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Smith Wins Mississippi Runoff; Kremlin Plans on Meeting; Stone's Efforts for WikiLeaks Documents; Manafort Denies Meeting with Assange. Aired 6:30-7:00a ET

Aired November 28, 2018 - 06:30   ET

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


[06:30:00] HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER AND ANALYST: State where no Democratic gubernatorial candidate has received a majority of the votes since 1987. It's a state that no Democratic presidential candidate has received a majority of the vote since 1956. So Mike Espy, the Democrat, had a very uphill climb. He did about as well as you might expect in a good, blue environment with a poor Republican candidate. But, at the end of the day, Mississippi is still Mississippi.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: But -- but, just to put a point on it, Donald Trump won the state by 16 --

ENTEN: Eighteen.

AVLON: I'm sorry, 18. I apologize, Harry. I should know to not round down.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Don't use a number around Harry.

AVLON: That's a good point. But the point is, Espy actually shrunk that in half. Democrats are doing twice as well two years later. That's -- that's a big deal in upon itself. And also the fact that Mike Espy is an African-American Democrat, did better in the state than Barack Obama did when he ran.

ENTEN: Yes, he did.

AVLON: So that's a sign that something shift. The outcome doesn't change. Mississippi's still a Republican conservative state. But the margin much closer than it has been historically. And that says something about the underlying dynamics in our politics.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Harry, we're not done. There's still -- there's still one race where we're still counting, right, California?

AVLON: Yes.

ENTEN: Yes, California's 21st District. Look, T.J. Cox, the Democrat, as we pointed out yesterday, has jumped into the lead as more and more votes have been counted. If Democrats win --

CAMEROTA: It was 400 yesterday. Do you know what it is today?

ENTEN: I believe it's still that. I haven't seen anything. Although all my eyes were on Mississippi last night. I --

CAMEROTA: All your eyes?

ENTEN: All my eyes. I have two, and then I have two in the back of my head that you can see via the camera.

CAMEROTA: I know you do. I know.

ENTEN: So, look, if Democrats win there, they get a net gain of 40 and it's another one of these districts that voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 but also elected a Republican. There were 25 of those going into the election. If Democrats win in California 21, they capture 22 of those seats.

BERMAN: Look for the president not to talk about that today. Look for him to talk about Mississippi. They did pick up -- the president did pick up two Senate seats now.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BERMAN: Which, for him, is significant going forward.

CAMEROTA: It is a big deal.

Thank you. Let us know when you're done counting the votes.

ENTEN: I'm actually going out to California after this. You know, why not?

CAMEROTA: No, you are (ph). Why not.

ENTEN: Thanks, Toluse, we appreciate you being here also.

CAMEROTA: Thank you guys.

President Trump now says he may not meet with Vladimir Putin at the G- 20 Summit over Russia's aggression towards Ukraine. We have a live report from Kiev with the latest, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:36:14] CAMEROTA: The Kremlin says a planned meeting between President Trump and Vladimir Putin is still happening, but President Trump says he may cancel it over Russian aggression towards Ukraine. Ukraine's president says he is concerned about a full-scale war with Russia.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is live in Kiev with more.

What's the latest, Nick?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Extraordinary how we are seeing the Kremlin setting the agenda really it seems as to whether or not this meeting will happen. It was light night in an interview with "The Washington Post" that President Trump said he was expecting, quote, a full report tonight, that would be last night, about the events of Sunday. That's quite a long delay. And after that he would decide whether he was going to have the meeting and how he did not like the aggression at all.

Now, his earlier comments had expressed unhappiness either way, suggesting perhaps he held both sides responsible. But we're seeing the sense of, I think, concern here in Ukraine mounts as the White House, or its leader certainly, doesn't step forward with a very angry denial against Russia. We've heard sort of greater criticism from his cabinet members. But just imagine back in 2014, the idea of a chummy summit between Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin after Russia had walking into the Crimean peninsula.

Here in Ukraine, though, it is martial law. It's been in effect for about four hours now. Not a lot of palpable signs around the country, frankly, in the 10 regions where it's in place on the borders with Russia and areas near Russian separatist regions. We're told its heightened defenses, cyber defenses, air defenses, but also held out by Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko, the idea may be that it would bar Russian citizens from entering Ukraine. That would be a drastic measure and it's far from a de-escalation that European leaders like Germany's Angela Merkel have called for. The fear really being that without united international response, like we saw after Crimea, the Moscow interpretation will be, well, maybe we can try something else on and see what happens.

All eyes, though, really on the G-20 meeting in Argentina and if it happens.

Back to you.

BERMAN: Nick Patron Walsh, a beautiful morning in Kiev, masking a very dangerous moment for that nation.

Nick, thanks very much.

All right, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, we're going to ask him a range of questions, what did he see in terms of the contact between Roger Stone and the president and perhaps WikiLeaks during key moments of the campaign. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:42:27] BERMAN: CNN has obtained draft court filings from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office alleging that Trump adviser Roger Stone pushed an associate to get documents from WikiLeaks to help the Trump campaign.

