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White House Daily Briefing to Happen Soon; Comey Criticized for Overstating Number of E-mails Abedin Forwarded to Weiner; Graham: Investigation into Trump/Russia May Trump Tax Returns; Protests on Health Care at Darrell Issa's District Office; Senate Could Takes Months on Health Care Bill; Clapper Denies Knowledge of Trump/Russia FBI Investigation. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired May 09, 2017 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:33:54] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Today's White House briefing set to start any moment. We're going to bring it to you live once Sean Spicer gets to that lectern.

While we wait, the FBI Director James Comey is taking some heat right now. CNN has confirmed that while the FBI director was under oath last week, he overstated the number of e-mails Hillary Clinton aide, Huma Abedin, forwarded to her husband, the former congressman, Anthony Weiner.

Here's what he said last week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: Huma Abedin appears to have had a regular practice of forwarding e-mails to him for him, I think, to printout for her so she could then deliver them to the secretary of state. She forwarded hundreds and thousands of e-mails, some of which contained classified information.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let's talk about this with our panel, CNN politics reporter and editor-at-large, Chris Cillizza; our justice correspondent, Evan Perez; and our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger.

You're doing reporting, Evan. What are you hearing from your sources about what the FBI director said?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORERSPONDENT: What the FBI director meant to say and what she should have said is Huma Abedin had a practice and system whereby her e-mails were forwarded as a backup and they ended up on the computer belonging to her then-husband, Anthony Weiner. The way he described it, however, in that hearing -- and you heard him talk about it -- he said she had a practice where she would forward them. He actually went into this detail. She would forward them so they would be printed for her perhaps to present to the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the time. That was definitely not correct. He came back later on in the hearing and tried to fix some of that. But now the FBI is facing the problem of fixing and correcting the record because this was congressional testimony under oath.

There was a tremendous reaction to what he said. There was a lot of criticism from -- certainly from the right -- about whether or not she should face some charges because of this. Obviously, there are not going to be any charges. That ship has sailed so to speak. But the FBI director misspoke, did not say it correctly.

[13:35:57]BLITZER: And he was not precise on the aspect of classified information. Listen to what else he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COMEY: During the following week, they reviewed 40,000 e-mails. I understated how many they reviewed. And found that 3,000 of them were work related and came from Blackberry backups and a bunch of other things.

(CROSSTALK)

COMEY: And that 12 of them were classified, but we'd seen them all before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Of the hundreds of thousands of e-mails that wound up on Anthony Weiner's computer, 12, he said, were classified. But he wasn't precise. Explain.

EVANS: He wasn't precise. This is something that came up during the investigation previously, that these were not marked as classified and she would not have known that these were classified. They were not housed on a classified system even when she was at work, so there's no way for her to have known necessarily that they were classified.

It is true that the FBI later determined that some of the -- these e- mails contained classified information. It was the imprecise nature of the way the director addressed it.

Look, we've all made mistakes in the way we talk about this on camera. But the issue is the FBI director is under scrutiny, tremendous scrutiny because of the way this investigation was handled. He is the FBI director. This is an important, a very important part of the record.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: So are they going to correct the record?

EVANS: They need to fix it.

BLITZER: I know they need to, but will they?

EVANS: We expect they will. They're looking into exactly how they're going to do that. We expect this will probably be a letter that will be sent to the members on that committee addressed to the chairman and ranking member to fix what he intended to say. BLITZER: Yesterday, Senator Ted Cruz went further, referring to what

the FBI director said. He said, what would you expect to happen -- this is a question he asked General Clapper: "What would you expect to happen if you made a referral of an individual who had forwarded hundreds or even thousands of classified information?"

So from the 12 e-mails that contained classified information they discovered, ex post facto, Senator Cruz is saying, hundreds or even thousands of classified information.

