Return to Transcripts main page

Wolf

Trump Meets with Harley Davidson Execs at White House; Trump Denies Easing Russian Sanctions; Trump Again Blasts Obama Administration on Australian Refugee Agreement; New Details on Deadly Yemen Raid; White House Pushes Back on Easing Russian Sanctions; Trump at National Prayer Breakfast: Pray for Schwarzenegger Ratings. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired February 02, 2017 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00] DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We want to might easier for businesses to create more jobs and factories in the United States and you're a great example of that. That means we have to make America the best country on earth to do business and that's what we're in the process of doing.

We're re-doing NAFTA. We're doing a lot of our trade deals. And we're negotiating properly with countries, even countries that are allies. A lot of people taking advantage of us. A lot of countries taking advantage of us. Really terribly taking advantage of us.

We had one instance in Australia. I have a lot of respect for Australia. I love Australia as a country. But with we had a problem that for whatever reason President Obama said that they were going to take probably well over a thousand illegal immigrants who were in prisons and they were going to bring them and take them into this country and I just said why. I wanted to ask the question. I can ask that question of you. Why? 1,250. Could be 2,000. Could be more than that. I said, why. Why are we doing this. What's the purpose? So, we'll see what happens. When the previous administration does something, you have to respect that, but you can also say, why are we doing this? That's why we're in the jams that we're in.

You guys especially, the steelworkers understand what I'm saying, right? So, I just -- we have some wonderful allies, but we're -- and we're going to keep it that way, but we have to be treated fairly also. We have to be treated fairly. And this administration, our allegiance will be to the American workers and to American businesses, like Harley-Davidson. We're very strong.

In the 1980s -- and I remember this -- you were victims of trading abuse, big trading abuse where they were dumping all sorts of competitors all over the place, and Ronald Reagan stepped in and he put on large tariffs, and you wouldn't be talking about Harley- Davidson probably right now if he didn't do that. But we're going to help you, too. And we're going to make it really great for business, not just you, but for everybody. We're going to be competitive with anybody in the world. We're going to be doing taxing policies very soon. It's going to be coming out. I know health care is a big problem for -- every company is now suffering with health care because of the tremendous cause and that's one of the things we're working on. That and tax policy and tariffs and trade. I think you'll be very happy.

It's an honor to have you at lunch. I really appreciate your support. You give me tremendous support. Your workers in particular have given me tremendous support.

I want to thank the people of Wisconsin in particular. It was amazing what happened up there. That was a big shocker that evening. Wow. I'll never forget. Wisconsin just went for Trump. All of these people, especially that guy right there. And then they said, what's going on. Wisconsin just went for Trump and then Michigan went for Trump and then Pennsylvania. It was great. They were just great people. These are amazing people and they get it.

So, again, to all of you at the table today, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

TRUMP: We appreciate it greatly. Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, what's your reaction, off the table in Iran?

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Nothing is off the table.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: I haven't eased anything.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Well, I haven't --

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: There you saw the president meeting with representatives from Harley Davidson.

Let's get some analysis and some new reporting. I'm joined by our Pentagon reporter, Ryan Browne; our international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson; and our senior international correspondent, Fred Pleitgen.

Nic, your reaction when he said I haven't eased anything when it comes to Russian sanctions. You saw the announcement from the Treasury Department, that at least one part of the sanction imposed against the Russian intelligence agency, known as the FSB, Federal Security Service, was eased. One aspect of it. A very minor easing. But some are seeing it as significant because of the symbolism. The FSB was accused of being involved in the hacking of the U.S. presidential elections. Go ahead. NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. It's

interesting, Wolf, he would push back on that, but the general assessment is only a small easing. The Russians themselves have said, yeah, we've seen it, but it's not such a bill deal for us.

But the markets in Russia obviously reacting to it. That was positive.

Of course, what the sanctions are designed to do is send a message to the leadership, and way to pin pain on the leadership is through economy, and the way to get it a course correction to the leadership, Putin, is through the economy, and the economy has been suffering.

