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Election Interference Probe Continues; No Suspect Identified in White House Cocaine Investigation; Interview With Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL); Biden Says Putin Has Already Lost War in Ukraine. Aired 1- 1:30p ET

Aired July 13, 2023 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: And Mikayla Bouchard led reporters to victory with the final score of 15-9.

But the real winner was the cause they were playing for. The game raised nearly $590,000 for the Young Survival Coalition, beating last year's record and bringing the total raised since the games started 15 years ago to $3.7 million. Thank you for that.

And thank you so much for joining INSIDE POLITICS.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Putin can't win.

In fact, President Biden says Russia's president has already lost his war on Ukraine, Biden unleashing before he boarded the plane back to the U.S. today. And we are covering that and new details on a potential Russian military purge.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: And the pill without a prescription, a potentially historic moment for women's reproductive health. The FDA has approved over-the-counter birth control. When exactly this could hit the shelves.

We are following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: Right now, President Biden is on his way back to Washington after a pivotal European trip that delivered some significant results, including new security commitments to Ukraine and a NATO alliance poised to expand even more.

He closed out the five-day trip right on Russia's doorstep in the capital city of NATO's newest member, Finland. And, there, he delivered a stark message to Vladimir Putin across the border.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Putin has already lost the war. Putin has a real problem. How does he move from here? What does he do? There's no possibility of him winning the war in Ukraine. He's already lost that war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Arlette Saenz is in Helsinki still for us.

Arlette, Russia's invasion, of course, of Ukraine looming very large over this entire trip.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it really has, Brianna.

And President Biden tried to use this trip to have this show of force against Russia, not just by stressing the strength of the NATO alliance, but also trying to secure more support for Ukraine throughout. The president -- of course, that summit did get off to like a bit of a tension, after Ukrainian President Zelenskyy voiced his displeasure with some of the items that he had seen regarding whether NATO would set a timeline for Ukraine's entry into the alliance or what pathway they might create for that.

Ultimately, the president was able to put aside some of these concerns. And, again, here in that press conference in Helsinki, he once again stressed that the U.S. and its allies do see a future for Ukraine within the NATO alliance.

But the president also had some very tough words for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He views the war against Ukraine as having backfired on Putin, partially based on the fact that they were able to expand the NATO alliance, the fact that they were able to rally allies to continue to offer long-term support to Ukraine.

You heard the president giving his assessment there that he believes Russia has already lost this war. I also asked the president if he thought there's any chance that Putin might resort to using nuclear weapons. He said that he doesn't think that's a prospect for this moment.

But the president is heading home today feeling that he's accomplished everything he has set out to do in this summit and three -- four-day trip to Europe.

KEILAR: All right, Arlette Saenz live for us from Helsinki, thank you for that report -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, it is a dangerous time to be a Russian general.

Vladimir Putin's purge of senior military officials after last month's short-lived mutiny is even more wide-ranging than previously known. "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that at least 13 senior officers suspected of disloyalty were detained for questioning, some later released. Around 13 were suspended from duty or fired.

One of the most high-profile names on that list, General Sergey Surovikin, he at one time led the military campaign in Ukraine. He also had close ties to the Wagner leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin. CNN senior international correspondent Sam Kiley joins me now.

A member of the Russian Parliament told CNN that Surovikin, I believe the words he used is resting and not available. I wonder if you find that description credible.

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it sits -- excuse me, Jim.

It sits very naturally within the murky world of the Kremlin and the -- Putin's reaction to the Wagner-led coup, which I think was part of really an unraveling of the command-and-control structures within the Russian armed forces on the Ukrainian front line.

[13:05:02]

I mean, prior to the Wagner coup, Surovikin, who was very close to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of Wagner, they had been in close contact. I think that's why he's been -- quote, unquote -- "rested" after this coup attempt, effectively, by Wagner.

But this is not the only movement. You have seen that reporting from "The Wall Street Journal." We have also got the recent killing of Oleg Tsokov, a general in charge of the 58th Brigade, sending a message to senior officers within the Russian armed forces that being in Ukraine is a very dangerous occupation indeed.

