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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump Says He Wouldn't Allow CIA to Use Kim's Family As Assets; Nancy Pelosi on President Trump: "I'm Done With Him"; Buttigieg Hammers Trump. Aired on 7-8p ET
Aired June 11, 2019 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: To our viewers, thanks very much for watching. You could follow me on Twitter and Instagram @WOLFBLITZER. Tweet the show @CNNSITROOM. Erin Burnett OUTFRONT starts right now.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT next, bare knuckle brawl, Trump and Biden trading blows on the campaign trail. It's ugly tonight. The two both in Iowa and about to speak any moment. Plus, Don Jr. making a second appearance tomorrow before the Senate Intelligence Committee. What do they want from the President's son. And they may be the most stunning comments Trump has ever made about North Korea. Why some tonight are asking what countries team is Trump on? Let's go out front.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, Trump and Biden blow for blow. Both men in Iowa tonight. They've been trading barbs all day and they are both expected to take the stage any moment. And before the President left Washington today, Trump was already up and running attacking Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'd rather run against, I think, Biden than anybody. I think he's the weakest mentally and I like running against people that are weak mentally. I think Joe is the weakest up here. The other ones have much more energy. I don't agree with their policies. But I think Joe is a man who is, I call him 1 percent Joe, because until Obama came along he didn't do very well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Trump referring to Biden's last showing in the Iowa caucuses, but Biden is doing well right now. You see on the screen a new poll today Biden topping Trump by 13 points, 53 to 40. And perhaps that's the reason the President is so fired up about Biden. As for Biden, it didn't take long for him to respond.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, FORMER UNITED STATES VICE PRESIDENT: He embraces dictators like Kim Jong-un who's a damn murderer and a thug. The one thing they agree on Joe Biden, he shouldn't be president. He coach Kim Jong-un saying, "I agree with him. He's right about Biden." I think I'm either low IQ or slow, I don't know what I am. Slow Joe Biden, give me a break. I mean this is like that Alice in Wonderland.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And just moments from now both Trump and Biden are expected to take the stage. According to prepared remarks, Biden is going to mention President Trump dozens of times tonight and he's already been talking about him all day. And he appears frankly to be doing it for an audience of one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Apparently, he had my speech on an Air Force One. I guess he's really fascinated with me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Of course, if you listen to Trump, it is Biden who is fascinated with him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: When a man has to mention my name 76 times in his speech, that means he's in trouble. Now, I have to tell you he's a different guy. He looks different than he used to. He acts different than he used to. He's even slower than he used to be, so I don't know. But when he mentions my name that many times, I guess I should be complimented.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK. Trump obviously trying to portray Biden is slow and aging every second he can, which is a surprising line of attack given that Biden is 76 and Trump will turn 73 on Friday. But Trump is trying to turn this into an issue for Biden only and the idea of Trump questioning Biden's health may sound familiar if you watch Fox News.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN HANNITY, HOST, FOX NEWS: Joe Biden is tired. He does not have the energy for this. He's not up for this challenge.
LARRY ELDER, RADIO SHOW HOST AND AUTHOR: He's not angry.
HANNITY: They're already hiding him like they hit Hillary. They don't want him out there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You start to go, "You know we haven't seen Joe a lot. Maybe he's got some hidden health issues, is always wearing an overcoat."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. I just want to say there are no known health issue. It's a baseless line of attack that worked for Trump in 2016 too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: Folks, you think Hillary would be able to stand up here for an
hour and endure this, I don't know. I don't know.
For one thing she doesn't have the strength or the stamina.
Here's a woman, she makes a speech for 15 minutes, she goes home, goes to bed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: We have both Trump and Biden covered tonight with our reporters in Iowa. Kaitlan Collins with Western Des Moines with President Trump, Arlette Saenz is in Davenport with Vice President Biden. Kaitlan, let me start with you. The President is obviously very focused on Biden today.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he is. And these two men have been trading insults for weeks now, but things took a sharp and personal turn now that they're both here in Iowa. Even though, Erin, they didn't even come face-to-face within the state. And in fact, they didn't even come within 100 miles of each other.
