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Sessions Faces Questions; Turning Comey Memo Over; No Reason To Fire Mueller; Session Faces Russia Questions; White House Refuting Mueller Claims; Student Freed from North Korea. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired June 13, 2017 - 13:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The attorney general of the United States testifies next hour before the Senate Intelligence Committee in an open hearing.

You're looking at a live picture coming in from the hearing room right now. Sessions arrives on Capitol Hill this hour for what could be another major round of dramatic testimony stemming from the Russia investigation.

Among the issues, Sessions will likely be questioned about revelations from last week's testimony by the fired FBI director, James Comey. His decision -- his role in the decision to fire Comey and his meetings with Russian officials.

While the Sessions testimony is unfolding up on Capitol Hill, President Trump will be on the road. He leaves this hour on a trip to Wisconsin, where he'll visit a technical college as part of what's called Work Force Development Week.

Let's bring in our reporters for a preview of the Sessions testimony and the latest on the Russia investigation. We have our CNN Senior Congressional Reporter Manu Raju who's up on Capitol Hill. Our Justice Reporter Laura Jarrett is here in Washington. And Our National Correspondent Jason Carroll is covering the White House for us today.

Manu, give us a preview of how this hearing is likely to unfold.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, a lot of tough questions likely to face Jeff Sessions, Wolf. This is the first time he has testified publicly since he was confirmed by the Senate earlier this year.

Questions about Jeff Sessions' interactions with the Russian ambassador and any of the Russians that he had as a surrogate for the Trump campaign. Including those two previously undisclosed meetings with the Russian ambassador and whether there was actually a third meeting that he did not disclose during his time -- during his confirmation proceedings.

In addition, Wolf, senators tell me they want to ask Jeff Sessions about whether he knows about if there are any recordings in the White House that President Trump has suggested that there may have been. As well as whether or not he can corroborate anything that James Comey, the former FBI director, said last week. When he raised concerns that Jeff Sessions was not intervening between him and President Trump in those one-on-one interactions that made James Comey uneasy.

Expect some questions about that, as well as Jeff Sessions' recusal in the Russia investigation. And whether or not he should have played any role in the firing of James Comey.

Now, Wolf, this comes as several committees are ramping up their calls for the other matters related to this investigation, including the James Comey memo that the Senate Judiciary Committee has called for. They set a deadline for last Friday to receive a memo that Comey gave to his friend, Daniel Richmond, that shows an interaction that occurred between Comey and President Trump.

Now, Richmond, the friend, told me moments ago, Wolf, that he is turning over that memo not to the Senate Judiciary Committee but to the FBI. And said that the special counsel's office, Bob Mueller, will be in touch with the Judiciary Committee about any relevant materials.

Now, this is actually angering some members on Capitol Hill, including the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Chuck Grassley, who plans to push forward on this Russia investigation.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R), IOWA, CHAIRMAN, SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Senator Feinstein wanted to talk to me by phone today. I sent word back that I'd like to have her and I sit down face to face, and we'll work out all of the subpoenas and all the stuff we have to do in the future and work out a whole program.

RAJU: Are you OK, though, with looking into the potential of obstruction of justice? Is that something for your committee --

GRASSLEY: We're going to leave that to a conversation with Feinstein.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, that last part, Wolf, significant because Grassley not ruling out the idea of looking into obstruction of justice as part of the Senate Judiciary Committee investigation. That's what the top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein, has called for an investigation into that matter, looking also into subpoenas.

And also, he said -- told me he's open to calling Jeff Sessions before his own committee as part of an Oversight Committee hearing. So, Wolf, Jeff Sessions testifying today won't be his only appearance in public before Congress -- Wolf.

BLITZER: That's a significant statement from chairman Grassley, indeed.

Laura, a friend of President Trump's, the NewsMax CEO Chris Ruddy, says the president is considering firing the special counsel, Robert Mueller. Is that possible? Can he do that?

LAURA JARRETT, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Wolf, the short answer is NOC. The regulations are pretty clear. And the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, tried to clear this up on Capitol Hill today. The regulations say that it is up to Rosenstein whether or not to fire Mueller and it has to be for good cause.

Now, of course, the president could try to order Mueller -- try to order Rosenstein to do it or he could try to repeal the regulations. But Rosenstein told senators today, it's really up to him to make that decision.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D), NEW HAMPSHIRE: And, at this point, have you seen any evidence of good cause for firing of special counsel Mueller?

ROD ROSENSTEIN, U.S. DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: No, I have not.

SHAHEEN: And have you given the special counsel full independence from the Justice Department to conduct his investigation?

