Lets bring in constitutional attorney david rivkin. He served in the White House Counsels Office during the reagan and george h. W. Bush administrations. David welcome. Thank you for coming today. So, david, how strong is this president s case for saying that his aides dont have to testify because of this immunity . Very strong. It is a well established immunity, paul. It dates back to 971. 1971. The opinion written by a Young William rehnquist who, as you know, went on to be a chief justice of the United States. Been reaffirmed in nine administrations under both parties, its a very simple proposition. Its called the mediad vising immunity. Immediate advising immunity. They cannot command that he appears before them, those people are essentially his alter egos. But i want too emphasize one moe pointfo, theres another form of absolute immunity that is based upon a 1988 opinion by mike ludig. That stands for the proposition that National Security information, no matter in whose hands it is, cannot be shared in the compulsory fashion based hiupon something even more venerable than 1989s secrets privilege. Of course, t the president te people are being asked to testify not about some domestic policy issue, paul, but because of National Security paul does any of this change, this immunity change because its part of an impeachment probe which is a core power of the u. S. House . Its an interesting question, never been litigated this way. I would like to think that even though its impeachment power, impeachment does not reshuffle the separation of powers. Immunities are anchored in the president s statuss as head of the branch. I dont think so. But to be fair, its never been litigated in the impeachment context. Let me emphasize one thing, the house lawyers are not very sure of their position. Its been surprising where they withdrew the subpoena directed at mr. Cupperman who was boltons deputy because they did not really want and they then went on their own to the judge in District Court and asked the judge to dismiss the case. Does not sound to me like they really want to litigate this matter. Paul well, yeah, thats what i want to press. Okay, judge leon basically threw them out of the court, as i understand it, and said sorry. Does that mean hes going to rule on this . I believe that the case would go forward. I think he would rule on it. Among other reasons, the letter that was sent to mr. Cuppermans lawyer basically indicated were doing the subpoena now but were going to submit it again. Theres this concept, its called capable if repetition evading review. So if its going to come up again, might as well do it now. My fearra is that the democrats are not serious about litigating this knowing, a, they might lose, b, its going to take a long time paul well, okay, if thats the case, now, if they have dropped these subpoenas to have people appear because for whatever reason, either time or because they think theyll lose, how can you have an article of impeachment saying the president sobstructed if you havent litigated the issue . Excellent question. My opinion, the answer is no, but i heard today a statement from House Democrats indicating that the s mere fact forget litigation, paul, the mere fact that President Trump ordered peoplele not to testify is evidence of obstruction. Appalling because theres another set of memos that say constitutional prerogatives can never be possibly a bad or unlawful conduct. Paul all right. Letsnl turn to the new york tax case where the u. S. , where the District Attorney of new york has subpoenaed the president s accountants for the president s tax returns. The president has, resisted that claiming hecl has immunity from investigation for private acts before he took office, but the Second Circuit court of appeals this week said he has to turn those over. The president is going to appeal. How strong isng the president s case here on this tax case . More difficult case, paul. Let me say a couple of things. First of all, its a carefully written opinion, unanimous opinion in the Second Circuit the sitting that president cannot be indicted, but can be investigated just like mueller investigated. Saying whats the big deal about investigation. A couple of things. First of all, it is investigation. I hate to be formalistic, by state which is a different sovereign than the federalal government. Theres less federal control, if any, over the possibility that if the documents would leak, the testimony of accountants might leak. s second, its not obvious does anybody believe whos listening to us now that this investigation is not about, this really investigation into some tax return matters, this is not an investigation to get trump. The uses a simple pragmatic load stock, is it something that really impedes the president s ability to function. And i think we have to accept that in the current environment, it does. Therefore, you know, theres a famous paula jones case where the court allows, allowed the civil case to proceed against president clinton. Butt again, why . Because they did not conclude a single case would be debilitating do you know how many cases are pending against President Trump in case is going all the way to the Supreme Court and well be back to talk to you again. Thank you. 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But i dont have to clean this, because the selfcleaning brush roll removes hair while i clean. [announcer] shark, the vacuum that deep cleans now cleans itself. Paul former new york city mayor Michael Bloomberg opening the door to a 2020 president ial run, announcing thursday that he will file paperwork to qualify for the democratic president ial primary in alabama. Bloomberg advisor Howard Wolfson saying, quote, we need to finish the job and make sure that trump is defeated. He is concerned that the current field of candidates is not ready to do that. Lets bring in kim strassel, bill mcgern and Kyle Peterson. Kim, is Michael Bloomberg a welcome addition to the president ial circus. I think he is going to. Thto be. The more the merrier. Its supposed to give people choices and hone people and the ultimate nominee. The more competition, the better it is. Hes going to bring i think some new ideas. We talk about the ken centrist versus the progressives in the race. I argue that Michael Bloomberg will be more of a centrist on many things that the current field we have now. Paul bill, what are his strengths as a candidate going in . Obviously, theres the money. Hes a bell fair. A billionaire. What else . What does he bring to the race . He brings a good record as new york citys mayor. Theres two Mike Bloombergs. One wants to regulate the sodas and confiscate your guns and so forth. The other Mike Bloomberg helped drive down crimes to record lows in new york and start Charter Schools in poor area to give people a choice and also just sensible policies on zoning to allow businesses to flourish. The problem is, a lot of this is not popular in the democratic paul with the democratic party. I mean, look, for a party that people are saying maybe we shouldnt have two