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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump Pushes "Down Payment" For Wall; Pelosi: Not Reasonable; Trump Pushes "Prorated Down Payment" For Border Wall As Lawmakers Discuss Bipartisan Plan To End Shutdown; CNN Exclusive: White House Preparing Draft National Emergency Order For Border Wall; Identifies $7B From Treasury, Military, DHS To Fund It; Trump Now Pushing For "Large Down Payment" For His Border Wall In Exchange For Ending The Shutdown; Commerce Secretary: Unpaid Federal Workers Should Just Get Loans; Trump: "Perhaps He Should Have Said It Differently"; Trump Admin Downplays Federal Workers Struggling Amid Shutdown; Conservative Slam President Trump For Caving To Pelosi; Cohen's Lawyer Says He'll Comply With Senate Intel Subpoena; House Dems Investigate Deutsch Bank's Ties to Trump; Interview with Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. Aired on 7-8p ET
Aired January 24, 2019 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LAWRENCE WRIGHT, AUTHOR: ... by studying twins can we unsolve that or can we solve that riddle.
WOLF BLITZER, ANCHOR, CNN: Thanks for helping us appreciate it, Lawrence Wright. Thanks so much for joining us. The original film Three Identical Strangers airs this Sunday night, 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. Erin Burnett OutFront starts right now.
ERIN BURNETT, ANCHOR, CNN: OutFront next breaking news. The President tonight asking for a large down payment on his wall in exchange for ending the shutdown. Isn't that what he's been asking for the whole time? This is CNN learns exclusively, the White House is preparing a draft national emergency order. Also out of touch, the Commerce Secretary setting off a fire storm with his comments about federal workers and you'll hear President Trump's defense of them. Plus, Deutsche Bank now cooperating with House investigators on its ties with the Trump, let's go OutFront.
And good evening, I'm Erin Burnett. OutFront tonight, the breaking news stay tuned, that is what the House Speaker is saying at this moment, after two big failures in the Senate today. And the President throwing out his latest catchphrase.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One of the ideas suggested is they open it, they pay it sort of a prorated down payment for the wall which I think people would agree that you need. You need the wall ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Prorated down payment for the wall. What is that? I mean there is no definition to that. The $5.7 billion that President has said is do or die for him, by the way, is already a small down payment for a wall that Trump's own government says will cost $25 billion or more. So when he says a large down payment, what's he talking about part of the 5.7 with an agreement to get there or what? And Nancy Pelosi tonight responding to this idea of a down payment by saying, "That's not reasonable." In other words non-starter.
The President in terms of his threats could be back to square one, threatening alternatives like declaring a national emergency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We have a lot of alternatives. We have a lot of alternatives. We have a lot of people who want this to happen. We have a lot of alternatives. I have other alternatives if I have those and I'll use those alternatives if I have to, but we want to go through the system but we have a lot of alternatives ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It couldn't be more clear, right, a lot of alternatives and if you don't go through the system we're talking then about executive order's national emergency and we have exclusive reporting from CNN at this hour. The White House is preparing a draft proclamation for President Trump to declare a national emergency along the Southern Border. Source is telling us the administration has found more than the $5.7 billion Trump asked for. He asked 5.7, right, he wasn't getting that. Administration apparently we are reporting has found $7 billion that could be used in the event of such a declaration and our Dana Bask is reporting that when the President keep saying, "I've got other alternatives," he is actively considering executive action to build the wall, because simply the truth is this, he has not budged on this promise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We have to have a wall in order to have borders security. You cannot have border security without a wall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The big question tonight though remains at what price and I'm not talking about dollars, okay? Tonight, the former Homeland Security officials, including Trump's own former Chief of Staff, John Kelly, are warning about a "security crisis" that is having detrimental effect on America's ability to respond to acts of terror. We're at 34 days on a shutdown, that could be a matter of life and death. When it comes to the ultimate price of the shutdown the White House today did not have answers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST, NPR: If a plane crashes and people are killed because of this shutdown, is the wall worth that?
MERCEDES SCHLAPP, AMERICAN COLUMNIST: Well, I will say that at this point what the President and the Speaker - what the President wants to do is have the Democrats come to the table. The Democrats keep delaying the process ...
INSKEEP: Is a plane crash - the President is the one who's making a demand, is the wall worth people getting killed?
SCHLAPP: No. No. The demand is - the Democrat's demand is not going to work.
INSKEEP: If the shutdown leads to a terror attack that gets Americans killed, is the wall worth that, yes or no?
SCHLAPP: Again, I'm going to say that the Democrats need to come to the table.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Abby Phillip is OutFront live at the White House. Abby, does the President have a real idea, I mean, this whole of a large down payment and other alternatives of what he really wants right now?
