Transcripts For CNNW New Day With Alisyn Camerota And John B

CNNW New Day With Alisyn Camerota And John Berman June 26, 2019

This is something he active ly. Mueller has agreed to appear before two house committees in public on tv to testify about the russia investigation. Mark your calendars. Democrats say their questions will go beyond what is in the Mueller Report even though mueller has already said he will only discuss what was already public. Overnight the president issued a new salvo about this move. Also developing this morning, the house voting to approve 4. 5 billion in aid for the humanitarian crisis at the southern border late last night. And then theres this heart wrenching photograph that underscores the human toll. A salvadorian father and daughter drowned in the rio grande while attempting to reach texas. Lets just start with the picture of the baby. Maggie, i assume that when we hear from the president he will Say Something like this is a tragedy but we warned people. This is what happens when you risk taking your 2yearold to the United States outside of the legal system. Right. I think you will hear something along those lines. And i think that it is important to bear in mind that what took place as we understand it with this case and the picture is horrific is this was a family that was part of the metering system that the administration is doing in terms of asylum claims. Which is trying to deter legal immigration. We talk a lot about illegal immigration. This is the legal asylum system the white house is trying to push back. This family got frustrated. They had a twomonth wait on the other side. At least. Theyre not guaranteed a date, not guaranteed when theyre going to have access or meeting or anything. Its not as if they were waiting a day. They were waiting for awhile. It was blisteringly hot. They grew frantic, it sounds like, and tried to get across another way. I do think youre going to hear the president essentially this is not his fault. That there has been warning to other people not to do this. He is very triggered by images. And i think that other people will be very triggered by what is an awful, awful, awful picture. So its possible he will have a different response. What you described is certainly what his Immediate Response will be. He get this power of images. If you look at the past of what has triggered change or movement in this immigration discussion or debate, it has been things like this. I do wonder if inside the white house this would be a struggle for them. Its not lost on them there are these reports about the horrific conditions children are in in these migrant centers. And that they are overcrowded. They are at capacity. So this is a discussion theyre already aware of. That the conversation is getting away from them and it is threatening to overwhelm them when they are trying to argue that they are making changes for a better system. Again, i it is the situation at the border is such a problem right now, its not an easy fix. Right now the administration is involved in this game of thrones of changing people at dhs. And yet jeffrey, i think the administration would argue this is not what the asylum system was set up for. The grandmother of the little girl who was killed, the mother of the dad who was killed said that they were poor. And they were coming for economic opportunity. They were coming for the American Dream. She didnt cite violence. This is not what the asylum system was set up for i think the administration will say and we cannot open our doors to anyone who is poor and wants the American Dream like once my great grandparents did. Times have changed. I think the other thing that is likely particularly from the president in response to this is simply to lie and say it was the democrats fault in entirely. That the situation was worse under president obama. All of which he has said and all of which is false. But, you know, this is the president s reaction to particular situation. To push it off on democrats, on previous democratic president s. And i think that is going to be an essential part of the response as well. Lets put the picture back on the screens. Its oscar and valeria martinez. She was 23 months old. You can see the father who tried to put the tshirt over his daughter to protect her. Her arm is around his neck and theyre dead this morning. Whatever the policy discussion is, they were trying to get into the United States. They died a few feet from the bord border. The question for everyone this morning is how to keep this from happening. How do you protect 23monthold children who are feet away from the United States . Were going to talk much more about this also as the morning continues. Meanwhile, the breaking news. Robert muellers going to testify. Robert mueller will talk before congress on july 17th. It took a subpoena to get him there, jeffrey. But hes coming. Now, i want to remind you what Robert Mueller told us he will not say before congress. Listen. There has been discussion about an appearance before congress. Any testimony from this office would not go beyond our report. And the report is my testimony. I would not provide information beyond that which is already public in any appearance before congress. So jeffrey, what will we see july 17th from Robert Mueller . Well, there are a lot of questions for him to answer. And a lot, i think, that he can answer. That relate to policy issues as well as specific evidentiary findings. Why didnt he subpoena the president . Why didnt he make specific recommendations about whether the president actually committed a crime . He dealt with those issues in the report, but it takes some elaboration. And i think frankly it was rather presumptuous of mueller to say read my report, it has all the