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Erin Burnett Outfront
Source: White House Subpoenaed As Dems Escalate Impeachment Inquiry; White House Subpoenaed By House Democrats, Says President's Actions Left Them "No Choice"; Rep. Denny Heck (D-WA) Is Interviewed About The White House Being Subpoenaed; White House Subpoenaed As Few Republicans Slam Trump; Doctors: Bernie Sanders Suffered A Heart Attack. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired October 04, 2019 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:00]
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: ... UNTOLD STORIES OF AMERICAN SPIES with Mike Rogers. That's at 9:00 pm Eastern, Sunday nights, followed by new episode of THIS IS LIFE with Lisa Ling. That's at 10:00 pm Eastern Sunday night. Erin Burnett OUTFRONT starts right now.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next breaking news, the White House just subpoenaed. Democrats say the President's actions have left them no choice, the impeachment probe escalates tonight. Plus, Mike Pence slamming a request for Ukraine documents from him. The Vice President's office says it doesn't appear to be serious. Really? And the other breaking news this hour, doctors are revealing moments ago Bernie Sanders did have a heart attack. Let's go out front.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, President Trump's White House subpoenaed. House Democrats issuing a subpoena to the White House moments ago. This is part of the impeachment inquiry. They say they are left with 'no choice' after the White House refused to hand over documents related to Trump and Ukraine.
This as Congress this hour has obtained new documents in the whistleblower complaint against President Trump. The Intelligence Community Inspector General deemed that whistleblower complaint both urgent and credible today. Spent nearly seven hours behind closed doors on Capitol Hill.
Sources tells CNN that he gave documents showing how he work to corroborate the whistleblower complaint which, of course, alleges Trump tried to get Ukraine to dig up dirt on Joe Biden while he held up military aid to the country. Now, the story is moving very quickly at this hour.
Of course, the big question now will Trump order his team to defy a subpoena? Because tonight the President himself is defiant saying that all of this had nothing to do with Joe Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't care about Biden's campaign, but I do care about corruption. His campaign, that's up to him. Politics, that's up to them. I don't care about politics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Well, we know he does care about Biden a lot and goodness knows he cares about politics. I mean, first Biden, Trump mentioned him by name in his phone call with the Ukrainian president multiple times, specifically asking the Ukrainian president to investigate him even though there is nothing to show Joe Biden did anything wrong.
In fact, President Trump's own former envoy to Ukraine told Congress in his newly released opening statement and I quote, we just got this today, it's important to hear, "I have known former Vice President Biden for 24 years, and the suggestion that he would be influenced in his duties as Vice President by money for his son simply has no credibility to me. I know him as a man of integrity and dedication to our country."
Well, look, we know Trump cares about Joe Biden and one of the reasons we know is that he singles him out for insults all that time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'd rather run against, I think, Biden than anybody. I think he's the weakest mentally.
Joe Biden has truly lost his lost his fast ball.
Joe Biden is not playing with a full deck.
I mean, you look at a guy like sleepy Joe Biden ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: He brings him up all of the time. He cares about Joe Biden and he cares about politics. I mean, nobody, nobody cares about polls, and who is up and who is down more than he, Trump loves polls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I got great poll numbers. Our poll numbers are through the roof.
Every poll that I see and every poll that we have, I'm winning by - we're doing well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK. Trump's polls explain his obsession with Joe Biden. The most recent head to head matchup was a Fox News poll, one the President would listen to, Joe Biden 52, Trump 38, ABC News; Biden, 55, Trump 40, Quinnipiac; Biden 54, Trump 38.
Biden currently trouncing Trump in the polls Trump adores and that is why Trump care so deeply about taking Biden down. Kaitlan Collins is out front at the White House tonight. And Kaitlan, obviously, the subpoena very significant, any response from the White House? Obviously, the subpoena came just moments ago. Have you heard anything yet?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, they haven't gone back to us yet, Erin. We've reached out for comment and they haven't said anything. Of course, as you noted it just came out a short time ago, but we should note the White House was expecting this.
Democrats signaled as much just a few days ago essentially saying that they were sending a warning shot to the White House that they weren't messing around in this impeachment inquiry that they've been pursuing. But people back here at the White House have a very different view of that. They essentially have been arguing that not only are they going to keep their distance and they've been pretty dismissive of these requests so far.
But they say that's because Democrats didn't vote to hold this formal impeachment inquiry. Democrats just said they don't need to, to pursue this impeachment inquiry that they're moving forward with that Nancy Pelosi announced last week. But that is not the view here at the White House and that's why right now we've been in these discussions with the White House about this draft of this letter that they're expected to send early next week right now is the time we're hearing though that's still unclear.