Joining me now, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. He continues to advise the president and is the author of a new book "Trump's Enemies: How the Deep State is Undermining the Presidency." We have the book right here and it will come up repeatedly in this conversation because I think it's connected to this conversation.

I want to start with Roger Stone first because you have a unique relationship with Roger Stone. Explain to me what his relationship was with the Trump campaign? COREY LEWANDOWSKI, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: So Roger Stone's

history with Donald Trump goes back 30 years. He's been someone who has known then Mr. Trump and worked with him through business dealings long before we ever started a political campaign and long before I ever met Mr. Trump.

When I came to the Trump Organization in January of 2015 to start to look at him potentially running for president, Roger Stone was living in Florida and speaking to Mr. Trump on a fairly regular basis at that point. As the campaign progressed and we launched the campaign, Roger Stone, I -- I ultimately fired in about August of 2015, and he wasn't around the campaign very much. He worked through Sam Nunberg, who was his emissary to the campaign. And then by August or September of 2015, I also fired Sam.

BERMAN: Why did you fire Roger Stone?

LEWANDOWSKI: Look, he wasn't doing anything on the campaign. He was living in Florida, you know, doing, you know -- I don't know what he was doing, to be honest with you, but he had no value, and so I didn't want to pay somebody for not doing anything.

BERMAN: But he continued to talk to the president, correct?

LEWANDOWSKI: Well, look, I think, you have to remember, a 30-year relationship was in place. And did they have phone conversations after I fired him? They did. They were very limited in scope when I was near then candidate Trump. And I can't recall Mr. Trump speaking to Roger Stone on more than half a dozen occasions after her was fired.

BERMAN: When you would hear that then candidate Donald Trump was speaking to Roger Stone, what would your reaction be?

LEWANDOWSKI: Oh, it would drive me crazy, right? I mean maybe it was the same reaction that the White House has when they hear I'm talking to Donald Trump now, right? I don't know. But what it is is, you know, Roger Stone is a conspiracy theorists --

BERMAN: Right.

LEWANDOWSKI: Who makes up these crazy ideas, says crazy things, only to recants them or say that he didn't actually do what he said he did. And so people like that I didn't think were helpful on the campaign. And so, you know, I didn't enjoy when Roger was calling.

BERMAN: Do you think Roger Stone was trying to get the hacked e-mails from WikiLeaks?

LEWANDOWSKI: Well, he said he met with WikiLeaks or he said he met with Julian Assange. This is what he wrote in e-mails. This is his own words, only when pressed on them did he say, well, what I said and what I did were actually two separate things. So I don't know.

[06:45:06] But if you take Roger at his own words, which are very difficult to do because most of the time he's lying when he's talking, I don't know what the truth is. BERMAN: You think it's possible he was involved with the release of

the hacked e-mails?

LEWANDOWSKI: I don't know. I -- look, do I think Roger wants to pretend to be this master of the dark arts and has access to all of this information that he really has no access to and takes credit for things he had nothing to do with, absolutely.

BERMAN: Do you think it's possible he spoke to the president about WikiLeaks and what they had in their possession?

LEWANDOWSKI: You know, I don't know. And I can tell you, whenever I was with then Mr. Trump, candidate Trump, never was I there if he was speaking to Roger Stone about that particular topic.

BERMAN: There's a denial from Rudy Giuliani, who's the president's current attorney, told "The Washington Post" the president does not recall ever speaking to either Stone or Corsi about WikiLeaks. As you know, from being in the business, I do not recall is not a "no."

LEWANDOWSKI: Yes, look, again, I don't know of -- I don't know Jerome Corsi, just to be clear.

BERMAN: Right. You've never met Jerome Corsi.

LEWANDOWSKI: I don't believe I have. Maybe in passing, but no substantive relationship whatsoever. WE didn't have phone conversations.

BERMAN: Right.

LEWANDOWSKI: I don't ever remember then candidate Trump saying to me, Roger Stone just called and spoke about WikiLeaks. That -- that conversation never happened. And I think, if it would have happened, between Mr. Trump and Roger Stone, I would have known about it.

BERMAN: So, overnight, it's like the bar at "Star Wars" in terms of the characters coming up. Paul Manafort, there was a story in "The Guardian" that he had met with Julian Assange when he was coming onto the campaign. Manafort vehemently denies that. It is when you were still campaign manager. Any knowledge of it?

LEWANDOWSKI: None. None whatsoever. And, look, to be fair, I'm not a fan of Paul Manafort.

BERMAN: Right.

LEWANDOWSKI: He was taking meetings outside of the campaign office on a regular basis, in his apartment. And what he was doing, I have no idea. That wasn't related to the campaign.

But in Paul's defense, and I'm not here to defend Paul, I don't think he would have gone to London to have that conversation and it would not have been reported. There would have been some type of evidence to show that he would have been there, whether it's video footage or a log at the embassy or something. So, look, I -- for this, which is very rare, I'll take Paul's word on it.

BERMAN: He denies it. Again, you say, he took meetings you did not know about. It's not impossible.

You also note in the book, and I found this interesting, that Manafort, who wasn't being paid by the campaign, you said was trying to get money in other ways.

