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Intruder on White House Grounds; White House Claim and Apology; Undercutting Intelligence Cooperation; Monday's Hearing with FBI Director; Homeland Security Secretary on Immigration. Aired -1:30p ET

Aired March 17, 2017 - 13:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 6:00 p.m. in Berlin. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

There's breaking news this hour, as we keep our eye on the east room over at the White House. In just a few minutes, President Trump and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, will make statements to the press and then they'll take reporters' questions.

The two met in the Oval Office just a little while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Send a good picture back to Germany, please. Make sure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How did your talks go, Mr. President?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Very good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you talk about NATO? (INAUDIBLE.)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Many things.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very good.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President -- Mr. President -- handshake, Mr. President?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Our Senior Washington Correspondent Joe Johns is over at the White House for us. Joe, during the campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump had some rather harsh words for the chancellor, Chancellor Merkel, on a refugee policies, other policies, including NATO. Will that likely come up today?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: That's a very good question, Wolf. As you know, among other things, on the campaign trail, Donald Trump accused Angela Merkel of ruining Germany with her refugee policy, allowing so many Syrian refugees in. And so, that's a potential problem.

But the senior administration officials who briefed on the subject say, sure, these two world leaders are going to have disagreements. But, at the end of the day, they mostly want to talk about the commonalities, the shared interests, including the president and this administration, wanted to get a better idea of how Angela Merkel handles Vladimir Putin. She's met with him many times and, in some ways, a go-between on sensitive issues, like Ukraine.

I was in the room, there in the Oval Office, when the president met with Angela Merkel. And I must say, quite frankly, my impression coming away was that it was a bit awkward. One of the journalists from Germany who was also in the room told me that he overheard one or another of the cameramen trying to get Angela Merkel and President Trump to shake hands and there was no handshake. They -- it did seem just a bit distant and it will be very interesting to see what happens at that press conference that's coming up -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, we'll have live coverage of that. That should be fairly soon. All right, Joe. Joe Johns over at the White House, thanks again.

Our other big story today, a rare apology from the Trump White House. Not on the wiretapping claims, but on a, quote, supposedly "unintentional slip" by the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, while defending the president's comments on Trump Tower surveillance. Take a listen to what Sean Spicer said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN SPICER, U.S. WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: On Fox News, on March 14th, Judge Andrew Napolitano made the following statement, quote, "Three intelligence sources have informed Fox News that President Obama went outside the chain of command. He didn't use the NSA. He didn't use the CIA. He didn't use the FBI. And he didn't use the Department of Justice.

He used GCHQ. What is that? It's the initials for the British Intelligence Spying Agency. So, simply, by having two people saying to them, the president needs transcripts of conversations involving candidate Trump's conversations involving President Obama-Trump. He's able to get it and there is no American fingerprints on this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let me bring in our CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson who's joining us from outside number 10 Downing Street in London.

It was pretty shocking to hear Sean Spicer quote from a report on Fox News by a legal contributor, a legal analyst, judge Andrew Napolitano, alleging that the British intelligence was actually spying on Donald Trump during the campaign on behalf of President Obama. How did that go over in the U.K.?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Like a led balloon, Wolf. It went over really badly. GCHQ government communications headquarters did something that they so very, very rarely do. They spoke to this allegation. They addressed it. They came out publicly and said this is ridiculous and should be ignored.

A few hours later, the spokesman here at number 10, the prime minister's office here, added further to that, saying that they had sought assurances from the White House and received them, that Sean Spicer wouldn't make these allegations again.

And I'll read you here the full statement from number 10, so you can understand how strongly they feel this, at the moment. We've made clear to the administration that these claims are ridiculous and they should be ignored and we've received assurances that these allegations will not be repeated.

[13:05:14] Of course, Theresa May invested a huge amount of political capital in this special relationship between the Britain and the United States to be the first world leader to travel to Washington, to meet President Trump face-to-face.

She has a huge amount on her plate here, back in the U.K. She's trying to get the United Kingdom out of the European Union, at the same time that Scotland is trying to get out of the United Kingdom. So, she is very busy. Doesn't want all this, sort of, political turmoil, this overspill from the United States falling on her plate at this time.

