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New Day

Deputy National Security Adviser Mira Ricardel Is Out Of Her Current Post, Prosecutor In Saudi Arabia Has Announced That People Are Charged On The Death Of Jamal Khashoggi And Five Of Them Will Face The Death Penalty; The Outgoing Arizona Republican Senator Says, He Will Not Vote To Confirm Any Of The President's Judicial Nominees Until The Senate Acts On A Bill To Safeguard The Special Counsel. Aired: 7:00- 7:30a ET

Aired November 15, 2018 - 07:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sources say the President is weighing several major staffing changes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm happy to have my spouse to weigh in when she sees me doing something wrong and I suspect the President feels the same way ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Election night did not go as they wanted to and those abroad, horrible reviews for the trip.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you add all of this up and you get torrential bad news.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're moving as fast as we can. It would take as long as it takes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are looking at 90% of the homes are gone in every single neighborhood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fire burned so hot some victims may never be found.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to continue searching. They are depending on us to find their loved ones.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, HOST, NEW DAY: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your "New Day." This morning we are getting more details on President Trump's foul mood. The direct quote from a White House official is, "He is pissed at damn near everyone." End quote. That White House official tells CNN the mood in the Oval Office is darker than normal this week.

The President is reportedly upset about - for starters - looking like a brow beaten husband after he was blindsided by the First Lady who publicly called for the dismissal of one of the President's top advisers. This morning, Deputy National Security Adviser Mira Ricardel is out of her current post. She is expected to remain within the administration somewhere, but multiple West Wings sources do not know where she will land.

We're also getting more details about how angry President Trump is at his Chief of Staff, John Kelly for the Paris trip that ended in a PR debacle. The President is also frustrated, we are told, about losing the narrative of the midterms, with two other House races now being called for the Dems last night. This could fuel President Trump's anger and what does all of this mean for everyday Americans?

JOHN BERMAN, HOST, NEW DAY: In a new interview with the "Daily Caller," President Trump, he did not give a resounding vote of confidence for the future off Chief of Staff John Kelly and DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. He only say, he will make a decision on Homeland Security soon and to expect some changes before the end of the year.

In the midst of all this, the President is inventing wild fantasies about the elections, making stuff up. He issued a new bogus claim that you need an ID, a voter ID to buy cereal. Those must be special Cheerios he likes. He also invested stories about people voting, changes hats and then voting again.

I want to bring in CNN chief legal analyst and former Federal prosecutor, Jeffrey Toobin who is joined by David Gregory and also Nia Malika Henderson is here. Jeffrey, I want to start with you because the President who I think is probably reading the papers or watching TV says just moments ago, the White House is running smoothly. So does that settle it?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, LEGAL ANALYST, CNN: Do I need an id to answer this question? You know, it's like - you know, we sort of wear ourselves out. The crazy stuff that he says that is just so astonishing. I mean, you know, you usually have a retinue of servants who buy most of your food, but you know that you don't have to buy - you need an ID to buy cereal.

CAMEROTA: Unless it has booze in it.

TOOBIN: That's the kind of cereal ...

CAMEROTA: Cereal I like.

TOOBIN: ... you like ...

CAMEROTA: Yes.

TOOBIN: But I mean, look, the internal dynamics of the White House, what I like to think about it is like, how does that affect the government? I mean, all of these drama, I mean, yes it's kind of interesting. But does the government function? What is bizarre is that it does seem to have an impact on how the government functions?

CAMEROTA: How so? TOOBIN: Well, that the people in charge don't know who is going to be

the Homeland Security Secretary in the next couple of weeks. You know, these people have serious jobs to do, but they are paralyzed because they don't know if they are going to be around.

CAMEROTA: So Nia - go ahead, David.

