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Flynn May Be Cooperating; U.S. Shoots down Drone over Syria; Outrage over Warmbier's Death; White House Press Briefing; Historic Georgia Race. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired June 20, 2017 - 13:00   ET

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

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello I'm Wolf Blitzer it's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 8:00 p.m. in Jerusalem, 1:30 a.m. Wednesday in Pong Yong Yang, North Korea. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

Take a look at these live pictures already coming in from the White House briefing room. Later this hour, the press secretary, Sean Spicer, scheduled to give his first on-camera briefing in, what, eight days. We'll have live coverage of that coming up. Audio and video available.

We're also following these developing stories. Voting is underway in Georgia's sixth Congressional district and what could be the most important special election here in the United States in a long time.

It's already the most expensive in American history. More than $50 million has been spent between the two candidates already.

The Democrats are hoping to make this a bell weather vote for next year's midterm elections. We're going to break that down in just a few moments.

We're also learning new information about the Russia investigation right now. The FBI special counsel, Robert Mueller, is now set to meet with key Senate Judiciary Committee leaders tomorrow up on Capitol Hill.

And President Trump facing crucial foreign policy tests in places like North Korea just a short time ago. The president called the death of Otto Warmbier, the University of Virginia student, and I'm quoting the president now, "a disgrace." We'll have more on that reaction coming up.

First, the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, expected to face some tough and serious questions, though, later this hour about the Russia investigation, rising tensions in Syria, and with Russia and the special election today in Georgia.

Let's go to our Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta. He's joining us from inside the briefing room right now.

Jim, you cover these briefings whenever they take place, unfortunately not all that often at least in recent weeks. What do you make of this being the press secretary's first on-camera briefing in over a week?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, I think it's -- I think it's a welcome development. You know, last night, when the White House issued its guidance to the press, in terms of what the schedule was going to be today, it didn't even list a briefing on the schedule.

Often times, it'll list a briefing, but it'll say, you know, it's going to be off camera or on camera or whatever. Last night, we didn't get any kind of guidance as to whether we would even have a briefing today.

And then, later this morning, the White House did say, yes, there will be an on-camera briefing today. It will be with the White House secretary, Sean Spicer.

Wolf, you mentioned a lot of the stories that'll be talked about, I think, in this briefing room. If we all get a chance to ask those questions, one, obviously, that is going to come up is the future of the White House press secretary, himself.

We were hearing late yesterday of talk inside the west wing of moving Sean Spicer into a different role here at the White House. Perhaps overseeing the press shop and communications' officials who work here at the White House.

That, of course, is not something that's fully baked. It hasn't been announced, at this point. Perhaps it's something we'll hear about during this briefing this afternoon.

But, beyond that, beyond the palace entry here at the White House, there are some big stories, obviously, to talk about.

The president met with the Ukrainian president just a short while ago and was asked about, as you said, the death of Otto Warmbier. The president calling it a disgrace and suggested, I think, in his comments that perhaps more could have been done during the Obama administration.

And, in fact, a former national security official with the Obama administration issued a statement, saying that their tireless efforts resulted in the free -- the freedom of several Americans who were held in captivity during the Obama administration in North Korea. And so, there might be some back and forth on that as well.

And, of course, there are just the unanswered questions that we've been tracking for several weeks now. The president raised the specter that he might have audio recordings of his conversations here at the White House. The question, as we've been asking time and again, where are the tapes? We don't have an answer to that yet.

And whether the president believes he can fire the special prosecutor, Bob Mueller. That seems to get asked at almost every briefing.

And, Wolf, I think it's very possible that this briefing could be dominated by discussion of health care. You've seen what's been happening up on Capitol Hill over the last 12 to 24 hours, Democrats taking issue with the fact that this health care process over in the Senate has been conducted largely in secret.

And you even have the minority leader, Chuck Schumer, drawing parallels with something that the president was quoted as saying behind closed doors last week, that this health care bill coming out of the House is, quote, "mean."

And I think one of the questions to Sean Spicer, during this briefing today, will be, well, did the president say that and does he mean it? Does he think that this health care bill that came out of House, that he celebrated back in the rose garden a few weeks ago is, in fact, quote, "mean."

And I think those are just some of the questions. We'll see if we get to all of those. I may have ticked off more of the questions than we'll get allowed to ask during this briefing today but we'll see, Wolf.

BLITZER: We'll see how long that briefing actually goes on.

