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Election Day 2020 Now Exactly One Year Away; ISIS Claims Responsibility For Three Attacks Since Naming New Leader; Democrats Summon At Least 10 Current Officials This Week; Giuliani Caught In The Middle Of Ukraine Scandal; Whistleblower Willing To Answer Written Questions From GOP; How Politicians Handle Their Boos. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired November 03, 2019 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[18:00:00]
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Training, planning, mind over matter, those are the words of a runner and, no doubt, a concept Joyciline Jepkosgei and Geoffrey Kamworor are familiar with. Both won the New York City marathon today in the women and men's divisions. Both are from Kenya.
The 26.2-mile race travels through New York City's five boroughs. And for Jepkosgei, this is her first time running the New York City marathon, and she recorded the second fastest time ever in the women's open division in New York City marathon history, finishing in two hours and 22 minutes. Kamworor won the men's event for the second time in three years.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Thank you for staying with me. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. And the 2020 election is closer than you may think, exactly one year from now, as a matter of fact, one year until the American people decide if President Donald Trump stays or goes, and if not him, then who?
This weekend, the field of Democratic candidates narrowed slightly. Former Congressman Beto O'Rourke said his campaign had essentially run out of money and he's done. At least two other candidates are showing signs that their campaigns are in the do or die phase. Senator Kamala Harris and Julian Castro are reportedly making drastic staffing adjustments, neither in an encouraging direction. And three new national polls just released today put these three Democrats firmly on top of the pack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My vision is more extensive than anybody's out there.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will not back down from Donald Trump. I learned the lesson early. You don't back down from a bully.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, our administration is going to be different because we're waging a political revolution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: That was former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders on the campaign trail this weekend in Iowa.
The polls showing the tightest races from NBC News and The Wall Street Journal. It puts Biden and Warren statistically even among Democratic primary voters in that poll. And one of the top issues, healthcare.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARREN: Right now, what I've got is a plan to relieve families of $11 trillion of healthcare costs and it doesn't cost them one single penny in taxes. This will be the biggest economic boost to America's working families in generations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: So it was just this week Senator Elizabeth Warren laid out how she would pay for Medicare-for-all, going her own way on that issue for the first time. And her plan differs from Senator Bernie Sanders' proposal, which is the cornerstone, of course, of his campaign. After healthcare, on the list of most important issues for registered Democrats, according to a Fox News poll released today, climate change, gun control and the economy also considered very important by people who vote Democrat. Same poll asking the same question of Republican voters makes a different list. The economy is most important for Republicans, followed by terrorism and immigration concerns.
What you didn't see on either of those lists of most important issues, the impeachment inquiry. Maybe not most important, but Americans are sharply divided on whether they want it to happen. NBC and The Wall Street Journal asked if the president should be impeached and removed and slightly more voters, nearly half, said yes, the president needs to go. President Trump today laughing off those polls, all of them, saying only he has the real data about how Americans view his possible impeachment.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond is at the White House.
And, Jeremy, that's not from a tweet or an insider. The president told you that himself today.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Ana. As you mentioned, this impeachment matter has been deeply divisive for Americans, and then we're seeing that in the polls. But what we're also seeing in the three most recent national polls is that slightly more Americans believe that the president should be impeached and removed from office than the number of Americans who do not think so. And so, today I put those polls to the president and he responded in trademark fashion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DIAMOND: Mr. President, according to several recent polls, more Americans want you to be impeached and removed from office than the Americans who don't.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: You're reading the wrong polls.
DIAMOND: Fox News, Wall Street Journal, NBC, ABC, Washington Post, all of those polls.
TRUMP: I have the real polls. The CNN polls are fake. The Fox polls have always been lousy. I tell them they ought to get themselves a new pollster. But the real polls -- you look at the polls that came out this morning, people don't want anything to do with impeachment. It's a phony scam. It's a hoax. And the whistleblower should be revealed, because the whistleblower gave false information.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAMOND: Now, Ana, there's nothing to support the president's claims that he has the real polls somehow. And this is, of course, something we've seen from the president in the past.
