Transcripts For CNNW CNN 20240702

First impeachment, and what is your reaction to this . It is another milestone in the compatibility of the events that culminated january 6th. You have three lawyers participating, and a federal judge has called assault on the 2020 election a coupe in search of a legal theory. Jenna ellis today, last week, Ken Cheese Sebro and sidney pows plea are important, because ms. Ellis spoke to the false facts that underlie the assault. So i think it is a significant milestone as we continue to seek accountability for the the events of the 2020 election. Yeah. Norm, standby for one second, because i want the bring back in Nick Valencia who was the only journalist inside of the courtroom for the moment of the emotional statement from jenna ellis. Nick . Yeah, i just got out of the courtroom where we saw jenna ellis take that guilty plea, and the dominos are starting to fall against the former president , and another blow of the defense as yet another attorney takes a guilty plea from the allegations of the Fulton County courthouse, and it was impromptu, and it was scheduleed by judge mcafee, and i sat behind jenna ellis. She had a range of emotions, and when the accusations against her were read, it seemed as though she had a smirk as she was hearing the charges against her, and then in a striking moment, and unpredented moment so far in the trial, she stood up, and addressed court. In the wake of the 2020 president ial election, i believed that challenging the results on behalf of President Trump should be pursued in a just and legal way. I endeavored to represent any client to the best of my ability. I relied on lawyers with many more years of experience than me to give me true and reliable information because my role involved speaking to the media and other legislators of the other state, and what i should have done, your honor, is to make sure that the facts that others alleged were true. And in frenetic pace of raising challenges to other states, including georgia, i failed to do my due diligence. I believe in and i value Election Integrity and if i knew then what i know now, i would have declined to represent donald trump. I look back on this whole experience with deep remorse. With those failures, your honor, i have taken responsibility before the colorado bar who has censured me, and i take responsibility before this court and i apologize to the people of georgia, thank you. Reporter those are the words are the first time that we have heard from a codefendant in public court to make public comments, and such a moment that the judge scott mcafee who made a comment to her. As part of the plea deal, she is forced to write an apology letter, as others r and she is going to be doing 100 hours of Community Service and 5,000 fine, and with other plea deals, she is going to have to testify against other codefendants in Future Proceedings and trials in this case. John . Thank you, nick. Great reporting to getting there and bringing it to all of us. Lets bring in Jessica Schneider in this where jenna ellis has been outspoken and maybe more than most leading up to the moment, and hearing her then being outspokenen court saying that if i knew then what i know now, i would not have represented donald trump in those legal challenges against the 2020 election. Yeah, and she has been very outspoken and we have seen it in court, and seen it repeatedly over social media, and presumably, she wont be able to tweet like she has been, because of the restrictions is put on her by the judge here, but she is of the four people that we have seen plead gill tin colluding Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell and the bail bondsman, and she has been the most outspoken against trump and criticized him for not coming to the defense of the other 18 codefendants in the Racketeering Case In Georgia and she has talked about the mounting legal costs that she has been facing, and talked about why didnt trump issue some blanket pardon before he left office. So, she has been critical against the former president , and presumably, now that she has to testify and speak truthfully in this case against other defendants, other codefendants including the former president , she potentially could be one of the more dangerous for trump. She was in the room with Rudy Giuliani, and she was, as mentioned by the states attorney here, she was present and very active in the legislative hearings that they had in georgia, in michigan, arizona, pennsylvania, with Rudy Giuliani, and side by side with him trying to convince the legislators to convince the fake elector, and jenna ellis has shown it, that she has an ax to grind, and she is angry or at least shown the anger in the tweets, and little bit more subdued and remorseful in the speech before the court today. But you know, jenna ellis seems to have a lot of anger towards donald trump. The question is how will that anger that she has shown over social media transpire when she is asked to give testimony and work with the prosecutors here in this ongoing case against the former president and the other defendants still facing those charges here, guys. Yeah, you would think that it does increase the legal jeopardy for sure, and now the fourth of the codefendants in the Fulton County case to ener