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House Judiciary Committee Holds First Impeachment Hearing; White House Limits Corey Lewandowski From Testifying After Granting Him Executive Privilege Immunity; New York Prosecutors Subpoena 8 Years of Trump Tax Returns. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired September 17, 2019 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:41]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Top of the hour. Good morning, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Sciutto.

This morning we are learning that that strike on a Saudi Arabian oil field involved cruise missiles. A source close to the investigation tells CNN they came in at low altitude, assisted by drones. A sophisticated attack. The same source says there is, quote, "a high probability" they were launched from an Iranian base near the Iraqi border.

Now U.S. investigators in the Middle East are working with the Saudis to identify the missiles, the technology and hopefully find out who launched them.

HARLOW: We have a team of experts, reporters around the world covering this story. Our international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Our senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh joins us live from Tehran.

Good morning to you both. And Nic Robertson, let's begin with you and the reporting that you are getting this morning. Many important details on where this attack was launched and with what.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, Poppy, what we're learning from a source familiar with the investigation is that some of these missiles, these low-level cruise missiles that are sort of a hybrid of cruise missile and drone technology, that unlike the traditional cruise missile that the United States or other governments around the world might have, you know, fly with -- at quite a speed but along a variable trajectory. These ones are capable of flying at lower speed, low altitudes with the sort of the wingspan, the additional drone technology. And this -- all this information is coming because some of these missiles fell short of their targets.

This is what we're learning from the source familiar with the investigation. That they fell short of their target, landed in the desert to the north of these oil production facilities in Saudi Arabia and, therefore, because they weren't completely damaged and destroyed, has given investigators, and this is another thing we're learning, both U.S. military weapons investigators alongside Saudi investigators working together in the field, giving them access to relatively undamaged parts of the missile system.

Now Saudi officials have said that these were Iranian-made weapons systems. But what we're learning from this source is that they additionally, additionally now, there's a high probability that both the U.S. and Saudi investigators believe that the weapons were fired from Iran, from bases just inside Iran, next to the border with Iraq, flown over Iraq, through Kuwait and then onto Saudi Arabia.

So, the unofficial word, if you will, would be that the weapons took off and were fired from Iran. The official position is they're still investigating that, and the Saudis trying to bring international support saying that they would welcome U.N. investigators and international experts to help in this investigation as they try to internationalize support for their position right now -- Poppy, Jim.

HARLOW: And the president putting a lot of weight on the Saudi intelligence in all of this. Asked if he believes it. We'll see where this goes. Such important reporting.

Nic Robertson, thank you very much.

SCIUTTO: Let's go now to Tehran with more on Iran's response. CNN's senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is there.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jim, Poppy, Iran has always denied any connection at all to these attacks inside of Saudi Arabia. Even as late as last night, President Hassan Rouhani of Iran saying that it was really the Yemeni rebels behind this. An act of retribution for damage done by Saudi air campaign. But many are looking in this region for what the diplomatic off ramp may have been. Hopes high after the departure of John Bolton from the White House, kind of the main Trump-Iran hawk, that diplomacy might have been the option.

Donald Trump seemed keen on it, and then he wasn't keen, and he wanted conditions, and he didn't want preconditions and frankly confusion reigned there as well. But absolute certainty as of this morning on the part of Iran's most authoritative voice, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He's been absolutely clear today that there will not be negotiations with the Americans going forward.

Now he also referred to how this was the unanimous decision across government of the president, the foreign minister, everybody. And also how that people should not be fooled into these negotiations because he, and I paraphrase here, believed that they were a trick. That the maximum pressure campaign of the United States was designed to force Iran to the table without sanctions being lifted against them.

[09:05:08]

He goes on to say that sometimes the Americans seem to have no preconditions. Sometimes they seem to have 12 conditions, he said. And regardless, they're not going to be talking. He held out the possibly humiliating circumstances that if Donald Trump apologizes, retracts his statements, rejoins the nuclear deal, he might then be allowed to be part of multilateral talks, but a part of a nuclear deal. But really Iran, at a time when the region is deeply concerned about what may actually come next, particularly given President Trump's sort of vacillation around the use of military force, diplomacy certainly on Iran's side isn't an option for now -- Jim, Poppy.

HARLOW: Nick Paton Walsh live for us in Tehran this morning.

So now let's go to the White House. Our Joe Johns is there.