ROSENSTEIN: Yes. And I appreciate that question.

[13:05:00] SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: If President Trump ordered you to fire the special counsel, what would you do?

ROSENSTEIN: Senator, I'm not going to follow any orders unless I believe those are lawful and appropriate orders. If there were good cause, I would consider it. If there were not good cause, it wouldn't matter to me what anybody says.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Now, Wolf, you can guarantee Attorney General Jeff Sessions is going to get a similar line of questioning, when he is questioned in just a little over an hour from now.

BLITZER: Yes, he certainly will.

Jason, a source close to the president says he is being advised not to try and fire Robert Mueller one way or another. But there's certainly been a lot of back and forth between Chris Ruddy and the White House staff, including the White House press secretary.

What's the latest as the president gets ready to leave town and head over to Wisconsin?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. A lot of back and forth between these two men, between Chris Ruddy and Sean Spicer.

I mean, what a lot of this could boil down to, Wolf, there are a number of folks out there who support the president, who feel as though Spicer may not be up to the task. This could be an example of that.

But here's basically what happened. Spicer was pressed on this issue yesterday. He was repeatedly asked whether or not it was true, these reports coming from Chris Ruddy that the president was considering trying to fire Robert Mueller. These are -- these are the reports that were out there.

Chris Ruddy, for his part, saying that he never met with the president but this was the word that he was getting.

Spicer responds to that basically saying that only the president or the president's attorneys were the people who could basically comment on something like that.

And to that, Ruddy said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS RUDDY, CEO, NEWSMAX (via telephone): I think it's a consideration the president has had because Mueller is illegitimate as special counsel. I never said that the president told me. I never said I had a conversation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Now, Spicer actually reached out to Ruddy yesterday just to clarify to make sure, once again, that he had not, in fact, met with the president. Ruddy is saying that, for his part, that what Spicer should do is focus on -- not focus on, rather, those folks who trying to be out there and actually help this president.

You also had mentioned about the president and what he's going to be doing today. So, hopefully what the administration wants to do, Wolf, is keep the president focused on the task at hand. That's not Sessions testifying. That's his trip to Wisconsin. He's got a full load ahead of him, much like he had a full load of the day when Comey was testifying.

For today, for example, it's going to be wheels up at about 2:05. After that, he's going to be meeting with some folks in Wisconsin who have been affected by Obamacare. He's going to be making remarks on health care. He's going to be holding a work force round table.

Ivanka Trump will be there as well, with the hopes that, perhaps, she, too, can keep him focused on the task at hand in Wisconsin and not on what's happening here in Washington -- Wolf.

BLITZER: A lot of drama happening here in Washington.

Jason Carroll, Laura Jarrett, Manu Raju, guys, thanks very much.

In the appropriations hearing with the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, some senators expressed frustration with his boss for canceling his appearance so that he could testify in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Why isn't Jeff Sessions here today?

ROSENSTEIN: The attorney general, I believe, has chosen to skip this hearing today, in order to avoid difficult questions.

SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D), MARYLAND: It's the height of arrogance for the attorney general not to come before the committee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I want to talk a little bit more about the Sessions' testimony that's upcoming. And we'll, of course, have live coverage of that.

Laura Coates is with us. She's a CNN Legal Analyst, a former federal prosecutor. Our Legal Analyst -- or our Political Contributor David Gregory is with us as well. Mark Preston is a CNN Senior Political Analyst. And Margaret Talev is the White House correspondent for "Bloomberg." David Gregory, what is your title?

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Why can't I be a legal analyst? Why don't you think I can be a --

BLITZER: Did you go -- did you go to law school?

GREGORY: No, but I am very close to lawyers.

BLITZER: All right. So, you're not our legal analyst. Laura is our legal analyst at this -- I want everybody to go through and tell me two things you are especially going to be looking toward in the upcoming Sessions' testimony.

MARGARET TALEV, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "BLOOMBERG NEWS": Two things I'm looking for, Wolf. One is does the attorney general actually exert executive privilege and how? Is there a letter from the White House council? Does he say it himself?

Or is it more along the lines of what we heard from Coats and Rogers last week? I don't -- I'm not comfortable answering that question, at this point.

How does the committee respond? You know, that's one main thing to look for.

And then, look, the questions about this reports of the third meeting with Mr. Kislyak, Ambassador Kislyak, are going to be really important on how he handles that.

BLITZER: On the issue of executive privilege, doesn't the president have that responsibility? He has to tell Sessions, in effect, this is executive privilege. Don't talk about it.

