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Trump Meets with U.S. Senate Following Speaker Meeting; Stunning Concerns of Saudi Arabia's Ties with 9/11 Terrorists; Interview with Dan Quayle. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired May 12, 2016 - 14:30   ET

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

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[14:30:55] JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Jake Tapper live on Capitol Hill.

Donald Trump's final meeting today on Capitol Hill with lawmakers was with Republican leaders in the U.S. Senate. He met with all these Senators, several of whom are committee chairmen. Some of them are already advocating for Trump as the presumed nominee.

With me now to discuss is CNN political commentator, Kellyanne Conway, a Republican pollster and president and CEO of The Polling Company; CNN delegate analyst, Mike Shields, who is also the president of the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC dedicated to expanding the House Republican majority. Mike used to be the chief of staff for Reince Priebus at the RNC.

And of course, we begin with CNN's Manu Raju, who has more on how that meeting in the U.S. Senate with Mr. Trump.

Manu, what happened?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: It was positive, Jake. We were talking to Senators that briefed the rest of the Republican conference and they said it was very good. Actually, Donald Trump was listening most of the time and not talking. And a number of Senators laid out what they wanted him to focus on, talking about taxes, judges, controversial things like the ban of Muslims, not a big focus of the discussion. And folks felt positive. A Senator told me they actually kind of liked him, and it was very good effort by Donald Trump to tamp things down.

And I should add that even Ted Cruz, who is at the -- not at the meeting but at the lunch, where got briefed. They asked him about it afterwards. He came and spoke at the lunch and said, look, I'm sorry. I really didn't want to come back to the Senate, and everyone laughed. And John McCain stood up and said, well, we didn't want you back either.

(LAUGHTER)

So the mood of the conference was very good today. Surprisingly good day for Donald Trump. TAPPER: And a couple of positive comments of two people who not only

ran against Donald Trump and lost to him, obviously, but really have seemed to be in the Never Trump category, Lindsey Graham, Senator from South Carolina, and Rand Paul, Senator from Kentucky, both of them saying nice things.

RAJU: That's right. Lindsey Graham, a charm offensive by Donald Trump reaching out to Graham, something that we wouldn't have expected.

And I just caught up with Rand Paul outside of the capitol and asked him, do you think the party can be unified behind him, and he said yes, I think we'll get there to be unified.

So we're really seeing the party fall in line behind Donald Trump.

TAPPER: Really, remarkable.

Mike, let me ask you, what are you hearing on Capitol Hill? You're more of a House than a Senate guy. What are you hearing about the meetings went?

MIKE SHIELDS, CNN DELEGATE ANALYST & PRESIDENT, CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP FUND SUPER PAC: First of all, kudos to Reince Priebus. You have --

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: Your former boss.

SHIELDS: Former boss, true.

TAPPER: Not biased.

SHIELDS: I hear from people. Has one of the hardest jobs in politics but continues to be the steady hand. They're talking to the Trump campaign every day. He's very close to Paul Ryan. Being able to bring them together and have that meeting today is the first thing. The second thing is politics is a team sport, and I think House Republicans know that very, very well. Donald Trump has not seen that yet. He won a primary sort of on his own, a businessman on his own. And I think because Paul Ryan sort of said what he said to you last week, this is why you're hearing the meetings happening, it is a lesson to teach the nominee, we have to work together. A Republican president is not elected in modern times without 91 percent of his own party. And Donald Trump needs them on board. They want to be with him. They want to have a unified party. I think that team mentality is something that came across today.

TAPPER: In a way, people look at what Speaker Ryan said last week and say, that might have been like a warning shot. Hey, you need to come aboard and start trying to unite us. That's what Paul Ryan said, and possibly it worked.

Kellyanne, let me bring you in. Do you think Donald Trump -- I don't think this is going to happen but

do you think Donald Trump can win the presidency without the serious backing and endorsement of Republicans on Capitol Hill?

[14:34:45] KELLYANNE CONWAY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think he'll have the backing and today was a giant step toward doing that. He did what politicians did, he visits them. Put on a charm offensive and he gave them access to their presumptive Republican nominee. I have to say, too, that I think these Republican Senators and staffers and House members must smell blood in the Democratic water today because what you heard from others involved in the official capacity is something you don't hear right now out of the Democratic party and not unify there and Bernie Sanders doubling down beating Hillary Clinton in 2 states and saying just this week it would be, quote, dangerous to nominate her. Who would have thought Hillary Clinton presumptive nominee for eight years have a tough time and not claim the same unify today that Paul Ryan and Donald Trump can claim?

TAPPER: Manu, a thing struck me from the comments of Paul Ryan and others is an almost -- you need a Washington to English/English to Washington dictionary sometimes covering this town. People saying, oh, you know, it was a really contentious primary. People saying that here. What they mean, the translation for you people back home is Donald Trump said and did a lot of things we really don't approve of. That's what that means. Right?

