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Bloomberg Not Running in 2020; Thousands Flee Last ISIS Stronghold; Michael Caputo Won't Cooperate with House Probe; R. Kelly Denies Abuse Allegations. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired March 06, 2019 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: How many of you think that the Congress should move forward with impeachment proceedings?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: OK, their answers are very interesting. These are Democratic voters and you're going to hear how they feel about impeachment and so much more.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Also in the very interesting category, R. Kelly on the defense, denying sexual abuse allegations in an explosive new interview. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, a big money shake-up in the Democratic presidential race. One potential candidate taking his name out of the field.

CAMEROTA: Rhymes with --

BERMAN: Shloomberg?

CAMEROTA: Shloomberg.

BERMAN: All right, yes. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has revealed that he will not run for president.

Let's get the latest with Harry Enten, CNN's senior politics writer and analyst.

Harry, what's the one reason that jumps out to you that maybe Michael Bloomberg got out.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER AND ANALYST: Why is Michael not running?

BERMAN: Yes.

ENTEN: So, to me, look, he was only at 2 percent in the average poll but I think this is the key statistic and something that I keep hitting on is that Democrats in the polling indicate that they don't really want their own version of Trump. Only 31 percent of Democrats felt comfortable or enthusiastic with a businessman as their nominee according to an NBC/"Wall Street Journal" poll out over this past weekend. Combine these two, it's pretty clear why a statistical guy like Bloomberg didn't want to put his hat into the ring.

[06:35:14] CAMEROTA: And also, let's face it, he has done a lot of work on the sidelines with his vast wealth. He has contributed --

ENTEN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: To lots of causes. He think he's moving the needle that way. So maybe he just decided that he can do better there.

ENTEN: Exactly. He's a cold, hard numbers guy, just like myself, and he looked at these numbers in the same way and said, I can do better on the sideline than actually in the ring.

BERMAN: There are only about 16 billion differences between you and Michael Bloomberg, but we'll talk about that another time.

There's a Quinnipiac poll out over the weekend which talked about the president's overall approval rating and also had some really interesting comparisons that popped up in your mind with Bill Clinton when he suffers some scandals as well.

ENTEN: Yes, I might not be wealthy in money, but I am wealthy with all the numbers that's surround me.

CAMEROTA: With knowledge (INAUDIBLE).

ENTEN: With knowledge.

So this is, to me, an interesting thing. And you can see that back in September of '98, during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, a lot of people actually thought that Bill Clinton had done something illegal in office, a majority did. Right now, with Donald Trump, a plurality believed that, yes, he committed a crime.

And you see this across a number of statistics where people think that Bill Clinton was dishonest. A majority of people think Donald Trump was dishonest. Both of them were not necessarily seen as the guy you would want to invite over for dinner. But this, to me, is something very interesting.

But look at how different Americans are treating Bill Clinton versus Donald Trump. Bill Clinton was actually very well-liked by Americans. A lots of Americans approved of the job he was doing in September of '98, not so much right now with Donald Trump. Only 38 percent approve of him in the latest Quinnipiac poll. So a major difference.

BERMAN: There's another difference too when you dig beneath there, right, in terms of what they think they're doing in their job?

ENTEN: Well, so the question is, why is this difference success (ph). And I think, you know, we've had a lot of focus on, you know, Russia and Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen. But I think it comes down to, do you think that these presidents are on your side? Do you think they care about the average American? And this, I think, is key. In the latest Quinnipiac poll, only 39 percent of Americans think that

Donald Trump cares about the average American. That's very close to the average number throughout his presidency. And it's very, very close to look at where his approval rating is right now.

Now, compare that -- compare that to the Clinton numbers. Fifty-eight percent thought that he cared about people like you.

CAMEROTA: In the middle of the scandal?

ENTEN: In the middle of the scandal. So even though the scandal was going on and people didn't necessarily like what he was doing with the scandal, they still thought that he was on their side. People at this point don't think that Donald Trump is on their side and it hasn't been that way throughout his presidency.

CAMEROTA: That's very interesting to me because at the beginning of his presidency -- I mean when -- during the campaign people felt that he was.

ENTEN: Right.

CAMEROTA: He talked about the coal miners. He talked about every -- we're all going to be sick of winning. He talked about -- you know, he hugged the flag yesterday -- last week.

ENTEN: He cares about the flag.

But, yes, if you look at the Quinnipiac poll that was taken right after his -- right after he was elected, actually a majority of Americans in that Quinnipiac poll said that he cared about average Americans. And then that number dropped during his administration. And we've seen this throughout it whereby this gap has been pretty gosh darn (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: It is interesting because it is instructive about what he perhaps should focus on going forward, maybe not the scandals so much as proving himself in the office.

