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New Day

President Trump Discusses in Interview Providing Special Counsel Mueller with Written Answers to Questions on Russia Probe; Michael Bloomberg Gives Scholarship Donation to Johns Hopkins. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired November 19, 2018 - 8:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] RACHELLE SANDERS, FORCED TO LEAVE PARADISE, CALIFORNIA, AFTER GIVING BIRTH IN CHICO, CALIFORNIA: -- and felt more thankful and blessed.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: On that note, that is a beautiful message for all of us this morning. Rachelle Sanders, we are so happy to hear that you survived that nine-hour journey through the flames. Thank you very much for sharing your story with us, and give Lincoln a big hug for us.

SANDERS: Will do. Thank you so much.

CAMEROTA: Incredible. Every story is just so incredible.

President Trump says he will probably not sit down with Robert Mueller, but his written answers are coming soon. NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you know before you appointed him that he had that record and was so critical of Robert Mueller?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I did not know that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was chosen for the purpose of interfering with the Mueller investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think that he's the proper person to be in that position.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would be a disaster for the Republican Party for the Mueller investigation to be terminated.

TRUMP: We've never seen anything like this. It's like total devastation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need federal help and we need a collaborative and cooperative spirit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are people's loved ones and some that we're searching for out here. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My three-year-old son keeps asking, why can't we just go home? I don't know what to tell him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota on John Berman.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Monday, November 19th, 8:00 in the east.

Waiting on Robert Mueller, that's seems to be what's happening in Washington. What will the special counsel do next in the Russia investigation, and honestly, when will he do it? We have a better sense of what he won't do, and that apparently is sit down with the president himself, at least not if the president has his way. After days of closed-door meetings with his lawyers on the Russia probe, the president said in the clearest terms yet that he will probably not sit down with investigators. And not only that, he also indicated he's not going to do anything to protect the investigation, and if his handpicked attorney general Matt Whitaker wants to limit the investigation that, quote, it's going to be up to him.

Moreover, the president also targeted Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff in this juvenile tweet that would make school children blush. I don't know if it would make them proud or embarrassed. It's not even -- my boys would not be proud of that statement.

CAMEROTA: No, they're appalled.

BERMAN: Only because they would have come up with it two years ago when they were nine instead of 11.

This is the same president who last week said their must be decorum in the White House.

CAMEROTA: President Trump did not stop there. He also went after a retired admiral who led the Usama bin Laden raid. Admiral William McRaven criticized the president earlier this year, and Mr. Trump fired back, falsely claiming that McRaven was, quote, a Hillary backer, and suggested that he should have caught bin Laden faster. The president also says he refuses to listen to a recording of journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder, adding that that despite what his own CIA says, he still does not know if the Saudi crown prince was directly responsible for that murder.

So joining us now we have former White House press secretary under President Bill Clinton Joe Lockhart, former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Toobin, and senior political correspondent at the hill Amie Parnes. Great to have all of you here. So let's hear in the president's own words, Jeffrey, what he said about where he thinks he is with the Mueller probe and what he is or is not willing to do. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We gave very, very complete answers to a lot of questions that I shouldn't have even been asked. And I think that should solve the problem. I hope it solves the problem. If it doesn't, I'll be told and we'll make a decision at that time. But probably this is the end. I think we've wasted enough time on this witch hunt. And the answers probably are done. We're finished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: No surprise.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: No surprise, although this has been the most extended negotiation over this interview. It's just preposterous. Remember, this interview at one point was sort of scheduled in January for Camp David. Here we are, it's almost Thanksgiving. That's how long this has been going on. He's got his open book take-home exam. He is not giving an interview. He is not discussing at all with Mueller any actions he took while he was president. The only questions he's answering are about when he was candidate.

So Mueller is not getting much out of this negotiation, and he now has to decide whether he wants to issue a subpoena, engage in a court fight, extend the investigation for many months.

BERMAN: It seems to be this one-sided dance. All of the talking in this investigation has been done by the president and his team and his backers, and we hear nothing from Robert Mueller unless and until he issues indictments, and until these indictments are handed out, and then we get to read the work product.

TOOBIN: It is the most leak-free investigation I have ever encountered, much to the frustration of me and other journalists who are trying to find this stuff out. But it's true, it's very much a closed-up shop. And when they go to court, that's when we find out what they do.

