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Fact Checkers: President's Daily Average Of Lies Soaring; NY Man Charged With Threatening To Kill Rep. Ilhan Omar; Fisher-Price: 10 Infants have Died Using Rock 'N Play Sleeper. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired April 6, 2019 - 20:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: It's 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 in the evening out west. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Thanks for joining me in the CNN Newsroom.

President Trump sending his most direct message yet, his most blunt message, to people thinking of crossing the border, even families who want asylum here in the United States. That message, turn around. You can't come in. The president's words, the country is full. He said it Friday just a few feet from the U.S.-Mexico border. And a couple of hours ago in Las Vegas, he said it again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, Congress must end catch and release so that illegal border crossers can be quickly and safely returned to their home. Get out. Sorry, get out. Sorry, we can't handle it.

And I told my people yesterday, our country is full. We're full. Our system is full. Our country is full. You can't come in. Our country is full. What can you do? We can't handle any more. Our country is full. You can't come in, I'm sorry. It's very simple.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Very simple, says the president. You can't come in, period. Also today, revealed in federal court papers, the government predicts it could take up to two years to find out where thousands of separated families ended up after Border Patrol implemented the Trump administration zero-tolerance policy. Parents and children sent to destinations across the country after they cross the border. And now, some of their whereabouts are still unknown.

ACLU officials are furious about it. They say that time line is unacceptable. That finding these families must be done urgently. Listen to what the deputy director of the ACLU's immigrants rights' project told me just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE GELEMT, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION: We intend to push back very hard on this proposed plan and go to the court and say, this has to be rejected. There has to be a new plan and we need to do this immediately. We cannot leave these two, three, four-year-old children without their parents for another two years. They've already been separated eight months at least.

This is -- this is really shocking that the government is saying, well, maybe they can be separated for another two years, because we're not going put sufficient resources on to try and find these families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Joining us now, Democratic Congressman Raul Grijalva. He represents the largest stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. Congressman, this is where we find ourselves, as the one-year anniversary of the Trump administration's zero policy -- zero- tolerance policy is upon us. Are you surprised to learn that there could be thousands of additional separated families we didn't even know about and it could take another two years to reunite them?

REP. RAUL GRIJALVA (D), ARIZONA: Unfortunately, not surprised at all. The incompetence of trying to put into practice a policy without any previous work with homeland security and their personnel, not prepared for it. It was a response to a political point that the president was making.

Unfortunately, I think that the issue on the border, the issue with migrants, the issues of asylum an refugee seekers, the issue of our relationship with Mexico and the southern border is just going to worsen. Because, as we all know, this is central. This is the engine behind the president's re-election campaign to make those issues as bad as possible. And, more importantly, to keep them in the focus as he goes through the re-election effort.

I don't think Congress should allow that. I think Congress needs to look at real solutions. And they're available to us. Solutions that the administration has ignored and made the situation worse. They want this crisis to get worse.

CABRERA: I want to -- I do want to hear what your solutions are because, as we know, there has been a big increase in families and unaccompanied minors as well, trying to come to the U.S. And I want you to listen to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar addressing the challenges that this creates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX AZAR, SECRETARY, U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: We're in a tremendous crisis at the border right now. We are getting 300 to 350 unaccompanied alien children crossing the border and referred to HHS every single day right now. These are 10, 12, 13, 15-year-old kids. They're not coming with parents. They're coming across the border by themselves.

And this is -- these are historic levels for us. That's a 97-percent increase in February from the previous year February. It's just not sustainable at this rate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: A lot of children involved here. He admits, we need help.

GRIJALVA: Absolutely.

CABRERA: We can't handle it. So, what does Congress need to do?

GRIJALVA: And I think the plea is -- should be listened to. I don't disagree at all with that.

[20:05:00] But I disagree with -- that there is no solutions by the administration, including the secretary that was speaking. Is it's about making the situation worse and using it as campaign fodder as they go forward with the re-election effort.

I think the issue is regional processing center in the countries affected, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala. Something Barack Obama wanted to start but was canceled under the Trump administration.