But let's go back a few weeks when President Trump did an interview with a German magazine and a British newspaper. He talked about the pain of sanctions on the Russian people, and that it wasn't necessarily a good thing to put the Russian people in that kind of pain. Here we've seen in a very small way, that pain has been eased. But the president here is brushing it off. That's surprising. It's as if he's saying, well, we're not giving anything away yet. Yet, he appears to be doing that. And we know from the tone of his phone conversation with President Putin that we heard from the Kremlin just a little bit short of effusive, full of detail. From the Kremlin's point of view, a good conversation. This seems to indicate that the president perhaps is already feeling some pushback from this decision, however, it was made. But it's certainly something at the moment that, for the Russians, as Matthew, was saying a short time ago, from the Russian perspective, this is a positive development in the right direction. Don't get carried away about it. But why is President Trump pushing back saying it's not been done.

[13:35:56] BLITZER: Yeah, he said there hasn't been any easing of the sanctions.

Fred Pleitgen, let's talk about the U.S./Australia relationship right now. You just heard President Trump, once again, blasts the decision by the Obama administration to eventually take in about 1,250 refugees who have been stranded on islands off the coast of Australia sometimes for years. They're in detention camps. The U.N. has called the detention camps cruel and illegal. These refugees came from countries, including Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, and Iraq. I know you've been taking a close look at this, the phone conversation between the president of the United States and the Australian prime minister. Give us the latest information you're learned about this.

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Australian prime minister came out and he didn't want to talk very much about the phone conversation. Of course, the info that we're getting is the phone conversation didn't go well at all and Donald Trump obviously wanted to confront the measure that the U.S. might be taking some of the refugees from Australia, of course, calling them illegal immigrants which, of course, sparked some outrage across the board. The Australian prime minister, for his part, said the phone conversation went cordially. He said he didn't want to go into any of the details. He also denied it ended in any way, shape, or form abruptly. But at the same time, Wolf, we have to keep in mind that Australia is

a longstanding ally, that they've pretty much gone to war with the United States since World War II, and is now is a major part of the Operation Inherent Resolve over Iraq and Syria there, fighting against ISIS. Certainly, this is something in Australia they see as a slap in the face. And there's a question of whether they should remain part of the alliance and continue its support for the United States in its operations, even though, as you see, the government in Australia trying to downplay the heat of that phone conversation and how badly it went -- Wolf?

BLITZER: And very quickly, the Australians say these 1,250 refugees are being kept in offshore detention centers. They tried to get in by boat and, as a result, they're barred from coming into Australia? Is that right?

PLEITGEN: Yes. It's sparked a lot of international criticism, that the Australians would not allow the people to come in to Australia. One of the things that sparked criticism as well was the conditions that these folks were housed in when they came there by boat. This is something where the U.S., under Barack Obama, tried to find some sort of solution to this problem, made this agreement. And certainly, at this point in time, the Australians believe that the U.S. needs to stick by it.

BLITZER: You heard President Trump call them illegal immigrants, who are in a prison right now. Ryan, you're over at the Pentagon for us. You're getting some new details on the deadly Yemen raid. What are you learning?

RYAN BROWNE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. We're actually starting to learn a little bit about the sequencing of events when it came to granting of authority to conduct the raid. We've already been told Donald Trump was the one who green-lit the raid, although, given the complexity of this mission, planning had gone months into the past into the Obama administration. We now know Central Command actually recommended the raid back in November, actually the day before the election. Now eventually it was approved by Obama Secretary of Defense Ash Carter. A lot of these details just confirmed by Sean Spicer. Only a few days after taking the oath of office, Trump had green-lit the operation, aiming to get as much intelligence on al Qaeda in Yemen as possible in the hopes of preventing future attacks of the terror group.

[13:39:55] BLITZER: Ryan Browne, at the Pentagon, thank you.

Nic Robertson and Fred Pleitgen, thanks to you as well.

There's more news coming in. President Trump weighing in on reports that he was actually trying to ease sanctions against Russia.

Plus, new details on the deadly Yemen raid that killed a U.S. Navy SEAL. That, and a lot more. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Updating you on the breaking news right now. The White House pushing back on reports that it's easing sanctions on Russia, saying the U.S. Treasury's Department's announcement that it will allow some companies to do business with the Russian intelligence agency, the FSB, is actually routine.