ABBY PHILLIP, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN: It's not clear that the White House has really nailed down what his bottom line is or if they do know what it is, they're really telling anyone including Republicans on Capitol Hill who are eager to know how this all ends. What we're seeing from the White House today is them saying really for the first time that they might be willing to open the government for a short period of time. The price though is going to be some amount of money that they have not specified, that we believe is a portion of the $5.7 billion that the President has asked for, for border wall.
[19:04:59]
Now, when Sarah Sanders released a statement today, she actually released two statements. The first one said a down payment on the wall. The second one said a large down payment on the wall. So you see here the White House trying to kind of inch up in terms of how large this down payment ought to be, but they have not been specific about what that means. So the President added this idea of it being prorated which also doesn't really have any sort of meaning here in Washington in terms of appropriations.
I think that it's going to be a matter of what they can work out in that room. One key development has been that the White House is allowing Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, and Chuck Schumer to work out some kind of negotiation. And the President said today at the White House that if they work something out, and it has some money for the wall he'd be willing to support it. Can they take him at his word on that is anyone's guess given how these negotiations have gone in the past, Erin.
BURNETT: All right, of course, obviously it empowered Mike Pence to do a deal, deal was done, Senate voted and then he said no, so it is unclear. All right, thank you very much, Abby. And, look passions are running high on the Senate floor over the shutdown and today Democratic Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado said this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL BENNET, FINANCE COMMITTEE: This idea that he was going to build a medieval wall across the southern border of Texas, take it from the farmers, and ranchers that were there, and have the Mexican statehood isn't true. That's we're here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Senator Bennet is OutFront. He's a member of the Finance Committee. Senator, I appreciate your time. I mean, I'm trying to understand what we're actually talking about here because two measures failed in the Senate, right, the White House says there's no deal unless there's a large down payment that was as you heard Abby say, after they had said a down payment and then it's a prorated down payment. Will you vote for that, some sort of a down payment?
BENNET: We'll have to see what it is, but your point about what are we talking about here I think is exactly the right point. We have been consumed with this broken campaign promise the President made for 34 days. I'm not saying we politicians, we the great country of America have seemed to have concluded that this is the single most important issue that we could be working on, not figuring out how to get millions of people healthcare, not figuring out how to educate children in my old school district, not figuring out what we're going to do to build infrastructure. We can't even keep the lights on around this place, much less focus on the things that we actually should be focused on and that is what stresses me about this.
I mean I assume people are going to come to some conclusion here that will maybe temporarily that in itself is ridiculous, but temporarily keep things open. That's better than having them closed. But at a certain point we actually need to govern the country again and it's been a long time since we've been able to do that.
BURNETT: Well, to your point, it has completely taken over and that's - look at the signature campaign promise as you say. I guess what I'm trying to understand though is when he comes out there today, 34 days in, and he starts talking about prorated down payments, do you even have any idea what he is talking about or is this just like, "Hey, let's just see what sticks."
BENNET: I know. I don't think anybody knows. Look, it's my view, I was on the gang of eight that wrote the immigration bill in the Senate in 2013. We passed it here with 68 votes. It had a massive amount of border security in it, $46 billion worth. I was part of the gang of six that tried to put a deal together with the White House on the Dreamers and authorized money for the wall, which provoked the President to then refer to African countries the way he referred to African countries.
So I actually think, look, I hope we solve this. We need to solve this, but I do think with respect to the wall it's as likely that the President wants the issue of the wall to campaign on then he does the accountability of actually having to build anything down there. I mean he hasn't built anything, right? BURNETT: Right, and then show that it stops things from happening
that he says it will, right, when that's how drugs come in, et cetera, right? He's going to have to be accountable.
BENNET: Yes, right. And so if he can - by the way, he should be accountable on the truth of the matter with respect to what's coming across our border - in our border, but that's a whole other thing. On this, I think it's likely that he'll end up declaring an emergency and it's likely that he'll get sued and it's likely that he'll be able to run for re-election saying, "We still need the wall. They wouldn't let me build the wall." That's what I - if I had to guess, if there is any strategy at the White House, I would guess that that's the strategy.
BURNETT: I'm interested though what you just said, Senator, that it's likely he declares an emergency. I mean, he said today, right, "I have other alternatives. I'll use those alternatives if I have to." I don't know if you just heard the reporting there that we have that they're preparing this draft for a national emergency, which would have $7 billion for the wall more than what he asked for.