BERMAN: Let me play a little bit more of what the president said. This time he is talking about Matt Whitaker, who is the new acting attorney general on the job for nearly two weeks, picked, we all believe, because of the things he said on CNN about being opposed to the investigation. But listen to the president

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:05:10] CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS HOST: If Whitaker decides in any way to limit or curtail the Mueller investigation, are you OK with that?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, it's going to be up to him. I think he's very well aware politically, I think he's astute politically, he's a very smart person, a very respected person. He's going to do what's right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: This seems to be where the fight has shifted on Capitol Hill, though, in Washington, which is what will Matt Whitaker do, and can Democrats keep him Matt Whitfield in check?

AMIE PARNES, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "THE HILL": Right, but President Trump knows what Matt Whitaker wants to do. This is why he's in the job. This is why Jeff Sessions was fired. There isn't a coincidence here. He knows -- he's pretending to think this is all his and this is on him. And that's intentional, too. He can essentially shift the blame to him and say I didn't know about this. I didn't know his positions, which he did clearly. And this is all on him.

CAMEROTA: I want to talk about Admiral McRaven. He was asked about this, the president was asked about this by Chris Wallace. And what the president has done, we saw this with John McCain, too, he sees for some reason war heroes, a Navy SEAL, who served for 37 years, who captured Usama bin Laden, as sacred cows that need to somehow be slain.

JOE LOCKHART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: He sees what he wants to see in himself, and just can't deal with it. But we've seen this before. There's nothing new here. And the people who he criticizes always come out better. This has put him on the short list of every Democrat who is running for president as their VP, perhaps even going to the top of the ticket.

CAMEROTA: That's interesting, because Hillary Clinton considered him for her VP, and that made President Trump believe that McRaven was a Hillary Clinton supporter. And in his mind, that's all he needs to know about somebody. First of all, McRaven came out and said I do not support Hillary Clinton. I supported George W. Bush and Barack Obama. But that's enough for Donald Trump's world. That person is sort of dead for him.

LOCKHART: He didn't even say he voted for Bush or Obama. He said he respected them and he respects people who understand the power of the office. And what he's seeing is -- and to go to the previous one, we're watching in very slow motion the Constitution unraveling, because Mueller has no protection and Whitaker now has the ability to stop this subpoena. So we just don't know what day it's coming, but it's coming.

BERMAN: I keep asking Democrats, though, and Democrats who care about this if they've seen any evidence that Whitaker has interfered yet, and they keep telling me no. So that's just yet. I understand it's yet, but they've seen no evidence.

TOOBIN: Also remember, we don't know exactly what the interactions are between the Mueller office and Whitaker at this point. We don't know whether he's limiting the scope of investigations. Their interactions are secret. I'm not saying this is going on, but they could be and we just don't know about it.

BERMAN: So Amie, I want to go back to what Alisyn was talking about with Admiral McRaven there. The idea that President Trump now has a military problem, I think it's safe to say he's got a problem here.

CAMEROTA: I don't know about that. These are troops who feel supportive. The president talks about them more. They like him. So I just don't know if this is just a problem of not liking the war heroes and going after them but the troops still feeling supportive.

BERMAN: Why I feel he has a problem is this, which is because the president did something he never does, which is admit a mistake. He didn't go to Arlington Cemetery on Veterans Day weekend. That's after skipping an appearance at a cemetery in France because it was raining, and the Secret Service claims told him he couldn't get there in time. But the president admitted a mistake, because I think he's worried that there is this perception out there that he's not supporting the military the way they should be supported, and this is in light of the fact that he went after McRaven and he went after John McCain.

PARNES: I think it's true. I think what you're saying is true, too, but I have talked to a couple of people who serve in the military who are Trump supporters and are kind of offended by it. They're saying this is a moment where every president has done something. And the fact that he even admitted this was a mistake, he knows this is a problem for him and potentially his base.

CAMEROTA: This one is easy, right? This is low-hanging fruit. You just have presidents go to Arlington National Cemetery. This is a symbol, this is an optic that all presidents engage in. It's really surprising, I think, that the people around him didn't insist on it and didn't force him to. He said in an interview, well, I went last year.

LOCKHART: Which he didn't.

CAMEROTA: Which he didn't.

LOCKHART: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Which he didn't.

LOCKHART: Right. I think it shows that he has a lack of respect for everyone but himself. And it is hard to imagine. These are the moments, let's deal in the politics of this. These are the moments when the president of the United States can show everyone in a divided country, I'm the president. I'm the only president.

[08:10:00] I'm the only one on these days of great importance of remembrance who can lay that wreath. And Trump doesn't get it. And I'm a broken record on this, but he only feels like he's the president for the people who voted for him, and they give him a pass and he thinks that's OK.

