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President Trump To Declare Emergency Over Wall, Bypassing Congress; Interview With Former Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND); White House Doctor Says President Trump Is In Very Good Health, But Clinically Obese; Amazon Scraps New York Plans, Exposing Rift Among Democrats. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired February 15, 2019 - 07:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:32:35] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Well, this morning, President Trump will declare a national emergency to reallocate $8 billion federal dollars to pay for his proposed border wall. What should Democrats do now?

Joining us is former U.S. senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. Great to have you here with us. It's always fun to talk to lawmakers who are now outside of the Beltway and you can be as unplugged as you would like to be, Senator. So, great to have you.

This is happening --

HEIDI HEITKAMP (D-ND), FORMER U.S. SENATOR: Well, thanks, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Great to have you.

So --

HEITKAMP: Well, I know, and --

CAMEROTA: I mean, it's happening in less than three hours.

HEITKAMP: You know, I just have to say -- right. And I just have to say good luck because in three hours he'll make the announcement and in about 12 hours there'll be a lawsuit filed asking for an injunction -- asking a court to basically take a look at it and take a look at the legality of doing it. And then, there will be the inevitable what is -- from the dollars that he's taking, what isn't getting funded.

And what's interesting is that the proposal to take money out of military construction -- or as we call MILCON. These are dollars that many, many members of Congress have fought very hard to make sure that facilities get upgraded in their districts. So, what isn't going to get built, what isn't going to get assigned? And once that's discovered, I think there will be a whole secondary fallout from this.

What aren't we going to fund out of the drug interdiction funds? Are those victims' service dollars that won't be allocated to victims' service groups?

And so, you know, never mind the legality of it. Where was this money supposed to go and why are we using it now?

And one of the things that I just keep saying is what about the maritime borders? I heard the congressman earlier talking about drugs. Well, you remember in the 70s and 80s, drugs flew into this country.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

HEITKAMP: We need a good Coast Guard, we need a good northern border.

This is all about a project that the president promised. He's made this security issue his chief issue in his reelect -- in his election and he can't walk away from it now.

CAMEROTA: By the way, fentanyl from China is still flying into this country. I'm not sure what 55 miles across the Rio Grande Valley is going to do to stop the fentanyl that is flying in from China, as you point --

HEITKAMP: The largest fentanyl -- the largest fentanyl interdiction has been actually out of Waterport.

[07:35:01] CAMEROTA: And so, the president promised that Mexico would pay for the wall. I mean, obviously, that was always illogical.

But do you understand -- and I know you're on the other side as a Democrat, but do you understand how in such a short period of time Republicans, like Mitch McConnell, in the space of two weeks went from really warning against a national emergency to today, saying that they support it?

HEITKAMP: I think this is one of the most interesting issues of the whole debate. How basically -- you know, I said earlier that Mitch McConnell is winning the conflict between the president and the Senate by saying look, I can't do any better than this. You have to sign this bill.

You saw what happened to your poll numbers when we shut down the government. You're going to get blamed.

The president must then have come back after yesterday, threatening to maybe not sign the bill and said look, Mitch, if I do this for you so that you can keep the government open, you have to basically be on my side on the national emergency.

And so, this 180-degree whipsaw that you saw that the majority leader engaged in yesterday was really quite remarkable. And I think it speaks more to the current relationship between the president and the majority leader of the Senate.

CAMEROTA: Up until very recently, about a month ago, you were a moderate Democrat in Congress. And it seems like the Democratic Party has shifted just in that short time -- its identity, a bit. And I'm wondering how you categorize what you're seeing in the Democratic Party in Congress today. HEITKAMP: Yes. I don't think that the Democratic Party has shifted. I think that the people who are the most visible spokespeople right now, who are Democrats, have ideas that are not always consistent with Main Street Democratic ideals.

And I think once we see some additional people get in this presidential race -- once we see some more moderate get in this presidential race, I think it will open up the debate on the range of issues that represent the Democratic Party. And so, I look forward to that.

CAMEROTA: Like who? I mean, who do you expect -- what moderate do you expect to get in that would shift the debate?

HEITKAMP: Well, I think you have to look at Bloomberg, you have to look at Gov. Bullock, you have to look at Gov. Hickenlooper.

You have to look at, potentially, Michael Bennet getting in the race with a different idea. He hasn't been somebody who has said Medicare for All. He's been talking about a public option, which is another alternative that is less extreme.

