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AG Barr Says Redacted Mueller Report Coming Soon; Steve Mnuchin Clashes with Maxine Waters Over Trump's Tax Returns; Trump Denies Reinstating Family Separation Border Policy; Too Close to Call for Israeli Prime Minister. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired April 10, 2019 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[04:31:51] WILLIAM BARR, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I don't intend at this stage to send the full unredacted report to the committee.
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DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: The attorney general set to face more questions today about how much of the Mueller report Americans get -- can see.
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STEVEN MNUCHIN, TREASURY SECRETARY: I am not afraid of being fired at all.
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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump's Treasury secretary insists no one is telling him what to do about releasing the president's tax returns.
BRIGGS: Israel's prime minister locked in a virtual tie with a man who wants to replace him in an election that's still too close to call.
ROMANS: And doctors are urging the immediate recall of an infant sleeper the Consumer Reports links to 32 baby deaths.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. That's a chair I know my three kids slept in. Yours probably did. And yours might be right now so check it out. We'll have that story in a moment.
But we begin in the nation's capital where Attorney General Bill Barr back on Capitol Hill this morning. Yesterday, he was grilled by a House subcommittee for hours. Most of the questioning focused on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. Democrats demanding to know what's in the Mueller report, how much of it Barr will release and when.
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BARR: My original timetable of being able to release this by mid- April stands. And so I think that from my standpoint, by the -- within a week, I will be in a position to release the report to the public. I don't intend at this stage to send the full unredacted report to the committee.
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BRIGGS: Barr says there will be four types of redactions in the report. Color coded for convenience. Grand jury material, classified information, material related to ongoing investigations and what he calls information that harms the privacy and reputational interest of peripheral third parties.
Got it? Barr also refused to say whether he's given the White House a sneak peek of the Mueller report.
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REP. NITA LOWEY (D-NY): Did the White House see the report before you released your summarizing letter? Has the White House seen it since then? Have they been briefed on the contents beyond what was in your summarizing letter to the Judiciary Committee?
BARR: I've said what I'm going to say about the report today. I'm not going to say anything more about it until the report is out and everyone has a chance to look at it.
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ROMANS: House Democrats say they will quickly seek the full Mueller report as soon as they receive Attorney General Barr's redacted version.
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REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY): Congress has need of the entire report, including the grand jury material, including all the -- including everything. And 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.
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ROMANS: Democrats highly critical of Barr's refusal to release grand jury material from the full report.
[04:35:01] House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff comparing Barr to the late notoriously zealous attack dog lawyer Roy Cohn, one-time mentor to the young Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): I think it's a betrayal of what he promised during his confirmation, but it is what he was hired to do, which was to protect the president. The president wanted his own Roy Cohn and apparently he's got one. But it is deeply concerning.
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ROMANS: Republicans dismissing the need for the full unredacted Mueller report assuming the attorney general's four-page summery matches the redacted version.
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SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): It's over for me, unless there there's something in the report that suggests Mueller did not say there was no collusion or he did not find -- if he says, you know, I can't decide on obstruction, you decide, the decision by Barr is OK with me. If the report indicates no collusion found by Mueller, that's it. Done. Over for me.
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BRIGGS: The attorney general is also supporting the Trump administration's decision not to defend Obamacare. Barr was questioned about the Justice Department taking a position that could leave tens of millions of Americans uninsured. Here is how he responded.
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BARR: Do you think it's likely we are going to prevail?
REP. MATT CARTWRIGHT (D-PA): If you prevail, well, you're devoting scarce resources of your department toward that effort, are you not, Attorney General?
BARR: We're in litigation. We have to take a position. If you think it's an outrageous position, you have nothing to worry about. Let the courts do their job.
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BRIGGS: In a stunning reversal last month, the administration sided with red states seeking to strike down the entire Affordable Care Act. Previously the White House indicated only parts of Obamacare were unconstitutional.
