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Scaramucci Denies Tweet; Leak Complaints; Trump And Sessions; Trump Administration Warns Senators; Health Care Vote; Stunning Testimony in Russian Meddling Probe. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired July 27, 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: 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, we're standing by to hear from the White House. You're looking at some live pictures coming in from the briefing room where the press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, will be brief reporters later this hour. We're going to have live coverage of that for you.

Sanders will certainly be hit with questions on several major fronts. One will be the ongoing debate and the expected votes coming up over health care.

President Trump has kept up the pressure on Republicans in the Senate. Once again, tweeting today, and I'm quoting him, "Don't let the American people down."

All of this while a now deleted tweet from the White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, is causing ripples through Washington about possible discord inside the White House, with Scaramucci seemingly calling out the White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, for leaks.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, U.S. WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: People know my history between me and Reince.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

SCARAMUCCI: OK. I can speak for my own actions. He's going to need --

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BLITZER: That's where we begin right now with the in-fighting going on within the Trump administration. Scaramucci was clearly angry over a political article about his profits from the sale of a hedge fund company when he tweeted last night, quote, "In light of the leak of my financial disclosure info, which is a felony, I will be contacting the FBI and the Justice Department. #swamp."

And then, he -- and then, he noted, @Reince45. That's Reince Priebus' Twitter handle. Scaramucci later deleted the tweet, denied it was a veiled threat to Priebus.

Let's go to our White House Correspondent Sara Murray. So, Sara, fill us in on all the palace intrigue, as it's being called. The bad blood clearly developing between Scaramucci and Priebus.

SARA MURRAY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Wolf. And we, sort of, predicted this might be a rocky relationship soon -- as soon as Scaramucci came in for the job. We know he came in at the objection of Reince Priebus.

But even for this White House where we have seen so much in-fighting, so much back-fighting, what's playing out today is unusually public. Listen to what Scaramucci had to say today about his relationship with Reince Priebus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCARMUCCI: Now, if you want to talk about the chief of staff, we have had odds. We have had differences.

When I said we were brothers from the -- from the podium, that's because we're rough on each other. Some brothers are like Cain and Abel. Other brothers can fight with each other and get along.

I don't know if this is repairable or not. That will be up to the president.

But he's the chief of staff. He's responsible for understanding and uncovering and helping me do that inside the White House which is why I put that tweet out last night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: So, not exactly complementary words there from Scaramucci.

He also went on to say that if Reince wants to defend himself and insist (ph) he's not the sell -- or the source of these leaks, he could speak for himself and do so -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Let's talk, Sara, also about the president's latest attacks against his attorney general, Jeff Sessions. Sources now telling CNN, some associates are urging the president to consider what's called a recess appointment as an option to replace Sessions. Is that a realistic possibility?

MURRAY: Well, it's certainly something that they're talking about at the White House. But it's the kind of thing that if they were to do it, it would require some cooperation from the Senate.

So, one, that's before setting off alarm bells from Democrats who are going to try to prevent that from happening.

And, two, it's also concerning Republicans. Republicans are sending a very clear signal to the White House over the last couple of days and again today, do not do this. We are the no going to help you facilitate a recess appointment. We are not going to hold hearings on a new attorney general.

Today, Lindsey Graham told our colleague that it would cause holy hell if the president decided to fire Jeff Sessions. So, you're getting a lot of, please do not do this. Do not proceed. We are not going to make this happen for you.

So, it seems like that may not actually be a feasible option for the president, regardless how angry he is at his attorney general right now -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Thanks very much. Sara Murray over at the White House.

Let's talk about the turmoil going on right now. Joining us, David Drucker. He's a CNN Political Analyst, senior congressional correspondent for "The Washington Examiner." Eric Columbus is with us as well. He's a former Obama Justice Department official. And we have our CNN Politics Editor Juana Summers and our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger.

Gloria, Anthony Scaramucci, he said it would have been a felony to leak that confidential information from his financial disclosure, but that information after 30 days does become public.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: It's publicly available.

BLITZER: Yes.

BORGER: And, you know, Scaramucci, even Newt Gingrich is saying this this morning, seems to be shooting -- just talking, blabbering, in a way, and he can't do that. He can't do that when you have that kind of a podium and that kind of a megaphone.

And I think what he is showing, by accusing people and by making these kinds of charges and by threatening to fire people, is that there is such a level of dysfunction at this White House that you can't even keep it private. That it just is spilling out into the open for everyone to see. You know?

[13:05:14] You know, his interview with Chris Cuomo this morning was quite remarkable. And I think that if he's going to be the communications director, maybe he ought to be a little more considerate about what he says.

Because it seems to me like he is acting more like a chief of staff than a communications director, talking about firing people. And I don't know that it really helps the president that much.

