Return to Transcripts main page

NEW DAY

Acting A.G.: Mueller Close to Wrapping Up; White House Insists Trump Doesn't Want Another Shutdown. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired January 29, 2019 - 07:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's indicted Roger Stone. There's too many pieces that need to be resolved in court before we can anticipate the Mueller report.

[07:00:10] SARAH SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president doesn't want to go through another shutdown. That's not the goal.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: The idea of getting a deal was probably 50/50. Winning on the wall, lost on the shutdown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to restore the faith and trust of the American people in the governmental process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. Is it possible the Mueller probe is wrapping up? That's what acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker, the man who oversees the Mueller probe, told reporters.

According to Whitaker, the investigation is, quote, close to being completed. Whitaker also says decisions made by Mueller's office are going to be reviewed by the Justice Department.

What does all of that mean? Some lawmakers have become so concerned they are creating new bipartisan legislation requiring the special counsel's report to be made public.

BERMAN: In just hours, Roger Stone will be blocks away from the White House to appear before a federal judge. The long-time Trump confidante is expected to plead not guilty to charges he lied to lawmakers, engaged in witness tampering and obstructed a congressional investigation and a possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign. The White House is repeatedly dodging questions about whether Trump will pardon Stone?

CAMEROTA: Joining us now, are David Gregory. He's a CNN political analyst. Jeffrey Toobin, CNN chief legal analyst. And Sabrina Siddiqui. She's a politics reporter at "The Guardian." Great to have all of you. Jeffrey, you were perplexed by Matt Whitaker's comments yesterday.

What does he mean that the report -- the investigation is close to being completed?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: I would say appalled more rather than perplexed. First of all, the -- no investigation ever announces that it's wrapping up. Because you're always trying to get people to cooperate with your investigation.

If the subjects you're investigating know you're wrapping up, they're going to just string it out and run out the clock. So that's one thing.

The other thing he said was that he was going to review what Mueller was doing. There's no provision in the law for that. Now charitably, he may just not know what he's talking about and just be babbling. But if he's telling the truth, that is an interference with the campaign, with the investigation, so I was not impressed.

BERMAN: Can we play that moment?

TOOBIN: Yes, let's play that.

BERMAN: So you can see what Matt Whitaker did yesterday?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW WHITAKER, ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: So I've been fully briefed on the investigation. And, you know, I look forward to Director Mueller delivering the final report. But right now, the investigation is, I think, close to being completed, and I hope that we can get the report from Director Mueller as soon as we -- as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: And Jeffrey, I want --

TOOBIN: That didn't have -- that didn't have the quote where he says, "We're going to be reviewing --"

CAMEROTA: The decisions made.

TOOBIN: "-- the decisions," which I have no idea what he was talking about.

BERMAN: I get the impression you're not comfortable with either his lawyering or his performance there?

TOOBIN: Deer in the headlights is charitable.

BERMAN: David Gregory -- David Gregory, to you. You heard what the counselor had to say about that. Might it have just been a big mistake? Might it have just been a flub. He wasn't prepared to go answer those questions? And if that's the case, does that inoculate him to any criticism? DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: No. I mean, we heard last hour

that -- that our reporters asked whether they wanted to walk that back at all, and they clearly didn't. I mean, he doesn't look particularly impressive in front of the cameras. He looks nervous and not exactly knowing what he's doing. And he is new to this.

But I think he -- I think he knew what he was saying. I think we have to assume and take him at his word that he knew what he was saying. It's also -- the hypocrisy of a guy who was a Trump ally when they made such a big deal about it, saying, "We don't comment on ongoing investigations" or criticizing Comey for the fact that he interfered in the way that he did when he didn't bring any charges against Hillary Clinton, to now have him doing this is so inappropriate.

And I'm with Jeffrey. I mean, I think that -- as we're in the middle of this debate about whether there's going to be a chilling effect on not only Mueller completing his report but whether his report sees the light of day to talk about we're going to review what happens from a guy who's a clear Trump ally on this investigation, who presumably has briefed the White House about what's going on is highly inappropriate.

And in a way, good. Good for him for coming out and saying clearly what people are afraid of with this guy.

