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Fact-Checking Trump On Concord; Biden Not Staying In New Hampshire, Leaving For South Carolina Tonight; Bloomberg Puts Obama Front & Center In Ads; Stop & Frisk Recording Expected To Hurt Bloomberg With African-American Voters; Trump Administration May Announce Deal With Taliban To End Afghanistan War; Trump Cites "A National Emergency Or Serious Economic Conditions" To Limit Government Employee Raises Next Year; Buttigieg Criticizes Trump's Budget; Dr. Celine Gounder Discusses Trump's Assertion That Warm Weather Will Take Care Of The Coronavirus; DOJ Backtracks On Sentence Guidelines For Roger Stone After Trump Tweet. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired February 11, 2020 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Now, I know there's some fuzziness when it comes to American history with him, but Concord, New Hampshire, Concord, Massachusetts, school us, Daniel.

DANIEL DALE, CNN REPORTER: Yes, so I can't really fact checked this but even people who live in Concord, New Hampshire, were like, really, we're famous, you've been reading about us? It's a pretty small city. It is the state capital.

I heard suggestions on Twitter maybe he was thinking of the plane. Maybe he was thinking of the revolutionary war site in Massachusetts. Maybe he was thinking of the grape and the jelly, Brooke, I don't know. So I'm going to pass here.

BALDWIN: The grape and the jelly. That's a good one.

DALE: You never know.

BALDWIN: Chris with the doughnuts and you with the grape and the jelly.

Daniel, thank you for all of that.

DALE: Thank you.

BALDWIN: As voters hit the polls in New Hampshire, Joe Biden says he's not staying long, confirming he is leaving for South Carolina tonight. Is it a smart move or does it send the wrong message? We'll discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:35:01]

BALDWIN: Joe Biden could be confronted with a little deja vu after tonight's New Hampshire primary. But if the former vice president has another disappointing showing, Biden insists he will not drop out but, instead, focus on the upcoming races, especially in South Carolina.

In fact, he is going there tonight before the New Hampshire votes are even counted. But Biden says he's not giving up hope on New Hampshire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We'll fight for every vote we have here and then I'm getting on a plane, heading down there, getting a rally in South Carolina, and then getting on the plane and going to Nevada.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you concerned about the message you're sending to New Hampshire?

BIDEN: No, I'm not. Not at all. Not at all. They know we've worked hard here and we're continuing.

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: And this is it. I'm not concerned about it at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A source close to the Biden campaign tells CNN that the former vice president needs to focus on his base because, quote, "It's put up or shut up time in South Carolina."

So with me now, Aisha Moodie-Mills, a CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist.

I mean, they're voting today, former vice president Joe Biden is like, deuces, I'm leaving town. You know, to go to South Carolina, but do you think it's a smart move to just already up and bounce?

AISHA MOODIE-MILLS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: He's already done all that he could do there. The writing's on the wall. He's probably not going to place in the top three. He needs to go where his people are. I think it's smart for him to go to South Carolina and try to shore that up.

Going into all of this, it looked like Biden was the guy to beat. Now we see Bloomberg cutting into that polling and South Carolina isn't as much in the bag as I think the campaign thought it was.

BALDWIN: The campaign being the Joe Biden campaign?

MOODIE-MILLS: The Biden campaign.

BALDWIN: He has been far, far ahead. You see those poll numbers changing. You still have to go to Nevada.

MOODIE-MILLS: Yes.

BALDWIN: What is it about South Carolina? Is it the African-American vote?

(CROSSTALK)

MOODIE-MILLS: It's so simplistic. That's really what it is. So because Biden lost his campaign and has been talking so much about his bona fides with the African-American community, and he's the guy that hung out with Barack Obama for eight years, he's looking at the demographics of the state of South Carolina to really be what shows him that strong showing.

Nevada's important, too. We have a huge Latinx population there.

But I think he's always been banking on how he's going to show there in South Carolina.

