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AG Barr Slams Trump Tweet on Stone Sentencing; AG Barr: Trump's Tweets "Make it Impossible for me to Do My Job"; Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) is Interviewed About William Barr; AG Barr: Trump's Tweets Make It "Impossible" To Do My Job; Trump Ramps Up Personal Attacks On Michael Bloomberg; Ex-Wrestler: GOP Rep. Jim Jordan Begged Me To Contradict Brother's Accounts Of Sexual Abuse By University Doctor. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired February 13, 2020 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: The new season of race for the White House premiers Sunday at 9 p.m. only on CNN. Our coverage on CNN continues right now.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. And we're following breaking news. A rare, very rare public break with President Trump by his Attorney General William Barr. He's slamming the President's tweet criticizing the sentencing recommendation for his long-time friend Roger Stone.

Barr tells ABC News it's time for the President to stop tweeting about Justice Department criminal cases. Barr says the President's tweets, and I'm quoting the attorney general now, "make it impossible for me to do my job." But he denies Mr. Trump has asked him to intervene in a criminal case and says he won't be bullied or influenced by Congress or by the President.

We'll talk about the breaking news and more with Congressman John Garamendi. And our correspondents and analysts are also standing by.

First, let's go to our Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez.

Evan, this is a significant development. The President, I assume, once he sees the coverage of this is going to react very negatively to his attorney general.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it's very rare for this attorney general to not be in line with what the President is saying. And so today is definitely one of those days where the attorney general is saying that the President and his tweets are not helpful for the work that the attorney general is doing. But also made clear that he is standing by his decision to reverse the recommendation made by those career attorneys, the one's who quit just a couple days ago. He's saying what they did was absolutely beyond the pale. And he's standing by his decision to reverse their sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone. Here's the attorney general talking about this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM BARR, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: To have public statements and tweets made about the department, about our people in the department, our men and women here, about cases pending in the department, and about judges before whom we have cases make it impossible for me to do my job and to assure the courts and the prosecutors in the department that we're doing our work with integrity.

PIERRE THOMAS, ABC NEWS CHIEF JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Mr. Barr, the President does not like to be told what to do. He may not like what you're saying. Are you prepared for those ramifications?

BARR: Of course, as I said during my confirmation, I came in to serve as attorney general. I am responsible for everything that happens in the department. But the thing I have most responsibility for are the issues that are brought to me for decision. And I will make those decisions based on what I think is the right thing to do and I'm not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody and I said whether it's Congress, newspaper, editorial boards or the President. I'm going to do what I think is right.

And, you know, I think the -- I cannot do my job here at the department with a constant background commentary that undercuts me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREZ: And Wolf, look, it is definitely rare for the attorney general to say anything that seems to be critical of the President. But again, a lot of what he said today in this interview with ABC is really about defending what he did this week and saying essentially that the President had nothing to do with it. And that's a very important thing for him to do to stay in the good graces of the President.

BLITZER: But he's basically saying he's not going to be bullied by the President or by Congress. He's not going to be bullied. He's effectively suggesting to the President you better shut up.

PEREZ: Well, yes. I mean, I think those are -- he certainly said stop tweeting. But I think, Wolf, I think again, one of the things that the attorney general was doing here is a little bit of a magic trick, right? Again, the headline is that he is not happy about these tweets. The tweets are not helpful.

But what the attorney general is doing, the work he has done this week on the Roger Stone case on other politically sensitive cases I think is definitely things that the President likes. And that's one of the messages he's sending to the President. I am still on the reservation. I am doing the work you want me to do. Just stop tweeting.

BLITZER: It's not just the tweeting, though, that has irritated so many officials over at the -- it's what the President says on camera. And he does that, you know, routinely now over the past 24, 48 hours. He's spoken not only of the prosecutors for of whom have now quit, but the federal judge, Amy Berman Jackson. He's gone after the jury, 12 men and women, who reached the guilty verdict. He's gone after all of the prosecutors who brought this case.

