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Biden Intensely Preparing For Putin Summit; Garland Announces New Strategy To Combat Domestic Terrorism; New Reporting On Trump- Backed Candidates For Senate. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired June 15, 2021 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Then there was the Helsinki Summit where Trump said he believed Putin when he said he didn't interfere in the election. From beginning to end when it was Trump and Putin, the American President praising even saying, he was honored.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: President Putin and I have been discussing various things. And I think it's going very well. We've had some very, very good talks. We're going to have a talk now. And obviously, that will continue. But we look forward to a lot of very positive things happening for Russia and the United States, and for everybody concerned, and it's an honor to be with you. Thank you. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: And so tomorrow, Joe Biden becomes, again, the fifth American President to sit across the table from Vladimir Putin. Biden says he goes into this meeting with no illusions. He calls Putin publicly a killer. He says, maybe he won't even listen. But Joe Biden says, I'm going to try to make some progress. And then we'll go from there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going to make clear to President Putin that there are areas where we can't cooperate, if he chooses. And if he chooses not to cooperate, and acts in a way that he has in the past relative to cyber security and some other activities, then we will respond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Joining our conversation, the Professor of International Affairs at the New School, Nina Khrushcheva. She is the great granddaughter of the former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, grateful for your time today, Professor. Let's start by just listening quickly, the one thing the two presidents agree on is that this relationship is off the tracks. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We have a bilateral relationship that has deteriorated to its lowest point in recent years.

BIDEN: Well, let me make it clear, I think he's right. It's a low point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: You have a remarkable historical perspective on this. What is your sense? Is -- where are we in this relationship? And can anything good for both countries come out of this meeting?

NINA KHRUSHCHEVA, PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AT THE NEW SCHOOL: Well, thank you for having me. Good can't come -- can come out of this country. The relationship is indeed in very bad shape. But I think what makes this meeting at least different, Joe Biden's meeting different from all the ones you cited before, although just to point out that just a few -- I think yesterday, Joe Biden sort of praised Putin in a sense, he said he was a worthy adversary. And he has a huge respect of his country and whatnot.

So they really try to make it is if they're not really insulting him or his Biden or insulting him all the time. I think what makes Biden's meeting different is that, unlike his predecessors, he's not saying we are going to change relationship. I'm not optimistic. He doesn't say that. I'm not hoping for Putin to suddenly turn into another person. He doesn't say that he goes in with a very, very clear idea who Putin is and how much he can get out of him, which as they've been saying, the White House has been assuring us not that much.

But if they can at least, look again, into Putin's eyes and see how far or what are the red lines are, what are the rail guards are, and that already would be the achievement.

KING: So one of the issues the Biden team says the American President will raise his human rights, democratic rights, including specifically Alexey Navalny and his political movement, which is now judged as extremist by a Russian court. Mr. Putin, listen here, this NBC interview does not sound at all interested in discussing the issue at all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you commit that you will personally ensure that Alexey Navalny will leave prison alive?

PUTIN (through translator): I proceed from the premise that the person that you have mentioned, the same kind of measures will apply, not in any way worse than to anybody else who happens to be in prison.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His name is Alexey Navalny. People will note that you --

PUTIN (through translator): I don't care. I don't care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: I can remember visiting Russia back in the late 90s, when Yeltsin was the president, and there was great hope among Democratic reformers that a new day was coming. Is there any hope among anyone in Russia that President Biden can do anything, anything to improve the political climate in Russia for those who oppose Putin and want to be able to say so publicly?

KHRUSHCHEVA: I don't think so. I mean, I will be very much hit for that, because we try to sound optimistic and say, yes, the American President is going to charge you on a white horse and change everything, it's not going to happen. And in fact, Putin, one of the things that Putin has done specifically, I think, before the Summit is to make sure that the all opposition is either immigrated abroad or in prison or being entirely shut up just to show that this part of the conversation he's not interested in. If America is willing to work with Russia on global issues such as climate change, such as Syria, such as Iran, such as nuclear -- stop nuclear proliferation, he's willing.

[12:35:12]

But he is very clear that in his mind, these are Russian internal affairs, and he's not going to change his mind at all. However, I'm sure Joe Biden will bring it up, and I'm sure Putin, you've seen it in his interviews, you met him, I assume, he will just laugh it off.

KING: So to give the American team some advice from your perspective that past presidents have tried to say we're going to have a relationship with Putin that is practical. Yes, we're going to disagree over here and here, but we're going to try to get some business done. You mentioned maybe it's Libya, maybe it's Syria, maybe it's Afghanistan, maybe its nuclear weapons. What is the key to having a manageable but adult and honest relationship with Vladimir Putin?