Because what he is setting up is a dynamic that seems to be me and the boss against the world. And the world, meaning, the other people who work in the White House.

BLITZER: In that remarkable interview this morning with Chris Cuomo on CNN, Juana, he complained about all the leaks involving foreign policy, but he also said this. Listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SCARAMUCCI: I can't have a couple of friends up from "FOX AND FRIENDS" and Sean Hannity, who's one of my closest friends, to dinner with the president and his first lady, without it being leaked in seven minutes. It's absolutely, completely and totally reprehensible.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BLITZER: He's outraged that word got out that he was having dinner with the president and some folks from Fox News. You know, there are leaks and there are leaks.

But if you're in the public eye, if you're the communications director for the president of the United States, you should certainly expect word of a dinner like that to get out really quickly.

JUANA SUMMERS, CNN POLITICS EDITOR: Absolutely right, Wolf. Any one -- any one of us who's been reporting in this town for this long, anyone who's worked in Washington politics knows that these things, particularly in the age of social media, they fly like lightning. These are part of the palace intrigue, as you called it.

But I think it's -- to Gloria's point and to some of the comments that Newt Gingrich has made. You know, he's kind of a little blustery here, not really showing himself as so ready for primetime. Perhaps not the expectations of the job that he has. Perhaps not really falling in line with those.

BORGER: Was it a week ago we thought he was smooth in his first appearance?

DAVID DRUCKER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Your first day is always your best day.

BORGER: Right, right.

BLITZER: How serious, and I know, David, you've done a lot of reporting on this, is this apparent rift between Scaramucci and Reince Priebus, the White House Chief of Staff?

DRUCKER: Well, look, they're airing their dirty laundry in public. I think it's very clear that this is a rift. When you have a communications director acting like a chief of staff, going after the chief of staff in such a public manner, and not even trying to spin us to tamp things down, I think that shows you where we are here.

Look, I think that Anthony Scaramucci is performing for an audience of one. I think this is clearly what the president wants. And I think it's very understandable. But the president and Anthony Scaramucci and really everybody else would like to see some of the leaks tamped down.

When you have leaks about national security discussions and other things like that. I mean, that's very understandable.

However, I think it's, how are they going about it? So, they want people to be quiet. And they want people to show more loyalty to the president and the office of the presidency. But the way they're going about this, in a very public tongue lashing, does not engender that kind of loyalty.

And for President Trump, in particular, somebody who came to town without the natural group of allies that he can rely on, it means he's going to have to fill his White House with people that go beyond his base of loyal support.

And the only way he's going to earn their loyalty, these are traditional Republicans that have worked in government and policy for a long time, is to treat them in a way different than he has gotten away with treating people that worked for him in business and on his campaign, who were particularly close to him and willing to put up with it.

BLITZER: You know, it was interesting because I listened to that whole interview this morning. And Scaramucci made a point of saying he had spoken for 15 minutes on the phone with the president before the interview.

So, clearly what he heard from the president was reflected in his public comments to Chris Cuomo.

BORGER: You now, he's telegraphing it directly, saying, look, this is -- what I am saying comes from the president.

And so, if you're a staffer in that White House right now, and you see how upset Scaramucci is about leaks, whether it's the dinner or anything else, and he's threatening that people are going to be fired, and he's talking about Reince Priebus, we're like Cain and Abel, you know, and that didn't end well for Abel.

So, where, you know, he's talking about that. And I think that it comes from the president. You're working there. What are you to think? What are you to think? That the president is after -- is after you and your job and I think that that is dysfunction of, if you'll excuse me, biblical proportions.

BLITZER: Yes, it's a huge -- a huge bit of dysfunction. Eric Columbus, you used to work in the Justice Department. You're hearing all the murmuring now about a possible recess appointment, if Jeff Sessions, the Attorney General, is forced out one way or another. Then, the president, during the August recess, could name someone while Congress is out of town.

[13:10:02] Listen to Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina. Not very happy about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: If Jeff Sessions is fired, there will be holy hell to pay. Any effort to go after Mueller could be the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency, unless Mueller did something wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating the whole Russia probe. Is he right? Lindsey Graham?

ERIC COLUMBUS, FORMER OFFICIAL, OBAMA JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: I certainly hope so. I certainly hope he's right that there would be holy hell to pay if Sessions is fired.

I don't have much sympathy for the views that Sessions espouses. But he's in trouble with Sessions now for upholding the rule of law. And if he gets fired for doing that, there better be holy hell to pay.

DRUCKER: And I think that if you look at Republicans on the Hill, one of the things they're petrified about the most is the idea that the president might fire Sessions as a first step to go after Mueller. They have told me this week they don't want to get involved in any of this. That's why -- one of the reasons why they're glad Mueller's there.