[17:05:09]

He says it was a ridiculous case. They should have never brought any charges against his friend Roger Stone. It's not just the tweets, it's the statements that he has made.

PEREZ: Absolutely. Those statements have caused other attorneys in the department. They are attorneys here in the Washington U.S. attorney's office who were preparing to resign if there was further interference in their work. That still may happen, Wolf, in the coming days. We'll wait and see.

But I think one of the things that you are calling attention to is the rhetoric from the President, which by the way, Bill Barr has used himself in a lot of interviews and a lot of comments. He has criticized some of the past work of career people at the Department of Justice. And so Barr and Trump have been simpatico on some of the criticism, some of the rhetoric.

And I think what you're seeing here today perhaps is Bill Barr taking a step back simply because I think some of the criticism, some of the misgivings of his own employees was beginning to bubble up --

BLITZER: Yes.

PEREZ: -- to the headquarters of the Justice Department.

BLITZER: As we've reported they're bracing potentially for more resignations in the U.S. attorney's office here in D.C. U.S. attorneys in the Southern District of New York, elsewhere, they are deeply worried about what the President may say and do and as a result there could be even more resignations. Is the attorney general worried about the backlash, the reaction he might get from the President?

PEREZ: Look, I think he's got to be mindful that the President will not like some of the coverage as you pointed out. Sometimes it's not even the attorney general's comments, it might be the coverage that will bother the President. He's probably (INAUDIBLE) all of this, the coverage and he'll watch it later tonight. And then we'll see his reaction.

So, again, I think one of the things that happens in the department, Wolf, I think that the attorney general knows that he's got to reassure the troops that he is going to do the job without political interference, but he's also try to reassure the President in some of his comments that he is still on his team.

BLITZER: Yes. All right, we'll see what the fallout is. Evan thank you very much. Very significant development.

Let's go over to the White House right now. Our White House Correspondent Boris Sanchez is joining us.

Boris, very strong words from the attorney general. Very surprising words from the attorney general. First of all, any reaction so far from the White House? Are you getting any reaction at all?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham has responded to multiple requests for comment to Attorney General Bill Barr's remarks. She tells us that she may put out a statement. No indication if the President has seen this yet on Twitter.

But these are really jaw dropping remarks especially considering just how defensive and how vociferous William Barr has been in defending the President in the past. Remember that he walked President Trump through the entire ending of the Russia investigation. Remember that summary of Bob Mueller's findings that he put out that many people felt didn't accurately reflect Mueller's findings. Further his response to the Horowitz report, his defense of the President's use of executive privilege in denying Congress specific documents when it comes to the Ukraine investigation. All of that in mind Barr is speaking out against the President's comments including this one.

Take look, the President writing just yesterday, "Congratulations to Attorney General Bill Barr for taking charge of a case that was out of control and perhaps should not have even been brought. Evidence now clearly shows that the Mueller scam was brought and tainted. Even Bob Mueller lied to Congress." We could spend time fact checking that claim, Wolf. There is much in that tweet that is incorrect.

Surprise (ph) to say though the President has a lot of confidence in William Barr. He said in an interview just moments before this interview on ABC News that his life would have been a lot easier had he hired Barr before hiring Jeff Sessions to be his attorney general. Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. I suspect the President is not happy with what the attorney general said. And I'm sure he's going to be even more unhappy when he sees all the coverage that this has generated because we know he does follow all this kind of stuff very, very closely.

All right, Boris Sanchez, we'll get back to you as soon as you get a statement from the President or the press secretary over there. Let us know.

Let's get some more on all of the breaking news. Democratic Congressman John Garamendi of California is joining us. He's a key member of the Arm Services Committee. Congressman, thanks for coming in.

REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D-CA): Always good to be with you, Wolf.

BLITZER: What do you think of what the attorney general has just said?

