach this president. So, listen, we always talk about this war within the Republican Party. There really isnt a war. Its sort of been settled and settled around the ideology and the persona of donald trump. David, lets talk about what happened this morning. Vice president Kamala Harris was the tiebreaker to advance the procedure that allows joe biden to go it alone with democrats, to get that 1. 9 trillion relief, covid relief, for americans. And so have any voters ever punished any president for giving them 1,400 . Is this a risk for joe biden . I dont think its a risk in this respect . One, i think the American People recognize the need for government to step in and provide this kind of relief. Two, dick cheney said 20someodd years ago, my second reference now to the bush years, that deficits dont matter. And of course, trump ran up huge deficits. I dont think thats the immediate concern. So the American People support this. The president wants to go big and he wants to go fast. And i think, again, the calculation there is, when there is a turn in the economy, that they will reap the benefits. And those who sat on the sidelines will not. And thats the i think thats the political calculation. The realworld calculation is, youve got to pump money out there for vaccinations to be distributed for schools to fully open, and to help people get back on their feet that have been devastated. So in that respect, i think this is any Political Risk is certainly worth taking. Theres an interesting contrast that has developed between the white house and whats going on in congress. While everyone else is talking about Marjorie Taylor greene and impeachment and everything else, the white house has continuously pushed forward this relief bill. And they may be able to show theyve produced something at the end of it all and it could benefit them politically, and as you say, more importantly the question will be, whether it benefits the American People in this situation. David gregory and niamalika henderson, thanks so much. Major developments in the Impeachment Trial to have the former president. He has refused to testify, but what do we know about which witnesses, if any witnesses, will be called . Next. Wanna build a Gaming Business that breaks the internet . That means working night and day. And delegating to an experienced live bookkeeper for peace of mind. Your books are all set. So you can finally give john some attention. Trusted experts. Guaranteed accurate books. Intuit quickbooks live. Upbeat music transitions™ light under control. 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That offer was quickly rejected by mr. Trumps defense team. In response, lead impeachment manager, congressman jamie raskin replied, quote, we reserve any and all rights, including the right to establish at trial that your refusal to testify supports a strong adverse inference regarding your actions, end quote. Joining us now is cnn contributor and republican election lawyer, ben ginsburg. Ben, explain this. Should they subpoena former President Trump to testify . Do they want him to testify . Would that be helpful to their case . I think they want him to testify. It would be helpful to their case, because republican senators are now going to rest their vote against impeachment, on the very processoriented, the proceeding isnt constitutional. But honestly, the subpoena is not a realistic tool for them. Remember that democrats in congress have subpoenaed any number of Trump Administration officials over the past four years, and really, Trump Administration officials have not shown up to testify under those subpoenas. The Dirty Little Secret is, Congress Really doesnt have much teeth to enforce a subpoena and it doesnt happen quickly. Well, okay, i mean, heres what President Trumps attorneys said in response to getting that request for him to testify. Quote, we are in repeat of your latest Public Relations stunt. The use of our constitution to bring a purported impeachment proceeding is much to serious to try to play these games. Can they dismiss it out of hand like that . Well, honestly, i think they can. I mean, the the democrats cant get a subpoena enforced in the next week. And they know it. They subpoenaed former White House Counsel Don Mcgahn in the summer of 2019. Hes not testified yet. So i think thats not realistic. And jamie raskin talking about an adverse influence is a little bit of snorting a breath and stomping the ground, simply because this isnt a normal trial. Theyve already impeached him. Thats the ultimately negative inference. And jamie raskin and the House Democrats telling republican senators to draw an adverse inference in this case is not really going to have any weight with the jury. Reporter lets talk about what else we can expect next week. If you were an impeachment manager, would you call witnesses or would you let the mound of videotape speak for itself . Well, i think both. Certainly, the mound of videotape put together effectively will tell a hugely negative story about donald trump, that will make republican senators the swing votes on the senate jury very, very uncomfortable. And there are two types of witnesses that would actually make a Great Bank Impact on republican senators and make it hard for them to hide behind the constitutionality argument. Number one, if theres a witness thats shown up through the fbi investigation process, really, who can say, yeah, we instigated the riot and we had direct contacts with donald trump or somebody in the white house, that would be extremely impactful. And number two, we still dont know the president s State Of Mind during the riot on january 6th. So, you know, who was the white house steward who was serving him diet coke . What can he tell about the way the president reacted during the riot. Now, there are all sorts of Executive Privilege Arguments to be brought over that, but those are the two areas where there could be an impact. What about the witnesses who we have already heard on tape and through their lawyers, who say, we went to the capitol, because donald trump told us to. Not that they had any direct contact with him, but they heard him loud and clear on his twitter feed, they heard him loud and clear at that rally, for weeks leading up to this, because he told us the election was stolen, and he told us to go to the capitol. Wh what about that evidence . Its not direct, but is it compelling . I think its compelling. Its certainly going to be a compelling public story. Whether its compelling enough to actually move the jury, the republican senators, i think thats doubtful. Because theres a lot of that stuff. You know, thats what theres a lot of videotape of people who are storming the capitol, saying, were here for the president. And theyre echoing his words. Theyre parroting his words. What abou