House Judiciary To Take Next Step Toward Vote On New Impeachment Articles Tomorrow; President Trump Denounces Articles Of Impeachment As "Very Weak"
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Good evening. Thanks for joining us. Any citizen can say the president did something wrong, only 435 elected representatives have the sole right and the awesome responsibility for saying a president should be removed from office for it. Today, some of the lawmakers spoke. They put it all on paper in formal articles of impeachment for only the fourth time ever. Nine pages containing two articles drafted by Democratic members of the House judiciary. They accused President Trump of abusing his power, in the language of the drafters, to corruptly solicit election help from Ukraine and to obstructing Congress's investigation into the affair. Now, tomorrow evening, the committee which is utterly divided along party lines will debate. By Thursday, they could be voting, setting the stage for the entire House to decide perhaps by next week whether to impeach. And even as they weigh the next move, the president is lashing out. His attorney general is on the attack over the Russia investigation. Democrats in red districts are wondering how to proceed process. And, by the way, the Russians also happen to be visiting. It's been a big day. It is a big night and I want to the start at the White House with CNN's Jim Acosta. How is the president feeling tonight about all of this? Do we know?</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Anderson, I think we have a sense. He's at a rally right now in Pennsylvania. He said that his supporters should not lose sleep over these articles of impeachment. He said that the articles of impeachment are the lightest and the flimsiest he has ever seen before. And you're essentially getting the same take away from people inside the energies, inside the White House, talked to a senior administration official just a short while ago who said, listen, the president was unbothered by this when he was spotted leaving the White House just a short while ago heading out the door to go to this rally in Pennsylvania. But despite all of that, Anderson, despite those claims he is not concerned about this, the president is continuing to mislead the public about what happened in that phone call with the Ukrainian president as he was talking to reporters leaving the White House earlier this evening, Anderson. The president said, well, when he talked about asking about a favor with President Zelensky of Ukraine, that he wasn't talking about himself. And as, of course, we all know looking at the summary transcript, he was very much talking about himself. He was trying to get information from the Ukrainian leader about his bogus conspiracy theory that the Ukrainians meddled in the election and, of course, trying to get information on Joe Biden. So, he is continuing to mislead the public despite these claims that they're not really worried process it.</s>COOPER: And does the White House believe that impeachment by the House is pretty much a done deal at this point?</s>ACOSTA: They see it as a done deal, Anderson. They have moved beyond the House. They see the Senate trial as perhaps a place where they'll be vindicated in all of this. They like the fact obviously that Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, will be running the show over there. And just to show you how much they have given up on any kind of, you know, daylight in the House in terms of you know the president escaping impeachment, I talked to a senior administration official earlier this evening who essentially said, no, we are not even considering the idea of a censure of the president as a compromise that some of the moderate Democrats were talking about because they are concerned about other political future and some vulnerable districts. And so, I think that is a very solid indication that, yes, at this point, the White House is already looking to the Senate.</s>COOPER: And they've certainly made it clear that, at least the president is looking for a defense to be mounted, a defense of himself mounted there.</s>ACOSTA: That's right. And I talked to the senior administration official this evening, Anderson, who said a lot of this is up in the air. It's unclear at this point. They do see the White House counsel Pat Cipollone as potentially leading the president's defense in a trial in the Senate. But they haven't ruled out the possibility of the president appearing himself as unlikely as it sounds. And there is also this continued talk of they may try to bring in other witnesses who have not been called to testify, sort of the Republican dream list of witnesses people like Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, the whistle-blower and so on. And I talked to a Republican official on the Senate side earlier today and asked, you know, how likely is that to happen? And this Republican official said, well, it depends on if, you know, you can get 51 votes for that kind of an idea. And so, this could be wild and woolly, no doubt about it, when it gets to the Senate, Anderson. And while the White House, while the president and his defenders seem to be welcoming this idea and relishing this idea of a Republican-led Senate trial, it does sort of open up the possibilities that they have they imagined at this point that other witnesses could be called to testify like Mick Mulvaney, Mike Pompeo, Rudy Giuliani. So, you know, we're on the dark side of the moon if we get to the Senate. And I don't think anybody knows exactly how it's going to turn out at this point.