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Trump Fires James Comey; Moving Forward With Russia Investigation. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired May 10, 2017 - 13:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We're following breaking news. President Trump has just fired the embattled FBI director, James Comey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just doesn't make any sense.

ROBBY MOOK, FORMER MANAGER, CLINTON CAMPAIGN: This is the kind of authoritarian behavior we've seen spread in other parts of the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Am I surprised by it? Not necessarily.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, WHITE HOUSE COUNSELOR: I think Comey has lost the confidence of people at the FBI.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody's had a problem with Comey.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: He's done his job well and I don't think he deserves to be fired.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The FBI has been way too involved in politics.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He had nothing to do with Russia at first.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have serious questions about the time that the White House chose the American public (INAUDIBLE.)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: If there was ever a time that circumstances warranted a special prosecutor, it's now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

We're standing by for what should be a very eventful White House briefing later this hour. The unexpected firing of the FBI director, James Comey, will certainly dominate this briefing today by the deputy press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. You're already looking at live pictures coming in from the west wing of the White House.

No Sean Spicer today. He's over at the Pentagon on previously scheduled naval reserve duty. We expect to hear more justification for the firing of the FBI director from the White House, during the questioning at this press briefing, that's coming up.

While many members of Congress, on both sides of the aisle, have labelled the firing shocking and troubling, President Trump offered his rebuttal on Twitter and on camera. The tweet, let me read it. Comey lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington, Republican and Democrat alike. When things calm down, they will be thanking me. That's from the president.

Later, the president said this during a photo op with the former secretary of state, Henry Kissinger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why did you fire Director Comey?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because he wasn't doing a good job. Very simply, he was not doing a good job.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE.)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Excuse me?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE.)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Not at all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE.)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And in what may be considered by some as unfortunate timing, President Trump sat down with the visiting Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, also this morning, even as the Comey firing and its effect on the Russian investigation is dominating discussions here in Washington.

Also at that meeting, by the way, the Russian ambassador of the United States, Sergey Kislyak, remember, it was Michael Flynn's conversations with Ambassador Kislyak that ultimately led to Flynn's downfall as the president's national security adviser.

The Russian foreign ministry and the Russian embassy, they tweeted out pictures of the meetings, but American pool cameras were not allowed into the room for any coverage.

We're going to also likely hear plenty of questions today about that meeting, during the White House briefing. That's coming up, as I said, later this hour.

Let's bring in our Senior White House Correspondent Jeff Zeleny. He's joining us from the north lawn of the White House, and our Crime and Justice Producer Shimon Prokupecz.

Jeff, ahead of the briefing, the news conference, what's the latest from the White House on this extraordinary decision to fire the FBI director, James Comey?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, so many questions here at the White House for the president, for the administration on this very abrupt decision to fire the FBI director. There are hundreds of people protesting now outside of the White House.

We could hear them just a few moments ago. They're just about a hundred yards or so from me, Wolf. They are shouting, shame, and calling on this White House to answer questions.

Now, that is not alone here. On Capitol Hill, Republicans and Democrats alike also asking questions. But the president is not addressing this today, at least not a fulsome way.

He said, simply, that the FBI director was not doing a good job. He left more of the explaining, however, to his vice president, who he sent to Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The president's decision to accept the recommendation of the deputy attorney general and the attorney general to remove Director Comey as the head of the FBI was based solely and exclusively on his commitment to the best interests of the American people. And to ensuring that the FBI has the trust and confidence of the people of this nation.

Already this morning, the president is in the process of evaluating individuals who will be able to fill that spot, lead the FBI, and restore the confidence of the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, even as the White House and the administration are searching for a temporary leader of the FBI, which we're told could happen later today or certainly this week, they are still answering questions about what led to this abrupt firing of the man who was heading the investigation into any possible connection between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives here.

[13:05:17] So, Wolf, that investigation is going on with the career officials, investigators, prosecutors inside the FBI, even as this bombshell continues to reverberate across Washington.

A question here is, though, Wolf, you heard the vice president there saying the president was following the recommendation of his deputy attorney general. One of the questions is, did the president direct him to do an assessment of the FBI or did he bring this on himself?

