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Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders Emerging as Clear Frontrunners; White House Directs Former Staffers to Defy Subpoenas; Mexican Import Businesses Bracing for Trump Tariffs. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired June 4, 2019 - 10:30   ET

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


[10:30:00] JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: -- but the size of that lead has shrunk a bit. It was 14 percent in April. It is now -- well, it's 14 percent now, it was 24 percent in April. Get my math right there.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Well, it's a lot of little yellow --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: -- numbers on the screen. Let's get to our political director, the big boss, David Chalian, to go over some of this.

You know what I think makes those numbers even more interesting with the little bit of a decline there for Biden, Chalian, is the fact that the voters who are supporting Biden or Sanders told us that their mind is made up. Like, they're locked in on these guys.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Poppy, I totally agree with you. And that makes sense, right? They're the most known factors in the race. So folks that are familiar with them are comfortable with their choice. And that Biden decline we're seeing, sort of from young voters, from non-white voters. But as you noted, he's still the clear and solo frontrunner in this race.

But to that number you're saying, Poppy, 44 percent of Democratic primary voters in this poll tell us that they're definitely going to support the candidate that they're with. That leaves 55 percent, just over half the electorate, who's sort of up for grabs and they may move around.

And we even hadn't had a single debate yet. So that's a big chunk of the field. And that's up eight points from where they were last month, that say that they're locked into their choice.

Take a look at this.

TEXT: Dem Candidate Should Focus On -- Potential Dem Voters: Policy positions, 81 percent; Dissatisfaction with Trump, 15 percent

CHALIAN: This may be why we don't hear a lot of Donald Trump's name invoked by Democratic candidates on the trail --

SCIUTTO: Right. Very (ph) --

HARLOW: Yes.

CHALIAN: -- Democratic primary voters say that 81 percent of them, huge majority, they want to unify the party around the policy positions. That's what they're looking for in a candidate. Only 15 percent of Democrats say they want their candidate to unify the party around dissatisfaction with Trump.

And then, of course, we have this notion, which is the 23-percon crowded field in this primary. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Democrats say -- a bit more, slim majority, 53 percent -- say it's a good thing, versus the 45 percent that say it's a bad thing.

We also looked at enthusiasm in this election. And take a look at this. We saw in April that Republicans had a bit of an enthusiasm edge, 53 percent to 47 percent. They still have a similar edge, although both Republican and Democratic enthusiasm is down a tick in this poll.

Obviously, Democrats want to make sure if -- they're going to get that number up. But they've got a whole nomination season to go through first. And Donald Trump is running alone with no primary challenge, that allows Republicans to be very enthusiastic about his re-election effort without a distraction of a primary -- guys.

SCIUTTO: Yes. It's (ph) -- that big number, showing that folks are more focused on policy than the president, informs --

HARLOW: So interesting.

SCIUTTO: -- Nancy Pelosi's position --

HARLOW: Yes, that's what I was --

SCIUTTO: -- you might say.

HARLOW: -- thinking on impeachment.

I do want to ask you a question, if we could put the numbers back up on screen, Biden versus the others. Because Biden's lead, down a bit. But Sanders moving up to -- what, to 18 percent, Warren coming down a bit.

TEXT: Top Choices for Nominee -- Potential Democratic Voters: Biden: May, 32 percent; April, 39 percent; Mar., 28 percent. Sanders: May, 18 percent; April, 15 percent; Mar., 19 percent. Harris: May, 8 percent; April, 5 percent; Mar., 12 percent. Warren: May, 7 percent; April, 8 percent; Mar., 7 percent. Buttigieg: May, 5 percent; April, 7 percent; Mar., 1 percent. O'Rourke: May, 5 percent; April, 6 percent; Mar., 13 percent.

SCIUTTO: And I wonder if that means to you, David Chalian, that he is solidifying his position as the preferred candidate of left-leaning or left-wing, perhaps I should say, Democratic voters. CHALIAN: I wouldn't say solidified. Because remember, just look. A

month before that, he was at 19. So I think you're seeing a pretty consistent -- and we should overread too much -- movement. You're dealing with a margin of error of plus or minus six percent, here in this poll.

But, yes, he's ticked up a bit, Sanders has, as Biden has ticked down a bit. Remarkable consistency here. You see Buttigieg and O'Rourke just down a point or two, Warren about even, three points up for Harris here. This is all within the margin of error movement. So I think it's important to note that.

