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Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) On Iran's Compliance With Parts Of Nuclear Deal; Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Introduce Baby Boy; Sandra Bland's Video Of Her Own Arrest Released. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired May 08, 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] SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): -- it gave us searching inspections insight into what Iran was doing, and they committed to not develop a nuclear weapon.
It was flawed in that it didn't include or cover ballistic missiles and it didn't provide enough controls over Iran's other destabilizing actions. But on balance, I thought it was the right thing for us to do.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Do you -- some of your colleagues --
COONS: And unfortunately, by leaving it -- by leaving it and by some of the recent actions of the administration, I think the Iranians are now testing our resolve and the resolve of our allies to continue to work to continue to contain them.
BERMAN: You're talking about their recent actions. Some of your colleagues --
COONS: Yes.
BERMAN: -- some as much said it to me they think that the United States and the Trump administration is provoking -- intentionally provoking Iran towards war.
Do you see it like that?
COONS: Well, I'm not going to prejudge yet what the current actions are. I haven't been briefed on the intelligence that's been talked about in the press and by some senior administration officials that they say justified sending an aircraft carrier -- a group and wing of bombers to the region.
I have no doubt that Iran is a dangerous and destabilizing force but there are ways in which our escalating rhetoric and actions will almost certainly be met by escalation on the Iranian side. The question is, is this the right path towards ultimately finding some resolution with Iran?
In the first year of the Trump administration, the heated rhetoric between President Trump and Kim Jong Un of North Korea was pretty stunning.
BERMAN: Yes.
COONS: It has turned to negotiations. It is my hope that that's ultimately where they intend to go with this, but we don't know yet.
BERMAN: Very quickly because I'm running out of time.
I don't know if you had a chance to read "The New York Times" report about the president's taxes and the amount of money he lost over 10 years -- over $1 billion. He lost more money than almost anyone else in the country at that time.
Does that impress you? Does that business prowess impress you, Senator?
COONS: It's pretty striking, I have to say.
Back during the campaign, I had a friend who was a big fan of Donald Trump's saying he's such a great businessman. And I remember saying he literally ran three casinos into the ground. What do you know about casinos? They always make money.
That he went bankrupt so spectacularly in a number of his biggest ventures does raise one question, which Jeffrey Toobin was just raising on your last roundtable, how was he bailed out? Who funded a gentleman who lost so much money across so many different undertakings? That's really the question that's worth asking at this point.
Yes, it was a striking report in "The New York Times."
BERMAN: Senator Chris Coons from Delaware. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.
COONS: Thank you, John.
BERMAN: Alisyn --
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, John. The moment the world's been waiting for.
BERMAN: Yes.
CAMEROTA: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will reveal the new royal baby, next.
BERMAN: Behold.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:36:39] CAMEROTA: President Trump thumbing his nose at Congress and daring them to do something about it. Is this a good strategy? What does history teach us?
John Avlon has our reality check. Hi, John.
JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, guys. So, President Trump is pursuing a stonewall strategy when it comes to Congress and according (ph) a constitutional crisis, but the honey badger president just doesn't care.
His administration is refusing to hand over documents, refusing to allow aides to testify before Congress, refusing to cooperate on investigations big and small.
Now, subpoenas have been issued and all have been Heismanned at the president's direction. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, we're fighting all the subpoenas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: All the subpoenas.
Now, votes to hold members of the administration in contempt of Congress could come as soon as today, so what happens then? Glad you asked.
Now, we call executive privilege -- it's been invoked by presidents going back to Washington and Jefferson, but we've never seen a president essentially declare Congress's investigative power illegitimate as part of a political and legal strategy as they look to reelection.
Now, Congress has broad powers of investigation. The right to hold people in contempt if they refuse to testify or hand over documents has been clearly established during the Teapot Dome scandal nearly a century ago, one of Ali's favorites.
When Richard Nixon refused to hand over Oval Office tapes it led to the unanimous Supreme Court decision known as Nixon v. United States and said he had to fork them over.
Nobody was persuaded by Nixon's lawyer, who said he'd been instructed by the president to -- get this -- quote, "Say he is as powerful a monarch as Louis XIV, only four years at a time, and is not subject to the processes of any court in the land except the court of impeachment."