DAVID GREGORY, POLITICAL ANALYST, CNN: Well, I mean, I will tell you how it affects the government, when you have the Defense Secretary telling troops on the border, saying, "I know you must read a lot of stuff, and you think it's just crazy going on," that's not a government that's functioning well. And stuff that's really boring like internal process and things like that, it matters a lot, especially when there's a crisis, when there is an attack on the country, when there is a natural disaster. Because you want decisions to be made well.

Here you have a President who is ranting and raving about not being able to go out, you know, on a proper trip to honor American servicemen who died in World War I, and there's that kind of internal discord that they can't even get that right because you have such a down administration, you have a President who runs on instinct and on Twitter, who is sending orders - there's a lot of people who don't know what is going on, or the First Lady sending out her own press statement trying to fire someone who works on the President's staff.

There is no internal process because of how it's run from the top and it definitely has an effect on decision making, policy proposals like how we deal with immigration and so on.

CAMEROTA: So, Nia, here's a little bit of the reporting that CNN has about how the President was particularly miffed during the Paris trip. Things were not going as planned. "Whiling away the empty hours ..."

[01:05:10]

CAMEROTA: " ... at the US Ambassador's residence in Paris, Trump complained the entire trip to France was poorly conceived and executed. He long discovered the events on Sunday would not include a grand military parade like the one he witnessed a year ago on Bastille Day leaving him to wonder what the point of the trip was."

So that's interesting color. It's always interesting obviously to peel back the curtain and see how the President is operating and all these internal processes as David and Jeffrey said, but what is the outward manifestation for Americans of this? Because yesterday, interestingly, they did pass a long-sought-for Criminal Justice Reform Act. So how is this affecting the country?

NIA MALIKA HENDERSON, SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER, CNN: I think that's a really good question, right? What does it mean to have the leader always fuming, always kind of being in the middle of festivus, full of grievances, full of anger and not taking any accountability for his own actions and always being a victim, a victim of the press, a victim of John Kelly, a victim in some ways of his wife, according to some of this reporting who he is upset with because it makes him look like a husband who has been pushed around by his wife.

And it seems like this is only going to get worse going forward. If you think about what his next months are about, right, he's going to have to face a House that is going to be aggressive in looking into his taxes, looking into Russia, looking into his finances, and then you are going to also have a situation where it's not likely that much will get done legislatively.

So what does it mean? That we have a President that has a lot of time on his hands in a lot of ways, is making up things about the voting system, the electoral process here. I think it certainly damages confidence in institutions. He has this very loyal base, so what does it mean that he is speaking to them about things that are not true?

I mean, this whole idea of people switching hats and going around and needing IDs to buy cereal, I do think that is damaging to the credibility of institutions and damaging to the credibility of the White House.

And in some ways, this is - it's like deja vu all over again if you flashback to the beginning of last year, it was all about "Fire and Fury" that book and painting a very chaotic portrait of this White House, and so I think, you know, it's certainly not good for the mood of the country, I think to have somebody who doesn't seem happy in the job that he's been elected to do.

TOOBIN: If I can just add one point in defense of the President, he is getting an enormous number of Federal judges confirmed, and that is - they are moving through the process and that will have an effect on the country --

BERMAN: Jeff Flake - Jeff Flake says he is not going to vote on another Federal judge unless and until his legislation to protect Robert Mueller is passed.

TOOBIN: Yes, the leader of the empty threat caucus, Jeff Flake.

BERMAN: That's the only reason I asked ...

TOOBIN: I know you were setting me up. You were setting me up. That's okay, you know, I appreciate that Berman.

BERMAN: Go ahead --

GREGORY: And you know what's interesting about that - the judges issue is - that's actually an issue where the President just gets out of the way.

HENDERSON: Yes.

GREGORY: And even as Supreme Court justices --

TOOBIN: Well, he just nominates them.

GREGORY: Yes, but I mean, there's a process here that he is not interfering with and that's where government runs more smoothly. The fact that he's taken the reins of so much more is what makes other parts of it more just troubling.