Basically, this letter that's going to dare the House Speaker to bring a vote to the House floor to have her caucus vote essentially, formally and officially doing this impeachment inquiry. The White House says they're not going to cooperate essentially until they get that. Right now they're still waiting on it.
[19:05:06]
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Kaitlan, and certainly a showdown in the offing.
Out front now Democratic Congressman Denny Heck, Member of the House Intelligence Committee. He was inside today's meeting with the Intelligence Community Inspector General. And I want to ask you about that, Congressman, but first, I want to start with the breaking news, this subpoena.
Obviously, there's a game of chicken and I don't mean to play light with it, but this is escalating and it's a standoff. I mean, what happens if Trump's White House defies you?
REP. DENNY HECK (D-WA): So I think Chairman Schiff has made it abundantly clear that defiance of this act constitutes obstruction of a legitimate congressional inquiry in pursuit of impeachment. And as a consequence of that, we will assume or infer that he is not innocent of whatever it is that we're out to verify with the documentation. There is no other reason for him to withhold it, to hide it, unless, of course, he's guilty.
BURNETT: So when does a vote happen? With this whole they're trying to say, oh, you have to do a vote before they do anything, what's your sense of when a vote would happen for actual articles of impeachment?
HECK: Oh, we have some more work to do. We have some other people that I think can add, frankly, materially to our understanding of what went on here. We have several of them scheduled for next week.
As you know the former Ambassador to Ukraine is among them. We would hope that at some point we're able while taking into account appropriate security precautions, an opportunity to talk to the whistleblower himself or herself. So we have some more work here to do to understand completely in all three dimensions the actual story and narrative of what's going on here.
BURNETT: And I want to ask you about what you're going to ask them in a moment, because there are some crucial testimonies coming up. But I want to ask you about today, when you met with the Intel Inspector General. Again, that's the person, Atkinson, who evaluated the whistleblower complaint, deeming it credible and urgent, gave you documents today, I understand, laid out his thinking and what he knew and when he knew it. What did you learn new?
HECK: So first of all, I want to say that my reaction to Inspector General Atkinson was much the same it was the first time. The man is incredibly thorough, approaches his job with professionalism and integrity. And in fact, the very fact that we are able to, at this point in time, be able to evaluate the whistleblower complaint is because he had the courage to come forward with it.
So look as a matter of fact, since the Inspector General issued his report and with the issuance of the call report, they have verified everything that the complaint put forth. So we now know, in the President's own words, that he actively solicited in violation and clear violation of federal law, the assistance of a foreign national government in support of this campaign in 2020.
BURNETT: So we also saw the text messages that Volker provided to Congress in his testimony this week. Volker, of course, Trump's envoy to Ukraine, former, he has now resigned. Perhaps the most damning message that we all heard though or saw came from the top diplomat in Ukraine, Bill Taylor. Bill Taylor in this text which came out in the Volker testimony says, I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with the political campaign.
OK. This is the top American diplomat in Ukraine, a stunning text and I think it's important, Congressman, to make sure our viewers know that was sent before anyone. Anyone in America knew there was a whistleblower or any issue with Ukraine. No one knew there was a story.
That's what people who were involved thought this was. They thought it was a quid pro quo. What was the most powerful evidence you've seen in the past couple of days between the Inspector General testimony and Trump's now former envoy? Was it that text or were there other things as powerful?
HECK: So I think the two most powerful things that have occurred are, first of all, the call report, the President's own words in which he said directly after a discussion about the sale of Javelin missiles to Ukraine, I need a favor - I need you to do us a favor though. And that combined with what Ambassador Taylor said about it being crazy to withhold security assistance I think are incredibly damning, their own words.
And in fact I would respectfully suggest to you that's why everybody on the Republican side seems to be in full blown attack mode. I've said to you before that they only have four plays; deny, attack, play the victim and change the subject throughout outrageous pronouncement. They're in scorched earth attack mode.
They're attacking the process. They're attacking the whistleblower. They're attacking the Inspector General. A Republican Senator today attack President Obama. They're attacking Chairman Schiff.
They're doing everything except defending these words, which are unbelievably in and of themselves incriminating.
BURNETT: Before we go, obviously, you've got the subpoena to the White House and I know you're giving them a deadline, I believe, two weeks from now. Your committee also gave though a deadline tonight for the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. That's the subpoena deadline for them tonight. They've got a few hours. Where do things stand?
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HECK: Well, I just don't have much optimism whatsoever that they're going to comply with the law. They show no regard for it thus far to date. What's really at trial here isn't just the narrow behavior of the incumbent President of the United States and his violation of this particular federal statute. It is the very principle of rule of law and whether or not it is the who hold public trust, those of us that are privileged to occupy these positions are obligated under our constitutional oath of office to adhere to the law.
