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FBI Completes Judge Interview; Kavanaugh Controversy; Amazon Raises Wage; Trump Talks with Reporters. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired October 02, 2018 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00] JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: About it.

MJ, thanks for that reporting.

And thanks for joining us today on INSIDE POLITICS. Hope to see you back here this time tomorrow.

"WOLF" starts right now. Have a good day.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blister. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington. Thanks very much for joining us.

We start with the clock ticking on the FBI investigation of the Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Today, Democrats, including the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, they are demanding to know the true scope of the FBI investigation set by the White House, while the majority leader, Mitch McConnell, laughs off new allegations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MAJORITY LEADER: And, get this, Judge Kavanaugh (INAUDIBLE) of throwing some ice across a college bar in the mid-1980s. Talk about a bombshell. One can only imagine what new bombshell might be published today or tomorrow. But here's what we know, madame president, one thing for sure, the Senate will vote on Judge Kavanaugh here on this floor this week.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D), MINORITY LEADER: I call on President Trump and the White House once again to release in writing what White House Counsel Don McGahn has instructed the FBI to pursue. Until then, we have to take President Trump's off the cuff comments with perhaps grains of salt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We know four people the FBI has now interviewed so far. Kavanaugh friend Mark Judge, who Dr. Christine Blasey Ford says was in the room at the time of the alleged sexual assault. Also interviewed by the FBI, Patricia -- I should say Patrick Smyth, Leland Keyser, and the second accuser, Deborah Ramirez, who was Kavanaugh's Yale University classmate.

Our White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins is joining us right now. Kaitlan, the president says the FBI should have leeway in this current

investigation this week. Is that message being conveyed from there once again today?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's the question, Wolf. And just how much leeway do they want? Because we know that the White House instructed the FBI they've got a little bit of a longer leash than they initially imagined here. But the question is, just how long can that leash be because they do still want this to be finished by Friday. That's the White House's view. And then you heard from the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying there that he is clear that this is going to be brought to a vote this week on Brett Kavanaugh regardless of what happens with this investigation.

Now the other question, Wolf, is what exactly are they looking at because you just listened to people they've spoken to regarding these allegations of sexual assault and sexual misconduct made against Brett Kavanaugh. But we are seeing a new focus here in Washington, and that was really reflected in the press conference yesterday with President Trump. And that is on whether or not Brett Kavanaugh was truthful when he testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee last Thursday.

There are people that went to school with Brett Kavanaugh at Yale that have come forward to say he was not honest when he described his drinking and they think that could cause problems with him being a Supreme Court justice.

Now, the White House is pushing back on this. Last night they released two statements from people who also went to Yale with Brett Kavanaugh. One who lived with him, was his suite mate, saying that they never saw him black out. He never drank so much that they believe he experienced memory loss. And, of course, that is what Brett Kavanaugh said when he was under oath.

The question is, how much does that affect what's happening here at the White House because, of course, they are keeping their eyes on those key senators to see what they think of all of this and what they think of Brett Kavanaugh's credibility.

And something else to consider is that President Trump himself, as he made clear yesterday, doesn't drink. And he's only had these rare, emotional moments talking about drinking, talking about his older brother Fred, who died at the age of 43 and also struggled with alcoholism, what does President Trump think about this, because this is someone he's cast as this person straight out of central casting. And then yesterday, in the Rose Garden, he implied that he thought Brett Kavanaugh admitted to having a drinking problem when he was younger, even though that's the opposite of what Brett Kavanaugh was trying to get across when he was testifying.

So those are all the questions right now, Wolf.

The president is leaving the White House here any minute now. He is speaking to reporters. We'll see if he has anything else to say about his Supreme Court nominee and where this goes from here. BLITZER: Yes, we'll see what he says. Once we get that tape, we'll play it for our viewers. We know he's answers reporter questions upon his departure from the White House right now.

Kaitlan, thank you very much.