TOOBIN: But isn't that what we've learned, that they do give him a pass? And that when we say his base is going to rebel, whether it's about kids being in cages, whether it's about Charlottesville statements, whether it's about his press conference in Helsinki with Putin, the polls never change. This incident at Veterans Day, the polls won't change. His base is his base. It's not a majority. As we saw in the congressional elections, more than half the country is opposed to him. It may be enough for him to get reelected, but they're with him. And I just don't see any of these controversies changing that.

BERMAN: This may be an issue beyond polls. Jeffrey is right, polls never change, the president is where he is on this. But this is about the military. This is about respecting service to the country. At a certain point you said you talked to some veterans who were looking at least sideways. I suppose the question now that I have the two of you together is, Republicans in Congress who may have veterans ties or military histories, do they care?

PARNES: I think they do at the moment, but it is just a moment, and I think when the next election comes, it will be forgotten as these news cycles change so quickly. I think it matters right now. I don't think it will matter big picture, and I think that's the problem. And I think that's kind of what Joe is saying as well.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about 2020, because we can. It's time.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: So one of the names that is often bandied is Michael Bloomberg, former New York City mayor. He yesterday did something extraordinary yesterday. He gave $1.8 million to his Alma Mater, Johns Hopkins, and he said that he did it for scholarship funds, for financial aid for people of low or middle income who he doesn't want to be saddled with student loans after college, as so many people are. And this means that they will sort of forever be able to give financial aid for a long, long time to their students. So that's a wonderful altruistic move. Is he running for president in 2020 ro what?

LOCKHART: I think he is running. I think this particular gift follows a pattern. He has given hundreds of millions of dollars. You can't go on that campus and look in any direction and not see a building that denotes the Bloomberg Center for this, which is all great. I think this one is a little bit different because it goes to the idea that education should be available to everyone.

I think the really interesting thing about Bloomberg, though, is not education. It's his big issue is climate change. And there hasn't been a politician that has been able to turn climate change into a successful political victory. Al Gore came close, and a lot of what he did came after the election. But I think that's what you'll see him move forward on because that's what he believes.

BERMAN: I think he's made a lot of donations to Johns Hopkins. This doesn't impress me as something -- he's not trying to win the Maryland primary.

CAMEROTA: You're not impressed?

BERMAN: No, I'm hugely impress by the gift.

TOOBIN: Berman gives $1.8 billion all the time.

BERMAN: Let me tell you, my alma mater needs my money like they need a root canal. But Amie, again, so I think what he did there is terrific and it's for scholarships. I think that Bloomberg is running for president independent of that. My question to you is, are there any Democratic voters out there clamoring for Michael Bloomberg? He doesn't seem to be the guy that the base in Iowa and South Carolina, New Hampshire might be pining for.

PARNES: No. The base has dramatically shifted left. But he shares a lane with maybe a Joe Biden, a kind of more moderate lane. And I think what he can do with this is couple it with Bernie Sanders and say, look, I've already done that, and point to what he has done. Bernie Sanders wanted free education. Here is a guy who is contributing to it.

But also he's not in the pocket -- and I think a lot of people kind of like this, he's not in the pocket of donors or fundraisers. He is his own man. He can do these kinds of things and make these big gestures. And I think it's the kind of thing that people will like and a perfect antidote to President Trump, good will, paying it forward. And I think that might shift the tenor of the country.

TOOBIN: And how about how old he is? He has the good luck of he doesn't have to wait for the TSA line at the airport, he's been flying private for decades, but do the Democrats have anyone who is not in his or her 70s?

CAMEROTA: But why are you so ageist?

TOOBIN: Because that's a hard job and he should not be getting that job --

CAMEROTA: But didn't you see Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump running around, traversing the country when they were in --

TOOBIN: First of all, Donald Trump's health is not fully resolved question. He has only been president for two years. Hillary Clinton had some health problems when she was running and she wasn't even 70 years old. Joe Biden is in the late 70s, Bernie Sanders is in his late 70s. Michael Bloomberg is in his mid 70s. Elizabeth Warren is not quite 70. But that's old.

JOE LOCKHART, FORMER CLINTON WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think when you're out of power, you kind of put aside some of the idealistical divisions and policy divisions. I think Trump has accelerated that. That gives him a chance, but John I agree with your original premise of the question. It's not a natural fit with Democratic activists. So I think it's an uphill battle for them.

JOHN BERMAN, HOST, NEW DAY: Joe agrees with me, so let's end it there. Let's end the discussion with - I agree with your original point, John. I appreciate it. Thanks very much.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, HOST, NEW DAY: Thank you, guys.

