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Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) is Interviewed about Gun Control; Farmers Struggle as China Tensions Heighten; White House Immigration Plan; U.S. Birth Rate Lowest in 32 Years. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired May 15, 2019 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00] REP. TOM MCCLINTOCK (R-CA): Experience with gun control laws. They are very effective at disarming law abiding citizens.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Really?

MCCLINTOCK: They're completely ineffective. They're -- they're completely -- they're completely ineffective --

SCIUTTO: How can they be effective if tens of thousands of people are dying every year?

MCCLINTOCK: Exactly right, they're completely ineffective at disarming murderers and terrorists and mad men. The good news is, we know what works. Executing murderers works. Putting gun predators behind bars until they're old and feeble works.

SCIUTTO: You can only execute them after they've shot people, right?

MCCLINTOCK: And confining the dangerously mentally ill -- confining the dangerously mentally ill so that we can treat them works and having law abiding citizens who can return fire works.

SCIUTTO: Do you want your -- would you want your kid students -- your children, their teachers, armed as the only defense against school shooters? Is that the solution you're proposing?

MCCLINTOCK: My -- Jim, my daughter is a first grade schoolteacher. And, yes, I want teachers that have been entrusted with concealed weapons permits to be able to use those to defend their children. And that includes my daughter.

SCIUTTO: I've got three kids and I don't know that I want their teachers walking around with loaded guns. But subject to debate.

Congressman Tom McClintock, we appreciate you coming on.

MCCLINTOCK: Jim, those just -- OK, let's continue this discussion because --

SCIUTTO: Please.

MCCLINTOCK: You know, we have armed guards to -- at banks to protect our money. SCIUTTO: Yes.

MCCLINTOCK: Why you object to armed guards to protect our children is something I don't understand.

SCIUTTO: I don't want a gun in my kid's classroom. I'm sorry.

But, listen, it's a subject of debate. I'm happy to continue the conversation.

We do appreciate you taking the time.

MCCLINTOCK: Thanks for having me.

SCIUTTO: We have this just into CNN. A dangerous situation in downtown Oklahoma City. Take a look at these pictures from just moments ago. This is a lift believed to have windows washers inside it right now swinging out of control. This outside a high-rise building there many stories up off the ground. Officials say the lift is at the top of the Devin Tower (ph) and has actually hit part of the building as it's kind of swinging around there.

We have just learned that the basket has now been secured. These pictures were just moments ago. And firefighters are working to get the two window washers out safely from this very dangerous situation. We're going to keep following this story.

The president thinks this trade war with China is a winning issue for 2020. So what do the nation's farmers think about that? We're going to speak to one and ask him how these tariffs are affecting him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:37:00] SCIUTTO: Welcome back.

We're watching the markets now. And right now you see there, the market is down about 160 points, about two-thirds of a percentage point. This is largely on weak economic data. But, of course, the market is also watching the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China. Still at the top of investor's minds. "The Washington Post" says that Trump has told his advisers that his fight with Beijing is hugely popular and will help him win re-election in 2020.

But what do farmers, who are struggling because of this trade war, think of that? Do they agree?

Tim Boring is a sixth generation farmer in the great state of Michigan, focusing on corn, soybeans and wheat, three key crops, many for export, too. Tim joins me now.

Tim, we appreciate having you on the show this morning.

TIM BORING, FARMER: Sure. Yes, thanks for having me.

SCIUTTO: So let's -- let's test the president's claim there. He says that he's winning the trade war with China. In your view, is he winning?

BORING: It's tough to see how we've had much success to this point. That certainly since -- it seems like it's been nearly a year since we really started a lot of these discussions with China. The grain markets are down 20 percent. And in an already tough farm economy, that's really been a big struggle for not only my farm but a lot of other farms.

SCIUTTO: Have you seen -- China, for instance, is a big purchaser of U.S. soybeans. You say the prices are down. So how much of an economic hit is that for you and is it a big enough hit that it threatens your farm?

BORING: Well, the concern really is long-term here, too. In the short term, sure, that's a real concern that -- that -- we already had a tight farm economy. Taking 20 percent out of your gross sales like that certainly is a hit. We're in planting season right now and most of the crops that we're putting in the ground right now don't pencil out given the current economy.

So not only is it a concern right now, it's a concern moving forward over the next couple years here, too. If we stay within market conditions like that -- this, yes, I mean a lot of farms are really going to be in trouble.

SCIUTTO: The solution the president is offering is additional farm aid. He's now discussing an additional $15 billion in aid for farmers. How do you feel about that as a solution to this?

BORING: Myself, like most farmers, are going to want free markets to dictate what we're doing. So certainly the payments like this are a short-term kind of stopgap. They hurt -- they help with some of the immediate pain.

But the broader concern here is the fact that we're planting crops right now that aren't being sold. Right now already in storage we have 20 percent of the soybeans we would typically need in a normal year for next year. So as we continue to build these stockpiles of crops that aren't being sold, and historically we know when we see major trade disruptions like this, trade partners don't come rushing right back.

So the concern is, beyond just this year and what these payments can do in the short term, what do we do for the next couple years here, too, within our broader farm economy?

SCIUTTO: Final question for you. If you had a voice in the room there between U.S. and Chinese negotiators and you wanted to get in the ear of the president or his negotiators, what would you ask them to do that would help you?

[09:40:05] BORING: Really the biggest thing that myself and other farmers are going to want to see is trade certainty in this moving forward. We've built, for a long time, the United States reputation as a reliable trading partner. So I want to make sure that we continue to be a reliable partner and really the premiere partner that others around the world come to as an agricultural supplier.

