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Trump Blindsides GOP Leaders, Sides with Democrats on Funding Bill; Trump Jr Took Meeting with Russian Lawyer to Assess Clinton's "Fitness for Office"; Awaiting Trump News Conference with Visiting Emir of Kuwait. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired September 07, 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] WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: The brand-new forecast, only moments away from receiving that. We'll share it with you as soon as it comes in. Important information.

And awaiting the president of the United States. He's about to hold a joint news conference at the White House with the visiting emir of Kuwait.

New details, meantime, on the deal the president cut with Democrats. And what Donald Trump Jr is telling investigators about his infamous meeting last year at Trump Tower in New York City.

Stand by.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We'll be hearing from President Trump any moment a day after he stunned Republicans by striking a deal with Democrats.

The president getting ready to hold a news conference with the visit emir of Kuwait. Live coverage of that. They're just getting ready for that news conference right now.

The House Speaker Paul Ryan reacted to the president's deal with the Democrats, tying hurricane relief to a short-term bump in the nation's debt ceiling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[13:34:58] REP. PAUL RYAN, (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The president made is really clear, and what he was aiming for in that meeting yesterday was a bipartisan moment while the country is facing two horrible hurricanes. And so what he made clear to us is, he didn't want to have -- look, personally, I think the debt limit and the credit market, the longer the better, for the stability of the credit market. That's my strong opinion. But he was interested in making sure that this is a bipartisan moment while we respond to these hurricanes. And he made that clear, and I think that's what his motivation was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Go to White House reporter, Jeremy Diamond, on the White House lawn getting ready for the news conference as well.

Jeremy, what is the Trump administration saying about the president's decision to embrace the Democrats' plan and embarrass the Republican leadership in the process?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, the White House so far explained it as an aim to clear the deck, so to speak, so that the president can move forward with tax reform. We're still hearing, of course, a lot of criticism from Republicans about this deal.

The president actually moments ago addressed it saying that this is the new way he's going to be dealing with Congress. Listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think we will have a different relationship than you've been watching over the last number of years. I hope so. I think that's a great thing for our country, and I think that's why -- the people of the United States want, what they want to see. They want to see some dialogue, coming together to an extent, at least, and I think you see that with DACA, and many different things. I think you really saw it yesterday, loud and clear. The people of the United States want to see a coming together. At least to an extent, with different parties. We have different thoughts, different feelings, different ideas. But I think you're going to see a much stronger coming together. One thing we agree on. We agree very much on a strong military. With agree very readily on Harvey. The hurricane. Little did we all know sitting in that room, we had just gotten the early signs of the magnitude of Irma, which is potentially more devastating than Harvey. But maybe you'll say a few words, Mike. I think that --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And there you have the president talking about that new relationship that he hopes to have. This is, of course, the president on the campaign trail promised he would come to washington and make deals. This is now the first deal, seems, though, we've seen from this president in his nearly eight months in office. The question now, whether this is a sign of new things to come. The president strongly hinting at that. Again, criticism from Republicans, quietly in many cases, that this president accepted a deal that Democrats proposed without really giving too much pushback.

The president, of course, will have a chance to answer some of that criticism during a joint news conference that he's about to hold with the emir of Kuwait -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Live coverage of that coming up momentarily.

Jeremy, thanks very much. Jeremy Diamond, over at the White House.

President Trump's deal with the Democratic leadership is just one of the issues he is likely to face questions about at this news conference. While we await the start of the news conference, let's get perspective

from our panel. We have CNN senior political reporter, Nia-Malika Henderson, with us, our chief national correspondent, John King, the anchor of "INSIDE POLITICS," and our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger.

So the dust settled a bit, Gloria, as far as this pretty stunning development yesterday. The president signing with the Democratic leadership and antagonizing the Republican leadership. What's the impact?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think the Republicans are upset. Scratching their heads. This isn't what they wanted. You heard the president moments ago talking about bipartisanship, but he seems to be the only Republican who really signed on to this. And Republicans are calling it the Pelosi/Schumer/Trump deal, which is exactly what it is. And Republicans were all prepared to do an 18-month extension of the debt ceiling. They don't like to vote on these things. They consider it a toxic vote. Now they're going to have it back in their lap in December, unless, of course, the president agrees with the Democrats about eliminating the debt ceiling altogether, which seems to be something he has discussed with Democratic leaders.