[18:05:01]
When he does not like what the polls say, he goes ahead and attacks them.
What we should not though, Ana, is that while the country is growing more supportive of this impeachment process, it is still largely along party lines. And the president's Republican supporters are still very supportive of him and very much against impeachment. Ana?
CABRERA: And still, though, those three polls, all separate polling to date all had this same top line, which is 49 percent now of the country saying impeachment and removal is their choice.
Let me ask you about the whistleblower, whom the president is demanding be identified. That person is now offering to provide written testimony or answers to Republicans specifically but wants to stay anonymous. What are the chances that happens?
DIAMOND: Well, look, we'll have to see, Ana. What we know is that Republicans have repeatedly complained about the process in this impeachment inquiry. And one of their complaints, of course, has been that they want more access to this whistleblower, who the president, as you saw just today, wants this person's identity to be revealed despite the protection that this whistleblower is entitled to under the law.
Now, the whistleblower's attorney is offering written testimony to those Republicans. It's not clear that that will quell any of those Republican concerns. But, Ana, what is clear is that the whistleblower really is less important to this matter, because we have now seen in testimony from current and former officials backing up many of the allegations in that whistleblower complaint. Remember, that whistleblower complaint was not just about that phone call, but it was about this broader issue of a potential quid pro quo involving Ukraine and U.S. security aid to that country, Ana?
CABRERA: That's right. Jeremy Diamond at the White House for us, thank you.
Joining us now with more, Anita Kumar White House Correspondent and Associate Editor for Politico, and CNN Political Analyst Toluse Olorunnipa, White House Reporter for The Washington Post.
Guys, let's start with the impeachment polling and the impeachment inquiry specifically. Again, here is the latest polling, 49 percent of Americans now back President Trump's impeachment and removal. President Trump says he has the real polls. Anita, what's your reaction to all this?
ANITA KUMAR, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO: Well, as Jeremy said, we don't know what polls he's referring to. But when you look at the polls on impeachment, it's pretty much down party line. The increase in the last few weeks is in Democrats and independents. So the independents part should worry him, Democrats not so much. They were not going to vote for him anyway. He is feeling -- the president and his allies are sort of feeling that, look, this is baked in, whatever people were opposed to him before are largely for the impeachment.
So the good news here for him is that Republicans are still with him. If you look at those polls, nine out of ten Republicans are still with the president. He feels that if this inquiry goes to the Senate, then he will be acquitted, not removed.
CABRERA: Toluse, three Democratic candidates now consistently in these three polls are really carving their place at the top of the Democratic contender pack. What does it say to you that it's Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders that are leading those polls right now?
TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It's been very interesting to see Joe Biden over the past several months. He has gone up and down in terms of public opinion, of his gaffes and his performances on the debate stage. But when it comes to these polls, he seems to be pretty steady over the last several months, even though other people below him are having a lot of movement.
We've seen Elizabeth Warren have a lot of movement over the past several months. She's shot up in the polls. She seems to be in a steady part of that top three pack. Bernie Sanders seems to be doing okay. But below that, there doesn't seem to be very much of a second or third tier. We do see Pete Buttigieg in some of these polls trying to get itself into that higher top three ranking.
But so far, it seems like this is going to be a race that goes down to just a handful of candidates. And it does seem like Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are fighting for different sectors of the Democratic Party. And right now, it seems that Joe Biden has been pretty steady at the top of the polls and his various gaffes and various struggles on the campaign trail have not translated into lower poll numbers.
CABRERA: Well, it is still one year before Election Day. We need to remind our viewers.
That being said, we're only 90 days away now or so, a little bit more than 90 days away from the Iowa Caucuses, first real test of this campaign. Do you think the frontrunners are locked in or could we still see a surprise?
OLORUNNIPA: Well, in the past, we have seen that the people that are at the top of the polls in November are not necessarily the people who end up winning. So there is still a chance to catch fire in Iowa. You do see a couple of different candidates, including Senator Kamala Harris and Mr. Castro deciding to change their strategy because they need to do something between now and next January if they're going to catch fire in the polls.