So this idea here that we're digging a hole and celebrating our ability to climb back out of it sure doesn't seem like much of a win from my perspective. Really I want to see that we somehow implement solutions moving forward with the long term approach, a generational approach here for what we're going to do within ag that provides some certainty moving forward.

SCIUTTO: Tim Boring, we wish you the best of luck. We know it's tough times here and hope to have you on again.

BORING: Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

SCIUTTO: Well, the president wants his son-in-law to solve the immigration crisis now, but it may be even harder when some of the president's own party call Jared Kushner's immigration proposal, in their words, underwhelming.

And watch as former Congressman Beto O'Rourke joins Dana Bash, my colleague, for a live CNN town hall from Des Moines, Iowa. He'll speak with Iowa voters about his run for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. It is Tuesday night, 10:00 Eastern Time, only on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:40] SCIUTTO: The is first on CNN. The TSA is set to deploy hundreds of reinforcements, including air marshals, down to the U.S./Mexico border. In an internal e-mail obtained by CNN, a senior TSA official says there is an immediate need for more help. The agency is sending up to 175 law enforcement officials and as many as 400 people from security ops. The law enforcement officials will work at immigration officers and assist Customs and Border Protection officers and agents. The move will not include uniformed TSA officers, at least not for now.

TSA released a statement saying, quote, TSA, like all DHS components, is supporting the DHS effort to address the humanitarian and security crisis at the southwest border. TSA is in the process of soliciting volunteers to support this effort while minimizing operational impact.

A source tells CNN, President Trump could unveil details on another plan, the administration's immigration plan, as early as tomorrow. This comes as Republican lawmakers are apparently disappointed about a recent pitch from senior advisers Jared Kushner and Stephen Miller on their plan. An official familiar with the presentation says the room was, quote, underwhelmed.

Let's speak now to CNN congressional reporter Lauren Fox.

So, Lauren, we still don't know the details, but probably doesn't bode well if even Republicans on The Hill were not amazed by it.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, that's right, Jim. And this has always been a contentious issue for the Republican Party. It divides Republicans. You know, a couple of Republican senators that me and my colleague, Elie Kaufman (ph), have spoken to this morning have basically said they weren't necessarily underwhelmed by the presentation. Mike Lee, who is a Republican from Utah, said, you know, he thought that Jared Kushner made a strong presentation but that if you were expecting legislative text, that was not the meeting where you were going to get it yesterday. Instead, he sort of painted a broad picture of what his proposal would do.

My colleague, Elie Kaufman, spoke with Mitt Romney, another senator from the state of Utah, who said that, you know, he thought that Jared Kushner's presentation was a good one. But, you know, again, it's a broad picture at this point of what Kushner's plan would be.

But it's worth reminding everyone at home, when it comes to immigration, it's very hard to find consensus. And at the end of the day, you still need 60 votes, which means you need Democratic support in the Senate, not to even mention the fact that you would have to get Speaker Nancy Pelosi to sign on to any immigration bill no matter how small it was.

Jim.

SCIUTTO: Lauren Fox on The Hill, thanks very much.

America just had the fewest babies born since the 1980s. Should that be a cause for concern? We'll be on the story coming up.

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[09:52:43] SCIUTTO: This morning, a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that the birth rate in the U.S. is now at its lowest level in more than three decades.

Let's get right to Elizabeth Cohen. She's CNN's senior medical correspondent.

So, Elizabeth, what's driving the fall in the birth rate?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Jim, good morning.

What's driving the fall is actually a piece of good news, which is a decrease in teen birth rates.

So let's take a look at what these numbers look like overall.

So, there was about a 2 percent decline in the birth rate from 2017 to 2018. And you may say, look, it's only 2 percent. That's not that big. But two things are important here. One, that's a -- that's just in one year. And, number two, this is the fourth straight year that we have seen this decline.

Also what's interesting, what's driving that, a 7 percent decrease in the teen birth rate in one year. That is a pretty big number. That has been long and hard fought for. Public health officials have tried to get this teen birth rate down. And so it's good to see it going down, especially at a number like that.

What's interesting, Jim, is that for women in their early 30s and 40s, that birth rate actually went up a tiny bit.

SCIUTTO: Other good news in the report?

COHEN: Yes, there's one other piece of good news in this report, and that is that c-section rates went down a tiny bit. Now, some women absolutely, positively need c-sections. It can save the baby's life. It can save the mother's life. But there's been a concern that doctors in the U.S. are a little too excited about doing c-section, maybe because they get paid more, maybe because they're worried about lawsuits or whatever it is. So the rate has been a little bit high for some people's taste. So to see that coming down is also considered a good thing.

SCIUTTO: No question, the U.S. has a much higher c-section rate than any other country's.

Elizabeth Cohen, thanks very much. Always good to have you.

COHEN: Thanks.

SCIUTTO: And we will be right back.

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[09:59:09] SCIUTTO: A very good morning to you this Wednesday. I'm Jim Sciutto. Poppy is off today.

A very controversial vote in the state of Alabama. Lawmakers have passed a bill that effectively banning abortion across the state, making it the most restrictive abortion legislation in the country today. It makes abortion a felony and would punish doctors who perform them with life in prison. The move setting up a challenge to the Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Alabama state legislature divided over the decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOBBY SINGLETON (D), ALABAMA STATE SENATOR: You just said to my daughter, you don't matter.

CLYDE CHAMBLISS (R), ALABAMA STATE SENATOR: A life is a life. And even if it is -- it's origins are in very difficult situations.

[09:59:56] REP. TERRI COLLINS (R), ALABAMA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: I think everybody I know in the house and I believe finally we saw in the senate understood exactly what the purpose of this bill was. We'll never get a heartbeat bill to be constitutional until Roe versus Wade is decided and reversed.