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Attorney General Bill Barr Defends the Letter He Made from Mueller's Report; Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin Grilled and Toss Up Over President's Tax Returns; No More No Less for Brexit Extension; Positive Signs Points to Prime Minister Netanyahu's Fifth Term; 2020 Race For The White House; Sanders Running For President, Says He Is A Millionaire; College Admission Scandal; Measles Outbreak In New York; A Shocking Statistics, Invisible Crisis; NBA Retirements; Redaction Rainbow On Mueller Report. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired April 10, 2019 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: The attorney general promises it's almost Mueller time. William Barr says the special counsel's report will be out soon but with many redactions. And Democrats say that's not good enough.
Israel's closely contested race. As the results come in, it appears to be a virtual tie between the prime minister and his challenger. But both have already claimed victory.
Theresa May is looking to Brussels for another Brexit delay, and there's a chance she will get more than she bargained for.
Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church, and this is CNN newsroom.
Well, U.S. lawmakers expect to get their hands on the long-awaited Mueller report within a week. But the stage is set for a legal battle with the attorney general.
William Barr answered questions on Capitol Hill Tuesday for the first time since the Russia investigation ended. But as Sara Murray reports, Democrats didn't get the answers they wanted.
SARA MURRAY, CNN White House CORRESPONDENT: Attorney General William Barr telling lawmakers he will soon be ready to share Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM BARR, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL: I think that from my standpoint, by within a week, I will be in a position to release the report to the public.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: But not the complete version Democrats are clamoring for. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARR: I don't intend at this stage to send the full, unredacted report to the committee.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Barr's comments setting up a fight between Congress and the Trump administration over the fate of the Mueller report.
Democrats on the House judiciary committee already authorized a subpoena for the full report and its underlying evidence. So far, Democrats haven't moved forward with it, but that could soon change.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JERROLD NADLER (D-NY): I presume we're going to get the redacted report within a week. When we do so, if we don't get everything, we will issue the subpoena and go to court.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Barr's resistance setting off a pointed exchange over 6-e, the rule governing the release of grand jury material. That material is meant to be kept secret except in certain circumstances. Barr says this isn't one of them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARR: I have to say that until someone shows me a provision in 6-e that permits its release, Congress doesn't get 6-e, and the chairman of the judiciary committee is free to go to court if he feels one of those exceptions is applicable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Instead, Barr says Congress will only get explanations for the redactions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARR: We will color-code the excisions from the report, and we will provide explanatory notes describing the basis for each redaction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Barr also under fire today for how he crafted his summary of Mueller's conclusions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NITA LOWEY (D-NY): All we have is your four-page summary, which seems to cherry-pick from the report to draw the most favorable conclusion possible for the president.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MURRAY: Barr acknowledged Mueller's team may have wanted more of
their original wording included even as he defended his letter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARR: I suspect that they probably wanted, you know, more put out. I felt that I should state the bottom-line conclusions, and I tried to use Special Counsel Mueller's own language in doing that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Only about 100 words in the four-page letter were Mueller's. Barr added that Mueller declined to weigh in on it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARR: Mr. Mueller's team did not play a role in drafting that document although we offered him the opportunity to review it before we sent it out, and he declined that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Barr also acknowledged the White House counsel was given a heads-up about the initial summary sent to Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARR: We did advise the White House counsel's office that the letters were being sent, but they were not allowed or even asked to make any changes to the letters.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: But he refused to say whether the White House has seen the full report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARR: I've said what I'm going to say about the report today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Even though Bill Barr made it clear he did not want to release any grand jury information; he sounded a little bit more willing to maybe make some of the classified information available at least to members of Congress.
He also said when he does release his version of the report, the redactions will be color-coded, explaining the basis of why things are missing from the report.
Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.
CHURCH: Josh Rogin joins me now, he is a CNN political analyst and a columnist for the Washington Post. good to see you.
JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Likewise.
[03:04:59] CHURCH: So, Attorney General Bill Barr says he will release a redacted Mueller report to the public within a week, but refused to answer whether the White House had seen it.
Why not just say yes or no? What does it signal when he avoids that question? And if the Democrats issue a subpoena, will they ever get to see the full, unredacted report?