And given that Mayor Steve Benjamin, in Columbia, has already come out for Bloomberg, and you're starting to see some movement in the numbers there, it's going to be interesting how that maps out for him, even though Bloomberg isn't on the ballot.

BALDWIN: His whole focus, it's like an experiment, going into Super Tuesday.

You mentioned Bloomberg. What do you make of Mike Bloomberg putting President Obama, pretty front and center in his campaign ads, Biden has been as well? Smart strategy for him?

MOODIE-MILLS: I think -- here's the thing, Bloomberg is not going to play well with African-American voters once the clip that is moving around Twitter right now --

(CROSSTALK)

MOODIE-MILLS: -- of him talking about Stop and Frisk really starts to saturate the air waves.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Even though they know that that was his policy and he has since apologized. You still say --

(CROSSTALK)

MOODIE-MILLS: Sure, but when you're making the argument that you're the guy that can beat Donald Trump and you're the guy that can go head to head to him, what do you think the Trump campaign is going to do with all of this oppositional research.

And the fact that he has come out -- I mean, there's a tape of him pretty much talking about the fact that he has believed in racial profiling black and brown men. Thinks it's fine to round them all up because you might get ahold of the three that may have a gun if you just round them all up.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: So putting Obama in a campaign ad is not going to counter?

MOODIE-MILLS: It's not going to counter any of that.

I think that the other piece of it that we do need to remember is Barack Obama is still extremely popular. And so some of what has come up in the debates of people who are really trying to cut the Obama agenda and to cut his record, I think that what they're realizing -- and you see all the candidates doing this the best they can, throwing up ads with them and Obama.

(CROSSTALK)

MOODIE-MILLS: That bear hug is going to matter. Obama's still very popular and you can't dismiss his legacy. You actually need to lean into it.

BALDWIN: Aisha Moodie-Mills, thank you.

MOODIE-MILLS: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

Stay with CNN throughout the night. Special coverage of the New Hampshire primary starts at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.

The president of the United States has a new plan to stop the coronavirus. He says just wait a couple months. As the death toll grows and health officials throw everything they can at the virus, President Trump says it should all go away by April. Let's talk to a doctor.

Plus, more on our breaking news. A huge reversal from the Justice Department and former Trump associate Roger Stone. They are backtracking on his recommended sentence after President Trump complained on Twitter.

[14:39:44]

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Breaking news, the Trump administration says it is looking to announce a deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan as early as this week.

Let's go straight to the Pentagon and our correspondent there, Barbara Starr.

Barbara, what's the story?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brook, they hope to. They have a lot of optimism about it. But there's still plenty of skepticism as well that this may all work out.

Still, it is a hint that there could be a breakthrough in the end trying to end America's longest wear, the 18-year war in Afghanistan. We know that the negotiations with the Taliban seem to be headed in

the right direction.

And earlier today, Afghan President Ghani tweeted saying -- commenting on Twitter he said that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had brought him a, quote, "significant and enduring reduction-in-violence Taliban proposal, a reduction in violence now being proposed by the Taliban."

[14:45:05]

It could be announced formally this week by the United States. And if this reduction in violence works over the coming days, this could then lead to a peace agreement.

So why not huge optimism about this? Look, the Taliban leadership they're negotiating with may not be able to control the thousands of Taliban fighters and loyalists across Afghanistan. This is a group that is very diverse, that has loose command and control.

Those who sign onto a peace agreement may not be able to deliver in the end. And of course, there's still ISIS in Afghanistan. So a lot of concern about enduring violence there.

But a hint, at least, that maybe the U.S. is making a breakthrough. And if they do, and if they can get an enduring peace agreement with the Taliban, then it could lead to American troops coming home.

Right now, there's 12,000 to 13,000 forces, Americans on the ground in Afghanistan. They think they can break it down to 8,600 pretty quick. And the hope is an eventual peace agreement will bring all the Americans home after 18 years -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: Barbara, thank you.

It is the Trump campaign talking point that is in every rally, in hundreds of tweets. And even critics admit it may be his best case for re-election, the U.S. economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Since my, election America has gained seven million new jobs.

