First look at arguments from Trump lawyers, Democrats; GOP faces internal battles over political fates of Cheney, Greene; Dem Impeachment Managers: “Trump’s responsibility for the events of January 6 is unmistakable; Biden Admin announces direct vaccine shipments to pharmacies; WH: Risk for Covid relief bill is going too small, not too big; Why many black Americans are hesitant to get Covid vaccine; Police in Moscow detain 750+ protesters outside Navalny hearing;
The Lead with Jake Tapper
CNN
3.5 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 2 February 2021
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
New arguments submitted ahead of trial start next week; Trump team argues he was exercising his first amendment right in questioning election results; Dr. Fauci warns of reinfection risk if new variants become dominant; States, Biden admin racing to expand vaccine access; Study: Single shot may be enough to produce Covid-19 protection for people who already had virus; Growing number of GOP Senators criticize Rep. Greene, call her views “very disappointing,” “not good for the party”; McConnell, Graham defend Cheney from attacks by Trump allies; McConnell slams Greene’s “Loony lies and conspiracy theories”; McConnell finally rebukes Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: Her views “are cancer for the Republican party and our country”; Greene responds to McConnell: Real cancer for GOP is “weak Republicans who only know how to lose gracefully”; Dems moving ahead with COVID relief plan without GOP support; WH trying to “repair the damage & horrific actions” of Trump Admin with immigration executive orders; Senate confirms Mayorkas as Homeland Security Secy, Buttigieg as Transportation Secy; Alex Navalny in court: Putin is “little thieving man” & “Putin is the poisoner”; Hundreds of protesters detained in Russia after Navalny hearing; Remembering 9-year-old J.J. Boatman; died suddenly of Covid;
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the lead. I'm Jake Tapper and it's Groundhog Gay. Donald Trump is preparing |
| 0:06.1 | for his impeachment trial. Now we're finally getting the first look at the arguments |
| 0:09.9 | from both sides in this second trial of the now former president Trump and a legal |
| 0:14.1 | document sent out to the news media this afternoon that misspelled the word united in United |
| 0:19.3 | States. President Trump's lawyers argue that Trump cannot be impeached because he's |
| 0:23.3 | no longer in office. They say he was simply exercising his first amendment rights when |
| 0:28.2 | he spread the big lie that the election was stolen or fraudulent and nothing Trump said |
| 0:34.0 | they argue nothing was intended to incite the violent insurrection that his supporters |
| 0:39.0 | staged after he told them to go to the Capitol and fight because the election was being |
| 0:43.3 | stolen from them. Trump lawyers also argue that Trump never intended to interfere with |
| 0:47.5 | the electoral vote count at Congress that day despite the fact that President Trump said |
| 0:53.4 | he hopes Vice President Pence quote comes through for us on the morning of the electoral |
| 0:58.0 | vote confirmation. And on the day before the count tweeted quote, the Vice President has |
| 1:02.1 | the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors, which is not true, but he did tweet that. |
| 1:09.1 | The House Democratic impeachment manager has argued that President Trump over months and |
| 1:12.4 | months created a powder keg and then lit a match writing in part quote President Trump's |
| 1:17.2 | responsibility for the events of January 6 is unmistakable. If provoking an insurrectionary |
| 1:22.9 | riot against a joint session of Congress after losing an election is not an impeachable |
| 1:27.8 | offense, it is hard to imagine what would be, unquote, as CNN's chief domestic correspondent |
| 1:33.3 | Jim Acosta now reports for us, the arguments set the stage for the kickoff of the trial |
| 1:39.2 | one week from today. |
| 1:42.7 | Donald Trump's impeachment lawyers are trying to build a wall of their own separating the |
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