BERMAN: All right, President Trump calling Saudi Arabia a spectacular ally, as sources say the CIA has concluded with a high level of confidence that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince is behind the death of Jamal Khashoggi, so will the United States go further on sanctions? Our experts weigh in.

CAMEROTA: President Trump says he will get a full report tomorrow on the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Despite the CIA's assessment that the Saudi Crown Prince personally ordered the killing. The President says he is still skeptical. Also, he will not listen to that recording of Khashoggi's murder.

[08:20:00]

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't want to hear the tape. No reason for me to hear the tape.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why do you want to hear it, sir?

TRUMP: Because it's a suffering tape. It's a terrible tape. I've been fully briefed on it. There's no reason for me to hear it. In fact, I said to the people should I hear it? They said you really shouldn't. There is no reason. I know exactly - I know everything that went on in the tape without having to --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what happened?

TRUMP: It was very violent, very vicious and terrible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Joining us now to talk about this, we have former Democratic Congresswoman, Jane Harman, Director of the Woodrow Wilson Center and former Republican Congressman from Pennsylvania, Charlie Dent. Great to see both of you.

Congresswoman Harman, you were on the intel committee when the CIA says they have an early assessment - okay, so this is their early assessment that the Crown Prince had to know that 15 top Saudi officials took a government plane into Istanbul and killed Jamal Khashoggi.

Now, tomorrow, the President will meet again with them to find out. But should he have confidence in the CIA's early assessment that the Crown Prince had to know and, if so, what should he do about it?

JANE HARMAN, FORMER DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSWOMAN: Well, Alisyn, let me say first that the Wilson Center, which is strictly nonpartisan, was honored to give Bill McRaven our highest award for public service a few years ago as a great American hero.

CAMEROTA: Well, that's good to know. We do want to talk about Bill McRaven. I'm glad that you brought that up, so we'll table that for a second.

HARMAN: Okay, happy to go there again.

CAMEROTA: Okay, thank you.

HARMAN: I just didn't want to miss it. On this topic, I think, Gina Haspel, who is the CIA Director, has had this information for a month. I think her workforce is convinced there is a high probability that the killing was ordered the Crown Prince, otherwise it makes no sense.

I also think that the administration, the White House in particular but backed up by the Secretary of State, is reluctant to let this out because MBS, the Crown Prince, has a special relationship with Jared Kushner in two dimensions. Number one, he is the key to this Middle East plan which one of these days we'll learn about; but number two, at least as reported, there have been substantial loans to the Kushner Enterprises in New York.

And so they don't want MBS out or pushed sideways and they're trying to hope that we forget this. Just one more thing to add, the big winner here is Turkish President Erdogan who has all of this information and is dribbling it out and has managed to make his rival, Mohammed Bin Salman much weaker in Saudi Arabia and has also managed to cement his relationship with Iran and Syria.

Let's understand, Bashar al-Assad is permanent now, apparently in Syria and Iran and Turkey are now going to crack down on the Kurds, and this is I think not a good thing for US foreign policy interest.

CAMEROTA: Congressman, what do you think of Jane's assessment there the President has deep, personal interests and governmental interests in not blowing up this alliance with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia?

CHARLIE DENT, FORMER REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN: Well, I think Jane's assessment is spot on. I served with her on the Homeland Security Committee. I've always said she's a real subject matter expert on these matters. But I guess, the big issue right now is the relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia is, it's transactional. It's not based on shared values but it's also a strategic relationship.

I think what's happening now, too is this whole idea of a so-called Arab NATO was on thin ice prior to the Khashoggi issue and I suspect that could even - it might be done from what I see. In fact, look, MBS has made mistakes, the way he has conducted the war in Yemen, the boycott of Qatar, the forced resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri when he visited Saudi Arabia and then took back the resignation.

I mean, they've made a lot of mistakes. It's clear to me that Congress, if the President and his administration don't act, that Congress will likely seek further sanctions, particularly with a new Congress coming in, a new House Democratic leadership will be coming in.

So I think this relationship is in a bad place. Nobody is going to get divorced here. The relationship is too important. But we're in for some tough times.

CAMEROTA: Well, Congressman let's talk about that. They have sanctioned some of the Saudis who were involved in this. The US - the Trump administration has frozen their financial assets, they have kept them from traveling back to the United States, which some experts say was unlikely anyway. That's not a big hardship. But to Charlie's point, Congresswoman, this is a transactional

relationship that the US needs, so what do you do about this human rights issue? Can I hear the congresswoman? Congresswoman, hold that thought. Hold that thought. We've lost your audio, for a second, which we'll get back to. So Charlie, let me turn it back to you.

