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Intel Leaders on Trump Conversations; Trump Speech in Ohio; Senators Grill Intel Chiefs; Intel Leaders Don't Provide Info. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired June 07, 2017 - 13:00   ET

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Senators Grill Intel Chiefs; Intel Leaders Don't Provide Info>



ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

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.

Right now, you're looking at live pictures from Cincinnati, Ohio, where President Donald Trump is set to speak momentarily. The trip to Cincinnati is part of the president's and the White House's push to focus on increased infrastructure spending.

But as the President tries to focus his attention in southern Ohio, most people are zeroing in on what the president left behind here in Washington, D.C.

Before leaving the White House, President Trump tweeted out the name of his nominee to become the next FBI director, Christopher Wray. The announcement comes just one day before former FBI Director James Comey testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee in what will be his only but public comments on his firing.

Today, members of the Senate Intelligence Committee had a chance to question most of the nation's top national security and law enforcement officials. The director of national intelligence, Dan Coats; the director of national -- the National Security Agency, Admiral Mike Rogers; deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein; and acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe.

The hearing was supposed to be about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act but instead focused on the Russia investigation at least extensively.

The back and forth was very, very contentious at times with some of the senators bristling over the refusal of witnesses to answer direct questions pertaining to influence and pressure from the White House.

Here are some of the highlights from today's Senate hearing starting with Admiral Mike Rogers responding to a question about whether he had been

pressured by the White House to intervene in the Russia investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADM. MIKE ROGERS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY: To the best of my recollection, I have never been directed to do anything I believe to be illegal, immoral, unethical or inappropriate.

DAN COATS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: For intelligence-related matters or any other matters that have been discussed, it is my belief that it's inappropriate for me to share that with the public.

I have never been pressured. I have never felt pressure to intervene or interfere in any way shape -- with shaping intelligence in a political way or in relationship to an ongoing investigation.

SEN. MARTIN HEINRICH (D), NEW MEXICO, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Did Director Comey say that the president had asked for his loyalty?

ANDREW MCCABE, ACTING DIRECTOR, FBI: Sir, I'm not going to comment on conversations the director may have had with the president. I know he's here to testify in front of you tomorrow. You'll have an opportunity to ask him those things then.

HEINRICH: I'm asking you. Did you have that conversation with Director Comey?

MCCABE: And I've responded that I'm not going to comment on those conversations.

SEN. ANGUS KING (I), MAINE, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Why you are not answering these questions? Is there an invocation by the president of the United States of executive privilege? Is there or not?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not that I am aware of.

KING: Then why you are not answering.

COATS: Because I feel it is inappropriate.

KING: What is the legal basis for your refusal to testify to this committee.

COATS: I'm not sure I have a legal basis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Wow. Let's bring in our Senior Congressional Reporter Manu Raju. He's up on Capitol Hill. Manu, what's the reaction, at least so far, to this very dramatic testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, Democrats are not happy, Wolf. They wanted to get more answers from Dan Coats, from Mike Rogers about those interactions with President Trump. And they believe that some of the testimony actually contradicts their assertion that they could not speak about it. There were instances in which Mike Rogers was discussing how he briefed the president on the Russia's involvement in the elections, the intelligence surrounding that.

The question is, why were you able to discuss those discussions with President Trump but not the interactions about whether or not President Trump asked them to back down these stories about Russia collusion with the Trump officials.

And, in Dan Coats' case, to back down this investigation that was occurring that the FBI was launching into Michael Flynn.

I caught up with Kamala Harris who's a Democratic senator on this committee who had a very feisty exchange with Rod Rosenstein during this confirmation -- during this hearing.

And also, it was cut off in her -- in her questions by Chairman Richard Burr, because he was frustrated about how she was asking questions.

And she said that she wanted to get a direct answer from Rod Rosenstein about whether Bob Mueller, the Special Counsel, would have full authority, independence to launch an investigation to continue this investigation into the Russia meddling issue and as well as any obstruction of justice that may have occurred. She was not satisfied with those answers.

But I can tell you, Wolf, what these senators are looking for now is this classified session that will probably take place, we don't know exactly when, in which presumably Dan Coats, Mike Rogers would be able to lay out, in more detail, exactly what happened. And exactly whether or not President Trump did, in fact, ask these officials to back down these stories about Russia collusion. Whether he interfered improperly in any way.

[13:05:07] Those are questions that they were not answered in today's hearing which is one reason why you're hearing a lot of frustration on the Democratic side of the aisle after this hearing today -- Wolf.

