[Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] We've hit an unpredictable phase of President Trump's impeachment trial. Today, each side will get to question each other. Joining us now, Democratic Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia, one of the impeachment managers. Congresswoman, great to have you here. Things are about to get even more interesting. So you both will be able to ask questions that have cropped up over the past few days of the other side. And we just had Rachael Bade of "The Washington Post" on and she her reporting is that one of the Republican plans is to zero in on Chairman Adam Schiff, one of your fellow impeachment managers, and to ask him many questions about what he knew about the whistleblower and when. Have you all prepared for that question, and how will you answer it?
[Rep. Sylvia Garcia:] Well, we're preparing for any potential questions. And certainly all our questions will come from either side, either the Democrat members of the Senate or from the Republican members. So we're not sure what we're going to get. But, yes, we'll be prepared for any questions related to any of the issues that we've been sitting with this case.
[Camerota:] Are you gaming it out? I mean just take me inside. How are you preparing for any possible question? Are you having, you know, mock debates?
[Garcia:] Well, we're not having mock debates. We're essentially just sitting down. You know, some of us are lawyers. Many of us have been in trials. Some of us have watched trials. The American people have watched trials. They know what that looks like. It's evidence. It's testimony. It's documents. That's why we keep pushing for John Bolton to come in and be a witness. So we look at all of it and just try to anticipate questions. It's no different, I think, as a lawyer and former judge of preparing for an oral argument before an appellate court. You just try to anticipate every question. So we're going through it all and we're still preparing. But we'll be ready.
[Camerota:] So you're saying you're prepared for that question?
[Garcia:] I think that we'll be prepared for any question that may arise.
[Camerota:] OK. What are your burning questions fur the Republicans?
[Garcia:] I don't have any questions. I don't get to ask questions. The questions will come from the senators themselves. So I don't get to submit any questions. But if I could, you know, I would want John Bolton here to explain what he knew, when he knew it and what he knew about the phony investigation of the Bidens. I would know want to know about the hold, the freeze on the Ukrainian dollars. I would want to know a lot.
[Camerota:] Yes.
[Garcia:] But, again, that's why we need witnesses here.
[Camerota:] Yes. I mean what you just laid out are your questions for John Bolton, but we don't know if John Bolton is going to testify. And the reporting is that Republicans have been quite unsettled. Behind the scenes they have been more unsettled by the revelations in John Bolton's book than they've let on.
[Garcia:] Right.
[Camerota:] What you hear publicly now is that some of them, like Senator Lankford, are seem to be suggesting that the contents are so hot of John Bolton's book that they shouldn't be discussed in an sort of open forum, maybe they need to be discussed in a classified setting. Listen to this.
[Sen. James Lankford:] Recommending to the House, the White House, turn it over, put it in one of the SCIFs here and so we can go through it even while it's going through the classification process. We can read all of it and see it and see for ourselves if there's anything significant there.
[Camerota:] What do you think of that idea, reading John Bolton's manuscript in the SCIF?
[Garcia:] Reading the manuscript in the SCIF. I'm not quite sure what the question really is. I mean the bottom line is he can add a lot
[Camerota:] Would you would you like that idea? If he's that's all you can get, would you agree to doing it in a classified setting?
[Garcia:] Well, I would that's something that I would have to visit with the team to see what our position would be. I don't try to get ahead of the team decision. But I think what's important is that the reporting suggests that he knew a lot about this incident. He knew a lot about the Ukraine ties. He knew he and we have to ask those questions that senators that have questions about this, I think if it's good for them to fully understand this case, then I think we should have him here. The American people agree. Seventy-five percent. Seventy-five percent of the American people say we should have witnesses. We all know what a trial looks like. There's always witnesses.
[Camerota:] Alan Dershowitz, part of the president's legal team, made an interesting case to the senators yesterday. Basically he said his argument is that even if everything that you've heard from the Democratic side and from John Bolton's manuscript is true, it's not an impeachable offense. And that seems to be winning over some Republicans. Let me just play for you how Dershowitz framed it.
[Alan Dershowitz, Constitutional Lawyer:] Nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true, would rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offense.
[Jay Sekulow, Outside Legal Counsel For President Trump:] I'm quoting exactly from Professor Dershowitz. He says, let me repeat it, nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true, even if true, would rise to the level of abuse of power or an impeachable offense.
[Garcia:] Well, respectfully, I disagree. And I think respectfully the American people disagree. I think if you look, what all the scholars have said, I would think that he, frankly, is the lone ranger on this issue. When you look at the abuse of power I mean, again, that July 25 call, when he picked up the phone and called the Ukrainian president for help, in cheating on an election, for help in distorting and, frankly, just making things up about the vice president, Biden, I mean that is seeking something for your own personal, political gain. That is a betrayal of a public trust. That is an impeachable offense. And I think if you look back at the judiciary hearing, when we had the panel of constitutional scholars, they all agreed, if this is not impeachable, nothing is. So I think that with all respect to the professor, he's the lone ranger on this issue.
[Camerota:] Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia, we will be watching very closely how it all plays out today. Thank you for your sim.
[Garcia:] Thank you.
[Camerota:] John.
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