ROGIN: Attorney General Barr is doing what he's always done, which is giving Congress only the information he believes that he is directly obligated to give them, no more, no less. That's his style.
It's making Democratic members of Congress very unhappy. He shows no signs of altering it. That applies to when he talks about directions with the White House. It also applies to the details of what exactly these redactions will be and whether or not he will explain them once he hands them over.
Now what's clear is that the Democrats in Congress have no intention of being satisfied by taking Attorney General Barr's word for this. So, you can be sure that no matter what the redactions are, since he has promised not to give Congress the full version of the Mueller report, there will be a subpoena.
Whether or not that subpoena is successful depends on the courts. That just means we don't know how it's going to come out, but there will be a long, protracted legal battle.
CHURCH: And why do you think Robert Mueller declined an offer to see Bill Barr's summary of his own report before its release? Does that make sense to you?
ROGIN: It makes a lot of sense if you're Robert Mueller. His goal, his imperative is to stay out of the political fray and to maintain his own sense of independence. And not weighing in on the letter is the best way for him to avoid becoming entangles in the politics of this.
Robert Mueller is trying to avoid those mistakes that James Comey made. When James Comey crossed over from being a prosecutor and an investigator into being making political decisions.
Robert Mueller has learned the lessons of that, and why not let the administration and the political appointees take the heat for whatever it is they decide to do with Congress. Robert Mueller has done his job and he's standing by that.
CHURCH: To immigration now, and President Trump is now blaming his family separation policy on Barack Obama and denying he has any plans to resurrect it. Let's just listen to what he said Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Obama separated the children by the way. Just so you understand, President Obama separated the children. Those cages that were shown, I think they were very inappropriate.
They were built by President Obama's administration, not by Trump. President Obama had child separation. Take a look. The press knows it. You know it. We all know it. I didn't have -- I'm the one that stopped it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Josh, let's fact-check that statement from the president. What is true and what is false?
ROGIN: I mean it's a grossly misleading depiction of events. It's true that during the Obama administration, there were some instances of child separation. It's false that the Obama administration made this into a policy.
It happens to be a fact that the Trump administration did expand the use of child separation, including by claiming that they believed it was a deterrent. And even today, as the president tries to publicly take credit for ending the policy, all of the reporting by several news organizations, including CNN, has shown that privately he's pushing for a reinstatement of the very policy he's criticizing publicly.
So, there's a lot of misdirection, a lot of misinterpretation, a lot of spin. Some outright lies. But I think what you're seeing here is a struggle both inside the Trump administration and around Washington to figure out what the immigration debate is going to be heading into the 2020 election.
The president knows he wants to run on this. I spoke to a senator just an hour ago who talked to the president about the situation. This senator told me that the president is convinced that this is the issue that will get him re-elected.
The problem is he hasn't figured out what the policy is, and he hasn't figured out what's politically possible, and that's why we're seeing this back and forth we're seeing right now.
CHURCH: Yes. We shall watch to see what he does in the end when it comes to this particular issue. A lot of people very concerned. Josh Rogin, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.
ROGIN: Anytime.
CHURCH: Well, the fight for Donald Trump's tax returns is heating up. The Trump administration has until today to turn over six years of the president's business and personal tax returns.
House Democrats made the request to the Treasury Department last week. The head of that department, Steve Mnuchin, is now at the center of this fight. He testified before the House financial services committee on Tuesday and said he consulted the White House on this issue but did not take direction from them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) [03:10:00] STEVEN MNUCHIN, UNITED STATES TREASURY SECRETARY: I have had no direct conversations with the president or anybody else in the White House about this.
Our legal department has consulted with the White House as they would and as I believe would be normal. That is not taking direction from the White House. I don't view that as interference. It was not specific to the president's -- anything related to the president's tax returns other than the expectation of getting this request.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And the treasury secretary ended his long day of testimony in a clash with a top Democrat on the financial services committee. Steve Mnuchin and Maxine Waters got into a verbal sparring match when Mnuchin requested to end the hearing because he had another meeting. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MNUCHIN: I've sat here for over three hours and 15 minutes. I've told you I'll come back. I just don't believe we're sitting here negotiating when I come back. We'll follow up with your office. How long would you like me to come back for next time? I've told you I'm accommodate you.