BERMAN: Can I just read one more bit of the CNN reporting on the President's mood and we can choose to discuss this or not. "Friends of the President describe him as embittered by the election losses and troubled by the Mueller investigation," both of those situations are going to worse for him before they get better. "Some of his longtime confidants are worried for his health, believing he has gained weight and looks unwell."

CAMEROTA: Okay, he's not going to like that.

GREGORY: But there's a lot of this kind of - these are a lot of pot shots, too. People who are speaking honestly, this is very similar to what we've heard about, read about since the very beginning of the administration. But it's also a by-product of the fact that we were talking about looking behind the curtain. There's no curtain. The President operates without a curtain, everything he is thinking, is mad about, we know because --

BERMAN: Oh, I've got to clean that image. Sorry, go ahead.

GREGORY: No, what I am saying - he either tells people on - he'll literally tell reporters on background himself or he just says it out loud. That's what is remarkable.

CAMEROTA: All right, let's move on to - there's news this morning, breaking news about Khashoggi, about his murder, the prosecutor in Saudi Arabia has announced that I think 11 or 12 people are charged and five of them will face the death penalty.

So they are acting, Jeffrey, as though Saudi Arabia is taking this very seriously. They have gotten to the bottom, they feel, of what happened to him. He was given a powerful sedative, they claim, he was killed that way. His body dismembered, and so Saudi Arabia is you know, really holding these criminal's feet to the fire and the death penalty is what they face. Does that mean over and out for the US? Now the US doesn't have to do anything?

[07:10:03]

TOOBIN: Let's just remember as a backdrop that Saudi Arabia may have the single worst legal system in the world. So anything that comes out of that legal system, I, for one, and I think many people who know something about human rights don't trust. What they are doing is political damage control. They are trying to show the world that they took this murder seriously and they are punishing people.

Whether the story they are putting forward is actually what happened is not something I would put a lot of trust in. Turkey doesn't have a great legal system either, but it's better and I certainly would trust their conclusions more than I would anything Saudi Arabia.

BERMAN: Yes, and it's interesting because over the last several days, it looks like the administration is looking for any reason to believe Saudi Arabia, and looking for every reason not to condemn them, as people have said, they heard the audio recordings where it seems very much as if the Crown Prince - the Crown Prince had been informed of the murder.

No one in the administration is saying, "Yes, we believe that," that points the finger right at them, so it looks like maybe this is the out the administration wants to say, "Hey, Saudi Arabia, we can be friends again."

HENDERSON Yes, and the President really set this sort of tone and reaction from the very beginning, talking about the relationship of Saudi Arabia as a business deal essentially, as a transactional relationship with the President, and obviously, who has essentially said, he'd look the other way in terms of human rights violations and not call out other countries.

And so it's not surprising that they sort of ended up where the President began on this. Also in some ways, not surprising that you heard people -- senators, Republicans -- saying there will be hell to pay with Saudi Arabia on this front, questioning some of the relationships between the Crown Prince and the President, and we have not really heard much from them since. I guess they are on Thanksgiving break, but it's unlikely. It doesn't seem like some of those threats will likely end up coming to pass from the folks on the Hill.

CAMEROTA: David, I mean, very quickly, is this the hell to pay that they were demanding?

GREGORY: No, I don't think so because there's no way to really know what went on here. It's just strange credulity to believe that you have a team of 15 people go over there and because he resisted, it led to his murder and they made that decision on the spot? I mean, it doesn't make any sense.

The bigger question is, you know, for a President and an administration that went after President Obama for not enforcing the red line in Syria, you're dealing with a government in Saudi Arabia who is 15 of whom were the hijackers on 9/11 who have spent money supporting terrorism against the West, and now felt they could carry this off.

And again, I come back to a question that still has not been answered. Why does President Trump think that the leader of Saudi Arabia thought they could get away with this with the United States and they did it? So what might come next if there is not any kind of hell to pay? I thought that's something that President Trump is a very tough, strong leader was interested in conveying.