But we know based on a reporting that the President has been phoning aides and allies in recent weeks, sometimes before 7:00 am, asking them if they think Joe Biden is going to be a real threat to him in the 2020 election. Now, that's not all, of course, there was that internal polling at the President's campaign that showed him lagging behind Joe Biden in critical states that will be crucial to win in 2020 even though the President is sometimes down at those own numbers, even though they come from his campaign.
But of course, Erin, what this all boils down to is the President is worried that Joe Biden could pose a threat to that blue collar voter appeal that he had in 2016 in critical primary states like Iowa. So that is why you already see the President continue to ramp up his attacks on Joe Biden, even though advisers have said, "Hey, you don't need to do that until he's actually the nominee." The President is making clear he's enjoying having this fight. You can expect him to continue to ramp up those attacks on Joe Biden, even while he's here in this room at a fundraiser with me tonight.
[19:05:32] BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Kaitlan. Let's go to Arlette. And Arlette, Biden repeating the President's name over and over today, what, it was 76 times when you counted use of the pronoun he. What is the strategy here?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Biden, throughout the day, Erin, has been going after President Trump and this all plays into his general election strategy since day one. Biden has been trying to frame this as a campaign between himself and President Trump, trying to draw in President Trump into some of these debates, little battles back and forth with him.
Biden has really refrained from engaging directly with his Democratic rivals. He's refrained from engaging in those intraparty debates. Last week, he waited into that abortion debate as he switched sides on that issue. But right now, what Biden is really trying to sell is, one, that he has the most experience to lead the country and two that he has that ability to take on President Trump.
And what the former vice president is banking on, he is betting that voters are valuing electability and that they can see Biden in these fights engaging with the President as someone who is willing to take on Trump directly. These criticisms and attacks are not going to let up, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Arlette, thank you very much. And let's go now to Mark Preston, Senior Political Analyst, former Senator Carol Moseley Braun endorsing Joe Biden and Rob Astorino, a Member of President Trump's 2020 Re-Elect Advisory Council.
So Mark, are both of them getting a bit ahead of themselves with this preview of the general election tonight, dueling rallies same time in Iowa talking about each other all day?
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, a couple things. One, if you are Joe Biden, if you are a Democrat running right now against 20 plus other Democrats every day has to be an election day in the sense that you have to prove to your base that you are willing to take on Donald Trump head on. That's what we're seeing from Joe Biden, certainly in a state like Iowa that Trump won back in 2016 but Barack Obama had won it in 2008 and 2012. So Joe Biden doing it, he has to do it to stay relevant.
On the other hand, Donald Trump, in some ways is elevating Joe Biden by spending so much time talking about him. He would probably be better served backing that off a little bit and just talking about his accomplishments that would probably do better for him, but he just can't help himself, Erin.
BURNETT: So Senator, I want to play something that Trump said today and something that Biden then said in response. Here they are.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: That reminds me of crooked Hillary. She did the same thing and then when it came time to vote, they all said, "You know, she doesn't like Trump very much. But what else does she stand for?" Same things happening with sleepy Joe. He's a sleepy guy.
BIDEN: Eight years, eight years, he will fundamentally change the nature of who we are as a country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Senator, do you worry that Biden is making this all about Trump? But Trump actually has a point, which is that if all you can do is talk about me and being an opposition to me, you're going to lose.
FORMER SEN. CAROL MOSELEY BRAUN (D-IL): Well, the point is this would be entertainment if it weren't so serious, if the future of the world were not at stake. And the fact of the matter is that we got huge issues of everything from climate change to immigration to children being separated from their parents and what's going to happen with the middle class in this country. We've got these huge issues and these two guys are duking it out like you're on a schoolyard somewhere.
I support Joe Biden because I know him to be a selfless individual who cares about working people, who cares about poor people which has always been my concern. The fact to the matter is the contrast could not be more stark between someone who has been selfless in their dedication to helping everybody and another individual for whom it's all very personal.
For the President, it's all about him and it's all about what he cares about personally. And I think that frankly, the American people deserve better.
