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Inside Politics

Trump Endorses Stefanik To Replace Cheney In GOP Leadership; Derek Chauvin's Lawyer Files Motion For New Trial; CNN: GOP Senate Campaign Arm Targets Kelly Over Immigration. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired May 05, 2021 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That is something that Republican lawmakers were getting frustrated about.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Let me argue, though, that maybe the conversation should be flipped. He keeps talking about it. If Trump would say, I'm sorry, I'm done, I won't even -- and then you have to say, sorry, I'll stop talking about this, then maybe it would be an easier conversation. But he keeps talking about it. And she believes she has to stand up for the truth.

So I'm not sure, we'll keep making this about Liz Cheney. It is as much about Trump as is, let's listen here to the candidates here. Liz Cheney is being ousted because when asked about Trump, she says things like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): The President and many around him push this idea that the election had been stolen. And that is a dangerous claim. It wasn't true.

I don't believe that he should be playing a role in the future of the party or the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: And the candidate the president of United States -- the former president of the United States, excuse me, and the number one and number two in the House Republican leadership endorsed to replace her, Elise Stefanik says this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ELISE STEFANIK (R-NY): I'm from the part of New York in upstate, which is pro Trump, it's pro Second Amendment, it is prolife, and it is anti AOC.

Tens of millions of Americans are concerned that the 2020 election featured unconstitutional overreach by unelected state officials.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: There's no question here, right? This is about Trump.

FOX: That's exactly right. I mean, I think Elise Stefanik really embodies where the Republican Party has moved over the last several years. She was someone who came in, she supported Trump because he was the nominee, but she was not all in on Trump when he first came into office or when he was running for election to win the presidency.

Instead, what you saw is over time, she moved closer and closer to the former president. And no moment was that more clear than during impeachment, the first round, where she regularly defended the President on Capitol Hill. And I think that's really paid off for her politically. You are seeing her being backed not just by McCarthy and Scalise, but also former President Donald Trump, and that's going to be key.

KING: And among those raising concerns, the conservative editorial board of the "Wall Street Journal" which says, Mr. McCarthy knows Ms. Cheney is right. The election wasn't stolen, yet Mr. Trump wants an endorsement of his stolen claim to be a litmus test for every Republican candidate. Republicans should find a way to speak this truth to voters in 2022. Purging Liz Cheney for honesty would diminish the party.

That is the view of the "Wall Street Journal" saying sorry, she speaks the truth. Why does she have to be kicked out of leadership for speaking the truth? There's another issue here I want to ask, just compare the two if you will. If you are the Republican leadership, if this was about something else, and you were saying we want to have more less conservative candidates.

Elise Stefanik is not a moderate, but she's not as conservative as Liz Cheney. You see the American Conservative Union, the people who bring you CPAC. They give Liz Cheney a 78, they give Stefanik a 44. Let's move down here to Heritage Action, another big conservative group. Liz Cheney gets an 80, Elise Stefanik at 48.

So this is not an ideological. This is not the Republican saying Liz Cheney is not conservative enough, because she's certainly more conservative than the congresswoman about to replace her. It's not about ideology. It's about?

FOX: Trump. And this is clearly not about how you voted. This is about how you talk about the former president. He is the litmus test. That is the test. That is the future of the Republican Party. Anyone who is arguing otherwise right now is not watching what is unfolding for Liz Cheney right now. I mean this moved fast, John.

Can you imagine another time in which there was some chatter about people being unhappy with Cheney, and then less than a week later, there is essentially a conversion where everyone gets behind one candidate and people are ready to move to oust the number three Republican. I mean, that's incredible. We are in an incredible moment right now and how quickly this has all moved has not just surprised me, but has surprised a lot of aides, including leadership on Capitol Hill.

KING: And I think surprised a lot of people who think that Donald Trump would fade as the day passes at least when it comes to the House Republican leadership. Donald Trump gets what Donald Trump wants. Lauren grateful for all your reporting on this and your hustle to join us here today.

[12:34:00]

Up next for us, one of Derek Chauvin's attorneys now asking for a new trial, saying that mistakes were made that violated his client's rights.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: New twist now in Rudy Giuliani's legal challenges. The "New York Times" detailing today how Giuliani allies were pressing former President Trump to help pay the former New York Mayor's escalating legal costs. So far to no avail. Giuliani's latest worry, federal search warrants served last week on his apartment and his office.

The Justice Department sees several electronic devices. And in a court filing unsealed yesterday, the Justice Department now asking the judge to name a special master to settle questions of whether any of the seized materials are covered by attorney-client privilege and therefore need to be kept from investigators.

