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Roger Stone Demands Congressman Apologize During Testimony; North Korea Moves Planes, Boosts Defenses on Coast; Students, Faculty Take Knee During Sessions Speech; Trump Accuses Iran of Test Firing Ballistic Missile, Working with North Korea; Trump Press Conference Amid NFL Feud. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired September 26, 2017 - 13:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:33:06] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Roger Stone, the long-time confidante with President Trump, went toe to toe with congressional investigators today. Stone was being questioned behind closed doors by the House Intelligence Committee looking at a possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. He came out swinging. He accused some members of the committee of, quote, "falsehoods, misstatements and misimpressions."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGER STONE, FORMER ADVISOR TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: Look, they make the charges against you in a public forum for maximum coverage to benefit their U.S. Senate campaign or their reelection. But then they only allow you to respond behind closed doors and they won't even allow the release of a transcript.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Congresswoman Jackie Speier is a member of the House Intelligence Committee. She was in today's hearing.

Congresswoman, you were able to ask questions of Roger Stone, right? What was your take away?

REP. JACKIE SPEIER, (D), CALIFORNIA: That he was very responsible and answered the questions with the exception of one big question, who the in-between confidant was, who was able to confirm when Julian Assange was going to release the e-mails. Outside of that, he was pretty cooperative. He gets kudos for doing that.

What we don't know is what kinds of e-mails, Facebooks and Twitters, comments he's made. He did not provide anything to the committee because he said there wasn't anything. That's hard to believe when you are engaged in a campaign. But we will take him at his word.

I will say he is truly off base suggesting it was an inside job that hacked the DNC. We have 17 intelligence agencies that know, with great certitude, that it was done by the Russians. We know that Guccifer 2.0 was a Russian operative. Again, he somehow declines to see that. I guess, unless he ever gets to see the classified information, he will continue the fantasy that he's weaved in that regard.

[11:35:21] KEILAR: You said what you didn't get to know what who really the middleman was between him and Julian Assange. He -- there was indication he was in touch. Julian Assange, at one point, he denied. And Julian Assange is the founder of WikiLeaks. Do you believe that he had a hand? And what did you learn today? Do you believe Roger Stone had a hand in the coordination of those leaks or even being given a tip off? He would say things at time that could indicate that perhaps he knew. That may be difficult to prove. Do you think that can be definitively proven that he had knowledge of these releases?

SPEIER: He did have the confidant, who had the conversation with Julian Assange. I think, moving forward, that's going to require us to do another interview with yet another person. In this case, it would be the confidant.

KEILAR: You don't know who it was?

SPEIER: No, he was unwilling to tell us. He will think about it and see if the individual will release him and allow him to give the name. Otherwise, it would require us to subpoena him.

KEILAR: He is saying he was, indeed, at least in touch through a middle man with Julian Assange but he won't say who?

SPEIER: That's correct.

KEILAR: Do you -- he said he had some of these back channels. He said he's produced records. What he is saying is, because he didn't have a direct message with Guccifer 2.0, he says it's out there, that you have that information. One sources saying the reason we did disclose this information to the committee in a timely manner, it's out there. But you are concerned there is more to it?

SPEIER: He said what he said. He said it under oath. We have no reason to doubt it at this point in time. Again, we will be talking to others who will be able to confirm or coordinate or not.

KEILAR: You are Congresswoman Jackie Speier. But we heard Roger Stone refer to you as "Jackie Smear." He's saying this is essentially a campaign by you and other Democrats. What's your reaction to that?

SPEIER: That's really regrettable that he said that. Shame on him for doing that. I didn't call him a name. I would suggest not do that.

I will say this. We are concerned. The reason this investigation is ongoing is because a cyber war took place in this country against every American voter. It will happen again by the Russians if we don't get to the bottom of it and prevent it from happening again. I am not convinced that they did not hack into the voting machines. I'm not convinced that that is the case. And we have to put this country first in terms of making sure our election system is not hackable.

KEILAR: Before I let you go, I want to ask you a question about this confidant that he had as a connection to communicate, he told the committee, with Julian Assange. Did he describe the process by which he was in touch with this confidant or describe the flow of information, if there was any?

SPEIER: I'll probably not be at liberty to talk about that at this point. But it will be something he could convey to you or others. But I'm not going to --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Did he describe it even if you can't tell us what it was --

(CROSSTALK)

SPEIER: He did. He did.