And then, on top of that, the commander of the 58th Brigade, Ivan Popov, who is also a general who was removed from his post, he says, by what he said was the treacherous activities of the commanders behind him, namely, General Gerasimov, the head of the Russian armed forces, and Sergei Shoigu, the defense minister, targets in the past of Russian ire.

And what we're seeing here is the first time a public statement or a statement made public by a Russian general indicating the stresses within the Russian armed forces during this very aggressive campaign being waged by the Ukrainians, Jim, exactly, absolutely exactly what the Ukrainians want to see, a collapsing command-and-control, infighting among Russian generals, with the hope that some of them will clear off and go home.

That would spare, of course, a lot of lives on both sides, Jim. That is absolutely part of the long-term strategy of the Ukrainian armed forces.

SCIUTTO: Yes, a great point, with the possible dissolution or breaking up of the Wagner Group, which has been one of the most successful fighting forces in Ukraine for Russia, that also potentially impactful.

Sam Kiley, always good to have you share your experience -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Before heading back to the U.S., President Biden at his news conference in Finland offered a scathing rebuke of Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville. He went after him for blocking military promotions over objections to

the Defense Department's program that reimburses service members and their dependents for traveling across state lines to seek abortion care.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: He's jeopardizing U.S. security by what he's doing. I expect the Republican Party to stand up, stand up and do something about it. They have -- it's within their power to do that.

The idea that we don't have a chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the idea that we have all these -- all these promotions that are in abeyance right now, we don't know what's going to happen, the idea that we're injecting into fundamental foreign policy decisions what, in fact, is a domestic social debate on social issues is bizarre.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And joining us now is Republican Congressman Michael Waltz of Florida. He sits on the Armed Services Committee, and he's also a combat veteran, a former Army Green Beret, and he is a colonel in the Army National Guard.

Sir, thanks for spending some time with us this afternoon.

REP. MICHAEL WALTZ (R-FL): Yes, sure. Brianna. Good to see you.

KEILAR: So, up for a vote today on the House floor is this Pentagon policy that is at the very heart of Tuberville's hold. And I know that you don't support this policy that provides leave and travel expenses to service members and the dependents to go out of state to receive reproductive care, including abortions.

But since service members and their families obviously do not choose where they serve, I do want to ask you this. Why should a female soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine, someone, say, who is serving at MacDill Air Force Base in your state, shoulder these expenses that someone who is serving at Edwards Air Force Base in Speaker McCarthy's California district, that they would not shoulder?

WALTZ: Yes, Brianna, well, I think what you're speaking to, though, is really opening up the military to question, circumvent or give individual soldiers, sailors, Marines a say on state and local political issues.

So take what you just said, in terms of Florida state law versus California. Well, we could ask the same question in a future administration if a soldier doesn't feel like he can adequately protect his family, say, in downtown Chicago, where 30 to 40 people are being shot a week because he doesn't like the gun restrictions, or he does -- he feels like this is abrogating his Second Amendment.

Should the Pentagon then just pay for him to go out to a more gun- friendly state? Look, at the end of the day, this is a Pandora's box of political issues.

The Pentagon should not have gone there. We asked them last fall to not do this. Conveniently, though, they did it right before the midterm elections, when the administration knew that abortion was a key hot issue and a political issue.

But I can't get any day data. And I would hope you would ask the Pentagon, how many women out there are like this? How many women in the military are pregnant, seeking abortion and living in a place where they don't feel like they can get one? Because it's an issue that's impacting the entire force. It's a violation of the Hyde Amendment.

[13:10:16]

And, by the way, Senator Tuberville has said, let's just have an up- or-down vote on it. He will live with it either way. But let's have a vote. The Pentagon can't just abrogate law, existing law, because it disagrees with it.

KEILAR: Well, I mean, on the issue of say, gun laws, you're talking about someone leaving a state maybe permanently. We're talking about someone going temporarily for a service. So these are certainly different things.

And I will grant you...

WALTZ: No, we're talking -- no, what I'm talking about. I'm sorry.

I'm talking about the Pentagon starting to pay for soldiers' travel and lodging because they don't like an existing local law. And we have also had the Pentagon suggest that they will start making basing decisions...

KEILAR: Well, but let me -- but answer -- can you answer the...

WALTZ: Sure.

KEILAR: Can you answer the question?