Here to talk about that and more is Republican Senator Mike Lee, of Utah. He sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Senator, thanks very much for joining us.

SEN. MIKE LEE, (R), UTAH: Thank you.

BLITZER: I'd love to get through a bunch of stuff with you.

Are you OK with this easing of the one sanction, the FSB, the Russian intelligence service, the Federal Security Service, as it's called?

[13:45:16] LEE: You know, I wish I could give you more meaningful commentary on that. I'm just learning about it now. I'm not familiar with the law. I'd like more time to review the material before commenting on that.

BLITZER: That's fair enough.

Let's talk about the U.S./Australian relations. Pretty tense phone call, we're told, over the weekend with the president and the prime minister. The U.S. doesn't have a better ally than Australia. How worried are you that this relationship can go sour?

LEE: We're always have reason to be concerned when a relationship with an important ally might go sour. My hope is that it won't. My hope is that we can achieve whatever objectives the president's wanting to pursue in a way that it won't damage the trade relationship or it won't damage other aspects of our relationship with Israel or with Australia or with any other important ally.

BLITZER: The whole notion of that relationship, the question right now is admitting 1,250 refugees who have been stranded on these islands off -- detention centers off the coast of Australia, some for a few years. The Australians won't allow them into Australia because they've tried to come in by boat and the Obama administration said the U.S. would accept them following some serious vetting. Are you OK allowing them to come to the United States?

LEE: Well, I would need to know more about that and what vetting procedures are being taken there. But this is something else I'm not familiar with enough to comment on.

BLITZER: These are all breaking developments.

Let's talk about other developments. CNN has learned White House is discussing scrapping an Obama administration program that focused on connecting law enforcement with Muslim American groups. The administration wants to focus in on radical -- the new administration -- radical Islamic extremism. But that group also is looking for white supremacist groups that carry out violent acts. Do you agree with getting rid of the program if it's turning away from white supremacists?

LEE: Look, I agree with any program that has its focus making Americans safer, while doing so in a way that respects the Constitution. The implementation of any program, whether you're starting a new one or ending an existing program and transferring the functions of that program to something else, that's going to be where the details are and only time will tell whether it enhances our security while respecting the Constitution.

BLITZER: It was interesting that the House minority leader, the Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, repeatedly referred to the White House chief strategist, Steve Bannon, in her words, as a "white supremacist," saying it was stunning to now see him as part of the National Security Council. What's your reaction to that?

LEE: It's nonsense. It's defamatory. And she's acting with reckless disregard for the truth. I wish people would stop throwing out arguments like that. If they want to focus on a particular policy, fine, but it's time to stop throwing around dangerous labels like that one. It's not helpful. It's not part of a productive discourse for this country. And I'd encourage Speaker Pelosi and anyone else who's inclined to use language like that to respectfully refrain from it. Focus on the policy. Stop attacking the person.

BLITZER: You were at the National Prayer Breakfast, I take it, this morning. We had live coverage of it on CNN. The president made what some regard as off-color remarks when talking about his own show "The Apprentice," as well as the Senate Chaplain Barry Black. I want to play the clip and get your perspective. It's getting a lot of buzz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They hired a big, big movie star to take my place, and we know how that turned out. The ratings went down the tubes. It's been a total disaster. And Mark will never, ever bet against Trump again. And I just want to pray for Arnold, if we can, for those ratings, OK?

Thank you as well to Senator Chaplain Barry Black for his words. I don't know whether or not that's an appointed position. Is that an appointed position? I don't know if you're a Democrat or Republican. I'm appointing you for another year, the hell with it.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The hell with it, he said. Mark Burnett introduced him, the creator of "The Apprentice."

You were there. Give us your perspective.

LEE: First of all, his praise for Chaplain Barry Black was very well deserved. It was one of the greatest speeches I've seen, presented by Chaplain Black. He was clearly acknowledging that and paying him a compliment there.

But seriously, Wolf, if you haven't had a chance to do so, please go back and watch Chaplain Black's speech. His keynote speech at the prayer breakfast was one of the best ever.

[11:50:22]BLITZER: Were you happy with the president's remarks.

