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Trump Slams Michelle Obama After Saying Trump Put Her Family in Danger Peddling Birther Conspiracy; WSJ: Trump Played Central Role in Stormy & McDougal Payments; Questions Raised on Trump's Appointment of Matt Whitaker as Acting A.G.; Talks Breaking Down Following Midterms as North Korea Launches "Enemy" Rhetoric. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired November 09, 2018 - 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: And she was understandably upset when then the private citizen, Donald Trump, repeatedly questioned where the president of the United States, a sitting president of the United States, was actually born and whether he was constitutionally allowed to be president of the United States.

NIA MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICS REPORTER: Yes, and as first lady, she can only go so far in terms of expressing her feelings and talking about fears for her children's safety and talking about the ways in which Donald Trump affected her while she was in the White House. Now she is not in the White House anymore. She has this book where she talks in-depth about how those things made her feel. Things that were clearly racist and the notion that somehow Barack Obama was not born in America. So this is going to be something we haven't heard from the first lady. I covered the first lady, as a lot of did, when she was running -- when her husband was running in 2008 and in the White House. And to hear this. I think a lot of women will find a lot from her story and her candor and her honestly. Listen, the book comes out on Tuesday and I'm excited to read it.

BLITZER: When she was first lady, she was always very protective of the family, the privacy, but now she's really opening up in this new book in a whole new way.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Extremely protective of the privacy. When you are no longer in the White House, you have some liberties to do that. We've read so many books from politicians or figures who have this future in front of them and they can be downright boring. It's interesting when someone -- especially, it seems like one of the motivating factors is to talk about things in a way that is accessible to people, whether talking about marriage counseling with her husband. It makes her real. But she is saying, hey, you can do it, too. She is trying to have a positive impact in that way.

BLITZER: At his gaggle, Q&A with reporters earlier, Nia, he was taking questions and leaving for this trip to Paris and leaving the White House. Near the end, he turned nasty once again when our White House correspondent, Abby Phillip, asked a very, very direct, serious, fair question of the president. Let me play this clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And April Ryan, I watch her get up -- I mean, you talk about somebody that is a loser. She doesn't know what the hell she's doing. She gets publicity and a pay raise or a contract with, I think, CNN. But she is very nasty. She shouldn't be.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Do you want him to reign in Robert Mueller?

TRUMP: What a stupid question that is. What a stupid question. But I watch you a lot.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: You ask a lot of stupid questions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: That's what he said to Abby Phillip, you ask a lot of stupid questions.

Earlier, she wasn't even there, April Ryan, one of our CNN contributors, who has been a White House correspondent for more than 20 years, he went after her as well.

HENDERSON: This is I guess the day after or two days after he went after another reporter, Jim Acosta. But also a reporter from --

BLITZER: PBS.

HENDERSON: -- PBS and said a question she was asking, he thought was a racist question. I thought this was disturbing. You can see his anger and rage. It was disturbing and uncomfortable to watch. We are all colleagues in this business. We have known Abby for years. We've known April for years. We've known the PBS reporter for year. And we've worked with her. The personal attacks that he is lobbying against, particularly women, in these three examples of black women. He seems to be so uncomfortable with the very legitimate questions they are asking about, his decisions and his word choice and his appointment in this instance of Whitaker. Yes, they are clearly getting under his skin.

KEILAR: Exactly. And you said the anger. That's the difference here. Some defenders of President Trump's and even those close to him say he insults everybody. I challenge you to watch that. I challenge you to watch what he said to April Ryan yesterday. Because there's a difference in tone. Sometimes when he insults reporters or perceived enemies of his or actual enemies of his, he actually seems to enjoy it. He is casting people as this role of heal in a WWES drama playing out. He sort of likes it. Sometimes he is irked, but it's mild criticism. He says to Peter Alexander, of NBC, I'm not a fan of yours, yesterday. There's something -- there's contempt in how -- in these examples that we are pointing out. It seems to be revered for women who assert themselves, even in a professional way. And specifically, when he's talking to some to people of color, he speaks in a way so often that is coded that it's hard to dismiss it as coincidence. That's why it stands out.

BLITZER: Yes. But he said to the three African-American journalists, all of them excellent journalists, all of us know these journalists, really was unacceptable.

KEILAR: Yes.

BLITZER: Yes. If he did the right thing, he would call them up and say, you know what, I apologize. That's never going to happen.

KEILAR: Never happen, yes.

[13:34:51] BLITZER: All right, guys, thank you very, very much.