Wolf, this is not a decision that is made by a deputy director of the Justice Department. This is a decision that is made at the White House in the Oval Office. So, Wolf, still a lot of questions here, and we're not expected to hear from the president anymore today. But, as we know, that can always change -- Wolf.

BLITZER: He can always surprise us, as he has in the past.

Tell us a little bit what you're learning about the president's meeting today with the visiting Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov?

ZELENY: Wolf, in terms of the timing of this, I mean, this whole -- at the heart of this whole discussion about the FBI, even though the White House says that it was -- you know, they're firing the FBI director because of his conduct last year during the campaign. Last year, of course, they were praising his conduct, the investigation of the Clinton campaign and the private e-mail server.

But, today, the president, President Trump, meeting with the Russian foreign minister. His first face-to-face meeting here at the White House. We got a bit of a readout of that from the Russian foreign minister. He said simply, the Russia investigation did not come up in their conversation.

They were talking about Syria. They were talking about other military matters, other alliances. But they did not talk about the investigation. He did say, simply, there is nothing to investigation. That the Russian meddling in this election simply didn't happen, so he kept the official line on that.

But, Wolf, such strange optics, you know, 12 hours after firing the director of the FBI, the next day, meeting with the Russian foreign minister, as well as the Russian ambassador, who was directly at the center of this investigation into Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser here at the White House.

We know the FBI is investigating his contact with him. Wolf, so a strange, sort of, scheduling, timing. But the White House controls its schedule. The White House could have decided to reschedule the meeting. They decided that was not worth it. They said this meeting was one worth having to talk about Syria and other matters -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Stand by for a moment. Shimon, I -- you cover the Justice Department, the FBI for us. They say Sergey -- they see Sergey Kislyak, the Russian Ambassador to the United States, who is at the center of a lot of this and one of the reasons that Michael Flynn, the president's national security adviser, was fired. When they see he's being received by the president today, what goes through their minds?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE PRODUCER: Well, I can tell you, I spoke to a U.S. official whose jaw just dropped, right? I mean, it was kind of, couldn't believe it, and there was some laughter almost.

But this is sort of the way Trump has conducted his, you know, and worked through his administration. I think people were surprised to see that today, especially given what happened yesterday.

As we've reported, Kislyak is under this -- is under a FISA warrant. I mean, the FBI monitors his communications because they believe, while he is a diplomat, he does report back to Russia and does act sort of like a spy. So, there's always this concern, within the FBI counterintelligence division, that Kislyak is here operating and reporting back to the Russians. And, perhaps, you know, giving them information on what the U.S. government is doing. It's why there was such concern with his meetings with Mike Flynn -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Very, very interesting, indeed. All right, thanks very much, Shimon and Jeff. We're going to stay in close touch with you.

As the shock wears off, the skepticism moves in. Many Democratic senators, as well as a few Republicans, they're questioning the timing of President Trump's stunning decision to fire the FBI director. It comes as the bureau is investigating on Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election here in the United States and possible ties between Trump's presidential campaign and Moscow.

The Senate's top Republican and Democrat disagree on the path forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), KENTUCKY, MAJORITY LEADER: Today, we'll, no doubt, hear calls for a new investigation which could only serve to impede the current work being done.

Partisan calls should not delay the considerable work of Chairman Burr and Vice Chairman Warner. Too much is at stake.

SCHUMER: There are a great many outstanding questions about the circumstances of Director Comey's dismissal, the status of the executive branch investigation into the Trump campaign ties to Russia, and what the future holds for these investigations.

[13:10:13] I will be requesting that the majority leader call a closed and if necessary, classified, all-senators briefing with the attorney general and the deputy attorney general separately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Our Senior Congressional Reporter Manu Raju is up on Capitol Hill. First of all, what else are you hearing from U.S. senators?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, Democratic senators are weighing exactly how far to take this fight. I talked to a number of them this morning after a closed-door briefing.

And one thing that they're considering is whether or not to hold up action in the Senate, essentially grind the senate to a halt, until a special prosecutor is named in the Russia probe. Now, they're not certain they're going to go that route. Some are concerned that could stall other important committee business happening in the Senate. So, that is one area of consideration.