LEWANDOWSKI: Well, of course. Look, what we found out now about Paul Manafort, what we didn't know at the time that he came to the campaign was, he was broke. And his political consulting business overseas has gone by the way of the dodo bird. And so, you know, he had nothing left. And he wanted to portray himself as a contemporary of candidate Trump, both in age and in financial stature. And now what we find out after the campaign ends and he's fired was, he was borrowing money from everyone. He had these -- this offshore money which he couldn't get back in. So he was trying to parlay his relationship with Mr. Trump to rebuild some type of political consulting business overseas.

And you have to remember this, John, Roger Stone and Paul Manafort have had a 30-year business relationship, Black, Manafort and Stone, and ultimately Atwater, it goes back to the '80s when they had a political consulting operation in Washington, D.C. So these two individuals, who are serial liars, have been known to hang out with each other for a long time.

BERMAN: I get the impression you don't think they're very truthful people based on some of the things you're hinting at here with me, Corey.

Paul Manafort, this plea agreement that he had with the Mueller investigation, just blew up because the Mueller team says that Manafort wasn't telling the truth. Who are you more inclined to believe between Mueller and Manafort?

LEWANDOWSKI: Well, look, I don't know Bob Mueller, but he seems to be a man of character. And -- and I hope he in -- has a truthful and honest investigation. And I -- and when that investigation comes out, I hope it's made public.

BERMAN: Right.

LEWANDOWSKI: Between the two, if I had to choose, I'm going to pick Bob.

BERMAN: And you do want it to become public? You don't want Matt -- you don't want Matt Whitaker to table the investigation?

LEWANDOWSKI: I want the whole investigation -- no, look, if it's up to me and -- and the president has never asked me and I've never spoken about it, if the report comes out, the entire thing should be given to the American people and it should show, and I hope Bob Mueller does this, what also took place on the other side of the aisle with Clinton hiring a British spy to go to Russia, and we should find the entire story out. So I hope they release the entire document.

BERMAN: Just by point of fact, it was -- it was Clinton's lawyer who hired a firm that hired Steele in terms of the timeline there.

I do want to ask one question about the book beyond what I asked you about Manafort there.

You talk about the November 9th Club. I like clubs. So you talk about the November 9th Club in terms of the president. Explain what that is and if any of those people are still around?

LEWANDOWSKI: Well, the November 9th Club is the group of individuals who decided to supported Donald Trump only after he won the election. And, look, in the history of presidents, that's been OK. I think of Jim Baker, who was on the opposite side before he came the chief of staff to Ronald Reagan.

BERMAN: Yes.

LEWANDOWSKI: And that's OK. The difference is, these individuals, not only did they not support him when he ran for president, they didn't vote for him when he was on the ballot, they took their own agenda, not the president's agenda, and they brought it to Washington. Gary Cohn, Rob Porter, Sean Spicer, Rex Tillerson and others, right, anonymous, whoever that is, and they did it to subvert the will of the American people and the president's agenda.

[06:50:02] And the difference with Jim Baker, who I think has been the -- you know, one of the greatest chiefs of staff ever, was, he put his political differences aside, came in and he served his country and he served his president to the best of his ability. And those other individuals, those November 9th Club individuals, didn't do that. They kept their own agenda in place. And if you remember Bob Woodward's book, he said Gary Cohn and Rob Porter were literally taking documents off the Resolute Desk so the president couldn't sign a trade agreement with South Korea. That's mind-boggling to me. And that's what we talk about in this book.

BERMAN: Corey Lewandowski. The book is "Trump's Enemies: How the Deep State is Undermining the Presidency." Thanks for coming on this morning and talking about the full range of subjects. Really appreciate it.

LEWANDOWSKI: Thank you.

BERMAN: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Get a little levity. Late night comics take aim at Paul Manafort, General Motors and this year's White House Christmas decorations. Here are your late night laughs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON: There are reports that Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort secretly met with the founder of WikiLeaks right before Hillary's hacked e- mails were released. Now, I know that sounds suspicious. That's because it's very suspicious.

[06:55:00] TREVOR NOAH, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH": GM is killing off six of their cars, like the Chevy Volt. Yes. The electric car that tells everyone the line at the Tesla store was too long, so I just said, (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Or the Chevy Impala, which looks like a sports car made love to a station wagon and neither of them were satisfied. And, of course, the Cadillac XTS. It's as close as you can get to riding in a hearse without being dead. Look at that thing. But, honestly, the one car -- the one car that I'll be glad to never see again is the Chevy Cruze because every time I go to rent a car, I somehow always end up with a Chevy Cruze.

FALLON: I heard that Melania is in charge of all the decorations this year. Most of them look nice but some people are referring to the Christmas trees as blood trees because of their color. Check these out. You know, a lot of people said it looks like Christmas in hell. Then Melania said, exactly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That's funny.

BERMAN: Not bad.

All right, the clearest picture yet of possible connections between Trump associates and Russia in the 2016 election. Startling and significant developments in the Mueller investigation, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:59:59] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger Stone writes in July and says, get to Assange.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What an amazing coincidence, a WikiLeaks dump hours after the "Access Hollywood" scandal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Giuliani