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U.S. To Send Troops To Eastern Europe; National Archives To Turn Over Pence's Records to Jan 6 Committee; Schumer Has No Regrets About Strategy For Passing Biden Agenda. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired February 02, 2022 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

LAKEEM JETTER, BROTHER OF LAUREN SMITH-FIELDS: (inaudible).

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN AT THIS HOUR HOST: (inaudible). And that's what I want you to know -

(CROSSTALK)

JETTER: Yes, this is -

BOLDUAN: -- I want to make sure he's not forgotten as we continue to cover her story, her death, and this investigation. Thank you all so much for being here. I really appreciate it. Thank you very much.

SHANTELL FIELDS, MOTHER OF LAUREN SMITH-FIELDS: Thank you.

JETTER: Thank you for having us (ph).

FIELDS: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Thank you all for being here with me today. INSIDE POLITICS WITH JOHN KING starts now.

JOHN KING, INSIDE POLITICS WITH JOHN KING HOST: Hello and welcome to INSIDE POLITICS. I'm John King in Washington. Thank you for sharing your day with us. More U.S. troops to Eastern Europe. President Biden today authorizes new deployments as tough talk from the Kremlin dips (ph) hope for diplomatic end to the Ukraine standoff.

Plus Donald Trump says the insurrectionists are patriots who deserve pardons. Those who disagree, Trump says, are not real Republicans. And some brand new CNN reporting on Chuck Schumer's struggle to navigate a 50-50 Democratic Senate as a health scare leaves Democrats one vote short for the next few weeks. We begin the hour, though, with a major escalation. President Biden now sending thousands of American troops to Vladimir Putin's doorstep. The administration says it is a necessary step because Russia is increasing its buildup along the Ukraine border and because diplomacy so far as produced nothing. The Pentagon will deploy 3,000 service members to Poland, Romania, and Germany in the coming days.

CNN is following all of this morning's breaking news. Let's start at the Pentagon and our Pentagon Correspondent, Barbara Starr. Barbara, it's a big deal.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It is a very big deal, John. I think you characterized it exactly right. Right to Putin's doorstep but not crossing the threshold. What we're talking about is approximately 1,000 U.S. troops already in Germany. They will move further east to Romania. Another 2,000 troops in the United States who regularly operate on very short notice, they are going to go to Europe, Poland, and Germany. They will be ready to work their mission to reassure the NATO allies on that Eastern Flank, to make them feel like they are capable of resisting any Russian aggression.

So the really key question here, if they're not going into Ukraine to fight the Russians, which they are not, they might be used to help evacuate Americans but not to fight the Russians, and they're not going to Russia directly. They are staying back in Eastern Europe. Does the U.S. feel that Putin could make a further move east? Could he step over that line into a NATO country? Is that what we're really talking about in terms of Russian aggression here beyond Ukraine? Here's what the Pentagon Spokesman, John Kirby, had to say this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS Secretary: We're not ruling anything in or out with this announcement, Barb. This isn't about - this - I don't - this isn't about an intel assessment about what Mr. Putin will or won't do. As I said, again, in my opening statement we still don't believe he's made a decision to further invade Ukraine. And if he does further invade Ukraine, obviously there's going to be consequences for that, but he has many options and capabilities available to him as to how he might do that, and we simply don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: So what's perhaps most disconcerting here is the U.S. simply doesn't know what Putin's going to do, doesn't know how far he will go, doesn't know if he will make that move into Ukraine. These U.S. troops along with troops from some of the other allies are making their moves into Europe to try and bolster deterrence and reassurance for those East European allies who right now are very nervous. John -

KING: Very nervous, very nervous. A big step. Barbara Starr, appreciate your kicking this off (ph) with this important development. Let's now get some perspective from the White House. Our White House Correspondent, Jeremy Diamond, is there live for us. Jeremy, it's a big consequential decision for the Commander in Chief. Why now? JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well listen, John. The president has mulling this move for nearly two weeks now. We know that he already put those 8,500 troops on heightened alert, and now he's making this decision to send 3,000 troops to Europe. This move is something that the president signed off on yesterday morning following a meeting with the Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, and it comes as the president has been facing increasing pressure to do more before a potential Russian invasion.

