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Trump Denies Being Briefed On Russian Bounties To Kill U.S. Troops; Mississippi Lawmakers Vote To Remove Confederate Emblem From Flag. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired June 29, 2020 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: And this is a stark example of that. We'll check back in Mayor, as you said, it's -- you're still going to see more cases pop up due to just this kind of one situation at one bar. Thank you, Mayor for coming in. I really appreciate it.

MAYOR RUTH BEIER, EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN: Yes, thank you.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, strong denials coming from the White House about reports of a Russian spy operation to target and kill U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan, our latest reporting next.

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BOLDUAN: The White House says members of Congress will now be briefed on the reporting that Russian intelligence officers offered bounties to Taliban fighters to kill U.S. and British troops in Afghanistan. The President had declared that the intelligence wasn't viable. And he also denies that he was ever briefed on it.

[12:35:10]

Tweeting overnight that it's possibly a fabricated Russian hoax, he even went there already on this. Sources tell CNN that the U.S. shared intelligence with the U.K. about the Russian bounties, though, as recently as last week.

CNN's Kylie Atwood is at the State Department. She's joining me now. Kylie, "The Washington Post" is also reporting that the bounties are believed to be tied to the deaths of multiple U.S. troops. What are you hearing about all of this?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Kate. So "The Washington Post" is saying that these bounties, as you said, that was money that the Russians offered the Taliban to kill U.S. and British soldiers in Afghanistan.

They are saying that those bounties are believed to be connected to the death of several U.S. service members. Now, our reporting is that the U.S. is reviewing the casualties of U.S. service members in Afghanistan to make that determination, to determine if these bounties were connected to those service members deaths. Now, it's important to know that the President, the White House, the Director of National Intelligence, have all come out and said that President Trump was not briefed on this intelligence. And the President is bracing -- is saying in a tweet today that he wasn't briefed because these intelligence reports were not credible.

But there are many questions, particularly for members of Congress on both sides of the aisle today coming out and questioning why the President wouldn't have been briefed, even on this intelligence matter, even if it wasn't a final determination calling for briefings for all members of Congress.

I want to read this to you from a Republican congressman today, that's congressman Thornberry saying, quote, I don't know the credibility of the information because I have not been briefed, but anything with any hint of credibility that would endanger our service members, much less put a bounty on their lives, to me should have been briefed immediately to the Commander-in-Chief.

Now, the White House press secretary is saying that Congress is going to be briefed. Our reporters are saying that that briefing will happen today. We don't know which members of Congress are going to be briefed on this matter.

But Kate, I am reporting that as recently as last week, the U.S. briefed U.K. -- the U.K., the Brits, on this intelligence. And it's important to note that the U.K. National Security Adviser was also here in Washington last week. He met with top Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien.

And so it's really important to kind of get to the fundamentals of who knew this intelligence and when? And that is what we are efforting now, Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes. It's hugely important. It's really remarkable actually. Kylie, great reporting, thank you very much, much more to come on that.

But in the meantime, let me bring in David Priess. He's a former CIA officer who's conducted presidential daily briefings himself. He's also the author of the "President's Book of Secrets: The Untold Story of Intelligence Briefing to America's President." It's good to see you again, David. It's been it's been quite some time.

I think Congressman Mac Thornberry really hit the nail on the head there that if there's any hint or whiff of a danger to U.S. soldiers in something like this, that it should have been taken immediately to the President of the United States. I mean, does this make sense to you that the -- as the President tweeted that the intelligence community just reported to Trump that they don't find the intelligence credible, so they didn't bring it to him?

DAVID PRIESS, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, LAWFARE: As Kylie said, there are some unanswered questions here. And some information might help fill the gaps. But the way it's looking now, it doesn't not make sense that is if it's being briefed to allies, such as our British partners in Afghanistan and if it's being briefed to commanders, that means that it's at least credible enough that people might take action on the ground to counter the threat.

And if anyone is going to take action on the ground to counter the threat, this involves high politics. This involves the relationship with Russia in the case where they might be trying to foster the killing of U.S. soldiers. That is the kind of thing that is normally briefed to the President if it has those grave consequences.

Now, it's possible it was briefed to the President and they're playing semantic games. That is, President Trump receives perhaps two to three oral intelligence briefings a week, he gets a printed copy of the President's daily brief, but it's not clear whether he reads it. Some reporting suggests he does not.

In that case, it's possible something was put into the President's daily brief, which some reporting suggests did happen. But he simply didn't read it and it was not brought to his attention that raises even more questions about why the National Security Adviser, the Secretary of Defense, and others chose not to tell the Commander-in- Chief about such a grave threat.

