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Iran Threatens All-Out War If U.S. Or Saudis Launch Strike; New Jersey Man Accused of Scouting Terror Targets for Hezbollah; Intel IG Told House That Whistleblower Concerns Were Over Multiple Acts by Trump; White House and Department of Justice Advised Intel to Withhold Whistleblower Complaint; Rescues Underway in Houston As Storm Floods Region. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired September 19, 2019 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

NICK PATON WALSH, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And it seems to be over a misunderstanding about a meeting. Why did you come back to it? What convinced you to return to that role?

MOHAMMAD JAVAD ZARIF, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: I resigned because I did not think at the time that with that impression that I was not part of the decision-making I would be able to do my job as foreign minister. It wasn't any personal grudge or personal grievance. It was a problem with the performance of my job. When it was publicly assured that I was still in charge of foreign policy then I thought I would be able to do my job properly and that is why I returned.

WALSH: But it goes to the heart does it not, of what many people see as the two sides of Iran's government personality. There is the hard- liners who feel they want to extend influence and Iran's position in the region. And then there are the Western educated, at times, diplomats who think maybe we can soften our approach to the outside world? Was that an uncomfortable moment for you to be put in that position?

ZARIF: Well, Iran is not a monolith. We have different views in the country. You see those views expressed openly in the public, and that's what you call in the West, democracy.

WALSH: You like to speak on Twitter a lot. It's one of your favorite means of communications along with President Trump, you share that certainly. But it's very hard for people in Iran to read Twitter. Do you sometimes regret that? That there are restrictions in what people can hear in this country?

ZARIF: Well, I don't think there are restrictions on what people can hear in this country. People in this country hear everything they want to hear. But I certainly do not agree with the policy of filtering Twitter, or any social media, because I believe at the end of the day people get their hand chopped. But again, as I said, the differences of views in Iran --

(END VIDEOTAPE) ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: And Nick now joins us live from Tehran. Nick, we heard there Iran's Foreign Minister saying his country will respond to any military attack with all-out war. You had a lengthy conversation. Did you sense any wiggle room?

WALSH: Yes. I mean, look. I think you heard him sort of a contemplative part of Javad Zarif from that part of the interview, there are moments when he was clearly, it seemed there, to give a message that, yes, if you strike us, U.S. and Saudi Arabia, you will see all-out war. He said, do the Saudis really want to get into a situation where they are asking America to fight to the last American on their behalf? He was combative. I think trying to give a simple message to the commander in chief, the document to the White House, Donald Trump, that you don't want to mess with Iran because it won't be a simple tit for tat, overnight experience.

At the same time, he went out of his way to praise Donald Trump, too. And say, when I asked, look, you know, the U.S. has accused you essentially an act of war, of firing missiles from your territory at one of their allies, Saudi Arabia. You must be surprised they haven't responded with literal intervention yet. Do you think they're gun shy? He said he didn't believe Donald Trump was gun shy but a certain clique around him were in fact trying to push him into unwise military action, and Donald Trump had been wise and rationale enough to stay away from that.

So I felt like, much of the interview was designed to give that clean message essentially to the one man who they have assessed now is making Iran policy in the White House after the departure of John Bolton. Now, where that goes next, we simply don't know, because it does appear that Donald Trump openly talks about he wants to see what happens when it comes to military strikes.

There's various officials briefing that the diplomatic track now looks to be something they're more safe and solid in. But there is still the broad question, if the U.S. genuinely believes Iran did this then perhaps the Saudis or the Americans on their behalf, you would expect in what's become the rules of sort of played so to speak in the decades in this region, some sort of retaliation. Have to wait and see.

HILL: Yes. Certainly. Nick Paton Walsh, appreciate it. A fascinating interview and we should point out too there is more of that interview at CNN.com. Nick, thank you again.

We also have some breaking news we want to get to at this hour. We're just learning a New Jersey man has been arrested for allegedly scouting possible targets in New York to launch terrorist attacks. Brynn Gingras is with me now. Brynn, what more are we learning?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we're getting a lot of information from federal authorities but also the Southern District of New York who is prosecuting the case. This is a 42-year old man, Alexei Saab from Morristown, New Jersey, arrested on a nine-count indictment including charges related to these terrorism-related offenses. And what we're learning is that he was a man who joined Hezbollah decades ago and actually became a naturalized citizen here in the United States in August of 2008.

[15:35:00]

As you just said, was sort of working surveillance for this terrorist organization here in New York, scouting out different areas of the city, major, you know, places like the subway systems, the Times Square and, you know, trying to figure where there were soft spots to possibly stage an attack, or to provide that information back to this terrorist group.

Also did this in Washington, D.C. as well. So a lot of information as part of this again nine-count indictment that we're learning right now from the Southern District regarding this man. But this person is now in custody --

HILL: OK.