REP. MAXINE WATERS (D-CA): I appreciate that, and I appreciate your reminding us of the length of time other secretaries have been here. This is a new way, and it's a new day, and it's a new chair, and I have the gavel at this point. If you wish to leave, you may.
MNUCHIN: Can you clarify that for me?
WATERS: Yes. Clarify is this. If you wish to leave, you may.
MNUCHIN: OK. So, we're dismissed. Is that correct?
WATERS: If you wish to leave, you may leave.
MNUCHIN: I don't understand what you're saying.
WATERS: You're wasting your time. Remember, you have a foreign dignitary in your office.
MNUCHIN: I would just say that the previous administration -- when the Republicans, they did not treat the secretary of the treasury this way. So, if this is the way you want to treat me, then I'll rethink whether I voluntarily come back here to testify, which I have offered to do.
WATERS: Mr. Secretary, I want you to know that no other secretary has ever told us the day before that they were going to limit their time in the way that you're doing. So, if you want to use them as examples, you have acted differently than they have acted. And as I have said, if you wish to leave, you may. MNUCHIN: If you'd wish to keep me here so that I don't have my
important meeting and continue to grill me, then we can do that. I will cancel my meeting, and I will not be back here. I will be very clear. If that's the way you'd like to have this relationship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Well, to the Middle East now and the race to be Israel's next prime minister is too close to call with more than 90 percent of votes counted.
Incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud Party are hovering at around 26 percent. The prime minister may have an edge forming a governing coalition, but he's in a virtual tie with his main challenger, Benny Gantz and the Blue and White Party. It's been a hard-fought election and both candidates have claimed victory.
So, let's get some more on this. We turn to CNN's Michael Holmes who joins us live from Jerusalem. Good to see you again, Michael. So, as we've been reporting, both Netanyahu and Gantz claiming victory, but Netanyahu does appear to have the edge here when it comes to forming a viable governing coalition. But it isn't over yet, is it?
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, it certainly is not. And in fact, Rosemary, it could be days before all of this is sorted out. You did have that bizarre situation last night where you had Benny Gantz, of blue and white. We were there at his campaign headquarters -- claiming victory and then Benjamin Netanyahu across town doing exactly the same thing not long after.
One of them is going to be right. And, yes, Netanyahu appearing to have the easier path. You've got Israel's TV channels 12 and 13 saying that the right has a 65 to 55 seat advantage. That makes assumptions of course on which parties will go with the main party. Not every party has made its position clear at the moment.
If you're Benny Gantz, you're going to be trying to get defections from smaller parties on the right that are more aligned with Netanyahu. It could happen. Deals can be done. But it's a long shot, and at the moment you would probably put your money on Netanyahu being the one who's going to be able to cobble together a coalition, but nothing is written in stone.
CHURCH: Most certainly isn't. And so, Michael, once all the votes are counted, what's the next step in this pretty complicated process of forming a viable governing coalition? How will it all work?
HOLMES: Yes. It is complicated. One thing is we still don't know which parties are going to end up with the required 3.25 percent of the vote to make the cut and get seats. We should know that within the next day or so.
[03:14:58] But when it all shakes out, what happens here is the president, Reuven Rivlin, he's going to ask a delegation from each party with one seat in the Knesset who they think has the best chance of forming a government to name a member of the Knesset. Now, that might not even happen until the weekend perhaps by the way,
but after he consults each party, then the president, he's got then seven days to do the math himself, work out who he thinks has got the best chance, and then ask that person to come back and accept the job of forming a government.
And then the clock starts ticking. That person then has, whether it's Benny Gantz or it is Benjamin Netanyahu, he's got 28 days to form a government. Potentially the whole process before we get a swearing-in ceremony of any kind could take weeks potentially.
CHURCH: It really is quite extraordinary how close this has been just watching the whole thing. Of course, you're there right where it's happening. Thank you so much, Michael. I appreciate it.
Let's take a short break here. Still to come, if you thought the Brexit roller coaster was nearing the end of the track, well, just buckle up. E.U. leaders may want to go around again for another year. We'll take a look at that when we come back.
[03:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.
Well just two days until Britain is scheduled to crash out of the E.U. But we could be resetting the countdown clock after Prime Minister Theresa May's visit to Brussels for an emergency summit.