We are and those who aren't are going to be held accountable sooner or later.
BURNETT: Congressman Heck, thanks very much for your time.
HECK: You're welcome.
BURNETT: Next breaking news, Democrats want Ukraine documents from Mike Pence. The Vice President's office now slamming that request this hour. Plus, Republicans, so many are so silent about what the President asking from foreign governments, but some are now speaking out, that ahead. And more breaking news, doctors saying minutes ago that Bernie Sanders suffered a heart attack.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:15:04]
BURNETT: Breaking news, Vice President Pence slamming House Democrats who are demanding documents from him as part of the impeachment inquiry as to whether President Trump pressured Ukraine's President to investigate Joe Biden in exchange for aid. Pence's office saying, "Given the scope, it does not appear to be a serious request but just another attempt by the Do nothing Democrats to call attention to their partisan impeachment."
Now, if Pence doesn't comply he could be hit with subpoenas like the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Rudy Giuliani who as I indicated have until midnight tonight eastern time to respond. And you just heard the Congressman on the Intelligence Committee, they have not yet done.
Out front now, former New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Carl Bernstein, Glen Donath who represented President Clinton during his impeachment hearings and Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez.
Evan, just so people understand, Trump sent Pence in his place to meet with the Ukraine President at one point. Sources are telling CNN, Pence was told about the call where Trump pressure the Ukraine President to investigate the Bidens. He found out about it a day later, unclear if he knew all parts of it even though he was given a transcript.
He may have been the one to deliver the message that you're not getting aid, but he may not have known about a quid pro quo, we just don't know. But he's at the heart of this, perhaps, right, Evan?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Right, he is at the heart of this. And look, one of the things we know about Mike Pence is that he's a very careful person. It's hard to believe that he would not have read carefully that five-page transcript of the call. It's hard to believe that he wouldn't prepared himself as much as he could before he went to this important meeting. He is somebody who is well known for doing exactly that.
So I think the Democrats want more information simply because they're not buying the story right now that the Vice President's camp is telling. And as you said, he's enmeshed in the middle of all of this because he is the one who has that face-to-face meeting with the Ukrainian president.
BURNETT: So Anne, should he be worried, Mike Pence? I mean, obviously, the next step here would be a formal subpoena.
ANNE MILGRAM, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Yes. I mean I expect that he will be subpoenaed, given the statement that he made. And remember, there are so many people that are involved in this in one way or another. And as Evan just said, Pence is directly in it.
The Democratic committees have to get his evidence. They have to find out what messages, what conversations he had, what he knew went. So absolutely this will not stop with him just saying that it's not a legitimate request.
BURNETT: And Carl, will it fly that he says I knew nothing about it? Yes, it was briefed in the call but not the part about the favor. "I had the transcript, but I didn't read it. I didn't know why I was told to withhold the aids."
CARL BERNSTEIN, PULITZER PRIZE WINNING JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR: There's nothing credible about what he's saying, but more important let's pull back, what are we really looking at here. We are looking at an impeachment inquiry that suggests with some real factual basis that there has been a conspiracy led by the President of the United States or might have been, but looking like real likelihood a conspiracy led by the President of the United States to undermine our electoral system by kneecapping his most formidable political opponent, Joe Biden.
And trading, mortgaging our foreign policy to his own political ends and who might be involved in this perhaps conspiracy, the Vice President of the United States,. the President's personal attorney, perhaps, the Attorney General of the United States. All of this is going to get sorted out in the coming weeks and months, but also we're talking about high crimes if this is what happened. There's very little doubt if the record is established, these are high crimes.
BURNETT: And Glen, to that point, how is this compare at this point to what you went through? An impeachment inquiry about a guy lying about sex to what we are seeing now, involving foreign policy and a possible quid pro quo.
GLEN DONATH, ATTORNEY FOR PRESIDENT CLINTON IN LEWINSKY & IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS: Right. I mean to follow up on Carl's point, this is a legitimate impeachment inquiry. Twenty years ago in the Clinton impeachment, we saw, with all due respect, an illegitimate impeachment inquiry. That was about personal conduct, lies about personal contact that were escalated and elevated into a partisan exercise.
None of the senior officers of the Clinton administration were involved in any meaningful way, because it was private conduct here. As Anne and Carl said, this is the central core, it's a significant core of the Trump cabinet who have to get lawyers, who are fact witnesses who might be adverse to one another, who will be instructed by lawyers that they shouldn't talk to each other for fear of being alleged of obstruction of justice.