Now, on the Republican side, you're hearing concerns from some senators about exactly what happened here. Questions about the timing and the reasoning behind the firing of James Comey. One of those senators is John McCain, who told me earlier today that he does not understand the rationale for firing James Comey. He does not believe that the Clinton e-mail investigation was a sufficient reason for firing James Comey. Other Republicans voicing that as well.

But, Wolf, a number of Republicans are divided about what the next step is, whether there should be a special prosecutor or a separate committee to investigate. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCCAIN: Yes, and I think it renews the urgency that, I believe, we need a select committee to investigate all aspects of the connections with Russia and all of the other factors that have led to what is a very serious scandal in the United States.

RAJU: What about a special prosecutor?

MCCAIN: I would much prefer a select committee, because it depends on the quality of the individual and there's always questions about that.

SEN. RICHARD BURR (R), NORTH CAROLINA, INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: Clearly, there is -- there are calls today for independent prosecutors, independent councils. That's not necessarily helpful but we'll deal with it.

RAJU: You oppose the independent prosecutor?

BURR: I'm going to keep the committee jurisdiction and carry out the investigation.

SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: I think we rush to get special prosecutors all the time, and that's -- to me, that's not the way to go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU: So, there's a concern also about the acting FBI director, Andy McCabe. The concerned voice by the Senate Judiciary chairman, Chuck Grassley, who told me earlier that he does not believe that he's the right person to lead the agency going forward, because he does not -- he's concerned about his wife's political ties to Democrats.

So, you're seeing some divisions in the Republican ranks, grappling about what it means going forward. And also, questions about what the White House did here. But uncertainty and no real unity on the Republican side about what is the next step -- Wolf.

BLITZER: That's a good point. Manu, thanks very much. Manu Raju reporting.

Let's discuss this all of this with my next guest. Democratic Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland is joining us. He is the ranking member, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Senator, thanks for joining us.

SEN. BEN CARDIN (D), MARYLAND, RANKING MEMBER, FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: Wolf, it's good to be with you. Thank you.

BLITZER: All right. So, you just heard the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, say there's too much at stake right now for a new investigation, an independent outside special council or something along those lines. What's your reaction?

CARDIN: Well, the president of the United States has just fired the person who's the head of the principle investigation into criminal wrongdoings involving Russia's contacts here in the United States, involving people associated with Mr. Trump. That investigation has now been compromised by the president of the United States.

In order to restore confidence, it's absolutely essential that there be a special prosecutor named by the Department of Justice to do the criminal investigations. I agree with Senator McCain that we need a more thorough investigation on Russia's involvement in the United States, so that we can protect ourselves and hold those who have facilitated this accountable.

That, in my view, should be done by an independent, bipartisan commission. But we certainly need to elevate the importance of that investigation.

BLITZER: You know Rod Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General. He was the U.S. attorney in Baltimore, where you're from, for a long time. He was confirmed by the Senate, what, 94 to six. Do you have confidence in him following the letter of the recommendation he gave the president yesterday to fire the FBI director?

CARDIN: Wolf, it's now been wildly reported that President Trump was considering firing Mr. Comey for at least a week. And that he -- if you look at the date of the memo sent by the Department of Justice, it was just yesterday.

So, it's clear the president made up his mind. He instructed the Department of Justice to give him ways that he could justify the firing.

[13:15:05] So, the responsibility for the firing rests with the president of the United States. He did something that should be unthinkable in American politics, and that is disrupt an investigation, particularly when he might be part of that investigation.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: So have you lost confidence in the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, a man you know well?

CARDIN: I think that Mr. Rosenstein can restore confidence among members of Congress by quickly naming a special prosecutor to handle the criminal investigation. I think that's going to be absolutely essential for him to do that in a very short order.

BLITZER: Do you think he will?

CARDIN: I think he's going to have to. I mean, I don't know how else he's going to be able to restore the confidence that the investigation will be non-partisan and will not be subjected to oversight by the president of the United States. We saw that with Mr. Comey's removal. I think the only way that Mr. Rosenstein can restore the confidence in the Department of Justice's investigation is to name a special prosecutor.