CHRIS CILLIZZA, CNN POLITICS REPORTER & EDITOR-AT-LARGE: This is the problem in our current politics. The cat once out of the bag doesn't return to the bag. The Republicans will seize on that, saying Comey was saying that it wasn't right but that's what he said under oath, people like Cruz. And I will tell you the Clinton folks will be none too happy about the fact that this -- they believe is now a pattern of behavior by James Comey. They're very unhappy about his July 6th statement that he went beyond, well beyond saying simply there are no charges, called her extremely careless, the letter on October 28th and now this. They view this -- to my mind, under oath -- I think Evan's point is right. We all say stuff on camera that sometimes we either regret or we just -- numbers get wrong. I think that's probably what happened. The point is they view this as a pattern. They will seize on it and say this is more evidence that Comey was intentioned in a negative way toward her. This is now the third thing that they will put --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: But Comey should have said on those 12 e-mails that contained classified information, should have been precise, and said it wasn't marked classified, didn't have the header that said classified. They looked at it and saw there was classified information.

EVANS: Especially because this has been the subject of so much testimony since he made the announcement last July. He's testified probably half a dozen times on this very matter.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: This goes from your house is on fire to a little fire in your trash can, which, by the way, you can take this bottle of water and douse it out. I think Comey deserves the criticism. I'm sorry. People -- an election was at stake in many ways. A person's life, Huma Abedin, who was accused of leaking classified information to her husband on his laptop. So I think that, you know, it's incumbent upon the FBI director himself to issue a clarification. And I think he's -- you know, his reputation is really very much at stake here.

[13:30:21] BLITZER: Another issue came out. Manu Raju, our reporter on Capitol Hill, spoke with Lindsey Graham. You heard him earlier. Lindsey Graham saying, we need to investigate Donald Trump's business dealings with Russia, and that may even require Donald Trump providing us with his income tax return.

CILLIZZA: Everything in some ways comes back either to Russia or the tax returns or both. Look, this is why close listening and watching of the these -- this testimony is rewarded. So Lindsey Graham asked the question, or someone asked the question of the panel, and Clapper says, I don't really want to talk about any investigations regarding Trump and his business dealings because I don't want to get in the way of anything the FBI might have going on. Possibly, the FBI has nothing going on but certainly raised eyebrows.

Look, Donald Trump should release his tax returns. The reasons for not doing so are just not very good. His financial disclosure is not a far more comprehensive look at his financial records. The fact that we won the election cannot be read in any fair and factual way as a vote of confidence in him not returning -- releasing his tax returns. You've seen some Republicans come out and say he should release them. I think over time you'll see more.

BORGER: I don't think Lindsey Graham asked that question because it just came out and he decided, why don't I just ask that question. I think Lindsey Graham asked that question because he wants to know more about Trump's dealings. And he asked that question to Clapper and he knew that Clapper wasn't going to answer him, and it gave him a reason to start talking about it. I think it was classic Lindsey Graham very smartly stirring the pot because he does believe that you cannot do a Russia investigation without looking at Donald Trump's money. And --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Including his tax returns.

CILLIZZA: Donald Trump will never be fully exonerated in this, which he claims this is fake news and no real story, unless the tax returns are part of it. You can say his business interests are, in fact, what he says, no involved in

(CROSSTALK)

CILLIZZA: It's done. Mark down the time.

BLITZER: I'm anxious to hear what Sean Spicer is going to be saying at this press briefing.

Everybody, stand by.

There's another story we're following. Protestors in front of Republican Congressman Darrell Issa's district in the city of Vista, California. They want answers after he voted for the House's health care bill.

Let's go to our national correspondent, Kyung Lah. She's right outside the district office.

Kyung, Congressman Issa isn't there but what hear you hearing from his constituents on the ground?

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're hearing a lot. There's a unified message. The issue that has brought us out here has brought them out here to protest him, his health care vote. I want you to take a look, Wolf. You can see people are spread all

along this front sidewalk right outside his Vista office. If you look this way, you see that the crowd just keeps going on and on. It is on both sides of the street. A lot of people here are carrying signs. They say we're coming for you in 2018. Grandma's going to vote you out in 2018. They are unified on the single issue of health care. Some of them are dressed as the sick and the dying, hoping that he sees that at least. And they have that laser focus goal of 2018 being the payback for that vote last Thursday.

