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Trump's Nominees Contradict his Campaign Rhetoric; Justice Department Investigated over Clinton Probes; Inspector General Investigates Other Issues. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired January 12, 2017 - 13:00   ET

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

SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D), HAWAII: I respect him as a colleague. But I have deep concerns about how Senator Sessions would use his prosecutorial discretion as attorney general to address a number of critical issues.

During his confirmation hearing, I pressed Senator Sessions for a commitment to vigorously protect every citizen's right to vote, particularly with regard to section two of the Voting Rights Act which safeguards Americans from discriminatory voting laws. He did not give me a satisfactory answer that he would scrutinize states voting laws for discriminatory effect.

I also asked Senator Sessions whether he would honor the Department of Justice's consent decrees that address police misconduct and enhanced accountability. Senator Sessions did not adequately assure me that his department would uphold these agreements without revisiting or renegotiating these agreements.

I pressed Senator Sessions for a commitment to defend Roe V. Wade in federal court and to enforce laws that guarantee the constitutionally protected right for a woman to choose. But Senator Sessions did not disavow his past comments that Roe V. Wade was one of the worst Supreme Court decisions ever made. And he does not acknowledge that that decision has a constitutional basis.

Should the Supreme Court be presented with a case that gives them the opportunity to overturn Roe V. Wade, I asked Senator Sessions whether what he would direct his solicitor general to do. Whether he would direct the solicitor general to go in and argue for overturning Roe V. Wade. He said that was a hypothetical and that he would not be responding. That was not reassuring to me at all.

Over the past two months, I've heard from hundreds of my constituents and a number of prominent civil rights organizations, including a number of them who testified yesterday before the Judiciary Committee.

After all of this, I will vote against the nomination of Jeff Sessions to serve as our attorney general. I am deeply concerned about how he would use his prosecutorial discretion to uphold voting rights, protect civil rights and protect a woman's right to choose.

Now we turn to Senator Tammy Duckworth.

SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D), ILLINOIS: Thank you, Senator Hirano. Thank you for being here.

As an American, living with disabilities, my life isn't like many of my colleagues in Congress. Getting around can be difficult. You saw what had to do to get into this room today. I can't always get into restaurants or other public spaces, and I have to spend a lot of time planning on how to get from one place to another.

And I understand that not everyone thinks about these things and for most of my adult life, I didn't either. But after I became injured in combat during my service in Iraq, I learned how important the protections of laws, like the Americans with Disabilities Act and individuals with Disabilities Edges Act, are to ensuring they can live and thrive with dignity.

Without them, Americans like me wouldn't be able to get to work, go to school, hold a job, pay taxes, go shopping or do any of the things people take for granted.

And that's why I'm speaking out today because it matters deeply to me who the attorney general of the United States is. The attorney general is charged with protecting disability rights and deciding whether to enforce or erode the protections countless Americans depend on in the critical areas of health care, education, employment, voting and others.

And we have a nominee who has a record of speaking out against disability issues. He's called the protections for people with disabilities, and I quote, "unnecessary" and even, and I quote, "dangerous."

He called laws requiring public schools to accommodate students with disabilities, and I quote, "the single most irritating problem for teachers throughout America today."

He voted against expanding hate crime protections to people with disabilities. The hate crime against an 18-year-old man with disabilities recently in Chicago should remind us that hate is not limited to any skin color and that civil rights laws, from hate crimes, to voting rights, to disability rights, protects us all.

I'm speaking out because I think it's important for Americans to understand that disability rights is a civil rights' issue. And it's an issue that my lawyer, the attorney general of the United States, should be committed to advancing.

[13:05:04] And if Senator Sessions is confirmed, I am deeply concerned about what will happen to citizens with disabilities, to citizens with different racial backgrounds, to citizens with different sexual orientations and to other marginalized Americans. Thank you for coming here today.

And I will now be joined by --

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: More Democratic senators just announcing their opposition to the confirmation of Senator Jeff Sessions to become the nation's next attorney general. It still looks like an uphill struggle, though, for Democrats. The Republicans have the majority in the United States Senate. We're watching that.