into the plea agreement. Now, jess, standby, as i bring in norm eisen, and now, four codefendants have entered into the plea deal, and she agreed to one count of aiding and abetting with false statements and this is statements that she made alongside Rudy Giuliani in a hearing in december, and none of the codefendants has pleaded guilty to the rico or racketeering charge yet. So, how do any or any of the guilty pleas perhaps impact that which is, maybe the big over all of the charges here. John, they enabled the prosecutors, the guilty pleas do, they enabled the prosecutors to prove up the rico charges against the most senior individuals who have been charged. Of course, mr. Giuliani and the former president. That works in a variety of ways. You need to prove to the acts as the elements of proof. And now, you are going to have mr. Chesebro, ms. Powell, jenna ellis come in, and this is streamlining proof. Five months have been set aside for the chesebro trial, Chesebro And Powell Trial because of the painstaking process, and now kit move much more quickly, and looking at ms. Ellis tearful presentation admitting that the falsehoods that donald trump still continues to push on the Campaign Trail were lies that she was misled, that is going to be very powerful for a jury. To his defense stands on two legs in georgia and federally, john, one is that he actually won the election and the other is that it is the factual predicate, and the other is the legal argument, and therefore i have the right to challenge itt in the way that i did. Well, ms. Ellis and ms. Powell were purveyors of the falsehoods of him winning, and they have backed down and plead guilty, and mr. Chesebro was a architect of the legal theory, and he has backed down, and so it is pulling the rug out from under Donald Trumps defense, and this is very, very ominous for him as a state and federal criminal defendant and the same for giuliani. Norm eisen, thank you so much for jumping on, and Jessica Schneider, and Nick Valencia for the great reporting, and what this means and where it is going, but it is looking like dominos for sure. And we go to capitol hill with more news now we are down to seven people, seven candidates in the speaker race, and the House Republicans are voting Behind Closed Doors trying to pick a new speaker, and now, looking at the latest to drop out is alabamas gary palmer withdrawing his name from consideration moments ago. Manu raju spoke to him moments ago. Reporter how is this whole episode reflecting on the house gop . Poorly. Very, very poorly from every aspect, and it is frustrating, because it is a few, these eight working with the democrats to ruin the reputation of the republicans, but we will earn it back, and there has to be consequences. That is before going in, and there is a lot coming out, and manu, what are you hearing now . Yeah. They are voting on the first Secret Ballot election to nominate their candidate for Speaker Of The House three weeks to the day when Kevin Mccarthy was ousted in the unprecedented and historic vote to get behind a candidate to replace him, and the republicans are furious about everything that has gone down, and they are at loggerheads with one another, and amid this infighting, and nothing can be added to the pond until a Speaker Of The House has been nominated, and then a majority of the house vote, and much higher threshold, 217 to be elected. But talking to the republican, it is clear they are getting an earful from the constituents back home, and considered that this fallout could cost them the republican majority. Reporter what did you hear from the constituents this weekend about the dysfunction up here . They just cant believe that we are this bad. It is not positive. It is delieutive to the efforts of keeping majority. My constituents are pretty darn darn frustrated with this process. To quote a famous line of billy joel, we did didnt start this fire but we will do our best to come together. Reporter but that is the big question, can they come together. And even if a candidate is elected today by the House Republican conference to get to the 217 votes is a different question altogether, and steve scalise, the house leader and jim jordan experienced themselves when being nominated over the last three weeks to be the next speaker, but unable to get the votes in the house, and amid a rebellion in the ranges. Right now, a lot of focus in this vote that is happening on tom emmer, the house rep. He is considered frontrunner, and how close does he get to 217 on the first ballot, and if he does not, what happens next, and they dont, and nobody gets a majority on the vote with the seven candidates, and they will keep voting until somebody gets a candidate, and they will drop off until they get to point, and it is seven hours until we know who the republican nominee is and how close they are until the that 217 threshold number, and talking to the conservative members and hardliners and the Freedom Caucus people, they are concerned about the emmers numbers on the spending is issues and that could be an issue for him in the days ahead, and some of the other candidates have issues among the ranks, but there is a question of whether the house can move out of the state of paralysis, kate. Two steps forward or two back, and