BLITZER: So I just want to be precise, senator. You believe the president instructed the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, to write this letter, this recommendation, even though he, himself, didn't really want to do it. He did it under orders from the president? Is that what I'm hearing?

CARDIN: I don't know what Mr. Rosenstein's intents were or his involvement from the point of view of how much this reflects his personal views. I am convinced that the president made the decision then asked the Department of Justice to give him the back - the justification, the legal justification, for firing the director. I don't know how much influence was exerted on Mr. Rosenstein, how much of this is his own work, et cetera. So I don't want to cast any aspersions there. But I am convinced the decision to fire was made by the president of the United States and not based upon the recommendations of the Department of Justice.

BLITZER: Yes. The memo that he wrote, memorandum for the attorney general from Rod Rosenstein, deputy attorney general, subject, restoring public confidence in the FBI, he signed that memorandum. It was on his name. So it was obviously a significant - a significant development.

Bottom line right now, how far do you go in accusing the president of any wrongdoing?

CARDIN: Well, I think what he did in dismissing Mr. Comey was wrong. I think that jeopardizes the independence of this criminal investigation. I don't have any information about the president's personal involvement as it relates to Russia. And I'm not trying to say there - that we know that. We need to have an independent review. I am, though, concerned of why the president would pick this particular time to fire Mr. Comey, just as we've had other information about subpoenas being issued in regards to those close with Mr. Trump involving Russia, where we now have reports that Mr. Comey had sought some additional funds from the Department of Justice in order to do the Russian investigation. And Mr. Trump is now meeting directly with the foreign minister of Russia, as if nothing has changed. All of that raises alarm bells to me that I would like to get answers.

BLITZER: Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, thanks very much for joining us.

CARDIN: Thank you.

BLITZER: With James Comey out now at FBI, some on Capitol Hill are calling for a new independent investigation into Russia's election meddling, maybe even a special prosecutor. We're going to talk about that and more, Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, he's standing by. He'll join us live.

Plus, who should replace Comey as the next FBI director? Our CNN panel of experts, they will weigh in.

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[13:23:10] BLITZER: Right now we're only minutes away from the White House press briefing where we expect to hear much more about the president's extraordinary firing of the FBI director, James Comey. You're looking at live pictures. Reporters getting ready to ask a lot of questions.

But joining us now is Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul.

Senator, thanks for joining us.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: Thank you. Thanks for having me, Wolf.

BLITZER: As you know, the president said today that members on both sides of the aisle in the Senate, in the House, Republicans and Democrats, they will eventually thank him because both parties, he says, have lost confidence in the FBI director, now the former director, James Comey. Had you lost confidence in him?

PAUL: Yes. And I think it's true that both sides of the aisle had because, you know, Democrats felt like he went too far in insinuating that Hillary Clinton was guilty, and Republicans felt like he didn't go far enough in indicting her. So it's like he had Republicans and Democrats lost confidence in him.

And I think universally people thought that the Clinton e-mail investigation got politicized. Normally, the FBI doesn't come forward and have all these public discussions. And really she was convicted, basically in public, even though she was never indicted. You could argue that if everything he said about her was true, she should have been indicted. But it served to please no one. And it did happen right in the height of a presidential campaign.

So I think, really, you know, Harry Reid said that he should resign. Chuck Schumer said he lost confidence in him. Even Eric Holder said that he defied most of the traditions of the Department of Justice. So I think a lot of people on both sides lost confidence, myself included.

BLITZER: Well, what do you say to the critics who talk about now the timing of the firing, that it comes in the wake of the latest reports, including from CNN, among others, that just the other day he was asking for more resources, more money, to help the FBI in this Russia investigation - the Department of Justice, the spokesperson there, denying those reports - but that he wanted more - more resources to get involved in this - in this investigation, then all of a sudden the president fires him.