And, more importantly, investing in ports of entry and not taking staff out of their customs' staffs and putting them to be doing the work of Border Patrol and ICE. Those have to be re-enforced with personal and with medical treatment and more immigration judges. And the list goes on.

Those solutions are available. There is no solutions coming from the administration other than the calculated decision for political reasons to make this situation worse. I think Congress needs to step in and begin to dictate what the solution should be. I think the American people want a solution. I want to see the same thing.

CABRERA: Well, what are you waiting for? Why isn't Congress doing that already?

GRIJALVA: I agree with you. I think there's an urgency here. And the American people have got to see that we are looking for solutions. And my party, in particular, in the House of Representatives. And I think that's the business we should be concentrating on.

CABRERA: The president, once again today, offering a blunt message to migrants coming to the U.S. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, Congress must end catch and release so that illegal border crossers can be quickly and safely returned to their home. Get out. Sorry, get out. Sorry, we can't handle it.

And I told my people yesterday, our country is full. We're full. Our system is full. Our country is full. You can't come in. Our country is full. What can you do? We can't handle any more. Our country is full. Can't come in, I'm sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CABRERA: And he said, over and over again, our country is full. You represent a border district in Arizona. To your knowledge, are we out of room?

GRIJALVA: I don't -- we're not out of room. The issue is that the rhetoric the president used at this particular conference that has been consistent for 18 months is to dehumanize the situation at the border. And to make -- and by dehumanizing it to make the people less than.

And I think that's the fundamental problem, that we should be talking about trying to fix a system that is broken and find solutions. And I think that's the step ahead. Because this president is not going to find a solution, he wants to make the situation worse so that it will help him with his re-election campaign. We shouldn't allow that to happen.

CABRERA: Congressman Raul Grijalva, it was great talking to you this afternoon. Thank you.

GRIJALVA: Good to -- thank you very much.

CABRERA: Former Vice President Joe Biden addresses his growing controversy with a joke in a speech, prompting some to ask, is he taking the allegations seriously? Former Congressman and Senator Ambassador Max Baucus who's known Biden for more than three decades joins me live.

Plus, a New York man is behind bars tonight for threatening a member of Congress who he allegedly wanted to assault and kill.

And later.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE.)

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CABRERA: Police released this dramatic body cam video of a deadly standoff between a gunman and officers in Georgia. Details on the confrontation just ahead. You're live in the CNN Newsroom.

[20:08:34]

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CABRERA: Joe Biden is not expected to make any public appearances this weekend, but all signs continue to point toward a presidential bid. In Washington, he tried to diffuse a controversy that has followed him for days, even during this moment at his speech to a union yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I have to stand all alone. But it's up to -- by the way, he gave me permission to touch him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: The former vice president has been accused of physical contact with women that made them feel uncomfortable. He told reporters Friday that while he's sorry he didn't understand more, he's not sorry for any of his intentions.

But that may be just one of the issues Biden faces if he jumps in as the party searches for its true identity. Former Senator Max Baucus worked with Biden in the Senate for 36 years. He's described as a firm supporter and joins us now. Senator, thanks for being here.

MAX BAUCUS (D), FORMER MONTANA SENATOR: Thank you, Ana.

CABRERA: Do you think Joe Biden has done enough to address these allegations?

BAUCUS: I think he has. It's a very sensitive point for all people over time. I have known him very well. He's a wonderful person. Very smart. Very intelligent, gracious, excellent judgment. But he's a -- he's a -- he'd be a great legislature and a great president.

I think, though, that the times have changed a little bit. The Me Too move -- the Me Too movement has been moving along pretty strongly.

CABRERA: And what was, perhaps, culturally or socially acceptable once back then --

BAUCUS: Yes. Yes.

CABRERA: -- is not so much anymore.

BAUCUS: But, I mean, he's addressed it squarely. He says, look, I understand. You know, I probably inappropriately interfered in people's personal space. But he didn't mean it. It wasn't sexual. It's just something he did.

CABRERA: Why not say, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I made you feel uncomfortable. I'm sorry I invaded your space.

