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Democrats Preparing for Subpoena of Mueller Report; Prosecutors Seek Jail Time for Huffman; Dangerous Storms Target Texas; Midweek Grades with Chris Cillizza. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired April 17, 2019 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:30:00] MARGARET TALEV, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "BLOOMBERG": Drags on for two years, he runs -- he runs the clock.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Finally, just to -- to put a button on it, Laura, any political risk for the Democrats here in terms of overreaching in the court of public opinion in terms of, you know, the president calls it presidential harassment? Do Democrats need to tread carefully in terms of how hard they push on certain aspects of their investigation?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, "POLITICO": Well, they do have a balancing act to play, right, even though the public has overwhelmingly said that they do want to see the full Mueller report. So I think that them pushing to get as much information as possible won't necessarily hurt them. But, again, they are, you know, treading this line with, we're not going to pursue impeachment.
HARLOW: Right.
BARRON-LOPEZ: We still have all these details that we're pursuing, whether it's his tax returns or other investigations that they have. And they're very careful not to use the impeachment word.
Also, I was just on the trail and no one is really talking about the Mueller report. Everyone is still talking about health care. They're talking about other issues.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Laura, Elie, Margaret, thank you very much for helping to preview it with us.
Meanwhile, a source tells CNN that actress Felicity Huffman could be sent to jail, even after she's pleaded guilty in the college admissions scam. All of that is next.
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[06:35:19] CAMEROTA: CNN has learned that prosecutors plan to seek jail time for actress Felicity Huffman over her role in the college admissions scandal. Huffman is among 13 parents who pleaded guilty last week.
And Jean Casarez is here with the latest developments.
This is a surprise, Jean.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
It's very interesting. CNN has learned from a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation that prosecutors are seeking the lower end of federal sentencing guidelines for actress Felicity Huffman, four to ten months in federal prison for the former star of "Desperate Housewives." Huffman pleaded guilty last week to the charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, and that carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. Although Huffman accepted responsibility for her actions and in a statement to the court said she would accept the consequences that stemmed from those actions, CNN's source says the range prosecutors are seeking has nothing to do with that apology.
Huffman paid $15,000 to change college entrance exam scores for her oldest daughter. Huffman told the court her daughter knew nothing about what she was doing, but that may not be the case for other children of named defendants. A source close to the investigation tells CNN, prosecutors are currently sending out target letters to people associated with the college admissions scandal, but not currently charged. The official says these letters have been sent out since mid-March to students, graduates, other adults. But those individuals are not necessarily related to parents already charged in this case. Target letters, we are told, are routine in white collar crime cases. They're used when prosecutors just aren't ready to charge the individuals with a crime or they don't quite have the evidence, but they can lead to negotiations.
Felicity Huffman's sentencing is May 21st.
Now, actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, they have not pled guilty and they now have an additional federal conspiracy charge, maximum 20 years. The couple has pleaded not guilty to everything.
And, Poppy and Alisyn, it's all up to the judge with Felicity Huffman because he may not accept what prosecutors are requesting and may go toward a higher sentence or there could be a downward departure because she was really authentic, accepting that responsibility for her actions, $15,000, far less than other parents, and he may go less
CAMEROTA: Well, I mean, one of the interesting things that we've debated with our legal experts is the difference in strategy between Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman and what the general consensus was, was that Felicity Huffman was doing it right by getting in early, by pleading guilty, but admitting guilt, writing that, you know, mea culpa letter. But if she gets jail time, all of that strategy is wrong.
CASAREZ: But it's a maximum 20 years. So four months is a far cry from 20 years. And the others that are pleading not guilty, I mean they're rolling the dice. And the defenses may be exquisite, but they are rolling the dice.
HARLOW: It's fascinating.
CAMEROTA: Great point, Jean, thank you very much for all of that reporting
HARLOW: Thank you.
All right, to the severe weather that continues this week. Tornadoes, hail and damaging winds posing a severe threat from the Texas panhandle to the Midwest today.
Let's get straight to our meteorologist Chad Myers.
What are we looking at?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Poppy, three solid days of severe weather in a row and today starts day number one.
This weather is brought to you by the Shark self-cleaning brush roll. The vacuum that deep cleans now cleans itself.
So let's get right to it. Severe weather today, even all the way up into Minnesota, and even later on today in Chicago, severe weather with likely hail here. Now, there will be damage with winds damage here down across the south and even the potential for some tornadoes.
Notice, almost two different systems here. That takes us to 6:00 tonight. But radar not lit up yet. But wait until you see what happens after dark. Nighttime tornadoes are the most dangerous. You're typically asleep. You need to have that NOAA weather radio on. Look, at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow morning this radar is lit up with wind damage and also lightning and hail coming down. Today, right here. Tomorrow, farther to the east. And then, on Friday, the East Coast gets back in the mix again, all the way through the Carolinas to the Chesapeake of Virginia.