So there is time to make a difference and to see some movement in the polls. But because this race started so early and because the polls seem to be solidifying, it's really now or never for some of those lower polling candidates, and it could be that the top three that we see now are the folks that are fighting for the number one spot in Iowa. And then from there, it's off to the races in the early states.
CABRERA: Anita, let me ask you about this Fox News poll of Democratic primary voters. They were asked if they think these candidates could beat Trump in a head-to-head matchup.
[18:10:04]
And 68 percent said Joe Biden could do it. 57 percent think Elizabeth Warren could do it. 54 percent say Bernie Sanders could beat him and 30 percent thought Pete Buttigieg could beat him. This remains the key issue for Democrats right now. Can their nominee beat Trump and Biden continues to inspire this kind of confidence. How significant is that?
KUMAR: I do think it's significant. It's the one big thing, not the one thing, but one of the biggest things he has going for him. So while he's been steady, which is fine, Elizabeth Warren has been rising. This is the one place where he can say, look, if you look at all these polls, look at how I'm up against Donald Trump, I'm the guy that can beat him, more so, according to these people that are being polled, than Elizabeth Warren.
So he is fighting right now with her and I think that's something that he's going to be trying to. He has been trying to talk about this and he's going to continue to talk about it. How does he go up against Trump?
CABRERA: One of the Democratic outliers, Andrew Yang, is criticizing his fellow candidates and in part Democrats on the Hill. He says they're too engrossed in the impeachment inquiry. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW YANG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, the downsides are that the entire country just gets engrossed in this impeachment process and then we're going to look up and be facing Donald Trump in the general election, and we will not have made a real case to the American people.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Is it going to hurt the Democratic nominee?
YANG: There is a chance that it will. And I just saw that it seems like the significant number of candidates may be actually called to D.C. for the bulk of January, which would definitely take the focus away from the campaign.
BASH: It would be bad for you though.
YANG: Well, I would be right here in Iowa or in New Hampshire or South Carolina or Nevada or someplace else campaigning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Toluse, is he right?
OLORUNNIPA: Well, that is a big challenge for some of these Senate candidates who are in the Senate and have to just deal with impeachment in the next few months. And that may keep them in Washington when they would much rather be in these early states.
I think it remains to be seen sort of whether or not this impeachment is a benefit to President Trump in the general election or whether or not it damages him with moderates and independent voters, especially as more damaging information comes out. We've talked about past impeachments and how that fared for the party in power with Bill Clinton and whatnot.
But it's not clear that that same rule book, that same playbook would play out with President Trump because he's ripped up the political playbook and so many things that have stuck at the presidents haven't stuck to him. So we'll really have to wait and see what the political ramifications will be for impeachment It does seem like Democrats are ready to move forward with it.
CABRERA: And you both will be back to continue this discussion as we move through the process. Thank you both, Toluse Olorunnipa and Anita Kumar. I owe the first question next time, Anita, as we continue the discussion. Thanks again.
ISIS now claiming two separate attacks since naming its new leader. CNN takes a look at the evolution of this terror group, next. You are live in the CNN Newsroom.
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[18:15:00] CABRERA: It has been one week since ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi blew himself up after being cornered by U.S. forces in Syria, but the terror group itself is not dead. ISIS claimed responsibility for two attacks in Mali and one in Iraq this week that killed at least 56 people though it offered no proof. These are the latest attacks it says it's carried out since naming al-Baghdadi's successor.
With us now joining me is former CIA Counterterrorism Analyst, Philip Mudd and Retired Army Major General James Spider Marks. Gentlemen, good to have both of you here.
So here we have a new leader and new attacks. ISIS says it's responsible for, both since Baghdadi was killed. Phil, ISIS clearly wants to show it's still relevant even though its founder and most important member is dead.
PHILIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: I mean, I think that's true. There is one thing I would suggest you look at. It's not whether you have a tactical attack in a place like Iraq or Mali. Over the course of time, if you want to be a successful terror group that recruits people and money from places like Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, you've got to stage attacks, like we've seen in the past on places like Europe and the Middle East or part of Europe and America.
