CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript Interview with Don Beyer

Interview

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WHITFIELD: At the very least, it's going to be pretty costly lawyering up for the former President. Kara Scannell, thanks so much.

All right, Congressman Don Beyer is a Democratic Representative from Virginia and a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Congressman, it is so good to see you.

REP. DON BEYER (D-VA): Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, so let me start by getting your reaction to the President's acquittal. Seven Republican senators did join the Democrats and voting to convict, did you expect more?

BEYER: No, I was thrilled that there were seven. You know, that the acquittal is sort of preordained because, like 45 of them voted to say that the impeachment trial wasn't even constitutional.

But I think we clearly won in the court of public opinion. We clearly won in history. And this is the most bipartisan conviction vote that there's ever been. Never has that many members of the President's party voted to impeach to convict him.

WHITFIELD: That is true. That is true, and last year, just one Republican, this time around seven Republicans. So do you agree overall with the House Managers, the eventual decision to not call witnesses and instead just submit a statement from Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler's account of what Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said happened in a phone call with Trump.

BEYER: Now, I thought that Jamie Herrera Beutler's testimony was very powerful, but I was glad that was on the record. And you know, I wasn't part of the discussion, but I think they made the right call at the time.

This is what Senator Chris Coons was transmitting probably from the White House, and with the thought that this could drag the trial on for weeks and weeks, that's not what anyone wanted.

WHITFIELD: Is it your feeling that, yes, the Republicans were likely we heard it from the one attorney who said there may be 300 witnesses and by, you know, giving allowances for one witness meant that there had -- they had to entertain -- both sides would have to entertain possibly hundreds of witnesses.

BEYER: And that's possible. I like what Delegate Stacey Plaskett said, as, the Senate didn't need more witnesses, we just needed more senators with spines.

WHITFIELD: All right, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, he voted to acquit, but said, you know, Trump could face criminal prosecution and that Trump is morally and practically responsible.

Do you see that Trump will be ultimately prosecuted for his role in the riot?

BEYER: I'm very much do. You know, we're a little frustrated -- more than a little frustrated with Senator McConnell who could have tried Trump while he was still President, but he got the Senate shut down so they couldn't receive the Articles of Impeachment.

But I certainly think that he made a powerful case for the New York Attorney General, the New York -- the Manhattan District Attorney, those folks in Georgia and elsewhere, to pursue Trump against these crimes of all matters, whether it's women who are going after him for the things that he said and done, to his financial crimes to, most importantly inciting the attack on the Capitol.

[09:10:04]

WHITFIELD: Let me shift now to COVID relief. President Joe Biden is pushing to pass his $1.9 trillion COVID Relief Bill by the end of the month, and hopes to have it signed by mid-March. But so far, the G.O.P. doesn't seem on board with the size of the President's ambitious plan.

Take a listen to Maryland Republican Governor Larry Hogan this morning.

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GOV. LARRY HOGAN (R-MD): So look, I was repeatedly giving my advice to the President on Friday, we had about an hour and a half meeting in the Oval Office. And I said to him, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should and I said that I thought that it was good for, you know, his agenda over the next four years if he started out by getting some Republicans on board in a bipartisan way.

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WHITFIELD: What do you think ultimately the President will do? I mean, he has spent decades on the U.S. Senate. He knows all about compromising working, you know, across the aisle, do you see that ultimately, he will go it alone if Republicans are not on board? Or do you see that he will make compromises?

BEYER: I think he definitely will make compromises, but he is not going to compromise with himself. I think he said from the beginning, he would like us to be bipartisan. In the House, we're proceeding as if it will be reconciliation, as if it will bipartisan, but trying to leave the door open for Republicans to come back with some responsible middle ground.

You know, so far, the President is at $1.9 trillion, and they're at less than a third of that. That's not exactly a compromise. If he can get the Republicans to a place that meets the needs of the American people, not a political win for him, but making sure that those that are unemployed, that need vaccines, that we can open schools safely. Those needs can be met. I think there can be a good compromise.

WHITFIELD: All right, Congressman Don Beyer, so good to see you. Thank you so much. Happy Valentine's.

BEYER: Thanks, Fredricka. Thank you. Happy Valentine's Day.

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