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Another Short-Term Spending Plan; Trump Calls Dems Treasonous; Dem Rebuttal on Trump's Desk; Dow Futures Point to Losses; Trump and Stock Market Losses; Trump Tweets about NFL Player Death; Worry About Mueller Interview. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired February 06, 2018 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:32:05] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: The House will vote today on another short-term spending bill to keep the government funded for the next month and a half. But it faces a tough road in the Senate. Can lawmakers avoid a shutdown before Thursday's deadline?

Joining us now is Republican Congressman Scott Taylor. He serves on the House Appropriations Committee.

Good morning, congressman.

REP. SCOTT TAYLOR (R), VIRGINIA: Good morning, Alisyn. How are you?

CAMEROTA: I am well.

There is so much news this week that we haven't even talked about the next looming government shutdown. So it sounds like you have the votes in the House, but maybe not the Senate. Are we looking at another government shutdown Thursday at midnight?

TAYLOR: I don't believe so. I don't believe it's in anyone's best interest to have a government shutdown. So, you know, we're going to send -- we're going to send a CR over there, which, you know, I hate CRs, I can't stand them, but we need to get back to regular order. But we do need the Senate to play ball. I know the House is going to vote on a CR, but it's going to have fully funding of the military, which obviously is very important to me and to many others out there.

But, yes, we need the Senate to play ball. We need them to step up and do their job.

CAMEROTA: And just to remind people, you are an Iraq War veteran, former Navy SEAL. So, of course, military funding is very important to you, as it is to so many millions of Americans. But that's the sticking point, right? That's what the Senate wants to strip out.

TAYLOR: Yes, I mean, you know, that's -- they keep doing that. But, again, you know, I think the American people need to contact their senators, of course, and make sure that defense is fully funded to protect us, to fund those folks as men and women in uniform overseas right now fighting are for us.

CAMEROTA: Right, but why is the Senate -- why is that a sticking point for the Senate? I mean why does this all hinge on the military funding?

TAYLOR: I don't know. I mean why -- why is -- why do we have 400 and some bills sitting in the Senate right now, 200 and some of which were unanimous and bipartisan and they just haven't taken up? I don't know. You know that -- we need a little bit of butt kicking over there to get something done.

But, you know, the military, we have -- we have to deal with it. You know, Secretary Mattis has been very clear about the military funding and how it's hurting our maintenance, readiness, training, extending deployment cycles, which hurts our military families. So, you know, our basic duty is to protect the American people here and abroad. So, you know, the Senate needs to get off their butts and get some stuff done.

CAMEROTA: But, I mean, given that that's the sticking point, why are you optimistic that we shouldn't reset our countdown clock right now for Thursday at midnight?

TAYLOR: Because I -- because, you know, look at the last shutdown, which was, you know, shut down over an issue that wasn't even -- had anything to do with the funding of the American government. So I -- you know, I think that -- I think that Senate Democrats, for example, got burned the last shutdown. So I don't think it's in their mind that they want to have a government shutdown. And same thing with Senate Republicans. I mean, look, it's important not to have that to show that we can govern. And I think ultimately cooler heads will prevail and people will come together.

CAMEROTA: OK, next topic. Because you are a veteran, I want to ask you, is not applauding for a president at the State of the Union Address treason?

TAYLOR: Of course not. Some would say that's pretty American, actually. No, it's not. You know, like, I was there, of course. I thought, you know, the president did a great job in the State of the Union. You know, I looked over at the Dems. I saw some things that I thought were petty. You know, the one congressman got up and left. I think that's disrespectful. So --

[08:35:15] CAMEROTA: Well, just -- and just to be clear, because I've now -- because we had Chris Collins on who brought that up and I just want to be clear.

TAYLOR: Sure.

CAMEROTA: He had made a commitment, we're told, to do a TV interview with Univision, so it wasn't a protest walkout, it was a commitment that he was trying to keep. So, continue.

TAYLOR: OK. That's his story. No problem.