If you want to have just an event in Iraq, you can find a suicide bomber. If you want to build a terror organization, you've got to build a network that can reach out to places where people pay attention. I haven't seen that yet from ISIS, but I wouldn't rule it out.
CABRERA: General, here's a reminder of what President Trump said about al-Baghdadi's last moments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: He died after running into a dead-end tunnel, whimpering and crying and screaming all the way.
He died like a dog. He died like a coward. He was whimpering, screaming and crying.
Crying, whimpering, screaming and bringing three kids with him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: "The New York Times" reported on Friday in the days since President Trump gave the world a graphic account of Abu Bakr al- Baghdadi's death or last minutes, no evidence has emerged to confirm it.
The defense secretary, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the regional commander who oversaw the operation that killed the leader of the Islamic State all say they have no idea what the president was talking about.
General, at the end of the day, does it matter if the president exaggerated the death of a terror leader?
JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, the fact that the terror leader is gone is what's most significant. I can't speak for to the president's motivations for embellishing or describing how Baghdadi died and left us. At the end of the day, he's gone. And to your very point up front, Ana, the key thing is, is what's happening now is significant in that ISIS wants to make sure they can demonstrate that they're viable.
And as Phil has indicated, they need to make sure that they're viable at the level where they have been in the past, which means penetrating some very tough targets. It's easy to penetrate some places in Southeast Asia, less so in Europe and the United States. That's what we need to look for.
And what the answer really is, is continued diligence on the part of our Intelligence Community and the necessary input from partners. Look, we can't do this alone. We have an incredible apparatus of intelligence around the globe and we've got to rely on partners and friends and those that are willing to step up and take a risk to help us keep a real sharp focus on what those next -- anticipating what those next steps are.
CABRERA: Phil, I want to get your thoughts though on the president's -- I guess you can call them embellishments, exaggerations.
[18:20:02]
Some people call them lies about the death of Baghdadi in terms of how he described what Baghdadi was doing, whimpering and screaming and those types of things. Does it matter?
MUDD: Oh, heck, yes, it matters on two levels. First, as a practitioner, why would you humiliate the adversary? Why? You can step away from the battlefield and say, look, this is a somber moment for America, it's a step forward in the war on terror, just as the killing of Bin Laden, but you don't celebrate death just as you don't tell a child when you execute a murder, let's go out and buy a cake.
You might say it's appropriate to take people off the battlefield or it's appropriate to take someone who has murdered children in America away from life, but you never celebrate the loss of life, neither as a practitioner nor as a human being talking to a child saying if a human being is killed in war, you go celebrate. I realize people don't like that message, but it's pretty simple. We do not celebrate death ever, even if it's a terrorist. Step four, yes, celebration, no.
CABRERA: Meantime, General, U.S. troops have entered Syria to protect the oil fields. An hour, Barbara Starr is reporting commanders are awaiting orders. There's confusion over what the plan is. Is that acceptable?
MARKS: Well, what the commanders routinely do on the ground, look, absent orders from above, at least if they understand what the intent is. If the intent is to, quote, guard oil fields to ensure that the oil fields can maintain their production levels, that they can maintain normal operations, then what you do is you facilitate that.
What the confusion probably -- and that's a mission statement that has some implied steps that are necessary in order to accomplish that. What might be unclear is what are the potential threats as a result. So you work through scenarios in anticipation of how they might reveal themselves.
So confusion in terms of mission orders happens all the time. What you want to make sure happens is that there's clarity in terms of commanders' intent, intent in terms of task and purpose. And then you can go about the business of figuring out what it looks like on the ground.
So, really, Ana, it's not that unusual. It's not abhorrent to have confusion like that on the ground. And the soldiers on the ground and the joint team on the ground, let me put it to you that way, will step up to make sure that the fields can continue to produce at the level that they've enjoyed so far.
CABRERA: Real quick, switching topics, Phil, and a quick answer, if you will. You worked with Bob Mueller. Donald Trump Jr. has a new book out next week. He is critical of Mueller, specifically saying that Democrats put Mueller before Congress, quote, so he could stutter and babble his way through five hours of testimony.
This is according to an excerpt obtained by The New York Times. CNN has not obtained a copy of this book. What's your response to that?