we clearly did not start this fire. And we will get back to manu as it is getting through the morning and a ton of developing stories that we are continuing to track for you. We will be right back. All right. We have break news on two fronts. Former Trump Campaign attorney jenna ellis has entered into a plea deal with Fulton County prosecutors. She pleaded guilty to the aiding and abetting of Making False Statements in writing. She is the fourth person in this wideranging Fulton County case to enter into a plea deal with prosecutors. While that is going on, inin washington, d. C. , there is currently behind doors, republicans once again meeting to try to nominate a house speaker. Two people have dropped out of the race, Congressman Dan Muse dan meuser and congressman gary palmer. And now, one of these people is hoping to be the next speaker, and whether they can win on the house floor is another thing. Political commentator congressman kinzinger, and s. E. Cupp, and i wanted to start with jenna ellis, this is another plea deal in which jenna ellis pleaded guilty to the aiding and abetting of Making False Statements alongside Rudy Giuliani, and you were there in the house subcommittee investigation, and i want your reaction now that four people have pleaded guilty before our eyes in the case . Well, it is vindicating for the house january 6th committee, and vindicating for the country, and i am glad that the case is falling in line and i would be worried if i were donald trump, but contrasting to d. C. That people are running for speaker that wont say that the election was legitimate, and this is how they dont care about the circles of the gop, and with the exception of a few running, it is incredible dichotomy, and im glad that jenna ellis is facing justice, and donald trump is going to be facing justice because of this, but it is a dichotomy of what jim jordan would refuse to say that the election is legitimate. And the congressman is saying that the plea deals here, and what is going on in congress. You have had these two people drop out, but of the remaining, only tom emmer here right here, and also austin scott voted to certify the election in 2020. So, these are the only two people who said that the election was legit, and it is seen in republican circles as a Knock Iagainst them. Most people at home are hearing tom emmer and thomas scott and thinking, who and who . These are not well known public facing members of congress. That is probably because they have kept their heads down and were not among the more Vocal Election denyers parading around the republican party, and whether or not they have a shot, and this is a huge question, and there is multiple layers here going into it. Yes, there is the policies that these guys represent, and can that get enough votes. Then, theres the consensus, and will they be able to form a consensus not just inside of the republican party, but across the aisle if that is important, and this is not mentioned a lot, but it is important that the republican Speaker Of The House be able to fund raise. And for two people that you probably never heard of, that is going to be a heavy lift. Republicans still want a speaker who can help to raise money for republicans. I am not sure that tom emmer and thomas scott have the name i. D. To do that in the way that Kevin Mccarthy definitely did. Congressman, i am curious, were you in that Conference Room right now, and not so long ago, and we are talking about months, you would have been, would tom emmer someone that you could get behind . Well, it is a good question. Yes, to the extent of knowing what i know now, and if i were in a position to pick one of the candidates running for speaker. One of the thing they would want to guarantee is that he would put ukraine aid on the floor for a vote. That is important. He did vote to certify the election, but even seeing a tweet from matt gaetz that said, all of the speakers have committed to releasing the january 6th footage. Well, it was released to Tucker Carlson who went quiet after he got it, and he went quiet, so it does not prove to the demands of matt gaetz is being met which is frightening, and the demands are still obsession around january 6th, and the number of them that told liz and i to move on from january 6th, and yet, they are still talking about it. It is amazing to me. So, yeah, i guess that if i were there knowing what i know now, i would vote for tom emmer or someone like austin scott. If they failed to reach the level, i would see myself being one of the crazy eight that would refuse to vote for anybody else, because i could not imagine voting for one of the people running for the second in line to be president of the United States still refusing to tell the American People the truth which is donald trump lost. He may have gotten a lot of votes, but joe biden got a whole lot more. Again, a connection to what is happening in washington, and what is happening in a Fulton County courtroom going on right now, where jenna ellis, and i will circle her, because she entered into a plea deal, and one of the things that she said in allocution, s. E. , if she knew then what she knows now, she would not have represented donald trump, and to hear from one of the most vocal supporters and this is an u understatement, and