But I saw some things that I thought were petty. But, you know, not to applaud, of course it's not treasonous.

CAMEROTA: So, when the president says this -- let me get your take on this. Listen to this -- hold on. All right, I --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Even on positive news, really positive news like that, they were like death and un-American, un-American. Somebody said treasonous. I mean, yes, I guess, why not? Can we call that treason? Why not? I mean they certainly didn't seem to love our country very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Are you comfortable with that language?

TAYLOR: You know, I know he's at a political rally, and, you know, I don't think -- obviously he shouldn't be saying that. And -- but I'll let the White House -- they can -- they can -- they can defend or speak to that, you know, I won't. I don't think it's treasonous.

CAMEROTA: I know. I hear you. I mean I understand. And you always, I think, thread this needle really deftly. But, you know, as a veteran, some people have suggested that it's dangerous for a sitting U.S. president to say that people who disagree with him are committing treason.

TAYLOR: It can be. You know, words matter. There's no question about that.

You know, again, it was a political thing. It looked -- seemed kind of flippant and jokingly which, you know, is certainly not funny. But the -- yes, I mean, words do matter. And it is important to temper our tone and what we say.

But, you know, as I said, you know, I think some things were a little bit disrespectful and petty, but certainly not treasonous. And, like I said, some people would say that's pretty American not to -- not to clap on something that you don't agree with.

CAMEROTA: Do you ever hear from the White House when you say something that is off message of what the president would like his supporters to say?

TAYLOR: No.

CAMEROTA: And do you ever share with the White House your feelings about when the president's language goes too far?

TAYLOR: No. I mean, you know, I don't really have the opportunity to do so, so, no.

CAMEROTA: About this memo, the -- as you know, the president -- it's sitting on the president's desk. It's the Democratic rebuttal to the Nunes memo. Do you think that that should come out?

TAYLOR: Sure. Look, you know, I think -- I think -- I'm for transparency. You know, you have a lot of Americans, millions of Americans, who are very uncomfortable with this -- with this FISA warrant, with how it gets done, may not understand some of the -- some of the issues with it. But, you know, there are people who are very uncomfortable with it, myself included. I mean that's a lot of power given to an agency.

So my point in saying that is, it needs oversight. And that's our job. And some people may not like the political process. And I don't either. I don't -- you know, I think Rep. Schiff has been on your show and, you know, 200 other ones creating this narrative for the last year, which is very political. And when you see his memo, you'll see which memo is political and which one isn't. I mean the first paragraph in his memo is political and it just goes on to be like that.

CAMEROTA: Yes, but don't you -- but -- so are you saying the Nunes memo is not political?

TAYLOR: I think that the Nunes -- Nunes -- I read both of them. And I think that they were careful not to be political, be to try to be, hey, this is -- this is who it was, this is what happened, all that stuff. And you could argue on both sides and say it's political or it's not, whatever. My interest is transparency. And you should want that as a journalist, of course, you know, to -- for the American people to see that.

CAMEROTA: For sure.

TAYLOR: There are a lot of folks on both sides who have an issue with this.

Look, I -- you know, I have great respect for the FBI. I have many friends of mine who I served with who are in there, who are great. But I have big problems with some of the actions of some of the senior leadership, and I think a lot of the American public does, too. And it's important for us to have oversight to -- and it's our job. It's our constitutional job in Congress to have that oversight.

But, yes, put his memo out. Absolutely. I think it's -- I think it's important to see both sides. Sure. Send it out.

CAMEROTA: Congressman Scott Taylor, we appreciate you being on NEW DAY. Thank you so much.

TAYLOR: Any time. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: John.

BERMAN: All right, thanks, Alisyn.

All eyes on Wall Street. Will there be another big day of losses? We have a live report from the New York Stock Exchange, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:43:35] BERMAN: U.S. markets set to open in a little bit less than an hour. This after the Dow's worst day since 2011. Dow futures right now pointing to losses at the opening. Let's get right down to the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

CNN's Alison Kosik is there.