And, Joe, following up on reporting from Nic Robertson and Nick Paton Walsh, the White House is sending mixed messages here. You have the line from Pompeo who will go to Saudi soon, and then you have the president. Where do things stand this morning?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you're absolutely right. The White House keeps moving the goal post, Poppy, when it comes to Iran. Now, by the way, I did reach out to the White House today. So far no substantive response on the Nic Robertson reporting as to the likelihood that Iran was responsible and the evidence that has been discovered suggesting that the cruise missiles came from Iran.

The other question, of course, is what the White House will do about it once there is, if you will, conclusive evidence that Iran was responsible. The president made it pretty clear within the last 48 hours in a tweet suggesting that the United States is locked and loaded, waiting on instructions, if you will, from Saudi Arabia. And this is just one example of many in which the United States has sent conflicting and often contradictory messages when it comes to dealing with Iran and its behavior. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't want war with anybody, but we're prepared more than anybody. The United States is more prepared than any country in the history of -- in any history if we have to go that way. As to whether or not we go that way, we'll see. I'm not looking to get into new conflict. But sometimes you have to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: So how much of the mixed messaging is intentional and how much of it is accidental, certainly only the president of the United States knows for sure, but what we do know is that the president has high confidence in his own negotiating skills and he has suggested, he believes, Iran wants to come to the negotiating table. Also clear, Iran is not going to come to the negotiating table, they say, until those sanctions are lifted that are strangling the country.

Back to you.

HARLOW: And that's not happening any time soon. Joe Johns, thank you very much.

SCIUTTO: Joining us now to discuss all of this, CNN military analyst colonel Cedric Leighton.

Colonel, great to have you on. You were an intelligence officer in the region. In the simplest terms, is the U.S. on the brink of war now with Iran?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Jim, good morning. You know, it is certainly closer to the possibility of some type of conflict than we were before Saturday when these attacks occurred. It is, you know, one of those times when you have so many different factors at play. And in many ways the United States and Saudi Arabia are going to have to make some kind of a response to this very brazen attack.

The nature of that response, of course is what's up in the air. If we don't make a response, then Iran will feel very empowered to go ahead and do other things of this type that could be even worse for not only for Saudi Arabia but for the rest of the Persian Gulf region.

HARLOW: Colonel Leighton, let's listen for a moment to Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota, freshman congresswoman, Representative Ilhan Omar. She was on "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" last night. And here is a point that she made and I wonder if you agree.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ILHAN OMAR (D-MN): I think we need to make sure that the American people understand that this administration that lies about weather maps or crowd sizes cannot be trusted to give us the full information we need to be able to make a decision whether we should be going to war or not with Iran.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: A critical decision, of course. And CNN's reporting is that the U.S. has told at least one of our allies in the Middle East that it has intelligence showing that the weapons launch likely came from staging grounds in Iran but has not shared that intelligence yet.

Does she make a salient point on the intelligence front and what the American people should believe?

LEIGHTON: Absolutely, she does. And unfortunately, when anybody has a credibility problem with any aspect of, you know, their program or their conduct, it's going to be a problem when things are actually happening and they really need people's help.

[09:10:02]

So, you know, the history of the administration, you know, talking about things and obfuscating the truth, to be kind, that gets to be a real difficulty when it comes to international diplomacy. You know, you kind of have the rule, you know, the other guy can lie, but you better not be the one lying. And that's what we're dealing with here. SCIUTTO: We have the contradiction, too. The administration

dismissed the U.S. intelligence assessments that Iran was complying with the nuclear deal before pulling out, and now is sharing intelligence assessments that Iran is responsible for this attack.

Let me ask you this, because there are U.S. forces based in the region of course, and in Iraq just across the border from Iran. Iran has proxy forces in Iraq, as we well know. What is the threat to U.S. forces in the region?

LEIGHTON: It's increasing. It's a very -- you know, very big threat environment for not only the U.S. forces that are stationed in Iraq but the forces that are around the entire Persian Gulf. We have troops and sailors and airmen in places like Qatar, in the United Arab Emirates, in Bahrain, and also a few in Saudi Arabia. So, this is a very difficult time and certainly the force protection posture as it's called in the business has to be increased, if it hasn't been already.

HARLOW: Colonel Cedric Leighton, we so appreciate you being here with your expertise this morning. Thank you very much.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Poppy.