BERMAN: All right, David, Nia and Jeffrey, thank you very much. Much more to discuss, including the snow falling in Washington.

CAMEROTA: I know, I guess it started right there.

BERMAN: I won't expect much to happen in Washington because one inch can paralyze that city. It would be a week - a week before anything happens in Washington now because it's snowing there.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, he will not bring a bill to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller to the floor. What can be done about that? We're going to speak to a key senator behind this legislation next.

So is this Jeff Flake's last stand. The outgoing Arizona Republican senator says, he will not vote to confirm any of the President's judicial nominees until the Senate acts on a bill to safeguard the Special Counsel, he is threatening. By the way, he is on the Judiciary Committee, so it does carry some weight. It is in response to the Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocking a bipartisan effort to do just that.

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JEFF FLAKE, US SENATOR, ARIZONA, REPUBLICAN: I am prepared and I know that the Senator from Delaware is as well, to bring this up again. We will bring it up again until we can get a vote on the Senate floor. Bring it to a vote. Bring it to a vote and until we do, the 21 nominations that are in the Judiciary Committee waiting for a vote there will not receive a vote, nor will I give my vote to the 32 nominations that are sitting here on the Senate floor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Again, Jeff Flake there has some sway because he is on the Senate Judiciary Committee, it's 11-10 Republicans over Democrats, so if he votes on all the nominees, it could gum things up. You also heard him Jeff Flake mention the senator from Delaware. That man is Democrat Chris Coons. He is the co-sponsor of the bill to protect Robert Mueller. He joins us now. Senator Coons, thank you very much for being with us.

The Majority Leader says he talks to the President all the time. The President is not going to fire Robert Mueller based on what he sees, so why do we need this legislation?

CHRIS COONS, US SENATOR, DELAWARE, DEMOCRAT: Well, that's the ultimate question here. I have no reason to believe that President Trump won't take some precipitous action here. Let's go back and look at why there is a Mueller investigation in the first place.

President Trump in a fit of pique fired the FBI director, James Comey and then went on television to say that he did it because of this Russia thing. Last week, he forced the resignation of Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, his own closest supporter in the Senate when President Trump was first running for office and he's made it very clear that his relationship with Attorney General Sessions soured and he forced him out of his Cabinet because he was upset about the Russia investigation and Sessions' recusal.

He has replaced Jeff Sessions not with the Deputy Attorney General, Senate confirmed who is the appropriate person to succeed him, but with a political insider who has on CNN last year said a whole lot of things discrediting or threatening the investigation. Why should we have any concerns? I don't know, the Majority Leader, if he watched your shows regularly would be clear why we've got concerns. President Trump has a long history of doing and saying unpredictable things. This is a simple bipartisan measure that if we took it up and passed it in the Senate would prevent an entirely foreseeable constitutional crisis.

[07:20:09]

BERMAN: Thom Tillis, a Republican senator has sponsored a similar legislation in the past, but now says a vote on it is not urgent. Lindsey Graham has supported this concept in the past, now basically says, it's not urgent. Are these Republican senators caving in to the President's pressure?

COONS: Well, they would vote for this bill, I believe if it came to the floor. What's going on here is that the Majority Leader is holding his caucus together. They are still cosponsors of the bill. This is the same bill that was crafted by Senator Booker, myself, Tillis and Graham last year. It got a 14-7 vote in the Judiciary Committee back in April. Both of them voted for it and so did the Committee Chairman, Chuck Grassley.

So as Senator Flake and I both said on the floor yesterday in trying to force a floor vote, it is ready for action, it's been ready for action for months and it is a small, simple step to protect Robert Mueller from interference or from unwarranted firing by the President or the now acting Attorney General. Why not take this simple step? The argument that it's not needed flies in the face of the obvious reality of a President who takes unprecedented actions.