European Council President Donald Tusk is expected to propose a flexible extension of up to one year so British lawmakers can agree on a Brexit deal. Of course, there will be strings attached. Among them, France wants to limit Britain's influence in the E.U. in the interim.
And CNN has correspondents covering developments across the continent. Isa Soares is in London this hour; our Melissa Bell joins us live from Brussels. Good to see you both.
So, Isa, let's start with you. The European Council president's proposal to offer this longer extension and allow the E.K. to leave the E.U. once a deal is agreed upon would of course take some pressure off Prime Minister May although she did favor a shorter extension. What are the Brexiteers likely to think about all this and the likely conditions that will be attached?
ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And that, I think, is critical. Good morning to you, Rosemary.
The conditions, the length of the extension will depend very much on the reaction you get. But let me just give you a sense of how the morning newspapers have reacted to a potential flex extension that you mentioned there.
The Daily Mail going with nothing, another year in limbo. That's how they're seeing this in terms of negotiations. And I've got The Guardian here. May's hoped dashed at E.U. targets longer Brexit today. So, some of the papers already seeing this as a loss for Theresa May.
But of course, as you've pointed out, that will give Theresa May more time for negotiating, no cliff edge that's further, further away, giving her more time to reach some sort of consensus and break the deadlock and the impasse here at the House of parliament because she has those crucial cross-party talks with Jeremy Corbyn, talks that have been going on for five days or so.
They have been constructive, but so far it seems that Theresa May hasn't budged on her red lines. Worth pointing out to our viewers what Jeremy Corbyn wants to see from the Labour Party, the leader of the Labour Party, is a customs union, something that we know that the conservative party is vehemently against.
In terms of the extension, what we know for sure is that Theresa May will be going in to the (Inaudible) meeting later on today and she'll be asking for an extension to June the 30th.
The point is that if a deal would get agreed prior -- before that, before the European parliament elections, then they don't have to take part, which is something we know her party also does not want.
She won't be going in with a plan because there isn't one, Rosemary. But she will be going in with a process, telling European parliament, telling European leaders, this is what I've been able to get. This is what I'm doing right now in the cross-party talks.
Although -- although that's a great weight off her shoulder, there's a huge caveat. It depends on the proposals that, which she will get, the length of the extension. If it's longer than one year, Rosemary, I can tell you there will be revolt and rebellion within her party from the conservative, those kind of hard line Brexiteers.
Yesterday, just to give you a scale of the potential rebellion, yesterday in the House of parliament behind me, they voted on to extend article 50 within her own party, the conservative party, 97 M.P.s voted against an extension.
So, she may be coming at -- coming back to the U.K. with some breathing room but that doesn't mean she will get -- she will be let off easily at all from members of her own party, perhaps some may prepare to leave the party and even may call further calls for Theresa May to step down sooner than expected.
So, she's dumb if she doesn't, she's dumb if she does, Rosemary. This has been the problem all along, but it will all depend of course on what the proposals that E.U. puts down and she gets an extension. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Yes. We'll see what they deliver. Many thanks to you, Isa. And Melissa, to you now. This proposal of course to extend the Brexit deadline will require unanimous support of all the 27 other member states. How likely is it that that can be achieved, that they will get onboard with this longer extension in the coming hours, and what conditions will be attached? MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, I mean I
think it's been very clear and right up until today what had been told to Theresa May the last time we were all here at the edge of that cliff only three weeks ago, is that she would need to come back before the April 12th deadline with a plan.
And as Isa just said, she's coming back to Brussels, of course, once again without a plan. I think there's a sense from the E.U. that by extending that time, and I think none of the E.U. leaders, none of the 27 want to be responsible for sort of pushing Britain off that cliff on Friday, that they will give it more time.
The question is of course now how long precisely they're going to give the United Kingdom to figure out its plan and how it intends to go about this. And also, the conditions that will be attached.
[03:25:02] And throughout this, what the E.U. leaders have said and in particular the French presidency is that their aim now that in a sense everyone has worked through the idea that Britain will be leaving, will be to protect the E.U. after that. What happens to it? How can its credibility, how can its integrity, its strength be protected?
That is the priority for the French presidency in particular. One of its spokesmen who said telling journalists yesterday that, look, we do not like being cast as the bad cop in all of this, but our aim is to protect the E.U. That has to be the point.