SCIUTTO: And this just in to CNN. The Defense Department has now confirmed a Green Beret has been killed in combat in Afghanistan. Officials say Sergeant 1st Class Jeremy Griffin was killed by small arms fire on Monday. He is the 17th service member to die in combat in Afghanistan just this year. More than 2400 service members have died in combat since the war in Afghanistan began October 2001, nearly 18 years ago.

HARLOW: Still to come, the House Judiciary Committee will hold its first high-profile impeachment hearing since, of course, the Special Counsel Robert Mueller testified. The president's former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, will appear. We know the White House has moved to limit what he can talk about. So what should we really expect to hear today?

Plus, Senator Elizabeth Warren drawing huge crowds to her rally last night in New York City. We are just learning the senator took some 4,000 selfies with supporters last night. We'll get into why this speech was so noteworthy.

SCIUTTO: And day two of the United Auto Workers strike. And now a source says the nearly 50,000 striking workers are demanding that GM bring manufacturing jobs back from Mexico. How long could this strike go on?

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HARLOW: All right, welcome back. In just a few hours, the House Judiciary Committee will hold its first official hearing in what the committee is now calling an impeachment investigation into the president. Two former members of the president's administration have been subpoenaed to testify -- Rob Porter and Rick Dearborn.

They're not going to show up. The White House sent letters to the committee saying they have immunity due to executive privilege.

SCIUTTO: Corey Lewandowski, Trump's former campaign manager is scheduled to testify about obstruction allegations contained in the Mueller report. But although, he never worked in the administration, the White House is still claiming a quite expansive right to assert executive privilege. CNN congressional reporter Lauren Fox is on Capitol Hill. So, Lauren, how will these letters impact the hearing today?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, in a big way, Jim. And I think this is just the latest tug of war between Democrats on Capitol Hill in the Trump administration as they are trying to get information for their investigation, specifically about this impeachment inquiry that the House Judiciary Committee is undergoing.

So, one thing that we are going to be watching for is specifically what Corey Lewandowski will be willing to talk about. Is it just his time on the campaign trail? Will he be willing to answer Democratic questions about those allegations in the Mueller report? That is a key question this morning.

Now, obviously, those letters loom large as Democrats prepare to go into this hearing. One thing that I want to flag is that Jerry Nadler, the chairman of this committee, said, look, these letters, this executive privilege assertion is unprecedented. He said, quote, "the president would have us believe that he can willfully engage in criminal activity and prevent witnesses from testifying before Congress, even if they did not actually work for him or his administration."

Now, Corey Lewandowski tweeted this morning about his testimony. He said, quote, "excited to remind the American people today, there was no collusion, no obstruction", and then he reminded everyone to tune in. So, you can expect some fireworks today in the House Judiciary Committee. Jim and Poppy?

HARLOW: Right, the last time he testified before House Intel was fiery, but behind closed doors. This is totally different ball game and different committee --

FOX: Exactly --

HARLOW: Lauren, thanks very much. Let's talk about this more with our legal analyst, former federal prosecutor Jennifer Rodgers. So, you asked Jerry Nadler who chairs the committee, and he says this is a shocking and dangerous use of executive privilege. You ask Pat Cipollone; the White House counsel and he says, look, you know, nothing to see here.

These folks are protected from disclosure by long-settled principles, protecting the executive branch and confidentiality. Legally, all politics aside, who is right? JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN ANALYST: Well, you know, the interesting thing

is, there have been really broad assertions over the years. So, I mean, I think the answer is, it's not nearly as broad as Pat Cipollone says it is, and prior presidents also made that same claim, but it's never gone to the courts.

[09:20:00]

So, we don't really have an answer yet. You know, somebody has got to litigate this question we've gotten now closer than we've ever gotten before to having that actually settled by the court. So, eventually, I think we will get the answer to that question, but we don't know yet.

SCIUTTO: Well, regardless of how broad it is, it does not cover discussions of criminal wrongdoing, does it? I mean, would it extend if -- I mean, because the essential allegations --

RODGERS: That's a very good point --

SCIUTTO: Is, was Lewandowski told by the president to tell Jeff Sessions to limit the Russia investigation, which is -- you know, Mueller listed as a possible instance of obstruction of justice, right?