This is an allegation into abuse of power what Hamilton and Madison we're talking about in The Federalist Papers. It's core impeachment material.
BURNETT: And Evan, you now have the White House itself being subpoenaed and you've got this deadline for Rudy Giuliani, deadline for Mike Pompeo, White House now subpoenaed, Mike Pence likely to be subpoenaed, but obviously the subpoenas, as I understand it today, hours ago was just delivered to the Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney.
[19:20:01]
PEREZ: That's right and the White House says that they're not going to play ball with this, because they say it's illegitimate. But there's an interesting thing that the President did today. One of the things that he's essentially daring Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats to do is to formally vote on an impeachment inquiry to essentially formalize this process.
One of the things they want to do is the Republicans want to be able to perhaps fight on the same ground by being able to subpoena witnesses and perhaps be able to bring up some of the things that the President has been trying to bring up on Joe Biden and other parts of the story. So I think that's part of the other game that they're playing here is that they want to be able to fight back and right now only the Democrats are able to really wield subpoenas and so on.
So I think that's the other game that's being played, it's a political one.
BURNETT: Carl.
BERNSTEIN: Well, this also involves a possible or likely cover-up which is also a conspiratorial act. And what is it that the ...
BURNETT: You're talking about putting it on the server and the people who knew about that.
BERNSTEIN: Yes.
BURNETT: Yes.
BERNSTEIN: But also about the lockbox, about those conversations, those summaries that are now in the White House under digital lock and key at the highest classification. And what do they reveal? They may well be the key to unraveling a conspiracy and obviously the White House does not want to give up those documents, those conversations with Putin, with Ukraine, with any more of these leaders, with China, and that's going to be a huge fight.
But there is, again, a suggestion of two parts of a conspiracy; to undermine the electoral system, to hold our foreign policy hostage to the President's personal wishes and needs, and then to cover it up involving all of these people, and perhaps involving the State Department as well.
BURNETT: So to this point, Glen, one question in all of this that I have had as we've learned about more and more calls being on this unprecedented code name server, whether it's China or Putin or a call with Mohammad bin Salman in the midst of the Jamal Khashoggi situation where he sided with him over the CIA. If they really were trying to cover this up, Glen, and they were going to put it on that server, why didn't they just try to destroy some of it?
DONATH: That's a good question, because it doesn't seem like any red with one that couldn't be crossed.
BURNETT: I guess that's what I'm saying, it seems like what I'm saying is crazy but if you're willing to do all these other things, where do you draw the line?
BERNSTEIN: Too many people saw it to begin with.
MILGRAM: Yes. BURNETT: Do you think ...
BERNSTEIN: Let's start there.
BURNETT: So just putting it on a server would make ...
BERNSTEIN: That would make it worse.
DONATH: Yes. Right. And I guess that would require the involvement of additional people probably who realized that that would cross the line into real violations of the record-keeping obligations and whether Trumpers, people call them the deep state, these are probably people who take their obligation seriously and thankfully weren't corrupted by the same impulse that has affected a lot of other people in this way.
BURNETT: Anne.
MILGRAM: I think that's right. I think also that the reality is people use the amount of sort of obstruction that they have to, to get something out of view. And at that moment in time, they just didn't want it to go out widely. This idea of putting it under this passcode, this lock code was a sure very quick way.
BURNETT: Like to stop that just to get it done.
MILGRAM: Exactly, to basically get something out.
BERNSTEIN: Let's think of them as equivalent to the Nixon tapes. Nixon didn't want to give up his tapes in Watergate and the tapes ultimately are what did him in. Here, we have the President's words, paraphrase, his actions, his conduct, that's going to be the big fight.
BURNETT: All right. All of you stay with me. Next, the Republicans, a few are now speaking out against the President, so who and why and where are the rest of them? And the breaking news about Bernie Sanders, doctors just revealing that he had a heart attack when he was admitted to the hospital earlier this week. A major development in that story, Dr. Sanjay Gupta out front.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:28:09]
BURNETT: The breaking news this hour, House Democrats are ramping up their impeachment inquiry. They have just issued a subpoena to Trump's White House. It comes after the White House refused to hand over documents related to Trump and Ukraine.
Now, tonight some Republicans are ripping President Trump, not just for Ukraine but also publicly asking China to investigate 2020 rival Joe Biden and his son. Mitt Romney today tweeting, "When the only American citizen President Trump singles out for China's investigation is his political opponent in the midst of the Democratic nomination process, it strains credulity to suggest that it is anything other than politically motivated. By all appearances, the President's brazen an unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden is wrong and appalling."