HARLOW: Oh, boy.
MYERS: Guys, back to you
CAMEROTA: All right, Chad, thank you very much for the warning.
MYERS: You're welcome. Yes.
CAMEROTA: OK, so Mayor Pete Buttigieg went to Harvard and Oxford, but can he ace Chris Cillizza's test? The midweek grades are next.
HARLOW: Such a good tease.
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[06:43:57] HARLOW: The candidates for the Democratic nomination are spread out across the country as the campaign heats up. So which ones are making Cillizza's grade?
Let's get "The Midweek Grades" with our very own Chris Cillizza, CNN politics reporter and editor-at-large.
I'm just checking to make sure you're smart enough, Chris, to assess these candidates. It's -- clearly Congress isn't smart enough to look at the president's tax returns according to the White House.
CAMEROTA: What are your credentials?
CHRIS CILLIZZA, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Oh, I'm good enough. I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and, gosh darn it, people like me.
CAMEROTA: That's true.
HARLOW: Gosh darn it, they do. Can you believe it? People like me.
All right, Cillizza, who gets the A this week?
CILLIZZA: OK. Here we go.
So I kind of tilted toward the positive this week. A lot of good news on the Democratic side. So let's start with Bernie Sanders.
Without question, the big winner of the first quarter fundraising. We've got all the numbers now. And Sanders, $18 million raised, $50 million on hand, 84 percent of the contributions come from people $200 or less, which means he's got a massive fundraising base. And I think if you look at "The New York Times" yesterday, Democrats who don't want Bernie to be the nominee are starting to get worried because he definitely is in a place, especially with Biden not in the race yet, to be that nominee
[06:45:00] CAMEROTA: OK. You also give another A. Who gets that?
CILLIZZA: Yes. Mayor Pete, he's got a bunch of A's since we started doing this a month or so ago because he's doing everything right at this point. Again, he's the busiest candidate in the race. He had 1,600 people at an event in Des Moines last night despite the fact that he really has almost no staff in the state. So this is an organic gathering. He's also third in recent Iowa and New Hampshire polls behind Biden and Sanders, which is amazing given that he's the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who no one had heard of three months ago.
HARLOW: He also is self-deprecating. Yesterday in the show calling himself from adorable to plausible.
CILLIZZA: Yes, he has a --
HARLOW: I mean the guy's got --
CAMEROTA: He's got a line.
HARLOW: The guy's got a sense of humor.
CILLIZZA: Talk -- we -- Alisyn and I have talked about this before, Poppy, but he talks like a normal person, which do not --
HARLOW: But he's not normal. Harvard, Oxford, Rhodes Scholar. But he comes across like it, yes.
CAMEROTA: He's tricking you, in other words.
CILLIZZA: Similar resume to mine, yes. But, yes, I get your point.
All right, Kamala -- Senator Kamala Harris.
CILLIZZA: OK, move -- yes, moving on.
California Senator Kamala Harris. Look, has done nothing wrong. He's in a very good place. I give her a B only because polling now suggests she's kind of in the bottom end of that top tier. Buttigieg's rise has taken some support from her. I think if you asked her and her people candidly, they're very happy with where they are. They're sort of drafting in the front pack. They're not the frontrunner. They're fine with that. But given that she's dropped a little -- we dropped her just a little bit in terms of grades.
HARLOW: All right.
CAMEROTA: OK, we also had Cory Booker on the program this week, but you only give him a C. What's the problem?
CILLIZZA: Yes. Honestly, this was a little bit kind. I gave him a C because, look, the big news of this week is the fundraising numbers. We now know what everybody had. His numbers were very solid. Middle to higher end of the pack.
Here's the problem. Cory Booker, this week, he didn't -- his campaign attacked John Delaney, the former Maryland congressman, for self- funding. That is punching down of the first sort. John Delaney is an asterisk in most polling. Why you would attack him, it worries me about where Booker's people think he is in the race. So a C, I think, is the right place.
HARLOW: You've got to look up. I hear you.
CILLIZZA: Yes, always punch up.
HARLOW: Always punch up.
Julian Castro gets a D?
CILLIZZA: Yes, man.
HARLOW: What's going on?
CILLIZZA: I still haven't given -- I still haven't given an Fs because Alisyn knows my past checkered academic career, I'm wary of giving Fs.
But, look, he was -- no comment. Hello, high school teachers.
HARLOW: (INAUDIBLE).
CILLIZZA: He raised -- he raised about a million dollars total in the first quarter, $600,000 on hand. That's less than Andrew Yang. No one at the start of this race thought Julian Castro was less credible than Andrew Yang. You've got to get people to invest in your campaign. With that kind of money, that little money, you can't build any organizations. It doesn't matter how strong the message is. HARLOW: I was surprised seeing those numbers for Julian Castro too.
Hey, what number do Andrew Yang's holograms -- what grade to Andrew Yang's holograms get?
