Return to Transcripts main page

Wolf

Feds Wiretapped Ex-Trump Campaign Chairman; Trump Speaks at Luncheon with U.N. Secretary-General; Republicans' Last-Ditch Effort to Repeal Obamacare; Mattis: U.S. Considering Shooting Down N. Korean Missiles; Trump Jr Seeking to Scale Back Secret Service Protection. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired September 19, 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 ANCHOR: Michael Cohen being questioned by investigators from the Senate Intelligence and he released a statement that all of us have read by now and they said he will come back another time in open session. Do you understand why these Senate Intelligence investigators wouldn't at least want to question him behind closed doors for a few hours?

SUSAN HENNESSEY, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY & LEGAL ANALYT: My best guess is they came to them as a matter of courtesy. Cohen was not going to speak to the media. Those are the rules of the road. It's important to have mutual trust and voluntary conversations. And for Cohen to breech it right out of the gate, you can see how he will be interested in open testimony. That makes them far more accessible and it's reasonable for them to say the ground rules.

BLITZER: Showing pictures of a luncheon the U.N. Secretary-General is hosting for a lot of world leaders, including the president of the United States.

You understand why they wouldn't at least want to take advantage of Michael Cohen and question him for four or five hours and he may not be under oath and you cannot lie to a Senate committee. If you do, that's perjury.

MICHAEL ZELDIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: That's right. I would say let's go forward. He did breech the protocol that is wrong, but we have him here. He has important information to tell us about Trump's Russia doles for the Trump Moscow property. Let's get it and say to him later, do you that again to us and there will be more consequences for you.

BLITZER: Surprising to me, too.

David, I assume to you too. They have a million questions they want to ask him about Donald Trump and the campaign and Russian medaling and what were you doing trying to build Trump Tower in Moscow in the middle of the campaign? You think they would want to get the answers and say you know what, he released a statement saying he didn't do anything wrong.

DAVID GREGORY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: He is trying to influence the news coverage and you can't see the questions he asked. Clearly, they rather than get what usable material they could get, they don't like that being done and would rather force them into open session when he can be cross examined rather than trying to influence the coverage. It gets to how these committees and how open session is used to make arguments about which way the investigation is going or made conclusions about what the facts tell us.

BLITZER: Usually, they want to have closed Sessions and get as much as possible. When their bosses ask questions, they will do a better job at open session.

We can get into the nuances of this down the road.

ZELDIN: His counsel would tell himself he is putting himself in jeopardy if he violates the protocols agreed to. Apparently, counsel felt otherwise.

BLITZER: Guys, thanks very much.

The president of the United States is at a luncheon hosted by the U.N. secretary-general. We will see if they say anything and continue to monitor that. We heard the president's tough speech.

In fact, he is speaking right now, we are told. Let's listen in as they look like they will raise glasses and have a toast.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary-General.

I have to say that as someone born and raised in New York it is a great honor to have the United Nations in New York and always has been. For years, I have been a critic, but I have also been somebody that said that the United Nations has tremendous potential. Under your leadership, and I have seen what you have done and working with Nikki Haley -- and she made so many friends here and Rex Tillerson has been a fixture here. We are working very hard to solve world problems. But there is no better forum and can be no better forum and certainly there can be no better location where everybody comes together. I want to congratulate you.

The word is potential. The potential of the United States in terms of what it's done is good, but we can do better. The potential of the United Nations is unlimited. I really believe and I met your representatives and I know you well, you are going to do things that will be epic. I certainly hope you will, but I feel very, very confident.

I want to toast everybody in the room. Let's give this as a toast to the potential, the great, great potential of the United Nations.

Thank you all for being here. Thank you very much.

[13:35:07] BLITZER: There you have it, the president toasting the potential of the United Nations.

David Gregory is with us.

Normally with a toast like that, they raise their glasses and there is a round of applause. I didn't hear the applause.