[13:05:00] Do we know if there's going to be a guest star that shows up first to speak about technology issues, that's technology week this week, or other related issues before Sean Spicer actually does his daily or what used to be a daily press briefing?

ACOSTA: Well, that has been one of the features that we've seen during these briefings, Wolf, where a various cabinet official will come in and talk to reporters. That has the obvious effect of reducing the amount of time that we have to ask about pressing news items. If, in fact, we're listening to one cabinet secretary talk about a particular subject on that day.

I did ask a White House official, within the last hour, whether we should expect a surprise guest. I was told, not at this point.

I was told not at this point. So, that does not exactly close the door on that possibility.

And so, it is possible, yes, that we'll see Sean Spicer come out here without that -- with that special guest with him. But we just don't know at this point, Wolf.

Last week, we had the labor secretary, Alexander Acosta. And so, we'll see. Perhaps it being technology week, we might have the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, come out and answer some questions.

But, so far, during the course of this administration, Jared Kushner has not really subjected himself to any questions from the public from the news media about what he's doing here at the White House.

He's made some comments here and there sporadically but so far nothing to us. So, if, in fact, he's coming out hire today, it is technology week, that's part of his portfolio here at the White House, that certainly would be a welcome development, Wolf. BLITZER: Yes, it certainly would be. Let's see if that happens. I know he's getting ready. I don't know when he leaves, for Jerusalem and Ramallah. He's going to try to get -- jumpstart that peace process, if he can, as well. He's got a lot on his plate right now.

Jim, we'll stand by. We'll get back to you. Thanks very much. We'll have live coverage of the press secretary's briefing once it begins later this hour.

In the meantime, the president is keeping a very close eye on the high-stakes special election going on right now in Georgia's Congressional Sixth District. Take a look at live pictures coming in from the polls in Marietta, Georgia, outside Atlanta where voters are choosing between Republican Karen Handel, and Democrat (INAUDIBLE) Jon Ossoff.

And both candidates are taking jabs at one another as they fight to the finish for this very important House seat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON OSSOFF (D), CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE, GEORGIA: Well, the contrast in this district is between a career politician, my opponent, Karen Handel, who's notorious for cutting off funding for life-saving breast cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood, or a fresh voice who wants to work across the aisle to get things done.

REP. KAREN HANDEL (R), CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE, GEORGIA: But he still doesn't live in the district so that really matters to the people here. They want someone they know. Someone who has a track record.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: President Trump tweeted support this morning for Karen Handel but will it help? According to a CBS poll, Trump's approval rating, among Republicans, has dropped 11 points since the 100-day mark.

Let's talk about all of this with our CNN Politics Senior Writer Juana Summers and our CNN Political Director David Chalian. So, David, why is this race today so important, potentially?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, I think it's really important because of the terrain that it's being fought on. This is the kind of district that if Democrats are going to have a shot at winning back the House of Representatives next year, this is the kind of district they need to win.

Not just the 23 districts where Hillary Clinton won where Republicans were a member. But they've got to dig into Republican-held districts but have this kind of makeup. More college-educated voters than is the national average, suburban area, that is very important if you want to win back the House of Representatives for the Democrats.

And where Donald Trump underperformed Mitt Romney which is the case here in this district as well. BLITZER: Hillary Clinton lost the district by only a little bit, more

than one percentage point. Is this race seen as a referendum on Trump's presidency?

JUANA SUMMERS, CNN POLITICS SENIOR WRITER: I think is absolutely is. And I think no matter who wins tonight that we will see both parties probably make quite a big deal out of this.

I think if you're an incumbent or somebody thinking about jumping in one these Congressional races that are going to be critical to watch in 2018, you're going to be looking to read the tea leaves here and see what your chances are, particularly given, as David noted, the electoral history.

This has not been considered a swing district, but the margins then were just so close in the November election.

BLITZER: Yes, let me put those margins up, David, and we'll discuss. In the 2016 election, Donald Trump got 48.3 percent in this Sixth Congressional District. Hillary Clinton got 46.8 percent.

Four years earlier, that's 48, 47, you can see he barely squeaked out his win in that district.

And 2012, Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee, got 60.8 percent to President Obama's 37.5 percent.

CHALIAN: So, a 23-point win is a lot bicker than a one-point win.

BLITZER: Yes, it is.

CHALIAN: And it's a -- therefore, it's the kind of voters that have proven -- the kind of Republican voters that have proven elusive for Donald Trump.