And so, you know, we don't have the range of issue debate right now and I think that it is -- it is causing some concern among moderate Democrats. I will tell you that. But I think eventually, there will be a range of issues on how we solve America's problems.

The consistent view is that we have problems. We have problems in health care. We have problems in border security and we should all recognize that. We have problems in climate, we have problems in the environment, and we need to address those.

But the question is how do you do that? And I think right now, most of the ideas are coming from what people will perceive, I think rightfully, the far-left. And I think there will be Democrats who get in these races who talk about a different way to solve those problems.

CAMEROTA: We're out of time, but do you expect Vice President Biden to get in?

HEITKAMP: I do, actually. And I think he's going to -- he's going to bring a ballast to this that I think is significant and important.

CAMEROTA: Former senator Heidi Heitkamp, thank you very much. Great to talk to you.

HEITKAMP: You bet. Thanks, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: John --

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: You think she knows the inside scoop?

CAMEROTA: I don't know.

BERMAN: You think she knows?

CAMEROTA: She seemed pretty confident there.

BERMAN: Yes, that was no hesitation. He's getting in.

CAMEROTA: She said, "I do."

BERMAN: All right.

The results are in. The White House doctor says the president is obese. We'll discuss, next.

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[07:42:35] CAMEROTA: OK. So, the White House releasing the results of President Trump's annual physical. The president's doctor says that he is in very good health, but his lab results show the president is clinically obese.

CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now. What do you see in this new report, Sanjay?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, that was the -- that was the big headline certainly because he was borderline obese last year and the recommendation was he needed to lose 10 to 15 pounds. He gained weight. His height didn't change, so the -- now, when you do that math he's clinically obese.

These are the results, and as you look at these results you've got the height, you've got the weight. You've got a few things here.

Remember, this was four hours of exams, 11 different consultants. It took six days to release. This is what we got, basically. So I think the report is sort of pretty stunning for what's not in it.

Compared to last year, we did get more tests last year and had that sort of remarkable press conference, as you remember, as well.

But let me just show you some of the tests that were done last year. I think we have that.

But, basically, they looked at his heart. They did an echocardiogram, they did a stress test. They did that cognitive exam, remember, which basically the president asked for and he got a perfect score on. And then, had that coronary calcium scan as well, which had some concerning results.

BERMAN: And you bring up, Sanjay, the coronary calcium exam. And I remember you questioning the doctor last year about that very test. Do we know if that was done this year?

GUPTA: Well, we don't know if it was done. And, John, remember as well that that test and the score was not part of his official release -- not part of his official record. Dr. Ronny Jackson, he mentioned lots of things. He didn't mention that until I questioned him about that.

Let me just show you what this test is. It's important people who worry about their hearts will -- may know about this test. You're measuring the amount of calcium in the blood vessels.

His numbers have steadily gone up -- 133 last year. When you get to the range of 100 to 300, that means you have an increased risk of having a heart attack over the next three to five years. That's why doctors pay attention to this. That's why doctors really try and control risk factors.

They did increase the dose of his cholesterol medication. But still, his weight has gone up. His risk factors still remain.

CAMEROTA: Right. So, the calcium score has gone up and that concerns you. And what about the tip into obesity? How concerning should that be?

[07:45:00] GUPTA: Well, you know, it's concerning. And one thing about BMI -- body mass index is what we're talking about here. Once it gets over 30 it's considered obese.

It's not a perfect score because there are people who are very muscular, for example, who are going to be a high weight and their BMI may be up. It's not -- they're not carrying as much fat. Chris Cuomo always likes to brag about that.

The -- but, you know, you --

CAMEROTA: Because his weight would suggest he was obese and Chris doesn't like that.

BERMAN: That's the least breaking news Sanjay's ever said. The least breaking -- Chris Cuomo likes to brag about that.

CAMEROTA: That he's not obese.

GUPTA: Everybody knows that -- that's right. State the obvious.

No, but the -- you know, when you put it all in aggregate you say along with this cholesterol, along with these other risk factors, then it becomes even more concerning.

And again, the concern -- they will stratify and say over the next three to five years, relatively high risk of a heart attack. That can be prevented but you've got -- you've got to control these risk facts.

BERMAN: So when you look at all these numbers and you take the obesity into account here, Sanjay, the idea that the White House doctor is saying the president's in very good health, do you agree with that?

