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Peter Navarro on Mexican Tariffs; Sanders Speaks to Wal-Mart Leaders; Ex-School Resource Officer in Court. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired June 05, 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] PETER NAVARRO, SENIOR TRUMP POLICY ADVISER: Secretaries made that very, very clear the first day these were announced.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Right.
NAVARRO: And this is not unreasonable, Jim. We're asking Mexico to put an end to this. They have tough laws. They need to enforce the laws and they need to take the asylum seekers. It will put an end to it. So let's do it.
SCIUTTO: Peter, let's keep up the conversation.
NAVARRO: Yes, sir.
SCIUTTO: Thanks for coming on.
NAVARRO: Yes, sir.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: OK, that's news that he just laid out the three things that the administration wants from Mexico.
SCIUTTO: It's a lot -- it's a lot for Mexico to -- well, it depends on what will qualify as meeting those three standards, right, between now and Monday, four days, five days away.
HARLOW: Right. But it's the first time we've heard it laid out.
SCIUTTO: It's true. No question.
HARLOW: I think, which Republicans didn't even get in that meeting yesterday.
SCIUTTO: That's true.
On the facts, another story, but we'll let the many manufacturers we've had on the air who talk about paying those tariffs speak for themselves.
HARLOW: And Kevin Hassett, the chief economist at the White House --
SCIUTTO: And Kevin Hassett.
HARLOW: Literally said to us this week, I said, American citizens pay for the tariffs, right? He said, right. SCIUTTO: Yes. Yes.
HARLOW: They work together.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
HARLOW: You're right on those facts.
All right, just days before the House Judiciary Committee is set to vote to hold the attorney general in contempt, can House Democrats and the DOJ actually reach a deal for Congress to get more parts -- more of those redacted parts of the Mueller report? We'll see. That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:35:50] HARLOW: All right, so an interesting development. I'm reading your lines, Jim.
SCIUTTO: She -- I -- if there's anybody that's going to read my lines, it's you.
HARLOW: Go for it.
There is an interesting development on Capitol Hill.
SCIUTTO: No question. This morning, the head of the House Judiciary Committee is refusing to call off a floor vote expected next week to hold the attorney general, Bill Barr, in contempt of Congress.
HARLOW: Yes, this was the condition set yesterday by the Department of Justice for resuming negotiations over the Mueller report and the underlying evidence, right, that's what they've been fighting so much about. Of course, the panel has subpoenaed them -- all of that underlying evidence in its entirety. They did that back in April.
Let's go to the Justice Department. Laura Jarrett is there.
This is interesting how these negotiations have developed, right? What can you tell us?
LAURA JARRETT, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, you know, the negotiations have been filled with mistrust for months now. Both sides are finger pointing. But we're learning that late last month House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler quietly reached out to the Justice Department and he came to them with an offer to substantially limit his subpoena. Remember, his panel is the one that had voted to hold the attorney general in contempt of Congress for failing to turn over the fully un- redacted Mueller report. But Nadler actually said late last month in a letter to the Justice Department, look, I'm willing to work with you to substantially limit it and all I'm really asking for is for the FBI interviews of about half a dozen witnesses and their notes and some other White House documents related to obstruction of justice. So not material related to the grand jury 6-E (ph) issue that the Justice Department had originally said was the reason they couldn't turn everything over, Poppy. HARLOW: OK. So what is really interesting to me that I was reading
about this morning, Laura, is why Nadler, to the public, it looks like he's been saying all or nothing.
JARRETT: Yes.
HARLOW: But, actually, when we look at some of the letters, is conceding and saying, all right, give me -- give me half, give me some. Is that a good read?
JARRETT: That's exactly right.
HARLOW: OK.
JARRETT: That's exactly right. And I -- what -- I think what you're seeing here is the behind the scenes -- both sides realize they are going to have to give a little because everyone knows this is going to court. And so while the House Judiciary Chairman has been obviously publicly demanding everything, including the underlying materials, the fully un-redacted report, behind the scenes he's trying to show a little bit of accommodation because he knows he's going to have to show the court that he made that effort, especially since not a single Democrat has come over here to look at the less redacted version of the Mueller report that the Justice Department had originally offered. And the real worry is that DOJ is dragging its feet. But DOJ says, well, you're just being unreasonable.