We should also note, Wolf, Tom Price, the Health and Human Services secretary, and that's why we're having this special election because Donald Trump put him in his cabinet, he represented this district. He never won the district with less than 60 percent of the vote.

[13:10:02] I mean, this is not just a battleground district. This is really a Republican district. It's been Republican since Newt Gingrich won it in the Carter years.

BLITZER: It was Newt Gingrich's district before and he won and won and won in that district.

Juana, what are you going to be looking for?

SUMMERS: The biggest thing I'm looking at here is the demographics of this district. As David mentioned, it's a highly educated suburban Atlanta district but it's a rapidly diversifying district.

About 13 percent of the voters there are African Americans. And as we've seen in other places, African Americans have soured a bit, become a bit more lukewarm on the National Democrat Party. In order to get a win here, I think Jon Ossoff will really need to win

over African Americans at presidential levels. We didn't quite see that level of support in the primary, so I'll be curious to see what he can do among this group.

There's been a lot of money coming into this race, particularly targeting African Americans through urban radio stations as well as mail on get out the vote efforts.

BLITZER: Juana and David, guys, thanks very much. We'll be watching. You guys are going to be working late into the night. We're probably not going to know for a while, right?

CHALIAN: That's right.

BLITZER: OK. We'll have, of course, extensive live coverage here on CNN.

And, meanwhile, the probe into Russia's influence on the 2016 presidential election here in the United States is gaining new momentum up on Capitol Hill. The special counsel, Robert Mueller, plans to meet with the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow. This as the committee looks into circumstances surrounding the firing of the FBI director, James Comey, and potentially the question of whether or not President Trump obstructed justice.

Meanwhile, a pair of top House Democrats, they are digging into yet a set of meetings that the fired national security adviser, Michael Flynn, held in the Middle East. One reportedly involving $100 billion nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia and Russia. Our Justice Reporter Shimon Prokupecz is joining us now. Shimon, what's the new information you're learning?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Yes. So, Wolf, that's right. They are digging in. The leaders on the Hill who are looking at Flynn are -- and are looking into his meetings and his history have now requested information for meetings he may have had in 2015 in Saudi Arabia and parts of the Middle East.

Some of this information came out, you know, in reports, other information they learned on their own, including from a Defense Department investigation that basically talked about Flynn's meetings in Saudi Arabia in October of 2015, where he gave some of vague answers for why he was there. You know, listing a hotel that the Congressional leaders don't believe exists. He didn't really explain who he was there with, why he was there. Who paid for the trip?

And these are the questions that they now want answered. The June over the summer of 2015, you know, some two years ago, Flynn had talked publicly, recently as last year, about going to Saudi Arabia, having these meetings.

But, interestingly enough and probably what's really important here, is that he never listed any of these meetings on his security clearance forms. And now, there are a lot of questions as to why that is -- Wolf. BLITZER: Those are legitimate questions. And last night in the situation room, Shimon, I interviewed Democrat Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. He's a key member of the Senator Judiciary Committee.

He told me that from everything he's seen, it appears to him that Michael Flynn is cooperating with the FBI and may have been, actually, for some time. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SE. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: First of all, they had him dead to rights on a felony false statement for the statement that they took from him in the White House about his Kislyak conversations.

Second, Comey reported that one of the things that the FBI does with cooperators is to get them to go back and clean up areas of noncompliance. And Flynn, who will never be hired by a foreign government again went back and cleaned up his Foreign Agent Registration Act filings.

Third, all of the reporting on the Eastern District of Virginia subpoenas is one hop away from Flynn. He's like the hole in a donut of subpoenas.

And, finally, one of the more talkative people in Trumpland has gone absolutely dead silent and that's what prosecutors strongly encourage cooperating witnesses to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Some other Democratic senators are now saying what Senator Whitehouse is suggesting, Flynn may be cooperating. What are you hearing on this?

PROKUPECZ: Yes. So, we -- you know, our team, here, obviously that's been working on this Russia investigation. But none of us have heard that he's cooperating.

In fact, I think we have heard the opposite in that, you know, he has a lawyer and they're working through his attorney through this investigation. We have no indication that the FBI is talking to him. That he's cooperating.

In fact, I think if he was cooperating, it would be so secretive onto the highest levels of the FBI and really even in Congress. I'm not even sure the FBI would tell folks on the Hill that he is cooperating.

