Robert Mueller Could Be Testifying Before Congress; Accident In Upstate New York Has Claimed The Life Of A West Point Cadet And Injured 21 Others
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, I'm Brooke Baldwin. You are watching CNN. We begin with Breaking News. We may soon hear from former Special Counsel Robert Mueller, as he could be testifying before Congress. House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler just told Democratic leadership that he would issue a subpoena for Mueller quote, "within weeks". So let's go straight to Capitol Hill to our senior congressional correspondent, Manu Raju, who just talked to a source about this. So, what do you know?</s>MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Nadler met with the House Speaker and Committee Chairman in a meeting earlier this week. They talked about their way forward and made it very clear that they're prepared to subpoena Bob Mueller for his testimony and that could happen within weeks. It's very clear that Democrats are at the end of their patience here. There have been negotiations that have been going on for weeks and weeks to get Mueller's testimony. Mueller has wanted to go behind closed doors. Nadler has rejected that approach and now he's been saying publicly that he could issue the subpoena. Now, it's becoming very clear that that could happen in just a matter of days. So expect that to come to ahead, if they don't reach an agreement for Mueller to come in voluntarily and that could explain why Nadler has been so confident that ultimately Mueller will appear but perhaps under subpoena -- Brooke.</s>BALDWIN: Okay, so while that's going on over here, of course, you got to talk impeachment because we know tensions between Congressman Nadler and Leader Speaker Pelosi. They've been rising over whether to actually start these impeachment proceedings. And so POLITICO was reporting that Speaker Pelosi was speaking with this group of Democrats and she said, and I quote, "I don't want to see him impeached I want to see him in prison." How is that being received on the Hill?</s>RAJU: Well, she's been trying to make the case that there's no need for impeachment and she has been increasing her rhetoric against President Trump over recent weeks, trying to essentially align herself with a lot of her colleagues who believe the President has committed crimes while in office as documented by the Mueller report. And her argument here is that, if the President were to be impeached, that would help him politically because the Senate ultimately would not vote to convict him and then the President would remain in office. Instead she's arguing that he should be essentially prosecuted for the crimes that he allegedly committed as outlined in the Mueller report and elsewhere. That's what she wants her focus of her colleagues -- her Democratic colleagues to be. Now, at the moment, not all of her colleagues are there. House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler tried to make the case to her in a private meeting about opening up an impeachment inquiry. That's something that she does not want to go down at the moment. And yesterday when she was asked here on CNN by our colleague, Wolf Blitzer, whether or not Nadler and Pelosi are on the same page on an impeachment inquiry. Nadler did not say, answer that directly, instead saying, perhaps an impeachment inquiry may still come even though the Speaker is making it very clear where she stands -- Brooke.</s>BALDWIN: I'll come back to this point in a second with my next guest. But Manu, while I have you, you also have new reporting about what Democrats actually plan to do next week to try to stop all the stonewalling from the administration. What's their plan?</s>RAJU: Yes. Significant ratcheting up of powers, they plan to give to congressional committees To go directly to court to hold people in contempt if they are not complying with their subpoenas. The House will vote in a resolution next week that will hold Bill Barr in contempt as well as Don McGahn, the former White House Counsel. That same resolution will also include a provision allowing these committees to essentially go directly to court to enforce their subpoenas. Essentially, avoid the full House from voting on this. This could essentially help some of those members who don't want to continue to vote on all these contempt citations and also increase these court fights that could happen in a much more rapid clip but also risk, perhaps giving some of these chairmen a lot of power. Perhaps, too much power, some would say setting a President for future congresses but nevertheless escalation of sorts, as the Democrats say that all the subpoenas are not being not complied with and now the Committee Chairman will have the power to do something about it -- Brooke.</s>BALDWIN: Manu, thank you very much. I want to come back to this reporting on Nancy Pelosi. Listen, this isn't the first time we've heard Speaker Pelosi accuse the President of criminal conduct. Remember this, just a couple of weeks ago?</s>REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): We believe that no one is above the law including the President of the United States. And we believe that the President of United States is engaged in a cover-up.</s>BALDWIN: And remember, the President did like those comments very much because he canceled a meeting with Speaker Pelosi there at the White House and instead held that Rose Garden news conference dedicated to refuting the Mueller report. CNN political analyst, Josh Dawsey is a White House reporter for "The Washington Post." So Josh, I want to read this tweet. This is from a former spokesperson for Hillary Clinton's from Brian Fallon. And he tweeted this -- he tweeted, "If you genuinely think Trump belongs in prison, opening an impeachment inquiry is the absolute least you should do. I loved Pelosi but this is a trick. She wants to sound tougher on Trump rhetorically to mask her continued belief and a go-lightly approach."