MUDD: You've got to be kidding me. A guy who made money off his daddy is telling me that a man who served honorably in Vietnam, the most storied prosecutor of my generation, the best leader I saw in 25 years and a guy who made money off his daddy is telling me don't respect that man. I served with Mueller. Best I ever saw, Ana, the best.
CABRERA: Phil Mudd and Major General James Spider Marks, thank you both. I always appreciate your insights and expertise.
MARKS: Thanks, Ana.
CABRERA: President Trump's call with Ukraine is at the heart of the impeachment inquiry. So who decides what gets put in a White House transcript of a call with a foreign leader and what gets left out?
But, first, here is Christine Romans with this week's Before the Bell. Christine?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Ana. Investors hope the Federal Reserve has done enough to cushion the U.S. economy. Last week, the central bank cut interest rates for the third time this year. Fed Chief Jerome Powell strongly hinted it will pause for now.
Now, Wall Street cheered the announcement, sending the S&P 500 to a record-high. Since then, economic data has been mixed. The U.S. economy created 128,000 jobs in October. That's better than expected despite the G.M. strike, which really hurt manufacturing jobs.
The factory sector also continues to contract. A key report showed it shrank for the third straight month in October, but the sector did rebound a bit from the previous month, so investors got some relief there.
There is more data coming this week. The Institute for Supply Management releases its non-manufacturing survey, an important gauge (ph) of the service sector. In New York, I'm Christine Romans.
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CABRERA: If House Democrats get their way, it will be another busy week of testimony on Capitol Hill in the impeachment inquiry. Here are the current and former officials the Democrats have summoned to testify this week, although it's unclear how many of them will actually show up.
Now, former National Security Adviser John Bolton is on that list. He has been mentioned by other witnesses as having raised concerns about the president's dealings with Ukraine. However, Bolton's lawyers said he would not appear unless subpoenaed. But as CNN's Brian Todd explains, with each official who testifies, we do learn a little more about what exactly happened during and after that now infamous call.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The NSC's top official on Russia, Tim Morrison, is now the second person on that fateful July call between President Trump and Ukraine's president to testify before House investigators, adding more intense scrutiny to every word that was said on that call.
One of Morrison's deputies, Lt. Col. Vindman, testified Tuesday that there were at least two places he tried to make corrections to the rough transcript of the call. A source familiar with the matter tells CNN. But the changes to the transcript were never made. The president has depicted the transcript as a verbatim record.
TRUMP: Word for word, comma for comma.
[18:30:01]
TODD: But Vindman testified there are two omissions from controversial parts of the call. There's just an ellipsis where Vindman said Trump actually told the Ukrainian President there were tapes of Joe Biden, according to "The New York Times."
Why would there be an ellipsis there instead of apparently that crucial part of the conversation?
LARRY PFEIFFER, FORMER SENIOR DIRECTOR, WHITE HOUSE SITUATION ROOM: I -- I find that very surprising. Ellipsis is not a notation that would have been in a normal Situation Room raw transcript, so my initial thinking when I saw these ellipses was that somebody on the NSC staff, rather than having some clunky-looking notations, just put ellipses where perhaps the President's voice trailed off.
TODD (voice-over): Larry Pfeiffer ran the White House Situation Room for two years under President Obama. He says he oversaw more than a hundred calls between Obama and foreign leaders and says during those calls, some aides are huddled around another phone in the same room as the President while others are connected on phones in other offices, like the Situation Room.
He says an account of the conversation is produced by two or three notetakers helped by voice recognition software. The account then revised and corrected by policy aides and experts who are also listening.
PFEIFFER: Brian, I can't think of a time that anybody's recommended changes from -- from a person like Lieutenant Colonel Vindman, at any time, when they would have been blocked. They would have been accepted.
TODD (voice-over): According to "The Times," there's no tape recording of the Trump call by the American side.
SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, FORMER SENIOR ADVISOR TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: That's something, I understand, that hasn't been done since the Nixon era.
PFEIFFER: I think it affords the President a certain level of deniability.