But if he was fired, they'd have no choice to confront the president. That's why they're working so hard to warn him off of doing anything with Sessions.

One thing about the recess appointment. The Republicans have been holding pro forma sessions every recess since the beginning of the year because they wanted to block Trump from any recess appointment.

And the Democrats would demand a pro forma session as a part of the adjournment motion if the Republicans backed off. A recess appointment will not happen.

BLITZER: Eric, you worked in the Justice Department during the Obama administration. You, clearly, you're your own personal assessment.

But when the president of the United States goes after the attorney general, the deputy attorney general, the acting FBI director, the special counsel, how does that impact the average folks -- the average personnel at the Justice Department?

COLUMBUS: It can't help. It can't help matters. The people who -- the 100,000-strong people in the Department of Justice, most of them couldn't care less about these issues of the day. They're focusing on doing their job. On doing things that don't make the headlines, that 95 percent of the time remain the same from administration through administration. And they're going just keep their head down and keep doing that which is exactly what they should do.

BORGER: Can I underscore what Lindsey Graham said? He is a Republican who said that this could -- that firing Sessions and firing Mueller, I believe, could mark the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency. I mean, that was stunning coming -- and I'm trying to get the exact quote here. If Jeff Sessions is fired, there will be hell to play.

BLITZER: There will be holy hell. BORGER: And then he -- holy hell. And then, any effort to go after Mueller, because he sees this as a chain of events that might be in the president's mind, would be the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency, unless Mueller did something wrong.

That's -- astonishing, coming from a Republican. Now, I know he has his differences with Donald Trump. But it's really remarkable words and a message to the president.

BLITZER: Yes. And you can see the president is not a fan of either Sessions or Mueller, for that -- for that point. He's made that clear.

SUMMERS: He absolutely has. I think, to Gloria's point, what's going to be really interesting right now, is how many more Republicans follow Senator Graham's suit and speak out about this, if, in fact, there is a spangling (ph) threat of, perhaps, a recess appointment of some kind.

And what happens next? Because, right now, you have Republicans on Capitol Hill, then you have President Trump. And there's not a lot of aligned interest, it seems, especially on this front.

BLITZER: Everybody stand by. There's much more we're reporting on right now, including the latest reports that a member of the Trump cabinet is threatening to follow -- threatening two fellow Republican senators to back a final health care bill or else face serious consequences for their state.

Plus, the Trump transgender ban backlash. Even top military leaders now say they had no idea of the ban, announced by the president on Twitter, was coming. The panel returns.

Much more to discuss when we come back.

[13:14:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:17:29] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Live pictures coming in from the White House right now. The White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, she'll start taking questions in about a half an hour or so from now. We'll have live coverage of that as soon as the White House briefing begins.

Also right now up on Capitol Hill, a marathon debate is underway as U.S. senators try to overhaul Obamacare. One option being considering is a pared down version known as the skinny repeal bill. It would repeal what's called the individual employer mandate, the tax on medical device makers, but keep Medicaid expansion and subsidies and pre-existing medical condition protections at the same time. The bottom line of this proposal would leave, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates, about 15 million more uninsured by 2026 and increased premiums by about 20 percent, once again according to the Congressional Budget Office. So will it get the 50 votes needed for passage? It's unclear right

now. The first votes, by the way, kick off in the next hour and the senators could be in for a very, very long night. We'll continue to monitor this. Bring you updates throughout the day.

Meanwhile, the pressure is on for Republican senators today to get at least something done on health care. President Trump calling on the Republicans in a tweet this morning saying, quote, "don't let the American people down."

We're also now learning the Trump administration is taking it one step further. Both of Alaska's Republican senators received calls from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to let them know that their health care vote would put Alaska's future with the administration in deep jeopardy. Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican, who voted for the start of the debate told the "Alaska Dispatch News," quote, "I tried to push back on behalf of all Alaskans, but the message was pretty clear."

Let's get back to our panel.

That message was blunt in that article. The -- Republican Senator Sullivan said this. He said, I'm not going to go into details but I fear that the strong economic growth, pro-energy, pro-mining, pro-jobs and personnel from Alaska who are part of those policies are going to stop. That's a pretty direct threat from the interior secretary speaking on behalf of the Trump administration. And Sullivan voted for it, you know?

[13:20:08] GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. Murkowski voted -- voted against.

BLITZER: The other Republican senator voted against it.

BORGER: Yes. Yes, look, this is an administration -- and we know this because there were plans on take on Dean Heller in Nevada who is not a fan of this repeal effort. And we know that this is an administration who threatens.

