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McConnell Talks To CNN About Trump, Midterms & Voting Rights; British P.M. Johnson Under Scrutiny For Birthday Bash During COVID Lockdown; London Metro Police Investigating Number Of Events At Prime Minister's Residence During Lockdown; Bill Browder Discusses Putin, Russia And Ukraine & Tucker Carlson Spewing Pro-Russia Propaganda; Brian Deese, Director, White House National Economic Council, Discusses Stock Markets, Inflation, Russia-Ukraine Tensions, Economy. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired January 25, 2022 - 14:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:32:50]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: In a new CNN interview, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell reveals his thoughts on Trump, the November midterms and voting rights.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: And he has a warning for Republican candidates who continue to reject President Biden's win over Trump in 2020.

CNN chief congressional correspondent, Manu Raju, got this interview. He joins us now from Capitol Hill.

So what else did Mitch McConnell say in.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, McConnell is concerned about nominating unelectable candidates, in his view, who could be vulnerable in a general election.

And the concern had been from a number of Republicans that a fight that between Donald Trump and McConnell, if they broke in two different ways, and Trump backed some candidates, McConnell backed other candidates, ultimately would lead to divisive primaries in which an unelectable candidate could emerge from the primaries.

McConnell told me he has not seen that play out. And that he and the former president, despite their public differences over January 6th, are on the same page in some key Senate races in Nevada and Georgia.

There's a difference in the Alaskan Senate race. That is a race where Lisa Murkowski, the Republicans Senator, is running for re-election. But Trump is going after her. But she -- whoever emerges there will most certainly be a Republican.

And there are also concerns about the Missouri Senate race. The Republican leader, McConnell, told me that he is watching that closely as a number of Republicans are nervous about the former governor there, Eric Greitens, emerging there, given concerns about his past.

But Trump himself has stayed neutral in that race.

And at the same time, McConnell is concerned about some of the rhetoric that some of the Republican candidates have been voicing, namely embracing the lie that Donald Trump won the election.

Trump has essentially wielded that conspiracy over potential candidates in order to secure his endorsement in that race.

And when I asked him about that, McConnell told me this.

He said, "It's important for candidates to remember, we need to respect the results of our democratic process unless the court system demonstrates that some significant fraud occurred that would change the outcome."

Now, at the same time, there has been of course a push on Capitol Hill to expand voter access. And McConnell has been on the forefront pushing back on that effort.

I asked him if he has concerns about this impacting minority voters and having them have a sour view of Republicans.

[14:35:03]

He responded by saying this: "I think that I can confidently say that we won't lose any elections over that issue anywhere in the country."

He said people are concerned about a wholly different set of concerns, inflation, an out-of-control border, Afghanistan, the controversy over COVID.

And he went on to say, "I mean, the thought that a single Senate race in America would be decided over that issue strikes me as being wildly out of touch with what the American people are interested in."

So clearly, a different view of the election and how the election may shape up with Democrats banking that things could be -- that he and Donald Trump could be on the same page on getting behind some of the candidates here.

But still a bit uncertain because McConnell is still pining for two governors, Ducey in Arizona, Hogan in Maryland, to run in the Senate races there.

But Trump is not a big fan of those. And they could be on the opposite sides if those two candidates if they jump in -- guys?

BLACKWELL: Very, very interesting.

Manu Raju, on Capitol Hill, thank you.

RAJU: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Embattled British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is coming under new scrutiny now. This time, for a birthday party for Johnson.

It was held in the summer of 2020 at his official residence while the pandemic was raging in the U.K. and Britain was in its first COVID lockdown.

CAMEROTA: And London Metropolitan Police today announcing that they are investigating a number of events that took place at the prime minister's official residence at 10 Downing Street.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is joining us from London.

So, Salma, some of those events, as we just said, took place while the U.K. was under strict COVID restrictions.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN LONDON REPORTER: Alisyn and Victor, the partying so hard at Downing Street that now the police need to get involved. This is a really serious escalation of Partygate.

For weeks now, there have been accusations of multiple parties happening inside Downing Street. And they were already the subject of a civil service inquiry.

That inquiry, which is being led by civil service servant, again, Sue Gray, she had been speaking to the police throughout.

Now the police are saying that it has raised some of those events to the threshold required for a criminal investigation.

What I'm saying here is potentially Downing Street staff broke COVID rules. Potentially, they could be fined for breaking those rules.

And critics have for weeks said, when is the police going to get involved?

One of those critics is the mayor of London. And he quickly took to social media.

I'll read you what he wrote.

"I welcome confirmation that the Met Police is investigating a number of events that took place at Downing Street and Whitehall in the last two years in relation to potential breeches of the law. The public rightly expect the police to uphold the law without fear or favor."

And that is the bottom line here, this sense overwhelmingly in the country that the rules apply to us, the public, but did not apply to them, the government.

Or as one angry voter told me, "All the rules apply to us and apparently there was no rules for them."