billionaires, they now have two billionaires competing for the nomination and i think bloomberg whatic was a great position on crime is going to come under question in the way Kamala Harris record as a pros cue r tore and joe bidens prosecutor and joe bidens support for the crime bill has, so its going to be e explosive. Paul the other billionaire is tom steyer who doesnt seem to be going anywhere. Bloomberg is thinking of getting in here because he doesnt think the other candidates are up to beating trump or he fears theyre not. Do you agree with that or is that just a rational to get in . I think thats a real worry. I think that a lot of mainstream democrats have voiced that, particularly with Elizabeth Warrens medicare for all plan that shes released now. A lot of them have said, even Hillary Clinton is saying i dont know that that can get passed. The question i think for bloomberg is why is his response to that getting in. If he thinks that the mainstream candidates who are already in the race are not doing good enough, he could take Amy Klobuchars finance director doortodoor and raise money. He could create a billion dollar super pac. Paul have you met Mike Bloomberg . He always thought he would be a great president. Only i can fix it, thats maybe his thought there. Paul kim, i want to talk about the executive point. Bill brought up his record as mayor. He does have executive experience, far more executive experience than anybody else in the democratic field. And in that sense he would match up pretty well if he could get the nomination with donald trump. Well, and thats right. Look, bloomberg is right, there are some real concerns about this field. Hes concerned that joe biden who is supposedly the centrist candidate now is struggling to raise money. I think theres very legitimate fears within the party that an Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders are simply too progressive to be elected. So he comes in and hes got the money and the wherewithal. Hes also feistier i think than some of the people in the field. The real question, it goes back to what bill said, is can he actually get through the primary contest. And i think hes got just as many marks against him in materials of doing that as he does things going for him. Paul well, and on that point, bill, you think the democrats dont mind when billionaires are funding their candidates, but already youre seeing the criticism from the warren camp and others saying we dont let another billionaire buy the election. And so the billionaire status, remember, he built bloomberg, a highly Successful Company that made him very, very rich in a at filled a need but its a double edged sword with democrats. A lot of democrats dont really like the private sector. Right. Well, look, i think there is a niche that needs to be filled because its hard for working class joe biden to support billionaires but if you look at the comments by jamie dimon, saying theyre trying to Elizabeth Warren wants to punish people who are successful. As you sort of allude to, i dont think Mike Bloomberg would be shy about his achievements and his [ laughter ] and his success. Its notice surprising that Mike Bloomberg feels that no one else measures up quite to Mike Bloomberg. It will make for an interesting debate. But i think there is an opening in the democratic party. Yoke this person i dont think this person can win, to say we dont want to punish success. These people who are successful, employ a lot of people and so forth and thats one of the worries about Elizabeth Warren. Paul yeah, i thin i think blog in the race will be fun. Well see if he means it this time. When we come back, Elizabeth Warren doubles down on medicare for all and takes heat from the left and the right over how she says shell pay for it. Well take a closer look at the math and the politics of her plan, next. Every year, our analysts visit thousands of companies, in a multitude of countries, where we get to know the people that drive a companys growth and gain new perspectives. Thats why we go beyond the numbers. T. Rowe price. Invest with confidence. Thats why we go beyond the numbers. vo the flock blindly flying south for the winter. They never stray from their predetermined path. But this season, a more thrilling journey is calling. Defy the laws of human nature. At the season of audi sales event. Saturpain happens. Aleve it. Aleve is proven stronger and longer on pain than tylenol. When pain happens, aleve it. All day strong. Its something we take personally, and believe in passionately. 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Xfinity mobile. Click, call or visit a store today. Paul 20102010 democratic hopeful Elizabeth Warren under fire from the left and the right over her long awaited plan to pay for medicare for all. Warrens proposal which the call pain concedes will cost nearly 52 trillion over the next decade will be funded by employers, financials transactions and Large Companies while existing spending on medicare and medicaid will account for most of the remaining cost. The Biden Campaign accuse warren of mathematical jim nat ticks intended to hide the fact that the plan would raise taxes on the middle class. Heres mayor Pete Buttigieg earlier this week. Its one thing when theres a difference around the margins. Its another when multiple trillions of dollars of daylight exists between what different economists expect. I think the Biggest Issue im hearing from voters, though, even above and beyond how are you going to pay for this, is am i going to lose my private plan. Paul were back with kim strassel, Kyle Peterson and wall street Journal Editorial Board member allysia finley. Kyle, give us a couple highlights of the subs tans of the proposals. First is the new taxes. There will be a medicare employer contribution, essentially that seems like a per head tax per employee. Thats supposed to raise about 9 trillion over 10 years. Paul thats a tax on anybody who works for a big company that now provides health care and that would be middles class. Right. Exactly. Theres also shes talking about raising the Corporate Income tax back to 35 . Applying it as a global minimum so if you make some profits in a jurisdiction where the rate is lower you would pay the difference. The second group is sort of waving away costs, administrative costs will be lower she says. Were going to pay doctors at medicare rates which some analysts say is about 25 less. Paul 110 of medicare. Hospitals will get 110 paul right. Thats 25 less than private insurance pays right now. She says were going to really slow the growth of medical spending and if it doesnt hit 3. 9 theres going to be automatic rate reductions, who knows what that means. And so analysts have looked at this, say theres waving around and assuming that costs will go down without really explaining how its going to what and how its going to happen without hurting Peoples Health care. Paul shes has a fallback in there. She says if nub of this works to add up to the way i hope it will then were going to impose global budgets and essentially y rationin