Away. Theres also movement this afternoon on pandemic relief. Despite a twohour meeting in the Oval Office Last night on the president s plan and a much smaller republican counteroffer Congressional Democrats are now moving to fast track their 1. 9 trillion package. We have so much more on what that means for struggling americans in just a moment, but, first, lets Dig A Little Deeper on this legal response filed by the former president s attorneys. Our cnn chief domestic correspondent jim acosta is live with me this afternoon. Jim, this all goes down one week from today. What will we be hearing from team trump . Well, what youre going to be hearing, brooke, is part of what you just said a few moments ago, constitutionally they will argue that the president cant be convicted at the senate trial after leaving office as president , but they are also going to say that the president s comments on january 6th, that rally on the ellipse just before the riot that took place at the Capitol Falls under the category of protected speech. Lets take these one chunk at a time. First, lets show you what the Trump Impeachment Lawyers are saying about this issue of whether or not the president can be convicted after leaving office. It says the constitution only specifies impeachment for president , and trump is no longer in office, but the democratic Impeachment Managers are saying theres no free pass here to commit crimes near the end of your term, and theres no january exception for impeachment. Getting back to what the president said on january 6th, what they are trying to do on the trump Impeachment Team, brooke, is to create some distance between the president and what took place at the capitol on january 6th. They are saying when he said things like you have to fight like hell that he was talking about his election concerns, which is interesting because it is sort of a sly way for the Trump Lawyers to to inject the big lie that the president has been peddling for months now, that the election was stolen from him, but you do get the Sense Reading through this document that was filed by the trump Impeachment Team that they dont want to put Election Results on trial. One other thing that we should point out, brooke, when you go through this, the Fact Checkers could have a field day from what is in the filing from the trumpism people team. The Trump Lawyers say the president at no time tried to subvert the certification of the Election Results on january 6th. That is just not true. I mean, thats flat out false. The president , of course, as you and i both know, brooke, tried to coerce Georgia Election officials, for example, remember that infamous audio of that phone call with the president and going beyond that what the president did with his own Vice President mike pence trying to strong arm him time and again to go to capitol hill and do something other than what was constitutionally required of him which was basically operate as an emcee counting the Election Results on january 6th so the trump Impeachment Team i think is trying to tiptoe through the tulips here and trying to rest their argument on this constitutional idea that he cant be tried and convicted for what happened on january 6th after hes left office, but as you saw the House Democrats and their impeachment filings, they are not buying it. They are saying, listen, if that were the case, the president could commit crimes just before leaving office and get away with it, and they are planning on showing video of what took place on january 6th, walking the public through what many of these lawmakers were going through when they felt their lives were threatened to sort of put the president on trial from the standpoint that members of congress lives were put at stake, were put in jeopardy by virtue of what the president said on january 6th, that the trump Impeachment Team is trying to say no. The president was just talking about his concerns about the Election Results, but, of course, that, again, goes back to this big lie that the president has peddled over and over again that somehow this election was stolen from him when of course we all know it wasnt. Thats the big preview ahead of next tuesday, the beginning of the second trial, jim. I want to continue to focus on the filing that i have here and with me to discuss all of this is elie honig, cnn legal analyst, former District Attorney of the Southern District of new york and a White House Reporter for the wall street journal. Elie, arguably, first of all, the most anticipated legal documents in modern his tre we should point out. You see this. You see this word that i circled right here at the tip top, the tip top, how you spell United States senate, spelling 101, folks, its about a d and the not an s. First, the fact that this trial is not constitutional. We knew they would be making that argument and there are some scholars that take that Point Of View and i think the far better argument and logical argument is, of course, you can impeach a former official. It cant be a free for all in january. The things beyond the typos, first of all, they try to cast real victim of everything that happened on january 6 ofth and before and after not as the Capitol Police officers, not as the members of congress who were under siege and not as the people who were hurt and killed in the capitol but as donald trump. Hes always the victim. This brief plays right along with that. They say oh, poor donald trump. Congress acted too fast, were moving too fast to impeach him and in the next breath they say its too late because hes not president anymore. Pick one way or the other. The other thing and jim talked about this. They do not digs avow the big lie. They keep the door open in this brief to argue the big lie. He says theres evidence both ways with, who can say. The quote is donald trump, therefore, denies that his statements about the stolen election were false so they are keeping the door open to that, i think that very dangerous argument. Trumps lawyers say insufficient evidence exist upon which reasonable jurors could conclude whether the statements were true or not. Why do they think they can continue to relitigate that has been to everyones points proven to be false . Well, this is a way of Appeasing FormerPresident Trump. We know that members of his legal team departed just days ago because they did not want to relit great these baseless claimsch election fraud. They wanted to focus instead on really what is at the heart of this impeachment trial, whether or not the case can be made that former President Trump directly incited the mob that stormed the capitol, but we know that trump is fixated still on this idea that the election was stolen from him. Its telling though that they focus on that only briefly and also telling that a lot of the former president s legal teams, their argument really centers on process and not substance, so this idea that the trial itself is unconstitutional because he has no longer in office and that his words at that rally moments before the mob stormed the capitol were protected under free speech, they are not focusing on the substance of what he said and the way in which he used very charged language to instigate the people who were at that real by telling them not to give up the fight, by telling them to go to the capitol and make themselves heard because thats really what