KEILAR: You are certainly not able to reveal everything you heard.

But we appreciate you giving us an idea about it.

Congresswoman Jackie Speier, thank you so much.

SPEIER: Thank you.

KEILAR: As the president gets ready to hold a news conference, the tension between North Korea and the U.S. is escalating. A South Korean official told CNN that North Korea is moving planes and stepping up its defenses on its eastern coast. This, after Pyongyang accused President Trump of declaring war on North Korea in one of his tweets. The Trump administration calls that accusation absurd.

CNN chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, is here with me to discuss.

Jim, our colleague, Michelle Kosinski, asked the Secretary of State Rex Tillerson whether Trump's tweets are helpful or hurtful in the North Korea effort. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[13:40:03] REX TILLERSON, SECRETARY OF STATE: We will continue to pursue our diplomatic efforts with North Korea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: When you hear this back and forth going on between President Trump and Pyongyang, there is a concern that this is pushing the U.S. and North Korea to, at the very least, a place where there could be a miscalculation as you put it.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESOPNDENT: That's not just the folks in the media. I spoke to foreign diplomats who are concerned. Some of them bubbled out into public. You heard the South Korean foreign minister say we want a diplomatic solution to the problem. What's happening there, the counter point between Trump's fiery tweets about North Korea, we will wipe you out, his comments with the U.N., and then more staid comments from the secretary of state, even the many generals or former generals, it's either part of an orchestrated good cop/bad cop or it's more ad hoc. We don't know if it's part of strategy with the president.

KEILAR: The style is more ad hoc. He gets out on a limb and the folks around him are dialing him back.

SCUITTO: Listen, we have seen evidence before and after the election that the president free lances and his advisers will walk him back. It's possible that that's part of a strategy. We don't know that. But the disconnect is causing concern among allies because they want to know what the next U.S. step is, one. And two, they are concerned that rhetorical escalation could lead to miscalculation that leads to a military escalation. After all, you have the North Koreans threatening to shoot down U.S. war planes. Is that a threat they might act upon? We don't know, but the U.S. military takes it seriously.

KEILAR: I want to ask you about this Iran tweet. The president said, "Iran test fired a ballistic missile capable or reach Israel. They are working with North Korea. Not much of an agreement we have."

Military officials say there is no indication of a ballistic missile launch. What's going on with this tweet?

SCIUTTO: We have the president tweet being a launch that didn't take place. His tweets are not just tweets. They're official statements of the elected leader of the free world. Those have consequences.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: He is reacting to something he hears from Iran, but is not actually vetting it with what he is getting? He has the best information of anyone.

SCIUTTO: Our White House team did ask the White House yesterday is if the president was briefed on the Iranian missile launch before the tweet, and they said, we don't comment on intelligence matters. Either he was not or did not base the tweet on intelligence. They have no indication of that. That intelligence comes quickly with missile launches. That is detected in real time. In terms of credibility, to have the president tweet about a missile launch that didn't take place, that's an issue.

KEILAR: Maybe not unusual for him.

Jim Sciutto, thank you so much.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Not the first time.

We are awaiting the president's news conference. He will talk to reporters in the middle of the feud with the NFL and other professional sports players. We'll bring that live. We are waiting at the Rose Garden for the president to appear. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:46:03] KEILAR: We are moments away from a news conference with President Donald Trump. That's the Rose Garden. We bring that as soon as it begins in a few minutes. The firestorm between the president and the NFL is certain to come up.

Meanwhile, the attorney general is taking on the issue of free speech, but in a different way. Students and faculty members at Georgetown University protested a speech by Jeff Sessions by taking a knee in this public demonstration.

After his address, Sessions was asked about the president's feud with the NFL.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF SESSIONS, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, the president has free speech rights, too. He sends soldiers out every day to defend this country under the flag of the United States and under the national anthem, and unity that the symbols call on us to adhere to. So I agree that is a big mistake to protest in that fashion, because it weakens the commitment we have to this nation that has provided us this freedom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: I want to bring in CNN senior political reporter, Nia-Malika Henderson, CNN politics reporter and editor-at-large, Chris Cillizza, and A.B. Stoddard, the associate editor and columnist for "Real Clear Politics."