RAJU: Absolutely right. The interesting thing is Republicans seem to avoid that today. They sort of want to paper over those differences and they want to --

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: Paul Ryan, I want to look forward.

RAJU: Looking forward. Trying to press him, saying there's major issues that you disagree on. He said, look, those are, you know, these are other things we agree on both things and we agree on beating Hillary Clinton. Senators and the House members did not confront Donald Trump the way that maybe we thought they may coming in, and a reason why is they believe they just need to get over the fact that Donald Trump is going to be the nominee, the primary season is over, and it's time to put the full muscle and the backing of the party behind it.

TAPPER: Mike, I guess that's a point. The message from a lot of people on Capitol Hill is, get over it. The choice is Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. And we got to go with Donald Trump.

SHIELDS: Hillary Clinton is a great unifier of the Republican Party and that's where we are headed. And I'll also tell you that some polling that came out right before this meeting couldn't have been better times for Donald Trump showing him neck and neck with Hillary. If that's a gap, he was looking like he was losing to her in key states, this might have been a different day for him, but people realizing he may win. I think that's a team sport thing that we were talking about, that was good timing for the polls to come out today when he went to Capitol Hill.

TAPPER: Kellyanne, what is your take on when, and, if Senator Ted Cruz gets on board the Trump train?

CONWAY: I'm glad he attended the lunch today, the briefing. Certainly, I respect Senator Cruz and the timeline and decision. That was a raucous, personal primary toward the end there, Jake, as CNN covered bit by bit. And I think there's, you know, there's some personal insults towards family members that's not easy to soothe over and Ted Cruz is loyal to the conservative movement. I think he'll be loyal to the Republican Party. And he has delegates and what will they do as well as what will he do?

I also wanted to mention something because Ted Cruz is partly responsible for this. The statement Ryan and Trump put out today is remarkable for the sentence. It said, quote, "We are proud that are millions of new voters in the Republican Party this year." That's absolutely true. And that really, of course, due, in large part, to Donald Trump. Ted Cruz brought them as second place comers, as well. I hope he got a nice reception, applause by the fellow Senators. He is back on the job. He said he'll run again in 2018 and we'll see. It might take him longer, if ever.

TAPPER: As you point out, his wife and father were attacked in many ways by Mr. Trump and the Trump campaign.

Kellyanne Conway, Mike Shields, Raju Manu, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Brooke, back to you.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Tapper, I like your English to Washington/Washington to English dictionary idea very much.

We'll get to back to more politics in a moment.

But coming up, stunning development. A member of the 9/11 commission speaking out today, raising new concerns about Saudi Arabia's alleged ties to the September 11th terrorist attacks. Jim Sciutto talked to him. We'll get the details, next.

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[14:43:30] TAPPER: Welcome back. I'm Jake Tapper.

Stunning new concerns of Saudi Arabia's alleged ties to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. One of the former members of the 9/11 Commission, John Layman, now says that the report that eventually said that there was no evidence turned up of direct involvement in the attacks by the government or senior officials of Saudi Arabia, he says that came down to semantics and circumstantial evidence. Of course, this comes at a time of tense talks about whether to release the full congressional report and the infamous 28 pages, which some say contains evidence of direct ties between Saudi officials and the al Qaeda terrorists.

Joining me now, Jim Sciutto, chief national security correspondent. Jim, you spoke with Mr. Layman. What did he have to say?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I spoke with him early this morning and he said when you the 28 pages, to be clear, from an earlier congressional report, and not the 9/11 Commission itself, and in there is at least evidence, not conclusions, evidence, that as of many as six Saudi individuals in the U.S. at the time of the attacks helped and supported the 9/11 hijackers. As you say, Jake, we're not talking about senior government officials, but for instance someone that worked at the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles, someone at the Saudi embassy here in Washington, D.C., as well as people who work for government-tied charities, a Saudi government-tied mosque, and support, even, for instance, driving two of the hijackers from a flight school in San Diego to one in Phoenix. He says this is not a smoking gun but says that there are leads in those 28 pages that is the public should know about and that the FBI and others should be able to investigate more thoroughly.

[14:45:14] TAPPER: Jim, this really comes at a remarkable time. There's legislation that would allow the 9/11 victims' families to sue the Saudi government because of the biggest mass murder in the history of this nation, and the Obama administration is standing not with American citizens but with the Saudi government.

SCIUTTO: No question. I mean, certainly going to have at least an affect on that case. Now to be clear here, though, he is not saying and others are not saying there's evidence that the Saudi government had a policy or foreknowledge of these attacks. It doesn't say senior officials directed these lower level officials, if it's found they were involved. But what he says the conclusion of the 9/11 report, which said there was no Saudi government involvement and that there were no senior officials who directed this, was intentionally qualified in that way because it leaves open the possibility that others tied to the government, perhaps without knowledge of senior officials, did something to support the attacks, and that's what he's saying has to be investigated further. It's hard to see -- we know how that would affect the case because this is about suing the Saudi government itself. But you and I know that very public trials like this can be affected by allegations like this in public, and if the investigation started again, that would give political backing more ammunition as it were to the lawyers for these families.