[19:10:03]
So I don't know if you interpret that as a threat of, "Hey, look, if you don't give me 5.7, I have seven that I found that I'm going to take from other things." But is that what you think it is, a threat and you think that his likely path as the emergency route?
BENNET: Yes. I mean I think it could be a threat and I think it's a likely path. I also think that it's ridiculous that we're even having this conversation, because they haven't spent the money that's been appropriated for the wall. There was $1.6 billion that hasn't yet been spent building any of the wall. And you know the other thing, Erin, that is just so striking about this debate is that we have a President threatening to declare an emergency, to build a wall at the border and to take the land of American citizens by eminent domain to build that wall. I can tell you if a President of United States suggested he was going to do that for the State of Colorado, there is not a single elected politician in the state who would say, "That sounds like a good idea."
BURNETT: You brought that up today, right, I played a clip of your passionate speech on the floor, but you brought up eminent domain, because the whole thing was prompted by Ted Cruz who came before you. He led the shutdown in 2013, at that time your state was in the midst of floods, you stood up and said that Cruz's shutdown led to people being killed, houses being destroyed and small businesses ruined forever. That shutdown was 16 days, we're at day 34.
John Kelly and others have warned that we could have a major security crisis in this country because of where we are right now that people could die. You heard Mercedes Schlapp did not answer that when Steve Inskeep asked her about it directly this morning. How real are the risks right now and I'm talking about the price that matters, people?
BENNET: Well, first of all I want to be clear that I said the flood had killed people in Colorado. I didn't say that Cruz's shutdown had killed people, but my point was that it was outrageous when we were flat on our back in the flood, everybody is trying to do everything they can to rescue each other in their communities that he would be on the floor of the Senate shutting it down and reading green eggs and ham or whatever it was.
I mean that's not the way this all is supposed to work and you are absolutely correct that it creates huge vulnerabilities for us when the government is shutdown and federal employees can't be at their jobs, can't be at their stations, can't be at their desks to say nothing of what happens to them when they can't get paid. Anybody who's been in an airport in the last week knows what kind of stress people are under as a result of the shutdown.
BURNETT: All right, Senator, I appreciate your time. Thank you.
BENNET: Thank you. Thanks for letting me come on.
BURNETT: And next, the Trump administration showing little sympathy for the 800,000 Americans out of work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN, ANCHOR, CNBC: There reports that there are some federal workers who are going to homeless shelters to get food.
WILBUR ROSS, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF COMMERCE: Well, I know they are and I don't really quite understand why.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And now the President is weighing in. Plus, breaking news, Michael Cohen's attorney saying the President's former fixer will testify. He will speak before the Senate Intelligence Committee. It's a big development tonight. And President Trump's longtime relationship with a bank that allegedly has a history of laundering money for Russia is under new scrutiny tonight.
[19:15:00]
Tonight's quote "work along," Trump repeatedly using those words to try and explain Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross after Ross said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN, ANCHOR, CNBC: There reports that there are some federal workers who are going to homeless shelters to get food.
WILBUR ROSS, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF COMMERCE: Well, I know they are and I don't really quite understand why because as I mentioned before, the obligations that they would undertake say a borrowing from a bank or a credit union are in effect federally guaranteed. So the 30 days of pay that some people will be out, there's no real reason why they shouldn't be able to get a loan against it.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: Just imagine, so people are supposed to go to the bank and
do that and figure all that out whatever that is. When asked about Ross, here's how President Trump responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I haven't heard the statement, but I do understand and perhaps you should have said it differently, local people know who they are when they go for groceries and everything else. And I think what Wilbur is probably trying to say is that they will work along. I know banks are working along, if you have mortgages, the mortgagees, the mortgage the folks collecting the interest and all of those things, they work along, and that's what happens in time like this. They know the people. They've been dealing with them for years and they work along. The grocery store - and I think that's probably what Wilbur Ross meant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Okay. Steve Cortes is with me now, a member of President Trump's 2020 Re-Elect Advisory Council and Jen Psaki former White House Communications Director under President Obama. Jen, I want to start with Wilbur Ross, after he said, "I don't understand why they would because -" whatever, you're supposed to get some kind of a guarantee against your pay and go to some big bank and everything is going to be fine. Obviously, there was uproar over. Ross then went back and did another interview trying to say he understands that people "experiencing hardship." He was just trying to make sure they're aware of other things that they could do. Does this make it all okay?
JEN PSAKI, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA: I mean, Erin, look, I think this is a stunning lack of connection with what 800,000 federal workers are going through right now, but it's not just them. There are American families, millions of them, who are living paycheck to paycheck who don't know how they're going to pay for their next set of groceries. And the problem is this is not just Wilbur Ross, this is a pattern.