BERMAN: So do you think Mitch McConnell, the Majority Leader, is running interference for the President?

COONS: Yes.

BERMAN: You do?

COONS: Yes. I see no other justification for refusing to bring forward such a simple bipartisan bill that takes existing Department of Justice regulations and strengthens them by putting them in statute.

BERMAN: Matt Whitaker has been acting Attorney General for a week now, a week plus a day. Have you seen any evidence yet that he has interfered in the Mueller investigation?

COONS: No, but I wouldn't see that evidence until it was too late. His actions to deny requests for subpoenas or more funding or for an expanded scope would not be public and would not be reported to the judiciary committee or the general public unless someone leaked them, and if there's one thing that Robert Mueller's investigation has been well known for, it's he's a by the book career Federal law enforcement leader and his team has had virtually no leaks in the time they've been running the investigation.

BERMAN: You know one of the things that could happen at some point when Robert Mueller does write his report, is that Whitaker could, I think, unilaterally decide to keep it from going public. Do you feel Congress needs to take action or should take action to make Robert Mueller's public? Robert Mueller's

COONS: I do think it's important that whatever ultimate report comes out of Mueller's investigation be shared with the relevant committees of Congress and depending on the outcome, I think it is in the best interest of the country, frankly regardless of outcome. I think it's in the best interest of the country for that report to be made public, so that millions of Americans who either firmly believe that there was no collusion and no inappropriate behavior can have that affirmed or millions of Americans who believe there was a collusion between a foreign hostile power and the President's campaign can have that view confirmed.

I think it's important for all of us who have worked so hard to protect Robert Mueller's investigation to know that his ultimate work product will be shared.

BERMAN: Matt Whitaker, the House Judiciary Committee and Democrats will control the House, Jerry Nadler who will appear on our show in a little bit says, he wants to call Matt Whitaker before his committee first order of business in January. Do you feel that the Senate needs to ask him questions about his past? He is not confirmable at this point because he's only the acting Attorney General, but do you feel, he needs to be vetted by Congress?

COONS: Yes. I think he should recuse himself from oversight of the Mueller investigation. I frankly think the President should have followed DOJ procedure and the relevant statute for succession and made Rod Rosenstein the Acting Attorney General.

But Matt Whitaker is someone who press reports have now revealed has very unusual legal ideas. He has criticized Marbury versus Madison, the foundational decision of American constitution jurisprudence as a candidate for the Senate in Iowa. He spoke about the validity of state nullification an obscure idea that was largely dismissed after the American Civil War.

He has got some pretty novel concepts and is not an appropriate person in my view to be the Attorney General of the United States and should be in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Our Ranking Member Senator Dianne Feinstein has requested just that and so far, Chairman Grassley has not acted.

BERMAN: You are also on the Foreign Relations Committee, and we just got word this morning that in Saudi Arabia, a number of individuals connected to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi will face the death penalty. Now is that enough? Should that be enough for the United States or does the President need to demand still more action and do you think he will?

[07:25:01]

COONS: Well, 20 of us, an equal number of Republicans and Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee sent a letter to President Trump triggering something called the Global Magnitsky Act which requires an investigation and then a report back to the Senate on whether sanctions should be imposed on Saudi Arabia. I find the Saudi story that this was some rogue team that on their own decided to go to their consulate in Istanbul and kidnap, torture and murder an American resident journalists, I find that utterly incredible and I think there should be an investigation by American law enforcement and it should take into account what we've learned, what has been reported from Turkish intelligence as well as other sources and we should reach our own conclusions rather than letting the Saudis come up with a different version of events.

BERMAN: Senator Chris Coons, thank you so much for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.

COONS: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: All right, he is leading the charge to block Nancy Pelosi from becoming House Speaker, and he says he has the votes to do it. Seth Moulton joins us next.

Okay, we want to give you an update on what's happening in the midterms, though they ended more than a week ago.

[07:30:00]