ROMANS: Today is the deadline for the Treasury Department to turn over president Trump's tax returns to Congress. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testifying on Capitol Hill admitting his department has consulted with the White House about the request.
Now that set off a fiery exchange with Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Mnuchin insisting no one in the Trump administration is telling him what to do.
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MNUCHIN: 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, was not specific to the president's -- anything related to the president's tax returns other than the expectation of getting this request.
REP. MAXINE WATERS (D-CA): You're not afraid that you will be fired if in fact you release the returns?
MNUCHIN: Well, I'm -- I'm not afraid of being fired at all.
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ROMANS: Mnuchin and Waters verbally sparring when the Treasury secretary insisted on leaving the hearing to keep a previous appointment. More on that exchange later in EARLY START.
BRIGGS: President Trump refuting reports his administration is looking to resume a policy that tears apart families at the southern border. Instead he blamed the Obama administration for starting the policy of separating children from their parents, a claim that is misleading, at best.
CNN's Abby Phillip with the latest from the White House.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Dave, President Trump has now ruled out that his administration will attempt to bring back their policy of separating children from their parents at the border.
The president was responding to a question about reports, including from CNN, that the president's aides were deliberating on an idea of giving these migrants what they are calling a binary choice, that would be to either stay with their children in detention indefinitely or to allow their children to remain in the United States while they are deported at the border.
The president did not say that that wasn't being deliberated. He just said that it wasn't going to be done. And he did also acknowledge that this was a policy that he believed would deter immigrants from coming up from Central America to the United States' southern border.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now I'll tell you something, once you don't have it, that's why you see many more people coming. They're coming like it's a picnic because let's go to Disneyland.
President Obama separated children. They had child separation. I was the one that changed it.
(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIP: And a senior administration official also adds that this policy was being deliberated in the administration but it was not ready for operational effectiveness. They basically had not figured out how to make it work on the ground and a lot of advocates are also saying it would probably be illegal and subject to the same kinds of legal challenges that the previous policy faced -- Christine and Dave.
ROMANS: All right, Abby Phillip. Thank you for that, Abby.
Another top ranking Homeland Security official gone. Claire Grady, the acting number two at DHS is the latest to leave the department. Grady was next in line to replace Secretary Kristjen Nielsen after she was forced out. Now Grady's department paved the way for Kevin McAleenan to lead Homeland Security in an acting capacity. The president insisting the personnel moves are not what they appear to be.
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[04:40:06] TRUMP: Well, I never said I'm cleaning house. I don't know who came up with that expression. We have a lot of great people over there.
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ROMANS: The changes come as the president signals a tougher line on stopping the flood of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.
BRIGGS: The race for prime minister of Israel, too close to call at this hour. More than 90 percent of the votes have been counted. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's conservative Likud Party is ahead of former general Benny Gantz's Blue and White Party by fewer than 13,000 votes. Both sides already claiming victory.
Let's welcome in Michael Holmes live in Jerusalem with the latest.
Michael, what are you seeing?
MICHAEL HOMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hey, Dave. Yes, it could be days before it's all sorted out. Quite extraordinary last evening watching both leaders, both main leaders, Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, appearing before their supporters claiming victory fervently. Well, only one of them is going to be right, of course, and it does appear that Benjamin Netanyahu has the easier path.
Netanyahu looking like he could end up being yet again the ultimate survivor. A political guile of course, he's very cunning politically, ruthless even. His opponent in Benny Gantz had plenty of credentials in the security area but no political experience.
Now when it comes to Benjamin Netanyahu, he's likely to be able to cobble together a coalition based on how the party stands at the moment. But there's an interesting aspect to this. Benjamin Netanyahu faces multiple corruption and bribery allegations. They continue to hang over him. There's even a possible indictment coming down the line. Nevertheless, if this was a referendum on Bibi, as many portrayed it, let's face it, he got more seats in this election than he did in the last election, even though his legal troubles were large on the horizon.
