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New Day

Tensions Rise Ahead of Barr Testimony; Trump Surpasses 10,000 False or Misleading Claims; Severe Storms Hammer Plains and Midwest; Avengers Smashes Record; Draft Pick Shot Hours After Selection. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired April 29, 2019 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:33] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Attorney General William Barr is scheduled to make two high profile appearances on Capitol Hill this week. The key word there is "scheduled" because now he's threatening not to show up for one of these hearings.

CNN's Lauren Fox is live on Capitol Hill with the very latest.

What's going on here, Lauren?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, after two weeks of recess, Capitol Hill has a blockbuster week ahead. First up, Bill Barr is scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

But his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday is still up in the air. And that is because House Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler wants to structure this hearing just slightly differently. Essentially he wants to allow each member of the committee to have five minutes each to question Barr. But at the end of the hearing, he wants to allow the councils, both Republican and Democratic staff members, to question Barr for 30 minutes each.

That's something that the Justice Department says they are not willing to do. In a statement yesterday, the Justice Department wrote, quote, the attorney general agreed to appear before Congress. Therefore, members of Congress should be the ones doing the questioning. He remains happy to engage with members on their questions regarding the Mueller report.

Now, Jerry Nadler, the chairman of that committee, says, you know, the attorney general does not get to set the terms of how he appears before the House Judiciary Committee. Here's what he said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY): He's not going to dictate the format of the Judiciary Committee. The witness is not going to tell the committee how to conduct its hearing, period.

(END VIDEO CLIP) FOX: And Jerry Nadler's been very clear, if Bill Barr does not attend on Thursday, he is willing to issue a subpoena to force him to attend. This, of course, all comes as there has been unprecedented stonewalling from the White House and the Trump administration as Democrats dive into their investigations.

Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Lauren, thank you very much.

Joining us now is CNN's senior political analyst John Avlon.

John, great to see you.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: So the idea that these staff attorneys, in addition to the lawmakers, would ask the attorney general questions, is that customary or are they doing something sneaky?

AVLON: There is a precedent for it. It was done during the Iran Contra hearings with Caspar Weinberger and Secretary of State George Shultz. It was doing with the CIA director back in Watergate. But it's unusual. And that's what Bill Barr is pushing back on. Nadler saying, look, you don't get to dictate the terms of debate. It's this fight you're going to see escalate that already has begun. The administration is basically arguing that checks and balances are a form of presidential harassment. And that extends to the AG apparently as well

CAMEROTA: So then if Chairman Nadler has to subpoena the attorney general, then what happens?

AVLON: Things get even worse. You're welcome, America. Look, I mean, just last week Bill Barr ordered one of the -- the attorney general for -- head of the civil rights division in the Department of Justice to refuse essentially a subpoena from Congress on a case that went to the Supreme Court about the adding of a citizenship question. If that escalates to the cabinet level, things get even uglier.

Look, it's very clear this is going to be the administration's strategy from a political standpoint, to obstruct, to stonewall. Norm Warnstein (ph), who's sort of a very respected historian and analyst of Congress, said the Trump administration's giving the middle finger to Congress. It's basically that juvenile.

But if it extends to the attorney general, that gets very, very serious. Then you're going to see something as careen towards something like a -- it's not a constitutional crisis, then a -- just another ratcheting up of the civic stress test we're dealing with and an inability of our government to function the way the founders intended.

CAMEROTA: But is it a ratcheting up or is it loggerheads? I mean if there's subpoenas and they fight the subpoenas and them it's tied up in court -- AVLON: That -- well, that's part of what -- what some folks think

Trump's strategy is. On things they don't want to divulge, let the courts decide. Sue for time. And then, you know, maybe -- maybe that will work out in their favor politically.

Remember, you know, there had been a refusal to let the White House security personnel director testify over questions of the security clearances given to some 25 people. Something that typically is classic congressional oversight. Don McGahn, that fight -- you know, Kellyanne Conway spoke to Jake Tapper about it this weekend, trying to explain them, trying to evoke potentially executive privilege after McGahn waved executive privilege to speak to the Mueller team.

But this is on all fronts right now. These hearings with Bill Barr on Capitol Hill are going to be a big deal. He's fine to testify in front of the Republican Senate. When it comes to the House, he's saying, look, if you go too far, I'm going to draw a line and I won't show.