This just coming in. We are watching this closely. A new report alleges that President Trump played a major role in the hush money playoffs to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal. We have details. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The "Wall Street Journal" is reporting that President Trump played a central role in hush money payments to porn actress, Stormy Daniels, and former Playmate Karen McDougal, and that raises the question of whether or not campaign finance laws were violated.

"Wall Street Journal" reporter, Rebecca O'Brien, joins us on the phone. She's one of the writers, co-authors of this article.

It's a major article. You guys have been working on it, Rebecca, for a long time. Tell us more. What can you tell us about how significant this is?

[13:40:07] REBECCA O'BRIEN, CRIMINAL JUSTICE REPORTER, WALL STREET JOURNAL (via telephone): Thanks for having me on. This is a pretty significant story. We are reporting, found that the president being involved in or briefed on nearly every step of the hush money agreements to pay Stormy Daniels -- sorry, Stephanie Clifford -- and Karen McDougal. He directed them in phone-call meetings. We're also reporting that federal prosecutors were aware of his efforts and had outlined them in a draft indictment that ultimately was not filed.

BLITZER: You are reporting on, looking at the article in the "Wall Street Journal," that David Pecker, the chief executive of American Media, the parent company of the "National Enquirer," that the president himself asked Mr. Pecker to pay the $150,000 to Karen McDougal to keep her quiet?

O'BRIEN: We're reporting that, early in August 2015, then-Candidate Trump met with David Pecked in his office and asked him to help his campaign. One of the things that David Pecker said he would be willing to do was used his "National Enquirer" tabloid to help quash the stories of women who were alleging sexual encounters with Mr. Trump. And when Karen McDougal came forward or was threatening to come forward, Donald Trump asked Mr. Pecker to step in.

BLITZER: And Mr. Pecker is now cooperating with the special counsel, right?

O'BRIEN: Well, he was a -- he had immunity and testified with federal prosecutors in Manhattan.

BLITZER: Yes, he got immunity, that's why he's cooperating.

Rebecca, you and your team have done an excellent job in this report. Thank you very much.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.

BLITZER: Let's get analysis. Richard is joining us. He is a CNN legal analyst and former Watergate prosecutor.

What's your reaction?

RICHARD BEN-VENISTE, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It's not a shocker that Mr. Trump would be involved. It's unlikely that Michael Cohen would dip into his own pocket, pay this money, not expect to be reimbursed. And the relationship with Mr. Pecker seemed to be established over years that he was acting in Mr. Trump's behalf to catch and kill these articles.

BLITZER: And the argument is, where the illegality potentially is, it could be an illegal campaign contribution, an in-kind campaign contribution.

BEN-VENISTE: Absolutely.

BLITZER: That was not disclosed to the federal authorities.

BEN-VENISTE: Absolutely. And would have been something of interest to the American people in the election.

BLITZER: You have got it on a different line. A very important article you have written in the "New York Times," suggesting that the appointment of this new acting attorney general could have a big impact on Robert Mueller's overall Russia probe.

BEN-VENISTE: This former football player, Mr. Whitaker, seems under- qualified to say the least.

BLITZER: He's a former U.S. attorney in Iowa, too.

BEN-VENISTE: Yet, look at the comments he made over the years. Certainly, he has been an outspoken critic of the Mueller investigation and a critic of the federal judiciary, which he deems an inferior branch of government, which is --

BLITZER: He raised questions about Marbury versus Madison.

BEN-VENISTE: Unbelievable --

BLITZER: Yes.

BEN-VENISTE: -- at this day and age. But it appears, for all intents and purposes, that he is there to block or tackle Mr. Mueller, trying to squelch the report worked on as a result of a grand jury investigation that has gone on for 18 months.

BLITZER: He will oversee Mueller and his team right now.

BEN-VENISTE: Right.

BLITZER: So what can Mueller do about that?

BEN-VENISTE: One thing he can do is an end run around Whitaker. The grand jury has rights of its own, the federal judiciary that oversees the grand jury may take a role should Mr. Mueller wish to pursue that route along with the grand jury and try to transmit his report to the House of Representatives directly. This is what we did in Watergate. The chief judge of the federal district court transmitted a report, known as a road map, together with grand jury tapes and transcripts, to the House Judiciary Committee which then was sitting as an impeachment committee. So that --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: We know what happened after that. And you know --

(CROSSTALK)

BEN-VENISTE: The rest, as we say, is history.

BLITZER: And you know it better than all of us.

BEN-VENISTE: Let's see if that become necessary here. But the point of that article is a grand jury that has toiled for quite time in developing evidence, should there be evidence of criminality, that's a big if, but if it's there, it should not be squelched.