This is a very serious matter, of course, now under police investigation.

But it is not just that. It is Prime Minister Boris Johnson's political future at stake. Because if his party turns against him, if he is found to be

implicated, he could potentially lose his seat.

CAMEROTA: OK, Salma, thank you.

[14:38:20]

So moments ago, President Biden says he would consider personal sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Our next guest has had his own run-ins with Putin and believes that there's only one thing that gets Putin's attention. That is next.

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[14:43:18]

CAMEROTA: The Pentagon says, despite Western warnings for Russia to step back from Ukraine, Russia's Vladimir Putin is actually sending more troops to the border.

Just a few minutes ago, President Biden said this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Would you ever see yourself personally sanctioning him if he did invade Ukraine?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You would?

BIDEN: I would see that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: With us now is Bill Broward, the CEO of Hermitage Capital Management.

And he's the author of "Red Notice, A True Story of High Finance, Murder and One Man's Fight for Justice," which is his personal story of exposing story of exposing corruption when he lived and worked in Russia and barely escaped with his life.

Bill, great to see you.

You've seen Vladimir Putin's tactics up close and personal. And you believe that this time he is bluffing. What tells you that?

BILL BROWDER, CEO & CO-FOUNDER, HERMITAGE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT & AUTHOR: Well, so right now, he is basically -- if this were a game of poker, he has a pair of twos and the West has a full house.

But he is trying to -- he is basically huffing and puffing and doing all this stuff to see whether we fold before he -- he wants concessions from us, he wants capitulation from us. And all of this noise that he is making is trying to get that. Now, bluffing may be too strong a word because he's kind of boxed

himself into a corner. He's got to do something. He can't just walk away at this point.

CAMEROTA: That's what I was wondering. Just because he is bluffing doesn't mean that he won't invade. What could be done right now to give him an off-ramp?

BROWDER: I don't think that we should give him an off-ramp. I think what we should do at this point is touch him where it matters most, which is to go after his money.

[14:45:03]

His money is held -- he is one of the richest men in the world. He's a huge kleptocrat. But he doesn't keep it in his name. He keeps it in the name of oligarch trustees. And they keep that money in the West, in the United States and U.K. and Europe.

And the best way of getting to Putin would be to go after the wealth of the oligarchs, freeze their assets in the West.

The best way to do that, I believe, is to make a list of the 50 biggest oligarchs in Russia, who hold Putin's wealth, and sanction five of them, freeze their assets today.

And say, if you don't pull back from that border in a week's time, we'll freeze another five's assets. And if you cross that border, we'll go after all 50 of them.

Because these people hold Putin's money, that will have a much bigger effect than everything else that we're doing right now.

CAMEROTA: That is really interesting, Bill, because you've heard perhaps President Biden talking about this and saying that absolutely he would consider going after Putin with personal sanctions.

And, yes, he is considering stiffer sanctions against Russia and the oligarchs.

But why would you do it now? Why wouldn't you just threaten that, let that hang out there, and see if Putin responds by backing off?

BROWDER: Because Putin doesn't think that we're serious. And so the best way of showing him we're serious is to start. Not with the whole list, just a small list. And say, here's a little taster of what is to come.

Because right now, he sees division among the allies. He see he Germany basically not allowing British military transport to go over its air space, provide military support for Ukraine.

Tomorrow, a bunch of major Italian companies will be hosting Putin on an Italian/Russian business seminar.

What Putin sees is that we're divided. The only way to make it clear that we're not, is do something in advance, show him, if you are going to threaten war, we'll take action right now.

CAMEROTA: Over on the FOX channel, one of the primetime hosts doesn't see the difference between Vladimir Putin and the leader in Ukraine, doesn't see the difference between an autocracy and a fledgling democracy.

So here is what was said there on Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST, "TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT": Vladimir Putin is our most dangerous enemy, they scream. We can't let him hurt Ukraine.

So turns out, Russiagate was actually much more effective even that we realize. The Steel dossier has been debunked.

But in Washington, the theme remains important. Russia! Russia! Russia. Russia is bad!

Why is it disloyal to side with Russia but loyal to side with Ukraine? They are both foreign countries who don't care anything about the United States. Kind of strange.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Bill, why do you think so many right-wing Republicans here in the U.S. have a soft spot for Putin?

BROWDER: Well, I wouldn't compare Republicans to Tucker Carlson. There are plenty of Republicans that I've worked with in the Senate and House of Representatives that are just as tough as anybody else is on Russia.

Tucker Carlson, what he said, he is clearly an ignorant man. He doesn't understand what Putin is up to.

I've seen Putin up close and personal. He is a murderer. He's chased me all around the world trying to kill me. He killed my lawyer. And he killed leading Russian opposition politician. He poisoned Alexei Navalny.

Tucker Carlson should keep his mouth shut when it comes to Vladimir Putin.

