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Missing Connecticut Mother; Jared Kushner Struggles in New Interview; Trump Visits England. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired June 03, 2019 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:02]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: So, he's going to step up to that. It does, though, throw heads of state, famously.

You will remember Barack Obama famously speaking through the national anthem when he had his state banquet here. And British etiquette is really unforgiving in those situations, because no one really helps you out. They just let you dig this whole, and then you look like you're suffering.

(LAUGHTER)

FOSTER: So, sympathy for him if he makes any faux pas.

But they're going to do -- the queen will always do her best to try to make her guests feel comfortable.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Has anyone noticed -- and then maybe, Clarissa, this is for you -- that the queen of England is the one person who the president seems entirely deferential to, on his best behavior with.

Do you -- what do you attribute that to? Is it because of his own mother's love for the queen?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is extraordinary, Brooke, now that you mention it.

I hadn't really thought about it before. But, essentially, there are so few people who can seemingly inspire that level of respect, that level of deference in President Trump. We don't often see that.

But, as you said, the queen, he's always taking a very deferential tone. He seems to have a huge amount of respect for the institution of the monarchy. Perhaps he likes the idea of being a king. So -- and we saw today, as he was carrying out his duties attending that -- talking to the guards at Buckingham Palace, that he really was behaving in a much more presidential way, Brooke, than what we have traditionally seen him do.

One can only imagine, as you said, that perhaps it's because his mother is Scottish.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: Kate, to you. You always know all things sartorial before anyone else. Do we have any idea yet what Melania Trump, what the first lady will be wearing?

KATE BENNETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Honestly, Brooke, I have tried. It is a stage secret. It is on lockdown here in England. I have no idea yet what she's going to wear.

I would imagine it's going to be something pretty spectacular. So we will have to take a look. Again, she's gotten her personal wardrobe stylist involved, Herve Pierre, who did her inauguration gown, who did the hat during the French state visit in Washington, who did the hat today.

So it might be something from him. Might be something -- something custom. My producer, Betsy Klein, is telling me something about -- that it's a white strapless dress. This is what we know so far, Brooke, happening live.

Just hearing from our -- but I don't know the designer yet. And it is interesting. I always say this about Melania Trump. When you don't have the sort of -- these lots of speeches and appearances and someone who speaks a lot and does a lot of interviews, really, we look to her clothes to send those obscure, sometimes subliminal messages.

I think they're there. As you know, I don't believe in Melania Trump coincidences, so certainly tonight will be very, very interesting as to what she wears, and the kids too. It's interesting. Tiffany Trump has her own taste and style. She was just at the Cannes Film Festival in France. And she spends a lot of time here in London.

Donald Trump Jr., again, he's been sporting the sort of outdoorsy guy beard. We will see if he has that tonight at the state banquet. So it is interesting. These aren't events -- the adult children aren't people we see at the White House at a lot of events. They really don't do that much back stateside.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: That is the stunning piece of this.

And, Kate -- and also, Max, feel free to jump in -- just -- we're used to -- I just think of the most recent president. You think of Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, just the two of them going over for a state visit. And now it's President Trump and his wife and the adult children and others from the White House.

And I'm just wondering what their roles are, the adult children, to you, Kate and Max, just what you make of everyone mixing together.

FOSTER: I think Clarissa said it, actually. He likes the idea of being a king, which would explain why he's so reverential in the palace environment and so dismissive almost of the pretty chaotic politics in this country right now. I think, for me, the most interesting part of this visit has been this push -- and Kate will explain how this came about, because I think it was pretty last-minute -- but these adult children coming along.

It's not completely unprecedented for a head of state to bring along their children to these state dinners. It's happened. Mexico did it in 2015. But what is interesting is this call from President Trump for this next generation meeting, a formal meeting between his children and Princes William and Harry.

They didn't get any time. There will be no meeting of that kind here. But it does suggest that he does see himself as a monarch able to pass on his power. And you explain that this was quite a last-minute decision.

BENNETT: Yes, it seems as though -- well, the queen extended the invitation to the president and to the first lady directly.

And so I think those were the invited people. It's up to them, I believe Woody Johnson, the ambassador, to then flush out the guest list a bit from the American side. And, likely, that's when the children were added.