is at the essence of the democrats case here, that its the president s own words on tape that show the events that precipitated the attack on the capitol. Not only that tape but another tape. You make a Perfect Point about substance. The brief here mentioned that phone call between donald trump and the Georgia Secretary Of StateBrad Raffensperger and ill read for you what the lawyer said and then well all remember the call. The lawyers say this it is denied President Trump made any effort to subvert the certification of the results of the to 20 president ial election and its denied that the word find was inappropriate in context that President Trump was expressing his opinion that if the evidence was carefully youll find that many arent even signed and many that are forgeries and here is the tape. Roll t. So, look, all i want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state and flipping the state is a great testament to our country because, you know, this theres its a testament that they can admit to a mistake or whatever you want to call it if it was a mistake, i dont know. A lot of people think it wasnt a mistake. Elie, its on the tape. How is that not what hes saying . Brooke, this is why some people hate lawyers. I mean, come on. We all have hears and common sense. Thats exactly what he said. Well, when he said find, he at any time really mean mind, he meant something innocuous. Common sense has to prevail here and these lawyers need to watch it a little bit because the brief they put in today is sloppy in form and sloppy in substance. Your credibility as an attorney is everything and when you start fudging the truth or start making claims that any average Elementary School student can see are false youll lose your credibility in front of the senate and in front of that u. S. Public. Were also part of this whole conversation, and i hear you so, so carefully, elie, but sabrina were getting a rare glimpse into what it was to be like a lawmaker targeted during the riot. Last night alexandria ocasiocortez recorded this emotional, almost 90minute long Instagram Live video revealing for the first time she was sexually assaulted in the past and how that trauma came back to haunt her during the terrifying moments of the insurrection when she was forced to hide. Heres a clip. Im here, and the Bathroom Door starts going like this, like the Bathroom Door is behind me, rather, in front of me and im like this and the door hinge is right here and i just hear where is she . Where is she . And i thought i was going to die. These folks who tell us to move on, that its not a big deal, that we should forgot whats happened or even telling us to apologize, these are the same tactics of abusers, and im a survivor of Sexual Assault and i havent told many people that in my life. Do you think stories such as the congresswomans, sabrina, will change the hearts and mindsch senators . Well, i think it certainly has a profound impact in really detailing what it was like to b 6th and to specifically be one of the lawmakers who was being targeted and sought out by the mob that was prepared to inflict violence, and what was really significant about the way in which congresswoman alexandria ocasiocortez told her story is that she really contexturalized the response to these events and this push by some, especially republicans, to simply move on, that its the same kind of tactics abusers use against Sexual Assault victims which has an effect of minimizing their trauma and minimizing the severity of the actions that took place on that day. I mean, look, the fbi has put out a bulletin as we know saying that political extremism poses the greatest threat when it comes to the prospect of Domestic Violence and domestic terrorism in 2021, and so i think the broader point that congresswoman alexandria ocasiocortez is making, if theres no accountability or consequences, then this is the behavior not only being normalized but theres also a very real prospect that it will happen again. Yes, yes. Sabrina sediqqi, thank you. Elie honig, thank you very much. Senator Mitch Mcconnell finally breaks his silence on congresswoman Marjorie Taylor greene. Her, quote, loony lies are a cancer for the gop, but will republicans actually take action . Also, the white house is announcing today that in fewer than ten days it will begin Shipping Vaccines to 40,000 Retail Pharmacies nationwide, and democrats democrats say they will not wait for republican support to advance their 1. 9 Trillion Covid relief plan. 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Tylenol rapid release gels. The worlds first fully Autonomous Vehicle is almost at the finish line what a ride i invested in invesco qqq a fund that invests in the innovators of the nasdaq100 like you become an agent of innovation with invesco qqq Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell is now making clear what he thinks of controversial congresswoman Marjorie Taylor greene. Without mentioning her by name this is what he said. Quote, loony lies and Conspiracy Theories are cancer for the Republican Party and our country. Somebody who suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon On 9 11, had a horrifying School Shootings were prestaged and clinton jr. s crashed jfks airplane is not living in reality. This has nothing to do with the challenges facing American Families or the robust debates on substance that can strengthen our party. The senator mcconnell also had some words of support for congresswoman liz cheney who is facing serious republican backlash for voting to impeachment donald trump. Congresswoman greene did not hesitate to respond to that and tweeted, quote, the real cancer for the Republican Party is weak republicans who only know how to lose gracefully. This is why we are lose our country. With me now bill kristol, lifelong republican and head of defending democracy together and cnn analyst david gergen who served as a president ial adviser to nickson, ford, reagan and clinton. Gentlemen, thanks for being on. Bill kristol, first to you, sir. What did you think of what leader mcconnell said, both about greene and cheney . You know, its funny. I mean, to be honest, if Mitch Mcconnell were so concerned about the damage and lies and Conspiracy Theories can do to our country you think he might have done something about President Trump in four years and not supported him for reelection and probably now going to vote for him and theres a little bit of misdirection here and avoiding coming to grips with the real president , donald trump. If donald trump wasnt president for four years we wouldnt have Marjorie Taylor greene. Having said that, he is marginalizing her and putting Kevin Mccarthy in a very difficult position which i think mcconnell rather enjoys where mccarthy is now mcconnell has staked out the position that the republican Donor Position and establishment like and what is mccarthy going to do. Back to your first point. To your point about how he has felt about trump in the past. Why even bother say this then about Marjorie Taylor greene . Whats he trying to do at this late stage of the game. Well, because hes looking forward and wants to get some credit for calling out the crazies, and he is calling out a crazy and give him credit and pretend the trump stuff never happened and he didnt accommodate trump and everyone else didnt accommodate th