BLITZER: But there's no guarantee, Manu, correct me if I'm wrong, that even in the classified closed-door session that's about to begin in an hour or so from now, that these individuals, these leaders will be able to say what they refused to say during the course of the open hearing.

They both were suggesting they asked the White House counsel for some information, whether or not the president was exerting executive privilege to prevent them from speaking out. They didn't get an answer but they're waiting to get an answer presumably right now.

And if they don't get an answer, what are they going to say in closed- door session?

RAJU: Well, Wolf, actually this closed-door session will not involve these senior intelligence officials. It will involve their staff. The staff is going to discuss with staff of the Senate Intelligence Committee that expiring statute of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, some technical questions.

So, they're not going to get any answers today, Wolf, in this classified session about these conversations that occurred with President Trump. They're going to have to schedule another session, Wolf, to get these members, get these officials back in.

And we don't know when that's going to be and we don't know what they're going to say in this private session or if they'll be able to tell the public exactly what they told President Trump.

But one thing that is raising some questions here is Dan Coats, the Director of National Intelligence, saying there is no legal justification for him, that he could point to, about why he could not disclose those conversations. As well as none of them have been waived off by a former FBI Director Bob Mueller to not discuss this as part of the investigation.

They just felt, in the words of Mike Rogers, that it would not be appropriate. And that's what's something that some members said. It doesn't matter how you feel. It matters what Congress wants to hear.

So, you're seeing a lot of tension between the executive branch and Congress over whether or not they can get answers. The question will be whether or not those answers will come in a classified session and when that classified session will begin -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, you saw that anger from -- especially from Senator Angus King. He was extremely upset, extremely frustrated he was not getting answers.

Good to know that these four witnesses will not be testifying behind closed doors during this classified session. I was under the impression they were sticking around for that. But they'll be back.

Still no word from the White House whether the president would exert executive privilege to prevent them from speaking out.

All right, Manu Raju, thanks very much.

Let's get some more now on what we just heard, the dramatic testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Joining us, our Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash, our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger, our Legal Analyst, former federal prosecutor, Michael Zeldin, and former CIA intelligence officer, David Priess.

So, you know, Dana, the frustration level was intense.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: And understandably so. I don't remember ever seeing anything quite like this. Not that we haven't seen hearing after hearing where witnesses didn't want to or didn't feel that it was their responsibility or appropriate to give a response.

But nothing at had level when it was very well known that this is where the panel was going to be going with these two witnesses, because of the reporting about the fact that the president -- allegedly, the president of the United States asked them to see what they could do to intervene in or stop or however it was that he, apparently, phrased the conversations, the Russia investigation.

And the fact that they were so fofrunkering (ph). I mean, there's no other way to say that.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: How do you spell that?

BASH: I'll leave that to others. They didn't have a real answer except for it wasn't appropriate which Angus -- it wasn't just -- I mean, Angus King was probably the strongest and the most outwardly frustrated, the independent from Maine who caucuses with the Democrats.

But the fact that Marco Rubio, the Republican, was one of the first ones out of the gate to say, wait a minute. And to understandably parse the language about, well, you said not directed. OK, but you said that -- what does that really mean and this isn't classified. It shows that there is bipartisan frustration and they are perplexed at why there weren't better answers.

BLITZER: And that bipartisan frustration certainly came through in Senator McCain's questioning, as well.

BORGER: Sure. You know, McCain is saying, well, I live in this Orwellian world, where I see this in "The Washington Post" today, and you're not even talking to me about it and was kind of scratching his head about it.

Look, it seemed to me there was coordination among these witnesses because they said, we've received no pressure. This was the message. There was no pressure to intervene, period.

And Rogers was -- you know, almost pounded his fist on the table. You could see that he was saying, look, I just want you to know, I never felt any pressure.

[13:10:00] Beyond that, they all then decided that they didn't want to talk about their conversations with the president.

And when Angus King -- I think this is what we're going to remember today is Dan Coats saying to Angus King, I'm not sure I have a legal basis for the fact that I'm not going to tell you --

BASH: Right.

BORGER: -- what occurred.

BASH: Why aren't you sure?

BORGER: Right. It's as if they just went up there today and said, you know, I'm not in the -- I don't -- I don't feel like it.

BLITZER: Let me play that exchange involving Dan Coats.