GARAMENDI: Well, a bully can only push somebody so far before they push back. I'm delighted he push back now, he should have pushed back at the very, very beginning. It's been a long highway (ph) process for America to watch this attorney general. First of all dump the Mueller report as he did and then carried on. Finally, finally he seems to have found his backbone. Stand up to the President and tell the truth. BLITZER: Yes. Because if the President has -- I'm not going to suggest -- he's lost the Attorney General Bill Barr, but if he's in a situation like this where even Bill Barr is now saying, stop tweeting, Mr. President, you're hurting all of this. That's a very significant development.

[17:10:07]

GARAMENDI: It's extremely important. And we've seen school grounds where bullies pushing people around then he finally pushes too far. Clearly the President pushed Barr too far.

Unfortunately I think for this nation, it's been late in the process for Barr to stand up to the President and say, you can't do this. This is wrong.

BLITZER: He did, you know, point out, you know, the attorney general that even on his own without any influence on the President, he thought that seven to nine-year recommended sentence for Roger Stone was too high that should be lower. But you know, that's his position.

GARAMENDI: I would love to have him come to Congress to the Judiciary Committee and the House or Senate.

BLITZER: He is coming to the House Judiciary Committee, the attorney general at end of March.

GARAMENDI: That's a long way from now. He ought to come tomorrow and explain his position. Explain whatever the President may have said to him or maybe not said to him. This needs to be fully vetted because we cannot have a banana republic in which the President is going and taking control of the judiciary and the judges.

BLITZER: Why do you think Bill Barr is now come out and said what he said, which is obviously going to deeply irritate the President?

GARAMENDI: Well, there's my conspiracy theory so that would say, well, this is a way in which he can't protect the President. But I think it's more than that. I think it really is the President pushed him just too far. And there may have been some words that were said in private back and forth. We don't know that. It would be good to have that information.

But finally, finally the President seems to have gone too far with the attorney general. I think many, many Americans were terribly concerned that the President seemed to have gained control of the justice system in the United States. That would be a terrible problem for this democracy.

BLITZER: Because there have been reports, including here on CNN over the past 24 hours that in addition to the four federal prosecutors who quit and walked away from this case in the aftermath of the rebuke they received, others here in Washington and in New York may be doing the same thing beginning of this mass protest.

GARAMENDI: Well, I'm all for mass protests. But at the same time, I wonder who's going to replace these people. Are they going to be Trump's troops, in which case we'll see even further erosion of justice in the United States? I want them to stand tall. I want them to speak out and say as they have done. But I don't want them to leave because these are good people. These are career folks that we need in those office to properly administer justice.

BLITZER: Yes, these are career prosecutors. They're not political appointees --

GARAMENDI: Exactly.

BLITZER: -- or anything like that. But as you know, the President doesn't necessarily like all those career officials whether at the justice or the FBI or at CIA or at the State Department. He's been very critical of that element that he describes as the deep state.

GARAMENDI: Well, if I recall correctly, you got about another hour and a half, an hour and 45 minutes on this show and I'll bet you'll get a tweet that you can talk about in your last hour.

BLITZER: You think that --

GARAMENDI: And it won't be kind to Justice Department and quite possibly to Mr. Barr?

BLITZER: Well you think this is the beginning of the end of the attorney general as the attorney general?

GARAMENDI: Who knows? Trump does not take well to criticism from people that work for him. And I think he's back to his apprentice mentality thinking that this government is somehow some sort of a show, a reality show where he can fire or he can control every piece of it. And he has said very clearly, I'm the President and I can do anything I want to do because of Article II. I'm sorry, that's not the case. And today the U.S. Senate took one more step towards reigning (ph) in Trump, good. We have the Senate finally followed the House of Representatives.

BLITZER: I mean more powers legislation.

GARAMENDI: Exactly.

BLITZER: All right, we'll speak about that in another occasion. But we got to move on. Thanks so much, congressman, for coming in.

