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Wolf

A.G. Sessions Announces End to DACA; Hillary Clinton Blasts Bernie Sanders in New Book; North Korea Nuke Test Shows a Will to "Annihilate Americans Amid Evidence of Next Launch; White House Daily Briefing. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired September 05, 2017 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00] GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I haven't repealed the Iranian nuclear deal. I haven't gotten us out of that. Haven't gotten us out of NAFTA yet, which I told you I would do. This is something he could say, OK, I'm giving them six months, or else.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: And the test will be what happens to these Dreamers. Ultimately, are some of them going to be deported? Are we going to have very cruel stories? However, just living in fear of that --

BORGER: Oh yes.

KEILAR: -- is enough to create a narrative that is so disruptive to Republicans. As you know, we've always talked about them trying to increase the umbrella and trying to certainly be more attractive to a wider swath of the electorate.

(CROSSTALK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And I spoke to earlier, they're all nervous right now. Wondering if six months from now, a year from now, is there going to be a knock on their door and they'll be told, get out?

(CROSSTALK)

NIA MALIKA-HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: This -- this is Donald Trump's brand. Right? Cracking down on illegal immigrants. And I think you're right. This idea this is a separate class, sort of the language he talks -- the language in which he talks about undocumented immigrants, is stealing jobs, possibly coming over the border to do Americans harm. It's kind of hard to separate people out in the classes that I think Dana is talking about.

BLITZER: You see demonstrations erupting, in Denver now.

Everybody stand by.

There's other important news we're following as well. Hillary Clinton, all of a sudden, blasting Bernie Sanders in her brand-new book, saying he's not a Democrat. Even laying some blame on him for her election loss to Donald Trump. We have stunning new details. We'll share them with you. Also, we're moments away from the start of the White House press

briefing. There you see live pictures. We'll have live coverage of that as soon as it begins. Lots of questions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:36:02] BLITZER: Standing by for the White House press briefing. Lots of questions today for the press secretary. Live coverage of that coming up. Supposed to begin moments from now.

Meantime, there's another fascinating story developing. Hillary Clinton's not yet formally released memoir making headlines already today for something she says about her opponent in the Democratic president's primary campaign, Senator Bernie Sanders.

Here's an excerpt from the book, titled "What Happened?" "He isn't a Democrat. That's not a smear. That's what he says. He didn't get into the race to make sure a Democrat won the White House. He got in to disrupt the Democratic Party. I am proud to be a Democrat, and I wish Bernie was, too."

Let's get back to our panel.

And, Brianna, you've read these excerpts. The book released formally next week but already causing quite a stir. She's saying, Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat. And she's partly he's partly responsible for her loss to Donald Trump?

KEILAR: As someone who frequently complains that some of these candidate books -- and now her political future behind her -- I complain these candidate books should be accompanied by a defibulater. They can be so whitewashed and boring. This maybe isn't that. Maybe this will be really honest. And for that, I am very interested in reading this.

But at the same time, it speaks to an issue that Hillary Clinton has had. I think we've all seen this. She struggles sometimes to take responsibility.

Now, looking at an excerpt. We need to see the entirety of the book. This, all of this evaluation could change as we see that. But she came in with weaknesses that were completely self-created. And for an opponent to ignore those things, to not really run them -- you know, the e-mails, and a number of things, to not capitalize on them would have been political negligence. So she couldn't have been surprised if someone was going to do that. She did things that hurt her brand. And seems to blame other people for doing that.

At the same time, complains Bernie was overpromising. She said he's promising four-minute abs, no-minute abs, magic abs.

(LAUGHTER)

He was promising magic abs. We covered that, but he was attractive to voters and for that he did attract people. DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It wasn't just the

promise. It was the message, the enthusiasm. We saw the same thing happen in both parties.

I mean, many Republicans still believed that what Donald Trump was a hostile takeover of the Republican Party. He beat 16 opponents. And that's what Hillary Clinton faced on the Democratic side. She's right. It's not a smear. Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat. He is technically an Independent, calls himself a Democratic Socialist. But he appealed to Democratic primary voters in a way that surprised her, just like it did when Barack Obama did something similar in 2008. And did undermine her candidacy. Undermined her -- her -- her process of becoming a general election candidate, because a lot of those people who were so enthralled with and intrigued by Bernie Sanders stayed home in the general.