answers. It doesnt have all the answers. And it you know, like any other citizen, he is subject to a congressional subpoena and oversight. And i think this is very appropriate. I doubt its going to have an earthquake effect on political opinion in this country because knowing has changed in two and a half years in terms of peoples opinions. But this is an important moment and i think director mueller was right to finally agree to testify. As john avalon said in the last hour, if something new is revealed. If mueller says something thats not in the report. If they are able to crack his facade and get him to say some of the thinking behind this and some of the evidence in all of that. I dont know why thats the standard though. Given so few americans have actually read the report, we talk about animating the report. Whats more animating than the guy behind there sitting in public . A hollywood show where they tried to animate it yesterday and also didnt move the needle. But i assume the white house has been expecting this, right . They anticipate it that at some point they would subpoena mueller. The white house was not happy about this. By mueller agreeing to the subpoena which is different than how the white house has responded to these congressional subpoenas which is to act as if they dont exist or that they have no legal authority. I am with jeffrey that i dont think mueller has answered all questions. The big one is why they didnt subpoena the president. Weve all been wondering that, those of us who have covered this for the last two and a half, two years. It isnt going to be what the democrats are hoping it is going to be. It is a witness for them to put in a chair. I mean, basically they are holding these sort of pieces of open show to your point about a performance. The white house has been very effective and its not praising them but its just acknowledging what it is. Denying them these witnesses. And so mueller is the first one who really is coming in. Hope hicks was closed door testimony and limited. They released it later. Its not clear whats going to hatch with don mcgahn and members of the white house. Mueller is the first animated face you can see about this. The president s lawyers have said for awhile that theyre not convinced that mueller is actually going to do as well under questioning from republicans. As the democrats think he will. I dont know whether thats true or not. But it is something to consider. I will say, the president s personal lawyer and his statement in response to this last night made sure to point out that mueller will face tough questions from the republicans on the genesis of the investigation. He will. Look at michael cohen. Look at when he testified in a public setting. Look at the questions he faced from democrats versus the questions from republicans. I suspect youll see something similar about mueller just given how partisan the lines have been drawn on this. What happens when that moment happens . When they go outside of the report and they ask him about the Text Messages between strzok and paige . And when they ask him about things when republicans challenge him, what does mueller do at that point . I think hes going to have to answer those questions. He will point out, for example, when the peter strzok Text Messages came out, he took peter strzok the fbi agent off the investigation. I mean, he took action. That is something that he will be asked to discuss and its appropriate for republicans to ask about that. They will ask about the Campaign Contributions of the various lawyer who is were on the investigation. He will have to answer about that. He will say i am sure that it is both inappropriate and even illegal to look into the Campaign Contributions of people. He will have answers about theess subjects. But the republicans i think quite appropriately will have tough questions for him. This is hes a very important person. He should testify before congress. These are questions that legitimately need answers. Simple questions that arent long, by the way. And i hope members of congress get this point. They could say what did you mean when you said x. In this case, what did you mean when you said its left to another part of the government to look into this. What did you mean when you said the Justice Department guidelines prevent x, y, and x . What are your views on whether or not a president can obstruct justice . All of these questions, you would think, because its not spelled out in great detail in the report he could answer. As maggie said, the democrats have been trying to get don mcgahn the former white House Counsel to testify. They can ask mueller about mcgahns testimony. They could say do you think don mcgahn was credible . What did don mcgahn say . Its a very different thing to have a witness Say Something on, you know, television and video and the internet than to visit buried in a 450page report. These are the questions that are appropriate. They are politically important. They are legally important. And thats why he should be a witness. All right. Jeffrey, maggie, thank you both very much. So for democrats, what is the one thing you would want to know from robert moomueller . What is that one question youd want to ask . Were going get fresh reaction next. Is that net carbs or total . Eh, not enough fiber. Chocolate would be good. Snacking should be sweet and simple. The delicious taste of glucerna gives you the sweetness you crave while helping you manage your blood sugar. Glucerna. Everyday progress you know those butterflies arent actually in the room . Hey, that baker ladys on tv again. Shes not a baker. She wears that apron to sell insurance. Nobody knows why. Shes the progressive insurance lady. 