So, this is why the pushback has been so strong. And also, GCHQ as well saying, look, this just couldn't happen. The United States and Britain are part of the five eyes intelligence sharing cooperation between Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. They simply cannot try to, if you will, circumvent laws in one country using an ally's equipment and processes.

So, they say, absolutely impossible. This pushback here very, very strong, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, not surprisingly. Nic Robertson in London for us. Thanks very much.

Once again, as we await the two leaders to take the stage in the east room of the White House.

Let's talk about all of this and a lot more of what's at stake today. The message could be critically important. Joining us now from Capitol Hill is the Florida Republican Congressman Ted Yoho. He's a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and of the House Freedom Caucus, as well. Congressman, thanks for joining us.

REP. TED YOHO (R), FLORIDA, HOUSE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS: Sure, Wolf. Great to be on again.

BLITZER: Let me get your quick reaction to this -- the White House press secretary citing this unsubstantiated report on Fox News by Judge Napolitano that the British intelligence community had been told by former President Obama to go ahead and spy on Donald Trump over at Trump Tower.

It, obviously, caused this huge, huge anger in -- among obviously one of the top U.S. allies. What's your reaction to the White House giving at least some credence to this report by even citing it from the White House pulpit?

YOHO: I watched that report yesterday and he did. He gave that information out. I assume there is some credence to it or some credibility to it or he wouldn't have done that, you know. And, other than that, I'm not going to weigh in on it. Judge Napolitano said what he said on Fox News. I think I'm going to wait for the movie to come out to see.

And, you know, let the rule of law and the investigations do what it's going to do and let us focus on those things that we really need to focus on in this country. We've got the healthcare, tax reform.

BLITZER: But let me press you, Congressman.

YOHO: Sure.

BLITZER: You're a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Do you believe there is any credibility at all to this notion that British intelligence was spying on Trump at Trump Tower in New York City?

YOHO: I think it's plausible but I don't -- I don't know -- I haven't seen the reports yet. And so, again, I'm not going to say it's true or not. I think the investigation needs to happen. And then, let's take that where it will lead us and do the investigation where we need to.

BLITZER: But you also saw the statements this morning from Sean Spicer, from the national security advisor, General McMaster, apologizing, formerly apologizing to the government of Britain, saying they should have -- Sean Spicer should have never given any credence whatsoever to that Judge Napolitano assertion on Fox News. I think this may be the first time we've heard a formal apology coming from the Trump White House. Have you heard any apologies yet?

YOHO: No, but I'm with you. I think that's a good thing, you know. And it shows that, you know, they're willing to do that. And I think you're going to see more refinement coming. And I wouldn't use a news report as my source of information.

So, I don't know if he had more information or not. And, of course, the U.K. is one of our strong allies, and we want to protect the relationship we have with them.

BLITZER: If there is no evidence, and so far, all of the Republican and the Democratic leaders in the House and the Senate of the Intelligence Committees, they say they haven't seen any evidence to back up President Trump's accusation that President Obama was wiretapping Trump Tower. If there's no evidence that emerges, do you believe that President Trump should formally pick up the phone, call President Obama and formally apologize? Not only to him, but to the American people for those four tweets a couple of weeks ago?

YOHO: I'm going to let those work it -- that out internally. You know, if he did speak out of turn, I think he will, eventually, do that, just like they did on the British intelligence.

So, I don't think those are the important things we need to really worry about now, other than, you know, we need to make amends with our friends. And if he overstepped the boundaries, I'm sure he'll go ahead and make that call.

[13:10:03] BLITZER: We've had some heated exchanges, as you know, over these past few weeks, since our President Trump took office. Not only now, this uproar that has developed with the U.K., but the prime minister of Australia, another key U.S. ally. There was the canceled trip to Washington by Mexico's president, another important ally of the U.S. Some harsh criticism of Sweden. All of them important U.S. allies.

So, how concerned are you about these incidents that they could be hurting U.S. credibility around the world?

YOHO: Well, you know, sitting on the Foreign Affairs Committee for the last four years, our credibility has already been damaged by our foreign policies. Not just in the last eight years, but over the last 15 years. We certainly want to have the best foot forward and the best image of the United States of America.