(CROSSTALK)

HENDERSON: -- voted for Donald Trump or third-party candidates.

BASH: Exactly.

HENDERSON: The question for Bernie Sanders -- you talked about Hillary Clinton, her future behind her. What is the future of Bernie Sanders' future? The future of the Democratic Party? There's an Ongoing debate about progressives versus moderate and centrist Democrats. Will he run in 2020? What is that wing of the party like? Is it Elizabeth Warren? What does Pamela Harris do? She seems to be adopting some of his viewpoints, too, in terms of health care and Medicaid for all. So, you know, she's opening up an ongoing discussion --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: And I want to read one of these, Gloria, get your reaction. She's basically saying she wanted to fight back. She says, "Throughout the primaries, every time, I wanted to hit back against Bernie's attacks. I was told to restrain myself, including from President Obama. President Obama urged me to grit my teeth and lay off Bernie as much as I could. I felt like I was in a straightjacket."

And she said her team kept reminding her they didn't want to alienate Bernie's supporters.

[13:40:17] BORGER: Well, that's actually a good point. She didn't want to alienate Bernie's supporters. What would have happened -- you can play this out. What would have happened if Hillary Clinton had taken on Bernie Sanders frontally, which, by the way, she did at certain points. I mean, I remember the debate. That was your debate in Brooklyn. Wasn't it? That -- that was --

BLITZER: Yes.

BORGER: They almost came to fisticuffs in that debate. So they ended up taking on each other. But would she has fared less well if she had taken on Bernie frontally, who was so well liked and had such popularity in the Democratic Party? We don't know the answer to that. What I want to know is where is the Democratic Party going to be now? Because, you know, you always fight the last war. So if the Democratic Party has moved to the left, do you now have to have a candidate who's moved to the left? Or after four years of Donald Trump, will the party now find itself moderating to a degree? It's very hard to know at this point.

KEILAR: Hillary Clinton was a Republican as a young woman. And she said famously, I didn't leave the Republican Party, the Republican Party left me. And even covering her throughout this election, and I think that this conversation goes to this, has the Democratic Party left Hillary Clinton?

BORGER: Well --

KEILAR: Has it shifted left, right, in a way where you can't say that Bernie Sanders isn't a Democrat, when so many people who would identify as Democrats identify with Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren?

BASH: That's a good point. And I think if we take the personalities out of it, the core fight that they fought, which is still not at all done within the Democratic Party, is the Democrats used to be the party of the working person. And that's what Bernie Sanders, his whole campaign was about. That's, those are the -- the people, the voters he was appealing to, and those are the people that Hillary Clinton simply -- did not do --

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: -- well with in the primary and lost in the general.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: This line jumps out at me from the new book: "I am proud to be a Democrat, and I wish Bernie were, too."

BORGER: Right. She --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Says it right there.

All right, everybody, stand by.

Much more coming up, including the White House daily press briefing, about to begin any moment now, we're told. Press secretary likely will take questions on the president's decision to end the Dreamer program. Live coverage. Stand by.

Also, why North Korea -- the state media there now saying the recent nuclear test reflects Kim Jong-Un's will to, quote, "blow up the U.S. mainland and annihilate Americans." This amid reports that North Korea may be moving another intercontinental ballistic missile. Details when we come back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:45:46] BLITZER: Live pictures from the White House briefing room. At any moment, the press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, will take to the lectern, answer reporters' questions, including about the president's controversial decision to end the DACA program, affecting 800,000 Dreamers here in the United States. Live coverage of that momentarily.

Meantime, there is other breaking news we're following. New signs that North Korea's preparing for yet another major missile test. The South Korean lawmaker says that South Korean intelligence detected movement, projectile could be an ICBM similar to the two launched in July, and capable, in theory, of reaching the mainland USA. A North Korean diplomat today called the nuclear and missile tests, quote, "gift packages addressed to none other than the U.S." Direct quote. And Japan's Defense Department now saying that North Korea's nuclear test over the weekend was likely even bigger than previously estimated.