WALTZ: Yes, sure.

KEILAR: Because this is something, obviously, that affects, obviously, service members and their ability to serve. And it affects their family members, and they do not have a choice, obviously, on where they're serving.

You say, on the Hyde Amendment, I will grant you that paying these expenses makes it possible, right. Maybe you could argue that this enables someone to afford to access abortion. But the policy clearly does not violate the Hyde Amendment, because it does not pay for the abortion.

WALTZ: OK, Brianna, that's kind of -- that's kind of cute and lawyerly. No, we don't have the Defense Department cutting checks to Planned

Parenthood. I will grant you that one. But when they're facilitating it with taxpayer dollars, that was certainly the intent of Congress. And that's a lawyerly reading of the law. And, at the end of the day, let's have a vote.

We're having a vote at the House. Senator Tuberville said, let's have a vote in the Senate. And he will live with it either way. So the question is, why doesn't Schumer take him up on that? Why doesn't the Pentagon take him up on that?

And the reason is, is, as you have seen, the administration likes this issue. They like how much your network is covering it, frankly. And they think it's good for them politically, so they don't want to resolve it.

KEILAR: Senator Tuberville seems happy with this issue,right? He's continuing the hold. So he certainly seems happy with it.

(CROSSTALK)

WALTZ: No, the reason he's doing the hold is, he is unhappy with what the Pentagon has done.

KEILAR: Let me ask you, why should -- let me ask you, why -- why should one family shoulder that expense in the military, but another should not, when none of them have chosen where they are going to serve?

WALTZ: But you could say that about a whole slew of issues, Brianna.

And what we're trying to do, at least here in the House, is get the military out of these contentious political issues and get back to having a force that is ready and able and lethal enough to deter war and to win war. And we are absolutely struggling there; 40 percent of our submarines can't get out of maintenance right now.

The Chinese Navy is double the size of ours. They're launching more into space than us and the rest of the -- combined. We have so many issues with our acquisition, with our force, with our recruiting, gee, let's just focus on that, unless you come to me and show me this overwhelming number of servicewomen that are -- none of them are calling my office in Florida, that's for sure, that the Pentagon had to take us down this slippery slope of politics.

So let's focus on winning wars. That's our point.

KEILAR: Well, I just want to be clear. It's not just -- it's not just servicewomen, right?

WALTZ: Yes.

KEILAR: It's also their spouses, which do tend to be female, and there are a lot of them. And it is their dependents, half of which are female, if they are of a certain age. Only 23 percent of young people -- and it's a shrinking number, it's quite alarming -- are eligible to join the armed forces. And roughly half of those are women. Why make service harder?

WALTZ: But, Brianna, what you're getting into is the decision of local and state legislatures, elected legislatures.

Many of these service men and women also vote, and they can now vote on that issue. Many of them, frankly, like to keep their voting registration in Florida for taxes, beaches and other reasons. So, I mean, you really are going down this road on one particular issue.

And we -- look, if the Pentagon wants to do that, we can broaden into all kinds of issues. You're right. They don't get to choose where they live. But we can't start allowing them to travel wherever they want, live wherever they want. When you sign up to the military, you're signing up to fight and win for this nation.

And you do set aside some of your privileges that an average civilian has. And that's what we have to get back to. And, oh, by the way, I keep going back to the issue, let's vote on it in Congress, if this is such an overwhelming issue.

[13:15:00]

KEILAR: One of the amendments, another one turning here, is an amendment proposed by Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.

And it would end funding for the war in Ukraine in this defense authorization bill. You support funding Ukraine. You have joined Democratic colleagues on supporting oversight for funding. What do you tell your colleagues like Marjorie Taylor Greene who do not want to fund Ukraine's defense about what you think is at stake? And do they listen to you?

WALTZ: Yes, look, if we want to keep American troops out of this war, we have to keep Putin from slicing through Ukraine and hitting a NATO country that would then drag us into it.

The Ukrainians are doing the fighting and dying. They're asking for the beans and bullets. We have to have strong oversight of where those funds are going. We have to have some type of strategy from the administration so that this isn't another endless war.