We know the president has threatened a severe package of sanctions that he would level against Russia if, indeed, it were to invade, but there's been pressure particularly from Republicans in Congress for the president to do more ahead of time, and this is certainly apart of this. NATO allies also, of course, have been seeking reassurance in the face of NATO aggression, so that accomplishes both of those things.

And thirdly what this also does is it gives the president an opportunity to put another piece of leverage on the chess board. We heard the Pentagon Press Secretary, John Kirby, making very clear that these are not permanent moves, that they could be scaled up but they could also be scaled back, giving the president perhaps an opportunity to add another piece of leverage here as he looks to get Vladimir Putin to stand down from a potential invasion of Ukraine. John -

[12:05:00]

KING: Jeremy Diamond, appreciate the live perspective from the White House. Let's bring in now for some very important insider perspective, the former Commanding General for U.S. Army Europe, Mark Hertling. General Hertling, grateful to see you. Just help me right now. If you were still holding that title, U.S. Commander Army Europe, what are you thinking at this - at this moment when you hear the Commander in Chief is moving 3,000 U.S. troops into the area?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANLAYST: I think it's a very prudent move, John. I think what we're talking about, and Barbara mentioned it, it is not only deterrence and it bolsters the courage of some of those countries, Romania and Poland, which I can talk a little bit more about because they're concerned about Russia even when they don't have 120,000 troops in Belarus on the Ukrainian border.

But it also allows for contingency planning. You know, we don't know what Putin is going to do as you just said. He could potentially not only expand his operations into Ukraine, he could also go elsewhere. And when you take a look at the map of that area of the world where he has his forces there are several NATO countries bordering both Belarus and Ukraine. Poland is one of them. Romania is another one.

And truthfully those two countries have been stalwart NATO allies, and I think it's a very prudent move. If I were the commander in Europe I would be saying this is a good move in addition to the 8,500 soldiers that are still on prepare to deploy orders, PTDO.

KING: All right, one of the things you do in the military is these so-called tabletop exercises where you work out scenarios, hypothetical scenarios of how these things could play out. You just heard Jeremy Diamond at the White House using the chess board analogy.

The question here and part of the danger here is the other guy, the guy on the other side of the table, if you will, is the unpredictable Vladimir Putin. Listen to what he said just yesterday about his view of the west NATO troop movements.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIA: We were given promises not to push the infrastructure of the NATO block to the east one inch. Everyone knows this well. Today we see where NATO is located - Poland, Romania, the Baltic countries. They said one thing. They did another. As people say, they screwed us over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Tough language there, and that was before the American President sends 3,000 more moves, 3,000 more U.S. troops onto Putin's doorsteps. One of the risks here I guess is a miscalculation or that Putin takes this as say, ha ha, I told you so and uses it to further provoke. Is that a risk at this moment?

HERTLING: Well first I want to address Mr. Putin's comment. First of all, there was never any promises made about the expansion of NATO. Secondly, the countries who have joined NATO have joined specifically because they are concerned about Russian expansionism. So President Putin, as he often does, is lying to get a message across.

Will is cause further tension? You know, there's a lot of people in the U.S. government who do not see Mr. Putin as a very good strategist. In fact what I would say is they see him as an authoritarian opportunist. He has not been stopped in the past. I think the current administration is doing some things that tell him no more. These countries are foreign nations. They don't want you inside of their territory. And by the way, it's not the west and it's not NATO who has - who has put together 120,000 troops and has been inside the sovereign territory of Ukraine of the last eight years.

So these are the kinds of things that I think the media needs to kind of push back on and not take Putin at any value for what he's saying. Critically important, yes. Will this create additional angst on Mr. Putin's part? Absolutely. Is it required angst? I personally believe it is because the sovereign nations of Europe deserve to be free and to process their own national security.

KING: General Hertling, grateful for you time and your very important perspective at this moment. We will stay in touch as all this plays out. Thank you, sir.

HERTLING: Thank you.

KING: Coming up for us, new chilling evidence of the way Donald Trump sees January 6. That as he plots his comeback.

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[12:13:40]

KING: A big decision today in the January 6 investigation. The National Archives now says it will turn over former Vice President Mike Pence's records to the committee early next month. That committee's work is a big topic this week out in Salt Lake City. That's where the Republican National Committee opens its winter meeting today.