After years of building up other countries, we are finally building our country. Our economy is now the envy of the entire world.

I am thrilled to report to you tonight that our economy is the best it has ever been.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So then it may be surprising that the president is citing, quote, "a national emergency or serious economic conditions" for why he wants to limit government employee pay raises to just 1 percent next year. He adds in a message to Congress, a pay increase above 1 percent is, quote, "inappropriate."

Let's talk this over with CNN Global Economic Analyst, Rana Foroohar, a columnist and associate editor for the "Financial Times."

You saw the clip. Today he was tweeting the U.S. economy is the best in history. Why only 1 percent?

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Yes. I think there's a couple of things, possibly a negotiating position, which is something we were talking about earlier.

I think the president may be managing expectations a little bit. The truth is, yes, the headline numbers look great right now. We still have near record low unemployment, the markets are up, but we know that there's some headwinds.

Coronavirus in China is already hitting a number of American companies, Apple, Qualcomm. Some of the big ones are issuing profit warnings. There are wages that are still not ticking up.

There are really kind of two economies here. One is the headline numbers, which look great. But when you scratch below the surface, you see a lot of vulnerable groups, young people, minorities, women. The quality jobs for those groups are just not there.

And I think that that's something you're going to start to see Democrats hit home on the campaign trail, particularly as they go into the heated-up primary season.

BALDWIN: You're reading my mind.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: I was going to say, you're good, Rana Foroohar.

Here's a quote from the National Treasury Employees Union. They represent 150,000 workers. They're condemning this pay increase limit.

Quote, "For an administration that has added $3 trillion to the federal debt, gouging federal employee pay and benefits in the name of deficit reduction is ridiculous."

I mean, at the end of the day, Congress does have the final say. And like you said, the 1 percent maybe it's a bit of "Art of the Deal, like let's start here and maybe move up.

FOROOHAR: But it's really interesting because I think that you're going to see Democrats say, look, we need to focus on income. I mean, we know at some point as high as markets are that they're going to correct. Our 401Ks are going to feel that.

There's some statistics out recently from Goldman Sachs showing that 1 percent of the country owns 50 percent of those stock price increases that we've seen in the last few years. Really it's about income.

And I think that with income still flat, you're going to see Democrats saying, look, we're in a go-it-alone economy. You know, all the things that make you middle class, housing, health care, education, these things are getting more and more expensive. And, OK, yes, we can still buy cheap phones and cheap TVs, but the stuff that we really need, we need more money in our pockets for that.

BALDWIN: Pete Buttigieg, right? Out on the trail. He talked about the president's new budget, just speaking of what's been going on in terms of dollars and cents.

He talked about this with John Berman. Here he was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE BUTTIGIEG, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SOUTH BEND MAYOR: He's rolled out a budget that will make savage cuts to education and environmental protection. He said Social Security is on the table and Medicaid is up for cuts. We know what would happen if this presidency continues?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Between President Trump's January comments and proposed budget cuts, like why don't we see more of that? Why do you think, you know, of these candidates criticizing Trump?

[14:49:58]

FOROOHAR: I feel, up until about right this point, it's been a dog fight amongst the Democrats, right? There's this existential crisis within the party. Do we think the current system is work something do we want to make tweaks at the margins or are we a Medicare For All party? Are with a debt jubilee party?

I think that fight has been occupying a lot of airtime.

I think now, after New Hampshire, and definitely after Super Tuesday, you're going to see Democrats consolidate around. are we going to go with a middle of the road message or something more progressive, more radical as a solution.

I think once they decide on that, then they'll be able to really hammer home the message against Trump in the November election.

BALDWIN: Makes sense.

Rana, thank you.

FOROOHAR: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Rana Foroohar.

China is reporting their deadliest day since the start of the coronavirus outbreak. On Monday, 108 people died and nearly 2,500 new cases were confirmed. And that brings the number of cases in China to nearly 43,000. And the death toll has now surpassed 1,000.

