Return to Transcripts main page

Wolf

Aides Won't Give President's Stance on Climate Change; Trump Quits Climate Deal; Support for Climate Deal; Tried Lifting Sanctions; Comey Testimony. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired June 02, 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 New York. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

Up first, gearing up for an epic showdown. The fired FBI Director James Comey gets ready to tell his story in public. Will President Trump try to block his testimony? And how much is Comey prepared to say about his meetings with the president? Those are just some of the key questions the Trump administration is facing on Russia right now.

Also, the Trump team pushing back against criticism for pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement. Take a look at this. We've got some live pictures coming in from the White House briefing room.

The press secretary, Sean Spicer, and the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, they will be taking questions from reporters later this hour. We'll have live coverage of that coming up.

But let's begin with the Russia investigation and new and important developments. Let's bring in our Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta. He's over at the White House. Our Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance is in St. Petersburg, Russia. And our Congressional Phil Mattingly is joining us from Washington.

Jim, as you know, Yahoo News is reporting that there was a secret but unsuccessful effort in the early days of the Trump administration to get those sanctions against Russia lifted. What more you tell us about that?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we know that, during the early days of the administration and really the early months of this administration, this was a key discussion going on behind the scenes inside the White House.

But top officials have been, sort of, all over the place on this issue. Keep in mind, just last week during the president's foreign trip, Gary Cohen, the president's top economic adviser, was asked, what is the president's position on sanctions? And he said the president didn't really have one.

Then, he had to clarify himself the next day and say, no, no, no, we do believe in keeping this -- these sanctions in place until Russia changes its behavior in Ukraine. That is, essentially, the position that's been taken by the secretary of state, Rex Tillerson.

But we do know, Wolf, by trying to confirm a "Washington Post" report earlier this week, the Yahoo News mentions this as well, is that there is a discussion going on between the Russians and the Trump administration about those Russian compounds that the Russians were blocked from were expelled from, during the last days of the Obama administration. That was in retaliation that the Obama administration took for Russia's actions in the U.S. election.

And so, the question becomes, well, is this something that the U.S. is preparing to do? I talked to a senior administration official earlier this week who said, no, no, no, this still hinges on whether the Russians change their behavior in Ukraine. But it is something that is up for discussion. It's something that they're talking about among many issues.

It's been described as being on a parallel track with these discussions going on between the U.S. and Russia on Syria. Some of those discussions are scheduled to take place this month in St. Petersburg, featuring some top State Department officials -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, those two Russian compounds on the eastern shore of Maryland outside of Washington out on Long Island, outside of New York City, both shut down by the Obama administration. Still shut down now.

Matthew, you're in St. Petersburg, Russia. Listen to what President Vladimir Putin said when asked about the sanctions and about the Trump team contacts with Russian diplomats. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT, RUSSIA (translator): No agreement whatsoever. We've never even got down to. Our ambassador has met someone. And what is an ambassador supposed to do? That's what he gets money for. That's absurd to accuse him of that. It's diplomatic service. It's astounding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. So, Matthew, what do you make of that response?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think, Wolf, this was classic Putin holding up his hands and say, there's nothing untoward that happened here and ridiculing any suggestion that anything nefarious did happen.

But the fact is, you know, there are lots of concerns about sanctions here. Officially, of course, Russian officials say that they were not the instigators of these sanctions and they're not going to be the ones to instigate the negotiations to get rid of them.

But we have to remember a couple of things. First of all, these U.S. sanctions are causing real pain to Russia's already fragile economy. They're having an impact on economic growth here. There's also the issue of the fact that, you know, these -- this is all extremely difficult for Vladimir Putin.

And, you know, he wants the sanctions lifted, Wolf. And that's something that they're either going to talk about publicly, privately. There are these persistent rumors that a back-room deal has been if not done, then at least discussed with members of the Trump team and the Trump administration.

BLITZER: Matthew, there are also some significant discrepancies, when it comes to a meeting that the senior Trump advisor, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, had with the head of a Russian bank that's facing -- that's under U.S. sanctions right now.

[13:05:15] Walk us through the discrepancies.

CHANCE: Yes, well, the head of the bank is called Sergei Gorkov. He runs the Vnesheconom Bank, one of Russia's biggest banks.

Now, they had a meeting, he had a meeting with Jared Kushner, the son- in-law of President Trump and his special advisor, of course, back in December at Trump Tower in New York.

There's been a discrepancy about what the meeting was about. The bank says this was about the bank's future business. They met Jared Kushner, they say, in his capacity as the head of Kushner's company, his family sprawling company empire.