TODD (voice-over): For the Trump call, the transcript at one point has the Ukrainian President saying just the company. Vindman says it should name Burisma, the company Biden's son worked for, because he claims that's what the Ukrainian President actually said.
The White House says the ellipsis in the transcript don't cover for missing words or phrases, and the Trump team denies Vindman's claims that he tried to add words there. Former White House officials who've listened in on these calls say there's enormous pressure to be accurate and make sure nothing is omitted.
VINOGRAD: If things are left out, that again means that a foreign government knows what happened and you're hamstringing your home team.
TODD (on camera): Can a White House aide, a Situation Room duty officer, or anyone who's on a call between the President and a foreign leader record that call on his or her own through their desktop phone or on their cell phone just to make sure the contents are captured correctly? Larry Pfeiffer says anyone trying to do that at the White House would be fired. And in the Situation Room itself, he says, no outside cell phones are even allowed.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CABRERA: The President's most infamous defender, Rudy Giuliani, is
caught in the middle of this Ukraine scandal. How his actions could cost his client the presidency. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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[18:36:50]
CABRERA: Attorney, lawyer, personal fixer, call him what you want, there's no denying that Rudy Giuliani is caught in the middle of the impeachment inquiry into President Trump. CNN's Tom Foreman takes a look at what we know so far in Giuliani's role in the administration's relationship with Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUDY GIULIANI, PERSONAL ATTORNEY TO DONALD TRUMP: Truth isn't truth. The President of the United States says, I didn't --
CHUCK TODD, MSNBC HOST: Truth isn't truth. Mr. Mayor, do you realize what I -- I --
GIULIANI: No. No, no. I -- what -- don't --
TODD: I -- this is going to become a bad meme.
GIULIANI: Don't do -- don't do -- don't do this to me.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the swirling storm of the Ukraine scandal, as much or more than the President --
(CROSSTALK)
GIULIANI: Shut up, moron. Shut up.
FOREMAN (voice-over): -- Rudy Giuliani, his lawyer, is at the center.
GIULIANI: You're just repeating spin. The prosecutor --
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, but --
GIULIANI: The prosecutor --
CUOMO: But you don't, right?
GIULIANI: That's --
CUOMO: You're not spinning anything, go ahead.
GIULIANI: The -- I'm not spinning a damn thing.
FOREMAN (voice-over): "TIME" has put him on its front page, calling him a shadow Secretary of State even as witnesses have told Congress said it was Giuliani who set up back door communication with the Ukrainians bypassing the State Department. Giuliani who Trump wanted the Ukrainians to talk to when the President
requested an investigation of Democrat Joe Biden, saying in that infamous phone call, if you could speak to him, that would be great.
And Giuliani who continues to claim, with zero proof, that Russian interference to help Republican Donald Trump was not the problem in the last election but meddling to help the Democrats was.
GIULIANI: It was actually real collusion. It involved the Ukrainians.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, Rudy --
GIULIANI: But the FBI did everything they could to keep this information away.
TRUMP: He's been a great crime fighter.
FOREMAN (voice-over): The President's defense of Giuliani has been at times strong, at times tepid as Giuliani's behavior has careened into the surreal.
For example, this week when he attacked Democrats for their probe into Trump's actions but simultaneously tweeted an admission that Trump did ask for a Ukrainian investigation. Or when he apparently butt-dialed an NBC reporter who overheard him complaining about Biden and looking for cash.
GIULIANI (via telephone): The problem is we need some money. We need a few hundred thousand.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you concerned that Rudy Giuliani could be indicted in all of this?
TRUMP: Well, I hope not.
FOREMAN (voice-over): But after two of Giuliani's clients, Soviet- born American businessmen, were charged with circumventing U.S. election laws, Giuliani has been showing up in the media to defend the President less often. And sources say he's been shopping for an attorney of his own.
GIULIANI: Laura, this stinks.
FOREMAN (on camera): It's possible to imagine that Giuliani will remain out of the spotlight because, like Trump, he clearly enjoys attention. But this kind of attention, maybe not so much.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CABRERA: Just in, burger giant McDonald's has fired its CEO over a relationship with an employee. Details, next, live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
[18:39:44]
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CABRERA: We are following major business news right now. The CEO of McDonald's is out after admitting to some personal behavior that he calls a mistake.