GUPTA: I -- well, you know, it's tough to contradict somebody directly like this. But he said -- he said not only is he in very good health, he expects that he'll remain so for the future. I think trying to apply a crystal ball to a situation like this is hard for anybody, no matter how much testing you have.

And in this case, we know what some of these tests show. And, I -- clinically obese, high cholesterol, evidence of coronary artery disease -- I don't think that equates with very good health.

CAMEROTA: If you had a patient like that you wouldn't send them out the door and say keep doing exactly what you're doing?

GUPTA: They would -- I would be on them because this is a -- this is a totally preventable potential problem in the future -- totally preventable. But, you know, things have to be done now.

CAMEROTA: Sanjay Gupta, thank you very much for analyzing --

GUPTA: Yes.

CAMEROTA: -- all of that for us.

BERMAN: All right. Big news happening here in New York City. Amazon is not opening new headquarters here after it announced it would. Why did the company make this decision and what does it say about the Democratic Party in 2019?

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[07:51:09] BERMAN: Amazon is abandoning its plans to build a new headquarters in New York City, and this really exposes a big divide among Democrats.

The New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, and the city's mayor, Bill de Blasio -- they supported the project. But some progressives like new member of Congress Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez celebrated the decision to take the 25,000 new jobs somewhere else.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D), NEW YORK: We should not giving away our infrastructure, our subway system, our schools, our teachers' salaries, our firefighters' budgets to a company that has not shown good faith to New Yorkers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. Joining me now, Errol Louis, a political anchor at "SPECTRUM NEWS" and a CNN political commentator. And, Alex Burns, national political correspondent for "The New York Times" and a CNN political analyst.

Errol, I want to ask you first because you've been living and breathing this Amazon deal for a long time because you cover city politics so very closely.

What happened here? What caused Amazon to get scared off by some -- by no means all Democrats complaining about this?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, POLITICAL ANCHOR, SPECTRUM NEWS: Yes, some -- by no means all.

I think what happened was the political class was doing what they usually do. There's always somebody who is going to complain about any disposition of land or dollars of significant size in New York City. At a minimum, probably some of the Amazon folks were not accustomed to the level of vitriol that they were going to hear.

And so people went out and did what they usually do. They start complaining. They start saying things like you showed the congresswoman saying that are just simply not true, right?

I mean, just like flat-out -- you know, it's not like money that was going to be used for this deal could have been used to pay teachers' salaries or to fix the subways, but people said it over and over and over again.

Now, here in New York, you're used to hearing that. You say, OK, they're always going to say that, right? It's always not enough union jobs. It's always we should be spending the money on firehouses or something like that. They say this all the time, whether it makes any sense or not.

In this case, though, the company said they were affected by it, they didn't like, but they didn't want to argue. They didn't want to go through the process and the inevitable lawsuits that they would have had to. Somebody here, I think, probably should have prepared them for what they were coming into. And they decided to walk away.

BERMAN: Watch a Yankees game or a Mets game and you'll know that New York City isn't all rainbows and unicorns sometimes, getting things done.

However, there is a real rift in the Democratic Party. Let me just read you the statement from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on this.

"A small group of politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community, which poll after poll showed overwhelmingly supported bringing Amazon to Long Island City, the state's economic future and the best interests of the people of this state."

Now, he's talking about some local and city politicians and state politicians that I don't think people around the country necessarily know. But he's also talking about the person on the screen behind us -- the new member of Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

ALEX BURNS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Well, he's particularly angry at the Democratic- led State Senate, right, but he's been able to be governor, essentially, with a free hand for eight or nine years now based on having a divided Legislature. And he's sort of the one man who makes everything happen.

Now, you have a total Democratic-controlled government and the left is really emboldened in New York State and in New York City politics. AOC is obviously part of that even though she's not a state politician.

There is this big divide among Democrats and the governor is clearly on the right side of that. I mean, right, ideologically side of that -- BERMAN: Right.

BURNS: -- where he doesn't want to raise taxes on millionaires. He is not convinced that the trade-offs involved in bringing the big company to the city are at all worth balking at.

And the folks on the left are offended by the idea of sort of giving a special deal to a corporation, even if the nature of the deal is not exactly the way they make it sound. And they are more preoccupied with economic inequality than with job creation and sort of economic opportunity as we would conventionally think about it, right?