But I would not say yet that Sanders has solidified that support. He has a hold on it. He has a base. But you know, Warren and Buttigieg are going to try and make a run for that Sanders vote.

HARLOW: Oh, for sure. All right. David, thank you very much.

Let's talk to our political reporter Arlette Saenz. She is in New Hampshire, following the former vice president Joe Biden.

He's out with a new plan this morning. This is a climate change plan. I mean, clearly a response to his fellow Democrats running for president, who are backing the Green New Deal.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: That's right, Poppy. And Joe Biden has faced a lot of criticism from some of his fellow Democratic opponents as well as progressives in his party who have warned that his climate change proposal may not go far enough.

And today, he is unveiling a 22-page plan on how he is going to combat climate change. And I'll note that in that release, Biden's team notes that he believes that the Green New Deal is a critical framework to combatting climate issues in the U.S. --

TEXT: Biden's Climate Policy Proposal: Aims to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2050; Pushes Congress to enact enforcement mechanism to reach goals; Re-enter Paris Agreement on first day; Price tag of $1.7 trillion over 10 years

SAENZ: -- and then they go on to lay out some of those details of what his plan would look like.

So one of those things is that he wants to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. He's also pushing for Congress to enact legislation that would create an enforcement mechanism to make sure that those goals are reached. And he wants to get that bill within his first year in office.

Biden will also, he says, re-enter the Paris Climate Agreement, something that was struck under the Obama administration, which President Trump withdrew from. And Biden wants to re-enter that on his first day in office, as well as rolling out some other executive actions on day one of his presidency.

[10:35:01] Now, what is this all going to cost? The Biden campaign puts a $1.7 trillion price tag on this in federal investment, and then they're hoping to also get some private sector, state and local governments to invest, taking it up to about $5 trillion over the next 10 years.

But Biden has faced a lot of criticism. There was a report that suggested he would take a middle ground approach on climate change. We'll see if the proposal he's unveiling today is going to satisfy his critics. We'll be hearing from Biden in a short while here in Berlin, New Hampshire -- Poppy and Jim.

SCIUTTO: And if $1.7 trillion sounds like a lot of money, it is. But until a couple weeks ago, Democrats and Republicans were talking about a $2 trillion infrastructure plan, so --

HARLOW: There you go. Yes.

SCIUTTO: -- these kinds of figures have been thrown around. Arlette Saenz, great to have you on.

And stay with us. We have some breaking news in to CNN. We're going to bring it to you right after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:23] SCIUTTO: This breaking news just in to CNN and it's important. The White House has now directed former White House officials Hope Hicks and Annie Donaldson, rather, not to turn over any documents to the House Judiciary Committee relating to their time at the White House.

HARLOW: Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill with more.

This is more of the same from the White House, totally stonewalling here.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Indeed. This comes after they've already directed other officials, including Don McGahn, the White House Counsel, not to comply with a subpoena or turn over documents.

This latest direction, coming from the White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, directing these former officials, the former White House communications director Hope Hicks as well as Annie Donaldson, who served as deputy -- who served as the chief of staff to Don McGahn in the White House Counsel's Office, not to turn over documents as required by a subpoena from the House Judiciary Committee, today.

Now, one catch, though. Hope Hicks could still presumably testify, we're told, before that -- before the committee, about -- or potentially (ph) turn over documents about her time on the campaign. This direction from the White House has to deal with her time at the White House. So there -- potential they could get some information for the first time, from a key official .

But not necessarily about everything the Democrats have been asking for, which has to do with the obstruction of justice investigation, things that Hope Hicks and Annie Donaldson may have witnessed, the president's actions to try to undermine the Mueller probe, things that this committee wants to investigate.

Those items will not be turned over to the committee as the Democrats have been demanding. But presumably they could still probe, if Hicks cooperates, about her time, her knowledge about things that happened on the campaign.

But nevertheless, more resistance from the White House over these demands. And of course, intensifying pressure on some Democrats, who are saying it's time to open up an impeachment inquiry because of what they're seeing as all this resistance to their demands, guys.

SCIUTTO: Now for folks at home who might not know how potentially important these witnesses could be, Hope Hicks had a very close relationship with this president in a lot of key meetings. And Annie Donaldson, who might not be a household name, she kept meticulous notes, correct? So these are two potentially key witnesses to any House investigation.