BORGER: Right. BLITZER: Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COATS: When I was asked yesterday to respond to a piece that I was told was going to be written and printed in "The Washington Post" this morning, my response to that was, in my time of service, which is interacting with the president of the United States or anybody in his administration, I have never been pressured. I have never felt pressure to intervene or interfere in any way and shape -- with shaping intelligence, in a political way or in relationship to an ongoing investigation.

HEINRICH: You'd clear an awful lot up by simply saying it never happened.

COATS: I don't share -- I do not share, with the general public, conversations that I have with the president or many of my administer -- colleagues within the administration that I believe are -- should not be shared.

KING: I'm not satisfied with, I do not believe it is appropriate or I do not feel I should answer. I want to -- I want to understand a legal basis. You swore that oath to tell us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And, today, are you refusing to do so. What is the legal basis for your refusal to testify to this committee?

COATS: I'm not sure I have a legal basis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: That was pretty extraordinary, Michael Zeldin. Is there a legal basis that you can see for these witnesses to refuse to answer those questions?

MICHAEL ZELDIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Sure, executive privilege. And the problem --

BLITZER: But the problem is that the White House counsel has not given them an answer whether the president wants to exert executive privilege.

ZELDIN: Well, that, I thought, was very instructive, in terms of the whole way the hearing unfolded. Rogers said, I called the White House and I asked them, are you asserting executive privilege here and I got no answer.

And so, with no answer, he doesn't really know what he can and cannot do. And so, he's stuck with this position of, I can't tell you anything because I don't know what I can tell you.

BASH: But don't they give up the right to exert it, if they don't answer the question, knowing that this hearing is coming?

ZELDIN: Well, I think they were served badly by their staff. They should have been properly prepared for the proper answers that they should give. Legal defense, not legal defense, executive privilege, not legal -- not executive privilege. And so, I don't know how to answer that.

The only -- the only thing that I think is unfortunate in what they said was this characterization of their feelings. I didn't feel pressure. Because from a legal standpoint, Wolf, their feelings are irrelevant. The question of whether one obstructs justice is, did the obstructer intend to obstruct an ongoing investigation that they were aware of? Not whether you felt pressure.

BORGER: Right.

ZELDIN: And it doesn't even require that they intended obstructer, asked for something that is categorically illegal. So, they didn't really address any of those questions and it left us all in this big mess that we're in.

BLITZER: Hold on one second. I want to go back to Manu Raju. He's got Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee with him. Go ahead, Manu.

RAJU: Hey, Wolf, thank you. Thanks to Senator Wyden for talking to us. What was your reaction to Dan Coats' testimony today where he said he could not reveal these conversations that he had with President Trump in an open session?

SEN. RON WYDEN (D), OREGON, SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Well, certainly I don't share the view that there is some kind of sweeping executive privilege, particularly on matters that the president talks about so expansively.

Now, with respect to Director Coats, I was also very troubled about what could be a matter that would concern the Senate greatly. And that is on March 23rd, Director Coats told the Armed Services Committee that he wasn't aware of the president or the White House contacting anyone in the Intelligence community, with respect to a request to drop the investigation into General Flynn.

Your colleagues in the press have been reporting otherwise. And both accounts cannot be true. So, I intend to keep digging. He said that he would address this in a classified session. Is there anything wrong with him doing this in a classified session?

WYDEN: Certainly, he made his comments to the Armed Services Committee in a public session, so you can't have it both ways. You can't make comments in a public session that you feel comfortable making because the American people should know.

And then, when you're put on the spot about a potential conflict, then suddenly do an about face and say, oh, I can't say anything.

[13:15:07] RAJU: But shouldn't he -- if he's having these discussions with the president, why does -- isn't there a right for him to at least discuss these things privately and not be concerned that someone in Congress may ask him about it and have to reveal it publicly? Shouldn't he be allowed to have private conversations?

WYDEN: There certainly ought to be protections for the president and his advisers to talk about matters that are classified, what are called sources and methods. But when the president, through tweets and a whole variety of public statements, is commenting so expansively on the issues, that puts them, in my view, into the public square.

RAJU: There was a pretty feisty exchange that you had with Dan Coats. Have you lost any confidence in him to serve as the director of National Intelligence?

WYDEN: What he did with respect to the matter of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is, in my view, a 180 degree retreat from what he had said earlier and actually what his predecessors said earlier. And it was commentary that reflects a misunderstanding of what this is about. Smart policies will give us security and liberty. The two are not mutually exclusive. And somehow Director Coats seems to think it's just one or the other.