[07:55:00] So you had this just total mismatch in the debate where you had the mayor and the governor sort of lecturing the skeptics about 25,000 jobs, 25,000 jobs, 25,000 jobs when the nature of the pushback had nothing to do with the job creation, right? It was about a different set of issues that are more and more central on the left.

BERMAN: I think it's a mistake to give Cortez too much credit in this. I mean, she was a supporting player in this, rather than a central figure.

However, when talking about her -- when you look at this and look at her introduction into the national political stage -- and the last month, she's been a big player in the Green New Deal, which is now a central part of the Democratic presidential primary debate.

She's involved in some level with this Amazon decision, which is on the front page of every paper and certainly, the front page of every business section around the country right now. And she's in the middle of so many of the ideological debates in Congress.

She seems to be at the center and putting herself at the center of Democratic politics around the country.

LOUIS: Yes. It's going to be a pretty noisy place over the next couple of years, I will tell you, because if -- Cory Booker, who is running for president and is another national figure -- he ran a city. He tried to offer all kinds of incentives.

She's talking about a Green New Deal that involves massive subsidies to private companies.

And so, you know, if we're going to talk this talk, we're going to have to really get into it. We have to really get into the details.

Who gets subsidized and why? Should the government be doing it? Where do the taxpayers come in?

What do you do in a situation like with this Amazon deal where poll after poll after poll showed 60 percent support, 70 percent support? Does that all just go away because a handful of people say we don't like this particular deal, we don't like this particular company? Who gets to pick and choose?

These are -- if those are going to be the terms of the debate it's going to be a really, really interesting and very noisy debate.

On the other hand, I think most people in the country, most people in New York understand that it's like look, you have to have a government that's going to work with the companies and have them do the things that are going to benefit the community. And how that gets done is going to vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but it's got to get done.

BERMAN: Why do you think, Alex, she's been able to command so much attention in the early stages of her job in Washington?

BURNS: Look, part of it is just she's masterful when it comes to social media and communication. And she has this really personal bond with a lot of voters on the left, especially young voters on that left, that her sort of competitors or ideological rivals in the Democratic Party simply don't. She's capturing sort of a moment, and a mood, and a set of ideas that were underrepresented in the Democratic Party's national debate.

The other side of this -- and I think the Amazon debate is a sort of perfect case study. You've not had anybody really wanting to take her on within the party since she won her primary, right? That they're -- you didn't have in the course of this Amazon debate the governor or the mayor or other proponents of the Amazon deal saying listen, I'll debate you anywhere, anytime, right?

That's there's a real fear of her and of the support that she can command. And when you have one side making a really forceful and sort of daring argument, even if it's a little factually suspect, and the other side is essentially saying this deal is so good. How could you possibly turn it down?

LOUIS: I'll tell you, the debate is going to happen. Organized labor, I think, is not going to be entirely happy with where this conversation goes, right? There were potentially thousands of jobs -- union jobs -- that vanished with this Amazon deal. Those folks are not going to stand on the sidelines and they don't really care how many Twitter followers you have.

BURNS: Just a colossal failure, though, that it did not happen already, right? That if you were a supporter of this project you just totally blew it.

BERMAN: You can see it being a campaign issue. I don't know who is going to use it but they're going to say these are Democrats against jobs in New York City. That will be an argument you hear.

Alex, Errol, thank you very, very much.

The president will soon declare a national emergency -- an end run around Congress to get money for a border wall.

NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: He's prepared to sign the bill. He will also be issuing a national emergency declaration.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: I'm disappointed that the president has chosen to go this route.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We will prepare to respond appropriately to it.

ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER DIRECTOR, FBI: I was very concerned that were I removed quickly, the case could not be closed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What McCabe was trying to do was he was readying the lifeboats.

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have never heard any discussion of the 25th Amendment and I would never expect to.

TRAVIS KAUFFMAN, SURVIVED MOUNTAIN LION ATTACK: It just kind of kept running and lunged at me. It was going toward my face so I threw up my hands.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They must have asked him how he got away and that's when he said that he killed it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His fight or flight kicked in and he did everything he needed to do to get himself out of that situation alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

CAMEROTA: And good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Friday, February 15th, 8:00 here in the East.

And in just about two hours, President Trump will announce that he is declaring a national emergency to reallocate $8 billion to fund his border wall, bypassing Congress. Under Article I of the Constitution, only Congress has the power to appropriate funds.

The bipartisan spending deal that was passed by Congress last night gives the president a --