BURNETT: So Rob, look, here's the thing a source familiar with the thinking of a lot of Trump advisors say, "Look, there's frustration." With the fact that he keeps talking about Biden, he's like, "Oh, Biden talks about me 76 times." Well, let's count his times. I mean, OK, this is a mutual fascination society to use the President's word. OK. Is Trump making a mistake by elevating Biden or does he want to elevate Biden because he actually thinks Biden is weak even though the polls do not show that?
ROB ASTORINO, MEMBER OF THE PRESIDENT'S 2020 RE-ELECT ADVISORY COUNCIL: I think he shouldn't pay as much attention as he is simply because I think he's got a great record to run and he should be touting that. In Iowa, for instance ...
BURNETT: Maybe it'll work.
ASTORINO: ... well, he won 93 of 99 counties last time and won the state for the first Republican to do so since 1980. The agricultural industry there is getting somebody who's actually doing something for them and renegotiating NAFTA, which Biden has to run on in a state like Iowa that hurt Iowans tremendously. And I also think Biden is not the strongest.
Now, if you ask me that a month ago I would have said he is, now I think the true Biden is showing. The Hyde Amendment shows that he will do anything or say anything. If he stuck to his convictions on that, it might have caused him a little bit problem during the primary, but I think in the general election, he would have gotten more respect from people and maybe even some anti Trump voters to find a home with him, but that's not there anymore.
BURNETT: So Mark, to this point though about how strong is Biden, the Quinnipiac poll that showed Biden beating Trump by 13 points, that's a national poll and obviously national polls are not what this is based on, but that's what we have at this point. Bigger win than any other Democratic candidate has over Trump in that poll.
An independent voters, it was especially strong, 58 28 percent victory over Trump. And obviously, independent voters are people who say that they're independent voters, could be the key here. Should Trump be worried about Biden? PRESTON: Yes. And here's a reason why, two things, one, you have a
Democratic Party right now that is incredibly fractured and at some point, they're going to coalesce. Right now they seem to be coalescing behind Joe Biden. We are still less than 18 months away. There's a lot of road ahead of us but is Joe Biden the person that can bring the party together? Perhaps.
Secondly, all you have to do is look at some of the states that Trump won in 2016. You look at Pennsylvania, you look at Ohio, you look at Michigan, you look at Wisconsin, these are all states where Joe Biden can do very well, would be expected to do very well and that's why Trump is so worried about it.
BURNETT: So Senator Braun, what he's doing, what Trump is doing is making this personal, making people afraid of Joe Biden in a way that he did with Hillary Clinton. Let me play again the President and one of his favorite hosts at Fox News attacking Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I have to tell you, he's a different guy. He looks different used to. He acts different than he used to. He's even slower than he used to be.
HANNITY: Joe Biden is tired. He does not have the energy for this. He's not up for this challenge.
ELDER: He's not angry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Senator, what's your response to that?
BRAUN: My response is tariffs. My response is talk to the farmers in Iowa and ask them if they're doing better this year than they did last year. The fact to the matter is that this president has been a disaster on so many different fronts and he's going to have to run on that record, which is the reality of it.
And I think that people, at the end of the day, voters are smart. They will figure out whether or not in the worthy of the old Ronald Reagan word that they're worse off now than they were previously.
BURNETT: Yes.
BRAUN: And with that being said, I think it's a Democratic victory in 2020.
BURNETT: So Rob, are those attacks appropriate though, just keep talking about how he's slow or he's not well? I mean this is baseless at this point, it's baseless.
ASTORINO: Well, is he an existential threat? I mean that's an even worse attack, because that's saying you're worse than anyone could imagine. You're a threat to our nation.
BURNETT: You're saying eight years and the country will break apart.
ASTORINO: Come on. I mean here's the question mark that Joe Biden does not have, we know what his past is. We know what his voting record is. We know what he did for eight years.
BURNETT: But do you think it's OK to be talking about him being slow and old and somebody saying he's wearing his coat around? I mean that's all BS.
ASTORINO: But you know what, it's a campaign and if they can't take that kind of abuse or heat, then they shouldn't be running. And Joe Biden is a pro. He's been through it. He's loved it, he'll lot more. But on the polls, what's not getting played, we know these battleground states are always going to be battle grounds that Trump won and he can hold on to them.