The White House had a very different take, though, saying that this was a diplomatic meeting, that Kushner was at that meeting in his capacity as a member of the Trump transition team.

And so, you know, we really wanted to get to the bottom of what it is that was actually discussed at that meeting. Now, Sergei Gorkov is a very difficult man to pin down, but we actually caught up with him a couple days ago here in St. Petersburg and tried to get some answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Mr. Gorkov, a quick question. What did you really speak to Jared Kushner about in New York when you met him in December?

SERGEI GORKOV, CHAIRMAN, VNESHECONOM BANK: No comment.

CHANCE: Did you talk about sanctions? Excuse me.

GORKOV: No comment.

CHANCE: Well, what was discussed? The White House says it was a diplomatic meeting, that Kushner met you as part of the transition team. Your bank says it was a business meeting.

GORKOV: No comment. Thank you so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: Well, just to indicate how much of an issue the sanctions are for the Russians, I was in a session here, (INAUDIBLE) economic forum earlier today. And Putin was addressing members of, you know, U.S. business leaders that have come to St. Petersburg to hear him talk.

And he made a direct appeal to them to help restore normal political dialogue. He wasn't talking about politics, really. He was talking about economics and sanctions, in particular. That was the message that Putin had to deliver to U.S. business leaders here in St. Petersburg a few hours ago -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Very interesting indeed. All right, Matthew, stand by.

Phil, the fired FBI director, James Comey, is set to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee next Thursday morning.

How much do we expect to hear from Comey about his meetings with President Trump?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a detailed retelling, Wolf. That's according to sources that are familiar with Jim Comey's thinking. They believe that he has the freedom to really go through exactly what happened in those meetings.

And, obviously, we've seen bits and pieces of the details of what those meetings entailed, from Jim Comey's perspective, from memos that he took and drafted during that process.

But I think the interesting element here, and obviously the very different element here, is actually getting it in first person.

Now, Wolf, it's worth noting, there are limits to what Jim Comey can and will say. Not just because -- particularly in the open portion of this hearing.

And you just need to look at what's going on behind the scenes here. Jim Comey and his team have been talking with Bob Mueller, the special counsel, trying to make sure that nothing Jim Comey talks about, no area that he goes into during this hearing would run cross-wise with the investigation that Bob Mueller is now overseeing.

But the expectation is that those meetings with the president would not fall into that category. And so, because of that fact, expect, at least at this time, that on that hearing, in that public session on June 8th, Jim Comey will go through in detail what exactly happened in those one-on-one meetings between him and the president.

BLITZER: Next Thursday morning we'll, of course, have live coverage.

Jim Acosta, Phil Mattingly, Matthew Chance, all -- thanks to all of you very much.

Meanwhile, the White House says President Trump will decide whether to try and block the testimony of the FBI director he fired. Here's what the White House counselor, Kellyanne Conway, said this morning when asked about James Comey's appearance before Congress next week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, CHIEF ANCHOR, ABC NEWS: Does he want former director Comey to testify before Congress?

KELLYANNE CONWAY, SPECIAL COUNSEL, DONALD TRUMP: Well, we'll be watching with the rest of the world when Director Comey testifies. The last time he testified under oath, the FBI had to scurry to correct that testimony --

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: So, the question is he's not going to --

(CROSSTALK)

CONWAY: The president will make that decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, let's bring in our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger, our Justice Reporter Laura Jarrett.

Laura, first of all, explain what that would mean, executive privilege to prevent if, in fact, they wanted to go down that road, the White House, to prevent Comey from testifying.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Wolf, the way this works is that the president should be able to enjoy full and frank conversations with his advisers and with his cabinet members without worrying that another branch of government is going to be able to discover those conversations.

But the issue here, remember, is that James Comey is now a private citizen. So, if he wants to try to block this testimony, he would have to have his lawyers run in to court and get an order saying that he can't testify. A pretty unprecedented step that doesn't happen every day, sure enough.

BLITZER: Yes, I suspect it won't happen but we shall see.

Gloria, there's been some question why Comey didn't take action, if he felt he was being pressured by the president to end the investigation into fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

[13:10:07] Listen to this exchange with a senator during Comey's May 3rd testimony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D), HAWAII: So, if the attorney general or senior officials at the Department of Justice opposes a specific investigation, can they halt that FBI investigation?

JAMES COMEY, FORMER DIRECTOR, FBI: In theory, yes.

HIRONO: Has it happened?