I mean, can you imagine Flynn cooperating in this investigation and it, kind of, getting out into the public or folks on the Hill knowing about it and possibly talking about it? We certainly don't see that. We have no indication that that has happened.

[13:15:07] You know, he has handed over documents to the Congress about his business dealings, so there is some level of cooperation. But in terms of him physically sitting before FBI agents and kind of doing this what they call queen of the day, queen for the day, where you come in and when you cooperate you sort of give up everything you know and then the FBI sort of works with the Department of Justice to form a cooperation agreement where they can then use him to testify against anyone, we have no indication that any of that has occurred here.

BLITZER: Yes. I just want to be precise. Senator Whitehouse, when I pressed him, he didn't say that someone had told him that Flynn is cooperating. That was his surmise. That was his assessment based on what he has seen publicly at least.

All right, Shimon, we're going to watch this very important part of the story. Shimon Prokupecz doing excellent reporting for CNN.

Coming up, a Russian fighter jet comes within only a few feet of a U.S. aircraft, as tensions clearly rising between the two countries over action in Syria. We have details.

Plus, Syria likely just one of the major questions that will be discussed in today's White House press briefing. We're told it's now only moments away. We'll have live coverage on that. Stay with us.

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[13:20:10] BLITZER: All right, live pictures coming in from the White House Briefing Room where the press secretary, Sean Spicer, will be holding his first on camera briefing for the reporters in, what, about eight days. We're going to have live coverage of that as soon as it begins.

Meanwhile, tensions between Russia and the United States clearly escalating. An armed Russian fighter jet coming within only, what, five feet of a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance plane flying over the Baltic Sea, marking at least the ninth time Russian jets have come close - not so close, but close, at least, to U.S. military assets this year alone.

Meanwhile, in Syria, a USF 15 fighter jet shot down an armed pro- Syrian regime drone that was in firing range of U.S. troops near Al Tanf (ph) in southern Syria. This just a day after the U.S. shot down a Syrian regime war plane drawing condemnation from Russia.

Barbara Starr is following all of this for us over at the Pentagon.

So, Barbara, how are these tensions between the U.S. and Russia hindering U.S. troops, coalition partners near Al Tanf and elsewhere in Syria?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Pentagon is being very closed mouthed about this for some obvious reasons. They're trying to work it out with the Russians and they don't want to reveal whether they are even able to work it out with the Russians. None of this very clear at the moment.

What we know is on a working level Russian military, U.S. military, certainly privately still talking to each other. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs has actually indicated that. But whether this official channel of communication is open and whether it would even still work given everything that's going on right now remains an open question. Twenty-four hours ago the Russian ministry of defense said it would consider a shoot down of any aircraft flying in the areas of western Syria that it feels it dominates. That puts U.S. aircraft, U.S. troops at risk.

And how does the U.S. react to all of this? Well, what they're telling us is they're repositioning aircraft, they are determined to keep all U.S. pilots, all U.S. aircraft safe. But, look, Wolf, this is raising tensions, there's no question about it. And it's raising a very key question, can the Russians even control the Syrians and the Iranian- backed forces there because now we have seen, in fact, the third shoot-down in just a few days and it's possibly an indication the Russians don't even control the forces that they think they may be able to control.

Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, that drone that was shot down, an Iranian-made drone in the hands of the Syrian regime's military.

All right, Barbara, thank you very much for that report.

Meanwhile, lawmakers and the Trump administration are lashing out at North Korea after the death of the American college student, Otto Warmbier. He died yesterday, less than a week after returning to the United States with severe brain damage. President Trump condemned North Korea's, quote, "brutal regime" today and said, Warmbier's death should have never happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a total disgrace what happened to Otto. That should never, ever be allowed to happen. And, frankly, if he were brought home sooner, I think the result would have been a lot different. He should have been brought home that same day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let's bring in our CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott, and our CNN military and diplomatic analyst, retired Rear Admiral John Kirby, a former spokesman for the Pentagon and the State Department.

I'm going to read a statement because Otto Warmbier's parents were clearly critical of the Obama administration's handling of this. The president suggesting he should have been brought home much sooner. A statement from - a statement from a spokesman for former President Obama, Ned Price, said this. "During the course of the Obama administration, we had no higher priority than securing the release of Americans detained overseas. These tireless efforts resulted in the release of at least ten Americans from North Korean custody during the course of the Obama administration. It's painful that Mr. Warmbier was not among them, but our efforts on his behalf never ceased even in the waning days of the administration. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Warmbier's family and all who had the blessing of knowing him."