I want to bring in CNN's Will Ripley, in Tokyo. He's been in North Korea several times, including last week alone.

Will, do we think another test could happen any moment now?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's increasingly likely, Wolf, according to South Korea intelligence. They believe they're rolling this ICBM to a launch site along the North Korean coast. That' means they could launch it over Japan, like last week with an intermediate-range missile. Or they could point it in a southern direction, perhaps over Japan's southern island, toward the U.S. territory of Guam, a threat North Korea laid out in detail several weeks ago, but has yet to follow through on. We know the regime, when they make specific threats, often deliver. And have mentioned Guam repeatedly in propaganda over the last week or so. You heard that diplomat calling these missiles, "gift packages." Ridiculous language. But it goes to show, for the North Koreans, this just about as much as propaganda as it is for scientific knowledge that they gain from these missile tests. North Korea continues to talk about missile and nuclear tests, not actual attacks. That's the key difference. Of course, the concern in this region is that one misstep in this and you could stumble into an accidental war. Especially with these continued reckless and provocative actions, as many view them, on the part of North Korea.

Although, you have the Russian President Vladimir Putin saying the U.S. is escalating the situation. He'll be meeting with South Korean delegation tomorrow in Vladivostok, along with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and the Japanese Prime Minister Shina Abe. He's hosting an economic forum there. And he's been saying that the U.S. needs to change its strategy. He says, sanctions simply won't work, and if the U.S. continues down the path, set by U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, trying to call for more pressure on the North Korean regime, he thinks is to end up with catastrophic results and many, many people, victims, in President Putin's words. Could he be trying to become a peacemaker? North Koreans like him, talking to him, and they are trying to improve ties economically and otherwise with Russia. So that's a story we need to watch in the coming days. And we need to also watch closely that apparent looming missile launch along the North Korea coast -- Wolf?

BLITZER: We'll see what happens on that front.

Will Ripley, in Tokyo. Thank you very much.

Once again, we're moments away from the start of the White House press briefing. Live pictures coming in, the first since the president's decision to end the DACA program. Stand by for that.

Also, the U.S. is bracing for a monster hurricane moving quickly in the Atlantic. Hurricane Irma now a category 5 storm. The new update on its track, moments away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:52:25] BLITZER: Only moments away, we're now told, from the White House press briefing, the first since the president's controversial decision to end the DACA program, affecting 800,000 Dreamers here in the United States. We'll have live coverage of that once it begins.

In the meantime, let's bring back our panel.

Gloria, you know, this month, September, is shaping up as a critically important month. There's so much on the agenda for the president and the Congress.

BORGER: As he tweeted this morning, what a busy month or whatever that tweet was. Of course. They have so much to do. Now DACA is obviously going to be front and center, although there's six months to get that done.

BLITZER: We put it on the screen.

BORGER: There you've done a list for us.

BLITZER: Yes.

BORGER: First of all, funding the government. What's going to happen with health care reform and tax reform. And they've got to pass the Harvey aid but we have to see what kind of a deal is going to be made on that. What's going to happen with the border wall? And so we -- you know, you go on and on here, Wolf. This is the president's agenda that he basically ran on, and it's still pending.

HENDERSON: And all those things, in some ways, recipes for fights between Republicans, never mind Democrats, because they aren't likely to line up with Republicans on many of these things. So I think you're going to see a lot of infighting between Republicans on the Senate side and House side.

BASH: And remember, we're not coming into this sort of sprint towards the end of the fiscal year in less than a month with Republicans holding hands and working nicely together.

HENDERSON: Right.

BASH: Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, and the Republican president of the United States, it was just a few weeks ago that they were publicly going at each other. So their working relationship already is strained, at best. So that is going to make all of those things, which already put to the test Republican ideas and ideals, make it very, very difficult to begin with. And it would be under great circumstances, circumstances of all the leaders getting along really well. I think that the -- still, coming into --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Hold on a second.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, beginning the briefing.