GINGRAS: -- with these nine charges and I expect to hear more. But doesn't sound like anything was thwarted, they stopped any attack from happening --

HILL: Before they even got to that point.

GINGRAS: Exactly, but certainly this is key in the sense that this person was providing some serious information back to this terrorist organization.

HILL: Absolutely and looking at cities, looking at New York, looking at Washington, D.C. A man who is living in New Jersey. Brynn, thank you, I know you're continuing to go through it. So we'll continue to update you as well as long as we know more.

Our other breaking news today, sources telling CNN that the White House and the Justice Department were involved in the decision to withhold a whistleblower complaint from Congress, and now we're learning the complaint involved multiple incidents apparently involving President Trump.

Plus dramatic video coming there from Houston. Flash floods there leading to hundreds of calls for rescue.

[15:40:00]

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HILL: Our breaking news today. The White House and Justice Department actively involved in withholding a whistleblower complaint about President Trump's communication with a foreign leader, that is according to three sources familiar with the matter. Just moments ago also CNN also confirming the complaint itself is tied to not one but multiple acts involving the President. Not just this one communication that we'd initially heard about.

Manu Raju joining us from Capitol Hill. So Manu, what more do we know about the incidents that led to this complaint? MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We are told

by multiple sources familiar with the matter that the Inspector General told the House Intelligence Committee today that the complaint dealt with in part multiple instances involving the President. We've known so far that there was at least one incident that caused alarm for this whistleblower. A phone call conversation with a foreign leader between the President. "The Washington Post" reported that was some sort of promise the President allegedly made that was part of the reason for the concern, but also now we're learning there were multiple instances beyond just that phone call. But the question is exactly what does that means, Erica.

Members of the committee who were briefed earlier today by the Inspector General were not given any substance whatsoever about what the President allegedly did, what caused the concern, what the substance of the concern is? Because the Inspector General was not authorized by the Office of The Director of National Intelligence and the Justice Department to talk about the substance of the complaint. Nor was the Inspector General allowed to talk about whether the White House had any involvement in preventing the complaint from being shared with Capitol Hill.

But of course, we have now learned that the White House and Justice Department were consulting with the Director of National Intelligence's Office to discuss not allowing that complaint from moving forward. But nevertheless, we are now learning that there are at least, there are more than one instance that caused alarm with the whistleblower. We just don't know what that is yet, members of Congress don't know what that is yet, and they're warning today that perhaps this could end up in court as a protracted fight if the administration refuses to give this information. And the Democrats demand answers -- Erica.

HILL: Manu Raju with the latest for us there from Capitol Hill. Manu, thank you.

Dana Dash is our chief political correspondent, Josh Campbell, former FBI supervisory special agent and author of a new book, "Crossfire Hurricane -- Inside Donald Trump's War on the FBI". And I want to get your take first on this, Josh, you and I were talking a little bit during the break. But the fact that we're learning the White House and DOJ stepped in here. I mean there is a federal law that dictates what the process is for these complaints. And the next step in that process should be that the DNI doesn't necessarily go to the White House or the DOJ but the DNI forwards that to Congressional intelligence committees?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes, this is very suspicious, there are a lot of questions here that we don't have answers to. And for those who are sitting there wondering, well, is this just another weekly scandal kind of in the era of Trump? This feels different. This is, appears to be stress testing the system that is in place. As you mentioned, not just a norm, not just a guardrail but it's a law. And if we now have, as it appears to be, the administration, the executive branch trying to block this information to getting to where it needs to know that is troubling. We all know about the historical abuses of the intelligence community

going back to the 1970s. I talk about it in this book. Real abuses where people in power needed to be constrained that led to the Congressional oversight committees including the one chaired by Congressman Adam Schiff and others. Who would now be able to oversee the work of the executive branch. Here it appears as though the executive branch is trying to keep this information which might embarrass the President but nevertheless should get to where it needs to go. It appears they're trying to keep that from the overseers that need to have it.

HILL: And Dana, as we just heard from Manu, you know, we're learning that the whistleblower complaint was not about just this one communication but that there were reportedly multiple communications that ultimately led to the complaint. What's interesting is of course, we had the tweet from the President earlier today who said, I wouldn't be dumb enough to say something on one of these calls, to say something inappropriate to a foreign leader especially when he knows multiple

people are listening.

We can't ignore the fact that he did share intelligence information in the Oval Office as we know. Which begs the question, and you know, it feels a little silly but I think it's important to point out.

[15:45:00]

Well, if there's nothing to see here, then why would there be so much concern from the White House and the DOJ that they would then make the referral to the DNI that this does not, in fact, move forward as it's supposed to?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: They doth protest too much. It's the obvious question, Erica. Of course, and look, we have been talking all week, frankly, since the Democrats took control of the House, about the White House stonewalling. They're stonewalling and there is stonewalling. And this is, as Josh said, not your typical run of the mill Trump is not telling Congress what Congress wants to know issue.