And bear in mind that Emmanuel Macron came to power on a platform of being a champion of Europe and moving towards closer European integration. So that is going to be Emmanuel Macron's priority when he arrives here later today, and he will be arguing for very strong conditions to be attached to the idea of the granting of that flex extension.
Things like ensuring that Britain cannot get in the way of E.U. business, that it cannot take part in the decisions like to do with the budget to do with appointing the commission, for instance, that would prevent the E.U. from functioning properly.
So, in a way, preventing Britain from being a troublesome member but allowing it to be a member as long as it takes for it to figure out how it wants to leave and when precisely it wants to leave.
But giving you the possibility of leaving perhaps with a certain amount of flexibility. That is that once Westminster gets its act together and assuming these cross-party talks make some progress and some sort of agreement can be found and Theresa May can come up with a plan that functions, that Britain would then be fairly easily able to leave the E.U. without having to wait for a particular date.
So, all of these issues will be hammered out today. We believe that there will be agreement because these conclusions have already been written up by the E.U. ambassadors who met here yesterday. The only thing that is blank for now is the duration of that extension. Rosemary?
CHURCH: We shall see what they all decide. Thank you so much for that, Melissa Bell joining us live from Brussels.
We'll take a short break. Still to come, U.S. House Representative Eric Swalwell is now the 18th Democrat to announce he's running for president in 2920. A closer look at the growing field of candidates hoping to beat President Trump when we return.
Plus, New York declares a public health emergency. Which preventable disease is making a comeback? I think you can guess. We'll take a look at that when we come back.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and of course all around the world. You are watching "CNN Newsroom," and I'm Rosemary Church.
Well, CNN is hosting a series of town hall events featuring some of the Democratic candidates vying to run against President Donald Trump in 2020. On Tuesday, Democratic hopeful Kirsten Gillibrand, a U.S. senator from New York, joins CNN's Erin Burnett to answer a number of questions. Gillibrand will use the event to explain why her views on immigration have changed over the years, and she issued an apology.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY), U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I became senator of the entire state, I recognize that some of my views really did need to change. They were not thoughtful enough and didn't care enough about people outside of the original upstate New York district that I represented. And so I learned.
And I think for people who aspire to be president, I think it's really important that you're able to admit when you're wrong and that you're able to grow and learn and listen and be better and be stronger. That is something that Donald Trump is unwilling to do. He is unwilling to listen. He is unwilling to admit when he is wrong. He is actually incapable of it. And I think it's one of the reasons why he is such a cowardly president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And Gillibrand is one of 18 Democrats now running for president in 2020. As CNN's Jessica Dean reports, it's the largest field in decades and surpasses the 17 Republican candidates who entered the presidential race in 2016.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: The crowded 2020 Democratic field has reached the voting age of 18. California Congressman Eric Swalwell starting his first full day as a presidential candidate, touting his credentials on national TV.
REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA), 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I bring experience. I'm 38 years old, but I've been on the intelligence committee. I know who our threats are from the outside. I know what the threats to the rule of law on the inside need.
DEAN: The 38-year-old four-term Congressman made it official last night on the late show with Stephen Colbert, saying the country is in quicksand and in need of bold leadership.
SWALWELL: I'm ready to solve these problems. I'm running for president of the United States.
It's official.
DEAN: Swalwell's entry into the primary brings the number of Democratic candidates to 18, the largest field in decades, exceeding the 2016 Republican primary when the sheer number of candidates fractured the GOP vote and allowed then-candidate Donald Trump to win many contests with pluralities.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So I beat 17 great Republicans. I mean Senators. I beat governors. And I respectfully say I beat the Bush dynasty. OK.
DEAN: And the Democratic field is expected to grow with at least a half dozen hopefuls considering a run, including former Vice President Joe Biden, who sits atop the national primary polls.
JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am very close to making a decision to stand before you all relatively soon. I think --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Within weeks?
DEAN: But it's not just Biden. Other potential contenders include Colorado Senator Michael Bennet, former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, Massachusetts Congressman Seth Moulton, Montana Governor, Steve Bullock, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.
STACEY ABRAMS (D-GA), FORMER DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: My decision about running will be grounded and whether or not I think I'm the best person for the job at this moment.