Two of the most important jobs in the new administration, or at least in the world, are front and center behind us up on Capitol Hill right now, as the U.S. Senate takes up the nominations of retired Marine Corps General James Mattis on your left for defense secretary under President-elect Donald Trump.

And Kansas Republican Congressman Mike Pompeo. He's on your right to become the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

In the morning hearing, before the Senate Armed Services Committee and before the Senate intelligence committee, both men took positions distinct from the president-elect. Highly suspicious of Russia, wholeheartedly supportive of the U.S. intelligence community.

Congressman Pompeo's hearing is set to resume in closed session any moment now.

And just moments ago, the armed services panel approved a waiver that General Mattis needs to become the defense chief, since he's only been out of uniform for three years, less than the seven years that is part of the law.

That waiver passed the Senate Armed Services Committee. Expected to pass the full Senate and the House of Representatives as well.

Also today, a key hearing on the domestic front. Ben Carson went before the Senate banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee over his nomination to become the secretary of housing and urban development.

And later this afternoon, all the senators are due to meet behind closed doors for classified briefing on Russian interference, cyberattacks, if you will, in the U.S. election.

Right now, I want all of our viewers here in the United States and around the world to hear directly from three of Donald Trump's critically important nominees, General Mattis, Congressman Pompeo and attorney general nominee, Jeff Sessions, expressing sharp differences with the president-elect, himself.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEN. JAMES MATTIS, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE NOMINEE: It is an imperfect arms control agreement. It's not a friendship treaty. But when America gives her word, we have to live up to it and work with our allies.

REP. MIKE POMPEO, DIRECTOR NOMINEE, CIA: With respect to Iran, we must be rigorously objective in assessing the progress made under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. While I opposed the Iran deal, as a member of Congress, if confirmed, my role will change. MATTIS: We have a long list of times we've tried to engage positively

with Russia. We have a relatively short list of successes in that regard.

And I think right now, the most important thing is that we recognize the reality of what we deal with, with Mr. Putin. And we recognize that he is trying to break the north Atlantic alliance.

POMPEO: It's pretty clear here about what took place here. About Russian involvement in efforts to hack information and to have an impact on American democracy. I'm very clear I -- about what that intelligence report says.

MATTIS: My view is that nations with allies thrive and nations without allies don't. And so, I would see us maintaining the strongest possible relationship with NATO.

I have had discussions with him on this issue. He has shown himself open, even to the point of asking more questions and going deeper into the issue about why I feel so strongly. And he understands where I stand.

I can tell you that in my many years of involvement in the military, I had a close relationship with the intelligence community. I could evaluate their effectiveness, sometimes on a daily basis. And I have a very, very high degree of confidence in our intelligence community.

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: If you were ordered by the president to restart the CIA's use of enhanced interrogation techniques that fall outside of the Army field manual, would you comply?

MATTIS: Senator, absolutely not.

SEN. JEFF SESSIONS, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE: Congress has taken an action now. It makes it absolutely improper and illegal to use waterboarding or any other form of torture in the United States by our military and by all our other departments and agencies.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Important words from important nominees for key cabinet positions.

I want to bring in our panel. Our CNN Political Commentator Symone Sanders is with us, former national press secretary for Senator Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign. CNN Political Commentator Kayleigh McEnany, a conservative contributor for "The Hill," our Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash, our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger, our Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto and CNN Military Analyst Cedric Leighton, Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel, former member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

[13:10:15] Well, let me get your reaction, Colonel, first. You heard general Mattis, former military commander, Central Command, NATO supreme allied commander, say, you know what? He's willing to stand up, take a position, even if he disagrees with the president-elect of the United States. And the president-elect, apparently, is OK with that.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Which is great for the people in uniform. It's also great for the intelligence community because what it says is they are going to be people in positions of great responsibility, such as secretary of defense, who are going to have their back. And that means a lot to the rank and file members of both the military and the intelligence communities.