[15:05:10]

I do feel that this is a sort of complicated , again, unprecedented, although you mentioned Mexico, but the -- as you said, the interesting part of this next generation meeting, to me, was so interesting, as though the president perhaps sees his children as American royalty or this is sort of our equivalent -- the equivalency, which it's not at all how we operate in America.

But perhaps that says everyone gets a little overwhelmed...

(CROSSTALK)

FOSTER: What was that about him being anti-establishment.

(LAUGHTER)

BENNETT: Yes, right, that everyone feels this moment very deeply. So perhaps even he just has royal fever. I don't know.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: Kate and Max, do me a favor and stand by. And, obviously, we will come back the second we see the shot of President Trump and the first lady.

But let me bring in one more voice.

Harry Mount is a British author and journalist and the editor of "The Oldie." He is also the author of "How England Made the English: From Why We Drive on the Left to Why We Don't Talk to Our Neighbours."

So, Harry Mount, hello, my friend. Welcome. HARRY MOUNT, EDITOR, "THE OLDIE": Evening, Brooke.

BALDWIN: So let's start with Trump's tweets about the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, moments before he landed.

Now granted, Mayor Khan was provoking the president first, but to read the response from Trump, calling him a stone-cold loser, what does a Brit think when they hear a phrase like that from the president of the United States?

MOUNT: Well, we, like anybody else, would think it was very rude.

But, actually, I think we're suffering from maybe what you're suffering from over there, of a sort of Trump insult fatigue, as it's no longer shocking, really.

A quarter of a million people are expected to march tomorrow against Trump. So there's a long-term dislike of him. But whatever he says is no longer really shocking. And we over here we separate the man from the office. So we still deeply respect the fact that the American president is coming over here to salute the thousands of American and British servicemen who lost their lives at D-Day 75 years ago.

And, at the same time, we have got rather tired and bored of the insults. I don't think they're shocking anymore.

BALDWIN: I don't -- to the queen, if only we could read her mind on how she views all of this, right? She's 93 years of age, Harry. She has met with every -- almost every American president since Eisenhower in her 67 years on the throne.

And I know she will never let on to what she's thinking. But, Harry, will she act any certain way, given the comments that he made about Meghan Markle being nasty? Will she left that on at all?

MOUNT: Well, as you say, Brooke, she doesn't really show emotion.

For 67 years, she has never given a TV interview, so we will never know what she's thinking. Actually, funny enough, looking at her smile this afternoon when she met the president, it seemed like a pretty good, full smile.

But, in those 67 years, she's met some real shockers. She had the state visit of President Ceausescu, the former tyrant head of Romania. Him and his family stole the silver-backed brushes on the bedside table at Buckingham Palace.

I don't think President Trump's going to be doing that.

BALDWIN: I don't think so. I'm sure he has much bigger and gold brushes back home for himself.

MOUNT: Exactly, yes, bigger brushes, yes.

(LAUGHTER) BALDWIN: I was talking to Tom Newton Dunn last hour, the political editor from "The Sun."

MOUNT: Sure.

BALDWIN: And he had just interviewed Trump. And he got him to endorse Boris Johnson as prime minister. And we know Trump is meeting with the outgoing P.M., Theresa May, at 10 Downing tomorrow.

But do you think these two men will be able to resist not meeting in public this trip?

MOUNT: I would have thought not. I know Boris a little. I don't know your president.

But Boris is basically President Trump's Mini-Me. They both absolutely love attention, and they both don't mind what the rest of the world thinks. So if they want to meet each other, they will.

Our poor beleaguered prime minister, Theresa May, tried to suggest that Nigel Farage, the head of the Brexit party, shouldn't meet President Trump. But, again, I'm afraid what Theresa May says makes no difference.

If Trump wants to meet these two men and they want to meet him, they will. So I wouldn't be surprised if you see all of them together.

BALDWIN: Last one, Harry. These huge protests are expected tomorrow. What is it about President Trump that has usually reserved Brits so excited?

MOUNT: Well, I think part of it is those insults and the rudeness and the racism and the grabbing girls by certain parts of their anatomy.

I think part of it is just being on the right. So actually the British have become greater protesters over the last 20 or 30 years, that actually the idea of us being this reserved, quiet bunch has changed quite a lot, I would say, maybe more over the last half- century.

[15:10:12]

So I think it's his outrageous manner, his insults, and I think being on the right. I don't think you would get the same protests for a president on the left, even if he or she were outrageous as Trump.