We saw comments by Lara Trump. We saw comments by Larry Kudlow, Donald Trump himself thought that you needed an ID at a grocery store several months back. And the issue here over the long-term for them is that, one, people who elected Donald Trump and thought that he was going to be fighting for workers and fighting for families are looking at him and thinking, "Wait a second, you have no idea what I'm going through." And I think that's going to be a lasting issue for them.
BURNETT: I mean, Steve, what Wilbur Ross said today was pretty stunning as if people are just supposed to - and by the way I'm not even sure exactly what he was referring to. The President by the way acting like everybody's dealing with a small local bank that can give them a loan. Frankly it's equally as ridiculous because most people are dealing with big mega banks that may not know any idea of who you are and to think in the midst of this, you're going to go and loan into a bank, and do all of this is at the least out of touch, and at the most quite painful. [19:20:06]
And Jen says, it's not just Ross others in the president's orbit have said this during the shutdown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARA TRUMP, PRESIDENT TRUMP's DAUGHTER-IN-LAW: It's not fair to you and we all get that, but this is so much bigger than any one person. It is a little bit of pain but it's going to be for the future of our country.
KEVIN HASSETT, CHAIRMAN, WHITE HOUSE COUNCEL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: Huge share of government workers were going to take vacation days, say, between Christmas and New Year's. And then, we have a shutdown and so they can't go to work and so then they have the vacation, but they don't have to use their vacation days. And then, they come back and then they get their back pay, then they're in some sense they're better off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Is this part of the problem, Steve?
STEVE CORTES, MEMBER OF PRESIDENT TRUMP'S 2020 RE-ELECT ANDISORY COUNCIL: Look, Erin, I normally strenuously advocate for this administration on your show, but I'll also admit when something is boneheaded and this clearly is. Look, I'm somebody in the business of political messaging and a very good rule of thumb is don't sound like Montgomery Burns from The Simpsons and that really is who Wilbur Ross sounded like today. But look this is a really serious issue, a lot of people are hurting and they're hurting terribly and not a little bit, so we can't try to diminish that.
Now, I would say in defense of the administration, in defense the Republicans, House Republicans voted last week to pay these people. Only six Democrats came over. They said, "We will keep the government shut, non-essential departments are still shut, but paychecks go out." The Democrats were not willing to play ball with that. So there is blame to go around here in terms of getting people paid, but we should never diminish the very real human of pain and this was terrible messaging, this was an unforced error by Wilbur Ross most of all but by other people as well.
BURNETT: Yes, and I think probably what just I want to strike home for this is this is what these people think when they're off the cuff, right? I mean, Jen, that is the truth, right? Wilbur Ross didn't come out to be insensitive, he just is insensitive. He doesn't get it.
PSAKI: Yes. Look, Erin, I think I'm old enough to remember and I certainly wouldn't put him in the same category, but when John McCain couldn't remember how many houses he owned and he was a war hero who was beloved by many, but that sent a message and if you talked to any of his campaign advisers, they'll say that was the beginning of the end for him in his campaign because he was showing he was disconnected. He didn't know what people were dealing with, what it was like to live paycheck to paycheck or not be able to buy diapers, and that's what we're talking about right now with the shutdown.
But we're also talking about that with many families who are living like that even when the government isn't shutdown, who don't work for the government and that's the big problem here because it's just not relating to what many people in the country are dealing with.
CORTES: Okay, now, on that point though ...
BURNETT: Among all of these, Steve, hold on, I want to play something else because I know you thought about this. The President came out and said, "Okay, Nancy Pelosi, I am not going to deliver my State of the Union. You cancelled it, I'm okay with that and in fact I'm not going to fight to do it somewhere else or in some other way. I'm going to wait and I'm going to do it in front of the House Chamber because I want to be respectful to the country and to the venue." All right, very clear. So this is what happens from the right wing of your party, here's Rush Limbaugh.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST: So the news is the President folded and the president caved on the State of the Union. He backed down to Pelosi who refuses to open up the chamber.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Is that helpful? Is Rush Limbaugh doing the right thing?
CORTES: I sure think he is and I would echo Rush Limbaugh. I'm very puzzled by what the President did last night. I don't get it. Look, if Nancy Pelosi wants to pout and be petty and partisan, he should not acquiesce, he shouldn't give in, he has a constitutional responsibility to give the State of the Union. He should give it at the Senate. He should give it somewhere out, in the heartland of this country. He should not do it on her terms. It is not her house. So I think it was a mistake and ...
BURNETT: Well, she's the one with the ability and the right to extend the invitation, so in that sense it is her house.