CAMEROTA: Sabrina, I mean, Roger Stone was only arrested on Friday. They had a search warrant to get some of the stuff in his house. How could the investigation be wrapping up soon when they haven't yet sifted -- at least that's just one element that we know they haven't sifted through yet.

SIDDIQUI: Absolutely. We know the special counsel is still interested in interviewing associates of Roger Stone. One of them is Andrew Miller, an associate of Stone who does not face criminal charges but who had been contacted by the special counsel in the past about Stone's communications with WikiLeaks.

[07:05:17] so there could be more charges yet to come. There could be more indictments. And look, if Matt Whitaker said that he had been briefed on the investigation, there's an implication that he wasn't merely speculating.

But at the same time, there's no real definition of soon. Soon could mean a few days. It could mean a few weeks. It could mean a couple of months.

And I think what it really does, though, is to David's point, it tees up to where this is all headed, and that's a report that Mueller will eventually submit to Congress and the extent to which that report will be made public.

And that's why it's clear that juit's coming against the backdrop of the Senate Judiciary Committee considering the nomination of William Barr, who is poised to be confirmed as attorney general in what is Republican-controlled Senate.

But there are real questions as to how much of that report Barr is willing to make public, and he hasn't really answered that question clearly.

BERMAN: In fact, he has refused to say he will make it all public, which is why there's a bipartisan push now. Chuck Grassley and Democrats, as well, presenting legislation that would have to get through Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump. So I think it's highly unlikely that that would lead to the release of the full report when it happens.

Jeffrey, just one legal point here. Andrew Miller. Sabrina brought up the idea that Andrew Miller, associate of Stone, is still wanted for questioning before the grand jury. By definition, that would have to be for an additional charge on Stone or someone else. It can't be for what he's already charged with.

TOOBIN: Right. Prosecutors are not allowed to use the grand jury to prepare for a trial. You're not allowed to just bring in your witnesses and rehearse them before the grand jury.

However, you can bring in many of those same witnesses if you -- if prosecutors are thinking of adding additional charges in the superseding indictment.

So, that issue about Andrew Miller doesn't go away just because Stone has been indicted. That legal fight will continue about whether he's going to be forced to testify and also remember, there's that other legal fight in the Supreme Court about the mysterious company that's owned by some other country, whether that company has to produce documents and testify, that issue is unresolved.

So even if Whitaker is correct, as Sabrina said, about wrapping up, that could mean days, weeks or months until it's over.

CAMEROTA: And David Gregory, doesn't it stand to reason that Robert Mueller would wait for Bill Barr to be installed? After all these months, why give it to the interim, the acting attorney general?

GREGORY: Yes, I think we have to believe that Mueller knows what's going on her. He has the full picture. And he understands the politics, too. And he's going to know how to navigate this the best he can kind of on the bureaucratic side within the Justice Department, as well as making sure that those Republicans and Democrats who want to see his work completed, and his results made public are put in the best position to be able to do that.

BERMAN: Sabrina, can I ask you a political question? The new poll by ABC News and "The Washington Post," which has some pretty glaring numbers out this morning. This poll asked, if you would consider voting for the president.

CAMEROTA: Today.

BERMAN: Today. Fifty-six percent of the people polled, 56 percent said they would definitely not consider voting for Donald Trump for president. That's a high number.

SIDDIQUI: It's certainly remarkable. I think that this is obviously a president who has had historic levels of unpopularity. But what's significant about this poll is it reinforces that the president doesn't actually have a coalition.

And I think what's most concerning from the White House's vantage point is that, according to this poll, the president is starting to lose Republicans and Republican-minded independents.

Now, remember, part of how he was propelled to the White House in the first place is because independents swung in his favor. And so if he's starting to lose those people. that certainly gives Democrats a much stronger position to start out the campaign cycle in, and he also has a significant gender gap.

When we saw the impact of that in the midterm elections, where women in particular, suburban women played a critical role in helping Democrats retake the majority of the House.

TOOBIN: Can I just say that I was one of the many many people who was completely wrong about the 2016 election, based on polls that looked a lot like that one, especially now, where there is no Democratic appointee and Democratic nominee or close to one where you know that the president is going to say, whoever it is should be under criminal investigation and is going to -- they're going to be chanting, "Lock him up" or "Lock her up" at whatever -- at his rallies.

Like, I don't put a heck of a lot of stock in that poll.