BLITZER: And, Jim Sciutto, you heard Congressman Pompeo, who is nominated to become the CIA director, make it clear he's got no great love for Putin or for Russia, and he's very forceful in underlining that.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Two points. One, I said it earlier but I think it just bears repeating, that every national security nominee feels the need to express confidence in this country's intelligence services, to counter the message that have been repeated almost on a daily basis coming from the president-elect.

That's a remarkable thing, being drawn out by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers. They're, in effect, looking for reassurance.

The other point I'd make a big picture -- a big picture on. I had the same thought after watching Rex Tillerson yesterday. These nominees are outlining a pretty mainstream U.S. foreign policy. You know, the -- on NATO, reaffirming that commitment. On Russia, on China, et cetera. Some important adjustments.

And the adjustments they're talking about, if anything, are to be tougher on Russia, tougher on China. And those run counter to Donald Trump. Not just the way he campaigned, but the -- his public position still after his election.

So, that sets up some genuine substantive disagreements with his chief national security appointees. The question is, how is that resolved?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: And the question that I have is whether Donald Trump, now that he's going to have his own people there, even though they disagree with what his stated policy quite clearly was during the campaign, that if he has Pompeo over at the CIA and he has General Mattis and he has Kelly, and --

BLITZER: General Kelly --

BORGER: General Kelly.

BLITZER: -- for homeland security.

BORGER: Will he have more faith in the intelligence they present him, or the world view in Mattis' case that he presents him, than he would have from people who were in any way, shape or form affiliated with the administration that came before.

Lots of people have made the point, and I think rightly so, that the people in office now are career people and should be trusted in the same way.

But knowing Donald Trump, the question is -- and maybe, Kayleigh, you can answer this. The question is, once he has his people there and they are his, will he feel differently about these issues because he trusts them?

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think -- Gloria, I think that's exactly right. I think a big problem that Donald Trump has had with the intelligence community is that these are Obama's guys. That has been a part of his mind-set.

He looks and he sees -- during the campaign even, we saw the Congressional Committee come out and say, CentCom has falsified some intelligence to make -- paint a rosier picture of the war against ISIS to please the president.

When Donald Trump sees reports like that, it destabilizes his belief in the intelligence community. When there are leaks, it destabilizes his belief and trust in the intelligence community.

But I think you were spot on that when his own guys take the reins, he'll, of course, have the career intelligence people beneath them, but when his guys are in charge, he'll believe that there's the accountability that he --

BLITZER: Even when his guys, Kayleigh, disagree with his stated views during the campaign and he's forced, in effect, to accept what they are now putting forward?

MCENANY: I think so. I think you rightfully pointed, in the last hour, to an important moment and that's when general Mattis met with Donald Trump and changed his views on waterboarding. And Donald Trump came out of that meeting and said, you know what? He convinced me the efficacy of waterboarding might not be what I previously thought it was.

So, if I know anything about Donald Trump and my interactions with him, he's someone who listens and materializes your thoughts and takes them into consideration and alters his point of view when the facts demand it.

BLITZER: It does underscore --

SCIUTTO: Can I take issue with that there? Because there's a point you hear frequently. Once his guys or women take over, I just want to tell you what the intelligence community feels about that view. The idea that they work for a president or party is one that is an atacoma (ph) to them.

And the fact is, when you look at the four leaders who briefed the president and the president-elect last week, they are leaders who have served Republican and Democratic presidents. I mean, Jim Clapper's goes back 40-some odd years. Mike Rogers is an admiral. You know, they have served both administrations.

From their point of view -- I can't make a judgment as to whether they're biased or not. From their point of view, they delivered what they believed to be their best analysis to presidents and administrations, whether Republican or Democrat.

[13:15:01] And, frankly, again, when you speak to the I.C., the people in the intelligent community, they don't have a dynamic, where it's, I'm his guy. They don't want that. They want -- they want to be -- they want to do their job because it's -- because they believe it's their best analysis of the intelligence. And I also think there's a dynamic there that can become dangerous that you'll only believe it because then it becomes, what if they tell you information that's uncomfortable for you? How do you react?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But remember -- go ahead.

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, RETIRED AIR FORCE COLONEL: No, no, that's OK.