BALDWIN: We will be covering all of it tomorrow.

Harry Mount, thank you very much. Good to see you.

But our eyes are focused on Buckingham Palace. We are minutes away from that state dinner there. We will take you live, as President Trump is expected to make a toast as well.

Plus, in a stunning new interview, the president's son-in-law and top White House adviser, Jared Kushner, struggles with questions about his Middle East peace plan and speaks for the first time about how he got his security clearance.

You are watching CNN's special live coverage there. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:48]

BALDWIN: We're back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

The president son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, just gave a rare and wide-ranging interview to Axios on HBO. Kushner dodges answering several questions, but he ultimately did answer a question about his White House security clearance.

It has been under major scrutiny since a whistle-blower flagged Kushner's was among those that had -- quote -- "serious disqualifying issues." Here he was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Did you discuss your security clearance with the president?

JARED KUSHNER, SENIOR PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: I'm not going to go into security clearance-related issues. What I do know, again, is that, at this point, after two years, I have probably been more vetted than anybody.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: I understand. But your wife, Ivanka, said no. Can you say no?

KUSHNER: Yes, I have not discussed it with him.

QUESTION: You haven't?

KUSHNER: No.

QUESTION: Categorically?

KUSHNER: Yes.

QUESTION: You never discussed it.

KUSHNER: I have not discussed it.

QUESTION: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We should point out HBO is owned by Warner Media, the same parent company as CNN.

Let me bring in Jeremy Diamond. He's our CNN White House reporter. And Kimberly Dozier is CNN global affairs analyst and a contributor to The Daily Beast.

So, welcome to both of you.

And, Jeremy, you first.

So we heard him say he claims he never discussed security clearance with the president.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

And it's relevant, especially because there have been reports out there that the president did indeed discuss with Jared Kushner and with Ivanka Trump the notion of their security clearances and the issues that they were having in obtaining those.

But, at the same time, here we have Jared Kushner, on the record, saying, pretty unequivocally, I have not discussed this issue with the president.

But we do know that the security clearance issue has really been one that swirled around the White House, and that continues to affect them. Even though the Mueller report, that investigation, is now over, we have all of these House investigations. And one of them circles around this issue of security clearances and whether some of these career officials in the White House office that adjudicates those clearances were overruled for inappropriate or political reasons.

And two of the individuals at the center of this controversy and the questions around why there were concerns that were flagged about their security clearance applications and how indeed those hurdles were overcome, Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, really at the center of those questions.

So Jared Kushner trying to put some of this to bed right now. But, really, I think we still have a lot more questions, and the House committee investigating this certainly is going to continue to do that.

BALDWIN: Yes.

Here's a question for you, Kim Dozier, that Jared Kushner also made news in this interview when he answered a question about Palestinians governing themselves. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Do you believe that the Palestinians are capable of governing themselves without Israeli interference?

KUSHNER: I think that's a very good question. I think that it's a -- it's a high bar. If you don't have a proper governance structure and proper security, when people are living in fear of terror, that hurts Palestinians. It hurts Israelis just the same.

I do think that they should have self-determination. QUESTION: Do you understand why the Palestinians don't trust you?

KUSHNER: Look, I'm not here to be trusted. I do believe that they want to have a better life. And I do think that they're not going to judge...

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ... the aid being cut?

KUSHNER: Well, they're not going to judge anything based on trusting me or trusting anyone else. They're going to judge it based on the facts and then make a determination. Do they think this will allow them to have a pathway to a better life?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Kimberly, as the person in charge of brokering Middle East peace for this White House, isn't that going to be a problem?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes.

Speaking as someone who's covered Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in the past, you absolutely need an honest broker, a mediator that both sides think is going to be representing them, but also that's going to be equally tough on them.

And the fact that he doesn't understand that makes me question, who is in his orbit guiding him in this process? Also, OK, maybe you say that privately because you're looking at the intelligence about Palestinian government infighting, corruption, things that we in the press have widely reported on, but you don't say it publicly, if you hope to sit down with them at some point.

And, again, that makes me wonder, is there anyone in Jared's inner circle, in the White House's inner circle that is telling them, speaking from the heart from the Palestinian side? Because unless you can see both sides as humans, unless you can see what each side really wants and needs, you can't bring them together for a peace deal.