[07:10:00] GREGORY: Well, it's also right, because this is a poll in January of 2019, is about a referendum on the president, not a choice between two people.

And how about the polling that indicates, I think, 56 -- 56 percent of Democrats don't have a choice yet of who they would support on the Democratic side. This thing is still wide open.

It doesn't change the fact that this is a president with unique vulnerability facing the prospect of re-election, but he's also a politician who has defied some of these norms in terms of polling, in terms of typical support that we've seen.

TOOBIN: But he does have -- he does have the Howard Schultz ego trip going for him.

BERMAN: He does --

TOOBIN: He's so supportive of Howard Schultz. Which is -- it's nice to see that.

BERMAN: Our friend, Maggie Haberman, reported overnight that she was here from a fund-raiser that the president was at that the president claimed to the people at the fundraiser that he tweeted at Schultz yesterday, egged him on, because he wants Schultz in the race; because the president thinks that Schultz will help him.

CAMEROTA: So do Democrats. Democrats agree. On that the president -- TOOBIN: Because it's true. I mean, it's just so obvious.

CAMEROTA: But I wish we had that tweet right now, because I really need somebody to diagram it for me, because I found it confusing, that tweet. Because he says, "Howard Schultz is not the smartest person in the room. I couldn't agree more. Besides we already have that." What does that mean?

BERMAN: I think you know what it means. I think you know what he thinks it means.

GREGORY: It's a useful exercise, diagramming his tweets. Because you're not supposed to take it literally anyway. It's just -- it's kind of metaphoric.

CAMEROTA: Now, you tell me. Now you tell me, two years into this.

BERMAN: Roger Stone is appearing in court in a couple of hours. So, what we are guaranteed to get is theatrics. We know that.

CAMEROTA: For sure.

BERMAN: Maybe not legally. There isn't much activity there. But it was interesting yesterday at the briefing, Sabrina, where Sarah Sanders was pressed on whether or not the president will consider pardoning Stone. Let's just listen to how she answered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Has the president ruled out a pardon for Roger Stone?

SARAH SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I'm not aware of that. Haven't had any conversations regarding that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you guarantee that the president won't pardon Roger Stone?

SANDERS: Again, I'm not going to talk about hypotheticals that are just ridiculous. Things I haven't talked about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now, Professor Gregory noted our last hour that reporters, thinking they were going to get an answer for that, should think again.

CAMEROTA: Well, right. What do we want out of Sarah Sanders? How can Sarah Sanders guarantee that the president is going to do anything.

BERMAN: But Sabrina, my question to you is that the pardon issue with Stone is this one the White House wants to face every day for the next year as Stone gets ready for his trial?

SIDDIQUI: Well, it certainly wouldn't be the first occasion. The White House similarly refused to rule out a pardon of Paul Manafort, and that's something the president has been asked on numerous occasions and declined to take off the table.

I think if you look at the president's public posture, certainly his tweets, particularly those with respect to Michael Cohen and his efforts to intimidate Michael Cohen, he's made it clear that he values loyalty. And he has sent not-so-subtle messages that witnesses who are part of this investigation will be rewarded if they stay on his side, which is, in and of itself, of course, remarkable for a sitting president to so publicly wade into those who are central to the investigation.

But with Roger Stone, of course, he's someone who is a long-time ally of this president's, even though he didn't have an official title for much of the campaign. He's known the president for decades from their time in New York. He's been his longest serving political advisor.

Now, it's hard to say there many who did ultimately end up cooperating with the special counsel.

But there are also those like Manafort, who struck a plea deal and stand accused of violating that plea deal by lying to investigators. So it's really hard to predict how this will play out, particularly with a personality like Roger Stone.

CAMEROTA: True that.

Sabrina, Jeffrey, Toobin, thank you ---

TOOBIN (HOLDING UP "V" FOR VICTORY SIGNS): We're going to get that.

CAMEROTA: We are going to get that, yes. The universal sign for --

TOOBIN: Richard Nixon.

CAMEROTA: -- sign for "I'm telling the truth." Yes.

All right. So what is President Trump's mindset with all these Russia developments and another possible shutdown looming? We're going to ask former White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci. He can channel the president's thinking.

BERMAN: He's actually here.

CAMEROTA: Yes, he is, I assume.