CAMEROTA: And I wasn't just referring to Tucker there. Obviously, former President Trump had a soft spot for Putin.

And I was hearing from a lawmaker in New Jersey who was saying that his constituents are calling him because they listen to the FOX channel or some of these conservatives and say, yes, what is the big deal, why aren't we siding with Russia.

And so whatever is happening, it is starting to spread. It's taking root.

BROWARD: Well, it is and it isn't. It is being advertised by a small group of people who don't know what they are talking about.

But the U.S. policy -- and this a bipartisan policy -- is to stand with Ukraine. That hasn't changed.

There's not a ground swell of support for Vladimir Putin in the United States. I think that that is -- I think that that is a red herring.

What is going on right now with Russia is completely -- is completely outrageous. I don't see many people saying otherwise.

CAMEROTA: And anti-democratic.

Bill Broward, thank you. It's really great to get your personal perspective on all of this. We appreciate your time.

BROWARD: Thank you.

[14:49:49]

BLACKWELL: Another up-and-down day on Wall Street. Volatility is being fueled by inflation, Russia/Ukraine tensions. Was down several hundred points earlier today. Now up more than 100 points. We'll get reaction from the director of the White House National Economic Council, next.

But first, here are some other events we're watching today.

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[14:55:19]

BLACKWELL: Well, today is turning into another wild ride for the stock market. The Dow is up about 150 points. That's after dropping more than 750 points after the opening bell.

Now inflation is also hitting Americans in the pocket. In the last year, things have risen. Look at the cost of gasoline. Up nearly 50 percent here. Price of used cars up more than 37 percent. Clothes, food up sharply.

Brian Deese is the director of the White House National Economic Council.

Brian, good to have you back on.

Let's start with this meeting of the White House Competition Council aimed at bringing the prices down. What's the plan?

BRIAN DEESE, DIRECTOR, WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC COUNCIL: We convened the Competition Council yesterday based on a simple premise,, which is healthy competition is a hallmark of healthy Capitalism.

Because when there's more competition, consumer end up with lower prices and more options and workers get higher wages.

We're looking across the federal government at ways we can encourage competition, encourage more new and small businesses to get into the game. And this can have a very tangible practical impact on people's lives.

We talked yesterday about a rule that will allow people to buy hearing aids over the counter, which means not only the hassle of not having to get a prescription but you'll pay hundreds of dollars less for hearing aids.

For the 48 million people who have hearing loss in America, that's practical, tangible output.

Also removing barriers to get people back to work. There's too many situations where somebody has to take a job and sign away a non- compete clause.

They can't go and take a better job at a competitor even if they can get higher wages doing so.

Eliminate some of those regulations could get more people working in this economy. That would be good for the American people, good for prices as well.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about when the American people will see this relief. I read the read-out from yesterday's meeting.

It says, "The American families will feel more breathing room in their budgets over the coming months."

Then I went back and read the read-out from the first meeting back in September, where they said, "Middle-class families will feel the impact at the grocery store, when they travel the see loved ones, when they ship Internet plans in the West."

That's after the signing of executive order in July.

When will there be the sustained breathing room that you keep promising after these meetings?

DEESE: Some of the impacts will take effect right away, like the issue of hearing aids that I raise or like the issue of the right to repair. Somebody who buys iPhone or a tractor and they're not allowed to repair it themselves.

Because of the actions that this council took, we saw a number of companies, like Apple and Microsoft, saying people can repair their own products. That's happening now.

Some of the issues will happen over time.

Look, the concentration that's happened in a number of big industries has happened over years and decades. It's not going to be reversed in a day or a month.

But this is work that, the sooner we focus on it, and the sooner we put these changes in place, the sooner people will see benefits.

I will underscore this is just one of the ways that the president is acting. We have to work to get COVID under control. We have to work to unsnarl our supply chains. And we see, when we do that, we're making progress.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about the impact of the top story today.

If these sanctions are necessary for a Russian invasion into Ukraine, what will be the impact on gas prices here in the U.S.

And are you, at the White House, doing a sufficient job of preparing people for what could be a pretty impressive increase?

DEESE: Well, the president's made clear, if Vladmir Putin moves, then he will act. And there will be clear pain imposed on the Russian economy for those actions.

We're looking very carefully and partnering with our allies, out European allies to make sure we do that in a way that minimizes the impact on the European economy and the American economy.

The good news is that we have the tools in place to put real pain on the Russian economy without that having significant impact in the United States.

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: Is there an estimate on how much it would increase, 10 percent, 20 percent?

DEESE: Our economy is really not very exposed to the Russian economy if you look at exports and the things we rely on in trade. It's a very, very small share.

And so --

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: It's a global oil market, right? Would there be some increase? And do you know how much it would be?

[14:59:55]

DEESE: Well, if you look at global oil markets, the issue now is that we have constrained supply into a global market that's increasing in demand. That's an issue we have been working on with our partners and out allies.

The price of oil is set globally.