SCIUTTO: Go ahead.

LEIGHTON: The -- Kayleigh, to your point, I thought it was -- it's very interesting that you brought up the CENTCOM falsification of intel because what that issue is, is really people trying, in some cases, trying to be careerists within the intel community or within the military and they're trying to paint a rosy picture for their boss, who in turn, the CENTCOM commander, who then goes to the big boss and says, hey, these are the things that are going on. They're just like you want. That's the kind of stuff that you want to avoid. You want to have people at every level who speak truth to power.

This is very encouraging, I think, when you see these appointments, you know, that say, OK, we are going to speak truth to Mr. Trump, to Mr. Pence, and, you know, to everybody in the administration. But the issue that you have to look at is, how are they going to do this at levels below this? And that's where you have to really be careful.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, everybody stand by. There's a lot going on. Right behind us up on Capitol Hill, the testimony is continuing. We're going to resume our special coverage right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:20:50] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: There's breaking news coming in to CNN. The inspector general of the Department of Justice has just launched a full-scale investigation of the Justice Department, the FBI's handling of investigations into the Hillary Clinton private e-mail server, among other issues.

Our justice correspondent, Pamela Brown, is joining us right now.

Pretty startling development, Pamela. Tell our viewers what you've learned.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the watchdog of the Justice Department releasing this statement today saying that he will investigate pre-election actions taken by the FBI, as well as the Department of Justice, involving the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server and some of the allegations of misconduct. This request came from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill. In a sense, Wolf, we were expecting this to happen given all of these lawmakers who have come out and asked for this investigation to take place.

And I'm just going to run through some of the allegations that the inspector general says that he will be looking into. One of the allegations is that the Department -- or FBI policies or procedures were not followed in connection with or in actions leading up to or related to the FBI director's public announcement in July that you'll recall when he said that there was not probable cause to prosecute Hillary Clinton. And he also said the director's letter to Congress on October 28th and November 6th and that certain underlying investigate decisions were based on improper considerations. So that is referring to the letter from Director Comey to Capitol Hill saying that essentially the Hillary Clinton investigation will resume based on new information that came to light. So the inspector general will be looking at the circumstances surrounding that letter.

And it goes on to list an allegation that the FBI deputy director should have been recused from in participating in any investigative matters. Andy McCabe, of course, is the deputy director of the FBI and also the inspector general said he will look at allegations that the department's assistant attorney general for legislative affairs improperly disclosed nonpublic information to the Clinton campaign. He was the former attorney for John Podesta, of course, Clinton's campaign chairman. And WikiLeaks -- release of stolen documents through WikiLeaks showed that there was communication between the assistant attorney general and John Podesta. That's another part of this investigation by the inspector general.

Also a couple more allegations to look into, that the department and FBI employees were improperly disclosed nonpublic information and allegations that decisions regarding the timing of freedom of information act requests coming out just before the election and on the FBI's Twitter account, as you may recall regarding the Marc Rich investigation, the circumstances surrounding that.

So these are the allegations listed in this statement from the Department of Justice's watchdog. And he also goes on to say here, Wolf, that as this review goes on, there is a possibility that the inspector general will look into other allegations, perhaps extending over to Donald Trump's campaign. So it could include matters beyond just what happened surrounding the Clinton private e-mail server investigation. But certainly big news here, Wolf.

And we've reached out to the FBI, I should mention, but we have not received any statement from the FBI or Department of Justice on this news that the watchdog will be investigating pre-election actions taken by both agencies, Wolf.

BLITZER: That's a pretty startling development if you're the FBI director, James Comey. All of a sudden, you're learning, Pamela, that the inspector general of the Department of Justice is going to investigate how you went public with all the information surrounding the Hillary Clinton e-mails, whether or not she should have been charged. But, specifically, 11 days before the election going forward and saying, you know what, we're going to take another look. We're re- opening it because of the Anthony Weiner issue that all of a sudden came forward. Then a couple days before the election they said, never mind. It's a pretty startling potential rebuke of the sitting FBI director, James Comey. You got to read it like that, I assume, Pamela.

