Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom Live 20200120 : vimarsana.

Well, it is just after midnight in washington. Three years to the day that donald trump was inaugurated as u. S. President. And now that presidency hangs in the balance with his historic impeachment trial about to get underway. The trial begins tuesday, and the democratic leader in the u. S. Senate is promising a battle. Chuck schumer seen right there told reporters sunday night he will push for more evidence on the abuse of power and obstruction of Congress Charges against the president. He will need 51 votes to succeed. We will force votes on witnesses and documents, and it will be up to four republicans to side with the constitution, to side with our democracy, to side with rule of law, and not side in blind obeisance to President Trump and his desire to suppress the truth because, in my judgment, he probably thinks hes guilty. Now, speaking earlier at a Farm Bureau Conference where he boasted about trade agreements, President Trump got a standing ovation when he attacked the impeachment process. Were achieving what no administration has ever achieved before skchlt what before. And what do i get out of it . Tell me, i get impeached, thats what i get out of it, by these radical left lunatics. I get impeached. Thats okay, the farmers are sticking with trump. Theyre sticking with trump. [ cheers and applause ] Alan Dershowitz is a recent addition to President Trumps defense team. He previewed his arguments on sunday, making it clear he is on board to handle one specific issue. Im not involved in the day to day issues. I was asked by the president s defense team to become of counsel on the specific issue of the criteria, the constitutional criteria for impeachment. Thats a very important issue. I will be making that argument as an advocate, not as an expert witness. I will be advocating against impeachment of this president based on the constitutional criteria in the constitution. The legal skirmishes are well underway. The white house and democrats have filed pretrial documents and theres more to come. Sarah westwood has details from capitol hill. Reporter with the trial of President Trump set to begin on tuesday, both the white house and House Democrats fired opening shots this weekend in the first round of filings ahead of the trial. On saturday evening, House Democrats filed their trial brief, and thats essentially the paper version of the case that we will hear House Democrats layout against trump on the floor of the senate when the trial gets underway. Interestingly, House Democrats mentioned they may want to draw from new evidence. Those are documents provided by lev parnas, the associate of Rudy Giuliani for what was relied upon for voting on articles of impeachment in the house two weeks ago. The white house made its first filing ahead of the senate trial and that was in response to the Senate Summons of President Trump. It was a sixpage document from the president s legal team that offered a taste of the aggressive tone that trumps lawyers are likely to strike in the trial. It laid out extensive arguments against both articles of impeachment, both abuse of power and obstruction of congress. Now, of course, there is still a bitter divide in the senate between republicans and democrats over whether lawmakers will hear from witnesses in the course of the senate trial. Democrats on sunday expressed concerns about whether witnesses will be called in other aspects of the case. Take a listen. If the senate decides, if senator mcconnell prevails and there are no witnesses, it will be the first impeachment trial in the history that goes to conclusion without witnesses. There is no question that working with a foreign power, trying to extort a foreign power to interfere in our election is about as bad as you can imagine. The main fear, the framers of the constitution had, why they put the impeachment clause in the constitution was they were afraid of foreign interference in our domestic affairs. Reporter now, monday is set to be a busy day in the trial of President Trump. The white houses legal brief is due by noon. And an hour earlier at 11 00 a. M. , house managers, the seven democrats presenting the case against trump, are expected to do a walk through of the senate floor in preparation for the trial to start in ernest on tuesday. Democrats are still expressing complaints that they have not seen the Senate Resolution outlining the rules of the trial, but some Senate Republicans have pushed for an aggressive schedule that would see it longer, but fewer days for preventing that question of witnesses left open end bed heading into the week of the trial. Sarah westwood, cnn, capitol hill. Now, thomas gift is a Political Science lecturer at University College london. Joining us from stanford, california, good to see you again. I just want to set something up. Give us a sense of the republican strategy when this gets underway and i want to talk about part of it. On the state of the union, Alan Dershowitz said the framers of the constitution intended for impeachable conduct meant criminal conduct. He was quoting a defense by Supreme Court Justice Benjamin curtis. Lets have a listen to that. The senate refused to remove Andrew Johnson because Justice Curtis successfully argued that you need a crime. Without a crime, there can be no impeachment. Without a crime there can be no impeachment. In 1988, dershowitz said this. It certainly doesnt have to be a crime. If you have somebody who completely corrupts the office of president and who abuses trust and who poses great danger to our liberty, you dont need a technical crime. Needs to be a crime in 2020, not in 98. The thought of Government Accountability office, of course, we talked about this yesterday. They say the law