Other states that are in the mix that Trump is doing better than expected; Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, these states are not getting talked about, but Trump is doing better than expected. And to say that he's down so much Biden right now is not fair because at this point, six years ago, Obama was down by eight points. And Trump again on election day was down seven points to Hillary Clinton, so we've got 16 months to go.
BURNETT: Right. So Mark, a final word though, should the Biden campaign be concerned about whether these attacks on health will be effective, because they were effective against Hillary?
PRESTON: Yes. And he's where the concerns from the Biden campaign should come from is that if he starts to field some of those attacks from those within his own party who want that nomination, that's when things could get really dirty. And I do think we are going to see a Democratic primary. That is not as chummy as we're seeing it right now. It's going to get very ugly.
ASTORINO: Well, they're already attacking him on his age.
BURNETT: All right.
PRESTON: A lot more I expected from ...
ASTORINO: Yes.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you all very much. And next, Don Jr. headed back to testify for the Senate Intelligence Committee tomorrow. So what do senators want exactly? Plus, President Trump says he would not allow the CIA to use Kim Jong-un's family as assets. Are you serious? Jon Stewart breaking down as he rips into Congress over funding for the victims of 9/11.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART: Your indifference costs these men and women their most valuable commodity, time.
(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:19:00] BURNETT: Tonight, Donald Trump Jr. preparing to be in the hot seat. A source confirming to CNN that he will testify again tomorrow behind closed doors in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee. This after the Republican Chairman of that committee, Richard Burr subpoenaed Don Jr. Out front now, former Nixon White House Counsel John Dean and White House Correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks, April Ryan.
So John, let me start with you. Don Jr. obviously didn't want to come back and testify. This was a giant fight. His father didn't want him to do it, but the chairman, the Republican Chairman Burr made sure he did. What do you think they need from him?
JOHN DEAN, FORMER NIXON WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: Well, it's not clear but there are a couple of very real possibilities. One, he refused when he was there last time to testify about a subject that they think he has exclusive knowledge on. And the more troublesome one is there's some inconsistent testimony with other facts they've gained and that could possibly put him in jeopardy.
BURNETT: Right. In jeopardy of perjury, right?
DEAN: Right.
BURNETT: So April, how significant is this testimony tomorrow then and obviously just to this point of perjury, it is under oath.
[19:20:05] APRIL RYAN, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN URBAN RADIO NETWORKS: It's very significant. This is about clarity. They want clarification on something or some things. But when you look at this, what really stands out more, not the fact that he's coming back, it's the fact that he's coming back under conditions. This is not just, "I'm going to testify."
They had to negotiate to get conditions to have conditions put on the table for them to do this, that stands out more. And you have to remember that Don, Jr. is not a part of the administration. He is not immune to jail time. So coming back can kind of help him in a way or it may not, but he is not immune to jail time at all.
BURNETT: And that obviously could be hugely significant, John, especially in light of the fact that you have all of these cases, a dozen cases which Mueller referred out. We don't know to whom they are in involved with those or whether it's Don Jr. or not. But we do know the President was very upset when Senator Burr subpoenaed his son. Here's Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: My son is a very good person, works very hard, and frankly for my son after being exonerated to now get a subpoena to go again and speak again after close to 20 hours of telling everybody that would listen about a nothing meeting, yes, I'm pretty surprised.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: To be clear, obviously, he wasn't exonerated. But how concerned do you think the President is about tomorrow, John?
DEAN: Well, it's hard to believe he wouldn't be somewhat concerned. While it's a negotiated return, it's also a compulsory return. The subpoena had to be either settled some way or he was going to be compelled to come through the courts and they obviously didn't want the fight. They were going to lose it.
So the President is undoubtedly concerned. There is also a possibility, Erin, that he could go to that committee and plead the fifth if he hasn't waved it already. If they open up some area that he feels jeopardy.
BURNETT: April, how concerned is the President?
RYAN: Well, the President is very concerned. Anytime the President talks about it extensively, he's concerned. He has talked about it. This is his namesake, number one, OK. Number two, Don Jr. his hands in a lot of things and the question is what does he know, what did he say before, what will he say.