[13:54:35] SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This morning, faced with a very real possibility of a potential immediate shutdown of the entire DACA program by a federal court, President Trump took the responsible and constitutional step of announcing that the administration will be phasing out the program over the next two years. Today's September 5 deadline was set by the plaintiffs presenting the administration with two and only two real options to choose from, the likely sudden cancellation of the program by a judge or an orderly winddown that preserves the rule of law and returns to question to the legislative branch where it belongs. The president chose the latter of the two options. The president made the best decision in light of the fact that the system set up by the Obama administration, in clear violation of federal law. President Obama even admitted this himself when announcing the program, calling it a temporary stopgap measure and calling on Congress to act. DACA was initiated after Congress explicitly rejected the same proposal in legislative form. In other words, President Obama didn't just suspend federal law, but implemented a policy Congress had explicitly rejected.

There's a misconception that DACA primarily serves as a shield from deportation. This is misleading. DACA grants work authorization to nearly 800,000 individuals who are not legally authorized to work. DACA recipients whose average age is in their 20s were not an enforcement priority before, and they certainly won't become a priority now. The priorities remain the same, criminals, security threats, and those who repeatedly violate our immigration laws.

The main effect of today's announcement is that work permits and other government benefits are being gradually phased out. But rather than leave DACA recipients and the men and women of law enforcement in confusing limbo while the DACA program was challenged by states in the same court that struck down a number of the previous administration's unlawful immigration orders earlier this year, President Obama (sic) is laying out a responsible 24-month phaseout.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump. HUCKABEE SANDERS: Sorry, President Trump.

No permits will be expiring for another six months. And permits will remain active for up to two full years.

The president was elected partly on his promise to deliver meaningful immigration reform that puts the jobs, wages, and security of the American people first. He is delivering on that promise every day. And he has put forward serious proposals to Congress that would responsibly end illegal immigration, prevent visa overstays, remove dangerous criminals, protect American jobs and wages, and create a merit-based system that grows our middle class.

These are not just President Trump's priorities, they are the American people's priorities. For decades now, the American people, immigrant and U.S.-born, have asked Congress to establish a lawful immigration system that protects our country. They've asked for strong secure borders. They've asked us to protect American security and American jobs. And they've asked us to have compassion not only for those who are here illegally but for unemployed American citizens, including millions of unemployed African-American and Hispanic citizens who continue to suffer under a broken system. The president's DACA decision today brings us closer to a safer, fairer, and legal immigration system. Now that he has ended this unsustainable and unconstitutional program imposed by the previous administration, the president is calling on the men and women in Congress to fulfill their duty to the American people by truly reforming our immigration system for the good of all people.

And with that, I'll take your questions.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sarah, one question that went unanswered today was, some 359 members of the DACA program enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2016. Their tour of duty would run standard four years, I would assume, but their DACA status would only last two years. If there's no fix by Congress before March 5th, do you know what will happen to those people? Will they become ineligible to remain in the military or will there be special dispensation. Has that been worked out?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: We have confidence that Congress is going to step up and do their job. This is something that needs to be fixed legislatively, and we have confidence that they're going to do that. And we stand ready and willing to work with them in order to accomplish responsible immigration reform, and that would include DACA as certainly part of that process.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There's many Republicans who believe that getting something on the Republican side is not going to be easy. With the divisions that we see between the center and the right in the Republican Party will become only deeper. What gives you confidence --

(CROSSTALK)

HUCKABEE SANDERS: With all due respect, I don't think the American people elected Congress to do things that were easy. They elected them to make a government that works, to work properly, and to work for American people. And that's their job. And if they can't do it, then they need to get out of the way and let somebody else who can take on a heavy lift and get things accomplished.

Major?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The context of a DACA as a piece of legislation, would the president be willing to sign only something that addresses that or would it also need to have components of the RAISE Act, would there need to be funding the border wall, or would he be willing to sign something that simply address DACA legislation?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: The president wants to see responsible immigration reform and he wants that to be part of it. But again, we can't take just a one-piece fix. We've got to do an overall immigration reform that's responsible and, frankly, that's lawful, and that's what the president wants to see Congress do.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What would be the priorities for him in a comprehensive format --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: -- with DACA and what else?

SANDERS HUCKABEE: Certainly, to control the border --