ENTEN: Right. That's exactly right. He should hit on the economy. He should be hitting on, I'm on your side. And as long as Democrats are able to get across this idea that it isn't, it's the exact thing with Romney.

One last thing I just want to point out. The is my fun slide with snow.

CAMEROTA: Yes. What are you telling us here?

ENTEN: So this is what I'm telling you is, I went to weather camp when I was younger. This really disappointed me during the winter. We had no snow. But in the fall, and we've made up for it a lot in March, look at all that snow. Isn't that nice? We can have a snowball fight outside together. Maybe we can make the NEW DAY snowball fight.

CAMEROTA: You have not missed your calling. BERMAN: No.

CAMEROTA: You have worked it in.

BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE).

ENTEN: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: You have wove in your calling.

BERMAN: He probably got the wedgie (ph) at weather camp, by the way, based on this.

CAMEROTA: Wow.

BERMAN: But we'll leave that where it is.

CAMEROTA: Thank you very much, Harry.

ENTEN: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: OK, we have breaking news for your right now because thousands of people are fleeing the last ISIS-held territory in Syria as we speak. U.S.-backed Syrian democratic forces have helped 6,000 people leave in just the past two days. You can see the forced (ph) migration right here. But among those escaping are ISIS fighters.

And CNN's Ben Wedeman is live in eastern Syria, where this is happening.

Ben, what are you seeing?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, I think it's probably better to say they are surrendering because we've spoken with many of these people here, we're just going to step out of the way so our cameraman, Scotty McWhinny (ph) can give you a picture. These are people who we've spoken with. They are, for the most part, still loyal to the Islamic State. One man I spoke to told me that even if he spends the rest of his life in jail, he will remain committed to the ideals, if you can call it that, of the Islamic State. Many other people, women and children, clearly are not sort of happy to be in the hands of the U.S.-backed Syrian democratic forces.

[06:40:05] This is not like the scenes we saw outside Raqqa and Mosul when those towns were liberated, when people celebrate, were happy. They tore off their black head scarves. No, no, these people continue to hold to the Islamic State, the so-called Islamic State.

Now, what we've seen is over the last 48 hours more than 6,000 people, they're surrendering because of the bombing, the bombardment, the constant firepower that has been unleashed on that only half square mile area. Mostly tense. And the Syrian democratic forces are perpetually stunned at the number of people who are coming out.

I remember a month ago they were telling us there were only 1,500 people inside, civilians that is, plus 500 fighters. What we've seen in the last month and a half alone, however, is that well over 20,000 people have come out and there are still more expected. There's a group of trucks to my right. I don't think we can pan because of our bad -- you want to try it? OK. Go ahead.

There are more trucks that have come here this morning and hundreds more people. And they are men of military age. I've spoken with some of them. Not surprisingly, they deny they had anything to do with the military activities of ISIS. But the men are being separate from the women and children and they are being interrogated by -- on the other hill, the hill behind me. There are American, French, and British intelligence officers who want to find out about nationals from their countries.

Yesterday, we spoke to French women, Belgium women, a woman and her family from Finland as well. So there -- and what we're seeing is what's significant is, unlike what we've seen over the last month or so, a lot of foreigners coming out. And certainly the intelligence services are very interested to hear what they have to say.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: We would not know this story, we would not know the real numbers, Ben, if you were not there on the ground witnessing it and bringing it to us. Thank you very much.

BERMAN: Those are stunning images. And Ben's exactly right, it's very important who those people are and our thanks to Ben for finding out who they are. Fascinating.

A former Trump adviser who was on the list of 81 people or entities targeted by House Democrats says he will not cooperate with their probe. Why? We'll ask him. He's joining us, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:46:46] BERMAN: All right, new pushback this morning over House Democrats sweeping demand for documents from dozens of people connected to President Trump. "The Washington Post" reports my next guest is refusing to cooperate with the House Judiciary investigation. Michael Caputo was a former Trump campaign adviser and one of the 81 people or entries on Chairman Jerry Nadler's list.

Michael, thank you very much for being with us this morning.

"The Washington Post" says you're not going to cooperate. Why?

MICHAEL CAPUTO, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Well, I think "The Washington Post" headlines was a little bit click baity, as you might say. But it's really interesting because my attorney -- we responded yesterday to the request for documents with an answer that we have none of the documents they asked. And even though, if you look through all 81 people that are on that list, my request for documents was probably the shortest. It was less than a page. Some went on four to six pages, I think.