As the FBI digs into the allegations and the witnesses, we're hearing more from both sides on Kavanaugh's history of drinking. One classmate and friend from Yale University says he saw several sides of Brett Kavanaugh and his drinking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHAD LUDINGTON, KAVANAUGH CLASSMATE AT YALE: What I have is many memories of -- of Brett -- and, again, you know, many of them jovial and laughing, but also many aggressive too. So it's not as if it was all, you know, anger and -- you know, and fisticuffs. It was -- you know, there was the good and the bad. But there was definitely some aggression -- some aggression that did come out quite often when Brett was drunk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:05:26] BLITZER: That's contradicted by others from Yale University. Dan Murphy, for example, says, and I'm quoting, I never saw Brett black out or not be able to remember the prior evening's events, nor did I ever see Brett act aggressive, hostile or in a sexually aggressive manner to women.

And Dwight Oxley says, and I'm quoting him now, he said he never saw Kavanaugh in a state where he wasn't in control.

It's unknown if the FBI will end up interviewing any of these three other classmates as part of their overall investigation.

Joining us now to discuss this and more, Senator Bernie Sanders.

Senator, thanks so much for joining us. We've got a lot to discuss.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: Yes. Good to be with you.

BLITZER: All right, let's talk about the Kavanaugh nomination first. The FBI is digging into his past. Do you believe, senator, that Kavanaugh lied to U.S. senators during the confirmation hearings before the Judiciary Committee?

SANDERS: Well, Wolf, that's exactly what the FBI has got to investigate. I find it beyond comprehension that Mitch McConnell and the Republican leadership are suggesting that we should have a vote on Kavanaugh before we're able to read the FBI investigation report. What sense is that?

Second of all, I find it amazing that they're trying to rush this thing through, that they want to fill the seat when they took almost a year when Merrick Garland was not dealt with. It was OK to take a year not to fill that seat when Obama was president. Now they want to rush it through. That's wrong.

BLITZER: Let me read to you a statement that your Republican colleague, Lindsey Graham, just put out. And I'm quoting him now. I believe Judge Kavanaugh will be confirmed by -- to the Supreme Court very soon. However, if this nomination were to fall short, I would encourage President Trump to re-nominate Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. It would, in effect, be appealing the Senate's verdict directly to the American people.

What's your reaction to that statement from -- from your Republican colleague?

SANDERS: I'm not quite sure I understand it. He said that if Kavanaugh loses the vote, he wants Trump to re-nominate him?

BLITZER: Yes. Yes. If he loses the vote, he wants the president to re- nominate him to the Supreme Court and go through this process again.

SANDERS: I really just don't understand what -- what Graham is talking about.

Clearly what has to happen now is the FBI needs to do a full investigation, determining his voracity. It's not a question of drinking. Everybody, you know, millions of people in America drink. It's a question of whether you are lying before the Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate. And if you are lying, you should not be seated.

And, by way, that investigation should be through, should not be limited to a week. And the idea that we are voting or are being asked to vote before this report can be read is totally crazy.

BLITZER: Will you accept the result of the FBI probe as fair, complete, a serious investigation, irrespective of whatever the conclusions are if you get --

SANDERS: How can -- how -- how can I even --

BLITZER: Once you get the report, how (ph) the report comes forward?

SANDERS: How can I accept it -- Wolf, how can I accept that it's fair and complete if I have no idea what, in fact, they are investigating. If they --

BLITZER: Well, let's say they complete it -- let's say they complete it tomorrow and then there's a procedural vote, what's called cloture, later in the day, would that -- would that be OK?

SANDERS: All right, Wolf -- I'm not -- look, you don't know and I don't know what they are investigating. I just have a real concern whether they can do a thorough investigation regarding his veracity. You just mentioned on this program a minute ago, there are people who are claiming that when he was in law school that he denies a whole lot. He denies that. Well, what's true? Somebody has to investigate that. There is a revelation that came out the other day about Ms. Ramirez and he claimed in the hearing that the first he learned about it was when he read that story in "The New Yorker." Well, it turns out that he was trying to get people to contradict that story on the telephone. Is that true? If it's true, he lied. So the --

BLITZER: Well, I think -- I think let's be precise on that.