TALEV: That's right. And we -- and so, the question is, is the White House asserting that privilege, at this point? I'm not clear that anyone knows the answer, actually, to how this is going to unfold.

It hasn't been, sort of, previewed partly because we didn't see a prepared statement released by the attorney general as we did with Jim Comey last week.

[13:10:02] And partly because of the, sort of -- what we saw last week with Coats and Rogers and the questions about whether it will follow in that pattern or not.

BLITZER: Yes, they didn't exert executive privilege, as far as the Comey testimony last week. We'll see what happens today.

Mark, what are you looking at?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, specifically, I'm looking at tone and body language from Attorney General Sessions, when it comes to was he aware of any discussions that Robert Mueller has been discussing that he, perhaps, could be fired or dismissed by President Trump. Whether that's from President Trump or anyone else, either, you know, within the White House or within the Department of Justice.

Also, did he offer to resign? Did he offer his resignation to President Trump that was not accepted? I don't necessarily expect we're going to get answers from Sessions, but that's why I think you really have to look at his tone and his body language when he does answer those.

GREGORY: So, I'm interested in the last firing, you know, of Jim Comey and what counsel the attorney general offered to the president about firing Jim Comey, in light of the fact that he'd recused himself from anything having to do with the Russia investigation.

And I'm also interested to know, is the second thing, what actions did he take after Jim Comey said to him, look, you've got to keep the president away from me, from being alone with me. Did he actually take any action as a result of that? I think all of that will be interesting.

BLITZER: Laura, you're our legal analyst. From the legal perspective, what are you looking at?

LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, one of the points David, right, mentions is so important here. It's what the role of the attorney general was in the firing of Comey.

Remember, it's all been pinned on Rod Rosenstein, in terms of the memo that he wrote. And it harkened back to the press conference that Comey held last July, in response to the Hillary Clinton e-mail scandal, slash, investigation, slash, matter.

And so, you have that looming overhead and figuring out what does recusal actually mean for this A.G. in going forward?

The second part is whether or not the attorney general was privy or knew about the communications between Donald Trump and FBI Director Comey about Flynn's firing. Remember, Comey signaled that he was aware that Sessions would probably recuse himself before the president knew about it, before we all knew about it. What was the indication that Comey had and the basis for it and how do we know this information?

BLITZER: I want to remind everyone, Margaret, and let's start with you. When Comey testified last week, he was asked about the role that Sessions played when he had that one-on-one meeting with the president of the United States. And he spoke about the behavior that he saw Sessions demonstrate.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, FORMER DIRECTOR, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: I don't remember real clearly. I have a recollection of him just kind of looking at me, and there's a danger here I'm projecting onto him. So, this may be a faulty memory but I -- kind of, his body language gave me the sense, like, what am I going to do?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Yes, what -- this is the subject that clearly is going to come up in this hearing. The role that Sessions played in those very awkward meetings that Comey had with the president.

TALEV: Yes, that's absolutely right. And, I mean, we will see how the attorney general handles it.

But how the attorney general handles it will be interesting to two groups of people. One, the lawmakers who are on this panel and other panels conducting these investigations and trying to figure out how to support the administration, if you're talking about the Repubicans.

The second will be Bob Mueller and his group of people who, of course, are conducting, arguably, a more important investigation and will be able to watch this panel today.

So, the attorney general's decision to testify here and not to testify before the Appropriations Committee is interesting, both because of what it will reveal today and also some of the clues that we got from Rod Rosenstein himself earlier today, in terms of his unwillingness to answer questions in a public venue that go toward that investigation.

BLITZER: And, Laura, remind us of the legal aspects of Sessions invoking executive privilege and telling these senators, whether Democrat senators or Republican senators, I'm not going to answer your question.

COATES: Well, remember, it's one we haven't really seen before, the actual assertion of the privilege in this -- in these hearings. But the president of the United States has to be the one to actually assert this privilege. Every conversation you have with the president is not covered under a privilege. It has to actually be tied to his Constitutional duties. It has to not also be part of a criminal probe. Because if it does, it's eviscerated. The privilege doesn't go anywhere from that projection (ph).

So, if he really does it, it's a political mishap to say that I want to not answer questions because it makes him probably look at the more complicit with potentially obstruction charges and everything else. And also, legally speaking, to assert the privilege. If you don't actually have a basis for it, and there's no federal judge behind it with a lot of teeth, to say, I'm going to be able to compel or you have to avoid being able to compel doing it, it's not going to be very weighty.

And so, on either front, it'll be a mistake. People want to know the answers to the questions.