BAUCUS: He -- I think he's almost said that. Whether it's enough isn't really a question. The main point is --

CABRERA: Do you think it's hard for him to say that?

BAUCUS: I don't know. I don't know that. I can't answer that question. I just don't know. But I do know that he's a wonderful person. He means no disrespect to anybody. That's Joe Biden.

CABRERA: I understand that. Do you think he should apologize?

BAUCUS: That's for Joe. He's the one running. I'm not.

CABRERA: Have you talked to him about this?

BAUCUS: Not yet, no.

CABRERA: And, if so, what would you say?

BAUCUS: Joe, you're a great man. Just trust yourself. Keep moving forward. And you keep addressing this in a way that you're comfortable with.

[20:15:04] He can't do something he's not comfortable with. And I think he's very comfortable in saying, as he has said, hey, he's been invading. It's personal space. It's wrong. And I don't think he realizes the degree to which the movement's changed so much.

CABRERA: Yes.

BAUCUS: And to a degree to which some women and some men today say, hey, wait, I don't like you in my space.

CABRERA: That's right. Let me also play something else Biden had to say about his place in the Democratic politics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: The vast majority of the members of the Democratic Party are still, basically, liberal to moderate Democrats in the traditional sense, the progressive left. We should be welcome. We should have a debate about these things. But the idea of, all of a sudden, the Democratic Party woke up and, you know, everybody asks, you know, what kind of Democrat? I'm an Obama-Biden Democrat, man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Does Biden risk losing some progressives in the primaries with answers like that?

BAUCUS: I don't think so. Frankly, I think a lot of people understand the bind that he's in and appreciate it and respect it. It's -- again, this is not an erratic sexual harassment issue. This is just an in your space issue. And I think that a lot of people respect what he said.

CABRERA: But he's talking about progressives and where the party is today.

BAUCUS: Yes.

CABRERA: And you could hear him, kind of, carefully talking about whether the party has moved too far left.

BAUCUS: Well, the voters will determine the answer to that question in the primaries, whether they think he has or not. I strongly support Joe.

CABRERA: Yes.

BAUCUS: I have known him so long, so well. I have such confidence and trust in him. He'd be a terrific president. There's no question about that. The kind of president that we need. He's experienced in world affairs. His judgement. Experience in the Congress. He's a -- he's a wonderful man.

CABRERA: I'm going to turn to some of the other big issues. Let's talk about President Trump's tax returns, because you chaired the Senate Finance Committee.

BAUCUS: Right.

CABRERA: You also were head of the Joint Committee on Taxation. A White House official is now saying they plan to fight this all the way to the Supreme Court to shield his returns. How realistic are Democrats that they're going to get them?

BAUCUS: Well, the basic question is, should the president's tax returns be public? Of course they should be public. Previous president's returns have been public. I ran for office many times. Mine were always public. All members of Congress make their returns public. It should be public to the public.

The next question is, what's the best way to get the returns public? The only vehicle right now is the statute that the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee is using to get access to the returns. And the next question is what he, Richard Neal, the chairman, is going to do with them. It would be better if Congress were to pass a statute saying, the president's returns should be public, but that's not going to happen.

CABRERA: That's not realistic.

BAUCUS: No, it's not realistic.

CABRERA: If you were in Chairman Neal's position, would you ask for those returns --

BAUCUS: I think --

CABRERA: -- in this manner?

BAUCUS: -- I think I would. But that begs the next question on how to handle them. Because, obviously, there's a real risk that it's going to be leaked to the public. And that would be violations of the law. So, it's a very tricky question.

CABRERA: We're watching the president return right now to joint base Andrews in Maryland, following his event earlier today in Las Vegas.

Now, you were also U.S. ambassador to China. So, I want to ask about the arrest of a Chinese woman who was caught trying to go into --

BAUCUS: Right.

CABRERA: -- Mar-a-Lago last weekend. The fed said she had four cell phones.