I want to move on and talk about another issue that's very close to your heart.

SANDERS: Yes. Right.

BLITZER: But I think what he was suggesting is that the reporters from "The New Yorker" magazine, they told him and his -- and his people a couple days earlier what they were working on to get the comment before publication. As a result, he knew about it in advance. He knew what they were about to report. And as a result, his folks were contacting other people to help him in that. He didn't necessarily wait until the actual story was published in "The New Yorker" because he had that information a couple days in advance. I just want to be precise on that point.

[13:10:17] SANDERS: OK, fair enough, fair enough, but there are other issues out there. For example, Republicans stole information from Democratic staff at the -- on the Judiciary Committee years and years ago. He claimed that he never had access to that information. There are people who think that that's not true. There are people who think that as a member of the Bush administration, he did work on the torture issue. He denies that.

Bottom line is, whatever the truth may be, we need a full and -- we need a full investigation to give members of the Senate the information they need to make a fair decision on Mr. Kavanaugh.

BLITZER: That's fair enough.

Let's get to another significant development today, something very close to your heat. I want to get your take on a major announcement today from Amazon, raising the minimum wage for all of its 350,000 U.S. workers to $15 an hour starting next month, November 1st. Amazon says it will also begin lobbying to raise the federal minimum wage, which, as you know right now is $7.25 per hour.

SANDERS: I know.

BLITZER: Your -- you must be so excited and pleased by this development.

SANDERS: Well, Wolf, I am. You know, this is an issue we have worked on for many, many months with employees, with hundreds of employees at Amazon. And the point that we made is absurd that the taxpayers of this country have to subsidize the wealthiest person on earth who happens to be Mr. Bezos, because so many of his workers made wages that were so low they were forced to go on food stamps and Medicaid. It doesn't make sense.

So I applaud Jeff Bezos today for raising the minimum wage at Amazon for $15 an hour. That will mean 20, 30 percent increase of wages for some of their workers, including part-time workers and temp workers. And now I think the word is going to go out to companies like Wal- Mart, to companies like McDonalds in the fast food industry, to the retail industry in America. You cannot continue to pay your workers starvation wages. Learn from what Bezos has done. He has done the right thing. You have got to do it as well.

BLITZER: I know you --

SANDERS: And you've got to --

BLITZER: I was going to say, I know you've been critical of him in the past. You applaud this decision by him and Amazon today. Have reached out to him, called him to thank him?

SANDERS: We have, actually. I think I'll be talking if not Bezos today, to Jay Carney, who's the number two guy there.

The bottom line is that I hope what they have done sends a message to every major corporations in America. These corporations are making billions in profits and taxpayers should not have to subsidize them. Pay your workers a living wage.

BLITZER: As you point out, Jeff Bezos is right now the richest person, not only in the world, the richest person in history. This is where he falls. Take a look at this on the Forbes Billionaires List. You can see, by the way, right now he's worth, according to Forbes, $164 billion. Almost $165 billion. The president, according to the most recent number, $3.1 billion.

What's your message to the president, President Trump right now, who has constantly gone after Bezos, who also owns "The Washington Post." And, as you know, the president's often not happy with the reporting of "The Washington Post."

SANDERS: Yes, well, this president is a demagogue. Our president is somebody who does not particularly believe in democracy. And you can argue, as I do with the media, all of the time. But his attacks on media calling them enemies of the people is outrageous, it's anti- democratic. It's not what those of us who believe in democracy and a free society believe in.

