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President Trump Fights Back Against Flurry Of Investigations; Sen. Mazie Hirono (D) Hawaii Is Interviewed About House Investigations; Border Patrol: U.S.-Mexico Border At "Breaking Point"; Pulse of the People: Democratic Voters On Impeachment And The Future Of The Democratic Party; General Motors To Shut Down Lordstown, Ohio Plant Early; R. Kelly Denies Sexual Abuse Allegations. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired March 06, 2019 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:30:00] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: The White House is fighting back against sweeping investigations launched by House Democrats. President Trump falsely claims that President Obama did not cooperate with Congress, and he accuses the Democrats of political games.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Essentially, what they're saying is the campaign begins and instead of doing infrastructure, instead of doing health care -- instead of doing so many things that they should be doing, they want to play games.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: All right. Joining us now is Sen. Mazie Hirono. She is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Good morning, Senator.
SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D-HI), MEMBER, SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Good morning, Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: The White House doesn't want to hand over the documents that the House Judiciary Committee and Chairman Nadler is asking for. They say they have a right to confidentiality.
They put out a letter saying that the Democrats' request is intrusive. Let me read it to you.
"The Committee has failed to point to any authority establishing a legitimate legislative purpose for the Committee's unprecedented and extraordinarily intrusive demands."
Your response?
HIRONO: They -- Congress has oversight authority and that's what the House chairs are exercising. And for the Executive Branch to say well, we have no authority, that's not exactly a legal argument. They're going to need to present a legal argument, not a political argument as to why they don't want to comply with these requests. CAMEROTA: Well, I mean, part of the argument -- and I don't know if this is political or legal, but it's that doesn't Robert Mueller have all this stuff? Isn't what House Judiciary are looking for redundant in terms of what -- the investigations that have been ongoing for the better part of two years?
HIRONO: Robert Mueller has a very specific charge and that is to investigate whether or not the Russians -- and we already know this -- interfered with our elections and they're still continuing to do so. And whether or not there was any kind of conspiracy or collusion with the Trump Organization.
So, there are so many other areas of inquiry, such as what happened with the Trump Tower and Russia. What about his foundation? There are so many areas of inquiry, especially after Michael Cohen's testimony.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
HIRONO: So it is our responsibility to investigate and to oversee what the administration is doing.
CAMEROTA: Yes. So if they don't want to give it to you, what next?
HIRONO: I think there's going to be some discussions but, frankly, they still have -- the House chairs have the right to issue subpoenas.
But frankly, the administration has to come up with a legal argument, such as saying executive privilege or something. They can't just say this is a -- this is a fishing expedition. That is not a legal argument. That is a political argument.
CAMEROTA: I want to ask you about the hearing that you're holding today --
HIRONO: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- about the two children who died in the custody of Customs and Border Protection.
From the evidence that you've seen, did CBP do anything wrong?
HIRONO: I think anytime children who are totally in our custody die while they're in our custody, that is serious and we need to investigate.
So when McAleenan comes before our Judiciary Committee he is going to be asked what happened and what steps are you taking to make sure that people who are totally in our custody do not die, and this includes adults. So any child who is in our custody should not have to die in our -- basically, in our custody.
And I know that they have taken steps to provide more medical help. But with children, we know that they need specialized help, such as pediatricians or pediatric nurses, and that's what we have to do. But the entire system was exacerbated by the separation of children at the border. There are alternatives to basically incarcerating all of these people, adults and children alike. There are other ways that we can deal with the kind of overcrowding that's happening in our facilities.
CAMEROTA: Yes. Well, therein lies the problem because as you know, there are these staggering new numbers that CBP has just put out. They say they're overwhelmed.
I mean, I'll just put up the numbers for you right now. Seventy-six thousand --
HIRONO: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- in border apprehensions in just February. That's the highest in any February in the last 12 years.
Seven thousand two hundred-fifty unaccompanied children; 40,000-plus family members. That is a 300 percent increase in family apprehensions.
HIRONO: Yes.
CAMEROTA: And basically, you know, what they say is they are overwhelmed. They can't accommodate all these people. So they do have to release them into the country after 20 days, I think, is the law if there's children involved. And they give them a court date but it might be months or years away, and they don't show back up.
I mean, do you understand why CBP says something is terribly wrong and they're overwhelmed?