TAPPER: Very interesting.

Jim Sciutto, thank you so much.

SCIUTTO: Thank you.

TAPPER: Back to you, Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Jake, thank you.

Coming up next, the other half of the Trump ticket. Who might make the cut and what kind of vice president should he choose? We'll talk to CNN's Jamie Gangel who sat down with former Vice President Dan Quayle. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you have any advice for him on the kind of person he should pick for vice president?

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[14:51:06] BALDWIN: Just in to CNN, hours after George Zimmerman said he was auctioning off the gun that killed Trayvon Martin, he is now moving the auction. Zimmerman, acquitted in Martin's death, put the pistol up for sale on a website this morning and the site couldn't handle all the traffic. And he says he wants to raise money to fight the, quote, "Black Lives Matter violence against police," end quote.

He was a heartbeat away from the presidency at the time when the Republican party was flying high and that was more than two decades ago. Now with the Republican Party trying to mend a historic divide, the former vice president, Dan Quayle, is opening up. He is talking to CNN, saying that the party should unite behind the presumptive nominee, Donald Trump, and even has a couple of ideas for who should be his running mate.

She gets all the great interviews. She is Jamie Gangel, who sat down with the former vice president, who shared his thoughts on this year's contentious race for the White House, and she joins me with more on her one-on-one.

We haven't heard from Dan Quayle in quite a while, Jamie. What did he say?

GANGEL: First of all, not only does he think the GOP should rally around Donald Trump, he believes Paul Ryan specifically is going to come around. And we also asked him about, of course, the one that he and Paul Ryan have in common, being a vice presidential candidate. Listen.

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GANGEL: Do you have any advice for him on the kind of person he should pick for vice president?

DAN QUAYLE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yeah. I think that he needs to probably have a younger person and somebody that has -- comes from the conservative wing of the party, if you will. There are many people out there.

GANGEL: Any names come to mind?

QUAYLE: Well, the two that would be clearly folks to consider, I'm certainly -- I'm certain he will -- one would be Marco Rubio, from Florida.

GANGEL: He says he doesn't want it.

QUAYLE: They all say that. Let's wait and see. And John Kasich, from Ohio.

GANGEL: He also says he doesn't want it.

QUAYLE: You know, they all say that until the phone call comes in.

GANGEL: I know you're past this but if Donald Trump called you up and said, would you be my vice president, you would be comfortable with that?

QUAYLE: Look, I was young and conservative at one time, and that would have been a good choice. But I'm now much older and, quite frankly, I'm not sure how conservative I am these days compared to where the party might be today.

GANGEL: Has it been surreal watching this process?

QUAYLE: It's been really quite unbelievable. And it's interesting. It's entertaining. I travel around the world and people -- that's all they want to do. Who's going to be the next president? What's going on? So, you know, America's political presidential campaign has got the world's attention. More so this time than perhaps any time in our history.

GANGEL: Anybody else on your short list for Donald Trump?

QUAYLE: I think he should pick a person that has political experience. If you want to look at somebody with stature and really substance that would be a great vice president, it would be Senator Rob Portman from Ohio. He would be an excellent choice. There's a couple other Senators, a couple other governors. We have got good governor in the state of Oklahoma and New Mexico. There's a big, big array of from.

GANGEL: Rob Portman would be your personal choice?

QUAYLE: Rob Portman, to me, would be an excellent vice president and somebody that should be seriously considered. He's got all the credentials. He's well respected on both sides of the aisle in the Senate. He's been in government. He was trade representative. He was director of the OMB. He knows government. And he would be a good partner for Donald Trump.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[14:55:03] GANGEL: Brooke, let's just say for the record, Portman has said he's not interested either. But as you heard Dan Quayle tell us, everyone says that until they get the call.

One thing to keep in mind, even though Senator Portman is running for re-election, Ohio law does allow him to run for both the Senate and the vice presidency at the same time. So, if Trump chooses him, if he calls, he could do both -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: Everybody making the point, a no in May, could be a yes in July.

Jamie Gangel, fascinating conversation with Dan Quayle.

GANGEL: Thank you.

BALDWIN: It was good to see him.

Thank you so much.

Coming up next, much more on the high-stakes meeting between Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan this morning in Washington. We have now heard from former House Speaker John Boehner. He weighing in today with a message that doubts that Trump can win the White House.

Plus, Dana Bash, one-on-one with the man whose office was the backdrop for this meeting, Reince Priebus. His immediate reaction to today's so-called Paul Ryan primary.

You're watching CNN special live coverage.

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