DEAN: And he is promised for a while now, but it sounds like we'll finally see Senator Bernie Sanders' tax returns in the coming days. He told The New York Times in a new interview that he is a millionaire, which he credits to his best-selling books and that he plans to release 10 years' worth of tax returns by Monday, tax day. Jessica Dean, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: So, let's talk more about all this with Hilary Rosen. She is been a political consultant for Democratic candidates for many years. She is also a CNN political commentator. Good to have you with us.
HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: How are you?
CHURCH: Good. So, it's certainly a crowded field, isn't it? ROSEN: Yes.
CHURCH: Let's start with the Democratic presidential hopeful who is attracting the most support and attention right now, front-runner Senator Bernie Sanders, who now admits he is a millionaire and pledges to release 10 years' worth of tax returns Monday. How are Democratic voters likely to respond to this revelation? Will it hurt or help him, do you think?
[03:35:17] ROSEN: I think, you know, people think that -- I don't know -- for some reason, Bernie Sanders lives in a Volkswagen Beetle in the backyard of, you know, his trailer park in Vermont or something. He in fact has been a member of Congress for many, many years. He's been in Congress for over 20 years. He has a long history in government, and so even though he runs as an outsider, he really is an insider.
And I think that in this current year when you have so many candidates all looking for their advantage, you will see him roughed up a bit more in the Democratic primary than we saw last time. After all, Hillary Clinton started as the front-runner when she ran against Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary in 2016, and she stayed the front-runner.
So even though he, you know, nipped at her heels all the way through to the convention, she never really wanted to attack Bernie Sanders. She never really wanted to give him a hard time. I think you're going to see this Democratic field be much more aggressive with each other and including with Bernie.
CHURCH: Right. We'll watch for that. And of course another name attracting a lot of attention and interest is Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who is a newcomer, still manages to shine brightly in this crowded field. And there's also California Senator Kamala Harris, who many believe has a very good chance of taking on Donald Trump, but first, of course, they have to get through the primaries. How tough is this fight going to be, do you think?
ROSEN: Well, we'll see next week likely the big dog come along in Vice President Joe Biden, who is expected to get into the race as well. He is ahead in the polls really among all of the Democratic candidates, and so I think he'll start as kind of an immediate front- runner.
I think there's going to be room probably over the next year for, you know, six or seven strong contenders that will narrow down over the course of, you know, after eight months or so to, you know, three or four. So it's going to be some time before we really have a candidate that will be going into the first primary states really strong.
I think all of these candidates on the top tier have shown that they can raise money, which is of course when you're this early out, the key. That is something people around the world think is totally, you know, bizarre and corrupt in many ways about the U.S. election is that these candidates are raising money from individuals, funding their own campaigns. There's no government sponsored elections. And so many times it's not who is successful and has the best ideas.
It's who's got the most money to stay in the longest, because here in the U.S., we have, you know, almost a two-year election process. And, you know, it's grueling and expensive.
CHURCH: It is. It's excruciating to watch too. With so many presidential candidates, 18 right now, possibly seven more to come --
ROSEN: Yes.
CHURCH: -- do Democrats run the risk of fracturing the party, diluting their ability to beat Donald Trump, and instead fighting and attacking each other?
ROSEN: That is the right question to ask, I think. But, you know, I hear candidate after candidate pledging to be thoughtful with each other, not to attack personally, not to be aggressive in the way that we saw, for instance, in the Republican primary last time.
Everybody in the Democratic Party wants to beat Donald Trump in 2020, and so I think you're going to see them disagree on some policy, disagree on some focus, but I think ultimately at the end of this process, this very long process with a lot of candidates, you're going to see them come together, but right now people are just kind of intrigued that we have so many candidates and more still coming in.
You mentioned before Pete Buttigieg, who is, you know, the mayor of a, you know, mid-size U.S. city, and he is now the darling this week of, you know, the primary process, raising a lot of money, bringing some freshness and, you know, energy to the campaign. I think we're going to see these things shift and ebb and flow for the next several months.
CHURCH: Yes, no doubt. And Hilary, who do you believe can beat Donald Trump?
ROSEN: I think any one of these people can beat Donald Trump.
