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Inside Politics
House Panel Passes Impeachment Articles, Floor Vote Next Week; Giuliani Visits White House After Ukraine Trip; Boris Johnson's Conservative Party Wins Majority in the United Kingdom. Aired 12:30-1p ET
Aired December 13, 2019 - 12:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:30:00]
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SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): -- during this, I'm coordinating with the White House counsel. We'll be working through this process hopefully in a fairly short period of time in total coordination with the White House counsel's office and the people who are representing the president.
I'm going to coordinate with the president's lawyers so there won't be any difference on how to do this. I'm going to take my cues from the president's lawyers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KING, CNN HOST: This is an onion we could peel for a while. Let's start with the idea he's the Republican majority leader of the Senate. So, duh, he's working with the White House, the Republican president's attorney. OK. But he's also essentially the foreman of the jury.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
KING: The Senate has to have a trial, Mitch McConnell is the boss in the Senate, he's the leader which makes essentially him the foreman of the jury. He's key to the rules. He has decided already before hearing a shred of evidence in his chamber, the Senate that the defendant will not be convicted. Is that the way to do this or is that just where we live?
PAUL KANE, SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT, THE WASHINGTON POST: It's a jury -- it's not really a jury trial. It is a political trial, and Chuck Schumer has also made up his mind how he's going to vote.
KING: Good fact.
KANE: So, it's -- that is the reality that we're in right now. Mitch McConnell told his Republican caucus the other day in a private luncheon, a long trial is mutually assured destruction, the way he described it. Because if they want to call Hunter Biden, then he told them, we're going to have to call Mike Pence. For every Biden, you get a Pence.
And then you're going to get the other two people sitting on the couch, Mulvaney and Pompeo, because there just aren't enough votes to hold a completely partisan trial right now. So he just wants this to be clean and simple.
KING: And the reason -- let me -- just one second, a little more Mitch McConnell here. The reason you make that point as we listen to Mitch McConnell right here. He is confident at the moment, we expect in the House there will be zero Republicans voting for impeachment. Mitch McConnell is trying to keep that in the Senate, but he knows a handful of his members have difficult re-election battles next year.
Listen to his odds.
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MCCONNELL: The case is so darn weak coming over from the House. We all know how it's going to end. There is no chance the president is going to be removed from office. My hope is there won't be a single Republican who votes for either of these articles of impeachment. And Sean, it wouldn't surprise me if we got one or two Democrats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: That's today. That's today. But to Paul's point, if you demand the Bidens, the Democrats say give us Mulvaney. You demand the whistleblower, the Democrats say give us Pompeo and Pence. Then that math could change, right?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, POLITICO: Right. And if you get someone like Pence, Democrats can ask him what was that conversation that you had with Zelensky. And there are Senate Republicans like Cory Gardner of Colorado, Susan Collins of Maine, where if they have to sit through this, a very dragged out long trial, their views could very well change. They could start to hear more from their constituents and decide that maybe this isn't the best option for me, is to stay in line with the president.
KING: Yes. I covered the White House during the last impeachment, the Clinton impeachment. Bill Clinton lost five Democrats in the House on three of the four proposed articles then. He lost one on another article. Two articles ultimately passed the House.
It was partisan, and it was nasty, and yet compared to this almost -- not civil, but wow, was the volume way lower.
CATHERINE LUCEY, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Well, then there was -- I mean, you can tell me, but my understanding is there was a more agreed-upon process, both sides decided. They did not call live witnesses, there was taped testimony. And so, they did go into it with both sides agreeing on how to do this. And so far we haven't seen that yet.
KING: It is interesting though that the dynamics were exactly as Paul suggest. Trent Lott was the Republican leader then, Mitch McConnell now said, what just happened in the House was a circus. We're not bringing that over here.
LUCEY: Yes.
KING: They actually left the question of witnesses for -- they've settled that during the trial. They left it open at the beginning but they had a 100 to nothing vote on the Senate rules for the Clinton impeachment trial. How much you want to bet we don't see that?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: We're definitely not going to see that. And interesting, the venue in which Leader McConnell was speaking. It was to Sean Hannity last evening, speaking to an audience of one, the president, trying to show that there's no daylight at all here.
It's a little bit like, oh, there's gambling at the casino. Of course, he's working --
LUCEY: You're shocked? You're shocked.