RAJU: No question about it. Hope Hicks has been a longtime confidante of this president, someone who has been of interest to numerous investigations on Capitol Hill, as well as cooperating with the Mueller probe.

Annie Donaldson, also cooperated with the Mueller probe, as you mentioned, Jim. Took copious notes --

SCIUTTO: All those guys are gone except for --

(CROSSTALK)

RAJU: -- about what she witnessed in the White House, those notes of high interest in Capitol Hill. But as we are learning this morning, the White House, telling Capitol Hill, telling these former officials not to turn over these Documents that the Democrats have been demanding -- guys.

SCIUTTO: Manu Raju, always good to have you on the Hill.

HARLOW: Yes. Thank you very much for that. We'll follow it.

RAJU: Thank you.

HARLOW: Meantime, to the trade war -- wars. Importers, urging the president not to follow through on his latest tariff threat against Mexico. But clearly, he's going to. Those business owners in the U.S. say they could lose millions. We'll bring you their story, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:48:22] SCIUTTO: This morning, the president doubled down on his threat to impose tariffs on Mexico if the country does not to do more to stem the tide of migrants coming into the U.S.

HARLOW: Yes. He made it pretty clear, those tariffs are going to take effect next week. In the meantime, tomorrow, the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, will meet with his counterpart in Mexico. They're hoping to stave off those tariffs. That meeting will be in Washington.

Let's go to Nogales, Arizona, where Vanessa Yurkevich is this morning. That is near the Mexico border.

And you are speaking to the American citizens -- I'm assuming some of them voted for the president -- who say, "This will hurt our business." What can you tell us?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS REPORTERS: That's right. Good morning, Poppy and Jim. Today, business leaders here in Nogales, Arizona will be meeting to discuss how they're going to prepare for what they're calling "unprecedented tariffs."

Many of them rely exclusively on trade with Mexico through the port just behind me. And they say that these tariffs could cost each of their businesses millions of dollars.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

YURKEVICH (voice-over): This month, Jaime Chamberlain is expecting truckloads full of grapes from Mexico. But he wasn't expecting to pay tariffs.

JAIME CHAMBERLAIN, PRESIDENT, CHAMBERLAIN DISTRIBUTING: So five percent, for now, is absolutely horrible. Going to 10, 15 percent, 20 percent, I can't even imagine.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Chamberlain imports 100 percent of his fruits and vegetables from Mexico, to his warehouse in Nogales, Arizona. If the president's tariffs take effect next week --

CHAMBERLAIN: We have red peppers come out of Sinaloa (ph) --

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Chamberlain, who voted for Trump, will pay more to bring his produce across the border.

[10:50:00] CHAMBERLAIN: These are not good ideas. This is not the way I would do things. But this is the way the president is choosing to do things because of the Congress that we have. You know, I'm not always going to be on the side of the president.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): The U.S. imports $26 billions of agricultural products from Mexico each year. And manufacturing dwarfs that.

RICHARD RUBIN, PRESIDENT, JAVID LLC: We're shipping $450 million annually across the border. For my customers to pay an extra $100 million, I'm not sure that they're going to stick around.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Richard Rubin owns 26 factories in Mexico, importing materials for American companies which he says provides millions of U.S. jobs.

RUBIN: Mexico's our friend, right? Mexico deserves the respect and the dignity. It's not a business. It's a country. And this should be solved through diplomacy.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Guillermo Valencia brokers trade deals between U.S. and Mexican companies.

GUILLERMO VALENCIA, PRESIDENT, VALENCIA INTERNATIONAL: We're throwing punches in the dark because we don't know what to expect. We know that we have to take this president serious. Some people are saying he's just threatening. But we can't just assume he's just threatening.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): As the broker, Valencia ensures tariffs are paid. His company imports and exports products to Mexico.

VALENCIA: This is a component for a major U.S. manufacturer that's producing electric cars.

YURKEVICH: So this could be in someone's backseat one day?

VALENCIA: It will be in someone's backseat. So if you haven't bought this car yet, there's going to be an increased cost to this car.

YURKEVICH: Because of the tariffs?