</s>COOPER: Yes, a lot of unknowns. Jim Acosta, thanks.</s>ACOSTA: You bet.</s>COOPER: Joining to us now is Judiciary Committee member, Eric Swalwell. Congressman Swalwell, obviously, a historic day. I know you said you hoped to keep the articles as simple as possible. Are you pleased that they remain so narrowly focused?</s>REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): Yes, Anderson. I think they reflect, one, that this president in real time is jeopardizing our national security and the integrity of our elections. That's why they are written not with passive voice but actually with an active voice. And two, that as we sought to investigate -- investigate him, he has categorically refused to cooperate at all.</s>COOPER: Do you -- do you believe that every Democrat in the House will vote for them? And what message will it send if they don't?</s>SWALWELL: Well, it's my hope that every member would consider the evidence and vote for the articles, Anderson. But it is really truly a personal decision. And there will be no lobbying by anyone in leadership on this. This is a matter of conscience of your constituents and the Constitution.</s>COOPER: And opening statements they begin tomorrow night. Will all the members of the committee speak? Is there something specific, some overall strategy that you, other Democrats hope to accomplish in their -- in people's statements?</s>SWALWELL: That's the tradition of impeachment in the Congress. As you pointed out it's only the fourth time the Judiciary Committee has done this. In the past, Judiciary Committee members will lay out the case against the president. It will be very personal. And for me, what I will convey is that no one else in their life, at their job, at their church, anything they do would be able to leverage their power over someone else for a purely personal gain. That's not how it works for any of us in our daily lives and certainly not how it should work for the president of the United States.</s>COOPER: Do you have any idea when the committee and then full House will actually vote on the articles?</s>SWALWELL: So, we'll begin tomorrow night. Of course, it could go into Thursday and even beyond. We're ready to do that. We are going to move expeditiously. But it will be fair. And just so it's career, Anderson, the president has been invited to participate in this process and that at every opportunity, he has refused to show up. I think that goes to a very powerful consciousness of guilt on his part.</s>COOPER: And do you know about when the full House might get it?</s>SWALWELL: Well, as soon as we -- you know, vote on the articles of impeachment if they pass, the House stands ready. I can't speak to a specific date. But I know my colleagues are eager to participate and make sure we protect the integrity of the elections and our national security.</s>COOPER: And just looking ahead to the Senate trial, your name has been mentioned as one of the possible managers, essentially the people who argue the case on the Senate floor. Is that something you would like to have a chance to do?</s>SWALWELL: Anderson, I'm just interested in managing sleep right now. All of us on the committee, both Intelligence and Judiciary, put everything in into this. And so, it really just one day at a time, and I think it would irresponsible for anyone to look beyond the task ahead of us this week.</s>COOPER: And do you have any sense of how contentious it may be just in the next several days on the committee itself?</s>SWALWELL: Well, it doesn't have to be that way. And what's interesting is all of the fire coming from the Republicans is about process. You haven't heard anyone dispute the facts. And I tried to lay that out yesterday. You'll see that tomorrow and Thursday which is that there are about 12 key facts here that are just absolutely not in dispute. They're acts of the president. And yes, there may be times we don't know what the president is saying. And in the history of crimes like this, no one has ever said I'm going to commit this crime in this way. But the acts of the president show that he used your taxpayer dollars, his office to ask a foreign government to cheat an eye election that would benefit him.</s>COOPER: And just finally, I know you said that, you know, obviously, how each member votes is personal. I just want to go become to that, are you at all worried that more than just a handful of Democrats might pull become and actually not vote for impeachment?</s>SWALWELL: Actually, Anderson, I'm encouraged that it was many vulnerable members when this call record was released about what the president was doing with Ukraine, people who had served the military and in the intelligence community who were in vulnerable seats. They were the ones who came forward, seven of them. They wrote an op-ed in "The Washington Post" saying that no one is above the law. And this offended sense of duty when they served and it offends them today as they serve in Congress. And that's how we've gotten to this point.</s>COOPER: Congressman Swalwell, appreciate your time. Thank you.</s>SWALWELL: My pleasure.</s>COOPER: Still to come tonight, more on the political calculations of the articles of impeachment. How solidly is the Democratic Caucus behind the strategy of its leadership? Also, Attorney General William Barr's unprecedented attempt to distort and that really is the only accurate word to describe what he is doing, distorting intentionally, knowingly the conclusions of the FBI's inspector general's report and the origins of the investigation to Russian meddling in the election. We're keeping him honest just ahead.