And also, remember, Lindsey Graham was very hesitant about this entire parallel investigation between what Mueller had and Congressional probe. They feared this very thing. That because of the criminal probe, they would be stonewalled for the Congressional investigation.

So, legally speaking, for Robert Mueller, it may be one thing to say, well, it doesn't matter whatever you say in front of them, because I'm going to get my answers. But for Congress, they will not.

[13:15:02] BLITZER: You know, it's -- and hovering over this, and David and Mark, I want to get your quick reaction to Chris Ruddy's statement that the president is actually contemplating getting rid of the special counsel, Robert Mueller.

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, Sessions is a reminder that there's the substance of the probe that we have to get back to. The underlying offense on the part of the Russians interfering with our election and his contacts with the Russian ambassador and whether they shed light on this because what we're really focused on is the president's incredibly abusive inappropriate behavior in the course of the investigation itself, firing the man investigating him, having his friends outside the White House speculate about firing the special counsel. It's outrageous. And that leads me to question, too, is Sessions doing his job? I mean is he trying to protect the independence of the Justice Department at all? Is there any evidence of that? I'd like to hear that today. (INAUDIBLE).

BLITZER: I want you to respond, Mark, but listen to the speaker. He had this exchange with a reporter earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: I think the best thing to do is to let Robert Mueller do his job. I think the best vindication for the president is to let this investigation go on independently and thoroughly. That, to me, is the smartest thing to do, the best thing to do, and that's what I think hopefully will happen.

Yes, I don't know his team. I know Bob Mueller and I have confidence in Bob Mueller.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: H has confidence in Bob Mueller.

Go ahead.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it seems like most Republicans have confidence in Bob Mueller unless they have some kind of strong tie to President Trump. We've made a lot about Newt Gingrich coming out and saying good things about Mueller and then coming back and saying critical things. But let's not forget that his wife is going to be the ambassador to the Vatican for Donald Trump.

To David's point, though, you know, the idea of, is he protecting the Department of Justice, just look at what happened at that table yesterday during the cabinet meeting where they're all pledging allegiance to him, which in itself was very disturbing. For the leader right there and for all the leaders on Capitol Hill, you can just see the frustration in their face that they have to keep on answering these questions and not talk about health care, and not talk about infrastructure and not talk about tax reform.

GREGORY: If only (ph) Republicans are behind Trump, you're going to see these guys be very cautious. I mean Speaker Ryan is quite capable of speaking out a lot more strongly and he's decidedly not doing that.

BLITZER: All right, David, Mark, Margaret, Laura, guys, thank you very, very much.

Lots more coming up as Senate leaders from both sides of the aisle have struck a deal to impose new sanctions on Russia. Why the secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, may not be willing to endorse them.

Plus, a U.S. college student is returning to the United States after being detained in North Korea for a year and a half, but his family tells us they've just learned he's been in a coma for most of that time. We're going to Pyongyang, North Korea. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:21:29] BLITZER: You're looking at live pictures from inside the hearing room of the Senate Intelligence Committee where the attorney general of the United States, Jeff Sessions, will soon testify. We'll have live coverage of that. That should be important significant and potentially historic.

Meanwhile, other important news we're following.

Only hours ago, North Korea released an American college student after more than a year in prison. Otto Warmbier was serving a sentence of 15 years hard labor, but the news is tempered by a statement from Warmbier's parents. And I'll read it to you now.

"Otto has left North Korea. He's on a medivac flight on his way home. Sadly, he is in a coma and we have been told he has been in that condition since March of 2016." The statement continues, "we learned of this only one week ago. We want the world to know how we and our son have been brutalized and terrorized by the pariah regime in North Korea. We are so grateful that he will finally be with people who love him," end quote.

For more on this, our CNN international correspondent, Will Ripley, he's in North Korea's capital of Pyongyang right now.

Will, tell us what you've learned.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the case of Otto Warmbier has been tragic from the beginning. He came here to North Korea as part of a tour group. A group of young people who wanted to celebrate New Year's Eve in the North Korean capital, do some sightseeing and then go home.

But on New Year's Eve, North Korean officials say Otto Warmbier wandered into a restricted area of the Yangato (ph) Hotel and tried to take a political sign off the wall, leaving it on the floor, and going back to his room. But that crime was enough for North Korean officials to arrest Warmbier at the airport and charge him with hostile acts against the regime and sentence him to 15 years of hard labor, alleging, among other things, that he was in collusion with the CIA for this act of taking the banner off the wall.