High on the agenda, a resolution rebuking the two Republicans who served on that House panel. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger are pursuing the truth about the insurrection, including the former president's role, and that, of course, is what Trump allies want punished.

Trump polls (ph) on the RNC this - is worth watching as he plots his comeback, and listen here as we get more evidence of the dangerous way he sees things. Listen as Trump defends the insurrectionists and his plan to pardon them if he gets power back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Certainly give them a pardon if things don't work out fairly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But the punishments are -

TRUMP: Many of these people are not guilty. What they've done to these and in many cases patriots - they're soldiers. They're policemen - what they've done to them compared to what they've done to the other side, you know, you have to have equal justice and this isn't equal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: With us to share their reporting and their insights, CNN's Abby Phillip, Seung Min Kim of "The Washington Post", and Julie Hirschfeld Davis of "The New York Times". Julie Hirschfeld Davis, that is a snapshot of how Donald Trump sees the world. Can you help me? What is the other side on January 6? His supporters stormed the Capitol. Who is the other side that he wants punished? The police officers who were railroad beaten, hurt, couple officers killed? Is it Mike Pence?

JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, CONGRESSIONAL EDITOR "THE NEW York TIMES": You know, I think if you're -

(CROSSTALK)

KING: Is it Mike Pence? They screamed hang Mike Pence. Is it Nancy Pelosi? They were looking for her. How does Donald Trump see the other side in the insurrection?

DAVIS: I think we're looking for logic in what he is saying here. It's a fool's errand. I mean, I think what he's trying to convey is that he feels that he is on the side of the people who breached the Capitol and the people who rioted and the people who stormed that building and sent lawmakers and the vice president running for their lives.

I suppose if you were to have an extended conversation with him and asked him to explain he might be talking about ANTIFA or he might be talking about people who attended racial justice protests the summer before that turned violent in some cases, but clearly there's no equivalence here between that and what happened at the Capitol. And what he is trying to do is just to show that he is supporting what they did. He liked what they did, and he feels that they didn't do anything wrong. And that is a sentiment that, you know, clearly some Republicans in Congress have also articulated and called them marauders and people who've been persecuted for their political beliefs when in fact they're being prosecuted for having committed crimes involving assaulting police officers and breaching the Capitol of the United States.

KING: Right. Crimes that one of the few Republicans who speaks plainly about this, Mitch McConnell. Abby Phillip, yesterday the Senate Minority Leader said it was an effort to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to another, which had never happened before in our country. That is a fact. Yet Donald Trump, you can see the anger there. He has this anger. What about the other side? And yet, allies of Donald Trump will try at this Republican National Committee meeting to pass a resolution rebuking the two Republicans who agreed to serve on this committee who have been trying to get the truth, to build the history of that horrible day. That is a test. That is a test. Will this party ever stand up to Donald Trump and his way of seeing things?

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. I mean, that's been the test from the very beginning. One of the things that all of this brings up is that Republicans, including McConnell by the way, largely oppose the creation of this January 6 Commission because they were concerned that it would become a sort of, you know, in their words witch hunt against Trump.

And now what Trump is doing is, in fact, actually making January 6 about him. He's making it impossible for Republicans to try to be on both sides of this issue. He's saying you're either with me or you're against me, and that is really clarifying the situation here and making what Liz Cheney did and what she has said all the more important.

She was very clear she believes that there was - there was no way to be on both sides of this issue. You had to either pick a side for Trump or against Trump or you basically are de facto in Trump's camp because he wants no one to dissent on this issue of whether or not January 6 was acceptable or not, whether or not the election was stolen or not. He wants no dissent on those issues within the Republican Party as it is constituted today.

KING: And Seung Min, we've had this conversation too many times, but will they ever learn is the theme that comes up when you have Republicans in the relationship with Donald J. Trump, including Senator Lindsey Graham who back when in the 2016 primaries called Trump a cancer, said he would be horrible for the Republican Party. Then he became a Trump sycophant. But now Lindsey Graham rightly so says he does not believe any future president whether it's Donald J. Trump or anybody else should pardon those convicted in the insurrection, and for that Lindsey Graham gets this from Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Lindsey Graham's wrong. I mean, Lindsey's a nice guy, but he's a write out. Lindsey's wrong. Lindsey Graham doesn't know what the hell he's talking about if he says that because you have to have equal justice. It's very, very unfair what's happened to this group of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Again back to the equal justice, I defy anybody out there with logic, eyes, and video to tell me who else was to blame on January 6, but back to the Lindsey Graham point, I mean, again, will they ever learn?