And when I -- when I talked to the prime minister -- or the ambassador from Australia, he said that that call that Donald Trump had to the prime minister of Australia was way overblown. It wasn't near what it was in the media.

And so, you know, I think we need to tread into a little bit softer and not take everything at face value what you hear on the news, no offense. And, you know, it's just an issue at the moment. And I think everybody needs to step back.

You know, if we -- if we were to look at stuff on a weekly basis, instead of moment by moment, I think we'd all be better served. But I know you have a job to do and you report what's out there.

BLITZER: Yes, we've got a job to do. And I want to just point out what the House speaker, Paul Ryan, said to me yesterday on these allegations by the president, the White House. They're still sticking by these allegations against President Obama on the surveillance on the wiretapping. Listen to what the speaker said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), WISCONSIN, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We have not seen any evidence that there was a wiretap or a FISA court order against Trump Tower or somebody in Trump Tower. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And, as you know, he's part of that so-called gang of eight that gets briefings by the intelligence community, the law --

YOHO: Right.

BLITZER: -- enforcement community. The most sensitive classified information. He flatly says, we have not seen any evidence of any such development involving surveillance or wiretapping by Obama against Donald Trump. Are you with the speaker on this? Have you seen any evidence?

YOHO: I haven't seen any evidence. But I also know that, you know, Mr. Trump is smart enough that if he says something, there must have been something that made him react that way. And so, let that -- let that take it where it's going to be and do the investigation accordingly. And then, have a -- have either a recanting of what was said or, you know, it'll be justified that much more.

BLITZER: Congressman, as usual, thanks so much for joining us.

YOHO: It's been a pleasure, Wolf. Thanks. Have a great weekend.

BLITZER: Thank you. You, too. Ted Yoho joining us.

Up next, a Democratic Congressman and member of the House Intelligence Committee, Joaquin Castro, he'll discuss the White House apology to the U.K., Monday's Russia hearing before the Intelligence Committee and a lot more. Stand by for that.

In the meantime, we've got some breaking news coming in to CNN. We have new information about the man arrested Friday night after he jumped the White House fence and was discovered by a U.S. secret service officer near the south entrance to the executive residence of the White House. The president was inside the White House at the time.

Our Correspondent Jessica Schneider is with me right now. Jessica, you're getting some new information. Tell our viewers. It's pretty shocking what we're learning.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is, Wolf. New information now about that stunning and potentially dangerous breach on the White House grounds that happened one week ago.

Of course, 26-year-old Jonathan Tran was arrested for this. But the new details we're learning now is that it took officials 15 minutes or more to actually track him down, after he had tripped and then evaded numerous detections and alarms on the White House grounds.

So, to break it all down for you. This was just about one week ago, last Friday. We understand that 26-year-old Jonathan Tran was detected somewhere on the Penn -- on Pennsylvania Avenue, about six hours before this breach even happened. Then, around midnight, we know that he climbed over a fence at the treasury, at the treasury building, which is immediately adjacent to the White House. He, then, tripped a sensor alarm.

But the problem here was that even though this alarm was tripped and there was an investigation into it, he wasn't detected. He managed to evade several guards. He actually snuck beyond one secret service post, moved closer to the White House. An officer did come to investigate.

But then, this intruder crossed over East Executive Drive, jumped another White House gate near the east wing. It was a guard post that is not routinely staffed. It likely wasn't staffed that night. And then, we understand that he was on the grounds of the White House for at least 15 minutes before finally being caught by these secret service members.

So, obviously, a huge breach that, as this investigation is unfolding, we're learning more information about. We do know that, at this point, the secret service is undergoing a formal mission assurance review to see exactly how this exactly happened. How these multiple alarms were tripped. How this intruder went without detection for more than 15 minutes.

[13:15:00]

[13:15:00] JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Undergoing a formal mission assurance review to see exactly how this happened, how these multiple alarms were tripped, how this intruder went without detection for more than 15 minutes. So, Wolf, obviously a huge breach that set off alarm bells last Friday night. And now the Secret Service is conducting that formal review. But a lot of question today, how did that 26-year-old evade Secret Service officers for more than 15 minutes.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And he was spotted, what, six hours earlier, simply walking around the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue, right?