GARAMENDI: Always good to be with you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Congressman Garamendi of California. Stay with us for more on the breaking news. The attorney general of the United States William Barr using an interview with ABC News to assert his independence and actually publicly criticize President Trump's tweets about the Roger Stone case. More right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:18:25] BLITZER: All right, the breaking news we're following. The attorney general of the United States William Barr is asserting his independence and publicly criticizing President Trump's tweets in the Roger Stone case. Listen to what Barr is telling ABC News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARR: To have public statements and tweets made about the department, about our people in the department, our men and women here, about cases pending in the department and about judges before whom we have cases make it impossible for me to do my job and to assure the courts and the prosecutors in the department that we are doing our work with integrity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Very strong words from the attorney general of the United States. Jim Baker, let's discuss it. Surprised he's been very loyal to the President and for him now to say the President of the United States is making it, "impossible for me to do my job," he say he's not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody including the President of the United States. And then he adds "I cannot do my job here at the department with a constant background commentary that undercuts me." He's blasting the President and effectively, as I said, telling the President to shut up.

JIM BAKER, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. I guess I have three reactions to this. So number one is this is the Bill Barr that I'm familiar with. I work for him at Horizon and this is sort of the strong, independent leader, a person of integrity and intelligence and speaking out loudly for his troops, which I think he had to do it because there was a rebellion basically within the Department of Justice. It may still be going on. That sort of the first thing.

[17:20:06]

Seconds thing is it sounds like it's a resignation letter. I mean it sounds very forceful. And these are the kinds of things, you know, I can no longer do my job. That's what you say when you're ready to walk out the door, which leads me to my third reaction.

Did pre, sort of, coordinate this with the White House and get a little -- not a little bit of cover, did he get a lot of cover and explain to the President, hey, I have to do this. I'm facing a rebellion inside of DOJ. We're going to go in this hearing with the judge next week and it's going to be disastrous. So, those are sort of my first three reactions.

BLITZER: What do you think?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it does sound a little precooked to me honestly. So there is a little bit of skepticism that I think is warranted here, particularly since Lindsey Graham puts out a statement within --

BLITZER: Well he said that yesterday, Lindsey Graham too. BORGER: But today right away, I support Bill Barr. I do think, however, he was facing and is facing a mutiny inside the Justice Department. And he also felt the need, I think, to defend himself and to say, look, I made the decision. I thought the sentence for Roger Stone was way too much --

BLITZER: The recommending sentence.

BORGER: -- out of whack. And I had decided that we ought to roll it back. And then the President tweets and his quote was, do you go forward with what you think is the right decision or do you pull back because of the tweet? That sort of illustrates how disruptive these tweets can be.

Now, he wasn't born yesterday. I mean, he's just not discovering that the President tweets. But I think he felt the need to set the record straight for his own reputation on this. But I wouldn't be surprised the White House got a heads up saying you know what, I'm going to say this because I need to do this to keep my troops OK.

BLITZER: Because he was facing now the potentially more resignations in the U.S. attorney's office here in Washington, D.C., in New York City. There could have been a whole bunch of federal prosecutors who say they are walking.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: And there's also another subtext to all of this. While all of this is going on the President is weighing in, his allies are waging a war against the jury itself who convicted Roger Stone. There was a sense in which this whole thing was starting to snowball. It was not just the issue of the length of Roger Stone sentencing, but also the people around the President, potentially -- eventually the President himself questioning the process of justice in this country which I think would have been really too much for a lot of people within the Department of Justice.

And at some point, Barr had to say something. He had to say something not just to maintain control of the department that he runs. But also because clearly a lot of Republicans are uncomfortable with this. On Capitol Hill they're being forced to answer questions about it. But none of them are willing to say so publicly. And so it was left to Barr to say something.

And I agree with Gloria that it does not -- I would be surprised if he did this without giving the White House a little bit of a heads up because the consequence of doing something like this without letting them know is that the President gets very angry and he cuts the feet out -- your legs right out under you.