CAMEROTA: Here's what President Trump thinks. And -- or what he is at least saying.

AVLON: Go on.

CAMEROTA: He's -- basically he's saying that this has all been done, litigated by the Mueller report, and so he thinks that it is just unnecessary and kind of redundant --

[06:35:08] AVLON: Right.

CAMEROTA: For Bill Barr to have to go in front of Congress.

And why do lawmakers want to hear more from Bill Barr?

AVLON: Because it's obviously not a shut case. The Mueller report made very clear, outside of Bill Barr's framing of it in the most positive political way for the president possible, that there are serious questions, that there are -- there are ongoing cases, there are investigations the House is handling that Bill -- that the Mueller report did not handle. So while the white House would like to turn the page and simplify the results and say there's nothing to see here, that's not actually reflective with what's in the report. And the president's going to express everything from discomfort to claims of presidential harassment.

But there is more investigation to be done. There are a lot of open questions to be answered. It will be uncomfortable for Bill Barr. He can be credibly said to have misrepresent the contents of the report. But this is what democracy looks like, folk.

CAMEROTA: John Avlon, thank you very much.

John.

BERMAN: All right, the president has reached a significant milestone in his presidency. History, folks. "The Washington Post" fact checker reveals its new total of false or misleading claims, that's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:08] BERMAN: So, new this morning, the president loves superlatives and this morning he is making history. "The Washington Post" face checking team says the president has now made more than 10,000 -- 10,000 false or misleading claims since taking office.

Joining us now is one of the busiest men in America, "The Washington Post" fact checker columnist Glen Kessler.

Glenn, thanks so much for being with us.

Tell us what your analysis has found.

GLENN KESSLER, THE FACT CHECKER COLUMNIST, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Well, the president continues to say false or misleading statements at an unbelievable pace. He hit 5,000 in September. Now here it is seven months later and he's now hit 10,000. That's an average of about 23 false or misleading claims a day in the last seven months.

BERMAN: And you broke down one three-day period, basically the 25th, the 26th and 27th. And we're going to throw this up on the screen for you if we can here because it shows just an unbelievable number of them, 45 false claims in the Hannity interview, eight in a press gaggle, 24 in the NRA speech, the campaign rally. There's a lot going on here.

KESSLER: Right. And that's the -- that -- so it was 171 claims in three days. And I went back and looked at it. That's more in three days than he did in a single month in the first five months of his presidency.

BERMAN: And the rate is going up, as you have noted before.

Are there certain claims that he repeats more than others?

KESSLER: Yes. We have a whole -- we keep track of this. You know, there -- there -- there are more to -- there are almost 300 claims that he's said three or more times, but there's some that he just loves to repeat. He keeps saying that he's building this big, beautiful wall. He's said that 160 times. He says he passed the biggest tax cut in U.S. history. I think that's about 140 times. He talks about how he's -- you know, one of his favorite lines is that we've lost money on trade deficits. You don't lose money on trade deficits. And, you know, these -- there -- you know, we have -- we have another category called the bottles Pinocchio, where if he's earned three or four -- three or four Pinocchios and he's said it more than 20 times, it gets put on a list and there are 21 or 22 of those at this point.

BERMAN: Yes, that number has gone way up. There's a lot of Pinocchios running around without pants, the bottomless Pinocchios, as I like to say.

The publishing of the Mueller report, or the release of the Mueller report has opened up a whole new phase as well, correct? KESSLER: Yes, because what he keeps saying is that the Mueller report

found no obstruction. That's not true. The Mueller report outlined five to ten instances that could be grounds for obstruction. But it said to the president is a sitting president is not indicted for obstruction. So it -- Mueller left it to Congress. But to run around and say he had total exoneration, which he likes to say, is not correct.

BERMAN: Yes, every time he speaks about the Mueller report, you can almost see the meter, your meter, going up. He can't help but talk about it without saying things that aren't true.

I always find one of the most fascinating areas where he lies or misleads is on news that is good for him and good for America, frankly, like the economic numbers that came out last week. The GDP growing at 3.2 percent. That's a good number. But when he speaks about even that he can't help himself.