ZELENY: Yes. With the White House. When you step back and see, it actually is sort of extraordinary that they are coordinating here so closely. But as we've been saying, the president is going to be thinking about this and stewing about this, and he may change what he wants. So the test for Mitch McConnell will be, in January when the president say, you know what, I want a long trial, I want these witnesses, I want Hunter Biden. Then what does Mitch McConnell does?
KING: They're trying to keep him calm down.
LUCEY: I think another thing always to remember with this president is it's very important to him to convey that he is fighting. And that he is fighting on the east fronts, and that he's doing everything he can. And he has a lot of both supporters and, you know, members of the House who want to see this. So, he is -- that those kind of things bolster him. So he likes to show that.
KING: Right. One other point to the (INAUDIBLE) I was talking about is Mitch McConnell does not do a lot of interviews. He does not do a lot of day on television interviews especially he generally does the Sunday show as when he does want to come out and speak.
[12:35:02]
He's on the ballot next year too. He's on the ballot next year too. All politics is local.
When we come back, much more on today's historic vote in the House Judiciary Committee. And what lies ahead? A House vote next week to impeach the president of the United States.
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KING: Welcome back.
A very big day here in Washington. The House Judiciary Committee voting this morning to send two articles of impeachment to the full House. The full House will vote next week.
[12:40:05]
Abuse of power and obstruction of Congress are the charges against the president central to the abuse of power. The Democrats believe the president leveraged official authority, official presidential power to deny the Ukrainian president a meeting, then to deny Ukraine congressionally passed military aid until Ukraine announced two investigations the president wanted.
Central to all of this is the president's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. He is a key player in this scandal, and yet today, as the House was taking this big action, who shows up at the White House but Rudy Giuliani, just back a few days ago from a trip to Ukraine where he again met with some of the controversial figures he has been pushing for months for dirt on Joe Biden. Most of those people he met with, long, long portrayed as corrupt, not credible witnesses. But Rudy Giuliani, you see in there heading into the White House, presumably to meet his client.
He told this to the Wall Street Journal, when he returned to work on Saturday, the president called him as his plane was still taxiing down the runway, Mr. Giuliani said. Quote, what did you get he said Mr. Trump asked. Quote, more than you can imagine, Mr. Giuliani replied. He said he's putting his findings in a 28-page report.
In a normal world, if you had an allegation that you had a personal attorney who was running a rogue operation off the books counter to U.S. policy, counter to U.S. national security, meaning with known scumbags in Ukraine, you would not have that person arrive at the White House the day the House Judiciary Committee was impeaching you. We don't leave in that normal world, however. Why? Why?
ZELENY: Because they're trying to normalize all of this sot there is a -- I mean, the reality is if Rudy Giuliani presents this report which he probably will, now it's their turn for this part of the show. The House is going to -- after the vote next week, the House is going to go away, so over the holidays Rudy Giuliani will probably spend a lot of time with his client, the president. They've done it to Mar-a- Lago so who knows what they'll come up with by the end of all this.
But the reality here is, that makes so many Republicans who are already uneasy about all of this even more uneasy the fact that Rudy Giuliani is still over there sort of digging around for things and now he's with the president. He's, you know, have been filling his head with some conspiracy theories and other matters here, so not helpful, some Republicans in the Senate would say.
KING: But it's a great point because we are talking right now, we expect these votes to be all party line. They were all party line today in the Judiciary Committee, we expect there will be no Republicans in the House. Now we'll see what happens in the Senate. That's what happens publicly.
Privately, to your point, there is a slice of the Trump base that loves this. It's defiant, it's in your face, it's rule busting, there's a deep state, and Rudy is the president's conduit around the deep state. And there are Republicans who say, you know what, if I could speak freely, if the president wouldn't hammer on Twitter, Rudy Giuliani has no place doing what he did.
It is reprehensible, it is unethical. He's making money at the same time he's doing all of this, but they won't say it because they're afraid of their president.
BARRON-LOPEZ: No, they only say it privately to reporters, to themselves that Giuliani makes them uncomfortable. I think it's also important to point out that there are still outstanding court cases and that Giuliani is a part of one from the southern district of New York and he's being investigated. And even if the Senate trial happens expeditiously, we could still get more information about Ukraine, about the Mueller investigation for months to come after that because of these court cases.
KING: If Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton were president, and their personal attorney were under federal investigation in New York and walked into the White House and we still had a Republican House majority, they would just say that's totally fine, right? No problem?