Now, if he does say something, the President is very concerned. This is not necessarily as Elijah Cummings said, "Just about Russia." This is about a whole litany of things, so we have to just wait and find out what's going on to see what's happening and the President, again, is very concerned.
BURNETT: Right. And obviously this is the crucial and respected investigation of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which has always been bipartisan and it's significant that this is a Republican chaired subpoena. John, I want to ask you about your testimony yesterday on Capitol Hill.
You were in front of House Judiciary Committee. There are deep divisions among Democrats about that committee, whether they should begin impeachment proceedings, that is the Committee Jerry Nadler, the Chairman who would do so. How do you think your testimony affected Democrats who are on the fence? Did you get a chance to talk to some of them?
DEAN: I didn't address it directly in my statement, my oral statement. However, when I did put it in my written statement and one of the members, I talked to several members after the hearings closed and one came up and said, "John, I had not noticed the reference you made in your testimony, the citation." One of the reasons the Special Counsel did not or did not make a prosecution decision was because he didn't want to preempt the congressional processes and that was new to this member. And she said, "That makes me rethink this whole issue."
BURNETT: All right. Well, obviously we'll see if there's movement there. Thank you both very much. Next, the President slams the CIA's reported use of Kim Jong-un's half brother as a CIA intelligence asset.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: That would not happen under my auspices, that's for sure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Incredible. And Nancy Pelosi says she's done with Trump. Really?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:28:52] BURNETT: Tonight, President Trump making what could be one of the most stunning statements of his presidency. Listen to what Trump says when asked about a report that Kim Jong-nam, the murdered half brother of North Korea's leader was a CIA informant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I saw the information about the CIA with respect to his brother or half brother and I would tell him that would not happen under my auspices, that's for sure. I wouldn't let that happen under my auspices.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Let's be clear, if the President of the United States means what he appears to be saying that means he does not want the CIA to use the best assets against a murderous dictator who has threatened the United States, who has threatened the United States with this.
A murderous dictator who massacres his own people who has tested nuclear weapons that the United States assesses can reach the entire West Coast as far east of Chicago. So Trump would not use a family member of that dictator as a CIA asset because he is on Kim's side?
[19:30:06] Well, also today, Trump defended North Korea's Kim Jong-un, contradicting his own national security adviser.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He has kept his word to me. That's very important.
JOHN BOLTON, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: What they've said was that they're not going to test ballistic missiles, intercontinental range ballistic missiles, or nuclear -- have nuclear tests. That's continued.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK. Kim has not kept his word. So, why does the president say he has?
OUTFRONT now, our military analyst, Lt. General Mark Hertling, former Army commanding general for Europe and the Seventh Army. And Bruce Klingner, former CIA deputy division for North Korea and senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation. So, Bruce, just trying to understand. It appears -- you know, it
appears the president seems to be saying he wouldn't allow the CIA to use Kim's family as an intelligence asset because that's what the new report was we new the guy was killed a long time ago. The new report was he was an intelligence asset of the CIA.
This is pretty stunning, isn't it?
BRUCE KLINGNER, FORMER CIA DEPUTY DIVISION CHIEF FOR KOREA: It's shocking and concerning. When I was at CIA we referred to North Korea as the hardest of the hard targets. Each of the intelligence sources had a lot of constraints against getting information. So, we should be trying to get information on this as you point out in dangerous threatening regime, not only to the United States but to our allies. We should be trying to get as much information as we can to understand their intentions as well as military capabilities, not putting any constraints on the intelligence committee.
BURNETT: General Hertling, can you wrap your mind around this?
LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I can't. We gather intelligence great folks like Bruce and others I know at CIA have helped us, the military in both combat operations and I used to talk to CIA operatives and analysts all over Europe when I commanded there. And they are critically important for not only determining what an enemy or a foe's intentions are, but also their capabilities.
And if you don't have those two things, you are out of luck in terms of dealing with foreign nations. And that's both enemies and friends. So the criticality of agents, of folks on the ground who are collecting human intelligence, a key area of intelligence collection are critically important to what we do as a nation and our security as a people.