And I have an amendment called Dollar For Euro that says the Europeans need to step up, particularly France, Germany and Italy, and provide parity in what their -- in military support to the United States. It is jaw-dropping to me that this war is on Europe's doorstep, the largest since World War II, and the Europeans are providing half of what the United States is providing.

I am tired and many of us are tired of subsidizing European defense. We pay for their defense, while they pay for their social programs. So there's a lot of things we could do better. And that's what we're seeing through this amendment process.

KEILAR: So, you're not talking about ending funding. So when you're talking to some of your colleagues who are...

WALTZ: No, I'm talking about making them match our funding. I'm -- to match our funding or pulling ours back -- or pulling ours back to match theirs.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: But you're not talking about taking your ball and going home because they haven't matched.

So are your colleagues listening to you?

WALTZ: Well, we can't -- no, we can't -- well, we're going to have votes on it. I'm certainly making that case, both on national television and within our conference.

But there's some important nuances here, in that the Europeans have got to step up. And we have got to have a strategy from the administration. Just saying blank check as long as it takes isn't sustainable.

KEILAR: Congressman, thank you so much for your time.

I do just want to say, because we just got this in from our Kaitlan Collins, the defense secretary, Lloyd Austin's, office attempted to call and set up -- or did attempt -- they did call, they attempted to set up a call between the defense secretary and Senator Tommy Tuberville today, but Tuberville's office declined the opportunity.

They said he did not have time for a call today or this weekend. That is according to a senior defense official. So, obviously, this issue will continue on. And we will continue talking about it.

(CROSSTALK)

WALTZ: Yes. Well, let's bring it for a vote. Let's just bring it for a vote. That's how our republic works.

And then we can drive on and defend this great nation.

KEILAR: And we will see that in the House.

Congressman Waltz, thank you so much.

WALTZ: All right. Thank you.

KEILAR: Jim.

SCIUTTO: Still to come: Prosecutors working with the special counsel's office interviewed Michigan's secretary of state in the ongoing investigation into election interference by the former president and his allies. We're going to have more on that just ahead.

And we're learning new details about the cocaine found in the West Wing, as the Secret Service wraps up its investigation. That's next. And, later, CNN's KFILE uncovers that Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has repeatedly suggested that chemicals in water are impacting the sexuality of children. We will have more.

You're watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:22:38]

KEILAR: First on CNN, sources say the Secret Service has concluded its investigation into that baggie of cocaine that was found at the White House, and they have been unable to identify a suspect.

The drug was found in the West Wing last week. It was the focus of a Secret Service classified briefing today on Capitol Hill.

CNN White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond is with us now.

All right, Jeremy, this is going to be quite unsatisfying to a lot of people who are thinking, hey, there had to be some video of this. It is the West Wing. How did they not catch whoever this was who left cocaine there?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, totally valid questions, too, right. I mean, this is the White House, after all.

But what we're learning, Brianna, is that the Secret Service, after a week-and-a-half of investigating this small bag of cocaine that was found inside the West Wing, they have closed this investigation due to what they say is a lack of physical evidence.

Now, let me take you through what they have been doing over the last week-and-a-half. They combed through visitor logs, hundreds of individuals who walked in and out of the West Wing of the White House in the days -- on the day that the this baggie was found and in the days before then. Hundreds of them were visitors who were coming into the West Wing for tours.

And, of course, this bag of cocaine was found inside one of the cubbies where visitors are asked to leave their cell phones when they walk into the West Wing. They tried to go through DNA and fingerprint evidence. They were unable. There was insufficient DNA, according to the Secret Service, and they were not able to pull fingerprints.

And they also, therefore, couldn't identify whose baggie this was. And on that surveillance footage piece, this is what the Secret Service says, Brianna.

"There was no surveillance video footage found that provided investigative leads or any other means for investigators to identify who may have deposited the found substance in this area. Without physical evidence, the investigation will not be able to single out a person of interest from the hundreds of individuals who passed through the vestibule where the cocaine was discovered."

Now, a source familiar with this investigation tells my colleague Priscilla Alvarez that the translation of that is that the cubbies where these phones were left were actually a blind spot for those surveillance cameras. And so that ultimately resulted in a dead end there, as far as surveillance footage being used to identify this.