That's the sitting Senator Mitt Romney. And retiring Republican Congressman former CIA Officer Will Hurd said this on camera today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. WILL HURD (R-TX): I think it's terrible. It's something that I wouldn't have done. I think that is something that a President of the United States shouldn't be doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK. Everyone is back with me. Carl, let me just start with you. Look, Senator Romney and Congressman Hurd are in the minority. And when I say minority I mean the minority of two.
BERNSTEIN: I mean, they're up in a corner.
BURNETT: OK. But look, there are others who have spoken out, Congressman Turner, about the call itself although not about everything, Ben Sasse, I'll get to that, but what do you make of those two actually speaking out? I mean is that a moment of courage right now?
BERNSTEIN: I think it's courageous, perhaps, to an extent in Romney's case, Hurd do all along, Hurd has been a lone voice in his party going back.
BURNETT: Yes.
BERNSTEIN: But what's happening with Romney and I have not spoken to people around him in awhile, is the question is he setting himself up to possibly run for the presidency if this thing becomes more and more toxic, if there are other Republicans who move toward what he's saying.
[19:30:06]
It's long shot that this would happen. Right now, everybody is pretty much in lockstep. This president -- we have seen the president of the United States at his most unhinged and that, too, is having a big -- in the last few days a big effect on Republicans if you talk to them in private. They are really concerned about the stability of the president of the United States.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: And, Glen, you know that the -- that what the other party is doing is crucial. I mean, certainly Carl knows it from covering Watergate. What matters here is what Republicans are going to do. We know the Democratic point of view on this. It's what Republicans are going to do.
And you've lifted that, looking at the other party, saying, are people going to speak out? GLEN DONATH, ATTORNEY FOR PRESIDENT CLINTON IN LEWINSKY & IMPEACHMENT
HEARINGS: Right, and you saw certainly in the '90s a lot more Democrats were on the president's side spoke out. Not many ultimately went along for impeachment, but they certainly decried the conduct in a way we haven't seen here. The Republican ranks are very tight. It seems to be, these are very, very episodic anomalies compare to what we saw in the '90s, where you senior Democratic senators like Joe Lieberman speak out forcefully against the conduct, and we haven't seen anything like that in the Republican Party.
BERNSTEIN: But here's where Watergate is very relevant, because the heroes of Watergate were Republicans who broke ranks.
BURNETT: Right.
BERNSTEIN: And that is why Richard Nixon had to leave office, because Barry Goldwater, the presidential nominee of his party, marched to the White House and told Richard Nixon that he did not have the votes in the Senate to survive a trial, including Goldwater's own vote and was that the end of Nixon. And Nixon then decided that day --
BURNETT: We are a far cry from -- a far cry from that now.
BERNSTEIN: But when you look at the senatorial ranks, which is where this is going to go down, Evan, you know, if there is to be a move, right? Obviously, Mitt Romney is the lone voice, and you have others who have criticized parts of this, right?
Let me talk about Rubio. He has said, China posed this most significant threat and not only the economic interests of America and other democracies, but also to the values of freedom and openness that we hold dear. So, that's his point of view and yet, today, he had this to say about Trump's public plea for the Chinese president to investigate Joe Biden.
Here's Marco Rubio.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): I don't think if that's a real request. I think he did it to get you guys. And I think he did it to provoke you to ask me and others and get outraged by it. Like I said, I mean, he plays it like a violin and then he falls right into it. That's not a real request.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK. So, Evan, what he's trying to say is it totally would not be OK, but he didn't do it, right? Is that opening the door here? At least he's not saying it's totally fine. He's just saying it was a joke.
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Right, exactly, and I think this is what's happening with the president. He sort of gets graded by -- on a curve, you know? And I think that's the same way that the Justice Department looked at this request. I think they looked at what the president said on that call and they almost sort of decided that, you know, look, he couldn't have been serious. And, look, if someone else would have done this, I think maybe other people would, you know, have a different reaction.
But because of the way the president speaks, I think he does get graded differently and it does get treated differently. The question is, right, when the president of the United States says something, you know, in the past, at least, it was taken very seriously. But we've seen it repeatedly, including from the Justice Department, that people say, well, you know, when he tweets, it's not what the government policy is, or that's not what we mean. And so, I think that's exactly what's happening all over again.
BERNSTEIN: Can we look at the fact that he has said allegedly and with some justification, we have reason to believe it, much the same thing to the Australians, the Chinese, the people of Ukraine and the prime minister and president of Ukraine, to Boris Johnson. So he's gone around the world with this to try and undermine the campaign and Biden by offering something perhaps to these other foreign leaders.