KESSLER: Right. He'll say things -- he said, for instance, it was a record not set in 16 years, which is not true. I mean we had 3.2 percent economic growth one of the quarters last year. And one of the things he does, he always talks about the number of jobs created since he's been president, which is a good number. It's a number he should be proud of. But he always starts the count from Election Day, when he wasn't president. It adds another 500,000 or so jobs.

At this point, when you've gotten almost 4.5 million, 5 million jobs created under your presidency, I'm not sure why you need to pad the number.

BERMAN: But, overall, does the White House respond to this counting from you? One of the things I was struck by is in the Mueller report when it called out Sarah Sanders for lying about the firing of Jim Comey and other things she did. They were unrepentant. Is there any sense that there's shame about this?

KESSLER: I haven't -- you know -- I mean White House officials, they respond to our inquiries and they will answer our questions. They haven't specifically talked about this count. I know that the president talks about it. On about ten occasions he has talked about how he doesn't like getting Pinocchios and that, you know, he gets one little thing wrong, he'll -- he'll gets Pinocchios. So the president is certainly aware of it. But it's not -- it's -- usually, you know, if you're White House staff, you talk about things that are good for you. This is probably not a good number, so I don't think they talk much about it.

[06:45:10] BERMAN: Glenn Kessler, thank you for counting. We'll let you get back to work. Thanks very much.

CAMEROTA: All right, John, I know you were at the movies this weekend.

BERMAN: I was.

CAMEROTA: The "Endgame" is world domination, apparently. The finale in the Avengers movie franchise smashing box office history thanks to John Berman for --

BERMAN: I did my part. I did my part.

CAMEROTA: Yes. The details, next.

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BERMAN: The threat of severe thunderstorms returning to the plains and Midwest. Tornadoes, hail and damaging winds, they are all likely.

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has the forecast.

Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John, very much a spring-type pattern over the next three or four days. A slow day through O'Hare if you're flying through or to there today. This severe weather will be farther down to the south, across parts of Oklahoma and Texas. And more severe weather for tomorrow.

[06:50:01] So let's take you through the radar. This is what the radar should look like over the next about 24 hours. Storms through Chicago, into Detroit, and then more storms firing up in the heat of the day down across the deep south and the southwest. That's where the tornadoes will likely be. For tomorrow, slightly farther to the northeast. Closer to Olatha (ph), maybe toward Joplin into Kansas, that's where the severe weather will be and that's where the heavy rain will be. There could be areas here with three to four inches of flooding rainfall. And, yes, back out there in the mountains, that purple, is still snowing. Still snowing in the Rockies. So good for the late season skiing, I guess.

It's 79 in Cincinnati today, 86 in Nashville, a warmer day in D.C. tomorrow, all the way to 84.

John.

BERMAN: All right, Chad. Chad Myers for us. Thank you very much.

MYERS: You're welcome.

BERMAN: So it's just the beginning for "The Avengers: Endgame." The grand finale of the Marvel mega movie franchise, it shattered box office records with a $1.2 billion debut worldwide. I did my part.

CAMEROTA: What's so great about it?

BERMAN: It's a very good movie.

CAMEROTA: It is?

BERMAN: It is. There's a lot of superheroes.

CAMEROTA: Is there enough Robert Downey, Jr., for my taste?

BERMAN: Yes. CAMEROTA: OK. I'll go.

BERMAN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: You've sold me.

BERMAN: It is the only film ever to top a billion dollars in its opening.

CNN's Brian Stelter is here with us now.

There will be no spoilers.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: We'll be careful.

BERMAN: No spoilers. But, Brian, this is like a huge haul. That's a lot of money.

STELTER: It's a huge cultural moment and a huge business moment. This even broke the expectations inside Disney. They were hoping for $300 million just in the U.S., which would shatter all records. It's actually $350 million, just in North America. And as you mentioned, worldwide, $1.2 billion.

Numbers like this have never been seen in the history of filmmaking. And that is partly because this is the culmination of so many years of storytelling. More than a decade of storytelling leading up to this moment. That is the result of incredible work by the creative artists behind the scenes.