to hear someone like jenna ellis hear that now. Well, this is probably on the advice of counsel, and she also says that she trusted much older and more seasoned lawyers and she made a point to say that she was surrounded by other lawyers at the time. I dont know. It is hard, because we all saw the bravado of jenna ellis for so long standing up and sticking by the story and defending donald trump, and in recent months she has turned the other direction, but it is a stark contrast to what we saw today that emotional allocution, and basically saying they shouldnt have done this, and i wish i had known better, and it is hard to square that with again the bravado that we have seen from her and others for so long. The bravado that giuliani still has. Right, and he is insisting that he is innocent, and everyone else is corrupt. Everyone but him. So, you know, i dont know. I dont trust a lot of these folk, because there was so much wil willingness on their part to defend donald trump and lie to the American People, and it is hard to imagine their sudden regret. Adam kinzinger and s. E. Cupp, thank you for helping us to understand it all. We also have new developments out of israel. Much more after this quick break. To duckduckgo on all your Devie Duckduckgo comes with a built n engine like google, but its pi and doesnt spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. And theres no catch, its fre. We make money from ads, but they dont follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today. All right. Happening now, we are just getting word that intense talks are going on at this moment to free a large number of the more than 200 people that could be hostage right now by hamas in gaza, but we are told that the negotiations are of course complicated. So far, four of the hostages have been freed total including two just yesterday. One of them an elderly israeli woman spoke out this morning saying that her ordeal was hell. We go right to sara sidner in jerusalem for the latest. Sara . Yeah, i mean, the stories of one of those released hostages that she is telling are riveting and terrifying at the same time, and also shows her humanity and what some might see as a surprising way. The two ladies released were taken from the any oz kibbutz, Yocheved Lifshitz and nurit cooper were released. The 85yearold woman is a grandfather and one of the founder of the kibbutz and a longtime peace activist. She spoke not just about the terror that she experienced along with her husband and others, but how her captors treated her as they held her and dozens others in the maze of tunnels that the hamas has built under the gaza strip. Also, she says that she missed the signs that Something Big may have been coming. This is what she said after being released. Translator the lack of the warnings were not seen. They burned fields and we did not treat it seriously. All of the sudden is on a saturday morn, everything was quiet, and there was a hard pounding on the settlement, and hoards broke into the homes and people taken hostage. It was a painful act. They came through the gate, and i was lying on the motorbike. Because of my bruise, it made breathing hard. My mom is very much hoping that the people who were with her will come back, and the is the story is not over until everybody is come back and we can Start Building again somet something. Reporter she also talked about the treatment she received from her captors saying that they were treated well for what it is worth. But of course, her terror began when she was kidnapped in the first place. So many people were killed at her kibbutz and her heart is still in gaza, because her u husband is still a hostage and so is nurit coopers husband and their ordeal is not over by any stretch. And the military is estimating at least 218 hostages in gaza likely in the labyrinth of the tunnels underneath the gaza strip. I want to say what is happening in gaza, and it is truly terrifying. The palestinian population is in dire shape there and humanitarian catastrophe has unfolded there because of the lack of food, and water and medical care. The medicare has completely collapsed according to the Palestinian Health ministry run in gaza. The doctors are telling us that they are completely overwhelmed and the hospitals cannot maintain services to all of the people who need it, a now hearing this from save the children. They said on monday that over 1 million children are now trapped in gaza with no safe place to go, and warn of the devastating impacts of the lack of medication and electricity to power vital Health Infrastructure in the enclave. Kate. Sara, thank you so much. Lets talk about all of this now with the retired general david petraeus, and former director of the cia and also the author of the new conflict, evolution of warfare from 1945 to ukraine. General, thank you so much. Sara laid out kind of the scope of everything, how challenging and horrible all of this is that is playing out right now. I have heard you describe this war as maybe more challenging than any of the conflicts since 1945 that you have studied. People are comparing the flight to gaza or mosul or fallujah, and what do you think of the comparison . They are inadequate. This is vastly more challenging. The enemy has had many months to