Interview with Mayor Bill de Blasio; Supreme Court Rules on Internet Sales Tax; Cases Dropped Against 17 Parents Whose Kids were Taken Away
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: -- kids are going through emotionally, mentally, but also, you know, kids who unfortunately contracted some kind of disease.</s>POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Yes .</s>DE BLASIO: That are being sent to where a whole bunch of other kids are.</s>HARLOW: So --</s>DE BLASIO: There's no rhyme or reason to it.</s>HARLOW: So tell me why -- I mean, you traveled from New York down to Texas, down to the border today for a specific reason. Why and what are you trying to see?</s>DE BLASIO: Poppy, this has to stop. And a group of mayors have gathered here from all over the country. I want to emphasize, a bipartisan group, Republicans and Democrats. Small cities, big cities, who all are saying in unison this policy has to stop. The executive order is not enough. We have to end the separation of families and we have to reunify all these families who have been torn apart, and we have to go back to actually respecting people seeking asylum. It is an American tradition for literally 200-plus years of people who come here fleeing oppression.</s>HARLOW: So --</s>DE BLASIO: We have to restore some real decency in the asylum process and of course we need an actual comprehensive immigration reform. This is becoming a bipartisan consensus on the ground all over this country. We are going to, as mayors, fight together to get this to actually be acted on in Washington. People have gathered here at the point of contact to say this is no longer acceptable to the American people what's happening here.</s>HARLOW: So as you know, the administration would push back on that and DHS, and say, look, the asylum seekers who do it the right legal way don't get separated. Right? And they go through that process. These are people that try to legally to cross over. Are you trying to get into some of these centers down there, Mr. Mayor, that are holding these children? And if so, have you been permitted access? Because Democratic Senator Bill Nelson just told me that he tried to get in the Florida center and, you know, they said no.</s>DE BLASIO: You know, up at the center in New York, the folks who work there is a nonprofit organization. They were welcoming, they were transparent, they were open. We're going to see in a few minutes when all the mayors gather here, whether we're given that same respect and that same transparency. Look, when our government is holding people, particularly children, and won't allow public officials to see, something's wrong right there. There's no accountability here. It's a dangerous situation.</s>HARLOW: So --</s>DE BLASIO: So we're going to go in, a group of us mayors, and demand access. I agree with you. Senators and Congress people have been turned away and that should bother all Americans.</s>HARLOW: It sounds like, according to Senator Nelson, they were told you need to give us two weeks' notice before we let you in, so it's not -- they're not being let it. It's two weeks' notice. You're shaking your head. I understand you want to see it right away. Understandably there's also privacy issues. But do let us know if you get in. Let me just talk about compromise. That is the operative word but it's the word that is missing on Capitol Hill because even if this compromise Republican bill makes it through the House, no way it's going to make it through the Senate. And it doesn't look like it has any Democratic votes. What do you think? And you don't have a vote in this. You're not in Congress. But what do you think your fellow Democrats in Congress, Mr. Mayor, should give on? Should they fund the wall, for example, to protect Dreamers and to end the family separation?</s>DE BLASIO: Look, I think the big answer is to go for comprehensive immigration reform. And we all understand there's going to be compromises in that process. But here's what's interesting, Poppy, and that's why mayors are gathering because the grassroots have to really be felt here. The current reality in Congress is they prefer not to act for a variety of reasons. The American people is pretty clear. They want comprehensive immigration reform. They want the Dreamers to be able to stay. They want these families reunified.</s>HARLOW: Right.</s>DE BLASIO: That's the framework right there.</s>HARLOW: Should Democrats fund the wall to get that?</s>DE BLASIO: So of course there's going to be compromise.</s>HARLOW: Should it conclude money for the --</s>DE BLASIO: There has to be compromise, I understand that, but the --</s>HARLOW: For the wall.</s>DE BLASIO: It needs to be a comprehensive immigration reform. Here's the bottom line. It needs to be a comprehensive immigration reform. The notion of trading one small piece for another and not solving the problem, misunderstands what's going on in this crisis. We're having a moral crisis right now. And actually most people in this country want that fundamental moral crisis addressed in a comprehensible manner. They can deal with compromise. We can all deal with compromise but we don't want to nickel and dime it. Let's actually solve this challenge and come up with a comprehensive immigration reform.</s>HARLOW: I think everyone who makes these decisions should think if those were my kids, what would I be doing? Mayor Bill de Blasio, thank you. Please let us know, will you, if you get into the center. I do have to jump to some breaking news out of the Supreme Court, but I appreciate your time. As I said, breaking news out of the Supreme Court. They just issued a ruling on Internet sales tax. It could matter for you. This brought to the high court. Joe Johns is outside of it with more. What was this case about? What's the decision?</s>JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Poppy, I know you're interested in this case and it affects just about anybody who shops online in the United States of America quite frankly. The headline on the case is the Supreme Court allow states to compel retailers to collect out-of-state tax from out-of-state online vendors. So what that means is a lot of people when they shop online may be under the impression that they're not paying sales tax. The fact of the matter is this is a huge business, perhaps $100 billion over the next 10 years that the states would have lost if the courts had ruled the other way. That's at least according to some estimates. Some other estimates including the GAO say something like between 80 percent and 90 percent of the top online vendors actually already collect this tax. Nonetheless, the importance of it is now the online vendors and others who are out of state and importantly don't have brick and mortar buildings or people, employees, working in that particular state will have to now collect the sales tax. Poppy, as you know, the states have been chomping at the bit on this. Connecticut, by the way, has already told vendors, you'd better get that money ready.</s>HARLOW: Yes.</s>JOHNS: Back to you.</s>HARLOW: All right. Appreciate that. And of course, we're still waiting to hear from the high court what the decision is on the travel ban case. So still waiting for that one. Thank you very much. Appreciate it, Joe Johns. The power of women. How the first lady and Ivanka Trump used their influence to sway the president on this executive order concerning separation at the border, ahead.