BERMAN: And who is listening to your conversations? Anthony Scaramucci? Well, maybe not. Ahead, we'll we'awe well tell you why Apple users are worried about eavesdropping.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: The president doesn't want to go through another shutdown. That's not the goal. The goal is border security and protecting the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That was press secretary Sarah Sanders, insisting President Trump does not want another shutdown. But CNN has learned that Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale is privately pushing the president to hold firm in the border wall fight. He feels it's helping Mr. Trump in some key swing districts.

Joining us now to help us channel what the president is thinking is Anthony Scaramucci, former Trump White House communications director. What's the shrug?

ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Come on, if I could channel what the president is thinking.

CAMEROTA: Well, you better than anyone. You know him. You've known him for years. You know what he's thinking. So on the shutdown, that didn't go as planned. That didn't go well.

SCARAMUCCI: I mean, listen, let's talk about Brad. If you look at the voting, I mean, there is some swing areas like the idea of a border wall. But I think it's too early. I mean, you've got 19, 20 months until 2020. I don't like the shutdown. It's distracting. It's distracting from the economy. It costs money, $11 billion according to the scoring.

CAMEROTA: It hurt 800,000 people.

SCARAMUCCI: It hurt 800,000 people and also -- it also sends a message to the world. What are you guys doing? OK, I mean, you can't get it together to keep the government open? So and so --

CAMEROTA: Did President Trump get that message? I mean, in other words, here we are again. So are we going to play this out?

SCARAMUCCI: No, I don't think so. What I would say about this, if he were Mr. Trump living in Trump Tower and he was watching like President Donald Smith argue this out with Nancy Pelosi and speak -- you know, Senator Schumer, I think he would be, like, "What are you guys doing. It doesn't make any sense."

[07:20:05] As a business person, shutting the government down over $5.7 billion on a $4 trillion budget. It's just totally nonsensical.

CAMEROTA: Why did he let it last.

SCARAMUCCI: I would hope he would -- I would hope the president would step out of the bubble that he's in right now, because it's very difficult to do that and see it as an American businessman or woman and say, "OK, this is ridiculous. We're going to leave the government open."

And you're not going to win everything in life. You know, at the end of the day, he's done a great job on the economy. He's done a great job on a lot of the -- CAMEROTA: But this hurt the economy. I mean, as you know. This hurt the economy and I'm just --

SCARAMUCCI: It probably cost 20 basis points on the first quarter of GDP, and that's 20 basis points too much.

CAMEROTA: Something like 11 billion, 3 billion of which we'll never get back. But the point is, why did he let it linger 35 days? This is somebody who prides himself on his negotiating skills.

SCARAMUCCI: Well, he's stubborn. He wants to win. I mean, he's used -- you know, he's played to win his entire life. He won the election. See, what I'm upset about is that, like, when the Republicans had the Congress, why didn't they get the border wall funding, because --

CAMEROTA: There you go. What's the answer.

SCARAMUCCI: I think they didn't -- I think the establishment Republicans don't like the idea of a border wall. Otherwise, you would have had the funding for the border wall during the first two years of the president's administration.

He should be upset about that, because he won the election. He won the election on that concept and for $5 billion, of whatever the number was, they should give him the money to do it.

CAMEROTA: But will that same stubbornness put us back in the same situation a few weeks from now?

SCARAMUCCI: I hope -- I hope not. I mean, I think that would be a very big mistake for the American people. It would be a very big mistake for his legacy.

He wants to win in 2020, and I'd like to see him win. He's got to come up from 36, 38 percent into the high 40s. And the way to do that is to be a little bit more moderate on certain positions.

CAMEROTA: Do you think that the fact that it did not go well and he didn't get a single dollar for his border wall after 35 days, do you think that that's hurt his negotiating power going forward?

SCARAMUCCI: No, I don't think that at all. I think he's -- he's still in a very strong position, because he's got the economy behind him. He's got a lot of support. And even though it says 36 on that poll number, there's about 14, 15 percent of those people that actually like him. They have a hard time answering polls telling people that they like him.

So he's got a lot of things going for him, a lot of things in his favor. There's no need to allow the opposition team to score points on you when you're up 28-0 in the national championship.

CAMEROTA: Were you surprised by Roger Stone's arrest on Friday?