Steve Easterbrook has been the McDonald's CEO since 2015. In a company-wide e-mail obtained by CNN, Easterbrook told fellow McDonald's employees that he engaged in a, quote, consensual relationship with someone in the organization, a relationship that violated company policy. McDonald's has already named a new CEO.
The whistleblower whose allegations about the President's dealings with Ukraine sparked the House impeachment inquiry is willing to have Republicans submit their questions directly to him or her. This is a move that would provide a direct channel now for the party that currently holds the minority within the House Intelligence Committee.
Previously, the whistleblower offered to answer lawmakers' questions under oath and in writing but only if they were submitted by the committee as a whole. Republican leadership has publicly and consistently complained that the current process is unfair and overly restrictive in their ability to question witnesses.
I want to bring in CNN national security analyst and former Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Mike Rogers. Mike, what do you think of this invitation from the whistleblower's attorney? Will this be enough to quiet complaints from the GOP?
MIKE ROGERS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY COMMENTATOR: Probably -- likely not. I mean, any sense of decorum on the House Intelligence Committee is -- is just gone.
[18:45:00]
To me, this is just one more symptom of that, that the whistleblower doesn't even want to sit in the room with Republican members who probably should have the ability to ask the whistleblower some questions as that broader inquiry of impeachment moves forward.
CABRERA: But -- but they've been attacking the whistleblower, part of, you know, what the President's defense is and that this president has said multiple times that he wants to know the whistleblower's identity. So, I mean, could that be one of the reasons why the whistleblower doesn't want to sit in front of the committee for fear of his or her safety?
ROGERS: Oh, no doubt about it. And past behavior of certain members of that committee running down to the White House with -- with their hair on fire on certain bits of information that should have been kept within the jurisdiction of the House Intelligence Committee in the -- in Congress is probably a pretty good indicator why you wouldn't want to do that. And it's really unfortunate.
I -- I do believe if these things move to an inquiry, a broader inquiry on impeachment, the whistleblower will likely and should testify, not necessarily in open, about what the whistleblower knew and the kinds of people. Because you want to make sure you get all of those bits and pieces along the way, which I think would be really important in the investigation.
But the whistleblower has protections, and I think they're invoking that right now. I -- not that I would say, you know, that either party here has acted very well in this process, but I can completely understand why the whistleblower wants to maintain the whistleblower protection status. And as a part of that, they said that you could do these written questions.
At the end of the day, Ana, it's probably not going to be enough, but I do think that it's -- it's not a bad idea to try to protect your identity --
CABRERA: Yes.
ROGERS: -- in what has turned into an absolute vicious partisan fight.
CABRERA: Let's talk about "DECLASSIFIED" now because there is an all- new episode airing tonight.
ROGERS: Yes.
CABRERA: And this week, you give us a look inside the case of a would-be spy who used unbreakable codes and very classified information to try to sell America's secrets to its biggest enemies. Here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I remember coming out here many times.
You can see how rough it is and how remote it is. There's no one here. And there's no one to see you.
Never in a million years would I expect to be in the woods digging holes to find classified information. In a sense, we were digging for treasure. There was critical information buried out here that was important to the defense of the United States, and we had to find it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Oh, very mysterious.
ROGERS: Yes.
CABRERA: What does the intelligence community do when confronted with a spy like this in their own ranks?
ROGERS: Yes, Well, it's -- it's always disturbing to find, unfortunately, there are still folks who decide that their financial well-being is more important than the rest of the country's national security. And this was the case, somebody who spent 20 years in the military, who ended up working pretty sensitive casework -- he worked for the -- the National Reconnaissance Office -- decide that.
At the end of his career, he had piled up massive bills and thought, you know, I -- I have a quick way to make some money on this. He stole some very sensitive information, Ana. It wasn't just dangerous. This would have gotten people killed.
CABRERA: Right.
ROGERS: There were defense sites, missile defense sites that he was going to sell to Iraq. He thought he was going to do the -- the information in Libya, but he was going to the Chinese as well to try to sell really valuable information that would have exposed our troops who are doing operations in -- in -- across the Middle East to real danger.