prepare here. They will face snipers, suicide bomber, and again, 300 miles of tunnels, and they will use the hostages as Human Shields, and they will use civilians as Human Shields as well. They dont wear uniform, and the highrises are substantial. And if the mission is, and i believe it is and should be, to destroy hamas, and they are intending to dismantle the political wing, that is entering every building and clearing every room, floor, cellar and making sure that the enemy cannot infiltrate behind you, and doing it aggressively, and it takes an enormous infantry to do this and tough casualties, because at a certain point, you have toter the room, and system of thom will be explosive layden, and the israelis are trying to set conditions that are more advantageous by going after some targets than others, and on the hamas side, and including taking these political wing leaders, which means that the hamas government will not be there when this is done, and that is of course going to pose the challenge of the day after the post conflict phase which could be more challenging in a variety of ways than even the very, very tough days that lie ahead. That is what i wanted to ask you about the day after, and the question of once they succeed in taking out hamas, then what . Have you heard a good answer for that yet, and should we all, should israel have that out publicly yet . Well, first, what israel should do is to paint a Vision Of The Future for the Palestinian People in gaza distinguishing them that war is not on them, but it is on the Terrorist Group Hamas and the allies, and life is going to be better. When we did the surge in iraq, and sought to separate the sunni Arab Community from al qaeda, we said that life is going to be better for you the separate it out, and life is going to be concretely better for you, and they need to do that in the west bank, but the challenge is who is going to administer the territory, and ideally, it should be palestinians not to ride in on the back of the tank, and needless to say that the optics would be terrible, so israel is going to have to do for it a short period of time working feverishly with the United States while they can get in an interim international authority, and noting, kate, that it is not Just International assistance and basic services and construction, and it is going to have to counter the insurgency groups, because of the remnants of them cannot reconstitute, and we know that, and we know of the remnants of the extremist groups, and wed had to take them down for three years and when the Iraqi Government took their eye off of them, they had to painstakingly take them down and one of them was mosul which is the size of the structure that took nine months for Iraqi Security forces to clear it with our assistance and nowhere near the capabilities of the israelis to be sure, but it is going to give you a sense of how tough this could be. Nine month, and if anybody knows about Counter Insurgency campaigns, general, it is you. And another thing that is different today, this time than really any other time that we have or already are starting to see, and i wanted to ask you about it, other wars, different from other wars, what it seems that we are seeing play out already is that this is a war that is being essentially livestreamed, just because of the capabilities of technologies today. Yes. And what is the impact, do you think of going to be of that . What new challenge does it pose . What do people need to be prepared for . Yes, we have seen this in ukraine to a considerable degree where you have unprecedented level of transparent circumstances and everyone in the battlefield has a smart phone, and access to the internet and Social Media Platforms to upload photos, statements and so forth, and the optics here are going to be very, very challenging. There is already considerable damage and despite israel trying to do this precisely, and going after specific targets, and specific Terrorist Leaders and also specific Infrastructure Elements of hamas, but still, the destruction is very substantial. The same was true in mosul, and those optics are going to be looking very difficult, and they will be very difficult, and the reality is going to be excruciating. We see it also with the humanitarian situation, and in fact, hamas is trying to play on it, and dribbling out the hostages trying to show they have a kinder and gentler size when it is they who have brought this existential moment to the Palestinian People and gaza on themselves. But that level of the transparency is going to be something that is going to create the challenges for israel, and i would contend that it already is, and this is just a reality for those who are seeking to stand by israel rightly, and it is something to be dealt with. So Media Monitoring as we did in the surge of iraq is not just tv stations and Radio Stations and print media, but it is innumerable platforms and Social Media Platforms, and that is a major challenge. And all of it moving at light speed, and far more than what we are talking about 10, 15 years ago. General, thank you for your time, and please come back. Thank you, kate. Thank you so much. And we will continue to follow the latest out of israel, but also getting more news out of capitol hill on the