Nia, let's take a look at this. You have Donald Trump saying the NFL needs to say you can't express yourself in this way. Jeff Sessions is making a point that the more controversial figures on the right, who have not been able to speak on college campuses, and that's not something that should happen. In a way saying some free speech should be protected and some shouldn't.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: That's why you see people like Paul Ryan, when asked about this, this morning, said he doesn't like the method of the protest, but agrees it is an expression of free speech and should be protected this. Goes to show a lot of Republicans are going to get this question. We will see what they say.

The loudest megaphone on this is always going to be the president and he tweeted about it already. We will see what he says at this press conference. And maybe the president will say, I'm done with that, and will focus on Puerto Rico instead and put the attention there.

KEILAR: Chris?

CHRIS CILLIZZA, CNN POLITICS REPORTER & CNN EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Maybe.

HENDERSON: Yes, yes. (CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: What do you think?

CILLIZZA: Yes, I mean, we all know that.

KEILAR: You said he targeted the NFL for specific reasons.

(CROSSTALK)

CILLIZZA: Yes, I would say pro sports, because the Steph Curry disinvitation that happened over the weekend. Why? Professional athletes are rich. Many of them -- at least from the outside, looking in, are quite entitled. In both of those two leagues, are 70-plus percent black. I don't know how, given Charlottesville, given his failure to condemn David Duke in a quick manner, given a lot of the racial coding and language he used in the campaign, for him to say it's not about race. That's kind of tough. And then to say the NASCAR drivers -- the NASCAR drivers -- there have been four black drivers in the history of NASCAR. He makes this mistake -- which he is far from alone in making -- but your experience is the calming experience. I grew up in Connecticut and went to prep school and Georgetown University. That's not -- to assume, well, everybody has those opportunities is not true. Usually, people get beyond it.

(CROSSTALK)

CILLIZZA: He grew up in wealthy son of a developer.

[13:49:57] KEILAR: You pointed this out. He stills sees himself as a voice, A.B., for folks who have not had his opportunities and he taps into something. He made it a lot about the flag and painted NFL players as being disrespectful to their country, I just think that he may be, I don't want to say winning, but I think he has some appeal to a lot of Americans, too.

A.B. STODDARD, ASSOCIATE EDITOR & COLUMNIST, REAL CLEAR POLITICS: I think he can't wait to talk about it. Last night when he met with conservative leaders was that he was just thrilled with the reaction, the response. He has the majority opinion on this. The majority of Americans, it doesn't matter if they're in the Trump coalition or not, agree that this is disrespect have to the flag and wants everyone to unite behind the anthem just as we do when we go to a stained of the but it is a constitutionally protected right of the and I hope they ask about nuclear war. The most reckless thing he's done since he took office, that is this constitutionally protected freedom that allows for the sports freedoms to stand up and do the same thing at games. And I believe that's part of the reason he blew this whole thing up. I think somebody gave him a little talking to after the tweet he sent about the North Korean foreign minister.

HENDERSON: Day after day after day. Five days where he still wants to talk about it. I agree. This binds him to his base. They love this kind of talk. The question is not about the president's relationship with his base. What about his relationship with the broader country? And is he going to be a uniter, a divider? KEILAR: That got answered in a way, wasn't it?

HENDERSON: What does it mean for a country that has a leader that actively tries to divide?

(CROSSTALK)

HENDERSON: That's where we are. And polls show that. There was a "Washington Post" poll. Is he a unite order a divider? 66 percent said he is more a divider than a uniter. You have had presidents who end up being seemingly divisively. They're viewed through partisan lenses but they're actively trying to divide, particularly around racial lines. That's something that we haven't seen in decades. And it is something the Republican Party has really tried to get away from over these last decades. They've had a history of playing footsie with racial politics. And I think the president is now setting will then back.

KEILAR: I do want to tell viewers, we're looking at live pictures of the Rose Garden. The president will come out and answer questions. No doubt about these very topics we're talking about.

Chris, you were going to say?

And we're seeing some of the members of the cabinet being seated.

CILLIZZA: Two things. One, to echo A.B., I think he wants this fight. I think that's evident by the five days of tweeting and commenting repeatedly. But I'm with Nia. This is a sea change in a presidential approach. I think we suspected this during the campaign. Many campaigns are extremely divisive. It is the nature of campaigns. But the eight months that he's been president, he has routinely chosen the path of division, whether it is direct or a little more subtle, over and over again. At some point, you have to be judged by your behavior. You can't just say, I never meant that. The context matters. Look at the sweep of Donald Trump talking about race or not talking about race in this country. Forget the campaign. From way back when, when he was a businessman, to now. It is very hard to conclude, based on that, just happens that these are two leagues where there are 70-plus percent are black and the owners are all white.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: You talk about what does this mean for politics? Does this make sense politically for Donald Trump?