CHURCH: You're not willing to go out on a limb and pick one of them?
ROSEN: No. I really -- I truly believe that America is as tired of Donald Trump as the rest of the world.
CHURCH: We shall see. Hilary Rosen, thank you so much for joining us.
[03:40:00] ROSEN: OK. Take care.
CHURCH: Well, U.S. prosecutors have added money laundering to their list of charges against wealthy parents in a growing college admissions scandal. Actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband are among the 16 parents now accused of laundering bribes and other payments through a fake charity. They were accused last month of paying $500,000 to get their daughters into the University of Southern California. The new charges come a day after actress Felicity Huffman and 12 other parents and a coach agreed to plead guilty in the case. Huffman has a plea hearing set for May 24th.
Well, measles is making a comeback across the United States. Health officials report hundreds of cases this year and outbreaks in at least 19 states. New York is even forcing people in some areas to get vaccinated. There have been hundreds of cases in Queens and Brooklyn, especially among the city's orthodox Jewish community. Reid Binion has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Today we are declaring a public health emergency effective immediately.
REID BINION, WRITER PRODUCER: A public health emergency has been declared in New York City as measles cases continue to spike in an alarming rate, 285 cases since October with more than 450 cases confirmed in 19 states.
DE BLASIO: This is the epicenter of a measles outbreak.
BINION: Under the new order, city health officials will now comb through vaccination records of those who may have come into contact with infected individuals, and anyone who hasn't been vaccinated or doesn't get vaccinated could be facing a fine of up to $1,000.
DE BLASIO: We cannot allow this dangerous disease to make a comeback here in New York City. We have to stop it now.
BINION: Mayor De Blasio is even threatening to shut down schools that don't ban unvaccinated children from attending school.
DE BLASIO: If they persist in allowing this danger to continue, we have the option of closing them for a period of time until this crisis has passed.
BINION: The city says that even though these are strict and unusual steps to be taking, they want people to realize they're not messing around in stopping the outbreak.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There have been emergency declarations for snowstorms. If this is not an emergency, what is?
BINION: I'm Reid Binion reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And just ahead, an invisible crisis. Why so many Native American women are vanishing or getting killed, and why Capitol Hill is only now paying attention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are we missing here? What's happening with our native women that they are being victimized to the extent and to the level that they are?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[03:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Ugandan police have arrested eight people in the kidnapping of a U.S. tourist and her tour guide. Kimberly Sue Endicott and Jean Paul Mirenge were abducted last week by an armed gang demanding $500,000. They have since been freed unharmed, but it's unclear if the money was paid. Police say the suspects are linked to kidnapping tourists for ransom.
Well, according to one study, Native American women in the United States are 10 times more likely to be murdered than the rest of the population. That shocking statistic is driving a new effort on Capitol Hill to find out why and how thousands of Native American women have mysteriously been killed or vanished. CNN's Scott McLean has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is right before she disappeared.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ten years ago, Alyssa McLemore called 911 and said she needed help. Moments later the line went dead. No one's heard from her since. Police in Kent, Washington, still have an open investigation, but clues are scares.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do you move on? We can't. I can't move on.
MCLEAN: The mystery of what happened to this Native American woman has tortured her family and there are countless other unsolved cases like this across the country.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then I want her picture to go on this one too.
MCLEAN: An invisible crisis, Native American women murdered or missing with few answers and little attention. In some places, Native American women are 10 times more likely to be murdered than the rest of the population according to one federally funded study. One estimate based on national crime data pegs the number of missing native women and girls at more than 5,700 in 2016 alone. The reliable data is near impossible to come by.
SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): What are we missing here? What's happening with our native women that they are being victimized to the extent and to the level that they are?
MCLEAN: Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski is now pushing two bipartisan bills. One aims to improve data collection on missing and murdered native women.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It hardly gets talked about.
MCLEAN: Activists like Roxanne White, trying to raise awareness of missing women like McLemore and her own cousin, Rosenda Strong, who disappeared from the Yakama Reservation in Washington last October. He family thinks she was killed, but there are still been no arrest.
ROXANNE WHITE, COUSIN WENT MISSING: The tribes are like the wild, wild West, and we essentially don't have any protection.