KHRUSHCHEVA: Well, I mean, you know, this is an oxymoron in terms, what do you mean honest relationship with Vladimir Putin? He's a KGB operative, former KGB operative. I mean, that's so the George Bush, so I mean, clearly turn into in tie to something else. But I think that the clear idea of how much you could Putin deliver and whether you're willing to stand on all these issues of Democratic prosecution and push for that, which is not going to happen, and unfortunate.

But keep sort of little incremental changes, for example, I don't know. We can, or Joe Biden can discuss the September elections in the duel and saying, well, why don't you please try to run some opposition candidate, it's not going to happen, but at least there will be conversation going. But I think what Joe Biden is doing very cleverly, and I hope he continued to do that, that all the disagreements that they have, and probably he will push on Navalny quite hard, I assume in the private conversation, all of it is not going to be laundered in the public. And that's why they're having separate press conferences, very clever.

So all the things that he can tell Putin, what would be Putin's prize for, I don't know, meddling in 2022 in the midterm elections, or pushing further on Ukraine, for example, we didn't mention Ukraine, it's going to be I think, a big subject. They would be you know, we know that your agent of -- your security agent did this. And we are going to expose this unless you stop your bad actions in private. And I think that's very smart.

KING: Nina Khrushcheva, grateful for your time on the eve of this very important Summit. Thank you so much.

KHRUSHCHEVA: Thank you.

KING: Thank you.

Up next for us, the new Biden plan to tackle domestic extremism and the Attorney General says learn the lessons of January 6th.

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[12:42:12]

KING: This morning the Attorney General Merrick Garland announcing the Biden administration's new strategy to combat domestic terrorism. The key the Attorney General says making sure terrorism related threat information is shared across all levels of government. Listen here as General Garland emphasizes the Justice Department role in this new plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MERRICK GARLAND, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We do not prosecute people for their beliefs. Across the word world, extremist or terrorist labels have at times been affixed to those perceived as political threats to the ruling order. But there is no place for partisanship in the enforcement of the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: CNN senior justice correspondent Evan Perez joins me now. Evan, what are the biggest changes in this new policy?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Look, John, I think the biggest change is to essentially assign the FBI or to tell the FBI to keep a closer tab on some of these social media postings, frankly, in January 6th, that's what we saw. There was a lot of plotting and a lot of statements that people made ahead of time about what they intended to do. And then they did it. And the FBI somehow was surprised.

What you don't see in this new policy is any new law, anything that says, you know, by belonging to this group, you are going to break the law as you do with international terrorist groups. And that's because, frankly, because of the First Amendment. Listen to the Attorney General talk about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARLAND: First, we are focused on violence not an ideology. In America, espousing a hateful ideology is not unlawful. We do not investigate individuals for their First Amendment protected activities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREZ: And John, that's going to answer some, certainly some of the concerns you hear from conservatives from Republicans who are very worried that what the Justice Department, the FBI are planning to do is to go after people just for having those views. And what you're hearing from the Attorney General is that's not the case. They're going to keep closer tabs of the social media stuff. But there's a limit to what they can do.

KING: It's fascinating to watch as this one plays out. Evan Perez, grateful for the live reporting on this big day.

[12:44:21]

Up next for us, some brand new CNN reporting on Donald Trump's mounting midterm frustration. He wants to pick many of the candidates. But guess what, he often is not getting his way.

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KING: There are some notable exceptions but in most states if you are running in a Republican primary heading into next year's midterm elections, you would love to hear this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I am giving him my complete and total endorsement, complete and total endorsement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: But we have some new CNN reporting today on a series of GOP Senate primary races that is testing whether being a Trump back candidate really matters. CNN's Gabby Orr joins this conversation with more of our new reporting. And the issue being that Donald Trump still wants to play powerbroker, kingmaker in the Republican Party. He wants to say, Alabama Senate race I endorse you, North Carolina race I endorse you, and no one else every other Republican supposed to say, get out of the way. Why aren't they listening?

GABBY ORR, CNN REPORTER: It's a great question. I mean, it is important to preface this by saying as you mentioned that, you know, Trump endorsement is still the most coveted thing for Republican candidate running in 2022. But of course in races like Alabama and North Carolina, it hasn't necessarily been sort of the field clearing. It hasn't had a field clearing effect that he wants to see.

[12:50:16]

In Alabama he endorsed Mo Brooks pretty early on. Just last week, we had a new candidate enter the race, one who has actually gained quite a bit of momentum. This is Katie Boyd Britt, a former staffer to Senator Richard Shelby, who received Shelby's endorsement shortly after entering the field. And then in North Carolina, he abruptly endorsed Rep. -- Congressman Ted Budd. And, you know, soon after expected that Mark Walker and former Governor Pat McCrory would drop out of the race, so that would be their time to, you know, back out and say we can't do this without a Trump endorsement. That hasn't happened yet. They're still very much involved in this campaign.