BURNETT: And, Anne, here's the thing. A lot of this is going to come down to voters. So, we're talking about Republican senators and the pressure they're under. Here's an exchange that Republican Senator Joni Ernst had with a voter at a town hall about President Trump's. This just happened, here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where is the line? When are you guys going to say enough and stand up and say you know what? I'm not backing any of this?
You yourself served. You didn't pledge an oath to the president. You pledged it to our country and you pledged it to our Constitution.
SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IA): I can say yea, nay, whatever. The president is going to say what the president is going to do. It's up to us as members of Congress to continue working with our allies, making sure that we remain strong in the face of adversity.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, it's OK for our president to extort other countries?
ERNST: I -- you know what, OK. We're going to move on to another question.
[19:35:01]
But what I would say is we can't determine that yet. So, not jumping to any conclusions. We don't have the full story yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNE MILGRAM, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: So, this is an extraordinary exchange and the thing I love about it and I watched it this morning is that it reminds all of us that the senators and the president work for the people of the United States of America and this woman is sitting there asking the exact questions that I think anyone who saw the president speak yesterday and say, China should be investigating Biden, even though there's no predicate for investigation, Ukraine, Australia, Great Britain.
To watch the president of the United States abuse his power in that way, and then to have sitting senators not raise questions or at least support an inquiry to find out what happened and to get the evidence together. The people who matter most in this are people like this who are asking questions and at the end of the day, I believe the White House will not be able to resist subpoenas or requests because the American public is going to want to know, is anyone interfering with the election in 2020.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you all very much.
And next, breaking news, doctors just revealing presidential candidate Bernie Sanders suffered a heart attack earlier this week.
And Trump can't stop ranting about Joe Biden and his son, but are the president and his children, do they have big problems when it comes to profiting from office?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news.
[19:40:00]
The Sanders campaign confirming the 2020 contender suffered a heart attack earlier this week. Now, Sanders left a Las Vegas hospital earlier today. He was hospitalized there Tuesday night when he was at an event and he experienced chest discomfort. Two stents were placed to clear a blocked artery.
Now, that's all that we knew at the time. There were questions if that was all it was. It could be a quick recovery. If it was more, it might be a bit longer.
His doctors saying in a statement, quote, after presenting to an outside facility with chest pain, Senator Sanders was diagnosed with myocardial infaction. That is infarction, I'm sorry. Infarction, I apologize to the doctors out there.
OK, that is a heart attack.
Other -- OUTFRONT now, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent.
Sunday, I apologize for the term, but perhaps my error shows what many people may feel, which is confusion, what you hear -- you know, a heart attack, what does that say to you?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yes, Erin, that was the big question in all this. You know that he'd been hospitalized and he had the stents placed and in terms of his recovery overall, and the question has been and did, in fact, his heart -- did he have a heart attack, did he have a period of time when his heart muscle wasn't getting enough blood flow and part of the muscle died, as a result? That's what happened in a heart attack or myocardial infarction.
Erin, one thing in that statement that's worth pointing out as well is that he went to the first hospital where, in fact, that heart attack, the myocardial infarction was diagnosed and then he was transferred to the second hospital for the stenting. So, you know, they've known about this since Tuesday night and obviously, this is the first time that we're hearing about it. We don't know, as well, was this a mild or mild heart attack or was this a more severe heart attack? And you know, a heart attack is a heart attack for most people, but mild versus severe means how much heart muscle was affected by this.
Someone who has had a mild heart attack, you know, their heart function may be limited somewhat, but not significantly. Obviously, if it was a more severe heart attack, then his heart function would be more limited.
A couple of clues, Erin. One that you mentioned, two and a half days in the hospital, that's pretty quick. If this were a more severe heart attack, he'd probably be in there longer. So, that's, you know, one thing that the doctors, I'm sure, take into consideration, but also, you know, your hearing I think my statement that you get that he is planning on getting back on the campaign trail after taking some time off. So, we don't know how much time that mean, necessarily, so there is still some -- some unanswered questions in there, some details that we'd still like to have.
BURNETT: But your -- you know, the other day when we spoke, you talked about this, right? That if there is a heart attack and part of the heart muscle effectively dies, you take so much longer to recover. Even if it's mild, can you -- you can return fully to where you were before. I mean, he just -- I guess what I'm saying, he's an energetic guy. He's a passionate guy. There's no one more energetic than he.
GUPTA: Right.
BURNETT: And, you know, is he going to be able to just jump back in at full speed or is there going to be a ramp?
GUPTA: I think there will be a ramp. I think there's no question that I think any doctor will probably say, look, the goal of this procedure was to get you back to your way of life and your level of activity, but it's not going to happen overnight. You'll have to go slowly and sort of ramp up to that level of activity. But that is the goal and that is part of the reason you do this procedure.