</s>BALDWIN: And it's on that latter piece, Josh. He's basically saying that she needs to seem tough but still get her way and being reluctant on impeachment. Do you agree with that?</s>JOSH DAWSEY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you have a rising crescendo of claims, Brooke, from Democrats who want the President to be impeached and you have Nancy Pelosi who's in a tough spot. Even her allies would say that, where she doesn't want to impeach him but yet she wants to continue to say, he did things that she believes should lead to impeachment and is essentially making the argument just for political reasons, we can't. And it's unclear how that works from a long-term sustainable perspective. See, if Nancy Pelosi who is really trying to keep some for more liberal members in check by all accounts, while also, talking tough on the President. But she's made it clear, even when she said she wants to see him in prison. She doesn't want to see him impeach over, and over, and over. And there's a chance that President Trump wins in 2020 -- wins reelection. And then where does that position stand. So, for a lot of her colleagues, it's becoming increasingly frustrating, it seems with how exactly she's handling this.</s>BALDWIN: So we just went through, you know, what had happened a couple weeks ago, right? When she said what she did about being a cover-up, flash-forward to the Rose Garden news conference.</s>DAWSEY: Right.</s>BALDWIN: You know, sent the man into a tizzy for 24 hours. But in saying that he should be in prison, you know -- cover-up prison, like, how do you think he is going to respond to that?</s>DAWSEY: Well, you saw her comments on the cover-up. It certainly sparked a pretty frustrated reaction from the President. He saw those on television that morning and have that unusual press conference and made lots of chatter by the next day at another press conference, basically, to refute what Nancy Pelosi said. He's overseas this week, so it's unclear exactly how much he's paying attention to the minutia back in Washington. But he has always has his eye back on domestic politics -- Brooke. So you can imagine that it will certainly provoke a reaction. We saw over in Europe, the President after 1:00 a.m. London time, and attacked Chuck Schumer for some of his comments earlier this week. So, he's always watching what they're saying about him.</s>BALDWIN: Yes, stand by for tweeting. Josh Dawsey, thank you.</s>DAWSEY: Thanks for having me.</s>BALDWIN: You got it. Let's get you to this Breaking News -- a tragic Breaking News, this accident in upstate New York has claimed the life of a West Point cadet and injured 21 others. U.S. military academy officials say this tragedy happened near the camp Natural Bridge training site, which apparently isn't far from the military campus. Officials say a military vehicle overturned early this morning. A soldier was behind the wheel. CNN's Polo Sandoval is live in Highland Falls, New York, where the training site is located. And Polo, we are talking as we've just learned from this news conference. These were senior cadets and it sounds like they were taking part in some kind of training exercise. Can you confirm that and tell me what happened?</s>POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was supposed to be a normal training exercise, Brooke. As we heard just now from West Point officials. These cadets were only a year away from their graduation when this training exercise essentially took a terrible turn. And one of them injured fatally in what was described by the superintendent from West Point as literally a vehicle roll over. This was a tactical a vehicle, a Light Medium Tactical Vehicle, often described as an LMTV that left the barracks this morning just in the six o'clock hour, on their way to that training ground, so these cadets could participate in land navigational training. When at some point, that vehicle, basically rolled over here. What I can't tell you here is that -- what I can tell you, Brooke, is that the terrain in the area there is described as hilly. So one of the main questions that is being asked at this point, did that terrain perhaps play a role in this accident here? Investigators coming in from out of town to essentially take a closer look at that, but again, we can't say. There were basically 22 people this morning on that vehicle, 20 cadets, one of them injured fatally, the others suffering non-life- threatening injuries. And those two soldiers, as far as the identity of this cadet, we heard from officials a little while ago, they will have to wait 24 hours before they release the identity of that young cadet. Obviously, they are still going through the notification process but, as we heard or as we've been hearing repeatedly are mourning here, Brooke, hearts are heavy. The air is certainly heavy here particularly for the West Point community that has now in mourning -- these individuals in the very early stages of their military careers. And for one, their life now cut short here at home.</s>BALDWIN: Just so tragic when you think of the -- I just immediately think of the parents. They send their son or daughter off to West Point. This elite military academy and ready for war, ready to serve the country, and this is what happens to their child. Polo Sandoval, please as soon as you hear anything more, let us know. Right now, the U.S. and Mexico are meeting, just days before a deadline, when the President's threatened tariffs kick in. Hear why the President just escalated this.</s>BALDWIN: And stunning images from inside ICE facilities on the border -- disturbing images, expired food, overflowing toilets, nooses -- see what a "Watchdog" found in this CNN exclusive. And we are just getting word that a health inspection is underway at that resort where three Americans died in five days down in the Dominican Republic. This, as the autopsy results are coming in. You are watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. We will be right back.