BURNETT: Bruce, I'm trying to understand why -- why he would do this? Why he would say I would not use what the CIA thinks the best asset they have against a murderous dig particularity who threatened the annihilate the United States and is killing people? Why would he do this? Why would he take Kim's side? I wouldn't use the best guy against you that would never happen under me?
KLINGNER: Well, the president has prioritized his -- what he says is a very strong relationship with Kim over a number of things, including fully enforcing U.S. law against knows who are not only violating U.N. resolutions but U.S. laws. A year ago, Trump said there were 300 North Korean entities, these would be entities violating U.S. law for which the U.S. government has information that he is not sanctioning because he's -- we are talking so nicely.
Back in March, Trump reversed actions by the Treasury Department to enforce U.N. resolutions. And also, the U.S. right now is not doing all of the military exercises with South Korea.
BURNETT: Right.
KLINGNER: We have cancelled at least 11 exercises since last year. That's risking ally deterrence and defense capabilities.
And also on diplomatic isolation, the president embraced someone on the U.S. sanction list for human rights violations, describing him as somebody who loves his people and is honorable and courageous.
So, in a way, the president has undermined all three components of his maximum pressure strategy.
BURNETT: So, General, I'm also confused on the same day, Trump says that Kim has kept his word and that's what matters is he kept his word. He goes into detail. He is only testing short range missiles.
That, of course, is a violation of the deal, OK, as Trump's own national security adviser said to the "Wall Street Journal" conference very clear. No, they have continued. They are violating it.
Why is the president doing that, saying Kim is going with his word when he is not?
HERTLING: For some odd reason, Erin, he believes that personal relations are the key to victory. And anyone that has an inkling of knowledge about international relations or political affairs knows that it is not personal relations that is important. It's the strategy and national security of the country you're dealing with. So, he has refused to believe that and it's just fascinating to me.
The thing if I can add to what Bruce just said, though, I think it's critically important.
BURNETT: Yes.
HERTLING: Across the board, not only were we gobsmacked at these comments in this briefing this afternoon, but I can guarantee you that every intelligence officer, every intelligence agency around the world in other countries, especially friendly ones, were just amazed at the president of the United States saying something like this, because they know it's not true.
The purpose for existence of the CIA is to conduct these kind of operations and gain us intelligence. If they're not doing that, why have a CIA? It's ludicrous? It just is amazing.
BURNETT: Bruce -- you know, and the same, you know, conversation or interaction with reporters where he says he wouldn't use a good asset in Korea if it offended Kim.
[19:35:09] He talked about something else that might show a window here which is a letter. He got another letter from Kim, a beautiful letter. Here he is today and a few other times when he has gotten letters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: A letter was given to me by Kim Jong-un. And that letter was a very nice letter. Oh, would you like to see what was in that letter? And then we fell in love, OK? No, really he wrote me beautiful
letters. And they're great letters. We fell in love.
He wrote me two of the most beautiful letters. It's a beautiful piece of art. And I think we're going to make a deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: What do you make of that, Bruce? Every time Kim sends a letter, Trump seems to, you know, be in his thrall.
KLINGNER: Well, we've had these beautiful letters in the past and none of them had let to any progress, let alone breakthroughs on denuclearization negotiations. So, perhaps it shows that Kim is ready to come back to negotiations in a meaningful way. But so far, all of these beautiful letters have not gotten any kind of progress.
Kim Jong-un has been no more willing to bend in the nuclear arsenal than his father and his grandfather.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you both very much.
And next, Nancy Pelosi, she says she's had it with President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I'm done with him. I don't even want to talk about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Is that enough as for Tom Steyer who's poured millions of his own money in the efforts to actually formally impeach Trump? He is next.
And Pete Buttigieg's promise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You will not see me exchanging love letters on White House letterhead with a brutal dictator who starves and murders his own people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:40:26] BURNETT: Tonight, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declaring she is done with President Trump after he called her a nasty vindictive horrible person in an interview on D-Day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PELOSI: The first rule of our code is we never criticize a president of the United States when we are overseas. The president took a different tact. I don't -- I'm done with him. I don't even want to talk about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: But she is not done with him, right? I mean, because he's there. And she is saying an impeachment inquiry isn't happening now, not off the table but not happening now. So, guess what, you're not done with him.