BLITZER: You know, you just heard the president, John, say in that little clip, very -- this is what I was elected to do to work on bipartisan deals. And we're doing that right now.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But not what he did the first seven-plus months. Remember, we had this conversation during the transition, the early weeks of January. What would President Trump do? How would he be different? What he be bipartisan? Tried to bring Pelosi and Schumer into the mix at the beginning maybe we'd have Obamacare fixed? Conservatives wouldn't have liked him, but might have had an answer to Obamacare.

But it's not just what he did. It's when and how he did it. We're going into a month of crunch time for Republicans. Spending bills are hard. The debt ceiling quicksand for the Republican Party. Tax cuts? It's supposed to be Republican DNA. And he picks the Democrats' plan. Not just did he pick Democrats' plan, he surprises the Republican leadership sitting this close with Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell to Nancy Pelosi and Schumer, signs with the Democrats. Imagine if Tom Brady walked out fourth quarter with a Chiefs Jersey on? Switched teams in the middle of the game in the middle of the game. That's why it's so surprising. Might he be effective, get things done? Maybe. Republicans are stunned looking at the next 30 days and a midterm election year saying we can't trust the Republican president to have our back.

[13:40:46] NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Right, right. The question is, does this continue? He said today, made it sound like this was a new era of Trump. A flashback of what people thought this president would be like. Triangulating. And the way he's governing, one question, has he expanded his tent? Seems it's something he's trying to do. Seems will be to stiff arm part of his base on any number of issues. Things that came out of the White House yesterday. DACA. We've heard today he seems to be willing to work with Democrats on DACA, on a DACA fix, a DREAM bill, signing that.

(CROSSTALK)

KING: Nancy Pelosi tells him send a tweet and he says a tweet.

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: And she's retweeted it.

HENDERSON: Exactly.

(CROSSTALK)

HENDERSON: One question, too, what Democrats are going to face as they start to work with Donald Trump, if they continue to work with him, because early on, when people saw Schumer seeming to have something of a cozy relationship with Donald Trump, the Democratic base, they weren't happy with that. What is going to happen?

BLITZER: You saw the picture through the Oval Office window.

HENDERSO: Yes.

BLITZER: Very cozy, very chummy, with what he called Chuck and Nancy, his good friends.

Jeff Zeleny is at the White House covering developments for us.

Getting ready for the news conference and in the East Room, Jeff. The president's son, eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, he was up being interviewed before the Senate Judiciary Committee today behind closed doors, and we're getting news out of that session.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We are, indeed, Wolf. This was a pretty extraordinary development if you take into account how the Russia investigation proceeded. This is a first family member of the president's family to be investigated, or to be interviewed, rather, by Senate staffers, and it was behind closed doors. It was -- he was taking questions, given an open-end statement we're told, and was essentially explaining his position that, look, he wanted to hear them out. This, of course, is all about the meeting from June 2016 that he had with a Russian lawyer, and other operatives and had other campaign staffers in there as well, Paul Manafort, chairman of the campaign at the time. Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law. This is the first time the Senate investigators are getting a chance to ask direct questions to Donald Trump Jr. Now, it is behind closed doors. And, today, Wolf, many Democrats Senators are telling Manu Raju and the rest of our political team they would like to and expect to question the president's son in an open forum.

So despite all of these new developments about how the president is reaching a deal with Democrats, in some respect, this underlying Russia investigation is still happening on Capitol Hill, unfolding at the same time. And it is aggravating, in some cases, and worrying, in other cases, the president here. So this is -- you know -- just a window into all that this White House is contending with.

We do expect to get more details of that closed-door testimony as it pans out this afternoon, as Senators and others begin discussing this, Wolf. But this is, of course, behind closed doors. No less important, because everything that you tell the Senate investigators you may be asked about in a public forum. Of course, truth here is the ultimate objective, because Bob Mueller, the special prosecutor, is also interested in some of this very same information, Wolf. So the -- events on Capitol Hill even though behind closed doors, a major development today -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Certainly, it extraordinary. See if the president is asked about it as the news conference that's about to begin fairly soon.

Jeff, you're there in the East Room. We'll get back to you.

Gloria, "The New York Times," we heard, is saying he went to that meeting in Trump Tower last year, Donald Trump Jr, to meet with the Russians, these Russians, to get some dirt about Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate, to assess her fitness, fitness for office. Said nothing ever came of it, but just interested in learning more about Hillary Clinton's fitness for office.