The problem that they have, quite frankly, is that members are not as afraid of this president as you might think. He's at 36 percent, 37 percent in the polls. They can make the case to their voters that the Medicaid cutbacks will hurt the state of Alaska. And I will have to say, Murkowski has never been one to fall in line with the Republican Party. Remember, she didn't get the Republican nomination. She ran as an independent and she won. And so she's tough. And I think she's going to do what she thinks is right for people. And if you think you can level threats in this day and age and members aren't going to talk about it, you're wrong.

BLITZER: What do you think of this style of governing that we're seeing from the administration directly threatening fellow Republicans?

DAVID DRUCKER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, if it was effective, that would be one thing. We can argue whether it was right or wrong but they'd be getting results. They're not getting results using this kind of jawboning. They tried this in the House when the Republicans were struggling, and the president and his administration made threats about going into districts, safe Republicans districts where the voters love Donald Trump and we're going to primary you and we're going to come after you. And, guess what, they never did a thing.

And now you're dealing with a situation where you have only 52 Republican senators -- by the way, for a lot more than just health care. We've got tax reform and infrastructure and budgets and all sorts of things, and they're working to alienate people by doing what they've done against Lisa Murkowski and against Dean Heller and it's not helping Mitch McConnell get this thing over the finish line. And that's the bottom line.

BLITZER: Because they're anxious, Juana, as you note, to get at least something passed in the Senate, this skinny repeal as it's called, to get the 50 votes and the vice president, Mike Pence, can cast the tiebreaking vote and at least move it back to the House, the joint House/Senate conference committee, at least keep the process going. If they don't even pass that, it's over, at least for now.

JUANA SUMMERS, CNN POLITICS EDITOR: Absolutely. I think there's a real realization in Congress that if Republicans fail here to do something they have been talking about doing for, what, nearly a decade now, to change this law, which they say hurts more people than it helps, that they are going to own this.

However -- and we know this because the president has said this. That realization does not exist with the president. He believes that Democrats will own this failure if lawmakers in Congress can't do anything. And so I think there's this really big disconnect. And I -- it's by a wonder, instead of pressuring these Republican senators, going -- putting them on notice and Twitter, having Ryan Zinke come out and go to them, why not use the bully pulpit to actually advocate for a policy, for a solution that would give more Americans health care if they concede that the Affordable Care Act is irrevocably broken?

BORGER: Right. And there's another problem here, which is, they don't believe the president's ever going to have their back. Ever. So he turned around on the House Republicans and called their bill mean. Well, that didn't go over well with House Republicans, nor did it go over well with Senate Republicans because they believe this is a president who has loyalty to one person, himself, and not to them.

So I don't think the threats help. I don't think the fact that they believe he's not loyal to them and will turn on them and will threaten them and will hurt them helps either. And I don't think the Sessions issue helps at all.

DRUCKER: There's been no consistent, coherent leadership from the president. Has it existed for Vice President Mike Pence? Yes. And from Tom Price, the health and human services secretary, sure. But there's no substitute for the presidency.

And when you talk to Democrats looking back on Obamacare and how they got that done, sure, the law was a political disaster for them, but why did they get it done every time it looked like it might fall apart? Because of presidential leadership and the fact that he was out there and he had their back and it made them feel like it's all going to work out. They were wrong about that in a political sense at the time, but they always believed. And that's what the -- the Republicans on The Hill really want from this president and that's what's missing.

BLITZER: All right, David, Juana, Gloria, guys, thanks very, very much.

There's other important news we're following right now, including some really stunning testimony up on Capitol Hill today from an American businessman, Bill Browder. He spent years working in Russia. He now tells the Senate Judiciary Committee he has little doubt who was behind the meeting with Donald Trump Jr. and Russians promises dirt on Hillary Clinton. We have details, new information, coming in right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:29:06] BLITZER: The issue of Russian adoptions here in the United States took center stage in a Senate hearing today on Russian influence in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Remember, adoptions were cited as they -- as having been at the center of that meeting attended by Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner with Russians. President Trump said he spoke about adoptions during his dinner meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany. But this is what we heard about adoptions today. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: To a Russian agent or official, a conversation with an American about adoptions is a conversation really about what?

BILL BROWDER, CEO, HERMITAGE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: The Magnitsky Act was passed. Putin retaliated by banning the adoption of Russian orphans.

WHITEHOUSE: But the Magnitsky Act is tied to sanctions, is it not?

BROWDER: Indeed. So they weren't taking --

WHITEHOUSE: So if you're talking about adoption --

BROWDER: You're not talking about adoption. They were not -- nobody was talking about adoption.

WHITEHOUSE: Nobody was talking about children?

BROWDER: Nobody was talking about adoption. They were talking about repeal of sanctions so that Russian torturers and murderers could freely travel and keep their money in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:30:13] BLITZER: Let me bring in our senior congressional reporter, Manu --