Alison, what are you seeing, what are you hearing?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: John, this could be day three of big, big losses after that tsunami of a sell-off yesterday. It looks like big losses for the opening bell in about an hour. An hour to go. It looks like the Dow will open down maybe 600 points. If it does, that means the Dow will be in a correction. And traders that I've been talking to here at the New York Stock Exchange, as they prepare for the day ahead, they say they're not sure if the losses would even stop there.

What triggered all this? Friday, inside the jobs report, was -- what -- we learned about wages. Wage growth grew at its fastest pace in years. And for American workers, John, that's great news. But for Wall Street, it's not so great news because they see a big, red sign calling out inflation. And inflation could mean that the Fed could be more aggressive in raising interest rates this year, which could make borrowing money more expensive and, of course, inflation could raise the prices of goods and services where you see consumers start to pull back in how much they spend. So you see this sort of domino effect happening. You see that nervousness in the market. Look at the faces of these traders, they're nervous ahead of these markets. They really don't know what to expect today, John.

CAMEROTA: OK, Alison, I'll take it. Thank you very much. Stand by. We will check back with you throughout the morning.

[08:45:02] So, an undocumented immigrant arrested after a deadly crash that left an NFL player dead. Now the president is tweeting about this case. What he's saying. We have all of that in "The Bottom Line" for you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: The opening bell on Wall Street rings in less than an hour. Things not looking so good right now. Take a look at that, Dow futures down more than 200 points, 216 points right now. It's been going up and down all morning long.

Now, since the election, President Trump has repeatedly taken credit for the market's success. Will he own the big losses?

Let's get "The Bottom Line" with CNN political director David Chalian.

David, I keep looking down at my Twitter for that note from the president saying, hey, how come the media's not reporting the market is down 2,000 points in the last few days.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Right. I don't think you'll see that note any time soon, John.

I mean, obviously, we are seeing the very reason why Donald Trump's predecessors of both parties tended to stay away from talking about the fluctuations in the market because the moment you take credit for the gains, you know that you're going to get some loss -- some blame for the losses.

[08:50:14] But, here's the thing. Donald Trump also has a unique ability to completely ignore what he has said in the past. And so I don't anticipate him getting somewhat tripped up by the fact that he touted gains in the past and now the market is -- is going down. It's obviously not good optics for him to be out there speaking while the numbers on the screen are going down. But I don't expect him to be all that embarrassed that he touted the gains when the market was on fire.

CAMEROTA: That split screen was interesting. Obviously where he was touting it and you can see the decline happening.

But, look, what the president I think would say is that the market has had all of these record highs on his watch over the past year, you know, constantly breaking records and that it's consumer confidence that he takes credit for. And so -- now that hasn't changed necessarily today.

CHALIAN: Right. Yes. And wage increase. I mean, remember, Donald Trump tapped into a populous thing to get to the Oval Office and it would make sense, and you hear the White House aides sort of striking this note in their comments, Alisyn, that, you know, that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. I think that it would not surprise me if Donald Trump sort of came out and said the wage increases that we're seeing, that's what I'm fighting for, the little guy, not for Wall Street executives.

BERMAN: No, although he specifically was going around the country telling people to look in their 401(k)s for the last year.

CHALIAN: Yes, he was.

BERMAN: But, as you say, I would not expect him, you know, to hold himself to account for his past statement.

David Chalian, instead of tweeting about the market losses this morning, the president is commenting extensively about the case of an undocumented immigrant who may be connected to a vehicular homicide out in Indianapolis. Let me read you what he has written this morning.

So disgraceful that a person illegally in our country killed Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson. This is just one of many such preventable tragedies. We must get the Dems to get tough on the border and with illegal immigrants fast. And then he says, my prayers and best wishes are with the family of Edwin Jackson, a wonderful young man whose life was so senselessly taken. Hash tag colts, right there.

You know, David Chalian, this has to do with a football player who was killed by a drunk driver. That driver apparently an undocumented immigrant. Again, not surprising the president trying to use this for political capital.