This is a really, really big deal. And as big a deal as it is, it is also murky legally and when it comes to jurisdiction which is why you're having the Inspector General who made a really rare trip to Congress, the Inspector General of the I.C. to go and to testify. It is because the Inspector General disagrees with the Director of National Intelligence, because the Director of National Intelligence doesn't want to give this information to Congress.

It was clear from Manu's reporting that the I.G. went as far as he could go without really doing, you know, kind of subverting what his boss wanted him to do, but still he made it pretty clear. This is a five-alarm fire in the intelligence world.

The other way it is very gray, and Josh can speak to this better than I can, is that technically, technically, I believe that a President, any President, can declassify information. It's just that, it's a question how he allegedly went about doing it and how it could or could not have hurt the sources and methods that the national security and I.C. community take such pains to protect at any rate.

HILL: To that point, Josh, yes, the President can declassify information essentially as he sees fit. That being said, even if the President chose to -- and again, we don't know exactly what's in the complaint. So I just want to remind people of that. But let's say it did involve some sort of declassifying of information. It could still be that a person heard this or heard multiple accounts and said, I'm uncomfortable with this. I want to tell someone about it. That person put together this whistleblower complaint. Went to the I.G. The I.G. looked at the information and even if declassified the I.G. still said this is a credible complaint of urgent concern. That should still mean something.

CAMPBELL: It certainly should. And what is interesting is, you know, and I suspect what we're going to see is this classification idea on the table where the White House is going to say, well, this is a sensitive matter. But the problem is, is that is a house of cards. Because even if this is highly classified, whatever this discussion was or whatever this information is that concerned this whistleblower, there are processes in place where the Congress, the so-called gang of eight of which Adam Schiff is a member, they see highly classified information on a daily basis.

I remember being inside the FBI, they would be briefed regularly on operations that were going on that were highly classified. So to say that we're withholding this because of sensitivity that's not going to fly. Which again, you look and stare at the law that this type of information coming from a whistleblower it must get to where it needs to go. It simply does not fly, that excuse.

The problem here for me and I think others who stare at this wondering about the last year and a half, and two years of this deep state narrative where the President has said, that there's this cabal of people out to get him. This is someone who went through the proper channels, who did what they needed to do, and you know, my problem is, is I wonder what that's going to send? What kind of signal to other potential whistleblowers down the road? If the person did the right thing and the information isn't getting to where it needs to go, what should they do if they see something that troubles them happening in their midst?

HILL: And that is such an important point to make and should be a legitimate concern. Josh, Dana, thank you both.

Up next, flash floods devastating parts of Texas. Right now trapping people in their homes, forcing schools to keep students sheltered in place. And we're even hearing from some folks on the ground, this is worse for them than Hurricane Harvey. [15:50:00]

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HILL: Urgent rescues under way in Houston and across southeast Texas, as what is left of tropical storm Imelda floods the region. Right now, people are actually trapped in their homes, trapped in their cars as water is rising around them. Rescue boats going door to door. CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray is tracking the floods. So Jennifer, what more do we know? I mean how much more are these folks in for?

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, this will slowly start to die down as we get into this evening. But the damage has already been down. Throughout the day today, we've had rainfall rates as high as six to eight inches an hour, some places between Houston and Beaumont have received more than 35" of rain since the storm came onshore. And you can see it's still raining. Now the heaviest rain has now sunk south of I-10, which will give those areas a little bit of a relief. But still, the flood threat is very real. And once the rain stops completely later this evening, it is going to take a while for that water to recede. So, we still have flash flood warnings in place. We also have flash flood emergencies in some locations. That area shaded in white indicates more than 20" of rain.

[15:55:00]

And like I said, some of those areas within that white area received more than 35" of rain. Unbelievable. So, here is the high-res forecast radar. This is what we've been dealing with. And you can see as we go forward in time, it starts to really die down. This is 10:00 p.m. tonight. And you can see some pockets of heavy rain well west of Houston, but at least those areas between Houston and Beaumont look to be on the drier side. But still, quite a bit of rain to go. Next 18 hours could see an additional six inches, Erica, in some locations.

HILL: Wow, all right, Jennifer Gray, thank you.

Up next, NFL star Antonio Brown losing his Nike endorsement deal in the wake of rape allegations from his former trainer. What we know about her talks with the league.

[16:00:00]

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HILL: Breaking news, Nike announcing it will drop Patriot's wide receiver Antonio Brown from his endorsement deal amid allegations he raped his former personal trainer. His accuser met with the NFL for 10 hours on Monday. A source who had knowledge of that meeting telling CNN, quote, the investigation is going to take awhile. The idea that this interview happens and then there's a decision is not what anyone should expect. This is going to take time. As of now, Brown is still eligible to play this Sunday. Thanks for joining us this afternoon. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.

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