You're reaction?

REAR ADMIRAL JOHN KIRBY (RET.), CNN MILITARY & DIPLOMATIC ANALYST: I completely agree with Ned and I - while I agree with the president that it should never have happened, Otto should never have been detained and certainly what happened to him eventually through health should never have happened, I take great issue with the implication I think in the president's comments that -

BLITZER: In President Trump's comments.

KIRBY: In President Trump's comments that enough wasn't done or wasn't - enough of an effort wasn't made to get him home. And that's just not true. And Ned's exactly right. Secretary Kerry, I know for a fact, worked this personally and very, very hard from the moment that we knew Otto was detained. He never let go of that. And there wasn't a conversation that he had with his Chinese counterparts in particular where he didn't raise Otto's case, as well as the case of other Americans and try to get them released.

[13:25:11] Now, obviously, we didn't do that, Wolf, and we all regret that. But to imply that an effort wasn't made is just not right.

BLITZER: Elise, this young University of Virginia student, he was in - in China and he saw an advertisement for a tour, go visit North Korea with a bunch of other young college students, including Americans.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Right.

BLITZER: And h called his parents and said -

LABOTT: That's right.

BLITZER: OK, go ahead, assuming everything would be - would be fine. But now these tour companies are saying, what, no more Americans?

LABOTT: No more Americans in North Korea. And, I mean, I think they're going to look at going into North Korea in its entirety. I mean these so-called adventure tourist trips to theses so called rogue regimes are very risky, especially for Americans. And that's why there's this big discussion in the Congress and also in the administration about what to do to prevent these Americans from going there because there's really nothing the U.S. does not have any relations with North Korea, and we see how unpredictable and how they take Americans for - really for nothing. You know, there's nothing really that they can do once an American's arrested.

Now, look, Otto Warmbier, you know, went there, allegedly tried to pull off a banner, a propaganda banner from a hotel room. The North Koreans considered that a high crime. There's nothing obviously he shouldn't have been arrested for that, put in jail for that, and certainly the horrific situation that he found himself in shouldn't have happened. But what the U.S. is saying is, there's really not a lot the U.S. can do once you're arrested, and that's why there's a serious effort now, serious consideration to prevent Americans from traveling to North Korea at all, Wolf.

BLITZER: There's a lot that China could do. And President Trump has made a strong point for a long time, you know what, he's going to work with the Chinese and let the Chinese squeeze the North Koreans. There's a meeting coming up later this week here in Washington, the U.S. and Chinese officials. What can't - the Chinese can - could clearly be doing a lot more.

KIRBY: They absolutely can be doing a lot more and the president's not wrong about that. I mean, for one, they can fully implement and put in place the sanctions that the international community has already agreed opinion. And they don't do that. They're - they tend to not implement them fully and completely or transparently. So that's a problem.

They also have clout diplomatically in Pyongyang, probably not as much as we'd like for them to have, that they could also use. But, you know, on to - on to Elise's point, you know, there wasn't - I don't know how many times from the State Department podium where I talked about warning Americans to - not to go there. There's no ban, but, I mean, common sense ought to tell you that this is not a place to go.

BLITZER: But there could be - there could be a ban, right? They could make it illegal for Americans to visit North Korea?

KIRBY: They could. As I understand it -

BLITZER: That has not yet been done.

KIRBY: No. As I understand it, the State Department -

LABOTT: Congress has to actually impose the ban. There could be an executive order. And the -

KIRBY: Yes.

LABOTT: Secretary Tillerson has said that the U.S. is considering that.

KIRBY: They are looking into that.

LABOTT: But, you know, once it - once you go there, there's very little you can do. And the question is now, what could the U.S. do in retaliation? I think the U.S. feels - U.S. officials feel the cost is too high with military weapons that they could point at the - South Korea or Japan. And, actually, Wolf, they're also waiting to see, look, he was released after direct talks, could this present an opening for dialogue. That's what they're really looking for right now. And they also have three other Americans in custody.

KIRBY: Right.

BLITZER: Right. We've got to leave it on that note, but we're going to stay on top of this story. We'll see what the press secretary says at the briefing.

Elise, John, thank you very much.

We're only moments away from the start of the White House press briefing. You're looking at live pictures coming in. This is the first on-camera briefing for the White House, what, eight days. What will be discussed? What questions will be asked?

Plus, are Sean Spicer's days at the White House press secretary numbered? We'll have that and more when we come back.

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