OUTFRONT now, Tom Steyer, founder of the Need to Impeach campaign.
Tom, good to have you with me.
So, the speaker -- you heard her, an impeachment inquiry isn't off the table but she also said she's done with Trump. She doesn't want to deal with him anymore.
Can she be done?
TOM STEYER, FOUNDER, "NEED TO IMPEACH" CAMPAIGN: Good grief, Erin, I understand her personal frustration at his vilification of her, but the speaker of the House cannot be over and done with the president of the United States and especially a president who obstructs justice on a daily basis and refuses to accept the House and the Congress of the United States as part of the constitutional government of the United States. So, no, she can't be done with him. Her job is oversight of that president, and her duty is to make sure that the most corrupt president in the United States is not above the law.
BURNETT: So she then talking about this issue of impeachment says, look, the reality is she doesn't even have enough support among house Democrats. Here is what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If the majority of the caucus wants to go forward with the impeachment inquiry, would you go for it?
PELOSI: It's not even close in our caucus.
RAJU: But if eventually --
PELOSI: You know, why are we speculating on hypotheticals? What we're doing is winning in court.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, on the numbers here, Tom, according to our count here at CNN, 59 of the 205 House Democrats support opening the formal impeachment inquiry. That number with our formal count has not moved in a week.
So, isn't she right? I mean, she does not have the numbers.
STEYER: I think there is incredible pressure on the house Democrats from the speaker and from leadership not to come out for impeachment. But what we're talking about is a failure here, a system failure to include the American people, to let the American people know what's going on to hold hearings.
It is the middle of June. It's almost halfway through the year. And we've had really one hearing so far which is the Michael Cohen hearing.
So, what we are seeing is an inability to get the information in front of the American people. We are seeing inability to do anything to hold this president to account. And we are seeing the most corrupt president in American history walk away with a precedent that what he is doing is OK.
BURNETT: OK, to your point, though about the pressure, we know, Tom, the House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, right, who would be the one to begin the formal impeachment as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, pushed Pelosi strenuously behind closed doors. It was a private meeting, right? But he made the case, here is why we need to do it. She would not budge. That was a week ago. And, again, it was behind closed doors.
Today, Nadler asked about it publicly, still wouldn't go there, even though we know he pushed in private. Here he is today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: And you still support moving forward with an impeachment inquiry?
REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY): I have never said I did. I'm --
RAJU: Do you?
NADLER: I simply say all options are on the table. That's all I'll say publicly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: That's all I'm going to say publicly. He is holding and toeing the line publicly even though in private we know he said something different.
What do you say to him?
STEYER: Look, I think what this is -- what we are seeing is inability by the Congress of the United States to assert its constitutional powers. And if in fact that's where we're going to end up, that we're going to allow the most corrupt president in American history to walk away scot-free and go into an election claiming that he is innocent which is absolutely not true, what with he know is that when you tell the American people the facts -- because we have gone around the country and done it.
Even Trump supporters, even people who voted for him in 2016 don't know the facts and when they hear the facts they realize he is a liar and a cheat. And they change their minds and they want him out. BURNETT: All right. Tom Steyer, thank you very much.
STEYER: OK, Erin.
BURNETT: And next, Pete Buttigieg taking on President Trump on those love letters with Kim Jong-un. And he takes swipes at his own party, too.
[19:45:01] And Jon Stewart today shaming Congress over funding for 9/11 first responders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART, COMEDIAN: They did their jobs. Eighteen years later, do yours!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMECIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, in the fight for 2020, Pete Buttigieg, who's polling in the top five among the Democratic candidates in the latest national poll, not holding back tonight against President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUTTIGIEG: You will not see me exchanging love letters on White House letterhead with a brutal dictator who starves and murders his own people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And he is taking on his own party, too.
Phil Mattingly is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the campaign where domestic policy has so far outshone foreign affairs, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg is taking a different path.