first round of voting for the House Republicans Behind Closed Doors and their quest still to find a speaker. What the results of that first round of voting, and why they are already now down the six candidates. We will be right back. All right. Just in, movement now in the republican quest to find a new Speaker Of The House. Representative gary palmer and dan meuser are out, and now Pete Sessions has dropped out after the first round of voting. Now, we will see where things are seemed to be heading. And now, manu raju, what is happening . Well, high drama here. Six candidates to be Speaker Of The House after Pete Sessions was forced out of the race being the lowest vote getter. We have the Secret Ballot election, and tom emmer is the 78 votes, and the leading candidate here to mike johnson of louisiana with 34 vote, and Byron Donalds with 29, and kevin hern with 27, and the rest in the teens. So they go out now on the second round of balloting, and the ultimate goal is for someone to be the Majority Vote to be the nominee of the Speaker Of The House, but there are Warning Signs for the top vote getter tom emmer, he needs 217 votes on the house floor to be elected and meaning that he cannot lose more than four republicans, but some are concerned about his votes including to codify samesex marriage in the last congress. I asked one congress about that issue, and me made it clear that he would oppose tom emmer on the floor on that vote. How concerned are you about the vote on samesex marriage . Very concerned. Reporter could you vote against him . Yes. Reporter any way you would vote for him . No. Reporter so that is the same warning sign that emmer has that other candidates before him have, is winning the republican nomination, but unable to get the votes on the house floor, and when we see if it comes to that, and whether emmer can get to 217 votes, and the candidates to get the conference, and the nomination and house Floor Speaker to get this Leadership Crisis that has paralyzed house. Manu, big information, and Pete Sessions was out, and the low vote getter, and tom emmer, 78 votes in the first round and he needs to get to 110, and you can see the distance that he needs to cover each round as they continue the vote, and the results from the second vote which is happening, right now, manu, the key is to see how much tom emmer gain, and how close to get in this case to the 110 votes that he needs there. And manu raju on capitol hill. Keep us posted, because it is all developing at this time. Meantime the police in detroit say they are closer to naming a suspect in the murder of a prominent synagogue leard. I could use a little help. Yeah, theres a lot of risk out there. Huh hey, is this thing hard to learn . Nah, its easy. Huh. You know, i think im going to ride it home. Good thing you chose u. S. Bank to manage and grow your money. With our 24 7 support at least youre not taking chances with your finances. Yeah, i think im gonna need a chair. Oh, ohhhh. So, police in detroit are saying that they are close to naming a suspect in the Stabbing Death of a prominent Synagogue Leader over the weekend. Listen to this. We have a number of people that give us interest. We are just short of calling one of the people a suspect. The citys police chief is again saying that so far, they do not see evidence linbing the attack to antisemitism. Over to omar jimenez who is in detroit for us. Omar, what more are you hearing . Yes, right now at this point, the community and others are hearing when a suspect will be officially named. They have a number of people of interest, and at least one of them is close to being a suspect but not quite there yet. The police doubled down that they do not believe based on the information they have that the killing is motivated by antisemitism, but they are not going to be going with anything but where the evidence takes them. And also, Samantha Woll was at a wedding friday night and got home 12 30 Early Saturday Morning and six hours later at 6 30 in the morning that her body was found. So a lot of the Police Attention on the six hours, but it is a time period that robbed the community of a friend of the people who knew her, and the light in their lives. We spoke to one senator who was with woll at the wedding, and knew her, but this is how she is processing loss. It is amazing at the funeral to see how many peoples lives she touched and many people having no idea how much she has changed other peoples lives in addition to their own. So, i hope that sam is always going to be remembered for being, you know, a changemaker, and someone who was such a kind person. Someone who really inspired all of us. Reporter Samantha Woll was 40 years old and the leader of the synagogue behind us, and now people want to know why she was murdered. Thank you, omar. John . And now a second round of voting for the house speaker. Congressman john bergman is out. And now, we are told that tom emmer has the most vote, and so we will get the latest on that race, and the other major news this morning, jenna ellis, former Trump Campaign attorney has now pleaded guilty in the georgia subversion case, and now four people to enter guilty pleas there, and hers is hugely significant, and who among the remaining defendants should remain the most nervous