RODGERS: Yes, but it likely could cover criminal conversations. I mean, the executive privilege is in theory very broad, but only where it's properly applied. Where it definitely shouldn't go is to someone who wasn't even part of the administration. You cannot claim executive privilege with someone who is not part of the --

HARLOW: Even if it's during -- because I think the way they're viewing it is, even if it's during the time that he was president --

RODGERS: Right --

HARLOW: Right?

RODGERS: Because to say that would mean that he has executive privilege over literally --

HARLOW: Everyone --

RODGERS: Any person he has a conversation with while he is the president of the United States. So, that's what --

SCIUTTO: Stand by for that argument in court.

RODGERS: Right, but that's clearly beyond the pale of where executive privilege has ever gone before, and that's why I think they'll lose in court.

SCIUTTO: Understood. But I find it remarkable that you -- in theory, it would cover discussions of wrongdoing.

RODGERS: So, the idea behind executive privilege is, you want the president to be able to fully and freely vet all of his ideas with his advisors. So, you know, let's say they're talking about making a strike in a foreign country, that potentially could be illegal under international war law, but you want him to be able to have those conversations.

So, that's really the basis for it. It's not really designed to cover this sort of thing, but it probably would because of --

SCIUTTO: Right --

RODGERS: The freedom you want the president to have.

HARLOW: So, turning the page here, Cy Vance, his office here in New York, the New York District Attorney, CNN has learned -- has subpoenaed eight years of the president's tax returns from this accounting firm Mazars. And Mazars says they're going to cooperate essentially. So, I just wonder as the house Democrats got blocked by that federal judge last month to expedite it through the Treasury Department, how significant is this because, if they get it right through this subpoena, that would go to a grand jury and that wouldn't become public until a trial, if that.

RODGERS: Right. So, we won't see the fruits of that effort, but the district attorney should get those records because it's a grand jury inquiry, so any objections to it will go straight to a straight judge, it will be resolved promptly. So, I expect that the district attorney's office will get this information in fairly short order, meaning they can continue their work which may include, by the way, not just investigations into the hush money stuff, but also broader investigations into corporate wrongdoing from the Trump organization going back eight years.

So, they could be pursuing pretty wide-ranging criminal behavior from the Trump organization which of course would encompass the president and some of his children as well. And they should get that pretty soon.

SCIUTTO: So, in terms of the public seeing the contents, it would not be if it just reveals embarrassing information for instance, he doesn't make as much money as he said --

HARLOW: Right --

SCIUTTO: He made, but it will only if -- the district attorney finds evidence of, well, tax fraud, evasion, et cetera.

RODGERS: Yes, if it's used in a criminal case, if that case is charged, then eventually, the public will see those materials if there's a trial or if there's discovery as part of those proceedings. But that's a ways down the road at this point.

SCIUTTO: Impressive, Jennifer Rodgers, always good to have you on the program --

HARLOW: Thank you, thanks -- SCIUTTO: Thanks very much. Senator Elizabeth Warren tells a packed

New York City park that corruption is hampering the government today. And might not surprise you, she has a plan to change Washington from the inside out.

HARLOW: Yes, we'll have a lot on that ahead. We're also just moments away from the opening bell on Wall Street. Investors keeping a close eye on oil prices again today in the wake of those attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities. One analyst who says it's as closely says prices could jump as much as 25 cents a gallon, that's gasoline for you at the pump in just a few weeks, and it could affect airline prices as well.

This comes at a critical time for the Fed, their two-day meeting begins today. The last time the Central Bank met, they cut interest rates. Another one is expected, we'll stay on that.

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[09:25:00]

HARLOW: All right, Senator Elizabeth Warren is seeing a nice bump for her in the polls. On the campaign trail last night, the 2020 hopeful drew one of the biggest crowds of her campaign, looked like thousands of people packed in New York's Washington Square Park.

SCIUTTO: Warren's speech was the first that she's delivered off a teleprompter since her campaign kicked off. CNN's MJ Lee was there. MJ, you said this was really an electric event and crowd for Senator Warren.

MJ LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It was, I think both in size and in substance. This was a big night for Elizabeth Warren. You're right, that thematically, this was all about anti-corruption. You know, right off the bat, she said Donald Trump is corruption in the flesh. She says that she chose this park because around the corner from it is a factory where a whole bunch of people died from a fire in 1911. And she says that's all because of corruption and corporate greed.

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