COMEY: Not in my experience because it would be a big deal to tell the FBI to stop doing something that -- without appropriate purpose. Where, oftentimes, they give us opinions that we don't see a case there and so you ought to stop investing resources in it.

But I'm talking about a situation where we were told to stop something for a political reason. That would be a very big deal. It's not happened in my experience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. So, Gloria, what are you hearing from your sources? I know you're doing a lot of reporting on all of this.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, what I'm hearing from a source who is close to Comey is that what he felt at the time, Wolf, was that he was disturbed enough after these series of meetings with the president that he decided to memorialize his notes and that each individual thing he may not have seen as an obstruction of justice. That if he had seen it as an obstruction, he will have done more than write a memo. But we also know he had an ongoing investigation at the time.

But taken in aggregate and after he was fired, he may well have come to a different conclusion. That's why his testimony next week is going to be so stunning and so interesting. Because he originally believed that the president was being inappropriate and that he could, I was told, school him or train him about the right way to interact with the FBI director. And so, he kept these notes.

But if you look back on it now, Wolf, was there a pattern here, particularly after Comey got fired? We have to see whether what he felt, at the time, in those memos and whether he feels the same way now about what the president was trying to do.

BLITZER: Very interesting.

You know, Laura, let's get back to the legal issue of trying to stop Comey from testifying. Has the president, President Trump, actually hurt his chances, as some legal scholars believe, of possibly trying to invoke executive privilege to block the Comey testimony, by talking publicly so much about his decision to fire Comey?

JARRETT: The short answer, Wolf, is yes. And the reasoning is this. Courts say you don't get to use privileged testimony as a sword in one context and a shield in another.

So, the president doesn't get to reference three alleged conversations where Comey assured him that he wasn't under investigation -- under investigation as a sword, in that context. But then, now blocked Comey from testifying in another. In other words, Comey gets to tell his side of the story once the president has put these communications out there.

BLITZER: You know, Gloria, this is basically a case, at least so far, he said, he said. But Comey's testimony sets the stage for a major political showdown. Give us some context.

BORGER: Well, Jim Comey is a controversial figure, Wolf. Democrats don't have a lot of love for Comey and now neither do a lot of Republicans. And so, he comes to that stage with people having a lot of preconceived notions about him.

The president doesn't like him. In fact, after his last testimony, we know that he fired him because he was so upset about that testimony.

So, I think that it's going to be up to the Congress here, the people who are asking the questions, to try and get to the bottom of this for the American people, about exactly what Comey was thinking in these memos, when he wrote them.

And that -- ask him, did you believe it was obstruction of justice at the time or do you believe it's obstruction of justice now? And why were you so disturbed in your encounters with the president of the United States that you thought it was important enough that to memorialize your conversations?

It is a he said-he said, but James Comey has his notes -- Wolf.

BLITZER: We'll see if those notes show up next week, --

BORGER: Yes.

BLITZER: -- during the testimony.

Gloria Borger, Laura Jarrett, thanks to both of you.

CNN will, of course, have live special coverage around former FBI Director James Comey's testimony in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee. That's next Thursday morning, 9:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Coming up, Steve Bannon front and center during the president's announcement on climate change. Ivanka and Jared Kushner at home. Is it a sign of the power pendulum swinging in the Oval Office?

Plus, does the president believe in climate change? It's a question White House aides can't seem to answer. You can bet it will be a question for the press secretary, Sean Spicer, when he goes before reporters at the White House press briefing later this hour. We'll have live coverage.

[13:15:12]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're showing you some live pictures from inside the White House Briefing Room. The press secretary, Sean Spicer, he'll do an on camera briefing shortly. Hasn't done one since Tuesday. He'll be joined by the EPA administrator, Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Scott Pruitt, who supported - strongly supported the president's decision to withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. They'll be taking questions from reporters in just a few minutes. We'll have live coverage of that coming up.

[13:20:08] Meanwhile, at least three governors so far are fighting the president's decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord, saying they'll go green with or without it. One of them is the California governor, Jerry Brown, who said in part, and I'm quoting him now, "Donald Trump has absolutely chosen the wrong course. Trump is AWOL, but California is on the field ready for battle," close quote.

Republican Congressman Tom McClintock of California disagrees. He's joining us now. He supports the president's decision.

Congressman, thanks very much for joining us.

REP. TOM MCCLINTOCK (R), CALIFORNIA: Thanks for having me.