BLITZER: Let me get Maggie Haberman into this. I was pretty stunned when I heard the interview, the comments that Bill Barr made in the interview Pierre Thomas of ABC News. But what about you?

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Look, I thought they were remarkable quotes and I understand the skepticism. But I have to say that from my reporting, White House officials did not have a heads up whether Bill Barr gave the President a heads up is a different question. We don't know the answer to that. But Wolf, even if he did give him a heads up, I find it really unlikely that the President fully processed exactly what Barr was going to say and the President, as you noted a couple times here in the last half hour, tends to be very reactive to how these things are covered in the news media. And so he's going to see coverage of a remarkable rebuke of the President by Bill Barr, stunning commentary by Bill Barr.

No other cabinet member while sitting under this President has said something like this. And I don't know how he's going to react to that.

I do think Bill Barr felt like he had to say something. I do think it is remarkable to Bill Barr also said this was my decision. I don't think we understand yet in terms of the Stone case exactly what happened. And how it was that it went from seven to nine and what Barr knew to this recommendation for sentencing being changed. And that will play out in the coming days. But he was facing enormous pressure within the Justice Department. He was facing threats of, I think, of people either leaving or losing confidence in him.

He had to say it, but there's just no way that the President is going to hear those comments from anything that any of us know of him over the last several years. I really can't see him hearing Bill Barr criticizing how he uses Twitter, which he is so important to how he communicates and his form of independence in this job. And I can't see him hearing that and saying, yes, I get it. That's cool. I just don't.

BORGER: Well, you know the question is Maggie, what does he do? What does the President do about it? Barr is his last friend and his ally. He's had another attorney general he fired. So what does he do facing this kind of criticism from his ally?

[17:25:00]

HABERMAN: But remember, Gloria, he fired Sessions after almost two full years of simmering about Jeff Sessions.

BORGER: Right.

HABERMAN: So we might get eight months up to reelection vote of the President simmering about Barr. We might get Barr leaving on his own. We might get nothing.

I think that the President recognizes that it would be really traumatic for his administration to lose the attorney general right now eight and a half months before Election Day.

BORGER: Absolutely.

HABERMAN: But that doesn't mean he's not going to be unhappy about this. And he is in this kind of phase of feeling unfettered after impeachment. This is not what he wants to hear.

BLITZER: As somebody who's been interviewing the President myself for about 20 years or so I suspect you're right. He's going to be very angry with the coverage. And the words that we all heard from Bill Barr when Bill Barr said it makes it impossible, what you're doing, Mr. President, your tweets make it impossible for me to do my job. I'm not going to --

HABERMAN: Yes. And undermine me, and undermine was the other language he used --

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: I does sound like a resignation.

BLITZER: And when the President -- he said -- Bill Barr said I'm not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody. I cannot do my job here at the department with a constant background commentary that undercuts me. That's what the attorney general said of the President. I'm bracing for a pretty angry reaction from the President, maybe not in public but probably privately.

All right, much more on the breaking news right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:31:18]

BLITZER: All right, we're back with our experts who were discussing the breaking news of the Attorney General of the United States publicly criticizing the President of the United States in the aftermath of the Roger Stone recommended sentence originally seven to nine years by federal prosecutors, but Bill Barr, the Attorney General and others cut that back maybe half as much recommended sentence.

You know, you know, Jim Baker, you worked at the Department of Defense, you were the General Counsel of the FBI -- at the Department of Justice, excuse me, the Department of Justice. When he says the Attorney General, I cannot do my job here at the department with a constant background commentary that undercuts me, he's blasting the President.

JIM BAKER, FORMER FBI GENERAL COUNSEL: He's blasting the President but what he says is obviously and plainly true. It is in contrast. I mean, several months ago, the Attorney General made some statement in another interview, that he just ignores tweets, he doesn't think about them as a directive to the Department of Justice or something like that. And I think he's just had to live in the reality of the tweet world of Donald Trump since then. And the tweets that were -- that the President issue recently, were just over the top and completely unacceptable.