And this is also, thanks to Disney and Marvel, creating years and year and years of hype for this, creating a marketing machine around this. It goes to show that even in this age of Netflix, and everybody watching little things on our phones, you can still bring people in for communal experiences in the dark all together in theaters, you know, the way that we were all doing 50 or 60 or 70 years ago. And that's special and that's important. And as this movie goes on for weeks to come, it's going to beat "Titanic." It's going to beat all the biggest films in history in terms of cumulative gross.

And, John, isn't that because, at the heart of this, it's just a great film. Great storytelling.

BERMAN: It's very good. I'll never let go of Jack, though. You say it's going to beat "Titanic." I'll never let go.

STELTER: Well, look, it does helps that ticket prices have gotten higher over the years, but this number we're talking about, $1.2 billion, that's more than just higher ticket prices. That's also about sold out theaters 24 hours a day. In cities here like New York, this thing was playing all day and all night long all weekend. You just -- you never see that anymore. So hats off to Disney and Marvel for making that happen.

BERMAN: Can I ask, though, there is a question -- my wife and I were talking about this -- is it so big because it's the end of superhero films or does this just mean we're going to see a bajillion more?

STELTER: We're going to see a bajillion more. It's kind of like "Game of Thrones," which we're also talking about this month. No spoilers about "Game of Thrones" either. People are saying it's going to be the last great TV show. No, there's going to be an entire new worlds. Nothing really never ends in this -- in this world of superheroes and fantasy. It's just a new beginning, right, John.

CAMEROTA: All right, I'll go. You've convinced me. You guys -- you sold it. Well done. I'll go

STELTER: All right. All right.

CAMEROTA: OK, thanks so much, Brian.

STELTER: Sure.

CAMEROTA: All right, so, listen to this, just hours after being drafted by the New York Giants, a Kansas football star is shot and wounded. The "Bleacher Report" has the developments, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:57:38] BERMAN: The New York Giants' sixth round draft pick was shot just hours after being drafted.

Andy Scholes has more in the "Bleacher Report."

Andy, this is terrible.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: It is absolutely terrible, John.

Just hours after, you know, fulfilling a childhood dream of playing in the NFL, 23-year-old Corey Ballentine was shot and his college teammate and friend was killed while they were at an off campus party in Topeka, Kansas. Now, Ballentine, who played football at Washburn University was drafted by the Giants Saturday afternoon. And here was the call Giants Head Coach Pat Shurmur made to him after taking him in the sixth round.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAT SHURMUR, HEAD COACH, NEW YORK GIANTS: Glad to add you to our team.

COREY BALLENTINE: Yes, sir. I'm glad to be a part of the franchise. I've been waiting on this opportunity for a lifetime really.

SHURMUR: Awesome.

BALLENTINE: So I'm glad to be even a part of the conversation. I'm definitely ready to be -- to start learning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Now, the shooting occurred at 12:45 Sunday morning. Ballentine's friend and college teammate Dwane Simmons died in the shooting. Ballentine is non-life-threatening injuries and is expected to make a full recovery. And it was Ballentine who called Simmons' family to inform them of what happened.

CNN affiliate KSHB is reporting that Simmons' family was told that a vehicle pulled up to the gathering and the people inside it asked them a question. And when the car circled back around, someone inside started shooting.

The Giants have released a statement saying we are aware of the tragic situation and continue to gather information. We have spoken to Corey and he is recovering in the hospital. Our thoughts are with Dwane Simmons' family, friends and teammates and the rest of the Washburn community.

And, guys, the police there in Topeka say they are still investigating what happened.

BERMAN: All right, Andy Scholes, thanks so much. Could be -- it's supposed to be the best weekend in that young man's life. And now this. Appreciate it.

SCHOLES: All right.

BERMAN: Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, thanks to our international viewers for watching. For you, CNN "TALK" is next. And for our U.S. viewers, we speak to a friend of the woman who was killed at that California synagogue. NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard gunshots. I saw everybody running. I ran at the fire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My uncle was holding my hand. The person who was shooting was aiming at him.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So you got hit with shrapnel?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I saw him shooting. It's scary that we need to live like that. It's just unbelievable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are standing together. We are getting stronger. You can't break us.

[07:00:00] BERMAN: In just a few hours, former Vice President Joe Biden will hold his first campaign rally in Pittsburgh.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're really going to get this first glimpse of how Biden is going to

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