KANE: I think the last time I was on this set we were debating whether or not Trump was going to dump Rudy. There were whispers from Republicans are like, you know, he's bad for Trump, he's bad for Trump. We got our answer. He walked into the White House today, he got the call taxiing down the runway on Saturday. These two are together for quite some time.
LUCEY: I think that's absolutely right. I think in the story -- and the Journal says that, there are some people around Trump, around Giuliani saying that he should maybe be quieter, he shouldn't go on TV, he should try and keep a lower profile. And he's not doing that. And the president clearly does not seem to be asking him to.
KING: There's doubling down and there's quadrupling down.
Before we go to break, we want to correct an error that was in our program on Wednesday. A segment focusing on CNN polling in California discussed how Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders were leading among Latino voters in that important state. The conversation and the major graphics accurately describe the polling, but the banner you see across the bottom of your screen did not. It said Biden and Elizabeth Warren were leading among California Latino voters. It of course should have read Biden and Sanders. We regret that error.
We'll be right back.
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[12:49:38]
KING: Topping our political radar today, here in Washington, the Ukrainian deputy prime minister says they are working on a White House visit. The official says they have not nailed down a vote but the invitation is there, quote, everything else has to be agreed to between channels. Remember, part of what Democrats alleged was that bribery scheme out of the Oval Office is the withholding -- the withholding of a White House meeting with Ukraine's president.
[12:50:00]
Michelle Obama tweeting words of encouragement for Greta Thunberg after President Trump ridiculed the 16-year-old climate activist. The former first lady urging her to, quote, ignore the doubters and know that millions are cheering you on.
After Thunberg beat out the president for Time magazine's person of the year this week, he tweeted she should, quote, work on her anger management.
And a new plan today from the 2020 presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg to tackle the climate crisis. Mayor Bloomberg wants to remake how our Americans power their lights, cutting emissions upping the amount of clean electricity, barring construction of new gas plans, and replacing all 251 clean coal plants. Bloomberg calls his plan ambitious but says it can be done by the end of his second term, unlike, he says, the Green New Deal.
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MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are setting new, ambitious goals for our country, including goals that we can actually achieve over the next eight years. I think it's great that they are trying -- thinking about new things, big things, but what we need is a lot of things right now that you can implement, and they tend to be not all that expensive.
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KING: When we come back, across the Atlantic, Boris Johnson wins and wins big.
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BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I frankly urge everyone on the either side of what after three and a half years after all an increasingly arid argument. I urge everyone to find closure and to let the healing begin. After five weeks frankly of election hearing, this country deserves a break from wrangling, a break from politics, and a permanent break from talking about Brexit.
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KING: That was the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson this morning after a historic victory for his conservative party. The Tories now have a huge majority in parliament with the Labour Party getting decimated in yesterday's elections.
Here are just a few headlines from the U.K. this morning. The Metro calling it a landslide for him. The Daily Mail saying, rejoice. With the Daily Express taunting the big Bs, Boris and Brexit. The Daily Mirror which is loyal to Labour sees Johnson's win as a nightmare before Christmas.
CNN's Nic Robertson joins us now from outside 10 Downing Street. Nic, what does this mean?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: This means Brexit, Britain leaving the European Union on the 31st of January. The divorce part at least because it means the negotiations for the new trade deal with the European Union will begin in earnest after that. A deadline for that at the end of next year.
Of course, much wrangling but the reality is this gives Boris Johnson a very strong hand, of course, like any politician with a whacking big majority historic in proportions. Nothing like this with the conservatives since Margaret Thatcher in the late 80s. No other prime ministers had a majority like this since Tony Blair in the late 90s.
This is huge. It's an historic turning point for the country, and you heard the prime minister there saying let's not talk about Brexit now, let's get on with Christmas. But, of course, after Christmas, yes, it will get real.
[12:55:04]
He's talking about uniting the country. He's saying that because it's been deep and divisive over the past few years, the whole Brexit issue. But he's talking now about living up to the other things that he's promised, putting massive amounts of money into Britain's health service, more doctors, more nurses, more hospitals, more policemen on the streets, better education, more infrastructure even promised, two billion British pounds to patch-up the holes in the country's road network just a couple of weeks ago.
