Senate leaders lay out rules of Trump’s 2nd impeachment trial; CDC director: cases going down, but “keep your guard up”; WH: Biden will not spend much time, if any, watching trial; Biden promised his family would not have any conflict of interest with his presidency;
The Lead with Jake Tapper
CNN
3.5 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 8 February 2021
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Schumer, McConnell reach deal on Trump impeachment trail rules; Schumer: each side will get 16 hours over two days to present their arguments in Trump’s trial; Schumer: house managers requested senate hold votes on witnesses if needed; Trump legal team argues trial is unconstitutional, accuses democrats of pursuing “political theater”; Schumer: GOP searching for way to “oppose the conviction of Donald Trump without passing judgement on his conduct”;
More transmissible U.K. variant spreading rapidly through U.S.; Fauci: U.K. variant should be most dominant strain in U.S. by end of March; South Africa pauses AstraZeneca vaccine rollout after study shows it gives less protection against variant; WH urges vigilance as COVID deaths increase 2.4%, and new infections & hospitalizations drop; CDC to release guidance on reopening schools this week; Schools plan reopenings as districts await CDC guidance; CDC: 2,000+ children have contracted rare condition linked to COVID;
WH: Biden focused on passing COVID relief “as quickly as possible”; Stimulus negotiations reveal sharp divide in democratic party; Sanders fights to keep $15 minimum wage in COVID relief deal as Biden casts doubt it will survive; Dems to unveil $3,000 child tax credit as part of relief bill; WH: intel professionals will decide if Trump can have briefings; Democratic divide threatens to derail COVID deal while GOP debates path forward after impeachment; Dems try to balance impeachment trial with stimulus talks; Cheney: “we should not be embracing the former president”;
Hunter Biden promotes upcoming book release within weeks of his father’s inauguration; 29-yuear-old aerospace engineer among U.S. COVID victims;
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Now on impeachment, tomorrow the second impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump will |
| 0:08.0 | commence only the fourth trial of a president or former president in American |
| 0:13.2 | history and the first trial for any public official that has been impeached twice. |
| 0:19.4 | For the information of the Senate, the Republican leader and I in consultation |
| 0:26.6 | with both the House managers and former president Trump's lawyers have agreed to a bipartisan |
| 0:32.7 | resolution to govern the structure and timing of the impending trial. Let me say that again, |
| 0:40.7 | all parties have agreed to a structure that will ensure a fair and honest Senate impeachment |
| 0:47.6 | trial of the former president. Each side will have ample time to make their arguments, |
| 0:53.5 | 16 hours over two days for the House managers, the same for the former president's council. |
| 1:00.2 | If managers decide they want witnesses, there will be a vote on that, which is the option they |
| 1:06.3 | requested in regard to witnesses. The trial will also accommodate a request from the former president's |
| 1:14.0 | council to pause the trial during the Sabbath. The trial will break on Friday afternoon before |
| 1:19.9 | sundown and will not resume until Sunday afternoon. As in previous trials, there will be equal |
| 1:28.1 | time for Senators' questions and for closing arguments and an opportunity for the Senate |
| 1:34.3 | to hold deliberations if it so chooses. And then we will vote on the article of impeachment. |
| 1:41.7 | And if the former president is convicted, we will proceed to a vote on whether he is qualified |
| 1:47.4 | to enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States. The structure we have |
| 1:55.3 | agreed to is eminently fair. It will allow for the trial to achieve its purpose truth and accountability. |
| 2:05.1 | That's what trials are designed to do to arrive at the truth of the matter and render a verdict. |
| 2:13.4 | And following the despicable attack on January 6th, there must, there must be truth and accountability |
| 2:22.1 | if we are going to move forward, heal, and bring our country together once again. |
| 2:27.8 | Sweeping something as momentous as this under the rug brings no healing whatsoever. Let's be |
... |
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