BLITZER: A study, congressman, from the Public Policy Institute of California found that 89 percent of the people in your state believe the effects of global warming are already happening or will happen. President Trump, as you know, has called climate change a hoax created by China. His aides refuse to say whether he still believes that. Listen to these exchanges over the past couple of days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Does the president believe climate change is a hoax?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not about whether climate change is occurring or not.

BLITZER: Does President Trump still believe climate change is a hoax?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to have to ask him. You're going to actually have to ask him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you say whether or not the president believes that human activity is contributing to the warming of the climate?

SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Honestly, I haven't asked him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

SPICER: I can get back you to.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC ANCHOR: I'll ask you one more time, does he believe global warming's a hoax. Does he believe -

KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: You should ask him that.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Kellyanne Conway, thanks for coming -

CONWAY: And I hope you have your chance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do not speak for the president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, first of all, congressman, have you spoken to the president about this? Do you know if he still believes that manmade or at least man has a - men and women for that matter have a role in climate change, that it's real?

MCCLINTOCK: Well, I've not spoken to him but, of course, climate change is real. It's been going on for four and a half billion years. Global warming is real. It's been going on, on and off, since the last ice age. The great debate is over to what extent human activity plays a role and what should be done about it.

BLITZER: Well, do you believe that human activity plays a role in climate change?

MCCLINTOCK: Well, when I look at the palio (ph) climatology of the planet, we know that during the Jurassic period 150 million years ago carbon dioxide levels were about five times higher than they are today. During the PETM, the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, we know that global temperatures averaged about 13 degrees higher than they are today.

Now, I'm not a history major, but I believe that that was before the invention of the SUV. So, as I look at the broad span of our experience on this planet, it seems to me that that's still very much an open question to what extent human activity is - is affecting -

BLITZER: So you don't - you don't - you're not - you're -

MCCLINTOCK: Compared to natural processes that seem to be much, much stronger influence on both carbon dioxide levels, as well as global temperatures.

BLITZER: So you're not ready to go along with most scientists who believe human activity does play a role in climate change?

MCCLINTOCK: You know, I go out onto the Internet and I see a ranging scientific debate among many noted and respected climatologists. Freeman Dyson, for example, John Christy, Fred Singer. So I have trouble accepting the notion that we're supposed to stop debating the subject when science loves a discussion. They love a debate. And when somebody tells you the debate's over, that's usually not a scientist speaking, that's a politician mascaraing as a scientist.

BLITZER: All right, so I'll take that as you're not convinced what most scientists have concluded, that human activity does play a role.

As you also know, congressman, workers in your state, California, they've benefited greatly from renewable energy. California has the highest rate of solar jobs per capita in the country last year. Climate deal promoted clean energy growth. Would that not have benefited your state if the president had agreed to go along with the Paris Climate Accord?

MCCLINTOCK: Oh, if there's a genuine market demand for these products, they're going to continue to do very well. My concern is when consumers are forced to buy overpriced products or when struggling families through higher utility bills and taxes are forced to send billions of dollars of subsidies to these politically well-connected green energy companies. I'd like to see them stand on their own two feet for a change. And if what they say about their products is true, they'll do very well.

BLITZER: One final question. Is it awkward or at all embarrassing to you that 195 countries support this Paris Climate Accord? Now three oppose it, the United States being one, the announcement yesterday, because of the president's decision, Syria opposes it and Nicaragua. Nicaragua opposes it because it doesn't go far enough. Is that at all awkward that the U.S. is now with those two countries against 195 other countries?

[13:25:09] MCCLINTOCK: Well, mother always told me that if all your friends are jumping off a bridge, you don't need to do so as well. I'll guarantee you this. When those other countries get into trouble, the 50 place they're going to come running is the United States. And the stronger our economy is, the better able we'll be to help them. And that's what this decision was all about.

BLITZER: And if they ask for help, will you help them?

MCCLINTOCK: Absolutely.

BLITZER: You'll give them money?

MCCLINTOCK: Well, we'll certainly try to persuade them that the policies they've adopted are directly responsible for the economic difficulties they're suffering.

BLITZER: Congressman Tom McClintock of California, thanks for joining us.

MCCLINTOCK: My pleasure. Thanks for having me.

BLITZER: Coming up, President Trump claiming to have added more than 1 million jobs since the election. We're going to fact check that figure.

Plus, the jobs report. The unemployment numbers are likely to be a topic of discussion over at the White House briefing scheduled to begin any moment from now. We'll have live coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:29:55] BLITZER: We're waiting for the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, and the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, to come out and hold a briefing with reporters just one day after the president announced he was withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate agreement, saying he wants to renegotiate it. They should be coming to the --