There's a process for DOJ filter team to make such decisions but because this case is so high profile, the government wants the judge to name an independent broker to sort through the privilege issues. As was done back when Trump attorney, Michael Cohen, had record -- had his record seized by investigators. CNN's Kara Scannell is here to explain the process and the stakes. Kara?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: Yes, John. So this is kind of from the Michael Cohen playbook, federal prosecutors asking a judge to appoint a special master to analyze and sort through all the materials that were seized from Rudy Giuliani and from Lawyer Victoria Tenzing.

Now the special master would be an independent person. In the case of Michael Cohen, it was a retired federal judge who would analyze the material, separate anything that could be covered by attorney-client privilege, and then give the rest to the prosecution team.

Now, in a normal instance, as you said, there would be a government filter team that would go through these materials But prosecutors noted in their letter that given the high profile nature of this and the high profile execution of those search warrants, they want to have this with there be no perception of anything but fairness. So they're proposing this process.

[12:40:09]

Now, unlike Cohen, who did not really have any other clients, a wrinkle here is that Giuliani and Tenzing do have other clients. Some of those clients have matters before the Department of Justice. One client of Giuliani's, of course is the former President Trump. And we do not know yet if he's going to wait into this as he did in the Cohen case.

Unlike Cohen, though, of course, he's no longer president. And he's not one for using e-mails. So it's not clear that he'll weigh in here. But this is teeing up to be a fight. And the judge is giving Tenzing and Giuliani's attorneys until Monday to weigh in on what they think of this proposal and if they have other matters that they are going to raise. But John, we can be -- it's safe to say that this process is going to play out over the next several weeks.

KING: Yes. It's fascinating process. Kara, circle back when there's new information, very much appreciate the update. Let's move on now to another big legal question. The former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin's attorney is asking for a new trial. The request lists several complaints, for example, questioning rulings by the trial judge, accusing prosecutors of misconduct, also alleging witness intimidation.

The filing says the trial should have been moved from Minneapolis on grounds to killing of George Floyd received too much attention to allow a fair trial. CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez who covered the trial joins us now. Omar, this is routine for defense when they lose to ask for a new trial. What jumps out at you from this filing?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, for starters, some of these things are things are asked for during the trial by the defense, including trying to sequester the jury before deliberations and changing the venue. And at the time, the judge didn't think there was enough there to move forward with those concerns. So we'll see if anything is different this time around.

And you hit some of the main points. But specifically, some of what the defense is alleging here, when you look at the filing itself is that they are filing this on the grounds of the interests of justice, abuse of discretion that deprive the defendant of a fair trial, prosecutorial and jury misconduct, errors of law at trial, and a verdict that is contrary to law.

Now, the judge in this case, of course hasn't ruled on this. But we're expecting a motion to be heard or this motion to be heard within 30 days. Now separately, a juror in this trial is now having to defend himself after an image has come out of him in a shirt saying get your knee off our necks. Now that was the rallying title of the march on Washington in the August of last year, which he says he attended not as a protest against police, but in his words more as to be there in support of things like voter registration and a larger black movement.

And that distinction is important, specifically when you look at some of the concerns here going back to the answers this juror gave and things like his juror questionnaire and during juror questioning. When you look at the questionnaire, for example, one specific question asks, did you or someone close to you participate in any of the demonstrations or marches against police brutality that took place in Minneapolis after George Floyd's death? Now, of course, the one he attended was in Washington and it wasn't specifically therefore, being against police. And a separate question that ask about whether he's been in protest against police in general. So again, that distinction becomes important. And even during juror questioning, this was during the juror selection process when both the defense and prosecutors had a chance to sift through some of this material, he was only asked about participation and protests in the Twin Cities area.

But nonetheless, we don't even know if while it could be a factor. We don't know if it is a factor because in that filing, there are no specific allegations of juror misconduct. And we still don't know any of the other 11 still unidentified jurors in this trial, John.

KING: So the guilty verdict and a lot of loitering still to be done. Omar Jimenez grateful you're helping us sort through it all as we do. Appreciate your time today.

[12:43:57]

Up next for us, there's a still secret Department of Justice memo explaining that decision back in 2019 not to charge then President Trump with obstruction of justice. Guess what, a federal judge says you deserve to see it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Topping our Political Radar today, a federal judge ordering the Justice Department to release a key memo from the end of the Mueller investigation. The document had to do with the decision to not charge then President Trump with obstruction of justice. The DOJ claims that memo was legal reasoning that held the Attorney General Bill Barr make his decision. But the judge says she believes Barr and his advisors had already made a strategic decision not to charge the then president. So the judge says the memo can be made public.

A respected Republican election official is raising alarms about a so called election audit underway in Arizona largest county. President Biden won Arizona. But the Republican state legislature nonetheless hired a Florida based cybersecurity firm called Cyber Ninjas to conduct what it calls an audit in Maricopa County. Washington's Republican Secretary of State calls the move dangerous and says it undermines faith in democracy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM WYMAN (R-WA), SECRETARY OF STATE: We're witnessing an event that has absolutely unprecedented movement in elections. We've never seen a private company be able to come in and take command and control of live ballots that were used in an election. And you the precedence of this is just a nerving for election officials across the country.