BERMAN: Right. CAPUTO: I have none of those documents they asked me for. And when my

lawyer sent the letter back, one of the aides from the committee said, will Michael appear before the committee in an interview? And, to me, it seems, and to my attorneys as well, it seems like they're going to invite all 81 of them in front -- if they're going to invite me. And from my perspective, I've testified twice before Congress, once before the House -- I'm sorry, before the Mueller investigation, always as a witness, and every time you sit down it costs $20,000, $30,000.

BERMAN: Understood.

So if they subpoena you, will you still refuse?

CAPUTO: Well, we -- I haven't even gotten an invitation.

BERMAN: OK.

CAPUTO: And I've already responded to the document request. So the idea that I'm not cooperating is a little bit out there.

BERMAN: OK.

CAPUTO: But -- but if they subpoena me, my lawyer and I, we'll discuss it. And we don't even know if I'll get invited. I think an invitation comes first.

BERMAN: Right. It hasn't happened officially yet --

CAPUTO: Right.

BERMAN: Though there was a conversation there.

Michael, I do want -- I'm going to read you a little bit a part of the documents they requested here.

CAPUTO: Sure.

BERMAN: And this is part of the letter you actually provided to us that was given to you by Chairman Nadler's office.

CAPUTO: Sure.

BERMAN: They requested any contacts direct or indirect from January 1, 2015, to January 20, 2017, between or involving the Russian Federation and its officials, agents, intermediaries, and/or instrumentalities and any of the following: Trump, Trump the campaign, Trump Organization, Manafort, Rick Gates, Michael Cohen, Michael Flynn, Jeff Sessions, Jared Kushner, Roger Stone there is highlighted there.

And I'm asking you about Roger Stone because obviously there was this episode, and you were questioned about the special counsel about this, where you helped arrange for Roger Stone a meeting between Stone and some purporting to be Russian -- or someone who apparently was Russian promising dirt on Hillary Clinton. So wouldn't that fall within the document request? CAPUTO: No, it wouldn't, actually, because this gentleman, who was an

FBI informant for 17 years turned out -- I mean I didn't know what he was offering, turned out to be offering information from a Ukrainian national who worked for the Hillary Clinton campaign. He has been away --

BERMAN: Well, that's -- that's your -- that's your assertion there, by the way. There's no proof to back that up, Michael. But -- but I understand that's a claim --

CAPUTO: No, that's actually -- that's actually -- no, I have -- absolutely have proof. John, you're wrong, I have absolute proof. I have a signed affidavit from the informant that he informed for the FBI for 17 years. It was presented in federal court.

BERMAN: Well, but then -- regardless -- regardless, when he came to you, he didn't say, hi, I'm an FBI informant. He said to you, I have dirt on Hillary Clinton. You said, OK, talk to Roger Stone here and I have communications, which again you've provided.

[06:50:08] CAPUTO: Right.

BERMAN: Between you and Roger Stone. Let me just show people about this. Michael Caputo, how crazy is the Russian? Stone, wants big money for info, waste of time. Caputo, the Russian way. Anything at all interesting? Stone, no.

You say this exchange is exculpatory. And people may look at that and say the same thing. All I'm saying is, wouldn't this be evidence, even if the committee didn't ask for this directly, wouldn't this be the type of thing easy enough to turn over to the investigation?

CAPUTO: I don't think, my attorney didn't think also that it fit within the parameters of the request. That's publicly available information. It's nothing I would be hiding or have any reason to hide from the committee. If you look at the letter of the -- of the request from the committee, it did not say, did you speak to some Russian national who lives in the United States, who was offering you information from a Ukrainian national who lives in the United States and works for the Clinton Foundation. They were asking for intermediaries to the Russian government.

BERMAN: Well, agents -- agents -- agents, intermediaries or instrumentalities.

CAPUTO: Of the government. Of the government.

BERMAN: All right. So -- so -- so you're saying it didn't include that.

CAPUTO: Right.

BERMAN: If they broaden it to say, hey, if -- did you try to set up a meeting with someone claiming to be a Russian who -- promising dirt on Hillary Clinton, would you then turn it over?

CAPUTO: Of course.

BERMAN: OK.

CAPUTO: I mean I've turned it over to the -- to everyone else. And it's in -- it's in your hands. It's in everybody's hands. So --

BERMAN: Yes. No. I'm just saying -- I'm just saying -- and, again, the committee made clear, they actually only would want you to turn over things you've already given to the special counsel because they were trying to make it easier for you.

You have said that there are four other people on this list you've been in contact with and you're discussing a non-cooperation agreement as it were, suggesting that the five of you may push back on the committee. Is that correct?