BAUCUS: Yes. CABRERA: She also had a thumb drive on her with what they believe to be malware among other items. President Trump called this a fluke situation. But here's secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, on whether it was espionage. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: So, I can't talk about the details of the incident. There's an active investigation taking place. But I think this tells the American people the threat that China poses. The efforts that they're making here inside the United States, not only against government officials, but, more broadly, it's one of the topics that's being discussed in these trade negotiations. The theft of American intellectual property is a big business to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Is the administration taking this seriously enough, do you think?

BAUCUS: No, it's not. I think that Secret Service has an ironclad obligation to protect the president and certainly protect any property that the -- where the president might be present.

I don't know what happened here. I have a hunch, because it's the president's only private club, that he told the secret service to back off and make it more club-like. I hope that's not the case.

And if it is the case, the Secret Service is not performing its job and standing up and saying, I'm sorry, Mr. President, this is just like any other place where you are. We've got to protect you. Because someone, in this case, maybe a Chinese person will come in and try to plant some electronic surveillance material -- electronic surveillance equipment. And that's not good.

[20:20:04] CABRERA: Ambassador, former Senator Max Baucus, thank you very much for joining us.

BAUCUS: Thank you. Thank you.

CABRERA: Good to have you.

Who is Tricky Dick? The four-part CNN original series explores Richard Nixon's rise, fall, incredible comeback and political destruction, featuring never-before-seen footage. The series continues tomorrow night at 9:00 here on CNN.

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CABRERA: Immediately after Robert Mueller submitted his final report, President Trump said he didn't mind if it was released to the public. He even applauded the work of the Special Counsel.

[20:30:00] But, this week, the president is reverting back to his attacks. Today, calling the investigation a fraudulent Russian witch hunt and claiming he has, quote, "every right to read the full report."

This as top Democrats are ramping up the pressure against Attorney General Bill Barr with the power to subpoena the full report in the wings.

Now, Judicial Committee Chair Jerry Nadler is now demanding the Justice Department hand over all communications between Barr and the Special Counsel, after several investigators on Mueller's team say Barr mischaracterized their findings.

Michael Zeldin is Robert Mueller's former special assistant at the Justice Department and a CNN Legal Analyst. Michael, when Nadler says all communications, what is he hoping to learn more about here?

MICHAEL ZELDIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think he wants to understand what the nature of the communications were between the Special Counsel's office and the Justice Department and, perhaps, even Trump's private counsel and the Justice Department in the Special Counsel's office, around issues pertaining to the subpoena attempt of the president and this question of the no-obstruction finding by Mueller. I think he had wanted to understand what was at the heart of those two decisions?

CABRERA: And no obstruction finding by Attorney General William Barr, though, because Mueller didn't actually say there was no obstruction. He left it open-ended, right?

ZELDIN: Exactly. Mueller made a decision which was, I don't have enough evidence to make an ultimate decision. So, I'm going to pass my report off to Congress and Congress will evaluate it under its authority to evaluate whether there was an abuse of power, impeachable offense.

Barr, if you will, intercepted that pass-off from Mueller to Congress and made his own unilateral decision that there was no statutory obstruction of justice. I don't know where he had the statutory authority to do that. That's not what he's supposed to do. That's what the Special Counsel is supposed to do.

CABRERA: And now, a source tells CNN, and also talking to other newspapers, like "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post," that Barr left out crucial evidence about obstruction of justice. I'm curious, because you know Mueller personally.

And I'm thinking back to that "Buzz Feed" article that came out back in January. And we saw Mueller's team spokesman actually come out on the record and refute that. I mean, how do you think Mueller would operate? Would he have put out a public statement to say, this isn't right? Or would he be more likely to have, sort of, people talking and more of a back doorway. Say, wait a minute. This isn't -- this narrative is, perhaps, wrong.

ZELDIN: Yes, I don't think either, actually, Ana. I think that what he's probably trying to do is get a report from the Justice Department over to Congress, or to the American people or both, that we can understand what his decision was about why he didn't make the ultimate decision.

Because I think it's important for us to understand when he says, there's not enough evidence to indict. But there isn't enough evidence to exonerate. What exactly he was thinking. I think that's what is most important for him, for us to understand what it was that he was thinking.