This didn't fly. The justices rolled the president's claim to executive privilege had to be balanced with Congress's need to investigate and oversee the Executive Branch.
During Bill Clinton's battles with independent counsel Ken Starr, he sidestepped the Supreme Court deciding whether a president could be subpoenaed by agreeing to give testimony. Impeachment came next but the failed attempt ended up boosting Bubba's poll numbers.
Now, a more recent example might be the most relevant. During the Obama administration, attorney general Eric Holder was held in contempt of Congress for refusing to hand over documents related to the Fast and Furious gunwalking scheme. Seventeen Democrats sided with Republicans to hold the attorney general in contempt, by the way -- bipartisanship which we're not likely to see this time around.
And then, Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered the A.G. to hand over some of the documents that were being withheld. It's a precedent that may come in handy for Democrats now.
But elements of that case continued to go on and that's key because a core part of the Trump calculus about ignoring subpoenas is that courts move slowly and they can always try to appeal unfriendly rulings to the more conservative-friendly Supreme Court, which could take them past the 2020 election. Not only that, President Trump could pardon any loyalists who get caught up in the cases.
But what if Congress holds Trump officials in criminal contempt? Well, guess who gets to decide if they have to do jail time? That's right, that guy. Spoiler alert -- ain't going to happen.
The only other way to compel testimony and release documents is for Democrats to embark on impeachment, a case they'd almost certainly lose in the Republican-controlled Senate and risk political backlash.
So if you don't mind causing a little constitutional crisis, you can ignore precedent and kick subpoenas to the courts while demonizing your political opponents in the court of public opinion, and then sue for time until after the next election. That's the stonewall strategy.
And that's your reality check.
BERMAN: It's a slow reality. We're in the middle of it and the White House is executing it to a T.
John Avlon, thank you --
AVLON: Absolutely.
BERMAN: -- very much for that.
[07:40:00] CAMEROTA: Breaking news. Prince Harry --
BERMAN: Prince Harry -- go ahead. You want this badly.
CAMEROTA: -- and Meghan Markle -- I do -- and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, ready to show the world their new baby boy. Take it away.
BERMAN: CNN's Max Foster is live at Windsor Castle and we finally have the big reveal -- Max.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: John, your big moment. I know you've been looking forward to this.
We do have the video. It was taken in the last hour in Windsor Castle behind me. Here it is, and you're going to get some answers from Harry and Meghan as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations.
MEGHAN MARKLE, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'd like you to look into the camera here. That's great.
And this way, please. And a couple more looking here. Smiles -- (INAUDIBLE). Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, hi. Congratulations and thanks for taking the time out. I know you guys must be really, really busy.
But, Meghan, can you tell us what it's like becoming a new mom and tell us a little bit about baby Sussex, as we're calling him?
MARKLE: Um, it's magic. It's pretty amazing. I mean, I have the two best guys in the world so I'm really happy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell us a little bit about your son. What's he like? Is he -- is he sleeping well, a good baby?
MARKLE: Yes. He has the sweetest temperament. He's really calm and --
PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX: I wonder who he gets that from?
MARKLE: Yes, and he's been -- he's just been a dream, so it's been a special couple of days.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who does he take after? Does he look like anyone?
MARKLE: We're still trying to figure that out.
PRINCE HARRY: Everyone says that babies change so much over two weeks. We're basically monitoring how the -- how the changing process happens over this next month, really. But he's changing -- his looks are changing every single day --
MARKLE: Yes, that's true.
PRINCE HARRY: -- so who knows.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And how do you find parenting, generally? What it -- is it still a special moment?
PRINCE HARRY: Yes, it's great. I mean, parenting is amazing. It's only been, what, 2 1/2 days, three days --
MARKLE: Yes.
PRINCE HARRY: -- but we're just -- we're just so thrilled to have our own little bundle of joy and to spend some precious time with him as he slowly starts to grow up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I hear you're off to see two special people in a minute --
MARKLE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- the Queen and the Duke.
MARKLE: Yes, and we just bumped into the Duke as we were walking by, which was so nice. So it will be a nice moment to introduce the baby to more family, and my mom's with us as well. So it's been really good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another great-grandchild.