I don't think this ends it right. I mean, the strong statements from the Attorney General, people are still concerned for prosecutors resigned from the case, one, resigned from the Department of Justice altogether, and that's a serious matter that still needs to be understood. And the judge, hopefully next week, will still conduct some inquiry about this.

BORGER: Well, I think there's an unwritten story yet and we'll be reporting it but maybe Barr will tell it himself. But we don't know how exactly the sentencing guidelines were changed. When that happened, he maintains that it happened before he saw the President's tweet, but then he had this existential choice to make. Do I still do it or do I pull it back because it'll look like I'm the puppet of the President?

But why did these people leave? Who had the discussions? Why wasn't Barr told about it? I mean, it would seem to me that was somebody as high profile as Roger Stone. I mean, you would know more about this than I would, that they would be having these discussions and he would have been debriefed about it.

BAKER: Yes.

BLITZER: Well let me get Maggie, Abby into this. Maggie, can you remember a time when you cover the White House for us and you're doing that for us for "The New York Times", but you also help us? Do you remember a time in the past three years when a sitting member of the Cabinet has publicly rebuked the President along the lines of what Bill Barr has just done?

HABERMAN: No, there's been nothing like it by anybody who's been in office. We have heard things from people on background who have left. We have heard things as we saw from John Kelly and what was a paid speech last night in New Jersey. But we haven't seen anything like this from somebody while they were there in real time, even when they disagreed it.

Think about Rex Tillerson who had a famously bad relationship with the President. He chose to leave without being public about it. I do think Gloria makes a very important point. And we referenced this before. But there are still a lot of questions about why Barr decided to intervene here in a case involving one of the President's close allies and his longest serving on and off advisor over clearly the objections of the career prosecutors who were on the case. And I don't think that question is going to go away just because of what Barr said today.

BLITZER: You know, Abby, I can't remember a time when a sitting member of the Cabinet has publicly, privately a background, deep background, you heard criticism, but publicly make a statement along these lines. I don't remember a time since Donald Trump became President.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: No. And the President, frankly, doesn't tolerate that from -- and everybody who works for him knows that. And I think Maggie makes a really important point that, you know, Barr has been willing to do things that the President wants in private. What strikes me about his comments is that once it becomes public, and the President says publicly for the whole world to see, I don't like how this is being done.

[17:35:04]

And they pull the nomination of Jessie Liu who was overseeing that department when -- what seems to be retribution for what I think the President believes is her involvement in the case. All of that seems to put all of this private stuff out in public for the world to see in a way that really did force Barr's hand. But there are some questions about privately what has been going on, like what is really the relationship between Bill Barr and the President and what the President wants.

And there was a time when Republicans are up in arms when Bill Clinton walked on to Attorney General Loretta Lynch's airplane and thought that was a massive conspiracy. This would be a massive conspiracy of, frankly, I think, a greater degree if we knew the truth of everything that was going on.

BLITZER: It's a major story. We're going to stay on top of it. Everybody stick around. There's also other news dramatic new testimony, raising questions about one of the President's most high profile supporters, Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:40:37]

BLITZER: Tonight there's increasing attention on former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's role in the Democratic presidential race and not just from his fellow Democrats. President Trump suddenly is wrapping up his criticism of Bloomberg, as well as launching new personal attacks on the former Mayor.

Let's bring in our Political Correspondent MJ Lee. MJ, do these attacks making it clear that the President views Bloomberg potentially as a major threat?

MJ LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure does, Wolf. It's clear that Michael Bloomberg appears to be getting in President Trump's head. And these are two men who have quite a bit in common, both billionaire businessmen from New York City. And now Michael Bloomberg is trying to mount a White House campaign to become the Democratic nominee so that he can be the one to take on President Trump come November.