VALENCIA: Because of the tariffs. Right. And it could be up to 25 percent. And it could be more. Because if this product went back and (ph) through a couple of times, depending on the amount of times, it could be 50, 70 percent. Tariff upon tariff upon tariff upon tariff.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YURKEVICH: Everyone we've spoken to here says one thing is for sure. The added cost will ultimately be passed down to the American consumer. So you think about things like refrigerators, beer and cars, those prices are expected to go up -- Jim and Poppy.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: And it hits everyone. And there's no getting around it.

Let's just talk quickly, Vanessa, about just how unprecedented this is.

YURKEVICH: Exactly. A lot of these businesses I've spoken to, these owners have been in business for a hundred years, 50 years. And they've never seen these kinds of tariffs.

They're really worried that their U.S.-based companies, the companies that they import from Mexico to the U.S., that they won't be able to survive. Thus, American jobs will go away and that will create a huge economic loss, not only in Mexico but here in the United States as well -- Jim and Poppy.

SCIUTTO: And it's really interesting to hear. The supply chains move those products back and forth across the border multiple times --

HARLOW: Yes, yes. SCIUTTO: -- that means multiple tariffs. The numbers are --

HARLOW: So interesting.

SCIUTTO: -- incredible.

HARLOW: All right.

SCIUTTO: Vanessa Yurkevich, great to have you there on the story.

HARLOW: So did you watch "Jeopardy"? Did you?

SCIUTTO: I didn't.

HARLOW: I didn't watch.

SCIUTTO: Read about it.

[10:52:59] HARLOW: Read about it. The champ, James Holzhauer, that run -- winning streak is over. We'll show you how he got tripped up, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:57:33] SCIUTTO: It's official. James Holzhauer's 32-game winning streak on "Jeopardy," it's come to an end and he's leaving just shy of a record. Everybody thought he was going to break that record, no problem.

HARLOW: I wish he had. So who bested him? Our Stephanie Elam reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What is too small of a wager, Alex?

ALEX TREBEK, NBC HOST, JEOPARDY: Closest it's been in a while.

ELAM (voice-over): If you're James Holzhauer, the answer is $1,399.

TREBEK: A modest one, for the first time.

ELAM (voice-over): Yes. Holzhauer, "Jeopardy"'s king of the massive wager --

JAMES HOLZHAUER, CONTESTANT, JEOPARDY: All of the chips, please.

TREBEK: All of it?

ELAM (voice-over): -- put up only a fraction of his $23,400 pot when he entered "Final Jeopardy" in second place.

TREBEK: So, Emma, it's up to you. If you came up with the correct response, you're going to be the new "Jeopardy" champion. ELAM (voice-over): All three contestants got the answer right. But

Chicago librarian Emma Boettcher, who was in the lead, took a page out of Holzhauer's playbook and wagered a hefty bet. His only hope of winning his 33rd game hinged on her getting the question wrong.

TREBEK: What did you wager? Oh, gosh. $20,000. What a payday.

ELAM (voice-over): Holzhauer took the loss like a champ, immediately giving the new champ a high-five.

Since early April, "Jeopardy" fans watched to see if Holzhauer would break the non-tournament earnings record of $2,520,700 amassed by Ken Jennings in 2004.

HOLZHAUER: Who is Mario.

TREBEK: Mario, yes.

James?

HOLZHAUER: What is myelin?

TREBEK: Right.

HOLZHAUER: What is New York?

TREBEK: That's the state.

ELAM (voice-over): But chatter of Holzhauer's loss hit the internet Sunday night, as video of the end of the game was leaked online.

Then, he seemed to confirm the loss in response to CNN's Brian Stelter about "Jeopardy" reruns playing at a bar. Holzhauer tweeted, "If it's a rerun, I probably got this."

TREBEK: We're going to say goodbye to James, too.

ELAM (voice-over): Of course, it's not like Holzhauer's leaving empty-handed. He solidified his place in the "Jeopardy" hall of fame with a string of single-game earnings records, and raked in a total of $2,462,216.

About his loss, Holzhauer told the "Naperville Sun," quote, "I know I played my best and did everything I could. So I will hold my head up high."

But if any Holzhauer is happy about his loss, it might be the champ's daughter. He tweeted, "My kid cried about the possibility of her dad losing, so I told her we could have a party the day after it inevitably happens. Now she cries when I win."

[11:00:00] Time to party, Holzhauers. Stephanie Elam, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: I mean, what's better than partying with your kid?

(CROSSTALK)