CAPUTO: No, that's not true at all. What I -- what I said is I've talked to four people who all have the same concerns I do, that this is a perjury trap, that's set up to lead to the impeachment of the president of the United States. I don't know what those people are going to do.

BERMAN: Who are they?

CAPUTO: I mean not -- they're 81 -- there are 81 people and organizations on that list, including the Department of Justice. I'm certain the Department of Justice will cooperate with this.

BERMAN: Can you tell me who the four people are that you've talked to?

CAPUTO: No, I can't. I won't.

BERMAN: And you keep using the word "perjury trap" there. And as Jeffrey Toobin, who went to law school, likes to tell me, there's no class and there's no legal definition that includes the phrase "perjury trap" here. One way to avoid a perjury trap is to just tell the truth, correct?

CAPUTO: No doubt. And I've told the truth every time I've sat before Congress and in front of the Mueller investigation, but it's -- we're going on two years since the last time I spoke before Congress and we know that, you know, if you look at this whole situation --

BERMAN: It's a little different now. Admit it, it's a little different now with Democrats in charge than it would be with Republicans in charge, correct?

CAPUTO: Well, you didn't sit through the Democratic grilling that I got on the House Intelligence and Senate Intelligence Committees. Just because they were in the minority didn't mean they were muzzled, the same questions.

BERMAN: Let me just -- let me just say, Sean Spicer, who was press secretary, he told Fox News, I will do everything to facilitate this investigation and there's nothing I have to hide. He said he would answer questions and turn over everything else. I have nothing to hide.

CAPUTO: Right.

BERMAN: He's cooperating. So if you have nothing to hide, why not -- why not just say I'll --

CAPUTO: Why? Because -- as I said before, John, it cost $30,000 -- you know, $20,000 to $30,000 to sit down with these people. And the committees' letter got to me via the media. This is all a media play. And if they're -- you know, this is 80 people, John, 80 people, and they say they're going to do more. It will be over a hundred in the end. To my mind, this is a -- this is a play for headlines. It's a setup for impeachment. And if we are invited, if I'm invited to speak before the committee, I'm going to have to make a decision on that day.

But I'm disinclined do it --

BERMAN: OK.

CAPUTO: Because at the end of the day they're driving my family and dozens of other families into the poor house just because we worked for Donald Trump.

BERMAN: Michael Caputo, when you do make a decision, if they do come to you with a subpoena, please come to us and tell us.

CAPUTO: I'll come to you first, John.

BERMAN: I appreciate that. That's what I always want to here.

Appreciate it, Michael, thank you.

CAPUTO: Thanks.

CAMEROTA: We always appreciate hearing from him. It's always insightful, actually. It's really revealing what his experience is and when he shares it with us.

BERMAN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: So there's this -- also this explosive interview with singer R. Kelly, who denies the growing list of sexual abuse allegations against him. You'll hear from his -- in his own words what he says, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:58:13] CAMEROTA: Singer R. Kelly is speaking out in an explosive new interview. He vehemently denies that he sexually abused under aged girls and he tearfully says he's fighting for his life.

CNN's Sara Sidner is live in Los Angeles with more.

Wow, what an interview, Sara. SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. This is the first time

that we have heard directly from R. Kelly after he was charged with ten counts of aggravated sexual abuse involving four alleged victims. We were there as he went to court. He was very quiet. He was very solemn. Now you are seeing a very different R. Kelly in this interview on CBS "This Morning" with Gayle King.

She talks to him about many different things. But, of course, she gets straight to the point as to whether or not he is still hanging out or having anything to do with underage girls. And he responds to the new allegations, some of which came out on that Lifetime series called "Surviving R. Kelly," where women had come forward saying that he's still doing it and that they suffered abuse at the hands of R. Kelly. They accused him of holding them, their parents accused him of brainwashing them. Here's how he responded to the latest allegations against him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

R. KELLY, MUSICIAN: Forget the blogs, forget how you feel about me. Hate me if you want to, love me if you want, but just use your common sense. How stupid would it be for me to -- with my crazy past of what I've been through, oh, right now I just think I need to be a monster and hold girls against their will, chain them up in my basement and don't let them eat and don't let them out, unless they need some shoes down the street from their uncle.

GAYLE KING, CBS NEWS ANCHOR, "THIS MORNING": Robert --

KELLY: Stop it. Y'all quit playing. Quit playing.

KING: Robert.

KELLY: I didn't do this stuff. This is not me. I'm fighting for my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:00:00] SIDNER: And, of course, you have those who say we are victims of R. Kelly. They say they, too, have shed many, many tears over how they were treated.

END