MARKLE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can we just have a little peek in just to see his face?
MARKLE: Oh, so sweet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow.
PRINCE HARRY: He's already got a little bit of facial hair as well -- wonderful. It's in the family.
Guys, thank you very, very much.
MARKLE: Thank you all so much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks for your time.
MARKLE: Thank you, and thank everybody for all the well wishes and the kindness.
PRINCE HARRY: Yes.
MARKLE: It's been -- it just means so much. Thank you, thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: OK, Max, that was lovely. They look happy. From what we could see of the baby it looks like they've mastered the swaddle -- the all-important swaddle.
It was impossible to see, really, his face, but they said that they can't tell exactly who he favors or what he looks like right now.
So, Max, as we understand it, at this moment, they are meeting with the Queen and they are bouncing names -- baby names off of her?
FOSTER: Yes. I can tell you they've committed to a name. They've decided on a name and it might be a couple of names because as you say, they're heading off to meet the Queen. They're speaking to her right now, I understand, and they're probably
going to present the name to her. She doesn't have a say on it, necessarily, but I'm sure they'd want to put it past her. And once they've done that they're going to announce the name to the wider world. Obviously, they want her to know before the rest of us.
So that's what we've got later on coming up as well.
So there they were in St. George's Chapel -- grand surroundings. They both looked really well.
But as you say, a bit of a frustration that we can't actually see the baby's face. I can tell you there's a stills photographer in there as well, so we're waiting on those pictures. We'll obviously bring them in to see if they got a better shot.
But the reporter was obviously asking Harry to present the baby's face but he didn't quite manage to do that. I'm sure there are people saying Harry was being awkward there. I think he was just being a careful dad.
CAMEROTA: I don't blame them. I mean, obviously, the dog and pony show of your new baby, it's so private, it's so personal. You don't want to -- you don't know how much to play to the cameras. I certainly understand that.
But, Max, do you know today what the name -- the frontrunners are for the names?
[07:45:00] FOSTER: I think we've got Alexander and Spencer, which are the two ones that have been consistently at the top of the betting tables here.
Spencer because it is a reminder, really, of Diana Spencer, as her name was before she was Princess Diana. Everyone always -- well, Diana always looms large in these royal occasions. I think people are willing that on.
Alexander is seen as a name that works in the U.S. and the U.K., but it's utter speculation. We simply don't know --
CAMEROTA: Yes.
FOSTER: -- what the name is they've decided in --
CAMEROTA: Yes.
FOSTER: -- the last day or so.
CAMEROTA: Hey, Max.
FOSTER: So, once the Queen has the news, I'm sure Prince Charles, as well, will get it.
CAMEROTA: Hey, Max, here's the -- if you have a monitor there, here's a picture of the baby. This is the still photo, I think. I think this is a photo from the still -- yes, not just taken from the video.
So that is the best picture, Max, that we have so far, where you see the babies little lips and nose and closed eyes, and he looks exactly like a baby.
FOSTER: This is the thing, isn't it? Everyone's saying what does he look like? I had this with my own babies. I mean, they do look like babies.
Yes, we're not going to get much of an update, really, either. They're going to disappear off for a few weeks. That's the best we're going to get so we'll have to analyze what we have there.
CAMEROTA: I mean, that might as well be a picture -- a photo from my son's birth because they do look like babies for a while.
But he looks very beautiful and he certainly looks very content. And it was nice to hear them say that he's a very good-natured baby in these past whatever it's been --
FOSTER: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- 24 hours.
And just your take because you cover them so often. How did you think that they seemed this morning?
FOSTER: Well, I think it's really positive. I mean, Harry looks very happy. They look quite tired.
I know that Meghan's got this very holistic approach to her health and I think what she was looking for is a very calm birth -- as calm as possible -- and she wants the baby to have this very calm introduction to the world, and she said he was calm -- a nice temperament. So I think for them, it's gone really, really well.
It's interesting as well because we talked a bit on the show about how they're trying to have a private moment here, but they haven't let any family in either. It's literally just been the three of them and Doria, Meghan's mother, just for the last couple of days. So, meeting the Queen is the first introduction to the wider family.