SCARAMUCCI: You know, I've got to tell you, Alisyn, I'm not surprised by anything anymore, so how could I say to you that I'm surprised by it? I like Roger. You know, I've met him a few times. I have a good relationship with him. He put me on his best dressed list, so I was very happy about that.

CAMEROTA: I thought you said he puts you on his breast, tattoo?

SCARAMUCCI: No, no. No. If he puts a tattoo of me on him, then Roger's got more problems than I thought.

CAMEROTA: Well --

SCARAMUCCI: But having said that, he told me I knew how to tie a tie properly. So --

CAMEROTA: That's high praise.

SCARAMUCCI: So I'm happy about that.

CAMEROTA: Sarah Sanders said none of these people who have been arrested had anything to do with the president. Roger Stone was the president's long-time, for decades, friend.

SCARAMUCCI: I don't think she means that. I think what she basically means is that he hasn't done anything wrong. There might be people on the periphery that did things wrong.

It seems, again, that these people are getting caught on process crimes, as opposed to direct criminality related to the campaign.

CAMEROTA: Here's the indictment. Here's the portion --

SCARAMUCCI: If you're lying to the Congress or you're lying to a prosecutor, you know, sthat's a felony.

CAMEROTA: There's more. There's more than just lying to Congress. Here's the part of the indictment that got so much attention.

"After the July 22, 2016 release of stolen DNC e-mails by Organization 1" -- WikiLeaks -- "a senior Trump campaign official was directed to contact Stone about any additional releases and what other damaging information WikiLeaks had regarding the Clinton campaign."

Was directed by whom? Who could have directed it?

SCARAMUCCI: So that's -- that's the question. Some people are speculating that it's Steve Bannon, and some people are speculating that it's the president. And so I don't know the answer to that, because I wasn't privy to those things.

But here's -- here's what I would say. I believe Sarah, and I actually do believe the president. Because at the end of the day, the president is the kind of guy, he sort of wears everything on his sleeve. And it's 23 months into the investigation. I find it hard to believe that he was part of it.

If he was part of it, you can invite me back and I can stare into the camera and tell me how wrong I am. CAMEROTA: OK.

SCARAMUCCI: But I think that what Sarah is saying is, yes, there were people that did some nefarious things or did some things that are unseemly but not the president.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Well, we just don't -- don't know yet, I mean, is the answer.

SCARAMUCCI: We don't know. I certainly don't.

CAMEROTA: Cliff Sims has a tell-all book --

SCARAMUCCI: Yes.

CAMEROTA: -- about his time in the White House. You are unscathed. He is a fan of Anthony Scaramucci.

SCARAMUCCI: He's a fan of mine.

CAMEROTA: He's a fan of Anthony Scaramucci.

SCARAMUCCI: Yes, I don't know.

CAMEROTA: Is the feeling mutual?

SCARAMUCCI: I didn't read the book yet. I was telling John, I haven't read the book. But everything I've seen from Cliff. I saw his interview last night on Colbert. I watched a few of his interviews this morning. He's a pretty honest guy. And so he's telling you a very honest story.

You know, I don't know the situation with Kellyanne Conway. I like Kellyanne a great deal. I like George Conway. I think people are -- should be entitled to their opinions. I think one of the problems that happens in this presidency, is that people alter their behavior when they're with the president.

CAMEROTA: He talks about that.

SCARAMUCCI: I think that's a very bad thing.

CAMEROTA: He talks about that. Cliff Sims in the book --

[07:25:09] SCARAMUCCI: I'll tell you, I was only there for 11 days. But when you're in the Oval Office, and you're sitting there with President Trump, it is very hard not to alter your behavior and to become one of those sycophants or become overly obsequious.

And so what I like about Cliff's book is he's telling an honest story.

CAMEROTA: Yes, but if it's honest --

SCARAMUCCI: And maybe the people -- go ahead.

CAMEROTA: I mean, that it's a team of vipers around the president. SCARAMUCCI: Oh, yes. No, there's no doubt it was a team of vipers.

Did you not think it wasn't a team of vipers around the president?

CAMEROTA: Well, I mean --

SCARAMUCCI: When Reince Priebus --

CAMEROTA: -- there are other places you could be teammates.