Whether the president calls on Benjamin Netanyahu to form a coalition remains to be seen, certainly pointing that way. But just in the last couple of hours, Benny Gantz of Blue and White saying he has not given up yet on being able to be the one to form a government. We shall see -- Dave.
BRIGGS: His personal and political future on the line. Michael, thank you.
ROMANS: All right. $4 gas is nearly a reality for many Americans. New data from AAA shows the average price for a gallon of regular is now $2.75, that's up 11 percent in just the last month. The average price already above three bucks a gallon in six states -- California, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Alaska. And it's even creeping near $4 in California. The average price of a gallon of regular gas is up 5 percent there, $3.83 a gallon in just the last week.
So what in the world is going on here? Well, the price of crude oil is up 51 percent since Christmas Eve. OPEC taking about a million barrels off the market, maintenance issues at refineries, flooding in the Midwest has disrupted the flow of ethanol which is generally used in summer blends, and a surge of violence in Libya all contributing to the rise in crude oil.
And this is something I think politically that's incredibly important because President Trump looks at job market, the stock market and gas prices as important barometers for how people feel about the economy.
BRIGGS: Yes.
ROMANS: He's got to be irritated that those prices are rising.
BRIGGS: And hence the shifting attention to immigration.
ROMANS: Yes.
BRIGGS: Away from that.
All right. Ahead, he's been railing against millionaires for years. Well, now Bernie Sanders is one of them. So what is the Democratic socialist have to say about that?
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[04:47:47] ROMANS: Consumer Reports says 32 babies have died in the same Fisher-Price rocker. The American Academy of Pediatrics calling for the immediate recall of Fisher-Price Rock 'n Play sleeper based on this Consumer Reports analysis.
Now the consumer advocacy group days Fisher-Price does not believe the deaths were caused by the product. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is asking costumers to stop using the Roc 'n Play sleeper if their children are able to roll over. But the pediatricians group says that warning does not go far enough. It is demanding stores remove this product from shelves.
BRIGGS: The measles outbreak has triggered a public health emergency in New York City. That means anyone who is unvaccinated in specific parts of Brooklyn will be required to get the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine or face a $1,000 fine. Mayor Bill de Blasio determined to stop an outbreak in an Orthodox Jewish community in Williamsburg.
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MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D-NY): It is not our hope or goal to issue a violation. We want to simply solve the problem. The goal here is to send a message that people need to act immediately, to get vaccinated and that vaccination is available readily here in the neighborhood and throughout the city.
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BRIGGS: There are 285 measles cases in New York. There were just two cases in all of 2017. Health officials are particularly worried about the outbreak being fueled by measles parties. That's when anti- vaxxers intentionally expose their children to other kids with measles to build up their immunity. Health officials are warning everyone in the city to avoid this practice.
ROMANS: All right. Bernie has bucks. Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders confirming he is a millionaire and offering no apologies. The Vermont senator and the 2020 candidate says the cash came from his bestselling book, "Our Revolution," a "New York Times" bestseller in 2016. Sanders in the past has been very critical of rich people.
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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Billionaires and millionaires have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the political process supporting Republican candidates. And today is payback time for them.
The bulk of the benefits in this legislation by a large profitable corporations and to millionaires and billionaires.
[04:50:04] Well, my view is, you don't give, as Trump wants to, huge tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires.
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ROMANS: Sanders plans to release 10 years of tax returns on a report Monday when he's asked about his growing nest egg, he replied, "If you write a bestselling book, you can be a millionaire, too."
It'll be interesting to see what his tax rate is.
BRIGGS: Right. What he paid on those royalties.
ROMANS: Yes.
BRIGGS: Ahead next, the bizarre Capitol Hill spat that you have to see ahead here to believe.
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MNUCHIN: Let's be clear, you're instructing me, you are ordering me to stay here.