His parents have had no contact with him for more than a year. He's been in custody for a year and a half. His parents thought zero contact was because of wartime law, restricting communication between American detainees and their families. They were not even able to pass letters back and forth. But just within the last week, Fred and Cindy Warmbier, his parents in Cincinnati, Ohio, learned that there son would not have been able to write a letter back to them because he has been in a coma for more than a year, since March of 2016, shortly after his trial and conviction, which is the last time that we saw him in public.

Every time CNN comes in to Pyongyang, we have asked to speak with Otto to find out how he's doing and our requests for information have gone unanswered. But now his parents are tells us that he contracted a serious case of botulism last March. He became very ill and was given a sleeping pill by North Korean doctors and he never woke up. And now his family says he is being medevaced back to the United States where he will land in Cincinnati, unconscious, but nonetheless surrounded by people who love him.

Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Will, thank you. Will Ripley reporting for us from Pyongyang in North Korea.

Let's talk about this latest, very dramatic development out of North Korea. I'm joined by CNN military and diplomatic analyst John Kirby. He's a retired U.S. Navy admiral, served as spokesman for the Pentagon and the State Department.

What's your take on this dramatic development?

REAR ADMIRAL JOHN KIRBY (RET.), CNN MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC ANALYST: Well, first of all, I think kudos to the administration for working this so hard. It looks like everything we're learning now in the last couple of hours from sources around the State Department, people that are close to it, is that this was worked very, very hard at very top levels inside the administration. So I think credit is due them for working this.

[13:25:11] And this is difficult to do. Don't forget, we still have three Americans that are being detained by -

BLITZER: Three other Americans.

KIRBY: Yes, three other Americans that are still being detained by the North Korean regime. It's difficult to get people out of there. So this is a great development for the family. It's very, very sad and distressing, obviously, that he's in this physical state. But at least he will be able to get home and get the medical care that he deserves.

BLITZER: Is it a coincidence or is there some connection that the former NBA star, Dennis Rodman, all of a sudden yesterday shows up in Beijing, makes a connecting flight to Pyongyang. He's in Pyongyang right now for another meeting presumably with Kim Jung-un.

KIRBY: The National Security Council, on the record, is saying that this - that he had nothing to do with this. State Department sources are saying the same thing. My former - some colleagues I've talked to at the State Department also confirm that Rodman had nothing to do with this. I think he's there on some sort of sports diplomacy tour. So I - I take them at their word. I think it is a - it is an unusual coincidence, no question about it, but I don't think he had anything to do with this.

BLITZER: The only suspicion I have is that, maybe from the U.S. standpoint, he had nothing to do with this. But the fact that the North Koreans knew they were about to release this University of Virginia student, they wanted to have something there. Usually when they release an American, usually another American, whether a former president, a former secretary of state -

KIRBY: Yes.

BLITZER: A former U.N. ambassador shows up. And apparently no one might have been willing to show up except maybe Dennis Rodman.

KIRBY: Yes, there's no question that they - the Pyongyang regime, they like the legitimacy that comes from prominent Americans visiting and coming to talk to them about whatever the issue is. And I can't - you know, who know what's in Kim Jong-un's mind, whether or not he saw that this was a propitious time to do that.

But everything that we're learning in the last couple hours tells us that this has been worked very, very hard on its own, in isolation of Rodman by top levels of the State Department. And I think, honestly, that's - that's what got Otto Warmbier out.

BLITZER: Well, let's hope he's going to be OK once he arrives back in the United States. Let's hope those three other Americans are released soon. KIRBY: And let's - and we should not forget that there are three other Americans there. This is not - this is a tactic the regime continues to pull and they try to play for legitimacy and for favor out of that. We shouldn't let them off the hook.

BLITZER: Let's see what Dennis Rodman, if he does anything while he's there, maybe they'll give him an opportunity to meet with these three other Americans. Maybe he'll be able to, who knows -

KIRBY: Yes.

BLITZER: Bring one or two or all three of them home.

KIRBY: I think -

BLITZER: That would be an encouraging development.

KIRBY: Absolutely. Any effort to get these other Americans out would be a good thing.

BLITZER: All right, John Kirby, thanks very much, our CNN military and diplomatic analyst.

Coming up, we're just about an hour or so away from the start of the attorney general, Jeff Sessions' testimony about his role in the James Comey firing, among other issues, including his relationship with President Trump. We'll have live coverage of that. That's coming up.

Also, when we come back, Congressman Eric Swalwell, he's a key member of the House Intelligence Committee. He's standing by live. We'll discuss what he wants to hear from the attorney general. Stay with us.

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