was broken when it comes to ukraine. Im curious what you make of the dershowitz argument, how it might hold up, what you think of the strategy given his previous positions. Well, it does seem to suggest there is some degree of hypocrisy among the republican argument here in favor of donald trump. And so youre right. As we discussed before, michael, a crime isnt a prerequisite for impeachment. An executive that subverts the integrity of the election cant truly be held to account by that. Democrats are trying to make the case leaving the question up to the American People isnt a satisfactory solution. Arguably, president ial abuse of power is impeachable and obstruction of congress. What, then, is impeachable . If a Foreign Government was asked to investigate a rival . Not impeachable offenses are crimes. At the same time it begs the question if this scenario does not constitute an impeachable offense, what really does . Michael, i almost feel like the question isnt, then, will republicans turn on trump with the state of the trial as it is, but instead is there anything that could possibly change their minds. Theyve been so solidly behind trump since the very outset. Its almost like they seem relatively indifferent to the facts. Theyre supporting him because theyre supporting him. If you take that broad a view and lets look down the line a bit, what presentence is set . If what we see unfold is okay, if obstruction of congress isnt considered abuse of power or any of the other things, then what future president s, what sort of leeway will they have in how they behave . I think that is exactly the point. These are such serious issue issues of election, issues of foreign interference. And if trumps actions dont constitute an impeachable offense, i think it does provide significant leeway for future precedence to act inconsistent with the constitution. Michael, its not just future precedent. It could be donald trump himself if he does get another four years. And so if hes not held to account in this instance, by all accounts of his record he may feel free to do the same thing going forward. Its about to get underway, tuesday, of course. A lot of talk still about witnesses or not. Im wondering what your thoughts on whether there are risks for witnesses. Say former National Security advisor john bolton testified, even if he claims privilege, democrats would have to allow joe biden, hunter biden, any other witness that could hurt democrats. Is that a quid pro quo . What do you think of that going on . I think democrats would rather have witnesses than not have witnesses. Republicans have essentially claimed if democrats have such an airtight case, there is no additional need for witnesses. I think that seriously disregards the fact congress has a fundamental oversight role that has been challenged from the outset by a president who has refused to cooperate on every single level. I think democrats do want to hear from john bolton with reported actions, drug deal, mick mulvaney, chief of staff, others close to the president. Ultimately, michael, this is a fact finding mission, it shouldnt be a partisan exercise. It should be about figuring out what happened, how much the president knew, how he was involved and so on. So i think all in all, democrats would prefer to see that witnesses are called. This is, of course, going to be the first impeachment in history where the impeached will have twitter. This is a president who think hes a victim, hes been hounded. How do you see him handling the actual trade . Hes going to double down on strategy and call this process a witchhunt, a president ial harassment. To some extent this has been successful for trump, at least in galvanizing and rallying his case. Hes used this as a fundraising tool. He talked about expensive campaigns hes doing across the country. Donald trump is going to do what donald trump wants, using twitter. Always good to chat with thomas gift, the University College london. Thanks for joining us. Thanks, michael. We will see if President Trump tweets about this next news. The New York Times Editorial Board Just Announced who it thinks should be the u. S. Democratic president ial nominee. They didnt just pick one. Hes going to tweet, he will. Senators Elizabeth Warren and amy klobuchar. Theyre sharing this endorsement by the great ladies in the New York Times. The times describing warren as a, quote, brilliant architect of regulation and praised klobuchar for her deal making and could possibly unite the nation. The newspaper has kept its endorsement private for 160 years until now. It made the announcement in a televised special that featured interviews with many of the leading democratic president ial candidates. The times, they are a changing. They are. They finished saying, may the best lady win the best woman win. Lets turn our attention to london now where prince harry says he and his wife meghan had no other option than to step back from the royal family. Speaking for the First Time Since Buckingham Palace announced the couple would no longer represent the queen, harry expressed Great Sadness over the decision. This is what he had to say at a Charity Event on sunday. Good evening, everyone, and thank you very much for being here for the charity that myself created in 2006 for my mothers legacy and those affected by hiv and aids. Before i begin, i must say that i can only imagine what you may have heard or perhaps read over the past few weeks. So, i want you to hear the truth am me, as much as i can share. Not as a prince or a duke, but as harry, the same person that many of you have watched grow up over the last 35 years, but now with a clearer perspective. The u. K. Is my home and a place that i love. That will never change. I have grown up feeling supported from so many of you and i