WATERS: No, I'm not ordering you. I'm responding, I said you may leave anytime you want.
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[04:55:09] BRIGGS: Serious fireworks at a House hearing Tuesday. Treasure Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Congresswoman Maxine Waters got into a (INAUDIBLE) sparring match when Mnuchin insisted on leaving the hearing due to a previous appointment.
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MNUCHIN: I have sat here for over three hour and 15 minutes. I've told you I'll come back. I just don't believe we're sitting here negotiating when I'll 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'll accommodate you.
WATERS: I appreciate that and I appreciate your reminding us of the length of time other secretaries have been here. This is a new way. This is a new day.
MNUCHIN: Well, the --
WATERS: And it's a new chair.
MNUCHIN: OK.
WATER: 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 --
MNUCHIN: So --
WATERS: If you wish to leave, you may.
MNUCHIN: OK. 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 -- 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.
WATERS: Thank you. The gentleman, the secretary has agreed to stay to hear all of the rest of the members.
MNUCHIN: Yes, so just let --
WATERS: Please cancel your meeting and respect our time. Who is next on my list?
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MNUCHIN: I am cancelling my foreign meeting. You are instructing me to say here and I should cancel --
WATERS: No, you just made me an offer.
MNUCHIN: No, I didn't make you an offer.
WATERS: You made me an offer that I accepted.
MNUCHIN: I did not make you an offer.
WATERS: Well --
MNUCHIN: Just let's be clear. You're instructing me, you are ordering me to stay here.
WATERS: No, I'm not ordering you. I'm responding. I said you may leave anytime you want. And you said OK. If that's what you want to do, I'll cancel my appointment and I'll stay here. So I'm responding to your request, if that's what you want to do.
MNUCHIN: That's not what I want to do. I told you --
WATERS: What would you like to do?
MNUCHIN: What I've told you, as I thought it was respectful that you'd let me leave at 5:15 --
WATERS: You are free to leave anytime you want. You may go.
MNUCHIN: OK. Well, then, please --
WATERS: Anytime you want.
MNUCHIN: Please dismiss everybody. I believe you're supposed to take the gravel and bang it. That's the appropriate --
WATERS: Please do not instruct me as to how I'm to conduct this committee.
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BRIGGS: How about that? Maxine Waters has been a frequent target of President Trump. He has ridiculed her on Twitter and at campaign rallies.
ROMANS: All right. Let's go check on CNN Business this morning. Global stock markets, let's take a look at them, basically mixed here on concerns about global growth and trade tensions between the U.S. and the E.U. New trade tensions on Wall Street. You've got futures pointing a little bit higher here. Not very much. Slightly higher ahead of the release today of the Federal Reserve's March Minutes.
The Dow yesterday fell 190 points. The average once again dragged down by Boeing. Boeing down another 1.5 percent. American Airlines finished down 1.6 percent after cutting its revenue forecast because of the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX fleet. The S&P 500 snapped what has been a resilient eight-day win streak closing down slightly the index's longest winning streak since October 2017. The Nasdaq down a little bit as well.
Trade is slowing and so is economic growth worldwide. The International Monetary Fund now warning the global economy is in a, quote, "delicate moment." The IMF cut its growth forecast for 2019 to 3.3 percent down from 3.5 percent.
Now growth is slowing, but the IMF says a pickup is on the horizon. Growth expected to recover next year unless policy missteps get in the way. The IMF said, quote, "The main priority is for the countries to resolve trade disagreements cooperatively without raising distortionary barriers that would further destabilize a slowing global economy."
Bank of America employees are getting a raise. The bank announced it's raising its minimum wage to $20 an hour for its more than 205,000 employees. Paychecks will initially be raised to 17 bucks an hour starting May 1st and then climb incrementally until the year 2021.
This comes as U.S. employers are competing in a tight labor market. There are fewer people looking for work. The unemployment rate stood at 3.8 percent last month. Bank of America declined further comment on the increase.
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