CORTES: Well, she has a legal right to but we also have America. Our Republic is a lot bigger than Nancy Pelosi and she is bucking a hundred-year tradition, a ritual, a pageant really of our democracy. So if she's going to act that irresponsibly, I don't think the President should then say, "Okay, I'll take my time and wait for you, Nancy." So I think it was a mistake and I think Rush Limbaugh is exactly right.
BURNETT: Jen, what do you say? I mean there's no one saying he's not giving a State of the Union. She's saying once it reopens, and he's saying, "Okay." That seemed like they were both being adult. Well, they were - prior to that, some issues, but go ahead. Yes.
PSAKI: Look, I think the sign of a good negotiator is knowing what your opponent's vulnerabilities are. Donald Trump loves to speak publicly. He loves attention from the media. He loves being on a big stage. Nancy Pelosi knows that and I think she knows that if she threatened him for the State of the Union, she can maybe open the government sooner I hope that's the case.
BURNETT: All right, we'll see what happens, but I think we make the point here. The president, I mean, just did one little thing and then slammed by the right in his party. Thanks very much to both. And next, breaking news, Michael Cohen subpoenaed by the Senate Intelligence Committee. That's a big deal. They've got a very serious investigation going on, what do they want from him. And our House Democrats about to cross Trump's red line, his longtime bank which has been investigated for its role in a Russian money-laundering scheme now under scrutiny, getting questions.
[19:25:08]
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley is my guest.
Breaking news, Michael Cohen will testify to the Senate. Cohen's attorney says Cohen will comply with a subpoena from the Senate Intelligence Committee to testify before he heads to prison March 6th. This comes just a day after Cohen postponed his public hearing with the House Oversight Committee. He said he was - he cited specifically threats from Trump and Rudy Giuliani to his family. Shimon Prokupecz is OutFront.
Shimon, the Senate Intelligence Committee, that's the bipartisan Russian investigation, very respected, and now he's going to comply with a subpoena, go before that committee, how significant is it?
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER, CNN: No, it's definitely hugely significant. One thing to keep in mind, this is the committee that Michael Cohen lied to. He pleaded guilty. He admitted in court that he lied to them and why he lied to them is because he was doing it to protect the President. That doesn't seem to - what the plan here is any longer. He's going to be able to come in, hopefully freely and talk about whatever it is that they want him to talk about.
The only thing that could potentially stop this is Mueller and if Mueller says to him, "I don't want you talking about certain things." Or if the committee says, "We're not allowed to ask you this, Mueller has asked us not to." Obviously, what this committee has been mostly focused on is the Russia interference, a key part of what Mueller is looking at, so we'll see. And certainly, his knowledge, Michael Cohen's knowledge of the Russians, the business dealings and that Moscow project which is front and center now and what did the President know and when he knew it, and all of the business dealings surrounding that, that is going to be the topic that I would think the members of this committee are going to want to ask him about.
[19:30:09] ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Absolutely and obviously if it's behind closed doors which you understand it will be that will be hugely significant.
PROKUPECZ: Sure.
BURNETT: Shimon, thank you.
I want to emphasize for everybody watching, this is the Senate Intelligence Committee. This is a bipartisan subpoena, Burr and Warner. This isn't one party going rogue. OK? This is bipartisan.
And I want to go OUTFRONT now, the New Jersey -- former New Jersey attorney general, Anne Milligram, and former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Harry Sandick.
So, you know, Senate Intelligence Committee subpoenas Cohen. That's significant as I made the point, because it's bipartisan, but it's also loud and clear, yes, he lied to them but there's a lot of specifics they want to get that's worthy of a full additional testimony.
ANNE MILGRAM, FORMER NEW JERSEY ATTORNEY GENERAL: Completely. They are absolutely going to want to ask about the things that he lied about, and they're going to want to ask about other things and conversations he had with the president and I think Shimon said it right, is there anything that Mueller's restricted, what, if anything, won't he be able to say? He'll have counsel with him.
They'll want to have a lot of answers because they've been doing this Russia investigation, so it's not just Michael Cohen, it's the whole investigation they've been doing. They'll want answers.
BURNETT: Harry, you know, to that point, as Shimon said, he lied to them, right, about Trump Tower Moscow and they're going to want to know why. He's already said I'm not going to be a villain in this story for the president who's a liar. There's a lot he wants to say and now we do know he's going to say it.
HARRY SANDICK, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: He's not going to take the Fifth Amendment or take any other actions but he's going to go back and really, this is the right thing to do. He's now been convicted of lying to this committee and he owes them an honest answer to their questions and it looks like that's what he's going to do.