BROWN: Right. And as you recall, at the time, he was strongly criticized from politicians, frankly on both sides of the aisle because he made a decision that was breaking with Department of Justice precedent, which is not to publicly get involved with matters so close to an election that could be politically sensitive. And, of course, this was incredibly politically sensitive because it had to do with an investigation involving the Democratic presidential candidate. And he, as we know, announced that he would be looking at this new information that came to light through the Anthony Weiner investigation and in a sense reopening that investigation.

[13:25:34] Now in the -- in his defense, what he says at the time, what the FBI said at the time, is that he was just following through on a promise that he had made to Congress that he would keep them apprised of any new information that came to light. And we know there were several meetings and leading up to that decision, but ultimately the director of the FBI felt like he wanted to kind of go his own way and not agree with Attorney General Lynch and others within the Justice Department who warned him to not do this. He said, regardless, he was going to release this information of publicly. That will be under scrutiny, as well as the press conference that Comey held in July which was unprecedented coming out and saying that there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute Hillary Clinton, but that what she did was irresponsible and reckless and -- with the classified information that was found on her private server. So that will also be looked at.

And just other broad allegations that have come to light from both Republican and again Democrat lawmakers who have been calling for this as recently as just a few days ago. As you recall, Wolf, Jason Chaffetz said that he still wanted an investigation into the private e-mail server. So there have been these ongoing calls and now the watchdog of the Department of Justice is saying that he will indeed look into these allegations and launch this investigation, Wolf.

BLITZER: And do we know why the inspector general of the Department of Justice, Michael Horowitz, said he wants to review allegations that the FBI deputy director should have been recused from participating in certain investigative matters? Do we know what the allegation here is?

BROWN: Yes, as I recall, it was because his wife was involved in political matters. And as a result, he should have recused himself because of his relationship with his wife. He should have never been on board with the investigation. But it's important to note, she was no longer running for -- in politics when he took on a role in the investigation. At that time he was leading the FBI Washington field office. And then after she had left politics, he then went over to the FBI bureau to take part in this investigation. That is what the FBI has said. But as you can see here, it is an allegation. It is something that the inspector general will be looking into, whether he should have recused himself regardless, Wolf.

BLITZER: And the other allegation that the assistant attorney general for legislative affairs should have recused himself as well. Allegations that he improperly disclosed nonpublic information to the Clinton campaign and/or should have been recused from participating in certain matters because of what political contributions that this individual may have made to the Hillary Clinton campaign? Was that the assertion?

BROWN: The assertion, Wolf, as I recall, was there were information -- or communications, I should say, between this DOJ employee, the department's assistant attorney general for legislative affairs, and John Podesta because he was John Podesta's former attorney years ago --

BLITZER: That's right.

BROWN: And there was some communications that came to light where he gave John Podesta -- I remember one of the e-mails was where he gave John Podesta a heads-up about a hearing that would involve the Clinton e-mail investigation. I don't recall the other communications. But at the time, it was under scrutiny and criticized that there was any communication between the Department of Justice and Clinton's campaign chairman at a time when the Department of Justice was investigating her use of a private e-mail server, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Pamela Brown with the breaking news.

Gloria Borger, Dana Bash, Jim Sciutto, we've got our whole team over here.

It's sort of a very significant development because --

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Right.

BLITZER: You don't know. You open up an inspector general investigation like this, it could go for a week, it could go for a month, it could go for a year. You don't know where it ends up. And in that last line, "the inspector general will consider other issues that may arise during the course of the review." Once you open up an investigation like this, it can go anywhere.

BORGER: I think this is an agency that may be trying to get its reputation back, Wolf. During the campaign, there were lots of issues, as Pamela Brown just outlined, not only about what Comey said last July in extemporaneously commenting about Hillary Clinton's behavior, even though he had decided not to prosecute her, which is really out of the realm of the -- of the usual, and then the follow-up letter saying we're going to reopen the investigation and then closing it -- closing it down again. I mean if you talk to the Clinton people, as we all do, they believe this was dispositive in their -- in their loss of the election.

[13:30:14]