MCLEAN: Tribal police have declined to comment. Senator Murkowski says many women disappear from remote reservations, some which lack even a single police officer. Other times cases get lost in a confusing web of jurisdictional conflicts between tribal, local, and state police. She also worries that some victims are simply discounted by police, because of their race or involvement in prostitution.
MURKOWSKI: Which makes no sense whatsoever, and it doesn't mean that we should give up or that the system should not work to investigate, to find out where that woman has gone.
MCLEAN: That is what the McLemore family believes happened to Alyssa. At 21, she was caring for a young daughter and a dying mother. A year before she disappeared, she was picked up by police for prostitution.
TINA RUSSELL, NIECE WENT MISSING IN 2009: I just kind a feel like they wrote her off as a prostitute and they probably think that, you know, she didn't have family.
MCLEAN: Kent police say they don't discriminate. A new law may not help McLemore, but it might finally help solve the crisis of missing and murdered native women and bring some much needed closure to their families.
RUSSELL: We're not going to stop looking for her. We're not going to say give up.
MCLEAN: Scott McLean, CNN, Kent, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Only one day left in the NBA regular season, and that meant the final home games for two of the league's biggest stars. Dwyane Wade said good-bye to fans in Miami on Tuesday night with a 30-point performance. Wade played for 16 seasons, winning three NBA titles with the Heat. He was also named MVP in the 2006 finals series against the Dallas Mavericks. Wade led the league in scoring in 2009.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DWYANE WADE, MIAMI HEAT GUARD: Everything I've done has led up to this moment. And it was like all the body of work, you know, all the injuries, all the surgeries, you know, all the tough times, it led up to this moment. Man, I couldn't have asked for a better ending, you know, to my last game, you know, in this arena, to my last season. I tell everybody I'm going to go out in D. Wade fashion, and I think this year I did. I went out the way that I can and the way that, you know, my fans and, you know, my supporters, they saw fit for me. So I'm thankful for it. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And in Dallas, Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki played his final home game. The German born superstar spent all 21 seasons with the Mavericks. He was named MVP in 2007, led the team to a championship in 2011, and he finishes his career as the sixth all-time leading scorer in NBA history. How about that? Well done.
Well, Democrats want full disclosure. Republicans want redactions. Either way, Robert Mueller's Russia report is set to be released next week, and someone's sure to be seeing red. Here's our Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Prepare to be teased, frustrated, annoyed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what drives the public crazy.
MOOS: If you prefer the Mueller report left to the imagination, you'll love --
[03:55:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The redacted version.
MOOS: Or maybe you're one of those people --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don't want the redactions.
MOOS: but don't get your hopes set on --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The unredacted report.
MOOS: Because Attorney General Bill Barr --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is still busy redacting.
MOOS: Barr's cleaners, redactions while you wait, penned one cartoonist. Another predicted readers might cherry pick their conclusions from blocks of black bars. The satirical Barr which report headlined redaction of Mueller report halted as Barr passes out from sharpie fumes, but forget redaction black, the way it's usually done. Are you ready for a little redaction distraction? It's getting a makeover.
WILLIAM BARR, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S ATTORNEY GENERAL PICK: We will color- code the excisions from the report.
MOOS: Twitter tittered, imaging a kaleidoscope of redactions. Different colors will explain the basis for each redaction, whether it's, say, grand jury testimony or something that would reveal intelligence sources. You can bet one past mistake won't be repeated. When lawyers for Paul Manafort redacted a court document in a pdf format that allowed the redaction to be lifted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So then reporters-- they just clicked on the black part and they're like delete and then they just saw the stuff. Truly you could figure out how to collude with (inaudible), come on, man.
MOOS: Past heavy handed redactions have been the butt of jokes.
STEPHEN COLBERT, LATE NIGHT HOST: When Donald Trump complained this investigation was costing us millions, I didn't know he meant in toner.
MOOS: At least you don't have to bother trying to read between the lines.
JIMMY KIMMEL, JIMMY KIMMEL SHOW: By the way, I like that pattern and with a few slight alterations, this could be the new American flag.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: There you go. Thanks for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Remember to connect with me anytime on Twitter. "Early Start" is next for our viewers here in the United States. And for everyone else, stay tuned for more news and special Brexit coverage with our Max Foster live from the Houses of Parliament in London. Have yourselves a great day.
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