As you mentioned, Wolf, Congressman Issa is not here. He is in Florida, according to his spokesperson. But we did receive a statement from the Congressman and I want you to take a look at that because what he says is very different from what these constituents are saying. He says, Quote, "I work hard to cultivate a productive and open line of communication with the people of California's 49th district. The most common story I hear is about how Obamacare is hurting Californians. I've made a commitment to repair the damage Obamacare has caused and I plan to deliver on that promise."

Certainly, Wolf, as you look around here, they don't feel that way on the sidewalk -- Wolf?

[13:44:29] BLITZER: They certainly don't. Big crowd over there outside Darrell Issa's congressional district office. He was reelected, but not by a large margin.

Kyung Lah, thanks very much.

Let's take a quick break. We're standing by to hear from Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary. That briefing scheduled to begin momentarily. Lots of questions for him.

We'll be right back.

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BLITZER: Live pictures coming from the White House right now. Press Secretary Sean Spicer getting ready to start his briefing today. He'll make a statement, as he always does, some announcements. Then, he'll answer reporters' questions. We're standing by. We will have live coverage.

Gloria, one of the subjects coming up is the Senate now -- it's in the Senate's hands what happens with repealing and replacing Obamacare. This might not go quickly. This could go on for months and months and months. The Senate takes its time.

BORGER: I hear it's complicated, health care.

(LAUGHTER)

BORGER: And, yeah, it's going to take a long time because they're starting from scratch. They're not going to take the House bill. At some point, if it gets passed, they're going have to have reconcile with the House. There are some very different ideas over there. They've got some moderate Republicans who have already said, if you're cutting Planned Parenthood, we're not going to vote for this. They have a lot of concerns. And they've also been criticized because their working group is all male. I gather they've added -- I gather they've added Shelley from West Virginia to that group.

BLITZER: She was involved in the meeting today, but I don't know if --

BORGER: I'm not sure. I'm not sure.

BLITZER: -- she's being brought into that 13-member all-male panel.

BORGER: Yeah. They're kind of the aware that the picture that presents is not great so I wouldn't be surprised if they would formally add her.

BLITZER: What do you think, Chris?

CILLIZZA: I'm with Gloria. I said from the beginning, their argument always was, well, we're going to consult with a lot of people. This 13 is a core group, we're going to bring in a lot of people. But you should probably put a woman in the room, particularly because Shelly, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski -- those are three off the top of my head that have made substantial considerations, have thought about what should be. Susan Collins is part of an effort to actually put --

(CROSSTALK)

CILLIZZA: Right.

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: Right. So it's not the bill they like.

[13:49:54] CILLIZZA: No. They don't like it. Look, the reason these people aren't in there is because all three of those people are more moderate than the average bear that's in there currently. But these are people they are going to need. They only have 52 Senators. I just named three. They lose three, they are at 49, and don't pass anything. I guess do you try to get them on the front end or the back? Do you try to include them in the beginning or add them on once the bill is mostly formulated? I tend to think you are way better off policy-wise to do it on the front end.

BLITZER: For example, even one issue, like funding for Planned Parenthood, if it's included --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: -- if it's included in the Senate version, it's going to have problems with a lot of conservatives among the Republicans in the House.

BORGER: Women's health, when you talk about essential health benefits, talk about maternity care, is one of the essential health benefits, I would argue it matters to both men and women. But if states can opt out of essential health benefits, one of those benefits is maternity care, women's health, I would think women might have something to say about that. And I would hope men would, too, by the way. But I think, in this day and age, you saw the picture around the president when they won their vote in the House, and it was largely male, largely white men. And you see this picture in the Senate, it just doesn't look like America. I think one first step of that is getting at least a woman in there.

CILLIZZA: Which, by the way, is a problem for the Republican Party and has been for quite some time. They need to -- politics isn't the first consideration here, how things look. But it should be a consideration given their problems in reaching anyone who is not a white voter at this point.