I mean, this was -- this was about as bad as it gets. And he became known as the spy who couldn't spell right. And that's actually what led to finding them in the first place, tracking it down. Then they had to crack really hard codes to find that material that was buried in those woods as you saw in that -- that clip.
CABRERA: Mike Rogers, former congressman, thank you very much. It's always good to have you here.
ROGERS: Great. Thanks for having me.
CABRERA: You should tune in. It's an all-new episode of "DECLASSIFIED: UNTOLD STORIES OF AMERICAN SPIES." It airs tonight at 11:00 Eastern and Pacific, only on CNN.
Coming up, President Trump is met with boos at a second public event in one week. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
[17:49:27]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CABRERA: A warm welcome? Not entirely. President Trump met with loud boos and some cheers as he walked into Madison Square Garden last night for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. This was the second time in a week the President was booed in public. But as Jeanne Moos reports, Trump is not the first.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When President Trump looked at the first lady and smiled and smiled and smiled, was he hearing what we were hearing?
(BOOING)
MOOS (voice-over): Lots of booing plus an impeach Trump banner and veterans for impeachment peeping out behind the home plate. Not to mention --
CROWD: Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up! MOOS (voice-over): Hey, but at least --
(CROSSTALK)
MOOS (voice-over): -- nobody threw any shoes at him like they did at President George W. Bush in Baghdad. Is that a ball or a strike?
Practically all politicians get booed. For instance, Mike Pence --
(BOOING)
MOOS (voice-over): -- arriving at the Broadway musical, "Hamilton."
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I nudged my kids and reminded them that's what freedom sounds like.
MOOS (voice-over): Freedom sounded like this when Hillary Clinton said Bernie Sanders wasn't a Democrat until he ran for president.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I'm -- you know, I'm --
(BOOING)
CLINTON: Well, it's true. It's true. You know it's true.
MOOS (voice-over): It's bad enough getting booed but imagine getting booed on your birthday. That's what happened to Rudy Giuliani on his 74th birthday at his beloved Yankees Stadium.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The New York Yankees wish a very happy birthday to Mayor Giuliani.
(BOOING)
MOOS (voice-over): Crappy birthday, Rudy, said by "The New York Post."
President Obama even got booed by the Boy Scouts --
(BOOING)
MOOS (voice-over): -- after he sent a video message rather than appearing in person at the Scout Jamboree.
(BOOING)
MOOS (voice-over): But Obama turned boos to cheers at the Democratic convention.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's Donald Trump.
(BOOING)
OBAMA: Don't boo. Vote. (APPLAUSE)
MOOS (voice-over): Candidate Trump got booed for trying to silence Jeb Bush.
TRUMP: Let me talk. Quiet.
JEB BUSH (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How tough is it?
TRUMP: A lot of times --
(BOOING)
[18:55:02]
MOOS (voice-over): But don't bother trying to shush an entire stadium.
(BOOING)
MOOS (voice-over): You're destined to strike-out, big league. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CABRERA: Just one year from now, November 3, 2020, Americans head to the ballot box to pick a president. New polls out today showed just how tight the race is right now. We'll have that for you at the top of the hour. I'm Ana Cabrera. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CABRERA: He has emerged as the unlikely hero of the recent U.S. raid that left ISIS founder al-Baghdadi dead. We're talking about Conan the Dog. And last night, the Belgian Malinois was found to -- be featured in a center of a sketch on "Saturday Night Live."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How does it feel to be getting all the credit for killing --
(DOG BARKING)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- Baghdadi?
CECILY STRONG, ACTRESS: It's just been --
(LAUGHTER)
STRONG: Honestly, it was a team effort from day one. It's always I sniff your ass, you sniff mine.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP) CABRERA: President Trump has confirmed that the pooch is coming to
the White House this week. The visit comes amid an intense national debate, should Conan receive a Purple Heart? Time will tell if he leaves with a medal hanging around his neck.
[19:00:02]
Top of the hour, you are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. It's great to have you with us.