HIRONO: Well, first of all, there were greater numbers of people coming across our borders before but it's in the context, sure.
The fact that we have exacerbated the situation by separating children at the border, some of whom still can't be reunited with their parents, that certainly doesn't help. And we know that there are alternatives to holding everybody in our facilities, which the CBP didn't want to particularly go to. But these are options.
[07:35:00] At the same time, it just points out the horrible conditions in the Central American countries. It is incumbent upon our country to do more to get to the root causes of the violence and everything else that is going on --
CAMEROTA: Such as?
HIRONO: -- in the Central American --
CAMEROTA: I mean, if this is a humanitarian crisis, what can the U.S. do to stop it at its point of origin?
HIRONO: There are programs that have to do with helping these Central American countries with more economic development. And there's an entire array of things that we can do because as long
as these people are facing murder and rape and everything else in their countries, they're going to want to come to a country that they believe will provide them opportunities --
CAMEROTA: Yes.
HIRONO: -- for a better life.
CAMEROTA: Understood, but, I mean, at the moment --
HIRONO: So there's that.
CAMEROTA: I hear -- I totally hear you, of course, that that makes sense. But that's long-term.
And short-term -- I mean, again, Border Protection says they're overwhelmed, so what are they supposed to with the people who are showing up?
HIRONO: Short-term -- short-term is to, first of all, not separate children from their parents. And they say that they're not doing that but I think there's evidence that that is still continuing.
And as I said, there are other options -- ankle bracelets. There are other options to incarcerating and holding everybody --
CAMEROTA: Such as?
HIRONO: -- by the thousands.
There are programs that will enable people to go into our communities and to be able to be tracked in our communities. There are programs like that. And so, that's an option.
But, you know, this is not a problem that -- a situation that's going to be resolved by a wall or any one thing. We have to look at the totality of what's going on in Central America. There's more we can do.
You know, when you think about the president wanting to spend billions and billions of dollars for a wall, and so that's going to solve all of our problems, that is inane.
Not to mention, by the way, that this wall is supposed to go over 1,100 miles of our southern border. Do you know that much of that land we don't even have control over? So, we're going to have to engage in --
CAMEROTA: I thought they said 200 miles.
HIRONO: Oh, when McAleenan testified the last time, he said there's 1,100 miles of border wall that they want to build. They have a plan. I'm going to ask you -- OK, show me that plan.
And also, we don't control all of these lands. They're going to have to engage in a very long-term process of eminent domain.
So, you talk about long-term -- you know, you talk about instant solution -- the border wall is not an instant solution. It is going to take us years and years of eminent domain proceedings to get that to that point. And that is why this panacea or the wall is going to solve everything, I think is inane, not to mention -- you know the billions that we're going to spend for this wall that may never happen?
We should be looking at how can we work with the Central American countries to enable them to have a better environment so they're not all going to get killed, raped or -- that's what they're facing.
CAMEROTA: Yes. Senator Mazie Hirono --
HIRONO: This is why the composition of the people coming are more families and children from Central America.
CAMEROTA: Oh, it's a humanitarian crisis. I mean, I think that there is agreement that there is now a humanitarian crisis at the border.
Senator Mazie Hirono, thank you very much for joining us with your insight.
HIRONO: Sure.
CAMEROTA: We'll be watching your hearing at 10:00 a.m., closely. Thank you.
HIRONO: Aloha.
CAMEROTA: John --
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right.
Coming up for us, a plant in the heart of Trump country is shutting down early. So what happens now to the hundreds of employees who once worked at this Ohio GM facility?
CAMEROTA: But first, I ask a group of Democratic voters a burning question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: How many of you think that the Congress should move forward with impeachment proceedings?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: All right. Wait until you hear their answers, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:42:12] CAMEROTA: OK, today is part two of the Pulse of the People, in which I talked to a group of Democratic voters from Ohio, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, all of whom voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
As you are about to hear, they have very mixed feelings about the prospect of impeachment. But they are crystal clear on who they see as the future of the Democratic Party.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAMEROTA: There's a lot of talk about how strong the Trump base is. How many of you are worried that that's going to be tough to beat?