SCHNEIDER: That's right. We know that six hours previous, around 6:00 p.m. on Friday night, last Friday night, he was spotted on Pennsylvania Avenue. And then, about six hours later, we know that there's video surveillance that shows him jumping that fence near the Treasury building and getting onto the White House grounds. That is when he set off the multiple alarms, avoided detection for more than 15 minutes. And now the Secret Service doing that massive mission assurance review, Wolf.

BLITZER: And just to be precise, Jessica, for 15 minutes the alarms were going off, all of the Secret Service uniformed personnel, others, they knew there was something wrong and they couldn't find this guy for 15 minutes?

SCHNEIDER: That's what we're hearing from our Secret Service sources that, yes these alarms were tripped, but despite that, this intruder, this 26-year-old, who was wearing a backpack, he avoiding detection for that entire time.

BLITZER: And the president of the United States was inside the residence at that time. SCHNEIDER: That's right.

BLITZER: A pretty shocking development indeed. I know you're working your sources. We'll get more information.

Jessica, thank you very much.

We're getting some live pictures once again from the White House east Room. Reporters are now inside. Guests are inside. Any moment now, President Trump and the visiting German chancellor, Angela Merkel, will hold a joint news conference, their first meeting since President Trump took office. We'll have live coverage of that. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:20:53] BLITZER: We're looking at live pictures right now from inside the East Room over at the White House. President Trump and visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, they'll be walking in there momentarily. Their joint news conference about to take place. They'll be taking questions from reporters after making opening statements.

Later they'll have a working lunch. They've been meeting in the Oval Office. We're going to have live coverage. That's coming up right here on CNN.

Chancellor Merkel's visit comes as the president stands by his unsubstantiated claims that former President Barack Obama ordered surveillance of him over at Trump Tower in New York City during the campaign. And as the White House apologizing now to the British government for appearing to suggest or at least give some credibility to a report that Britain actually helped with that surveillance against Donald Trump.

I want to bring in Congressman Joaquin Castro. He's a Democrat from Texas. He's a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Also a member of the Intelligence Committee.

Congressman, thanks very much for joining us.

REP. JOAQUIN CASTRO (D), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Thanks for having me, Wolf.

BLITZER: Let me get your reaction first to this White House blunder that allowed the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, to read this assertion, this claim, by a Fox News contributor that Britain was actually - British intelligence services were surveilling, were monitoring Donald Trump over at Trump Tower during the campaign on the request of President Obama. What's your reaction to that? Because the British government is very upset. The White House has now apologized.

CASTRO: Wolf, it's all just very strange. That came at a press conference which happened right after the Senate intelligence heads, the chairman and the ranking member, made the comment that they basically had seen no evidence of any kind of surveillance or wiretapping and it seemed to be Sean Spicer and the administration pursuing one more avenue to suggest that President Obama somehow wiretapped or surveilled candidate Trump.

And it's not only strange, but it also starts to really damage one of our best relationships with such a long-standing ally in Britain. And then, you know, to hear the White House even now and those who are defending Sean Spicer not be able to admit that they made a mistake, for some of the members of Congress to still defend it is - is just bizarre.

BLITZER: Yes, I think the national security advisor, General McMaster, admits this was a major, major blunder on the part of a White House and it required a strong reaction. Clearly from the British government they got that. But then the U.S. now apologizing to the British government.

As you know, Germany is a very strong intelligence-sharing partner of the United States as well. As we go into this joint news conference, are you concerned that all these wiretapping allegations out there could undercut that kind of intelligence cooperation, not only with Britain or Germany, or other close other allies?

CASTRO: That is a concern. You know, the - our allies have to feel like they can trust us, that they have confidence in us. And any time you make wild allegations like that, that are unsubstantiated, it starts to cut the trust that other countries have in the United States.

BLITZER: Have you seen any evidence, and you're a member of the intelligence committee, congressman, that some intelligence services who normally cooperate extremely closely with the U.S. right now are reluctant to provide certain, very sensitive information to the U.S. as a result of all of this?

CASTRO: Well, some of this, of course, that's classified I can't speak to, but it's something that I know that I'm monitoring and other members of committee are monitoring as well.