But this is what I will say to the president. You know, Mr. President, you ran for office telling about your concerns for working people. Well, I've got a $15 an hour minimum wage introduced. We've got 30 co- sponsors. Why don't you speak out on that? Why don't you get your Republican friends to say that we should pass a $15 an hour minimum wage so that anybody in this country who works 40 hours a week is not living in poverty? So that's my message to this president. And let's see if he has the guts to do that.

BLITZER: Well, has he indicated at all, he or his people, that they're open to supporting legislation --

SANDER: No, they have not.

BLITZER: To increase the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour? SANDERS: No. To the best of my knowledge, Trump and the Republican leadership has not said one word. In fact, some of them literally want to give states the right to lower the minimum wage. Some of them believe that the minimum wage is a bad idea. There should not be any minimum wage in this country. But Trump campaigned about his concern for working families, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Supporting my legislation would be a major step forward for many millions of families in this country.

[13:15:13] BLITZER: I know you've been working on this a long time and I know you're very happy with Jeff Bezos and Amazon today --

SANDERS: I am.

BLITZER: That they're raising -- hundreds of thousands of workers are now going to get a significant increase in their hourly rate. And I know that makes you happy. Let's see if other companies follow suit.

Senator Sanders, thanks so much for joining us.

SANDERS: Thank you very much, Wolf.

BLITZER: We're standing by, by the way, to hear from the president any minute now. He's been speaking to reporters. We're going to get the videotape. We'll play it for you. Significant developments unfolding.

Also, why a bar fight back in the 1980s is now haunting Brett Kavanaugh and fueling questions over his honesty and his temperament.

Plus, porn star payoff. New details emerging today that show the president personally directed his lawyer to stop Stormy Daniels from going public.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:20:22] BLITZER: You're looking at live pictures. That's Marine One landing at Joint Base Andrews, outside of Washington, D.C., with the president of the United States. He's going to be boarding Air Force One, flying off to Philadelphia to speak to electrical contractors before heading to another political rally later tonight.

Just before leaving the White House, as he was walking outside the White House, he did stop and answer reporter's questions for a few minutes. Answering questions about the U.S., Mexico, Canada new trade agreement, also about Judge Kavanaugh and the latest controversy involving his confirmation up on Capitol Hill before the Senate. Heard the Majority Leader Mitch McConnell say there will be a vote, a final vote on confirmation this week today. There's not many days left in this week. We'll see how that works out, see how the FBI investigation works out. We know the FBI is still involved in the investigation.

But the president, speaking moments ago, walking up to reporters. Let's watch.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The deal we made with Canada and Mexico has gotten tremendous review, as you see. It's been very well received by farmers and ranchers and industrialists and workers generally and it's been really something. And I think it's also going to be a very good deal for Mexico and I believe it's going to be a very good deal for Canada.

But it's gotten tremendous reviews and it's going through the process. And even many of the Democrats, including Chuck Schumer, came out and said nice things. So that's very nice to hear that. So it's nice to see a little bit of a bipartisan approach.

But the trade deal, the big trade deal, the largest deal ever made so far in trade, I expect to top it with China or E.U. or something. But this is the largest ever made. And as you know now, we're working on China. We're working on Japan. We're working on E.U. But these are great deals for our nation and great deals for our workers. So --

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: Say it?

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: Oh, I think the Democrats are going to like the trade -- they already do. A lot of them have come out and said very positive things about it. We -- we seem to have great support for the trade bill. It covers just about everybody.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: I don't even know what you're talking about.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: I haven't seen it. I'd have to read the story, because I don't know what story you're talking about.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: I don't think you should lie to Congress. And there have been a lot of people over the last year that have lied to Congress. And, to me, that would not be acceptable.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: Say it?

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: I think that Judge Kavanaugh is doing pretty well, it seems to me, over the last 24 hours. A lot is going to depend on what comes back from the FBI in terms of their -- their additional number seven investigation. But I think that Judge Kavanaugh is doing very well right now.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: We spoke. And that's moving along nicely. But I don't want to interrupt what's going on with Judge Kavanaugh. I don't want to do anything to interrupt what's happening with Judge Kavanaugh.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: And I think the process, I must say, I think -- hopefully, as Mitch said, they'll have a vote by the end of the week and it will be a positive vote. But it will be dependent on what comes back from the FBI. The FBI -- the FBI is working. They're working very hard and let's see what happens.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: I think he was fighting people that were making very tough charges against him. And I thought he did very well. I really did. I thought he did very well.