CILLIZZA: I -- look, even before I worked at CNN, I loved the CNN holograms. I'm pro hologram. Everyone who knows me knows that. So I'm into that. I'm currently working on cloning myself, actually.
HARLOW: Help --
CAMEROTA: We need two of you.
HARLOW: Help us.
CAMEROTA: We need two of you.
CILLIZZA: Two of me is probably at least one too many. It might be two too many depending on who you ask.
CAMEROTA: I think that if we polled the audience --
HARLOW: no.
CAMEROTA: OK, while we have you, Chris, very quickly --
CILLIZZA: Yes.
CAMEROTA: Bernie Sanders seems to have done himself well by going on Fox and doing that town hall.
CILLIZZA: Yes, absolutely.
CAMEROTA: Though President Trump seemed quite confused by Bernie Sanders going on. In fact, he said, so weird to watch crazy Bernie on Fox News. Not surprisingly, Brett Baier and the audience was so smiley and very -- and nice. Very strange. And now we have Donna Brazile. Of course the president is confused. He thinks this is his pet network.
CILLIZZA: Correct.
CAMEROTA: What is another candidate doing on there?
CILLIZZA: There's so much in the one tweet, Alisyn, the "we," right?
HARLOW: Yes.
CILLIZZA: The sense that the president of the United States is with the network. The confusion of it, as you note. And also the fact that he's such -- he is at root a conspiracy theorist. The audience in quotes. The idea that the audience was loaded. He later tweeted that there were lots of Trump supporters outside trying to get in. Not accurate. As Fox News said, they sort of brought in local people. There were Trump supporters in there.
He is -- remember, his candidacy began on the idea that Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States. It's a largely -- a very circulated and very widely debunked conspiracy theory. This is who he is. The wire-tapping at the White House. The three to five million illegal votes, right, cast. This is what he does. It's who he is. He is a conspiracy theorist at heart and that's why he sees the world his way and doesn't understand when people see it differently
HARLOW: Good on Brett Baier for responding. I think he --
CILLIZZA: Totally agree.
HARLOW: Said come on our network, right?
CILLIZZA: Yes.
HARLOW: (INAUDIBLE).
CILLIZZA: And Brett Baier has been asking for years. Donald Trump doesn't like him because Brett Baier isn't pro-Trump enough. So ask yourself if that's how you want your neutral journalists measured.
HARLOW: Right. All right.
CAMEROTA: All right, thank you very much.
HARLOW: What grade does Cillizza get?
CAMEROTA: Oh, Chris Cillizza, A plus.
HARLOW: Obviously.
CILLIZZA: Hey.
CAMEROTA: A plus. It's his first.
CILLIZZA: I'm putting that on my resume.
[06:50:00] HARLOW: OK, we've got to go. See you later.
CILLIZZA: Bye.
CAMEROTA: All right, coming up in our next hour of NEW DAY, we will speak with two presidential candidates. We have Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan and Bill Weld, the first Republican to announce a run against President Trump.
HARLOW: The attorney general makes the decision that could change the immigration process for millions of people. We'll tell you what it is, next.
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CAMEROTA: The Trump administration is making another hard line move on immigration. In a reversal of immigration law, Attorney General William Barr says some asylum seekers may be detained indefinitely. He is ordering immigration judges to deny bail to migrants seeking asylum even if they have established a credible claim of fear in their home country. The move effectively blocks efforts by immigration advocates to push for bond hearings so asylum seekers can be released. It goes into effect in 90 days.
HARLOW: Yes, that's a big deal.
Also, the president has vetoed a bill that would have ended U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen. The bipartisan resolution passed in the House and in the Senate and it was seen as a rebuke of the administration's close ties to Saudi Arabia following the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. It is the second veto of the Trump presidency.
CAMEROTA: Queen Bey is back with a surprise live album.
[06:55:01] God, that does look good.
We knew Beyonce's Netflix documentary "Homecoming" would drop today, but she stunned fans by tweeting that a companion album with two bonus tracks is now available as well. The film and album capture Beyonce's now iconic performance at last year's Coachella Music Festival. She made history as the first black woman to headline that event. This looks good.
HARLOW: She's just so good.
CAMEROTA: I know. I know, perfection.
HARLOW: She can do no wrong in my book.
All right, Schools closed -- a very serious story -- and police are on the lookout for a woman -- this woman they say is armed and dangerous and fixated on the Columbine massacre. We'll have the latest on the investigation, next.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's bound to be something there that would give Mueller pause. I would be very worried.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Trump is eager for the report to come out. He thinks it's going to back up his claim that he's been exonerated
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's more here than meets the eye. I think you're going to be very surprised.
[07:00:00] KELLYANNE CONWAY, WHITE HOUSE COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: We know what does not exist, and it's collusion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vast sums that have already been promised to a relief effort to the French president saying that he hoped to have it done within five years.
END