BORGER: Right. And you know, he also, according to the "Times" said he was conflicted about having a meeting. We all knee his initial e- mail was he was excited, right?

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: What was the word?

HENDERSON: I think he said, "I'd love it."

[13:45:08] BORGER: Yes. I love it. And then, according to the "Times," if they'd given him information, which he said they did not, and the meeting turned out to be about something else, he would then have consulted with counsel to make an informed decision whether or not he could actually even give that information further consideration. But we -- this is a story that the committees as well as the special counsel are really trying to unravel. Obviously, Don Jr being adamant he was not involved in any way, shape or form.

KING: The extending of the clock. And president of the United States, a new tactic dealing with Democrats. In your eighth month, no signature achievements. Trying to get something done in year one. He hoped these investigating would be done in year one. Not going to happen. Remember, no meetings with Russia. Then learned about Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, Donald Trump Jr. No dealings with Russia. Now least a reach-out to Russians while a candidate for president about the possibility of a Trump Tower in Moscow. Because the -- Team Trump harks been shall we say less than forthcoming with the information, it keeps trickling out. Doesn't mean anything is there but investigations that would take months anyway are going to take even months more. BLITZER: Pretty extraordinary, when the son of the president of the

United States is called to answers questions before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

HENDERSON: Right. So far, these meetings have happened privately. There certainly is a chance some might start to happen publicly. The Senators in some of these meeting have said the response is that Donald Trump Jr gave to some of these questions only add more questions. Raise more questions to John's point about extending this. Yes. I mean, this is extraordinary, to see the son of a president having to answer these questions about possible collusion with a foreign government.

BORGER: And don't forget. You testify before Congress, whether it's to Congress staffers or to Senators, you're under oath.

HENDERSON: Yes.

BORGER: And this is very, very important, to sort of keep in mind that you're not allowed to lie to Congress. It's a crime. And so they're going to ask him everything they possibly can. You may run into a question, Mueller may want the transcript of what occurs during the hearings and whether they can share. You have conflicts. This is the president's son testifying.

KING: And a test also of these investigations. Do you think what Bill Clinton, when he went there the special counsel he wanted to admit he didn't tell the truth in Monica Lewinsky or about Gennifer Flowers, but he had to. And so much evidence. When you get Donald Trump Jr before the committee, that tells you the committee has interviewed everybody else. Talked to most other players. They feel confident they know the full picture and now want him to come in to see if he gives them a truthful account.

BLITZER: And perjury, you can go to jail for committing perjury.

Everybody standby.

We're awaiting the president's joint news conference with the visiting emir of Kuwait. There'll be questions from Kuwaiti journalists and from American journalists. Live coverage of that. Lots of news unfolding.

Much more on Hurricane Irma as well. We're going to get a new forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:52:43] BLITZER: Two breaking stories we're following right now. Hurricane Irma, we're about to get a new forecast. The European model is projecting a direct hit on Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Palm Beach County. We'll see if that continues. We're about to get that forecast.

Also, we're awaiting the president of the United States. He's about to have a joint news conference with the visiting emir of Kuwait. We'll have live coverage of that. There will be questions to the president, including questions, of course, on Irma.

But there's other political developments we're following.

I want to go to Dana Bash on Capitol Hill.

Dana, I understand you're getting some more new information about the extraordinary appearance that Donald Trump Jr, the president's eldest son, had today before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. And I should note that this meeting still ongoing. That Don Jr, Donald Trump Jr, is still in the United States capitol, meeting with staffers and some Senators with the Senate Judiciary Committee.

But while that is going on, we are learning some of what is happening behind closed doors. First, we're told that Trump Jr, Donald Trump Jr, was explicitly asked whether, after the meeting that he had in June of 2016, with some Russian lawyers, one that was set up, we know, through e-mails, with the explicit understanding that these Russians had dirt on Hillary Clinton, whether Don Jr took any of those participants up to see his father, or whether or not Don Jr told his father about the meeting after it happened in June of 2016. On both fronts, I am told that Don Jr said, no, he did not introduce any of them to his father, nor did he talk to his father about it. Then I'm told he was asked, why did his father, the candidate for president, say the next day that the campaign had some dirt on Hillary Clinton, and it would be coming out and his response was, that's just the way his father talks.