BUTTIGIEG: Since the election of the current president, the United States hardly has a foreign policy at all.
MATTINGLY: And targeting the current occupant of the Oval Office, directly, along the way.
BUTTIGIEG: The pattern is that decisions are made impulsively, erratically, emotionally, and politically, often delivered by means of early morning tweet, with little regard for strategy and no preparation for their long-term consequences.
[19:50:06] MATTINGLY: For Buttigieg, a former naval intelligence officer who served and deployed it's a way to differentiate himself from much and to mark a generational shift for his party. BUTTIGIEG: I should act knowledge that for the better part of my
lifetime, it has been difficult to identify a consistent foreign policy in the Democratic Party either.
MATTINGLY: An expansive, hour-long speech here in Bloomington today, laying down a marker, the primary of 23 candidates.
BUTTIGIEG: Thank you.
MATTINGLY: But Buttigieg's service and age of just 37-years-old also serves as a direct contrast to Trump, himself, who didn't serve and received a deferment from the Vietnam on account of bone spurs.
It's something Buttigieg has brought up with increasing frequency on the campaign trail.
BUTTIGIEG: I don't have a problem standing up to somebody who was you know working on season seven season "Apprentice" when I was packing my backs for Afghanistan.
MATTINGLY: Trump appears to take notice.
TRUMP: Buttigieg edge, edge. They say edge, edge. He's got a great chance, doesn't he? He'll be great, representing us against President Xi of China. That will be great. That will be great.
MATTINGLY: Buttigieg not hesitant to fight back.
BUTTIGIEG: I have a pretty dim view of his decision to use his privileged status fake a disability in order to avoid serving Vietnam.
MATTINGLY: But also framing his pitch is broader, bigger, more expansive that Trump personally, ore even Trump's policies in office.
BUTTIGIEG: It is not enough just to say we won't conduct foreign policy by tweet. Democrats can no more turn the clock back to the 1990s than Republicans can return us to the 1950s. And we should not try.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: And, Erin, there are no shortage of clearer contrasts in Buttigieg's speech related to President Trump, whether it was having a less confrontational approach the European allies to getting back to into the Iran nuclear deal, to rejoining the Paris climate accords, but perhaps none was more striking than the real time convergence of, well, you played it, about North Korea, Buttigieg saying he would not make big beautiful letters.
Just an hour and five minutes letter, the president talked about a beautiful letter he had just gotten from Kim Jong-un -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Phil.
And next, Jon Stewart with the moving testimony in Congress today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Your indifference cost these men and women their most valuable commodity -- time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:56:50] BURNETT: Tonight, it is shameful, those are the words of Jon Stewart as he lashed out at Congress for the lack of funding for 9/11 first responders. It was a remarkable and moving moment.
Here is a part of what Stewart said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: I can't help but think what an incredible metaphor this room is for the entire process of getting healthcare and benefits for 9/11 first responders has come to.
Behind me, a filled room of 9/11 first responders and in front of me, a nearly empty Congress. Sick and dying, they brought themselves down here to speak to no one.
Shameful. It's an embarrassment to the country. It is a stain on this institution. And you should be ashamed of yourselves.
There is not a person here, there is not an empty chair on that stage that didn't tweet out: never forget the heroes of 9/11, never forget their bravery, never forget what they did, what they gave to this country. Well, here they are, and where are they?
It would be one thing if their callous indifference and rank hypocrisy were benign. But it's not. Your indifference cost these men and women their most valuable commodity -- time. It's the one thing they're running out of.
This should be flipped. This hearing should be flipped. These men and women should be up on that stage and Congress should be down here answering their questions.
And the idea that you can only give them five more years in the VCF because you're not quite sure what's going to happen five years from now -- well, I can tell you I'm pretty sure what's going to happen five years from now. More of these men and women are going to get sick and they are going to die.
They responded in five seconds. They did their jobs, with courage, grace, tenacity, humility. Eighteen years later, do yours! Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I call to remember what this country should be able to come together on to do anything possible to help. We have more important things than partisanship and pettiness and anger which so dominate our national discourse.
Thanks so much for joining us.
"AC360" with Anderson starts right now.