[12:50:04]

We don't want people to be able to just, you know, walk into a crime scene and contaminate evidence for a future trial. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Campaign 2022 off to an early start, especially in the states viewed as critical battlegrounds. The campaign arm for Senate Republicans, for example, now launching ads against freshman Democrat, Mark Kelly. The billboards and digital ads attack Kelly's immigration views. Remember he just won the special election to finish the late John McCain Senate term. Now, Kelly has to seek a full term, a full six year term next year.

Our CNN congressional correspondent Ryan Nobles joins us now with move on this. It is an early start, Ryan.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It really is, John. And we do have to put it into context. This is a race that's probably going to see somewhere in the range of $100 million spent. This is a very small by only a five figure by digital ads and billboards across the state of Arizona. But what is significant about it is the fact that they've decided to start so early and the particular issue that they're targeting against the freshmen Democratic Senator Mark Kelly. Take a look at a part of the ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When Joe Biden cancelled the emergency declaration on border security, Mark Kelly was silent. Now the border is a disaster. And what does Mark Kelly say when he goes home to Arizona?

SEN. MARK KELLY, (D-AZ): That's a humanitarian crisis. And it's tragic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mark Kelly, he says one thing in Arizona, but does the opposite in Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: Of course, immigration is going to be such an important issue, particularly for Republicans but specifically in a state like Arizona, which is a border state. Now Kelly in his office would push back saying that he's done a number of things to address the crisis on the border. He's visited the border on two different occasions. He's supported the state's governor's emergency declaration and his decision to send National Guard troops to the border.

But John, this is an issue that Mark Kelly is going to have to answer over and over again over the next year and a half. And it's important to point out he ran a largely biographical campaign when he ran in 2020. This time, he's going to have to defend his record, John.

KING: A nonpresidential year, one of the many fascinating races. Ryan Nobles appreciate the early update there. We'll stay on top of it.

And up next, another colorful campaign out to California where a very nontraditional field of candidates is forming in that recall election, they hope to replace the Governor Gavin Newsom. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:56:54]

KING: Olympian turned reality T.V. star Caitlyn Jenner is hardly the only colorful candidate in the California recall election. There is a porn star in the running, a Los Angeles billboard personality, and yes, some more traditional business and political figures hoping to oust and replace the Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom. Getting attention is a big part of the challenge. This ad for businessman and longtime California Republican activist, John Cox.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want beauty?

PARROT SPEAKING: Pretty boy, pretty boy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of all busting beast, recall the beauty and elect the nicest the smartest beast you've ever met, John Cox.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Our national political reporter Maeve Reston joins me now. Always, does a Schwarzenegger recall, the Grey Davis Schwarzenegger recall race was colorful though this one not trying to rival it?

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Absolutely, John. And so yesterday, John Cox, one of the Republicans who is running who actually lost to Newsom by more than 20 points in 2018, decided to bring a live bear to his campaign events because it's just that hard to get attention in California, as you were mentioning.

And of course, that ad as you will recall, it's by Fred Davis, the famed ad maker who also did Carly Fiorina's Demon Sheep so people might remember that one. But there are a lot of other colorful candidates running. We've got San Diego -- former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, Caitlyn Jenner, of course, and then former adult film star Mary Carey who ran as an independent last time and says she's learned a lot since 2003, and is ready to give it another chance. And then L.A. billboard star Angelyne who is possibly my favorite of her campaign website. She is calling for a -- she said she would instate a bubble bath day in California and also an annual masquerade ball. And I think we have a quick sought from her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELYNE, LA BILLBOARD STAR: When I'm governor, there's going to be an annual masquerade ball where everybody dresses up like the governor. You can dress up any way you want to dress up. Just don't bring your birthday suit. I mean, don't bring a birthday suit. Vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RESTON: So you can see the voters of California will be very entertained during this process. Of course they will have on the ballot two questions. One is whether they would recall Gavin Newsom, yes or no? And then they'll have a second question that's a very long list of candidates that they choose from, the same thing that they had in 2003 when Arnold Schwarzenegger won.

And the other interesting difference here, John, is that everyone in California is going to get a ballot this time. So we may see, you know, a lot more voters taking part in this process. But all of this circus atmosphere with the bear and all of these different people running sort of fits into the argument that Newsom's allies have been making that this is turning into a circus, it's a distraction from the pandemic and the other big issues facing California and that this is not the time for an expensive recall election, John.

[13:00:09]

KING: His challenge as the incumbent is not to get caught up in the circus but we'll watch this --

RESTON: Exactly.

KING: -- as this vote place out. Maeve Reston grateful for the reporting and insights, we'll stay on top of it.

Ana Cabrera picks up our coverage right now. Have a good afternoon.