Now, these are not held publicly and we may not see the transcript for some time or maybe ever conceivably, but one would assume that the Mueller team and maybe the Southern District prosecutors as well will get access to it.
BURNETT: And here's the thing, when Cohen was going to the House Oversight Committee which he was going to do on his own and it was going to be public, OK? They said you can't talk about Russia but he was going to go any way and a source close to Cohen said, told "The Wall Street Journal," he would tell the story of what it's like to work for a madman. That's what Cohen wanted to say. Is he still going to say all that?
He was going to have a full testimony without talking about Russia of things that would be the least hugely embarrassing for the president. MILGRAM: So, I think there are a few questions. First of all, I
think it would be very interesting and it's possible he does talk about that before the Senate Intelligence Committee. But, remember, we still don't know about the House Intelligence Committee and the House Oversight Committee. I fully expect the house oversight committee will also subpoena him for testimony.
And so, I think -- and that would be public most likely. So, I fully expect at some point we may see that. It could be months away. It's hard to say how that would play out. But I don't think that piece is over yet.
BURNETT: To that point, OK, he canceled his appearance before the house because he said the president and Rudy Giuliani were threatening his family when they kept bringing up his father-in-law and insinuating he had been involved in criminal activity. But the chair of the committee says, basically, they're going to subpoena. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS (D), MARYLAND: I promise you that we will hear from Mr. Cohen. We will get the testimony as sure as night becomes day and day becomes night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK, that's the subpoena if we need to.
SANDICK: Yes, that's what it sounds like and, look, the threats from the president may change Cohen's motivation or his desire to do this, but Congress can subpoena him. It's not clear other than the Fifth Amendment what his basis to object to that kind of subpoena would be. The threats are serious. He should tell law enforcement about the threats and explain what else we may not know if anything about those threats that encouraged him to withdraw from his voluntary testimony.
BURNETT: And just to be clear, obviously, he's set to go to prison on March 6th. If that subpoena from the House comes later, it doesn't matter if he's in prison. He could still go and testify. There's no deadline on this.
MILGRAM: It's a federal prison and the federal Congress. If the Congress wants him, they will pull him out of prison. It's a little more complicated logistically, because there's no reason he couldn't testify.
BURNETT: So, now, you know, the president didn't want Cohen to testify, OK, and as of this morning, he didn't think he was until the subpoena -- until Cohen said OK. Today Trump tweeted, so interesting that bad lawyer Michael Cohen who sadly will not be testifying before Congress is using the lawyer of crooked Hillary Clinton to represent him. Lanny Davis, he's representing him, worked for Hillary Clinton.
Sadly will not be testifying before Congress.
How big of a deal is it when the president has found out, of course, yes, he is?
SANDICK: I think he's going to be disappointed. The victory lap tweet was premature. These are obviously -- the president shouldn't be talking like this. Nobody should be talking like this.
This is a witness potentially against him in some proceeding. He should not be making threats or taking victory laps.
[19:35:01] BURNETT: Well, you know, and he kept saying look at his father-in-law, look at his father-in-law, repeatedly and then Cohen does not testify for a few hours, we think he's not testifying and the president says, who sadly will not be testifying, it's clear that he's saying, I got what I want.
MILGRAM: Completely.
BURNETT: From a legal perspective, is that --
MILGRAM: I think Michael Cohen testifying is terrible for the president. It's certainly terrible politically. Michael Cohen has said in open court that he committed a crime at the direction of the president with the campaign fraud and so it can't be a good thing for the president.
BURNETT: Right, and I want to make it clear, by the way, when the court filed they said not only did Michael Cohen said that but they had corroborated that with other materials. So, you don't have to rely on Michael Cohen's word.
Thank you both so very much.
And next, is Trump's long time bank with Russian ties, the bank people have been talking about for years now at this point, it feels like, about to become a big problem for the president?
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley who sits in the House Financial Services Committee is OUTFRONT next.
And presidential hopefully Kamala Harris about to head to a crucial primary state and seek the backing of a special group.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This isn't just a friendship or sisterhood. We're talking about political power.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're talking about political power and we have it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:40:09] BURNETT: New tonight, Deutsche Bank admitting its in talks to cooperate with two House investigations focused on the bank's ties to President Trump. Now, Deutsch Bank is important. It has a two- decade long relationship with Trump including loaning Trump businesses over $300 million for a golf course and hotels when other banks would not.
Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner also has an unsecured line of credit for between $5 million and $25 million, and the bank paid more than $600 million to settle a money laundering scheme with Russians.