SCARAMUCCI: No, the biggest mistake that the president made in his presidency was his first hire. When he hired Reince Priebus, who didn't really like him, who tried to stop him from getting the nomination.

CAMEROTA: Whom you famously fight with. And --

SCARAMUCCI: Exactly. I don't like the guy, but I'm going to tell you very honestly what he did. Let's talk about it clinically.

He flooded the zone with RNC staffers. He flooded the zone with establishment people that didn't want the president's disruptive, insurgent personality to do anything to disrupt what was going on inside of Washington.

And so what ended up happened is you had a team of vipers that were trying to slow down the president. OK? And that's basically what happened. And it seems that's what Cliff is writing about in the book.

When I read the book, which I'm going to read, I'll tell you exactly what I think of the book. But in his interviews, he seems pretty straight up and pretty honest.

CAMEROTA: And so if he's telling the truth, then there's also a team of leakers, including Kellyanne Conway. I mean, he talks about that specifically.

SCARAMUCCI: So I like Kellyanne Conway personally. I never saw her leak. She was very helpful to me in the 11 days that I was there, and she was great on the campaign.

And by the way, even if she has leaked or she's had some disagreements with the president, she helped the president get elected.

And so people can say whatever they want about Kellyanne Conway. But let mem tell you something. He got 52 percent of the white women vote, and I think it's directly as a result of Kellyanne Conway. So people can say whatever they want about her, but I like her and I would definitely defend her in a straight-up debate.

CAMEROTA: OK. Last, Anthony, let me play a moment of you on television on a show called "Big Brother."

SCARAMUCCI: OK.

CAMEROTA: Here's this moment. SCARAMUCCI: All right. Which one?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCARAMUCCI: Hello, guys, surprise!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?

SCARAMUCCI: I'm actually not a "Big Brother" house guest, but I'm part of a "Big Brother" twist.

You know the "Big Brother" house? It's just like my experience in Washington. You get judged quickly before people really know who you are, and you never get a second chance. Well, that's about to change, because I'm giving the current nominees a second chance at safety.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Anthony, what was that? Why did you do "Big Brother"?

SCARAMUCCI: All right. I just want to personally thank Jeff Zucker and Alisyn Camerota for not showing me in the purple suit where I look like an oompaloompa in violet.

CAMEROTA: I wish I had, if I'd know that there was that clip. What -- what were you doing? You need to be on "Big Brother"?

SCARAMUCCI: I thought it was fantastic. I'm a guy that likes to have fun. And so when they pitched me to be a spoof on "Big Brother," to show up in the house for six days and then drop that bomb on those guys, what could be more fun than that, OK?

At the end of the day, you probably have figured out -- and you've known me a long time -- I don't take myself that seriously. So you can still have a serious -- I can tell you this. I'm probably the only person in "Big Brother" history that went from the "Big Brother" house to Davos, Switzerland, OK, in 24 hours.

CAMEROTA: I think that's fair.

SCARAMUCCI: So there's a lot of band width in my personality. I grew up with the people that watch "Big Brother." I started out as a blue- collar kid. I still feel like a blue-collar person.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

SCARAMUCCI: To me, even though, as I wrote in my book, I've grown some distance from that. You have to be very, very careful. And so the way to stay grounded --

CAMEROTA: Yes.

SCARAMUCCI: -- not take yourself that seriously and hang out in the "Big Brother" house if you can.

CAMEROTA: Who's going to win? SCARAMUCCI: So I think Tom Green is playing the best game right now.

OK. Now, if you're a "Big Brother" fan out there, you've got to play this game slow to last long.

CAMEROTA: All right.

SCARAMUCCI: If you play too quickly, you get blown out. Look at what happened to Ryan last night.

CAMEROTA: I have to go. I don't know how we veered into this.

SCARAMUCCI: You're going to be watching "Big Brother" when I'm done. I'm going to convince you to watch it.

CAMEROTA: Anthony Scaramucci, thank you.

SCARAMUCCI: It's great to be here.

CAMEROTA: Great to talk to you. Great to have you.

SCARAMUCCI: Thanks, Alisyn.

BERMAN: That's the first time the shutdown has ever been mentioned in the same interview as Tom Green.

All right. The acting attorney general says Robert Mueller's investigation is close to being complete. And that has some in Congress concerned. We're going to talk to a key Democratic senator about it next.

[07:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)