Now, the few that you were referring to between the two men broke out on Twitter earlier today. Take a look at this, President Trump tweeting at Bloomberg, "Mini Mike Bloomberg is a loser who has money but can't debate and has zero presence". And Michael Bloomberg tweeting back at him, "We know many of the same people in New York. Behind your back they laugh at you and call you a carnival barking clown."

Now Bloomberg also address this exchange out on the campaign trail today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He calls me little Mike. And the answer is, Donald, where I come from, we measure your height from your neck up.

I am not afraid of Donald Trump. Donald Trump is ahead of us -- is afraid of us. And that's why he keeps tweeting all the time. I think it's fair to say he is scared because he knows I have the record and the resources to defeat him.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEE: Now that debate that President Trump reference in that tweet, that is taking place next week in Las Vegas. Michael Bloomberg is still waiting to find out if he will qualify to be on that debate stage. Wolf.

BLITZER: How unconventional, MJ, is Bloomberg's strategy in this presidential race?

LEE: It is quite an unconventional campaign strategy to try to become president. I mean, we are all just getting back from Iowa and New Hampshire where all of the other Democratic contenders for the White House were campaigning to try to get this important early boost in these important states in -- like Iowa and New Hampshire, as I said. But Bloomberg is skipping all of those states.

Instead, he is putting all of his resources and his time in the contest that take place in March, Super Tuesday and onward. And just as an example, today, one of the states that he was campaigning in was North Carolina, where early voting is now underway. And we should note, he is also spending enormous resources and his own funds to try to get his White House campaign off the ground. His campaign says that he now has some 2,400 staffers working across the country.

They have opened more than 150 offices. We know that they have spent some $380 million on TV ads. So as we get closer to March, Wolf, there are no signs that Michael Bloomberg is going to slow down his spending. Wolf.

BLITZER: He's got a lot of money to spend. All right, MJ, thank you very, very much.

Other news we're following. There are tonight new questions emerging about Republican Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, one of the President's most high profile supporters. Jordan repeatedly and strenuously has denied allegations that when he was an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University back in the late 1980s and early 90s, he was aware of sexual abuse by a doctor who worked at the university.

Let's go to our National Correspondent Brynn Gingras, who's following all of these worse. So Brynn, what's the latest?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Wolf, the latest accusations are coming from Adam DiSabato who essentially in front of lawmakers there in the state of Ohio, talked about his brother. Now, to give you context, and talked about Jordan rather criticizing him, to give you context, his brother, Mike DiSabato was the whistleblower back in 2018, who really exposed all of this alleged abuse that allegedly occurred at the hands of the medical doctor there at Ohio State University. And mentioning during that time that Jim Jordan who was an assistant wrestling coach knew about abuse among others and did nothing about it, turned a blind eye.

So, in front of these state lawmakers this week, his brother said that Jordan not only new, echoing his brother, but also said that he took it a step further and that the Congressman actually called him and asked him to contradict his brother's accounts. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[17:45:09]

ADAM DISABATO, BROTHER ACCUSED OHIO STATE DOCTOR OF SEX ABUSE: Jim Jordan called me crying, crying, groveling on the 4th of July, begging me to go against my brother. Begging me, crying for half hour. That's the kind of cover-ups that's going on there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: And again, just explosive remarks coming from Adam DiSabato. And Jim Jordan has denied this all along knowing about any abuse and saying if he did, he would have done something about it to these latest claims. Spokesperson for the Congressman told "The Washington Post" that these claims are just lies and that again, he would have done something about it. But certainly another black eye for the Congressman when it comes to this Ohio State University's story. Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. All right, Brynn, thank you very much. Brynn Gingras, reporting for us.

Coming up, they're increasingly bitter political rivals but there hasn't always been bad blood between Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg.

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[17:51:13]

BLITZER: As President Trump attacks, the Democrats battling to take them on in November. He's increasingly targeting fellow billionaire and New York -- former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. And the former Mayor is fighting right back.