I think there are two things to sort of think about when you're thinking about this. One is that the heart is a muscle, it wasn't getting enough blood flow, that hurts. That's why people have chest pain. When you restore the blood flow, people feel better because you're getting the regular blood flow as the heart muscle is demanding it. The flipside is that we now know that he had a heart attack, which is
part of his heart muscle tissue died away as a result of this. How much -- how much is his heart limited? Will he have difficulty, you know, going up a flight of stairs and will he become short of breath more easily? Will he get tired more easily? He's going to need follow-up visits for sure with the doctors.
BURNETT: All right. Sanjay, thank you very much. Obviously, crucial information right now.
David Chalian is our political director and he's here with me.
Look, Senator Sanders is an impassioned campaigner.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Uh-huh.
BURNETT: He is right in front of the pack. He is at the front of the pack when it comes to fund-raising. What is the political fallout of this?
CHALIAN: Well, the first immediate fallout is this is not what his campaign is about, right? In terms of -- as Sanjay was saying, it's an indefinite amount of time that he's going to take off the trail right now. They haven't said -- they said he'll participate in the October 15th debate. So whether or not that's his first, event or not, we don't know.
But what it means, Erin, is that when he does emerge or return to the campaign trail, whenever he's talking about that day, that's not what it's going to be about.
[19:45:02]
It's going to be about his stamina, how is he, how does he seen, does his energy -- what does he say about it? What does he say about the follow-up appointments? So, this now is the Sanders campaign story for the moment. So, in that sense, that's the immediate political fallout.
The other thing is, listen, all three front-runners, they're in their 70s. Age has been a topic in this campaign.
BURNETT: Seventy-eight, Biden, 77, I believe next month, right? And Elizabeth Warren --
CHALIAN: Seventy years old.
BURNETT: -- nobody may guess it because of how youthful and vibrant she comes off on the trail, but she's 70.
CHALIAN: Right. But now, you know, here's a 78-year-old man who just had a heart attack. So, he could be as vigorous a campaigner as he's ever been, but this is still going to be a question that -- this is why candidates put out their medical records. This is part of that sort of process that candidates go through, to prove to the American people they've got the wherewithal, the stamina, and the physical ability to see this through the distance and do his job being as commander in chief.
And so, that now is going to be something that Sanders is going to have to address going forward.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. David Chalian is our political director.
And next, Joe Biden with his harshest words, certainly presentation yet about Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Focus on this man, what he's doing. That no president has ever done. No president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And Trump's tirades on the agenda for visiting world leaders.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news: Joe Biden showing his anger. Here he is today late in California.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: There's been no indication of any conflict of interest from Ukraine or anywhere else. Period. I'm not going to respond to that.
Let's focus on the problem. Focus on this man. What he's doing that no president has ever done. No president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Biden's unusual visible temper coming as Trump continues to insist that Hunter Biden profited from his father's vice presidency.
[19:50:00]
Of course, what Trump doesn't talk about is his own children and how they are profiting right now, and Trump himself, of course, could benefit as well.
Sara Murray is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What I saw Biden do with his wisdom, he is pillaging these countries and he's hurting us.
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: President Trump firing off another round of unfounded accusations that Joe Biden used his position as vice president to protect and enrich his son, Hunter Biden. TRUMP: We are looking for corruption. When you look at what Biden
and his son did, and when you look at other people what they've done and I believe there was tremendous corruption with Biden.
MURRAY: But ethics experts say Trump is the one with the conflict.
RICHARD PAINTER, LAW PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: Donald Trump is profiting off his presidency.
MURRAY: Trump's children inked international deals on his behalf and served in his administration. And unlike Biden, Trump stands to benefit financially from their work.
TRUMP: My two sons, who are right here, Don and Eric, are going to be running the company. They are going to be running it in a very professional manner. They're not going to discuss it with me.
MURRAY: Trump promised no new foreign deals, but that hasn't stopped his family from continuing business overseas because Trump never divested from his company, he stands to profit. Trump's most recent financial disclosure shows he holds more than $130 million in foreign assets, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
PAINTER: The two sons, when they go around the world cutting deals aren't cutting those deals on their own behalf. They're cutting those deals for their father, Donald Trump.
MURRAY: Trump's recent appearance with the Indian prime minister was mutually beneficial.
NARENDRA MODI, INDIAN PRIME MINISTER: From CEO to commander in chief, the president of the United States of America, Mr. Donald Trump.
MURRAY: India is looking to reduce trade tensions with the U.S., and Trump was angling for a boost with Indian-American voters.
TRUMP: Every day, Indian Americans help write this story of American greatness.