BLITZER: What does that mean you're monitoring? Explain - give us - elaborate a little bit.

CASTRO: Sure. Well, we're trying to gauge to make sure that our relationships around the world with longstanding allies like Germany and Britain are not damaged by some of the rhetoric that's coming out of the White House and some of the new policies that are being put into place. You remember that as a candidate President Trump was critical not only of Chancellor Merkel but also of the relationship with NATO and the United States. He was critical of our own intelligence agencies. So all of these things create what can become a hostile environment and really upset the very careful balance in the relationships between the United States and our allies around the world.

[13:25:17] BLITZER: Congressman Castro, you're a member of the House Intelligence Committee. You're going to have an open hearing on Monday with the FBI director, the leaders of the U.S. intelligence community. They're going to be discussing all of these allegations, also Russia's cyberattack against the U.S. during the presidential election. What do you expect we will learn from that hearing?

CASTRO: Well, it is in open session, so it's not in a classified setting where more information would come out. But there are a few things I think that I hope that we hear about. First, you know, many of us have been asking a fundamental question, which is whether any Americans cooperated or conspired with the Russians who interfered with the 2016 presidential election. What I would like for the director to discuss in open session is whether anybody is being investigated, whether any Americans are being investigated because of that. And then also, basically the scope of the investigation. And then finally, a timeline for resolving that question and so many others that have to do with Russian interference in the 2016 election.

BLITZER: But you've seen no hard evidence to corroborate that allegation. General Clapper, a couple weeks ago, said he didn't have any evidence that there was any collaboration - or any cooperation between Trump campaign officials and Russia in connection with their cyberattacks.

CASTRO: Well, you know, I commented before that I think there is a gap in terms of what the intelligence agencies know and what the committees have been told. And hopefully we will start to close that gap starting on Monday.

BLITZER: And do you think there are certain officials, Americans, U.S. citizens, who were involved in the Trump campaign who are now being investigated by the FBI or other agencies?

CASTRO: Wolf, that's something that I can't say conclusively.

BLITZER: Let's talk about something else you can talk about, because I know you had a chance to meet with the Homeland Security secretary, John Kelly. Some of your colleagues who spoke afterwards say Kelly was dismissive of their questions, unaware of some immigration policies and they were left with more questions. What was your takeaway?

CASTRO: That the secretary basically held the administration's line. For example, he was asked about separating women and children at the border. He said, in fact, that it's not happening now but it's something that's on the table and they may pursue it. He was, you know, asked about the civil rights violations that have come up. The flight from San Francisco to New York, for example, where people were asked about their identification and also other American citizens being detained. Muhammad Ali's son, for example.

But he was very defensive of the agency and the organization and their policies. He was also presented evidence - one of the members from California had a big photo blown up of border patrol agents staked out at a church in California. He was presented that and also a letter from a bishop who asked that they not do that. He said that, you know, they don't go to churches. He basically denied that it was happening.

And so that's why I think some folks felt like his tone and his approach was dismissive. I hope that the secretary and the department will be open to hearing about instances where perhaps their agents are doing things that they shouldn't do. What we want to see out of his office is cooperation most of all.

BLITZER: I interviewed Secretary Kelly a couple weeks or so ago. He defended the decision to go ahead and separate children who crossed the borders illegally from their parents, saying this would be a deterrent to convince others not to even try. I assume he made that case to you as well.

CASTRO: He did. He spoke about that. You know, their point is that they want to do everything to keep people from making that journey. But the fact is, when these women and children do arrive the at border of the United States, to separate these women from their children, quite honestly, is inhumane.

BLITZER: Joaquin Castro, thanks so much for joining us. The congressman from Texas. Appreciate it.

CASTRO: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: The president, President Trump, getting ready for this joint news conference with Angela Merkel. But in the meantime, we're just getting some videotape now of the meeting he and Merkel have been having with German and American business leaders. We're going to show you that videotape right now and then we'll get ready for the news conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Chancellor, thank you very much. Such a great honor to get to know you, to be with you.

[13:29:57] I want to thank all of the business leaders who have joined us to discuss a subject that's very important to me, training our workforce for the 21st century, especially with respect to manufacturing jobs.