CABRERA: OK. So, "Politico" has some interesting analysis about Barr's legacy in this decision. And I quote, "Some members of Congress are even asking whether Barr himself has broken the law, saying his characterization of the Mueller probe allowed Trump and his allies to build a public narrative, clearing the president of wrong doing." Now, of course, it is difficult to evaluate Barr's conduct before we actually see the report.

But, Michael, if it turns out his initial letter was misleading, any legal trouble there?

ZELDIN: No, I think more political trouble. I think what Barr did was wrong. I have written a piece on CNN.com, Ana, as you know, which says, Barr you serped (ph) the powers of the Special Counsel. And he shouldn't have done that. That has created this political mess that we find ourselves in, where the president is screaming complete exoneration, witch hunt. Congress is saying, whoa, whoa, whoa. We need to see that report, and the underlying documentation and the communications.

And so, we're in a terrible situation. But I don't think Barr, himself, is in a legal jeopardy, just political judgment jeopardy.

CABRERA: All right. Michael Zeldin, as always, thanks for joining us.

ZELDIN: Thanks, Ana.

CABRERA: This week, we saw three whoppers from President Trump. So, why make these outright lies? Those who have worked with Donald Trump have a theory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it will work, I will say it. If it stops working, I'll say its opposite. And I will not feel any compunction about saying its opposite, because I don't believe anything in the first place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Up next, Trump's trouble with the truth. You are live in the CNN Newsroom.

[20:30:01]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: It may not be news that President Trump exaggerates, distorts the facts or outright lies on the regular. According to a report this week in the Washington Post," the president is now averaging 22 lies or misleading claims a day. Up from about six in the early days of his presidency.

So, why does he do it? CNN's Chief Political Analyst, Gloria Borger, found a pattern and the president's target audience.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Ana, Trump troubles with the truth from the gamut from his father's birthplace to his slot machines in Atlantic City. It's a bad habit that he takes with him wherever he goes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BORGER (voice-over): One day, three whoppers. Even for Donald Trump, impressive.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My father is German, right? Was German. And born in a -- a very wonderful place in Germany.

GLORIA: Fred Trump was born in New York City.

[20:35:06] And then there's his latest suggestion of election fraud, all but saying the 2018 midterms were rigged by the Democrats.

TRUMP: There were a lot of close elections that were -- they seemed to, every single one of them, went Democrat. If it was close, they say the Democrat -- where -- there's something going on, fellow. You've got to -- hey.

But we have to be a little bit careful because I don't like the way the votes are being tallied. I don't like it.

BORGER: He doesn't like wind turbines either.

TRUMP: And they say the noise causes cancer. You tell me that one, OK?

BORGER: Even his staff couldn't figure that one out.

MERCEDES SCHLAPP, WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: I don't have an answer on that. I don't -- I don't have an answer on that.

BORGER: All just the latest additions to more than 9,000 false or misleading claims made by this president, according to the Washington Post fact-checkers.

As Donald Trump himself said last year --

TRUMP: What you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening.

BORGER: Donald Trump has had a fraught relationship with the truth, one that goes back decades to the building and selling of Trump Tower, where Barbara Res managed the construction.

BARBARA RES, CONSTRUCTION MANAGER FOR DONALD TRUMP: He planted that, princess diaries looking for an apartment in Trump Tower.

BORGER (on-camera): And that didn't happen?

RES: No.

BORGER: Oh.

RES: But it made the papers.

BORGER: Sure. So veracity wasn't a part of it? It was just getting the buzz out there --

RES: Yes.

BORGER: -- about --

RES: Yes.

BORGER: -- about Trump? Did you guys laugh at it, or --

RES: Yes. Because there was nothing so terrible about it. I mean, you know, it was kind of like puffing. You know. It was like exaggerating.

BORGER (voice-over): Tony Schwartz, co-author of Trump's "Art of the Deal," has a name for this.