MURRAY: But there's another compelling reason for them to stay on good terms.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's the status of the construction and the sales?
DONALD TRUMP, JR., SON OF PREIDENT TRUMP: Honestly, I think, great.
MURRAY: India is one of the most important markets for the Trump Organization. The Trumps have plowed ahead with deals in India, Indonesia, Uruguay, and the Philippines, that were already in the works before Trump took office.
Investigative journalists who spoke with Erin Burnett for CNN's documentary, "The Trump Family Business", say those investments are rife with opportunities to influence the president. ANDREA BERNSTEIN, CO-HOST, "TRUMP INC." PODCAST: Maybe these are
people that want to buy really nice condos, or maybe there are people that want to influence the president.
MURRAY: Foreign governments also leapt at the chance to shell out money at Trump properties. The Trump Organization donated nearly $200,000 to the U.S. Treasury last year. The company says that represents all of its profits from foreign governments.
But the numbers are nearly impossible to verify.
The Trump family dismisses it as a non-issue.
DONALD TRUMP, JR.: Someone bought a cheeseburger at the Trump Hotel, it's asinine.
MURRAY: Still, Trump faces multiple lawsuits over whether he's violating the constitution when his accepts foreign government funds.
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump's roles in the White House opened up another potential avenue for foreign influence.
Last year, China approved more than a dozen trademarks for Ivanka Trump branded products. The timing just as the U.S. and China were trying to restart trade talks raised eyebrows.
And according to "Washington Post" reporting, officials say at least four countries talked about ways they could manipulate Kushner, in part by taking advantage of his complicated business entanglements. The president's sons have insisted their dad isn't swayed by business deals. But the elder Trump jumps at every chance to tout his properties on the world stage, even naming his ideal location for the next G-7, Trump National Doral.
TRUMP: It's a great place. It has tremendous acre age. People are liking it. But plus it has ballrooms that have 50 to 70 units in them. So, each delegation can have its own building.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MURRAY: Now, in a new editorial for "The Hill", Eric Trump is lamenting the double standard in politics and how kind the news media is being to Hunter Biden, according to him. He says if the situation was reversed, my name would have been smeared in the news every single week and my father arguably would not even be president of the United States today. That's according to Eric Trump.
The White House, the Trump Organization, they did not respond to comment for this story.
BURNETT: Sara Murray, thank you very much.
And next, ever wonder what world leaders are thinking when Trump takes off, you know, on one of those rants when they're standing there?
Jeanne Moos had some ideas. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:56]
BURNETT: Caught in the middle of a Trump tirade.
Here's Jeanne.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the moment President Trump touched the Finnish president's knee.
TRUMP: Finland is a happy country.
MOOS: Talk about a knee jerk reaction. We knew this world leader was in for a doozy of a visit, a visit overshadowed by impeachment.
TRUMP: Quid pro quo.
He's a lowlife.
Shifty Schiff, who should resign.
MOOS: President Sauli Niinisto seemed resigned.
TRUMP: Listen to this one, President.
MOOS: Even amused at what a Finnish newspaper later called the Circus Trump.
TRUMP: Look at all the press you attracted. Do you believe this?
SAULI NIINISTO, PRESIDENT OF FINLAND: They are not after me.
MOOS: What was the Finnish president thinking? Beam me up, Scottie, me trying to get the check, my dad yelling at a waitress.
TRUMP: The enemy of the people.
There are those thank I'm a very stable genius.
MOOS: Imagine President Niinisto's postcard home, greetings from the White House, home of the stable genius.
(on camera): Some viewers even took to Twitter to say sorry.
(voice-over): Dear Finland, I apologize on behalf of sane Americans.
Any leader who meets Pith president Trump these days can expect to be sucked into the impeachment whirlpool.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison became a character witness.
TRUMP: I had conversations with many leaders that are always appropriate. Scott can tell you that. Always appropriate. MOOS: Finland's president never expected his joint press conference to feel like a scene out of "Taxi Driver".
TRUMP: Are you talking to me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're talking to me?
MOOS: When a reporter talked to President Trump too much --
TRUMP: We have the president of Finland. Ask him a question.
Ask this gentleman a question. Don't be rude.
MOOS: When the reporter did ask the Finnish president a question, President Trump cut in.
NIINISTO: I think the question is for me.
MOOS: Imagine being the one translating this encounter.
TRUMP: You know, there's an expression, he couldn't carry his blank strap. I won't say it because they'll say it was so terrible to say.
MOOS: How do you say jock strap in Finnish?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Alasuojus.
MOOS: Now we're finished.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: OK. Have a great weekend. Anderson starts now.
[20:00:00]