So, all of that is what is going to be measured on, John. But for now, perhaps his biggest challenge outside of Brexit will be the constitutional challenge from Scotland. The Scottish National Party won an additional 13 seats, they now have 48 out of the 55 seats in Scotland, and their leader, Nicola Sturgeon, a very kind of smart politician, is calling for a second independence referendum for Scotland. Boris Johnson has clearly said no. That is a clash waiting to happen, John.
KING: More challenges ahead. A better majority for the prime minister but as you note, Nic, more challenges ahead. Appreciate the live reporting from 10 Downing Street.
Let's bring it back into the room. And just a short time ago, the president of the United States not only congratulating a prime minister he considers to be friend, but suggesting there is some meaning to this.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to congratulate Boris Johnson on a terrific victory. I think that might be a harbinger of what's to come in our country. It was last time. I'm sure people will be thrilled to hear that.
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KING: I like that, I think people will be thrilled to hear that part.
ZELENY: But he's not the only one saying it. I mean, Democrats as well, Joe Biden and Mike Bloomberg and others are saying, whoa, whoa, you know, we should learn a lesson here and not go too far to the left or progressive. So, you know, it's hard -- it's easy to over read this, we don't know what it means exactly, but there it's a reminder that, you know, this is going to happen.
LUCEY: And one thing you can take from this is that the same trends and dynamics that propel Donald Trump to victory helped Boris Johnson. The sort of shift among, you know, blue collar, working class areas that were traditionally more, you know, liberal, moving in a conservative direction. Trump saw that with Brexit and is now seeing it again.
And I think that is the thing the Democrats are anxious about. If their party moves too far to the left, you lose those people.
KING: All right, whether you want to -- it's globalization as a factor, immigration is a factor, or rebellion against the elites or at least perceived power of elites is a factor to it. And you mentioned, you know, that Trump says maybe it's a harbinger.
Let's listen here, this is Joe Biden last night at a fundraiser. "Boris Johnson is winning in a walk. He predicted headlines and say look what happens with the Labour Party moves so, so far to the left. It comes up with ideas that are not able to be contained within a rational basis quickly. You're also going to see people saying, my God, Boris Johnson, who is kind of a physical and emotional clone of the president, is able to win."
BARRON-LOPEZ: This is clearly a smart political message for Biden. He's been doing this the entire election which is that moderation versus liberalism and I'm the one who is moderate candidate and I can carry us across the finish line against Trump. I do think though it is a bit of oversimplification of what happened in the United Kingdom. Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party have also had issues of anti- Semitism which is something that I think can't be ignored when it comes to how that could have potentially influenced the election there.
KANE: There are -- there have been periods in U.K.-U.S. relationship where the politics are very similar. Reagan and Thatcher in the 80s, Clinton and Blair in the 90s, and now Trump and BoJo. But there's also -- you had periods with Obama and Cameron from different wings of their parties. It's just -- it's too much to assume that everything is going to mirror that trend.
KING: Things are too volatile when we go back to Obama's win. Things are too volatile in American politics, period, for the last decade plus to make any long-term predictions. But it is an interesting thing to watch. But imagine if we lived, again, I'm going to used the word again, in a normal political world in the sense that the president says this is a hoax and a witch hunt. No, a whistleblower filed a complaint that alleged serious conduct in the Ukraine relationship which has been proven the witnesses. So this is not a hoax and a witch hunt. But, Boris Johnson wins in the United Kingdom. The president just cut a first deal -- it's only first step trade deal with China, there's a lot of work to be done, but it make some progress in calms down the markets.
He's going to get his U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement through. They're reached the deal in government spending, they got a new defense authorization bill that gives the president many things that he wanted including a priority of his daughter, paid family leave for federal workers in the space force. We could be having a conversation about the president having a pretty good policy week except he's about to be impeached.
LUCEY: We're doing this in the last minute but he's had a huge by any definition, a huge week in terms of policy. One of the biggest of his presidency, certainly the biggest since the House took -- the Democrats took the majority in the House. These are some long health priorities he has campaigned on, he can take the campaign trail, he campaigned on, you know, revising NAFTA, on being tough with China. So these are huge sort of -- this is a huge list of achievements for him but all shadowed by impeachment.
KING: It's almost like a parallel universe sometimes.
[13:00:01]
Thanks for joining us in the INSIDE POLITCIS. Hope to see you Sunday morning. We'll be here at 8 a.m. Eastern. Don't go anywhere, a very busy news day. Brianna Keilar starts right now. Have a great afternoon and a great weekend.