TONY SCHWARTZ, CO-AUTHOR, "THE ART OF THE DEAL": I came up with this phrase, "truthful hyperbole," which is -- you know, I called it an innocent form of exaggeration. Now, I can call something that I actually sold for $2 million, I can say $10 million and that becomes truthful hyperbole.

The problem is that there is no such thing as truthful hyperbole. The truth is the truth. Hyperbole is a lie. They don't go together.

BORGER: And they didn't go together during the troubled opening of Trump's Atlantic City Taj Mahal casino in 1990, when some of the slots didn't work.

ALAN LAPIDUS, ARCHITECT FOR DONALD TRUMP: When the Casino Control Commission went down there on opening day to check out -- that all the things had been done, many things hadn't been done. They shut down a third of the slots.

BORGER: Slots that were critical to the casino's success.

LAPIDUS: The slots are the prime revenue producer of the casino. To shut down the third on opening day was both humiliating and financially disastrous. And it was only done because he didn't have -- you know, an organization in debts.

BORGER: But that wasn't the story Trump told. JACK O'DONNELL, FORMER PRESIDENT, TRUMP PLAZA HOTEL AND CASINO: Something could go bad, like the opening of the Taj. And he would say, "It's because we had so much business here, that this happened." Not that the systems broke down. Not that we didn't know what we were doing. We had so much business, it broke down. Truly, he just would lie about everything.

BORGER: And he did.

LARRY KING, HOST, THE LARRY KING SHOW: What about the slot machine thing, where they were down for a while?

TRUMP: The slots were so hot, nobody's -- again, nobody's seen people play that hard and that fast.

KING: So, what, it blew out the slots literally?

TRUMP: They blew apart. We had machines that -- that --

(CROSSTALK)

KING: Would it be like too much -- what, fuse?

TRUMP: -- they were -- they were virtually on fire.

O'DONNELL: Donald is so wrapped up in hyperbole, that it's almost constant lies. You know, whether it's the little -- littlest things, where, you know, if you had -- if you had 2,000 people at an event, you know, he would say there were 5,000 people at an event.

BORGER: Lying when there seems to be no reason to lie.

SCHWARTZ: There's no belief system. If it will work, I will say it. If it stops working, I'll say its opposite and I will not feel any compunction about saying its opposite because I don't believe anything in the first place.

BORGER: Lying when it's in his political interest, as he did last July after his disastrous press conference with Vladimir Putin, trying to walk back this remark on election interference.

TRUMP: My -- people came to me. Dan Coats came to me and some others. They said they think it's Russia. I have President Putin. He just said it's not Russia. I will say this. I don't see any reason why it would be.

And a key sentence in my remarks. I said the word "would" instead of "wouldn't." The sentence should have been, "I don't see any reason why I wouldn't" -- or "why it wouldn't be Russia."

SCHWARTZ: Seeing it from his perspective, doesn't make a distinction between what's true and what's false. He's -- his only distinction is, what will work and what will not work.

BORGER (on-camera): And what happens when he's challenged with facts? What does he do? [20:40:59] SCHWARTZ: He has a genius -- you know, perverse genius for turning any situation into something that is evidence of his brilliance, even if it's not true.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BORGER: And one more thing about Donald Trump's father, who was really born in New York. In the "Art of the Deal," Trump says he was born in New Jersey. Go figure. Back to you, Ana.

CABRERA: All right. Gloria Borger, thank you for that. So that's President Trump's history of fudging the truth, just in his generation.

With me now, an author who researched the president's family going back 100 years. Gwenda Blair's best known book about the Trump family is this one. "The Trump's Three Generations of Builders and a President." Gwenda is with us now.

Gwenda, in your extensive research of the Trump family tree, did you find this propensity for lying, for stretching the truth, for not telling the truth to be sort of family trait? Or, has the president really elevated it?

GWENDA BLAIR, TRUMP BIOGRAPHER: It's a culture of doing what you can get away with and focusing on the bottom line. Not a culture of necessarily telling the truth. I'm not going to say that they went against the truth on principle, but let's say the principle was, whatever would benefit them.