CAMEROTA: Max, thank you very much for bringing it all to us. We've been looking forward to this moment. Thank you. We will check back with you when we find out the name.
And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:51:50] BERMAN: New revelations this morning in a story that raised so many questions. Newly-released video of Sandra Bland's traffic stop arrest in 2015 sheds new light on her confrontation -- really, on the confrontation that a Texas state trooper had with her. Bland recorded the video herself.
Just days after being arrested, she was found dead in her jail cell.
CNN's Stephanie Elam has all the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN ENCINIA, TEXAS STATE TROOPER: Get out of the car, now.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nearly four years after Sandra Bland's controversial traffic stop, a new point of view has just emerged.
SANDRA BLAND, PULLED OVER FOR FAILURE TO SIGNAL: Why am I being apprehended? You're trying to give me a ticket for a failure --
ENCINIA: I said get out of the car.
ELAM (voice-over): It's the perspective of Bland, herself -- cell phone video she shot of her encounter with Texas state trooper Brian Encinia after he pulled her over for failing to signal.
BLAND: You just opened my car door. So you're going to -- you're threatening to drag me out of my own car?
ENCINIA: Get out of the car.
ELAM (voice-over): Bland's family says they hadn't seen the video until now. The video was published by Dallas T.V. station WFAA in partnership with the Investigative Network.
CANNON LAMBERT, FORMER ATTORNEY FOR SANDRA BLAND'S FAMILY: The special prosecutors -- if they had this video and had an opportunity to prosecute, they should have.
ELAM (voice-over): The Texas Department of Public Safety said in a statement to CNN that the video is, quote, "not newly-discovered evidence and has in no way been concealed by the department."
Previously, the public had only seen dash cam video of Encinia ordering the 28-year-old from her car.
ENCINIA: I'm going to yank you out of here.
BLAND: OK, you're going to yank me out of my car?
ENCINIA: Get out.
BLAND: Don't touch me.
ELAM (voice-over): In both videos, Encinia points what it appears to be a Taser at Bland. But, Bland's 39-second video is from a much closer angle.
BLAND: So you're going to -- you're threatening to drag me out of my own car?
ENCINIA: Get out of the car. I will light you up. BLAND: And then you're going to stun me?
ENCINIA: Get out --
BLAND: Wow, wow.
ENCINIA: -- now.
ELAM (voice-over): Encinia initially stated he feared for his safety during the incident. But in 2016, a grand jury said it didn't believe his claim that he removed Bland from her car so he could more safely conduct a traffic investigation.
He was indicted for perjury and fired, but the charge was dismissed in 2017 after he agreed to never work in law enforcement again.
LAMBERT: That video shows -- I mean, it is -- it is unabashed in its ability to show that he had no basis to fear for his safety.
ELAM (voice-over): Three days after her arrest, Bland was found hanging in a jail cell. While her death was ruled a suicide, her family argued she should never have been arrested in the first place.
Bland's sister says the lack of transparency about Bland's video speaks to a larger problem.
SHARON COOPER, SANDRA BLAND'S SISTER: There is an effort to conceal such things in a hope to not reveal some of the bad behavior that continues to go on by some law enforcement officials with regard to engaging with citizens, especially those citizens of color.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ELAM (on camera): Now, while no one was convicted of a crime in Sandra Bland's arrest or in her death, her family did reach a settlement -- a $1.9 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit with Waller County there in Texas in 2016.
But still, Alisyn, when you look at this it brings up a lot of questions for people. Even though Texas is saying that this was already out there, a lot of people are saying why are we widely seeing it four years later?
[07:55:05] CAMEROTA: It is so shocking and so disturbing to see that video and how the officer was handling this traffic stop.
Stephanie, thank you very much for the update on this.
There are new details on a deadly school shooting just miles away from Columbine in Colorado. NEW DAY continues right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eight students shot by two of their fellow students on campus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone said, "I have a gun. Get down on the ground." I started crying because I was so scared.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My daughter called me and she said, "Mommy, there's gunshots at the school." You never think that this would be the reality.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our kids are having to worry about this every day. They shouldn't have to do that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every year that we looked at, he lost money.
END