GREGORY: This is a crowd that I don't think the president has won over. He is making an essential point that I think is very much in keeping with his philosophy and some of the criticisms he made with the U.N. overtime. It's very much consistent with a message that brought him into the presidency. I will call the institutions out for not doing a good enough job and not pulling their weight if it has to do with NATO in terms of the percentage of their defense budget that is dedicated to NATO or I'll call out agreements that are bad, the Iran agreement. That's a controversial position. He has a lot of people who support that. Look at the problems we have been having with North Korea going back to the '90s when Bill Clinton negotiated a position. This is consistent with a tough approach to the United Nations. He is not very diplomatic about it. He says, he has been a critic, but there is potential to work together. That's what the supporters will say was a win today and he will have other conservatives in the establish say, yes, the United Nations have been coming up short for a long time.

BLITZER: He has been getting support from his base and the Republican establishment. People like what they heard, but a lot of people are criticizing. The Republican base, the people who elected him president were pleased by his tough words today as far as North Korea and Iran and radical Islamic terrorism which he cited at the same time.

David, thanks very much.

Meanwhile, there is a new Republican effort right now to overturn Obamacare, and its gaining momentum and why this bill would have a dramatic impact on America's entire health care system. We will update you on that. Also, after insulting and publicly berating them, there's new word

President Trump is trying to mend fences, with several Republicans, at least in private.

This is CNN special live coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:41:26] BLITZER: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. That's the situation for Senate Republicans as they attempt to rally support behind a Hail May effort to repeal and replace Obamacare. After several failures from simple repeals to skinny plans, as they were called, this effort could be the most extreme yet.

Our congressional correspondent, Phil Mattingly, is on Capitol Hill.

Phil, that would make major changes to Medicaid and preexisting coverage while transferring more of the decision-making power to the states and taking the decisions away from the federal government. Talk about the new plan where support stands right now and why the process seems to be very much rushed this time.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a compressed time table, but it has to be. Senate Republican fist they want to pass this repeal and replace effort, the latest repeal and replace effort, they have to do it by September 30th if they want to pass with just a majority vote because of budget rules and that's the only way repeal and replace can move forward. Now it's back. It's extremely important for Senators right now to get their heads around this. That's what they're doing in a closed-door meeting right now. The vice president is working through the details. As you noted, this is a dramatic shift in how the U.S. does health care and how the systems would be worked out. There are a couple of things that you will find very familiar to past Republican plans. It repeals the independent mandate and the individual mandate and employer mandate. It would put an end to Obamacare's Medicaid expansion and defund for one year planned parenthood.

Here's where things get different. They are trying to get their heads around what it would do. It would maintain the majority of Obamacare's taxes and take the Medicaid expansion money and split it up with all 50 states via block grants. This is something conservatives like to decide how the systems would work. This would mean combined with the changes to the overall program ending the fact that it's an entitlement. There would be reductions in spending. They are given a lot of flexibility. You could not bar somebody from getting a plan because of a preexisting continue, but the states would have the ability to get the opportunity to increase prices based on the waivers they would provide. As you go through those things, a lot of those are the primary issues that sanction past efforts on getting this through beforehand. The real question now for Republican Senators who are very aware that this is it, the last chance. What's more important? Delivering on a promise or sticking to the statements they made in the past? That's what they're trying to figure out now -- Wolf?

BLITZER: They can't afford to lose more than two Republican Senators, and it doesn't look like Democrats will vote for it. More than two, it's over. We'll see what they can. The White House supporting this last-ditch effort. If it were to pass the House and Senate, the president would sign it. We'll have more on that coming up.

Other news we're following, ahead of the president's tough talk at the U.N. today, CNN is learning that the U.S. is considering shooting down North Korean missiles even ones that don't necessarily threaten the U.S. or allies. The secretary of defense, James Mattis, warning that North Korea is "intentionally doing provocations that press against the envelope for just how far they can push without going-over some kind of a line in their minds that would make them vulnerable."

I want to bring in retired colonel, Steve Warren, to talk about this. He is our military analyst.

What would the point be of shooting down a missile that North Korea launches if it were not aimed at Japan or South Korea or Guam or U.S. ally or interest?

[13:45:27] STEVE WARREN, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Wolf, the point to shoot it down would be to demonstrate defensive capabilities, but the fact that this idea is being put out there is really trying to do two things. Number one, we are trying to preheat the oven, if you will. So that folks and partners and allies and Congress and the American people understand that this could happen. Then it opens up the possibility for it to happen. The second thing is to give our enemy, in this case, Kim, something else to think about.

