How Today's Impeachment Hearing Will Work.
CAMEROTA: Seven weeks after House Democrats launched the formal impeachment investigation, the probe becomes public today. So what will we see? Joining us now to break it down is Eli Honig, CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor. And you know something a little about this and certainly about the players.</s>ELI HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I do.</s>CAMEROTA: So, take us -- take us through it. So, let's start with the witnesses.</s>HONIG: All right, Alisyn. These will be the stars of the day. The two witnesses who the House Democrats on the Intel Committee have specifically selected to lead this off. Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, and George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state. Now, one important thing, these two witnesses will be testifying physically side by side. They will be at the same table --</s>CAMEROTA: At the same time?</s>HONIG: -- at the same time, which you would never see in a trial. So, if people are thinking of this along the lines of a trial, that is going to be a major difference.</s>CAMEROTA: And why are they doing that out of curiosity?</s>HONIG: I think that's the way congressional hearings normally work and it will make for a more efficient, quicker hearing. Now, a couple of important factors. The witnesses can have lawyers present. They will not be sitting at the table with them. They will probably be behind them. They may need to turn and confer with them like this behind the table from time to time. Importantly, no Trump or White House attorneys will be present at the table. The White House objected to this and said it's unfair that we're not represented, but you're going to have a smoother hearing with less objections. Think about Corey Lewandowski, when he testified, and every other answer was, the White House has instructed me, the White House has directed me. We're not going to see that today.</s>CAMEROTA: And, of course, they will have their Republican representatives who can channel the way the president feels.</s>HONIG: Yes, absolutely. They're not going to be defenseless, by any means. Now, the witnesses will be sworn in, you'll have that sort of flashbulb moment when they take the oath and then they'll give opening statements and we'll be on to the questioning.</s>CAMEROTA: OK, this is very interesting to me, because as you have pointed out, you worked with and know Daniel Goldman who is one of the attorneys who will be doing this, and Steve Castor is on the other side representing the Republicans. And these guys are described as no-nonsense, just the facts, ma'am, tell us what you know about --</s>HONIG: Yes. So, Adam Schiff, who is the committee chairman, is going to cede his time, his 45-minute opening questions to Daniel Goldman and Devin Nunes will do the same with Steve Castor. They're both extremely impressive, accomplished attorneys. Daniel Goldman, I worked with him hand in hand at the Southern District of New York. We tried a mafia murder case against the boss and two others together. It was a five-murder case against three defendants. He knows what he's doing. He's up for the moment. He will not be intimidated. Steven Castor also a very impressive individual. He is a longtime congressional aide and attorney. He's been through hearings like this. So, I think we're going to have a very substantive hearing. Now --</s>CAMEROTA: So these two guys each get, what, 45 minutes to begin of the questioning of the witnesses?</s>HONIG: Exactly. Each side starts with 45 minutes, that I expect those two attorneys to be doing the question. Now, both witnesses, keep in mind, gave lengthy depositions. They testified for hours each. So what we're going to really be seeing here is a best of, a greatest hits, where the attorneys are going to boil down the most important things. And watch for this stylistic difference. Direct examination. When the Democrats are examining, it's going to be open-ended questions, what did you do next? Why did you do that? But when the Republicans are questioning, we'll see cross-examine, which is closed-ended questions. Next, you did this. And you said that. Didn't you? That's a big difference that I think we'll see as this goes along.</s>CAMEROTA: And then will there also be a moment where, as we have seen in other hearings, lawmakers get to sort of state their piece, they can grandstand if they want, they can ask questions? Will we have that moment?</s>HONIG: Yes, we can't take the grandstanding out of politics. Altogether, we will have then the committee members, 13 Democrats and nine Republicans. They will each get their five minutes, which is sort of what we're you'd to from the Mueller testimony and the Lewandowski testimony. Now, a couple of key committee members to focus on. Val Demings, Democrat from Florida. She's a former police chief. She's been a very strong pro-impeachment member of congress.</s>CAMEROTA: And we're going to have her on NEW DAY coming up in a couple of hours, yes.</s>HONIG: Indeed, indeed, stay tuned. Eric Swalwell, former prosecutor on the Democratic side. On the Republican side, Jim Jordan was just recently moved into this committee for this purpose. We know he's a firebrand. We know he's a strong voice for the Republicans. And then Will Hurd who is on his way out, he's retiring, he's not running for re-election, so it will be interesting to see if he shows a bit of an independent streak as we go through this.</s>CAMEROTA: Some of the reporters who have been watching outside of the rooms where they've been briefing and have been prepping describe Jim Jordan and his aides coming out with binders full of information as they prep. And I'm sure that all of them are. It's going to be a really interesting day.</s>HONIG: Everyone's ready to go. It's going to be fascinating. We're going to learn a lot today.</s>CAMEROTA: Eli, thanks so much for explaining all of that to us.</s>HONIG: Thanks, Alisyn.</s>CAMEROTA: John?</s>BERMAN: And one possibility is during those five-minute segments, Republicans could cede time to Jim Jordan. So, we might see a lot of Jim Jordan in the final stages of the questioning today. So, there's this brand-new report this morning raising questions about President Trump's effort to undermine the impeachment investigation ahead of today's crucial public hearings. Those details, next.