OUTFRONT now, Democratic Congresswoman Ayanna Presley who -- she sits on the House Financial Services Committee which is one of the ones investigating Deutsche Bank, that they're cooperating with.
Congresswoman, what can you tell us tonight about what your committee is trying to find out from Deutsche Bank?
REP. AYANNA PRESSLEY (D-MA), FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE: Well, first, I just want to say how appreciative I am to have been appointed to this committee under the leadership of Chairwoman Maxine Waters. This House is the only checks and balance right now we find ourselves the country at a crossroads at a time where corruption is at a height and we're very polarized.
The American people deserve truth and this committee will pursue that. We've got a full agenda. There's a lot of emphasis on the current occupant of this White House and this entire administration is daily undermining and threatening and rolling back civil right and protections. And so, I'm happy to have been appointed to this committee so I can address those issues of consequence to the American people and especially the Massachusetts seven from consumer protection to student loan debt to the impact of red lining and the like.
BURNETT: Which -- and look, I understand that. On this issue of Deutsche Bank, what can you tell us specifically that you're looking at? This is a bank a lot of people have been pointing to for a long time and now we're hearing they're cooperating with your committee. What are they providing? What are you asking for?
PRESSLEY: I believe that news broke as I was coming here. I look forward to confirming with the chair of the committee and my other committee members about what will be the extent and the reach of that investigation. But the point is that both committees that I have the honor of serving on both respectively with Chairwoman Maxine Waters and Chairman Elijah Cummings for oversight, in particular. The Republicans gave this administration a free pass and those days are over.
So, we will be pursuing answers for the American people. They deserve to know the truth and I'll be doing that in both capacities both with Financial Services and with the Oversight Committee.
BURNETT: And on that capacity, I want to ask you about the government shutdown tonight. You know, Nancy Pelosi saying stay tuned. You today tweeted out this video, you went to the Senate to demand that they vote to end it, obviously the Senate bills both failed today. It all comes down to the wall.
Today, the president said he has other ways, other ways to get that wall and he kept using the word alternatives. I wanted to play it for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have other alternatives if I have to. And I'll use those alternatives if I have to. We want to go through the system. We have to have a wall in this country. We have a lot of alternatives but we need border security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So he kept saying alternatives, alternatives, alternatives repeatedly. Do you know what those are?
PRESSLEY: He doesn't know what they are. This is unconscionable that he has continued to frame this shutdown in the context of border security while every day threatening the health, the safety and the security of the American people.
This tsunami, this manufactured crisis, what happened to his campaign about America first? So in what way is America first? First to be held hostage by this administration? This is unconscionable and this is -- there's a residual and reverberating effect here not only for the 800,000 furloughed federal workers but I just introduced legislation to support those federally contracted workers hourly low wage workers, service workers, custodians, food service --
BURNETT: Which is important. They're not getting back pay. So, I think when people say, at the end, some people get back pay. A lot of people will not and it's important to make sure people understand that.
PRESSLEY: And then a member of his cabinet has the audacity today so tone deaf, again, another demonstration of the lack of empathy and compassion and connection to the struggles and the hardships of the American people --
BURNETT: Secretary Ross are you referring to?
PRESSLEY: Secretary Ross -- to say the people should just go get a loan from the bank. If you're making $27,000, $32,000 a year, what bank is going to give you a loan?
The point is that they have created this hurt for the American people and framed it in this Trojan horse of debate about security and they're compromising the health and security of the American worker and family every day that this shutdown goes on.
[19:45:06] The House has done its job. We have passed bipartisan legislation. I voted on my 11th bill today to move on, to move forward, to fund this government and we need to get to legislating. We have a legislative body for this country and we cannot legislate. We need to have a policy debate about immigration reform, a comprehensive, compassion pathway to citizenship.
Shut down is not policy, but we can't have that debate while the government is shutdown. This Republican Senate needs to do its job. They're not employees of Trump Tower.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Congresswoman Pressley. I appreciate your time tonight.
PRESSLEY: Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, Senator Kamala Harris is heading to South Carolina to rally what is becoming a very powerful voting bloc .
And Jeanne Moos on why Trump has held back given Nancy Pelosi one of his nicknames.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Nancy Pelosi or Nancy as I call her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Senator Kamala Harris is heading to South Carolina in her first major campaign trip since announcing her run for president, and she is targeting a powerful voting bloc there, black women.
Kyung Lah is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At a home in suburban Maryland, these college friends reflect on their past as one of their own makes a run for history.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were all just right there together. We were just, you know, regular girls. And now, here's Kamala.
LAH: Or as the public calls her, Senator Kamala Harris, now a presidential candidate.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D), CALIFORNIA: That's why I'm running for president of the United States.