So it continues to be finger pointing on both sides here.
SCIUTTO: Imagine that, finger pointing in Washington.
HARLOW: Shocking.
SCIUTTO: Never happens.
Laura Jarrett, thanks very much.
Senator Bernie Sanders taking his fight for higher wages right to Walmart. How will the retail giant, and it is giant, respond?
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[09:42:54] HARLOW: All right, a really interesting development. This morning, 2020 Democratic Candidate Senator Bernie Sanders is taking his wage fight directly -- directly to the top leaders at Walmart. He, right now, is at the annual shareholder meeting. It's just a few minutes from their headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. He's pushing the company to raise their minimum wage to $15 an hour.
SCIUTTO: And, listen to this, he's also proposing to put hourly workers on the company's board of directors. That would be a potential first in the company's history. Walmart, of course, one of the country's biggest employers.
CNN correspondent Ryan Nobles, he's outside that meeting in Rodgers, Arkansas. This is going to be quite a moment here.
RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no doubt about that, Jim and Poppy. You know, we've regularly heard Bernie Sanders go after the Walton family, of course Jeff Bezos from Amazon, from the campaign trail. But what is different today is that he's actually going to physically be inside this shareholder meeting, be able to look Doug McMillon, the CEO of Walmart, face-to-face and tell him about his grievances with the Walmart Corporation.
The way it's going to work is that a former associate is going to offer up a proposal to put (ph) an employee on their board of directors. (INAUDIBLE) time to speak on that issue to Bernie Sanders. And we expect Sanders to talk about allowing employee representation on the board of directors, but also talk about more, in a fulsome way, about how he thinks Walmart should be treating their employees, including raising their base salary to at least $15 an hour.
And Sanders actually spoke to my colleague Greg Kreig (ph) about exactly what he hopes to accomplish here. And it's really about giving control to workers within their work environment. This is what he said, quote, they cannot simply be cogs in a machine. To be a human means that you have some ability to control your life. And that includes your work life.
And this is, of course, one of the central tenets of the Sanders campaign. He's often talking about economic inequality and how individuals need that ability to kind of guide their lives and having a good salary that they can live on is a big part of that.
Now, for Walmart's part, they argue that they treat their associates very well, including they've just rolled out a tuition incentive (INAUDIBLE) employees through college. This is expected to be a big showdown here today, Jim and Poppy, and I think what Bernie Sanders is hoping to show Democratic primary voters is these are the kind of challenges he would take on if he were ultimately elected president.
[09:45:09] SCIUTTO: Interesting.
HARLOW: It's going to be tough for them now because Amazon just raised their wages to $15 an hour, right?
SCIUTTO: Yes.
HARLOW: So there's going to -- there's that increasing pressure in the marketplace, too.
SCIUTTO: There's a public relations aspect to it, too.
HARLOW: Totally.
SCIUTTO: No question.
Ryan Nobles, great to have you there.
HARLOW: This just into CNN. A group of bipartisan senators has announced 22 joint resolutions to
block arm sales to Saudi Arabia without congressional approval. This is a big deal.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
HARLOW: It comes after last month when President Trump, the Trump administration, declared an emergency to go around Congress and expedite billions of dollars in arms sales to various countries. Of course, one of them being Saudi Arabia. Another, the UAE. It matters. We'll talk about it next hour
SCIUTTO: It does. Initially, Senator Lindsey Graham, who's been in lockstep with this president on so many things --
HARLOW: That's true.
SCIUTTO: On this, he's supporting these resolutions.
HARLOW: Yes.
SCIUTTO: And we should note, it's been eight months since Jamal Khashoggi was murdered. This administration has missed a deadline required by law to determine responsibility for his murder.
HARLOW: That's right. That's right. So now Republicans and Democrats in the Senate trying to hold them to account.
OK, how responsible for keeping students safe is the police officer, resource officer essentially, who was outside of the school in Parkland? That is the question now in a criminal case against (INAUDIBLE) for how he responded to that massacre that left 17 people dead.
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[09:50:55] HARLOW: The school resource officer arrested and charged for his response in the Parkland shooting will appearing in court -- appeared, actually, just moments ago. His name is Scot Peterson, and he appeared before a judge via video link. You see him there. This is in Broward County, Florida. He is facing 11 felony counts, including child neglect and negligence and perjury. He could spend the rest of his life in prison.