His grandfather, who came from Germany, was born in Germany.

CABRERA: His grandfather is from Germany.

BLAIR: The grandfather. Yes, the grandfather.

CABRERA: Let's just specify because we heard otherwise.

BLAIR: Not his father, his grandfather came from Germany at 16, ended up in the Yukon during the Gold Rush. Got sort of put together the first grubstake for the family. And that was sort of the original fortune. And he did well there running restaurants.

Those -- one of the restaurants was built on land he didn't own. He filed a claim saying that he was going to mine it and claim the surface rights. He never mind a thing. And he didn't actually own the property, he built the hotel on it.

And when the real owner showed up, he had to pay him off. So that was kind of -- what you did. You did what you needed to do to get -- to get by.

CABRERA: So when we talk about the president saying his dad is from Germany, a lie like that, it may be kind of peculiar, maybe a little irritating, but doesn't really hurt anybody, right? But why does the president do that? I mean, what does he have to gain? BLAIR: Well, the other night, I saw Trevor Noah said he had a Fitbit that was like a lie counter. He had to get the most lies he could in a day. But I don't actually think that's what he's doing.

But, why not? I think that there's just no -- he's just looking for whatever is going to serve his purpose. That's the beginning and end of it, what he can get away with. When he said there was 68 floors instead of 58 in Trump Tower, that was because he wanted people to think they were higher up. And he's very, very sharp, as was said in the previous segment.

He's really sharp at figuring out what people want to hear. And if they want to hear it, they are not going to question it. They were not going to question that they were in the 68th floor when really it was the 58th. They were not going to question in Trump's first big project, the Grand Hyatt Hotel. His assertion that it was like the biggest ballroom in New York City.

Well, it actually wasn't. But they weren't going to question that because they wanted to think they were in the biggest ballroom. They wanted to think that they had the best of the best, the most super luxurious of the super luxurious. People wanted to hear that. I mean, he was very shrewd at figuring out what people want to hear is really a whole lot more important than the truth.

CABRERA: But doesn't the president or when you knew him, before he was President Trump, doesn't he see risk any risk in repeatedly not telling the truth, especially when he's caught? Because, of course, there's the whole boy who cried wolf syndrome, right? I mean, where you lie about something that's not important when it really does matter, there's that risk of people not believing you.

BLAIR: I think this is what I call School of Roy. That is School of Roy Cohn who was an early mentor of his who was really kind of a legend for being a guy who bullied his way through everything with a kind of a cold fish stare.

And Donald was very attractive to that way of doing things. He just bully your way through. It's amazing what you can get away with. That's what he learned from Roy Cohn. It is just amazing that most people back off. If you push back, if you double down, if you say it's their fault, if you call them and they knew -- they called you, most people back away. Most people are not comfortable in that situation.

Trump is extremely comfortable in that situation. He's comfortable pushing back, being the guy on top and making everybody just kind of wish he'd go away, and calm down, and stop, and could things get back to normal? That's what he wants to be, and lying, if that helps, why not?

[20:45:05] CABRERA: So do you think his father or grandfather would be proud that he's now known as the guy who lies all the time or would they be embarrassed by that?

BLAIR: I think they would say, he's the president. I think that's what they would focus on.

CABRERA: And that's what they would care about and they would then be cheering him on, I assume.

BLAIR: Whatever it takes. Whatever he can get away with, it's fine.

CABRERA: All right. Gwenda Blair, good to have you with us. Always interesting to get your perspective and insights. Thank you.

Death threats against a member of Congress now prompting the arrest of a New York man. He's facing charges. Why he allegedly wanted to assault and murder Congresswoman Ilhan Omar? You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Don't go anywhere.

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[20:50:13] CABRERA: A New York man is now facing charges today accused of threatening to assault and kill Minnesota congresswoman, Ilhan Omar.

Court records reveal the threats were made during a phone call to the freshman representative's office in Washington last month. The caller allegedly threatened to murder Omar because she is Muslim.