LAH: On the heels of that announcement, the senator is making her first campaign stop. Not in Iowa or New Hampshire, but in South Carolina for her national sorority.
(on camera): What does this sisterhood mean politically?
MONIQUE POYDRAS, AKA SORORITY MEMBER WITH SEN. HARRIS: It is a fact that there are close to 300,000 women in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, and that is a fact. So, it's not rocket science.
LAH: And these translate into votes and bringing other people in?
POYDRAS: I think that's a fair assessment.
LAH: These women are the foot soldiers of a powerful voting bloc. CNN exit polling shows black women supported Democrats more than almost any other voting subgroup, helping drive Democratic wins in last year's midterms. A fellow sister, the first black woman to enter the 2020 fray.
JILL LOUIS, AKA SORORITY MEMBER WITH SEN. HARRIS: It translates into a ready made group of people who will come when she calls.
LAH: This isn't just a friendship or a sisterhood. We're talking about political power.
LORRI SADDLER RICE, AKA SORORITY MEMBER WITH SEN. HARRIS: We're talking about political power, and we have it. We have it. And we're going to leverage it. And you'll see. It's going to make a difference.
LAH (voice-over): You're looking at a built-in infrastructure, and here's why.
RICE: There was a connection that was made back on the campus of Howard University that has transcended miles and years that brought us here today.
LAH: A bond crossing more than three decades. In 1986, 38 women became line sisters. They were all students at Howard University, a historically black college, and joined Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first black sorority in the U.S., formed more than 100 years ago.
LOUIS: When you think about it, in 1908, people were just a few ticks off emancipation. So now they find themselves in college, and what are they trying to do? It's really an uplift mission.
LAH: Bound by that history, they forge their own paths, year after year, their lives weaving together.
POYDRAS: We were down at the senate. She had her formal swearing in. At the time Vice President Biden had sworn her in.
LAH (on camera): This is a very recent picture.
POYDRAS: This is a recent picture, yes. This picture was at her GW book event, and we were there to support her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're also AKA.
HARRIS: Yes, I am.
POYDRAS: She talked about being a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, and the room exploded. The appropriate response was a ski wee.
HARRIS: And fans are in the room as well.
POYDRAS: You can see by her response and our response that it's all love.
LAH (voice-over): Felt most by those who know Kamala Harris best, but shared by a national sisterhood eager to help one of their own. RICE: Next gathering, next sleepover, next girls night in, we at the
White House? Yes, we're all going to be there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: Now, Senator Harris is expected to be in South Carolina for the pink gala. How politically important is this event, Erin? Well, in 2008, then candidate Obama thought about skipping the gala. One of his advisers said to him if he wanted to win the South Carolina primary, he would go to the gala. He showed up and he won by double- digits -- Erin.
BURNETT: Wow. Kyung, thank you very much. You talk about -- 300,000 people.
All right. OUTFRONT next, Jeanne Moos on why Trump has not given Pelosi a nickname.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:58:13] BURNETT: Here is Jeanne.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's coming.
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: She is Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who we've just nicknamed no Nickname Nancy because of what President Trump failed to do, live up to his reputation as a master nicknamer.
TRUMP: Little Marco, Little Rocket Man, Crooked Hillary.
Lyin' Ted, Lyin' Ted.
MOOS: But was the president lying down on the job when he said --
TRUMP: Nancy Pelosi, or Nancy, as I call her.
MOOS: Twitter called him out. Um, that's her name. Bet she's never heard herself called that before.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's the only person he hasn't given a nickname to. Pocahontas, Elizabeth Warren. Lyin' Ted. He's like Nancy Pelosi, or as I call her, Nancy.
MOOS: But what was the president thinking?
Theories range from he considers using just her first name to be an insult to it's an unexpected show of respect. Or maybe he's scared of madam speaker.
It is possible the president has lost his knack for nicknames?
Last year he tried to tag her as High Tax, High Crime Nancy Pelosi. He also tried to brand her as soft on gangs. TRUMP: The MS-13 lover Nancy Pelosi.
MOOS: But the lover of nicknames failed to make those stick. She has broken his corny nickname generator.
A comparison was made between the president's comment.
TRUMP: Nancy Pelosi, or Nancy as I call her.
MOOS: And this line from Austin Powers.
AUSTIN POWERS: Allow myself to introduce myself.
MOOS: But if the president wanted to introduce a nickname for Nancy, he seemed to run into a wall.
Jeanne Moos.
TRUMP: Don't worry about it, Little Marco.
MOOS: -- CNN.
TRUMP: Or Nancy, as I call her.
MOOS: New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: And Anderson starts now.