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He doesnt know our phone number you have our fax number, obviously. Todays xfinity service. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Ill pass. The breaking news this morning, Robert Mueller will testify. Backtoback hearings on july 17th in public on tv. So what did democrats hope to get from him . Joining me now is chris coons. Hes a member of the Senate Judiciary and Foreign Relations committee. Thank you so much for being with us. You dont get to ask the questions on july 17th. But if you did, what is the one thing you would want to know from robert moouler . Id want to know from Robert Mueller his view on whether or not the president obstructed justice and whether or not in his opinion the president could and should be prosecuted after he leafs office. And when he says to you, im not going to tell you that. Im only going with the words in the Mueller Report, how would you follow up . Id ask a lot of questions that led to his reviewing whats already in that report. One of the challenges here, john, is that i think Robert Mueller counted on the American People to read at least the summaries of his report. I think when you read them, it is striking. Its fairly alarming that the president and his inner circle clear lly in at least a half don occasions engaged in obstruction of justice. And in the first volume of his report, he laid out in great detail the way in which russia interfered in our last election. The lack of concrete action here to make sure weve secured our next election, ways in which the majority leader has blocked bipartisan bills that would strengthen our election machinery and the ability of our community to communicate and coordinate with local elections officials. I think would be concerning and alarming. And my hope is many more people would focus, would tune into that hearing than frankly have read the Mueller Report. If you will, id like to talk about other breaking news this morning. Theres this image that i think should weigh on the conscience of all of us. All americans. It shows a father Oscar Ramirez and his daughter valeria. Shes 23 months old. And they died within feet of the u. S. Border trying to get to the United States to seek asylum. You know, you are a father. Ive heard you talk about your kids. Youre also a man of deep faith. Are we doing enough . Is washington doing enough to protect and care for the people trying to get into this country . No, were not, john. Any parent who sees that image has got to be profoundly disturbed. After the second world war, the United States reflected on the ways in which we refused to accept refugees fleeing nazi germany. An entire ship full of youish citizens of germany were denied the opportunity to enter the United States. They floated off the east coast for months and months. Then ultimately were forced to return to germany where many were killed. Its because of that incident we changed our laws to make it possible for people fleeing violence and persecution to come here and seek asylum. We should reflect on that history again today. There are thousands of people fleeing the violence and chaos of three countries in central america. President trumps budget and his administrative actions freezes and cuts the assistance to those three countries to help them stabilize, to help them combat drug trafficking. When ive met with leaders from those countries, they remind me it is our appetite for drugs that is largely driving the violence and chaos in those countries. They welcome our assistance. And i think we should be providing humanitarian assistance at the border for those seeking refuge here and we should be working together to try and stabilize those three countries so fewer parents take this desperately dangerous journey and risk their lives in trying to reach america. The president of the United States right now engaged in an intense back and forth, rhetorical back and forth with iran. The president suggested yesterday that iran could face obliteration is the word he used. Then he was asked about perhaps a longer term strategy if there is conflict. Listen to this. Do you have an exit strategy for iran if war does break out . Youre not going to need an exit strategy. I dont need exit strategies. Does the United States need exit strategies, senator . Of course we do, john. And for anyone who knows the history of the conflict in iraq, that is a chilling statement of either indifference or callous hadness that a war with iran would end up being a long, expensive, and painful quad mire. We charged into iraq without a real plan for what would happen if several months later the iraqi people did not rise up as one, embrace us as liberators and become a model democracy. And in fact, it became a long and grinding and brutal conflict. We did not have an exit strategy for that war. And it concerns me that our president doesnt think he needs one. He also doesnt think he needs your approval to begin a military conflict. Does the senate need to weigh in here . We do. We are having a vigorous debate today about whether or not we are going to proceed to an important annual bill called the National Defense authorization act. And whether or not were going to get a vote on an amendment that would require the president to seek congressional approval before starting a war with iran. Of course the president can act to defend american troop ifs attacked, but i think its important that we get every senator on record on whether or not theyre satisfied that President Trump has a clear strategy, has a compelling interest. And exit strategy for a potential conflict with iran. First democratic president ial debates begin tonight. Youre patient zero when it comes to support for joe biden. One ofr his original and

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