BLITZER: Evan, let's get back to the Russia investigation. It seems almost everyone up on the Hill accepts the conclusion of the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, the intelligence community, that Russia was responsible for hacking into these computers and getting this information that was awkward, embarrassing to the Democrats, especially Hillary Clinton, during the campaign. Although, the president still, in his tweets, still talks about this whole Russia investigation as phony or as a hoax. What's the reaction up on the Hill to the president's adamant stance, could have been China, could have been Russia? He no longer talks about a 400-pound guy in New Jersey that could have been doing this.

PEREZ: Right. He doesn't, but people, I think you heard some members on the panel yesterday actually point out that they don't believe it's a 400-pound guy. Obviously, there's only so much you can tell the president and just finally you move on because you are never going to persuade or convince him to start saying what actually happened here. I think the adults up there on the Hill are working on this investigation to see the extent of this meddling, to see whether there's any proof that anybody knowingly provided any assistance to the Russians, whether they knew what the Russians were up to during the time that they were doing it. That's going to be very difficult to prove, obviously. But it is what they are working on. We know there's now a bipartisan investigation on the Senate and in the House. They are trying to get theirs back in gear to do that. The FBI is where this is all going to be handled. The FBI will be able to determine what they can prove. Obviously, there is still a lot that the FBI is fearful that may have been lost simply because when these stories started circulating last summer, a lot of the communications stopped, a lot of the overt acts that they were hoping to monitor for some time just stopped. So we will see whether or not we ever get any closure on this.

BLITZER: I was intrigued -- and, Chris and Gloria, tell me if you feel the same way -- yesterday, when Clapper, James Clapper, former director of National Intelligence, he said, even when he was the DNI, director of National Intelligence, he did not know that the FBI launched a criminal investigation into these allegations --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: -- of Trump associates being involved, colluding with Russia starting back in July. So between July and January 20th when he stepped down, he did not even know there was a criminal investigation.

BORGER: What's surprising to us, probably not to Evan, but surprising to us how siloed these investigations are, as they should be, by the way. That's why when he said he didn't see any evidence of collusion, because he wasn't looking at that, he wasn't --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: He didn't even know there was an investigation.

BORGER: He wasn't privy to that information.

(CROSSTALK)

CILLIZZA: By the way -- sorry. By the way, just very quickly, one of the things that made Donald Trump's four tweets in nine minutes last night, the first one, incorrect, that he made his Twitter background briefly, was that Clapper had confirmed there was no collusion. Again, that's not what he said. He said I was unaware of this investigation and it should be noted there is no evidence that we have seen of any collusion. Saying that Clapper insisted that was the case, what Clapper said is, I don't know, in the same way he said, I didn't know this FBI investigation was going on.

[13:55:05] PEREZ: I will say one thing about that. A lot of people talk about this in an imprecise way. First, there is evidence, public evidence of Donald Trump saying, in tweets and on stage during campaign appearances, Roger Stone talking about this, encouraging the Russians to do certain things, encouraging WikiLeaks. There's plenty --

(CROSSTALK)

CILLIZZA: During the Democratic convention, he had that press conference saying I hope WikiLeaks can --

(CROSSTALK)

PEREZ: Right. There's a lot of public evidence of attempted coordination, so to speak. What we don't know is whether or not there's any evidence of illegal secret collusion or coordination. That's what they are looking at. For people to say there's no evidence of collusion, it's kind of a little bit of a red herring there.

BORGER: Collusion is a word that --

(CROSSTALK)

PEREZ: Right. We saw plenty of it. It was all in public, in plain sight. The question of whether or not there's something illegal here, that is the other question that is being pursued.

BORGER: I have another question as we wait for Sean Spicer, and this is on General Flynn, which we all watched yesterday, was the 18-day gap. Remember, in Watergate, there was the 18-minute gap in the taping system? There is an 18-day gap here. And we need to find out what the White House was doing in those 18 days before they fired General Flynn and what they knew and when they knew it.

BLITZER: We'll see what Sean Spicer is about to say.

Guys, everybody stand by.

That's it for me. The White House press briefing, as you can see, running a bit late. Should start any minute now. We will have full coverage when we come back.

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