[12:40:12]

BOLDUAN: Can I just ask you because you are an expert on these all important presidential daily briefings, presidents have been receiving them for decades. How should this have been presented? Something that if this as "The Washington Post" is reporting that if "The Washington Post" as it is reporting is that the reporting is accurate, this has these bounties have been linked to U.S. deaths? If that is true, how should this have been presented to the President?

PRIESS: Yes. This is exactly the kind of thing that the President's daily brief was created for, to make sure that the President had the most up to date analysis and assessment of what is almost always uncertain intelligence.

You don't put things into the President's daily brief only when they are completely corroborated and verified because then it's not intelligence anymore, then it's fact. You normally put things in that have some degree of uncertainty. And the assessment will describe that level of uncertainty and why it matters for the conclusion.

But this is the kind of thing that is designed to go to the President of the United States. Now, past presidents read the PDB, in most cases, religiously, some also took oral briefings. This is the first president perhaps since Richard Nixon that has been documented that he just doesn't seem to read it.

In that case, it does fall upon advisors around the President to make sure that one way or another, he gets this information. The White House Situation Room gets intelligence. The National Security Council staff gets intelligence. These are people who can go to the president and say, Mr. President, I know you might not have read this grave development in the President's daily brief, but give me five minutes to walk you through it and explain what's happening. And maybe we can create some options about what the U.S. government is going to do about it.

As of now, the best picture we have, Kate, is that those discussions did not take place. The thing we don't know is whether they didn't do that, because they didn't think it wasn't worth the President's attention, which is alarming, or if they didn't do it because they were afraid of what the President might or might not do with that information, which is also alarming.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely alarming. I mean, on just -- when you take it broadly, and you look at the President's reaction to this publicly, he's called it possibly another Russian hoax. What does that -- just your reaction, just from your background, everything you know, the President's you have briefed, the seriousness of this reporting.

PRIESS: Yes. Yes. I have to say I go back to my intelligence roots, and almost anything is possible. Could it be a Russian hoax? Of course it could be. It would be a very bizarre Russian hoax. But disturbing is the fact that the President immediately jumps to the fact it must be a Russian hoax to pretend that Russians are trying to kill U.S. soldiers and attack the press reporting it rather than saying, if this is true, we need to be on top of it.

If I wasn't briefed on this, I need to talk to my advisors and find out why and perhaps fire some of them for not doing their job. But if in fact, it is true, we need to protect U.S. personnel abroad. We need to protect the soldiers and others who are overseas because that's my job as Commander-in-Chief. That's what I would have expected to hear from this or any other president about this threat.

And instead, the reflex of lashing out against potential hoaxes or fake news, I'm not sure how seriously he's still taking it now, regardless of whether every element of the reporting is corroborated or not.

BOLDUAN: Well, let's hope that members of Congress who will be briefed on it will take it seriously. David, it's good to see you. Thank you for coming in.

PRIESS: Yes. Well, we'll have to see.

BOLDUAN: Yes, absolutely. Thank you.

PRIESS: Thanks Kate.

[12:44:04]

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, a historic moment in Mississippi as a Republican governor is preparing to remove the Confederate emblem from the state's flag.

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BOLDUAN: A historic moment playing out in Mississippi this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By vote of 36 to 14, the motion passes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: After weeks of debate, it is official lawmakers, they're voting to remove the Confederate emblem from the state flag. The governor says he will sign the bill. He will make it law. Residents are expected to have -- to be voting on a new design come November.

The change comes amid ongoing protests, of course, against racial injustice across the country, including in Mississippi. Joining me now is Mississippi State Senator Derrick Simmons, the Democratic Minority Leader. So Senator, it's great to have you here. Thank you for your time. This is a historic moment for the state, for the country. What does it mean for you?

STATE SEN. DERRICK SIMMONS (D-MS): Thank you so much, Kate, for having me.

This is one of the proudest moments of my legislative career as a Senate Minority Leader and being a Senator in Mississippi for eight years, this was the single most piece of legislation that was basically that's life changing, not only for me, but also many Mississippians who have felt default way before I got here.

[12:50:07]

BOLDUAN: Long overdue is what I have heard many people say, how big of a step is this move, though, in the fight for racial justice, in the fight against systemic racism?

SIMMONS: It's so important. It's no secret, Kate, that Mississippi has many dark and painful chapters in her book. And what we did over the last few days is basically going against that symbol of hate, oppression, and divisiveness. And we are trying to now move into a new chapter in Mississippi, a chapter where it would be bright, a chapter where it will be inclusive, and a chapter will be progressive.