Now, in addition to that, Wolf, that's one of the main things that investigators are trying to figure out a lot more about what happened in that meeting. But it's also more real time about the now White House response to that meeting becoming public. And our Manu Raju is told that in this briefing that is going on that Donald Trump Jr is having, that Donald Trump Jr told the judiciary questioners that he didn't recall the details of White House involvement to the public response. This public response and the White House involvement was, now we know, and we have reported, done on Air Force One. The president and his team were coming back from a trip in Europe, and they knew that this was going to break. And a big part, we know, of what the special counsel and also Congress looking into is what was the White House and what was the president's involvement in that statement. And to be clear, right now, Don Jr is telling Senate investigators, as we speak, that he doesn't recall what the White House involvement was in that public response.

[13:55:50] BLITZER: Very interesting.

Getting back to the first point, that first little nugget that you've learned that Donald Trump Jr testified or he said, and this is all under oath, if you will, even if there's not a direct oath-taking ceremony, the -- that he never told his father about the meeting. But what about Jared Kushner, the son-in-law or Paul Manafort who was then the campaign chairman? Do we know if they told Donald Trump about this meeting? BASH: We don't know. What we understand from our previous reporting

is that his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, told him about it more recently when they were still in the White House, knowing that it was going to come out. But right now, this is just Don Jr alone, meeting with these Senate investigators, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. So, this was the question that was asked. Since he's -- you know, he's Donald Trump's son, and the two of them talk a lot about a lot of things, particularly at that time, when Donald Trump Jr was obviously pretty involved in the campaign. So what that was -- that was one of the key questions that the Senate committee wanted to know, did he tell his father, the now-president, the then-candidate, and his answer was no.

BLITZER: It's amazing that it's still going on.

BASH: Yes.

BLITZER: It's been several hours now since he started answering questions before these investigators from the Senate Judiciary Committee and it's still going on right now.

BASH: About four hours, almost.

BLITZER: Four hours already. So, you can imagine what kind of information is being shared and how significant potentially it will be, especially if it's shared with the special counsel, Robert Mueller, among others.

Dana, stand by. We'll get back to you.

It's pretty fascinating what we're learning right now, Gloria.

BORGER: Yes, it is. I mean, I think as Dana was pointing out, the key question here is what did the know about this and when did he know it. And according to Don Jr, we're, you know, we're hearing that he said his president -- the president knew nothing --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: He said, I never told the president.

BORGER: I never told him. And that may open another door. We don't know. I never told him. He knew nothing about this. And of course, the question was, that shortly after this meeting, the president had a rally in which he said we're going to release some dirt of Hillary Clinton really soon. And people are obviously asking the question, was that meeting related to what the president said?

Also, I believe, they're going to be asking questions about what occurred after that meeting, what occurred before the meeting actually happened, and what was the follow-up from that meeting, if it was just about sanctions, OK. But was there any follow-up? Were there any documents delivered? That's what they're going to want to know.

KING: And that's 2016 conduct. To the second point, he didn't recall the degree of White House involvement in the response to all of this. That's when his father's the president of the United States. That's what is incredibly consequential, especially to the special counsel investigation into potential obstruction. And so this is where investigators roll their eyes. You do not recall the involvement -- you don't recall details of your father, the president, calling you from Air Force One on the way back from Europe, according to the reporting, with hope hicks as the middle person, dictating a statement back and forth about how Donald Trump should recall -- investigators are going to be questioning -- they're going to question the fact that you can't recall key details of such an important moment in your life and in your father's presidency. So back to the point about how these investigations get bigger and bigger. If Donald Trump Jr can't recall, who was with Donald Trump Jr? Was he with his attorneys general? His wife? They're going to want to talk to him. Who was on Air Force One with the president? Hope Hicks we know was. Who else was in the room?

BLITZER: She's the acting communications director.

KING: Yes, acting communications.

What other staffers were in the room. Where there any stewards in the room?

Again, going back to the Lewinsky investigation, Secret Service officers that were around during key meetings. They may have had nothing to do with it but they knew who was in the room and how long it lasts. So when one witness says I can't recall, that doesn't shut things down. It usually leads to a longer investigation.

BORGER: And you're dealing with a substantial group of people here. You're also dealing with attorneys talking to attorneys. And you're dealing with a question of how, involved was the president in recrafting a statement that had already been written. And you know, that Sarah Huckabee Sanders has said, well, he weighed in on that statement. So what does that mean? And so I think that --