CNN correspondent Polo Sandoval is joining us now. Polo, what more do we know about these threats?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, this has been an investigation that's been ongoing for quite some time here, Ana. Obviously, we should remember that Minnesota Congresswoman Omar, she did draw some controversy for several of her comments since coming to Congress. And certainly would ever justify something like this.

She is -- so one of two Muslim women who are first to serve in Congress. And according to prosecutors who are managing this case, following this case, it was staff in her Washington, D.C. office who initially received this threatening phone call back on March the 21st.

It was a man on the other line who identified himself as Patrick Carlineo, Jr. He reportedly asked staff, do you work for the Muslim brotherhood? Why are you working for her?

And then according to court documents, he then proceeded to call threatened Representative Omar a terrorist and threatened her life.

What's interesting here, Ana, the charging document also states that not only did he literally spell out his name during the call, but he also even provided contact information. So it certainly would have been extremely helpful for federal authorities who are investigating this.

Eventually, they tracked him down in his home in Western New York and it was during a March 29th interview that Carlineo claimed to be a quote, "Patriot and someone who -- according to its court records, loves the president and hated who he believes to be radical Muslims working in the government. Carlineo is scheduled for a detention hearing on Wednesday. CNN has reached out to both his lawyer and a friend of his, but we're still waiting to hear back.

But we're also hearing from members of the Muslim community. Particularly civil rights groups in the Muslim community, CAIR, here in New York, which is the Council on American Islamic Relations. And the executive director there releasing a statement just a few moments ago writing that the rising threat of Islamophobia and White supremacy must be taken seriously.

He goes on to write that we are thankful that law enforcement track this individual down before he could act on his hatred for Muslims. CAIR saying that it's really the political environment.

According to them, normalization of hate speech. And also, it has emboldened certain individuals to express themselves in this way in a dangerous way.

But again, this investigation still ongoing, still trying to contact both his attorney. And also, we'll be monitoring this hearing that's scheduled for him on Wednesday.

CABRERA: All right. Thank you, Polo.

SANDOVAL: Thanks, Ana.

CABRERA: Frightening revelations about a Fisher-Price product for babies. After 10 infants die. The warning for parents, next. You're live in the "CNN NEWSROOM.

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[20:55:13] CABRERA: New this weekend. We have chilling police bodycam video of a 16-hour hostage standoff that turned tragic, just south of Atlanta, Georgia.

A gunman taking his very pregnant girl hostage along with her teenage son and refusing to surrender for hours. The 47-year-old suspect then opened fire shooting and wounding two SWAT Officers. Here's how it all unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(GUNFIRE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on. Come on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: So there you see an officer kicking in the garage door where his wounded partner was trapped inside. Police later found three dead bodies upstairs. The pregnant girlfriend and her 16-year-old son both dead from gunshots, and the suspect who had taken his own life.

A new warning for new parents. The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Fisher-Price say stop using this Rock 'n Play immediately if your baby can roll over. Since 2015, 10 infants have died after rolling from their back to their stomach or side while unrestrained. Warning does not elaborate on what exactly caused the babies deaths.

The Commission and Fisher-Price are now recommending parents stop using the sleeper once their child is three months old or exhibits rollover capabilities. Spokeswoman Patty Davis says, "If it turns out that it needs to be recalled, we will move forward with that."

Rolling Stones front man, Mick Jagger, says he's feeling much better now thanking fans on Twitter for all the well wishes. Jagger also thanked hospital staff after undergoing, what one source close to the band tells CNN was treatment for a heart valve replacement.

The band postponed their latest North American tour as Jagger recovers. No word yet on any new dates.

And finally tonight, I want to honor the passing of a small town American inventor who touched millions of lives. Dan Robbins made paintings as easy as one, two, three for generations of children and adults.

Robbins invented the very first Paint-By-Numbers kits back in the 1950s after World War II, creating a post-war art hobby sensation. Beginner kits started with 20 colors and increased with the level of difficulty. Robbins passed away last Monday at age 93.

I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Thank you so much for being with us. I'll be back here tomorrow night at 5:00 Eastern. CNN's "The Nineties" starts right now. Have a great night.