And so to do that, the same bipartisanship that we exhibited over the last few days and taking down the flag. It's time to raise up those real issues of racial inequalities in Mississippi. And so we need to work in the same way to address those things, whether it's education, whether it's criminal justice reform, with Mississippi being the second largest state with the highest -- second largest incarceration rate in the country, whether it's broadband and internet access, whether it's the fact that we spend billions of dollars a year, and we only spend less than 1 percent with black businesses of public dollars.

So those are the real racial inequalities that exist in Mississippi. And the flag was just the start of something new in Mississippi that we need to address.

BOLDUAN: You have a son, have you thought about what this means that he doesn't have to grow up anymore with the state flag glorifying the Confederate battle emblem?

SIMMONS: Hey, OK, in fact, I have a one-year-old and a six-year-old. And I have to be educated in public schools that flew that oppressive symbol. I had to frequent businesses that flew that oppressive symbol.

And certainly coming to this Capitol for eight years, I had to leave out of my car, look up at the top of the Capitol and see that hateful symbol at the top of the Capitol. And even when we came inside of the Capitol, we will actually pray and then we would do a pledge. And behind us, was the American flag. And unfortunately, there was also that confederate flag. So what it means to me is that my sons would not have to experience what I experience throughout.

BOLDUAN: You know this vote was held on the very same day that the President tweeted a video out of a supporter, shouting white power. He later deleted the video. The White House says that he did not hear that being said in the video. It just can't be lost that these two things happen on the same day. I just wanted to get your reaction.

SIMMONS: My reaction is that, oh, this type of symbol that was flying in Mississippi and with Mississippi being the last state in the Union to fly that symbol. I mean, it was representative of what the rhetoric that we hear and have heard from the White House in the last 40 years.

And so it's telling. It's telling. All the protests that we are seeing across this country and those protests made themselves, made their way to Mississippi. And so it's just important that we continue to express how important is it that we do the right thing, going into November. And if we really want to just have a bright future, not only in Mississippi, but in America, we need to change the occupants of the White House.

BOLDUAN: It was very big day in Mississippi, largely important to you and what you've been pushing for. State Senator, thanks for coming in.

SIMMONS: Thank you Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you. We'll be right back.

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[12:56:38]

BOLDUAN: Two European diplomats tell CNN E.U. members have until tomorrow to sign off on a list of countries to be allowed to travel back into the E.U. As expected, the U.S. isn't on that list. So Americans would not be permitted to travel there. That and more now from our CNN correspondents with coronavirus headlines from around the world.

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DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in China on new strict lockdown about 90 miles from us here in Beijing, it's got some 400,000 residents essentially shut off from their neighbors. The lockdown is reminiscent of Wuhan though it's a more rural community that's impacted here.

Officials have ordered all villages, communities, and buildings to be fully closed off. One family member is allowed to leave each house daily for buying necessities. Now this may seem extreme given that the county has only reported less than 20 coronavirus cases. But you got to remember this follows a recent cluster outbreak from a Beijing wholesale food market. And that led to compartmentalize lockdowns right here in the capital.

Some Beijing communities in fact are still sealed off here more than two weeks after that cluster outbreak. Now officials say it is under control though they have stepped up mass testing, which has as of now covered according to officials some 7.5 million people here in Beijing.

Now part of the extreme response in this latest lockdown shows the fear of a potential second wave here in China and how quickly life can go from near normal again, back to lockdown mode.

David Culver, CNN, Beijing.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Mexico, we are without question in the worst days of this outbreak so far consider since June 1st, we have seen the number of cases in this country more than double and the overall death toll has gone up by more than 150 percent. But despite that the government here is moving forward with plans to reopen parts of the economy, including here in Mexico City, which has been the hardest hit region of Mexico so far.

And of course there is risk there that you take an outbreak that is already very severe and make it that much worse. But the economy here has also taken a massive hit. Millions of people, according to the government have lost their jobs during this outbreak due to the government shutdown and the International Monetary Fund is predicting that Mexico's GDP could fall by 10.5 percent in 2020.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here in Abu Dhabi, people are looking very anxiously north towards what's going on in Iran where it is now clear. According to the authorities, they are suffering a second wave of infections and the death tolls will show it.

In the last 48 hours, there have been 144, then 162 people dead each day. Over the last week the numbers have been over 100. Those figures had not been seen for several weeks after it appeared that Iran which is one of the earliest to suffer in the pandemic was beginning to get to grips with the spread of the virus.

But now the Iranian President has said the various hotspots, cities around the country will now have to reimpose locked down and they're demanding that people wear masks in those locations and ask them to mask -- wear masks elsewhere. This will coming of course as Iran continues to struggle with its economy being crippled by U.S. impose sanctions. Sam Kiley, CNN in Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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