BLITZER: Let's take the last missile launch that the North Koreans did a few days ago. It went about 2500 miles over Japan and landed in the Pacific. That's a nice intermediate-range ballistic missile. Is it a guarantee the U.S. can shoot that down a missile like that?

WARREN: That's the flip side of the coin. We are giving them something to think about if we shoot down the missile, but we are taking risk on ourselves. We can fire and miss. No system is 100 percent perfect. There is a possibility we could miss. What would that mean? Overall taking the shot and splashing this missile would send a message.

BLITZER: This is one signal they are sending. The U.S. might shoot down the missiles. The president was much more blunt in his speech today, saying "We will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea, Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and his regime. The United States is ready, willing, and able."

If there is a threat, you heard what the president said. The U.S. will do this. Were you surprised to hear that very, very blunt talk?

WARREN: Very tough talk in a forum like that, the United Nations. You don't normally hear that rhetoric in that forum. This is somewhat in line with what we said all along. It's if the North Koreans attack they will be destroyed. I don't sense we are on a path to some sort of strike. I don't see that coming.

BLITZER: Thanks very much.

Coming up, word that the White House chief of staff, John Kelly, is dictating who gets Secret Service protection, with Kellyanne Conway giving up her protection and Donald Trump Jr seeking to end his full time. Security experts say this decision could be very dangerous for them. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:52:14] BLITZER: One of President Trump's children is seeking to scale back his Secret Service details. Sources say Donald Trump Jr wants to give us husband full time protection. The White House counselor, Kellyanne Conway, will no longer be covered by Secret Service as well. The two cases are unrelated.

Let's discuss this. Let's bring in Kate Anderson Brower, who knows about this.

It's a very sensitive decision because security is at stake. Who decides when Secret Service protection for siblings or other White House officials goes away?

KATE ANDERSON BROWER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It is Donald Trump Jr's sole decision. We don't know if his children or wife are going to be covered or not. It's something they decide. He's an avid hunter, camper --

BLITZER: Donald Trump Jr.

ANDERSON BROWER: Yes, Donald Trump Jr. And it's because of privacy and just the shear cost of protecting Donald Trump's family. It's a huge family. About 43 people. That's 11 more than in the Obama administration. He's got five children. Nine grandchildren. It's expensive for taxpayers.

BLITZER: Because Donald Trump Jr is going to give it up that doesn't mean his siblings, Ivanka or Eric, are going to give up their Secret Service protection?

ANDERSON BROWER: I would be surprised if the they did. They have very young children. Ivanka is here in D.C. with her three young children. I would be surprised if Donald Trump Jr's wife or children no longer have it. It's important to their security.

BLITZER: If there are threats leveled against family members or White House officials, serious threats they deserve some security protection, right?

ANDERSON BROWER: That's true. President Obama in 2012 went ahead and made it so that presidents and first ladies have Secret Service protection for their entire lives after the presidency. There was a period of time there to save money where they were only getting it for I think ten years after they left, and after 9/11, they decided to go ahead and extend that for the rest of their lives for vice presidents.

BLITZER: Kellyanne Conway received some threats and now giving it up. Are you surprised?

ANDERSON BROWER: I am. Valarie Jarrett had Secret Service protection. It's a huge apparatus when you're traveling. I know Barron Trump, they would have the Secret Service drop him off early so it wouldn't call attention because they want to lead normal lives.

[13:54:42] BLITZER: Barron Trump, the president's youngest son. He's now in Washington. He's only 11 or 12 years old. He's now going to school locally in washington and getting Secret Service protection as he should.

Thanks very much.

More on the breaking news coming up. Hurricane Maria a very dangerous category 5 storm right now closing in on Puerto Rico. We'll have the brand-new forecast just coming in.

Also, President Trump's former campaign chairman wiretapped by the FBI by a time he actually spoke with Donald Trump. What this means for the special investigation.

That, and a lot more coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:59:44] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Here we go. Top of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you for being with me.

We are just now here at the top of the hour getting our new advisory on Hurricane Maria barreling toward Puerto Rico. It could be catastrophic and life-threatening devastation all across the island. Maria made landfall today in Dominica as a powerful category 5 hurricane, crippling Dominica with winds as high as 160 miles per hour. It even ripped the --