watched as you welcomed meghan with open arms, as you saw me find the love and happiness that i had hoped for all my life. Finally, the second side on of a got hitched, hooray. [ laughter ] i also know youve come to know me well enough to trust that the woman i chose as my wife uphold the same values that i do, and she does. And shes the same woman i fell in love with. We both do everything we can to fly the flag and carry out our role for this country with pride. Once meghan and i were married, we were excited. We were hopeful. And we were here to serve. For those reasons, it brings me Great Sadness that it has come to this. The decision that i have made for my wife and i to step back is not one i made lightly. It was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges, and i know i havent always gotten it right. But as far as this goes, there really was no other option. What i want to make clear is were not walking away, and we certainly arent walking away from you. Our hope was to continue serving the queen, the commonwealth, and my military associations, but without public funding. Unfortunately, that wasnt possible. I have accepted this, knowing that it doesnt change who i am or how committed i am, but i hope that helps you understand what it had come to, that i would step my family back from all i have ever known to take a step forward into what i hope can be a more peaceful life. I was born into this life and it is a great honor to serve my country and the queen. When i lost my mom 23 years ago, you took me under your wing. You looked out for me for so long, but the media is a powerful force. And my hope is one day our collective support for each other can be more powerful because this is so much bigger than just us. It has been our privilege to serve you, and we will continue to lead a life of service. So in that respect, nothing changes. It has also been a privilege to meet so many of you and to feel your excitement for our son archie who saw snow the first time the other day. Thought it was bloody brilliant. [ laughter ] i will always have the utmost respect for my grandmother, my commander in chief, and i am incredibly grateful to her and the rest of my family for the support they have shown meghan and i over the last few months. I will continue to be the same man who holds his country dere and dedicates his life to supporting the causes, charities and military communities that are so important to me. Together, you have given me an education about living, and this role has taught me more about what is right and just than i could ever have imagined. We are taking a leap of faith, so thank you for giving me the courage to take this next step. Well, there you have it. Moving forward, the duke and duchess of sussex will no longer receive funds, as he said, for royal duties and will repay the money spent on renovating their frog more cottage. The couple is expected to split their time between the u. K. And north america. Well, dozens more are injured in lebanon as protests rage on there. Coming up, we take you to the streets of beruit to see how the government is trying to bring calm. I love the new myww program, because you get matched with a plan tailored to you whether youre a dine outer, take outer, veggie person, definitelynotjustveggie person, bread lover, or cheese lover. All you have to do is answer personal assessment questions and get scientifically matched with a proven weight loss plan. Find out which new customized plan can make losing weight easier for you the new program from ww. Weight watchers reimagined. Join for free and get two months free hurry, offer ends january 20th. Excuse me. Uh. Do you mind. Being a motour . What could be better than being a motour . The real question is. Do you mind not being a motour . I do. For those who were born to ride, theres progressive. Robin hood and little john runnin through the forest laughin back and forth at what the otherne has to say theres a booking for every resolution. Book yours at booking. Com our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition. For strength and energy whoohoo greattasting ensure. With nine grams of protein and twentyseven vitamins and minerals. Ensure, for strength and energy. Thats beruit right there, lebanon, trying to restore calm as a week of rage intensifies in the capital an had igovernment pro cl protesters clash with police the second night since sunday. They have been injured for months. Demonstrators have been furious over the long stand being economic crisis and the governments inability to choose new leadership that isnt like old leadership. The military has been deployed to restore calm. Cnns ben wideman is on the ground. Reporter another night of heavy clashes in downtown beruit. This evening theyre centered around here. Lets go a little closer. Theyre centered around one of the roads that leads to the lebanese parliament, which is just up here behind this water cannon. And here are the barricades which all evening have been the focus of these clashes. We have seen molotov cocktails throne at the Security Forces who are responding with rubber bullets, tear gas, water cannon, and throwing some rocks themselves. Now the protesters seem to have been pushed back as a result of the heavy use of tear gas. This is yet another day in this socalled week of rage which has seen a variety of clashes taking place. And here, swing around, were seeing now the Security Forces deploying here after hours when they were huddled behind those barricades. On saturday evening, the lebanese president called upon the army and the Security Forces to impose order, but it seems like they took a long time to do so. Now here were seeing these are members of the Lebanese Army which, for the most part, have stayed back. But now after hours of clashes, they hav