LEE: Sure. Look, this president is unconventional. He has an unconventional speaking style. And he was true to form with that today. He's different than other presidents are. I think that's part of his appeal is that he's different than other presidents are. I'm not quite sure what your question is getting at. But people generally reacted to him well. Not everybody understood where he was going with a couple of those comments, but, again, that's part of his appeal is he does things differently than other presidents have in the past.

BLITZER: He's got a lot of fans out there. And to be fair to the president, he was introduced by Mark Brunette. He was trying to be funny or cute when he was talking about the ratings involving Arnold Schwarzenegger taking over "The Apprentice" program.

All right, as usual, thanks so much for joining us.

LEE: Thank you.

BLITZER: Tuesday, by the way, 9:00 p.m. eastern, the CNN special event, former presidential candidates, Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz, debate the future of Obamacare. Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will moderate. That's next Tuesday at 9:00 p.m., right here on CNN.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:55:27] BLITZER: A lot of developments coming out of the White House with the Trump administration.

Joining to discuss what we have heard and seen, A.B. Stoddard, associate editor, columnist for "Real Clear Politics; and our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger.

A.B., with Russia and Mexico and Australia, new tensions with Iran after the national security advisers put them on notice yesterday. A lot of people are worried out there. What's going on?

A.B. STODDARD, ASSOCIATE EDITOR & COLUMNIST, REAL CLEAR POLITICS: I think Trump does enjoy a lot of chaotic multitudes of news and breaking developments, but it's bothering other people, including people on Capitol Hill, who he has to work with on a very aggressive agenda. If you have John McCain coming out saying that he had to call the prime minister of Australia to assure him that they are one of our greatest allies and he found it troubling and unnecessary. And you have a pushback on Russia. They're not so concerned about this technical action was, but it wasn't truly an easing of sanctions. But they're concerned about Russia as an issue. All of them are. Only some of them are talking about it. Senators Corker, Graham, McCain, and Senator Portman of Ohio, have made it clear they are going to be pushing back on any attempts to lift any sanctions.

BLITZER: Gloria?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I agree with A.B. I think what the president has done has put everybody on their heels. Donald Trump has been doing this his whole life. I remember reporting about Donald Trump talking to somebody who's been in business with him a long time and this person said we would be having a meeting, he would walk in the room, throw a grenade, walk out of the room and expect everybody to work it out. It's not about nuance. It's about disruption if a way, and if you talk to people at the White House, they say this is exactly what he wants to do. The question is, what are the ramifications, the repercussions. And now that he has Mattis and Tillerson seeing him on a regular basis, will they be able to push back on him in a way that staffers have not been able to do? And that's a really big question because he regards them as his peers, not just people who work for him.

BLITZER: Listen to what he said on the future of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I have very serious concerns about NAFTA. NAFTA has been a catastrophe for our country, our workers, our jobs, our companies. They're leaving our country. I want to change it and maybe we do it, maybe we it, maybe do a new NAFTA with another "F." in the term NAFTA. You know what the "F" is for, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, right.

TRUMP: Free and fair trade. Not just free trade, free and fair trade, because it's very unfair. So, all of the statutory guidelines we are adhering to, I would like to speed it up if possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: North American Free Trade Agreement signed with Mexico and Canada more than 20 years ago, he wants to renegotiate.

STODDARD: Renegotiating NAFTA is completely a fine, reasonable objective, the iPhone didn't exist, it was a long time ago. However, this is just so illustrative of his impatience. If you talk to trade experts, they say, you soonest you can get a renegotiation of NAFTA, if he can get along with Mexico and Canada, which is not so great, wouldn't be until 2018. His impatience as Congress moves slowly towards consensus on a fix for health care, an infrastructure package, tax reform is going to be one of his greatest challenges because he wants to win on the board every day and wants things to happen quickly, but that's not the way government works.

BLITZER: Every day we're going to see the president of the United States. So far, we have seen him very, very active and I assume that's going to continue.

He's got a lot of energy, Gloria, as you and I well know. BORGER: He does.

BLITZER: A.B., Gloria, thanks very much for joining us.

That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching. I'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room."

In the meantime, the news continues right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[14:00:08] PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Pamela Brown.

We begin with breaking news on many fronts on what is shaping up to be a very busy Thursday.