Here in the United States, a 13th case of coronavirus has been confirmed. Health officials say the American, who evacuated from Wuhan, China, last week, was in quarantine after mistakenly being released from the hospital.

As the deadly virus continues to spread, now infecting more than 25 countries around the world, President Trump is pushing a theory that the deadly disease will go away in the next couple of months when it gets warmer outside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The virus, they're working hard. Looks like, by April. You know, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away. I hope that's true. But we're doing great in our country.

China, I spoke with President Xi, and they're working very, very hard. And I think it's going to all work out fine.

Rough stuff, I tell you. Rough, rough stuff, but I think it's going to work out good.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: We only have 11 cases, and they're all getting better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Dr. Celine Gounder is an infectious disease specialist at NYU School of Medicine, and the host of the podcast, "American Diagnosis."

Nice to see you.

I know the president doesn't have an M.D., but he's one degree of separation from a lot of top medical minds. And so is there something to what he's saying about like coronavirus, you know, miraculously disappearing when it gets warm, or is that just bunk?

DR. CELINE GOUNDER, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST, NYU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Well, there's a reason for the winter cough and cold season. That's for a couple of reasons. One, we're indoors more, around each other more. We're swapping viruses more.

And secondly, the winter is drier, it's less humid and viruses can stay in the air better. That doesn't mean viruses go away completely in the summer.

Then you have more tropical countries where viruses transmission continues through the year and they function as a reservoir for the rest of us.

BALDWIN: Here's what the director of the World Health Organization says. He believes they can eventually stop the virus but warn it could, quote, "create havoc if it reaches a country with a weaker health system."

What will it take? I know this has now surpassed SARS. What will it take to make this finally go away?

GOUNDER: Well, I don't know if we're, frankly, ever going to get there.

BALDWIN: Wow.

GOUNDER: It's what we saw with H1N -- and there's a lot of similarities here in terms of death rates and so on. That is part of our regular mix of flu viruses that circulates now. And what we have against that is a vaccination.

So if that happens -- and we don't know yet, you know, if we're going to be able to contain this or not. But if this becomes the regular mix of flu bugs that we see, that's going to be our best protection, is really to vaccinate the most vulnerable.

BALDWIN: OK. Just incredible. You wake up every day and it like it's like more people affected by this. But at least once the weather gets warmer it will, it sounds like, you're saying lessen.

GOUNDER: Lessen and buy us some time. Yes.

BALDWIN: Dr. Gounder, thank you very much.

GOUNDER: My pleasure.

BALDWIN: Let's get you back to our breaking news. The Department of Justice today backtracking on the sentencing guidance for Roger Stone after President Trump complained on Twitter about the time his long- time confidant is facing, time behind bars.

[14:54:04]

Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We continue on. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you for being here.

Here's the breaking news in the criminal case against President Trump's long-time political adviser, Roger Stone. Today, this jaw- dropping reversal by Bill Barr's Department of Justice.

Just yesterday, federal prosecutors asked the judge to sentence Roger Stone to seven to nine years in prison for obstruction, witness tampering, and making false statements to Congress. All of these charges stem from Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.

But that apparently blindsided the Justice Department. And as you check Twitter, that infuriated President Trump.

This is what President Trump tweeted. Quote, "This is a horrible and very unfair situation. The real crimes were on the other side. As nothing happens to them, cannot allow this miscarriage of justice."

And now the Department of Justice is backing off its own sentencing recommendations for Stone. So we have CNN Crime and Justice Reporter, Shimon Prokupecz. Also with

me, former Nixon White House Chief Council, John Dean, and CNN National Security and Legal Analyst, Susan Hennessey. She was an attorney for the National Security Agency.

Shimon, to you first.

For perspective, the DOJ essentially sharply criticizing the DOJ. Does this ever happen?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME & JUSTICE REPORTER: It's unprecedented. You don't see it in a situation like this. And ultimately, what it does is it looks like Roger Stone is getting some kind of special treatment.