[15:20:07]

BALDWIN: Speaking of a peace deal, we have heard now from Trump's own secretary of state, Mike Pompeo.

He privately acknowledged when speaking with Jewish leaders that Kushner's plan to end the standoff between Israel and Palestine may not sit well with all sides. So here's that clip.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I think any person would describe as a very detailed, one might argue un-executable, because no one -- no one -- no one believes that this will be easy.

Can we find enough space where there's enough in there that everybody says, that's something to begin to work on? I get why people think this is going to be a deal that only the Israelis could love. I understand the perception of that.

I hope everyone will just give the space to listen and let it settle in a little bit.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So that's the audio.

Today, Secretary of State Pompeo disputed the account, despite the recording.

Kimberly, this is the U.S. secretary of state being realistic. Is that what this is? He's being realistic about the peace plan? How significant is the audio there?

DOZIER: I mean, look, you can't argue with the tape. It's great reporting by "The Washington Post"s John Hudson.

But the fact of the matter is, he's also being a realist. Any U.S. president bringing a peace deal to these two particular groups of people, especially the way attitudes have hardened on both sides towards each other and the trust has broken down, it's going to be very hard to get the Israelis to make any concessions, when they feel like they're in a position of ascendance.

And the Palestinians are splintered, with Hamas on one side and the Palestinian Authority on the other, and the Palestinian people caught somewhere in between. So he's acknowledging all of that.

But the fact that he's saying that to that audience also feels like he's preparing people for this not to succeed.

BALDWIN: Kimberly Dozier.

Did you want to jump in really quickly? Yes.

DIAMOND: I just wanted to point out that this administration has run into one roadblock after the next in trying to roll this out.

And now we have the Israeli coalition talks have fallen apart. The administration now preparing for Israeli elections in September. They wanted initially to put this out after those elections were over, after the coalition talks were over. Now it seems like they may have to wait until after September to put this out, and to the point of the administration has consistently made the argument that, if they are close to the Israeli government, if they hew closer to these Israeli position than the Palestinians, perhaps they can convince the Israelis to make a deal.

But the question is, what kind of deal will this be? And there's certainly a huge amount of skepticism among the Palestinians, among the Arab world about what this plan entails. And certainly Secretary Pompeo's remarks spoke to that. And that's going to -- that's going to continue to. BALDWIN: Tough to deny the audio of him speaking privately just recently.

Jeremy, thank you very much for jumping in there.

And, Kim Dozier, thank you.

Let's move on. A mother missing for more than a week, and now a new turn in her case -- why her estranged husband and his girlfriend have been arrested and what was found.

Plus, we have live coverage of President Trump at the state banquet in the Buckingham Palace there in London. He's expected to make a toast, in addition to the queen, of course. That is just moments away.

Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:28:08]

BALDWIN: A desperate search in Connecticut for a missing mother of five, and now police have just arrested her estranged husband and his girlfriend.

Jennifer Dulos disappeared May 24 after dropping her kids off at school. Investigators say she's in the midst of a bitter divorce and custody battle and a hearing that was set for Wednesday. Dulos' husband and his girlfriend were arraigned today on charges of tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution.

Jason Carroll is our CNN national correspondent there outside the courthouse in Norwalk, Connecticut.

And so you got your hands on a copy of the arrest warrant indicating investigators believe they are dealing with a homicide. Can you tell me more?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely.

And the reason for that is because investigators actually went to the home that Jennifer Dulos was living in with her five children. They went inside the garage. And, according to this arrest warrant application, once they were inside that garage, Brooke, what they found was multiple stains on the garage floor which tested positive for human blood.

In addition to that, they found evidence of attempts to actually clean up the scene there. And they reached one conclusion, and the conclusion is very disturbing.

They concluded that Jennifer Dulos was the victim of a very serious physical assault, that, again, according to the arrest warrant application. They also -- what we found out is, investigators traced Fotis Dulos to several locations around the area, where he was dumping off trash, dumping off articles of clothing, dumping off a -- some sort of a sponge.

And their investigation leads them to believe that some of those items were also stained with blood. And, as you know there, she was involved in this extremely bitter custody battle and divorce with her husband that lasted for more than two years.

She had already indicated that she feared for her estranged husband, that he had some sort of feelings for revenge.

[15:30:00]