MARY REAMAN, DEMOCRAT: I'm totally worried. I mean, I'm absolutely worried because even people who, you know, I've seen in my own family who voted for him and then sort of, you know, recanted and were like oh my god, what did I do are now sort of coming back around, and that troubles me. But I think that they are tied to the party more than the person.
CAROL EVANS, DEMOCRAT: I think having the Congress -- having the Congress be -- the House be blue now is extremely important on this issue because we can really hold his feet to the fire and bring out to the American public so much of the terrible things that he's done. So I think we have that (INAUDIBLE).
MICHAEL MILISITS, DEMOCRAT: He's officially an unindicted coconspirator --
C. EVANS: Yes, he is.
MILISITS: -- after that Michael Cohen testimony.
C. EVANS: Yes, he is.
MILISITS: I mean, there's a check with his name on it when he was in the office of the president.
CHRISTIAN TAMTE, DEMOCRAT: The thing is that I don't think they care. I don't think that they care.
MILISITS: Yes.
TAMTE: I think at the end of the day, they think that he's done what he set out to do and so it doesn't matter what's said because they don't -- again, they're going to go back to voting the party line.
CAMEROTA: How many of you -- show of hands -- think that the Mueller report will reveal a crime?
C. EVANS: A new crime, I don't know. I think it's probably, at this point, old news -- whatever can come out.
RUSSELL BANKS, DEMOCRAT: Yes, committed his crimes.
CAMEROTA: Right. Do you -- I mean, you think that they'll be an indictable crime?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. TAMTE: Indictable, but whether or not that will happen or not is the question.
CAMEROTA: No, understood.
C. EVANS: Let's indict a bully.
BANKS: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
TAMTE: So many things that have been happening already that have happened that are indictable. I don't think that -- I was so looking forward to the Mueller report coming out and being like yes, this is the nail in the coffin. We're going to walk him right out of the White House.
And now, the closer we get to it, you know, and the more stuff that has come out and come out, I really -- honestly, I don't know that it's actually going to do much because we already know --
CAMEROTA: But, why? But, what's changed? I mean, what made you think that it was going to be an open and shut case and now you don't think that that's --
TAMTE: Because I've seen so many other -- we've already seen so many other indictable things that we just kind of sit on or it goes away.
CAMEROTA: What do you want Congress to do about it?
MILISITS: I mean, they have to impeach. If the president is accused of high crimes and misdemeanors and we have proof and evidence of that, I mean, it's their duty to defend the Constitution, not the party, not the politics.
CAMEROTA: How many of you think that the Congress should move forward with impeachment proceedings?
C. EVANS: They should.
(CROSSTALK)
TAMTE: But should is a horrible word. Like, there's a lot of things that should happen.
[07:45:00] BANKS: Absolutely.
C. EVANS: And their duty is to when the report comes out if that's what it --
CAMEROTA: You would all be comfortable with moving towards -- moving towards impeachment, even though you know how it played out the last time?
BANKS: You need him voted out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
BANKS: You need -- you need the -- you need everyone to go to the polls and vote him out. For him to be impeached, that's almost like just another -- some more fuel to the fire where he's like, OK, see what happened? See, they couldn't beat us the old-fashioned way and they had to beat us this way.
OWEN EVANS, DEMOCRAT: We'll never convict him in the Senate.
C. EVANS: Right.
O. EVANS: We'll spend months and months talking about it instead of talking about the candidates. And ultimately, I think it would be healthier for the country to kick him out of office by the ballot box.
REAMAN: And, Nancy Pelosi agrees with you.
O. EVANS: Yes.
REAMAN: I've got to tell you, prior to Trump, I was sort of over Nancy Pelosi. Now, however, I think she is the right person in the right place and we need her strength and we -- you know, that she did not back down on the wall, to me, was like thank you. Just thank you for standing in there and not moving. For standing your ground.
So, I actually think that she is in the right place at the right time.
C. EVANS: I think Nancy is symbolic of my excitement about the women candidates. She's a woman who knew what she had to do. She didn't have her ego driving this.
She's making all the right moves. She's standing up for so many things and I think that's a symbol of how a woman leader will be as president.
O. EVANS: I just feel so much safer with her as speaker and I think we didn't give her enough credit on her progressive credentials before, honestly.
CAMEROTA: And yet -- I mean, doesn't it also speak to the old guard -- the establishment? Somebody having experience. I mean, all of the things that people are -- that are not in fashion at the moment.