[13:25:12] PAUL: Yes, all I know is what the Department of Justice says. And you can say they're dishonest, but they're saying that that never occurred and is not accurate. So I think we have to at least listen to what the people are saying who are involved. But I would say that there are a lot of reasons why we should get new direction at the FBI. For a long time, I thought that our investigations and tried (ph) prevention of terrorism hasn't gone so well. The killer in Orlando was known to the FBI and was reported to a gun shop weeks in advance and I think the FBI didn't do an adequate job. And so there's a lot of evidence that I think we needed new direction, but we've never had a scandal in the middle of a presidential election where the FBI director comes forward and says, you know, I think she's guilty, but I'm not going to indict her and lays out 15 minutes of why she's guilty on so many fronts and then doesn't indict her. We've never had anything like that in our history.

BLITZER: But you remember - you remember - you remember all the statements that the then candidate Donald Trump made around that time, praising Comey for what he was doing, praising his statements about the Hillary Clinton investigation, and he continued that for a while. If he was going to fire the guy, why didn't he just simply do it on the day he became president on January 20th?

PAUL: I think the same people that criticize him now would have also said, well, he didn't go through any deliberative process. And really, technically, the FBI director works for the assistant attorney general, who works for the attorney general. So the Department of Justice oversees the FBI. And I think it took a long time mainly because Democrats opposed approving these people that when they finally got approved, they did go through a deliberative process and said, you know, this is probably the most politicized investigation ever. And I think it is kind of crocodile tears now for the Democrats. They've been haranguing and saying he cost them the election. They've been calling for his head for months. And then when it finally happens, they're like all holier than thou and this is Watergate? That's ridiculous.

BLITZER: Do you believe there should be an independent investigation now, given the uproar that has developed over this whole issue?

PAUL: No. I think a lot of the uproar is concocted and still sour grapes over losing the election. I would say that when someone comes forward with some evidence that a crime's been committed - I don't even know of anybody who's been accused of a crime. But they are investigating it. I think we have five or six committees. I think the FBI's investigating it. And I - just because you change the head of the FBI doesn't mean everybody else at the FBI just goes on vacation and we're no longer investigating things. I think all the investigations continue. In fact, I would be shocked if someone at the FBI said tomorrow, oh, because the head is gone, we're no longer investigating this thing. No, it will be investigated. I don't know any of the details. So if facts come out that somebody committed a crime, that's a different story and we can address it. But right now it's mostly political innuendo and I think sour grapes over the losing the investigation.

BLITZER: Well, not exactly, senator, because, as you know, the FBI - now the former FBI director, he did testify under oath that he launched a criminal counterintelligence investigation into allegations of collusion or cooperation between Trump associates from the campaign and the Russians as far back as last July. And this investigation, he just reiterated the other day, is continuing. So it's not just - it's not just a little bit of smoke. PAUL: Yes, but apparently -

BLITZER: He says there's a formal, criminal investigation underway.

PAUL: But apparently - but apparently he also sent three written nots to President Trump saying he is not a target of any investigation. So, you know, I'm -

BLITZER: Well, that's what the president - that's what the president wrote in his letter announcing the firing of Comey. And we have the letter and I can read it to you. The president said that he had been assured on three separate occasions by Comey that the president himself was not under any investigation. That's what he said. But there is no indication there that Trump associates were not under investigation because that's at the heart of this overall FBI probe.

PAUL: Well, if someone has proof, they need to come forward with it, and then we'll see which direction it goes. But I still see this as tied up in electoral politics. The Clinton people really thought they were going to win. They won the popular vote. They're still very, very unhappy. They hated the idea of Comey continuing on. They were for getting rid of him until President Trump did get rid of him. Now they're all saying it's all Watergate, even though every one of them - I mean the hypocrisy is so thick around here, you could cut it with a knife. Every one of them were for getting rid of Comey until it actually happened. Now they're accusing the president of this being a Watergate somehow.

BLITZER: But let me ask you this, senator, do you agree with - do you agree with the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, the director of National Intelligence, that the Russians did meddle in the U.S. elections?

PAUL: I think most people have come to that consensus. And I don't have anything to dispute that. And what is the reaction to that? We need to protect ourselves. So, yes, we need to know that and we need to have - set up different various cyber security walls to try to protect our secrets, our people, our institutions.

[13:30:10]