CHALIAN: Not surprising at all. In fact, I -- the only surprise here is that it took him a day to comment on it. When we saw reports come out yesterday that the driver was an undocumented immigrant, you could just tell that this was going to -- from a -- apart from the personal tragedy, of course, to the family, from a -- from a political messaging perspective, that this would fit right in his wheelhouse. And, as you know, the president is convening a meeting today about immigration, MS-13. This is something, of course, he's mentioned for quite a while on the campaign trail, as well as in the State of the Union Address. And so he's going to continue to hit the message today of being tough on illegal immigration and pointing, of course -- painting a picture of only one kind of illegal immigration, when bad actors are illegal immigrants. You know, that's what -- that's the image of illegal immigration that he likes to leave in Americans' minds.

CAMEROTA: Yes. But, listen, David, this is a sickening case. This guy was deported twice.

CHALIAN: No. Not -- yes.

CAMEROTA: In 2007 and 2009. He has been previously convicted of driving under the influence. I mean this is -- this is Exhibit A of how -- part of how Donald Trump was able to win, because he talked about this. This is infuriating to Americans, that people are here. He -- as you know, the Kate Steinle case in San Francisco --

CHALIAN: Exactly.

CAMEROTA: Which was so -- also, you know, despicable for so many people.

But the problem with him talking about it now, I think, is that he's been president for a year and we've seen him deport people who, you know, are doctors. I mean you know these cases. We've interviewed some of them here. So he said he was going to go after these exact guys, the hardened criminals first, but that's not what's happening with deportations and that's why it's sort of, you know, causing a dissonance on some of this.

CHALIAN: Yes, and you're absolutely right, Americans -- not only do they not like the idea of, you know, people coming in to this country, not following the rules, and coming in illegally. But as any president constantly says, as any president says, there's no duty more important to a president than keeping Americans safe. That did not happen here potentially because of this repeat offender, this -- of an illegal immigrant. You're absolutely right to note that. It is a textbook case for that.

But you note, Alisyn, just how complicated this is. It makes me think of the president's comments on health care, right? Who knew it could be so complicated to figure out the right solutions to solve these kinds of problems.

CAMEROTA: Right. I mean this is exactly the type of guy that he featured that should be deported and stay out, get out and stay out before something like this happens. But, instead, that's not who's being deported right now. BERMAN: David Chalian, a quick take on the news overnight from "The

New York Times," which really follows the CNN story from last week, that the president's lawyers are suggesting he will not speak to the investigators for Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team. CNN last week reported that they don't -- that special counsel hadn't met the standard for him to testify. How does this play out over the coming week?

[08:55:13] CHALIAN: It's a really good question, John.

First and foremost, I'm curious, how does it play out in the president's mind? How does he sort of react to the notion that his lawyers don't seem to trust him to speak in an effective way with Mueller and his team. But I think that it seems we're shaping up here

for what could be a legal battle over this and, you know, go back to Nixon, go back to Clinton and look at the examples. But I think the country's in for another lesson that courts are going to have to weigh in on about this kind of constitutional issue.

BERMAN: It's a legal battle. They've already been fighting the political battle over this, though, for some time.

CHALIAN: That's right.

BERMAN: And that's where I think where the memo and other things factor into the whole thing.

CAMEROTA: David Chalian, thank you very much for "The Bottom Line."

CHALIAN: Thanks, guys.

BERMAN: All right, a lot more going on, including the market opening in just a little bit. CNN "NEWSROOM" picks up right after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Erica Hill, in for John Berman and Poppy Harlow.

Breaking news as we are just 30 minutes now from the opening bell. This after the biggest ever single-day point drop in the Dow. Futures pointing to what could be another wild day.

[09:00:01] Here to talk us through it all, CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans. Also with us, CNN political analyst Eliana Johnson.

Christine, as we look at this, there is a lot of concern. We are 30 minutes out. Futures were really trending rather low, to put it mildly.