CNN's Brian Todd is here with more. Brian, Trump and Bloomberg, they share a very long history.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They do share a long history, Wolf, as Titanic power players in New York. Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg at various times partnered on different projects. They engaged socially and praise each other for what each had done for the city. But they split politically when Trump declared for President. And tonight, it's clear that Donald Trump sees Michael Bloomberg as a threat.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, he's a lightweight.

TODD (voice-over): The way they talk about each other now, you'd think they've been enemies for life.

BLOOMBERG: I am not afraid of Donald Trump. TODD (voice-over): But back in New York, back in the day, a different dynamic.

TRUMP: And I have to say you have been a great mayor. You really have. I mean, this guy is fantastic.

TODD (voice-over): That was in October 2013. Then New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Donald Trump lavish praise on each other after Trump helped Bloomberg convert a trash dump in the Bronx into a high end golf course.

BLOOMBERG: But if there's anybody that has changed this city, it is Donald Trump. He really has done an amazing thing and this is another part of it. Donald, thank you for your confidence.

TODD (voice-over): Analysts say that partnership actually could have been the genesis of their falling out, because in a 2016 interview with Wolf Blitzer, Trump took all the credit for the project.

TRUMP: I took it over, I got it knocked up in one year and now to tremendous success. Michael asked me if I get involved in it.

MICHAEL KRANISH, "TRUMP REVEALED", CO-AUTHOR: Bloomberg thought that was an exaggeration. His former age thought that was an exaggeration and it sort of split between them.

TODD (voice-over): But before then, Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg appeared to get along or at least found each other useful. Trump backed Bloomberg's effort to run for a third term as New York's Mayor. They golf together.

Bloomberg appeared on Trump's NBC show, "The Apprentice". And their daughters appeared in an HBO documentary called "Born Rich". But analysts say in the real world of New York business and philanthropy.

MICHAEL D'ANTONIO, "THE TRUTH ABOUT TRUMP", AUTHOR: In that world, it was Bloomberg who was the star and it was Trump who was the one who is always looking for acceptance and rarely getting it. During all of his life, Donald Trump has longed for the approval of the New York establishment. Mike Bloomberg was the New York establishment.

TODD (voice-over): Now the two are being compared and contrasted under a microscope. Both switched political parties repeatedly, and were unexpected winners in their biggest elections. And both became billionaires. Although on the Forbes list of the wealthiest Americans at the end of last year, Michael Bloomberg ranked eighth with $53.4 billion, while Trump ranked 275th with $3.1 billion.

KRANISH: They both named their businesses after themselves. They're both very well wealthy people. But Bloomberg came from a more working class background and Donald Trump, of course, inherited a lot of money from his father to run his business.

TODD (voice-over): Going forward, how nasty and personal will their battle become? D'ANTONIO: Well, I think in a head to head battle, Mike Bloomberg and Donald Trump will be nastier than anything we've seen in politics, perhaps in 100 years. You know, these are two people who are not afraid to fight, and they're not afraid to fight in a very personal way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Analysts say the reason Donald Trump appears to fear Michael Bloomberg is that he realizes Bloomberg has the resources, millions of dollars, tens of millions of dollars that Bloomberg can spend on ads, highly produced ads that he can use to keep attacking Trump in the most personal of ways, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. Brian Todd, thank you very, very much.

We're going to get back to the breaking news next. Bill Barr, the Attorney General blasts President Trump over his tweets and his statements and says they make it impossible for him to do his job as the Attorney General.

[17:55:03]

Will he face backlash from the President?

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BLITZER: I'm Wolf Blitzer in "The Situation Room". We're following breaking news.

The Attorney General of the United States William Barr is offering surprising criticism of President Trump tonight in response to the Roger Stone sentencing controversy. In a bombshell interview, Barr complaints the President's tweets and statements about the Justice Department make it impossible. These were impossible for him to do his job. Barr telling ABC News he won't be bullied as he tries to defend his credibility.