BANKS: You do need experience.
C. EVANS: Yes.
BANKS: So, you know, not to say that you want to just throw the old guard away. Yes, you need it. There's places where you do need that.
And you need strong leadership and I think she has demonstrated that she can be a leader. And then also, she's demonstrated that she's not going to back down from the White House.
CAMEROTA: One more question for you guys.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez -- your thoughts?
REAMAN: She's a badass.
(CROSSTALK)
C. EVANS: I love her.
REAMAN: Wow, what a woman -- amazing. I mean, she's asking the right questions. She -- I don't feel like she's playing games.
I'm so excited about her. She is smart, she is intelligent, and I cannot wait to see what else she does.
MILISITS: Well, I know she's got the Democratic Party nervous and, in a way, they should be nervous --
BANKS: Sure.
MILISITS: -- because she does represent the new -- the new guard -- the new generation. I think she really kind of personifies where we expect things to go.
TAMTE: She is the candidate of the future. She has gotten it down pat and she has also nailed it in -- as a woman in a male-dominated field. This is how we -- women in the male-dominated fields, we have to work like this all the time.
She is the candidate of the future. She -- get ready for her because she's coming.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAMEROTA: They came alive for AOC.
BERMAN: They really did.
CAMEROTA: I mean, they were animated throughout our talk, but they came alive to talk about AOC.
BERMAN: What's so interesting to hear Democratic voters say that Rep. Cortez is the candidate of the future is not only perhaps is Cortez excited about that, but there might be Republicans who are excited about that. You hear her being demonized more than any person I can remember since Nancy Pelosi, for instance.
CAMEROTA: Right.
BERMAN: They point at her every time. So to have the Democratic voters say that was fascinating.
CAMEROTA: I thought so, too, because it doesn't faze them. In other words, the demonization or the criticism of her hasn't made a dent in their enthusiasm. It's just not -- that's not -- just not affecting them.
BERMAN: Also hearing some trepidation among Democrats about the impeachment process.
CAMEROTA: Listen, it was so funny. I told them during it they worked their way around in five minutes --
BERMAN: Right.
CAMEROTA: -- from thinking yes, it should happen to no, under no circumstances should it happen.
BERMAN: Because Nancy Pelosi was standing on their shoulder yelling at them the whole time. All right.
R. Kelly defiant and fighting back. An explosive new interview that led him to cry and blow up at Gayle King during the interview. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:53:14] BERMAN: The last Chevy will roll off the assembly line today at a plant in Lordstown, Ohio, two days ahead of schedule. It's the first of four General Motors plants in the United States closed -- or that will close in the coming months.
CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich is live at the plant in Ohio with the very latest. This is a milestone that so many people there don't want to see, Vanessa.
VANESSA YURKEVICH, REPORTER, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS: Exactly. Hi, good morning, John.
Yes, this is the last day of work for about 1,400 employees here at the GM plant in Lordstown, Ohio.
And according to the CEO of the company, Mary Barra, the reason that the plant is closing is because consumers are not buying Chevy Cruzes, they're not buying sedans. They're buying light trucks, they're buying light SUVs to take advantage of low gas prices.
Now, as you mentioned, this is the first of four that are going to be closing here in the United States, and there's one in Canada that will be closing as well. That's going to be about 14,000 people out of a job.
But here in Lordstown, this plant behind me has been here for over 50 years and that has made a huge impact on this community. Many generations of families have worked here behind me and when they leave for the last time today, they are going to be leaving behind many decades of work experience.
We spoke to one of those employees whose last day is today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY VENABLE, EMPLOYEE, GENERAL MOTORS, LORDSTOWN, OHIO: They stabbed us in the back. We do a lot for this community. You know, it's kind of hurting right now, saying we might have to leave Ohio and go somewhere else, but we'll get -- we'll get through this. It's rough times.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YURKEVICH: And according to GM, they're going to be saving about $6 billion by 2020 for the closing of these five plants. But they were able to relocate about 400 people from this Lordstown plant to other facilities across the United States.
[07:55:07] But I spoke to the mayor last night, Alisyn, and the economic impact of this plant closing here for this community is pretty dire. Businesses here in town are down 50 percent, and when people don't show up for work tomorrow that percentage is going to drop even more.