BLITZER: Richard Ben-Veniste, thanks for coming in.

BEN-VENISTE: Thank you.

[13:44:02] BLITZER: Up next, a North Korean official tells CNN that the midterms will likely change their approach to negotiations with the United States. So what does that mean for denuclearization?

Plus, as Florida prepares for three recounts, a judge in Broward County is holding an emergency hearing in the coming hours to hear Rick Scott's lawsuit against the county supervisor of elections.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:49:51] BLITZER: Right now we're following some new tensions that are developing with North Korea. North Korea is lashing out at the United States in an editorial in the front page of the government newspaper saying that sanctions by, quote, "an imperialist will never work." Also saying sanctions are, quote, "conniving psychological tactics," and saying, "the power of the united people is stronger than enemy forces."

Very strong words from the North Korean government.

I want to bring Robin Wright. She's a fellow at the Institute for Peace. She's also at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington

What do you think, Robin? These are strong words. I thought everything was moving in the right direction.

ROBIN WRIGHT, FELLOW, INSTITUTE FOR PEACE & FELLOW, WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER: No, not at all. The meeting between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his North Korean interlocutor was supposed to happen this week but was cancelled with no reason given. Nikki Haley, the U.N. ambassador, said that the North Koreans weren't ready but, in fact, there were never any terms outlined at the Singapore summit in June. The process has really been flawed because there wasn't either expectations laid out, what steps were next. The North Koreans haven't given a list what they actually have so we know what they might end up giving up. There have been no inspections. That process is still unfolding, even though the North Koreans originally said, oh, we can do it easily, we can it in a year. And now we're finding, six months in, and nothing's happened.

BLITZER: Did the North Koreans give any reason for cancelling the meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo?

WRIGHT: No. And initially, there was no reason given. The U.S. put out a statement a brief statement saying it will not happen. It will not happen until early next year. President Trump said, at his contentious news conference the other day, that he expected the Kim/Trump summit to happen next year. We still have to go through the very tricky and detailed process of the two countries' representatives meeting to figure out what they give up and how much they've got and how the process unfolds. This is very complicated. We're talking about a country that may have 30 to 60 nuclear bombs.

BLITZER: And the president keeps saying the sanctions will stay in place until there's denuclearization. The North Korean position is, you have to start easing those sanctions and then we'll start taking some steps.

WRIGHT: And North Koreans want an end of the war that officially they stopped fighting in 1953. Because that would remove some of the pretext for international sanctions.

And Russia and China, who border North Korea, are complicating process. Because they believe North Korea should be rewarded for having agreed to give up its program, even though it hasn't yet.

BLITZER: They haven't done, in a long time now, an actual nuclear test, the North Koreans. They haven't launched any intercontinental ballistic missile, flying over Japan towards the United States. That's always been seen as a very positive, significant development.

WRIGHT: That's really the status quo. The agreement was about giving everything up, and not just the nuclear program but biological, chemical weapons, and all those deadly missiles.

BLITZER: So it's still a tense situation right now.

WRIGHT: Very.

BLITZER: We'll see what happens.

Robin, thanks very much for coming.

WRIGHT: Thank you.

BLITZER: Other news we're following, in California, people gathered at a vigil to remember the victims of the shooting in Thousand Oaks. We've now learned the identifies of all the victims. They are Dan Manrique, 33, a Marine Corps veteran. And 21-year-old Noel Sparks. And 18-year-old, Alaina Housley, whose school, Pepperdine University, said they're all devastated there. And 20-year-old Mark Meza. Sean Adler, 48 years old, who worked security at the club, also worked as a coach at a local high school. Justin Meek, only 23 years old. Cody Coffman, only 22 years old. A friend of his was at the bar and said Coffman's actions saved her life. Also Blake Dingman, 21 years old. Jacob Dunnman (ph), also 21 years old. Delamatches Orfanos (ph) and Kristina Morrisette (ph), also both 21 years old.

There's also the deputy sheriff sergeant, Ronald Helus, who, without backup, went into the club to confront the gunman and gave his life.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: One final note, I've been anchoring this hour here on CNN for the past five years. It's been a real pleasure. Starting Monday, my good friend and colleague, Brianna Keilar, will be anchoring her new show, "CNN RIGHT NOW," during this hour. You'll still be able to catch me every week day in "THE SITUATION ROOM," two hours, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Eastern, including, of course, later today.

So until then, thanks very much for watching.

"NEWSROOM" with Brooke Baldwin starts right now.

[13:59:05] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.