So it's not having the profound effect that he would like it to. And this kind of all is happening against the backdrop of 2024. He's testing out his ability to be a kingmaker and to have, you know, influence over the party. And we're seeing the impact of that.

KING: He's testing out his ability to be a kingmaker. And Mitch McConnell is sort of testing and preparing for when he has to get involved essentially opposing the former president. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: States that are going to determine who's in the majority next time, you have to appeal to general election audience. And some of the candidates who filed in these primaries clearly aren't. I'll be keeping an eye on that. Hopefully, we won't have to intervene. But if we do, we will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: I mean, let me translate just a little bit more there. He's talking about the North Carolina Senate race. He's talking about the Pennsylvania Senate race, the Ohio Senate race, maybe other Senate races next year, where if the Republicans nominate somebody that's to Trumpy, they may lose.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Trump is a coveted endorsement for the primary, maybe not so much for the general, especially in a state like North Carolina, where Republicans just eked it out the last time around. I think that one of the reasons you're probably seeing some of these candidates staying in the race is because they figure and probably correctly so that if they do prevail in a primary somehow, the odds are that Trump will endorse the Republican in that race. So it's kind of, you know, worth a try, spin the dice and see what happens.

But if you're Mitch McConnell, you're whispering in the ear of these candidates and saying, hey, don't go just yet. We may need you because these other candidates are not ready for primetime.

RACHAEL BADE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I mean, your story is absolutely music to the ears of Mitch McConnell. He's been privately hoping that, you know, Trump's influences like wane and wane and wane. I mean, if you look specifically at Missouri, you have a full blooded GOP field right now. This is a state where the former governor Eric Greitens, who was accused of sexually assaulting a woman and blackmailing her to keep her silent, is running. He's got a bunch of Trump support right now. There's a big fear there -- for they're -- there in particular, that Trump might come in and door someone like him, and then they could lose the state.

And so, and McConnell also wants to keep on to -- keep hold on members who voted to impeach Trump like Lisa Murkowski in Alaska. And so I mean, it's too early, I think, to say whether or not his influence has very much waned in these primaries, but there are Republicans who are certainly hoping --

KING: Do we know to the degree he's willing to put his -- put it on the line in the sense that we know he's going to try to do more rallies. But is he going to specifically do rallies in places where you have a crowded Republican field and say to voters do not to find me, pick this guy, this girl, his candidate?

ORR: Well, he's heading to Ohio later this month. He'll be there to support Max Miller, whose of course primarying Anthony Gonzalez. We don't know if he'll plant -- if he plans to make an endorsement in the Senate race there. I would say that that would be probably premature for him to do so. But, you know, he is. He's looking at Georgia, another state where he's trying to primary Governor Brian Kemp, and actively seeking a challenger to go up against Kemp at the moment.

But, you know, I do think it's important to note as we talk about this, the candidates who have not received his endorsement as, Abby, was pointing out, they are running a very careful campaign to position themselves for a general election if they do make it into the primary where they haven't bear hugged Trump in the same way that others have.

KING: We'll watch it. It's one of the fascinating dynamics. We'll watch it as we go forward. Thank you very much.

[12:54:15]

This sad breaking news to bring you, the U.S. now has crossed 600,000 coronavirus deaths. That grim milestone coming more than one year after the first known COVID death in this country that was back on February 6th, 2020, the death toll top 500,000 on February 22nd of this year, just under four months ago. Again, 600,000, 600,000 of your friends, neighbors, coworkers, fellow Americans have died of COVID. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Topping our Political Radar, back to work Washington style. Lawmakers applauding after COVID-19 protocols are lifted in the House Armed Services Committee this morning. Maybe this has happened in your office. Hang in, less than a minute.

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REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): Arctic capital or whoever it is who's in charge has told us that we can be back in the Committee in person in full members without masks or social distancing. That announcement just, yes, I missed you too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Those rules have been in place of course since the height of the pandemic last year. Progressives in the House now drawing a firm red line they say on their support for a bipartisan infrastructure package. Progressive Chair Pramila Jayapal says her caucus wants to guarantee that a separate reconciliation process will move forward in parallel. That includes progressive priorities including the climate crisis, Medicaid expansion, lowering prescription drug costs, and universal childcare. We'll track that one as it plays out.

[13:00:17]

We'll see you back here this time tomorrow. Ana Cabrera picks up right now.