RAJU: Do you have full confidence in him as the director of National Intelligence?

WYDEN: I'm very troubled by why what we heard today. I was troubled about the discrepancy in the stories with respect to General Flynn. I was very concerned about the about face that he made with respect to law-abiding Americans in a world when communications are much more globally integrated and with respect to the general proposition that he just wouldn't say a whole lot about anything other than his own talking points. Yes, I thought those were three areas that were very troubling.

RAJU: One other thing. Senator Warner said that he - that the committee is aware of someone who took notes about these conversations that occurred at least between Mike Rogers and the president and they plan to interview that person. One, do you know who that person is and what do you know about these notes?

WYDEN: I can't comment about committee deliberations. But since I asked my first question about that, let me be very specific. It was clear that early on the four witnesses were not going to in any way get into the content of conversations with respect to the president. So I said, what about notes and memos and additional background information, and they all said they wouldn't get into that either. That's not content. That's not apropos of your earlier question, divulging information about what might be considered secret. That's going to the question of whether there are any records at all. So I intend to keep following up on that.

RAJU: OK. Senator, thanks for your time.

WYDEN: Thank you.

RAJU: Wolf, back to you.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thanks very much, Manu, and thanks to Senator Wyden, as well. You know, David Priess, you're a former CIA intelligence officer. I

think what Senator Warner was referring to, the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, these reports, including in "The Washington Post," that the president's - and I'm reading from "The Washington Post" story, the president's conversation with Admiral Rogers, the head of the National Security Agency, "was documented contemporaneously in an internal memo written by a senior NSA official according to officials." Senator Warner said that official from the NSA no longer is working at the NSA, but he will be called now to testify on this issue.

First of all, what's your reaction?

DAVID PRIESS, FORMER CIA INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: Well, it's striking to me. All of these contemporary accounts being written down. All of these memos being written. All of these notes filed away. And yet when pulled in front of the committee, nobody can seem to remember the details. In fact, they - they will just deny that they had a conversation.

BLITZER: I'm going to - David, I'm going to interrupt for a second, because the president is in Cincinnati. He's speaking now. I believe he's at the airport. His flight, Air Force One, has just landed. He's met with what the White House calls Obamacare victims. I assume he's going to get into some other topics as well. Let's listen in to the president.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is great to be back in Ohio. We love Ohio. You remember Ohio. Oh, boy. It was supposed to be close. It wasn't close. And so wonderful to speak on the shores of the very magnificent Ohio River.

We're here today to talk about rebuilding our nation's infrastructure. Isn't it about time? Spending money all over the world except here. We don't spend our money here. We spend it all over. And we'll do it using American labor, American energy, American iron, aluminum and steel. We believe in the dignity of work and in the greatness of the American worker. No worker like our American worker.

[13:20:16] I want to thank Secretary Purdue, Secretary Zinke, and Administrator Pruett for joining us today. And you saw what we did with our great administrator. You saw what happened last week with the so-called Paris Accord. We will - we will keep our nation so great and so strong and we will never have outside forces telling us what to do and how to do it. Believe me. That would have been a huge anchor on our country.

I'm also grateful that Governor Matt Bevin, his wife Glenna and his family could be here along with Lieutenant Governor Jenean Hampton from Kentucky. A great place. Where's Jenean? And Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor from Ohio. Thank you, Mary. Thank you very much.

We're also very excited to be joined by top labor leaders in the United States. I have negotiated with these people for so long. They're tough. But they get the job done, right? Right? Together, we're going to put our skilled trades people back to work. Sean McGarvey is here with us today, president of the North American Building Trades Union. Sean took part in one of our very first meetings at the White House. That was a great meeting, Sean. And was there with us when we issued the long-awaited approval for the Keystone XL pipeline, which has started. After years and years of stagnation, they said that's never going to happen and we got it started. It's going to happen and it's about 48,000 jobs. It's a big job. And that's just the beginning. We have many other things happening, including, as you know, the Dakota pipeline, also moving along and very rapidly.

We will also welcome Eric Dean, president of the United Ironworkers and Terry O'Sullivan of the Laborers International Union of North America. I will proudly say to you all today what I told you and told our labor unions two months ago in Washington, as long as I am president, America's labor leaders will always find an open door at the White House. We had a great day. We love our workers.