SCIUTTO: Yes, these resource officers are basically security guards for schools I guess you could call them. In an arrest warrant affidavit, authorities say that the gunman fired approximately 75 shots after Peterson had arrived at the scene. They also say that Peterson lied to investigators when he said that he had only heard two or three shots.
CNN correspondent Nick Valencia joins us now live.
Nick, the families have been very vocal on this. Do they support the charges by and large?
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we'll get to that in just a second. Some of them are saying they finally feel some accountability.
But I want to update you here. His bond hearing just wrapped up in the last hour and his defense attorney, Jim and Poppy, tried to argue that there was no probable cause for the felony negligence -- child negligence charge that he's facing because he's not technically a care giver.
Ultimately, a judge ruled that he is -- that there is probable cause. He's also been given $102,000 bond.
And you remember, guys, after the shooting, immediately after the shooting, he faced widespread criticism. He was called a coward by President Trump, by also some of the family members of those victims. In fact, as I mentioned, some of those family members of the victims are speaking out and saying that yesterday's arrest was a good thing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LORI ALHADEFF, DAUGHTER ALYSSA KILLED IN PARKLAND SHOOTING: He needs to go to jail and he needs to serve a lifetime in prison for not going in that day and taking down the threat and that led to the death of our loved ones.
FRED GUTTENBERG, DAUGHTER JAIME WAS KILLED IN PARKLAND SHOOTING: He deserves to rot. He is -- he is responsible in large part for why my daughter is gone. And I have no sympathy for him. I'm glad he's been arrested.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALENCIA: This is a dramatic turn in the investigation of the Parkland shooting. The authorities there finally, you know, showing that he had some responsibility. He willfully, according to FDLE, did not engage Nikolas Cruz. And when seconds matter, Jim and Poppy, he was outside, as this surveillance video showed, for 45 minutes while that shooting rampage carried on.
Now, his defense attorney is saying that the charges that he's facing are baseless in fact and in law. And this is a statement that he released to the public that said in part, quote, the individuals who have made this charging decision have taken the easy way out and blamed Mr. Peterson for the actions on February 14, 2018, when there has only ever been one person to blame, Nikolas Cruz.
Now, if Peterson is found guilty of the 11 charges he's facing, seven felonies and four misdemeanors, he faces up to 97 years in prison.
SCIUTTO: Yes, and one thing -- looking at those videos there, and I think people forget, is that the shooter actually, after all this, was able to leave and get away. He was -- he was, I believe, right, Nick, only detained off campus later. So all those shots, all those minutes and he was even able to get away, at least for a time.
VALENCIA: Yes, it is very dramatic video to see that he's there. The building, the 1200 building just off to the left of the camera, the pavement there, showing Scot Peterson knew where the shots were coming from, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement, despite saying otherwise, and still did nothing to engage the gunman.
SCIUTTO: Yes, I mean, whenever I see those parent, my heart breaks and I can imagine their frustration and their anger.
HARLOW: Can't imagine.
SCIUTTO: Nick Valencia, thanks very much.
VALENCIA: You bet.
SCIUTTO: Cruise confusion this morning after the Trump administration cracks down on Americans' trips to Cuba. Why the travel industry is now scrambling today.
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[09:59:15] SCIUTTO: U.S. airlines and cruise lines scrambling now to change course in the wake of the Trump administration's new travel restrictions against Cuba. Early this morning, one of two remaining U.S. cruise ships docked there was seen leaving the Havana harbor. The other is expected to leave later today.
HARLOW: The restrictions include forms of educational and recreational travel, including what's known as people-to-people travel. That's really interesting because that's what a lot of folks do to get to Cuba.
So Delta Airlines, one of the biggest carriers in this country, says it will stop accepting those bookings. Several other U.S. airlines are reviewing the policy change. Royal Caribbean, the big cruise line, rerouted all ships traveling to Cuba today and tomorrow.
[10:00:03] SCIUTTO: A very good morning to you. I'm Jim Sciutto.
HARLOW: And I'm Poppy Harlow.
We're just minutes away from the president's departure from the south.
END