Let's shelve that for a moment. And I wonder what you think this discussion means just for the collective American psyche.

STODDARD: Right. I think he wins politically no matter what but that doesn't matter. If they kneel, he wins. If they stop kneeling, he wins. It is intentionally divisive. He called them sobs and called for a boycott. This is not something you're supposed to do as a president. What will the effect be long term with people saying I, too, want to stand at the anthem? I want my fellow Americans to stand and not think about red state, blue state. It is the way that he did it. It will be interesting to see if he reins in that tone or is emboldened and doubles down.

HENDERSON: He will feel emboldened.

(CROSSTALK)

HENDERSON: -- by this idea that he feels like it is catching on, and he is winning this argument. I don't know what the victory is or what it looks like for him other than keeping this conversation going.

(CROSSTALK)

[13:55:08] KEILAR: We will see. We have what's called the two- minute warning. The two-minute warning is sometimes a 10-second warning.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Sometimes it is a five-minute warning. We'll stay tuned because a lot of times, he'll walk right out. He'll be in the Rose Garden shortly answering the questions of reporters.

CILLIZZA: I was going to say, yes, the people who are for him, they will see it as anti-politically correct. Yes, we're talking to those entitled athletes. How dare they and they are offending the military. Which is fine. But has Donald Trump ever been in danger of losing his base? Yes. This will help his base. I don't think anybody disputes a chunk of his base absolutely believes that. You heard when the Dallas Cowboys kneeled before the national anthem, lots of people booed.

(CROSSTALK)

CILLIZZA: And they were in Arizona. They booed. Right?

HENDERSON: Yes, yes.

CILLIZZA: But the point is, those people are going to be for him, no matter what. He seems to operate under that at all times, and not worry about the rest of the people in the country.

KEILAR: All right, let's listen in.

[13:56:12]

TRUMP: Thank you very much, everybody. Please be seated.

Good afternoon. I'm greatly honored to welcome President Mariano Rajoy of Spain.

And it's a great honor to have you at the White House. Thank you very much.

RAJOY: Thank you.

TRUMP: We've just concluded a very productive conversation on a crucial range of economic and security issues. Before we begin, I'd like to take a moment to send America's hearts and prayers to the people of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Both have been devastated -- and I mean absolutely devastated -- by Hurricane Maria. And we're doing everything in our power to help the hard-hit people of both places, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

A massive effort is under way and we have been really treated very, very nicely by the governor and by everybody else. They know how hard we're working and what a good job we're doing.

As we speak, FEMA, our great first responders, and all available federal resources, including the military, are being marshaled to save lives, protect families and begin a long and very, very difficult restoration process. I have directed all relevant departments and agencies to assist in the response and recovery effort.

As Governor Rossello just told me this morning, the entire federal workforce is doing great work in Puerto Rico. And I appreciated his saying it. And he's saying it to anybody that will listen. Our team has been incredible after having gone through Texas and then Florida, with other stops along the way.

And he further went on, he said, "And through the Trump administration's leadership, the relationship between FEMA and my team is very, very strong."

I will be going to Puerto Rico on Tuesday. I will also be going to the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Over the last several weeks, our nation has been tested by the destructive force of Mother Nature. But we will respond to it with an even mightier force: the resolve of the American spirit.

Texas, Louisiana and Florida are in really good shape and moving along well. We thank all of the first responders and volunteers who have risked their lives. And that's what they did: They risked their lives.

To all of those impacted by the trouble, and these horrible hurricanes and storms that have affected and impacted our country, I thank you. The recovery process will be a very, very difficult one. We will get through this, and we will get through it together. We will be stronger. We will be bigger. We will be better.

Thank you very much.

The United States and Spain are great friends and close allies. Our bonds, culture and commerce go back many centuries. Our schools teach American children about Spain's history of exploration. Our museums treasure beautiful Spanish works of art. And your country's contributions to architecture, music and film are admired all over the world. It's a greatly admired country.

The deep relationship between our two people is a strong foundation for lasting cooperation. On behalf of the American people, I want to express our support and extend our prayers to all of those affected -- [14:00:00]

-- by the vile terror attack in Spain last month.