We're also pleased to be joined by executives from Marathon Petroleum, Bunge North America, CF Industries, Peabody Energy, Alliance Coal, AK Steel, Nucor Steel, Scotts - oh, you like that company I guess. Scotts Miracle-Gro and many others who are ready to help us build the roads, the bridges, the tunnels and the waterways of tomorrow. And they're currently working very hard. In fact, I brought a couple of the greatest builders in America, Steve Roth of Vornado, Richard LeFrak of LeFrak - where are you guys? Come here. Come here. Come here. Come up here, Steve. These people aren't used to this. You know, they like to build. They don't know about this. Get up here, Richard. Two of the great builders in this - of our country. Come here, Richard.

Oh, watch - I have to do this. Do you want to say anything, fellows? They're not big talkers -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I'll - I'll say something.

TRUMP: Unless they're behind a deck they're big talkers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll -

TRUMP: Go ahead, Richard. Go.

RICHARD LEFRAK, LEFRAK ORGANIZATION: We're all fortunate to have the greatest builder in America, Donald J. Trump, standing behind an infrastructure program which America sorely needs and is ready to implement. Donald, President Trump, thank you.

TRUMP: Thank you.

Steve, come, say. Huh? No? Come here. All right, get off the stage, fellows. That's it. Richard, that was a good job. Thank you.

These are great builders. And we're watching and they're looking over our shoulders. Believe me, they don't need the money. They're not doing it for that. I said, make sure it's going to come in on time, under budget. Maybe even ahead of schedule. But we say on time, under budget and they're going to be watching and looking over some of the big jobs that we have planned so it gets done properly. Not these jobs that take 14 years to build when they're supposed to be completed in 18 months. You've been hearing about them a little bit, right? That's been the standard. It won't be happening. Not in this administration.

[13:25:24] The American people deserve the best infrastructure anywhere in the world. We are a nation that created the Panama Canal, the Transcontinental Railroad, and the Internet. If you think about this, the great highway system, the interstate highway system, we don't do that anymore. We really don't. We don't even fix the old highways anymore. We'll take even fixing them, but we're going to get them going again like they've never been before.

These projects not only open new lanes of commerce, but inspired the immigration and the dreams of millions and millions of people. We crafted monuments to the American spirit. It's time to recapture our legacy as a nation of builders and to create new lanes of travel, commerce and discovery. And we're going to see all the way into the future. And the future is going to be beautiful and the future is going to be bright.

In my campaign for president, I traveled all across the nation. I saw the crumbling infrastructure. I met with communities that were desperate for new roads and new bridges. Bridges were so dangerous, they couldn't use them. They were worried they'd fall down. And you've seen that happen. And I heard the pleas from the voters who wanted to know why we could rebuild foreign countries, my big thing, we build in foreign countries, we spend trillions and trillions of dollars outside of our nation, but we can't build a road, a highway, a tunnel, a bridge in our own nation. And we watch everything falling into disrepair. It's time to rebuild our country, to bring back our jobs, to restore our dreams and, yes, it's time finally to put America first. And that's what I've been doing, if you haven't noticed.

While it's very early in the administration, I think everyone has noticed, right? We have noticed. The people are noticing like they've never noticed before. We're already making historic progress. Last month unemployment fell to its lowest point in 16 years. Right now - thank you. Right now more small businesses are planning to hire than at any point in the last decade. Last week, the stock market soared to record highs, highest ever, boosting the pensions, your pensions and your retirement accounts and those of hard working Americans.

I've just returned from a trip overseas that secured more than $350 billion of military and economic investments into the United States. That means millions of jobs. And I want to thank the king of Saudi Arabia, King Salman. We spent a lot of time together. And they're doing a great job. They're going to be doing something very special. You see it with terrorism, the funding of terrorism. It's going to stop. It's going to stop the funding of radical Islamic terrorism. And they're going to stop.

And they hosted over 50 all Muslim countries. They said there's never been anything like it in our history. In the history of this world, there has never been anything like what took place two weeks ago in Saudi Arabia. And I'm very proud to be a part of it. And hopefully that can be the beginning of the end to this horrible, horrible situation that the world is suffering right now called terrorism. We're going to put an end to it and we have to be very tough and we have to be very smart and we have to be very vigilant and we're going to end it.

[13:29:42] In my meetings with foreign leaders from many countries, I sent a clear message that America expects fair trade, a level playing field, and so many other things that we're demanding for our workers and for our companies. Every other country looks out for their interests. It's time that we finally start looking out for our interests in the United States. No longer will we sacrifice American jobs, factories and wealth.