If it is a transactional relationship, what do you do? I mean, we had Senator Marco Rubio on "New Day" a few weeks, I guess ago. And he talked about how it doesn't matter that we have this alliance with ...

[08:20:10]

CAMEROTA: ... them that's transactional, that some things are bigger than that. So let me just play you what his thoughts were.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, US SENATOR, FLORIDA, REPUBLICAN: There isn't enough money in the world to purchase back our credibility on human rights and the way nations should conduct themselves. We lose our credibility and our moral standing to criticize Putin for murdering people, Assad for murdering people, and Maduro in Venezuela for murdering people. We can't say anything about that if we allow Saudi Arabia to do it and all we do is a diplomatic slap on the wrist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Congressman, what do you think about that? Is it worth blowing up that relationship for human rights?

DENT: Well, I certainly respect what Senator Rubio has to say but I need to add this. Look, we're formal allies with Turkey and President Erdogan, obviously, he is making a lot of this issue, as he should, but that country is no bastion of Civil Rights and certainly, our protections of press freedoms.

I mean, that country has taken a hard, autocratic turn, and we are allied with them and they know they are a key partner. I mean, we can get rather sanctimonious about this and say that every nation with which we have friendly relations needs to adopt our values.

I wish they would, but I think it's a little bit unrealistic. Now, look we don't need Saudi Arabia and oil, but our friends and allies do.

CAMEROTA: Well, I hear you. I mean, nobody is trying to be particularly Polyanna-ish about this. But he was, you know, Jamal Khashoggi was a journalist for "The Washington Post," he was a resident of the United States. Does that make it any different?

DENT: Well, I think it does, yes, because he was a US person, a green card holder. It was an atrocious crime committed against Khashoggi. It was an atrocious crime committed against Khashoggi. But, again, I just don't know that we can be advocating for a break with the Saudis at this particular moment. I think we can certainly put more pressure on them on Yemen and maybe change the direction of that particular conflict based on what has just occurred and maybe try to - you settle this issue with Qatar right now and the Saudis have gone overboard.

CAMEROTA: Yes, but what does that look like? When you say more pressure, since they already have impose some sanctions, what do you want to see the Trump administration do?

DENT: Well, I want to see the Trump administration do maybe is try to rein in the Saudi campaign in Yemen. It has not been well managed. I mean we could also force the Saudis to get to a better place with Qatar. They boycotted that country without - I don't think it was well thought out. It was poorly executed and frankly, it put our folks at risk. We have a major base there in Qatar.

HARMAN: Can I get back in now, please?

DENT: Hi, Jane.

CAMEROTA: Hi, you're back. Go ahead, Congresswoman.

HARMAN: I'm back. Here I am. Well, to continue where Charlie left off, I think Congress has two things it could do immediately. One, it could pass an authorization to use military force disallowing the use of US force in Yemen.

We have cut off some of the refueling of Saudi planes. We're not in the fight. We're just supporting the fight in Yemen, but I think if we were out of the fight totally, Saudi Arabia would have to be out of the fight and worst human rights catastrophe going on in the world this minute would at least be at a truce and then the humanitarian aid could finally get into the ports which are blocked because of Saudi action. That's one.

The second thing is Congress appropriates money. We can cut off, or limit or in some way make funding for Saudi Arabia conditional on certain changes. Saudi Arabia has an option. MBS does not have to be the Crown Prince. There are - it's a huge Royal family. Maybe King Salman could figure out that for the moment this man has disqualified himself.

By the way, his younger brother, the Ambassador to Washington has been re-called and it's reported that he was on one of these intercepted tapes telling Khashoggi that he would be safe going into the embassy in Istanbul. Something he has denied but nonetheless, it may be out there.

So my final point is, that Congress has options and I think Congress on a bipartisan basis is extremely upset with what happened and Saudi Arabia has options. They can take a safer, better course and appoint someone else, designate someone else in the Royal family, at least for the next period, as the Crown Prince.

CAMEROTA: Jane Harman, Charlie Dent, we are out of time. But because we brought up the Admiral McRaven thing, I just want to say that a few minutes ago, Marco Rubio, the senator, just tweeted about this and I know that this echoes your thoughts, Jane. So he says, "I don't know if Admiral William McRaven shares my political views or not, but I do know that few Americans have sacrificed or risked more than he has to protect America and the freedoms we enjoy. His military career exemplified honor and excellence. I am grateful for his service."

So on that note, thank you both very much. John.

HARMAN: Thank you.

BERMAN: Reagan country is going blue, so what role is President Trump playing in this big shift in Orange County.

[08:30:10]