He's fighting very hard for his reputation, for his family. I thought what happened was really tough. It was tough stuff.

I've been watching this stuff for a long time. I've never seen anything like going on with respect to Judge Kavanaugh.

This is a high-quality person. This is a number one student, a top intellect. He's never gone through anything like this. I think he did very well.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

[13:25:09] TRUMP: I think he'll be totally impartial. I think he's a great judge. He's known as a great judge. If there is one disappointment, I don't think that you people covered, an aspect that's very important, very, very important, and that's what he's done over the last 30 years. You know, you're going back to high school, you're going back to college, what has he done over the last 30 years. He has been spectacular. He has been a tremendous, tremendous success.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: Well, I heard Lindsey say that and certainly it's interesting. People love him.

I was in Tennessee last night. And I want to say that those people -- we had a sold-out arena with thousands of people outside. Everywhere I go, I'm going to Pennsylvania, it's the same thing, they are so in favor of Judge Kavanaugh. You've never seen anything like it. I actually think it's like a rallying cry for the Republicans. They are so in favor of Judge Kavanaugh.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: So Melania's in Africa. I just saw on television her walking out of the plane. It was beautiful. And saying hello to the kids. She is really doing a great job as first lady.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: No, no, I want to see what happens with the FBI. They're coming back with reports. They'll be back -- they'll be back very soon.

Are you talking about a second time? I mean this was Lindsey's idea. Lindsey's a friend of mine, at least for the last six months, as you know. Lindsey's a friend of mine. And he's done really a great thing and a great service for our country, Lindsey Graham.

But I -- I have say that I really think that Judge Kavanaugh is going to be accept and voted on and positively voted on, but we're going to have to see what the FBI says. They'll come back with a report.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: Well, it's a tough thing going on. If you can be a -- an exemplary person for 35 years and then somebody comes and they say, you did this or that, and they give three witnesses and the three witnesses at this point do not corroborate what she was saying, that's a very scary situation where you're guilty until proven innocent. My while life -- my whole life I've heard, you're innocent until proven guilty, but now you're guilty until proven innocent. That is a very, very difficult standard.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: Say it?

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: Well, I say that it's a very scary time for young men in America when you can be guilty of something that you may not be guilty of. This is a very, very -- this is a very difficult time.

What's happening here has much more to do than even the appointment of a Supreme Court justice. It really does. You could be somebody that was perfect your entire life and somebody could accuse you of something. It doesn't necessarily have to be a woman, as everybody says, but somebody could accuse you of something and you're automatically guilty. But in this realm, you are truly guilty until proven innocent. That's one of the very, very bad things that's taking place right now.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: Say it?

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: There's not a message now, but you might have a message by the end of the week. You may have a message. You're going to see. You're going to see.

But he's an outstanding person. He's an outstanding man. And for his sake and for the sake of his family, I hope he does well. I think he's been very -- I think he's been very brutally treated.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: I've been speaking to people.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: We're going to talk later. I don't want to do anything to interrupt what's happening, this process. That's fine, but I don't want to do anything to interrupt the process.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: Well, I don't drink. I've never had a drink. I don't drink beer. I've never had a beer. And I'm not saying good or bad. Some people like it. I just chose not to do that for a lot of reasons.

I think that -- I remember my college days, everybody was drinking. It was like normal. I was abnormal. It was totally normal. Everybody was drinking. And they used to drink a lot of beer. And there was nothing wrong, I just didn't choose to do that. But almost everybody else did.

[13:30:09] So I don't see anything wrong. No, I never tried anything else.