And, Alisyn, finally, the mayor and many of the people who are still hanging out here in town, they are trying to figure out if GM might even bring a new car back here to get going on the assembly line once again. But as we know, Alisyn, those are electric cars and autonomous vehicles, and simply require less humans to do those jobs -- Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: That is not what people were hoping for in 2016 when they went to the ballot box over some of these issues.
Thank you very much, Vanessa.
OK, you have to see this. Singer R. Kelly is speaking out in an explosive interview. He repeatedly denies that he sexually abused or assaulted underage girls. At one point, Gayle King, the journalist interviewing him, even had to stop the cameras from rolling.
CNN's Sara Sidner is live in Los Angeles with more. As we see more of this interview it just gets crazier.
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It does. It's extremely emotional on his part and you can see Gayle King trying to calm the waters if you will.
But, R. Kelly is now accused of 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse. All of those counts, if he were to be convicted, that would be up to 70 years in prison.
And he says he's fighting for his "expletive" life as he's talking to her. Let me let you hear when she starts to press him on whether or not he had sexual relations with one of the women that he is currently with now or with anyone who was 17 years old.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GAYLE KING, ANCHOR, "CBS THIS MORNING": Have you ever had sex --
R. KELLY, SINGER ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ABUSE: No.
KING: -- with anyone under the age of 17?
KELLY: No. KING: Never?
KELLY: No.
KING: I have to tell you, it's so hard to believe that based on all that we've read and what's been said about you.
KELLY: Let me tell you something, Gayle. Let me tell you something. What women said about me -- what women -- so, nobody's allowed to be mad at me and be scorned and lie on me?
KING: So they're lying on you? That's your explanation -- they're lying on you?
KELLY: Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: So, he's saying that every single woman that has accused him of sexual abuse or having sex with them when they were minors is lying.
We also heard that from his attorney, Steve Greenberg. He also said the same thing when I asked him if all the women were lying, according to R. Kelly. He said, yes.
Then, he is also asked about the current allegations against him -- not just the ones that were put forward in court but also those that appeared on the series, "SURVIVING R. KELLY" -- the Lifetime series -- the 6-hour series that had many women coming forward and making lots of different accusations, including sexual abuse, including having sex with them when they were minors.
And here's how he responded to that very, very emotionally.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: I didn't do this stuff. This is not me.
I'm fighting for my f***ing life. You all killing me with this sh*t. I gave you 30 years of my f***ing career.
KING: Robert?
KELLY: Thirty years of my career and you all trying to kill me. You're killing me, man. This is not about music. I'm trying to have a relationship with my kids and I can't do it.
KING: What --
KELLY: You all just don't want to believe the truth. You don't want to believe it.
KING: What kind of help?
KELLY: This is the kind of help I need. KING: Yes, what kind of help?
KELLY: I need somebody to help me not have a big heart because my heart is so big people betray me and I keep forgiving them.
KING: You sound like you're playing the victim here. You sound like -- R. Kelly, you do. When I listen to you, it does sound like --
KELLY: I'm just telling the truth.
KING: -- you're playing the victim.
KELLY: I'm just telling the truth. And the reason I'm emotional --
KING: But, Robert --
KELLY: -- and I apologize for that -- is because this is --
KING: No, no, no, no.
KELLY: -- the first time I was able to say something.
KING: To speak.
KELLY: I've said nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: So, there's a lot to unpack there. He talks about not being able to see his kids, but you have to realize also that his ex-wife has accused him of abuse and he still owes about $160,000-plus in back child support. That is also an issue there.
So there are a lot of things that he said in this interview -- extremely emotional, as you saw there, jumping up in this situation. But this is the first time that we've heard from him since these current charges have been pressed against him -- John and Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: That is remarkable. And my hat is off -- our hat is off to Gayle King. She doesn't flinch.
BERMAN: Not a --
SIDNER: No.
BERMAN: -- bit there.
CAMEROTA: And, you know, it -- obviously, we've all been in this situation. It can be frightening when somebody becomes unhinged in front of you and she just sticks to the questions and lets him sort of unravel in front of all of our eyes.
BERMAN: Fascinating to see.
All right, Sara. Thank you very much.
Up next for us, we have new CNN reporting about how Ivanka Trump got her security clearance differently than she said. That's now.
END