So, as of now, the White House says that they are reviewing the findings of this investigation, but the Secret Service here saying that they have closed this matter. Some Republican lawmakers, of course, infuriated about this, saying that the Secret Service shouldn't have -- should have been able to get to the bottom of this -- Brianna.

[13:25:09]

KEILAR: They certainly are.

Jeremy Diamond, thank you live for us from the White House.

Infuriated.

So, let's head to Capitol Hill, where Melanie Zanona is tracking the reaction to this decision to close this investigation without finding a suspect.

What are you hearing, Mel?

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Yes, well, the Secret Service actually held a briefing this morning for members on the House Oversight Committee.

There was a lot of interest, particularly from Republicans, on that committee. But GOP lawmakers left that briefing feeling outraged and disappointed and unsatisfied with what they heard. And some members were particularly concerned about the locker system, that cubby system that Jeremy was talking about for visitors who come to the White House.

That is located near the Situation Room. Let's take a listen to Congressman Tim Burchett.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): They do not know who did it. And that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen in my life. Somebody walks in the White House, the most secure building in the United States of America, in the world, actually, and can place something in a locker.

What if it was a biological entity? What if it was something that had an emergent that would -- would mature over a few days and it would -- could -- and it's just a lot of questions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZANONA: Lawmakers did say that they learned some additional new details about the investigation, such as that the key to the cubby was missing, that none of the suspects were drug-tested, that they had to obtain the information about the visitor logs from a Presidential Records Act request.

But when asked whether Republicans are going to continue investigating this, Congresswoman Nancy Mace said their plates are full and that she does not anticipate that they will looking into this any further on Capitol Hill, Bri.

KEILAR: All right. Maybe Cocainegate is over.

Melanie Zanona, live for us on Capitol Hill, thank you -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Another state election official sat down with the special counsel investigating Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

This was first on CNN, federal prosecutors interviewing the Michigan secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson, for several hours in March. Benson, a Democrat, was a key voice pushing back against baseless election fraud claims coming from Donald Trump and his allies in those days after the election.

Michigan was one of several states that Rudy Giuliani tried to flip with a scheme to submit illegitimate pro-Trump electors.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz has been following the story.

Katelyn, this is notable because of Benson's role in this, but also it seems to indicate that the special counsel's investigation into Trump and his allies' involvement in this is a multistate one, and that we know they have been interviews in Michigan, interviews in Arizona and elsewhere.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: That's correct, Jim.

So this investigation, it's not just about what happened in the White House, or on Capitol Hill on January 6, or on the National Mall at that speech at the Ellipse, what was happening right in the room with Donald Trump.

It also is about what happened in those battleground states after the 2020 election, as there was both a pressure campaign from the Trump campaign to try and have fake electors come together, to try and have state legislators potentially block the election result, but also to have people coming together and harassing potentially some of these officials who are top election officials.

We know now from various people who've confirmed it publicly that, in the special counsel's investigation, there have been interviews not only of Jocelyn Benson, the secretary of state of Michigan, but also Brad Raffensperger, the secretary of state of Georgia, Rusty Bowers, the former House speaker in Arizona, who was getting calls from Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani, as well as some of those fake electors, that they had been reached out to by the special counsel's office. A lot of election officials getting inquiries in this criminal investigation that is ongoing. Here's a little bit more about what Jocelyn Benson told our own Kaitlan Collins last night about what she testified to.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOCELYN BENSON (D), MICHIGAN SECRETARY OF STATE: I think it's a connection between what we witnessed, which I have talked openly about for several years now, a real coordinated, strategic effort to try to block the counting of votes in our state, the certification of an election in our state, and then spread lies that then transformed into threats against lives of election officials who were simply doing our job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLANTZ: So this investigation now having information from this top official in the state of Michigan about what happened after the election to her and others, but, also, it's a sprawling investigation.

And we don't exactly know where it stands right now, Jim, but what we do know is that the grand jury, it is in again today, and there are prosecutors from the special counsel's office here at the courthouse behind me -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: And, of course, Trump continues on the campaign trail to spread those election lies about 2020.

Katelyn Polantz, thanks so much -- Brianna.

KEILAR: The stage is set, actors poised to go on strike, after talks with major studios failed.

So, what does this mean for all of your favorite shows?

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