SEUNG MIN KIM, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": It's hard to see that, and what's so interesting about Lindsey Graham, too, is that he has continued to be a Trump ally since the president - since the former president left office and moved down to Florida. He continues to talk with him. He visits him. He is still known as a Trump ally and kind of his conduit back to the broader Republican Party.

But just Donald Trump's reaction to that for Lindsey Graham saying no, pardons are not a good idea for those involved in the January 6 insurrection, that got him on the outs with Trump just like that in one snap. And that just shows you how much he - how much Donald Trump just commands loyalty when - you know, when all the facts point otherwise in the Republican Party.

[12:20:00]

And it's just - and it's just really - and as he continues to, you know, gain control and remain popular in the party and as we get closer to 2024 it is really interesting to see how many Republicans will continue to stay with him.

KING: And Julie Davis, fresh reporting in your newspaper, "The Times", today, a lot of reporting over the last 24 - 48 hours about gains being made in evidence collection by the January 6 Committee. Now we have word from the archives that already turned over some of Donald Trump's records, now some of Mike Pence's records will be turned over as well. Listen to Pete Aguilar here. He's a member of the committee who says when Trump is out there dangling pardons, that crosses the line.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN NEW DAY HOST: Is Trump tampering with witnesses when he's talking about pardons, when he's dangling them in front of 1-6 defendants?

REP. PETE AGUILAR (D), JANUARY 6TH COMMITTEE: Absolutely, and I think the question is more for my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. You know, where are they? Do they support this? He's, you know, dangling pardons if he gets back in office for individuals, will that be enough or will there be more collective amnesia?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: He frames it as a challenge for Republicans. So let's talk about the substance of the investigation. Look - trying to look more closely at Trump's potential role, Trump's personal involvement in trying to seize the voting machines. The committee I think has surprised a lot of people with the thoroughness, the meticulousness, and how high up the Trump chain of command it is going.

DAVIS: Yes. I mean, if they - if he wanted to dangle pardons to actually discourage people from cooperating, he should have done it several weeks ago because at this point the committee has really talked to hundreds of witnesses, and now we know they include Mark Short, the former Vice President's former Chief of Staff, one of his top lawyers, Greg Jacob, Keith Kellogg, his National Security Adviser. All of these people were involved in the conversations inside the White House in the run-up to January 6. Very familiar with what the president was trying to do and pressuring Mike Pence to overturn the election during this joint session of Congress.

And they do have a lot of documents and they did get that whole dump from Trump himself like you said. That turns out includes some pretty - some pretty terrifying documentation that the sorts of things that the president was considering doing, including using the national security apparatus to seize voting machines.

And now with the possibility that he's going to get - they're going to get to see some records of Mike Pence's, there is really a lot of back story that they're able to fill in to what we all saw play out in public and what we all have heard the former president talking about he wanted to do. Now the committee is really getting a lot of information about the steps that were being put in place to actually accomplish that.

So they've - you know, they still have a lot of holes they need to fill, but they have made a lot of headway in terms of figuring out what the president was thinking and doing in the run up to the riot.

KING: That headway I suspect is one of the major sources of the anger we see in Donald Trump when he talks about it. Our reporters are going to stand by. More to discuss ahead. Up next for us, Senator Chuck Schumer speaks to CNN. The Majority Leader defends his strategy despite big Democratic losses on voting rights and the Biden domestic agenda.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:27:43]

KING: We want to turn to some brand new CNN reporting now and the Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. In an interview with CNN he looks back on a tough first Biden year - first year of the Biden presidency, looks ahead to this year. Senator Schumer says he has no regrets. Here's one piece of that interview. Look at this.

Quote, "Joe Biden set the agenda, and I am working to pursue that agenda. OK? And I agree with it." CNN's Manu Raju, Edward-Isaac Dovere have this reporting. Isaac, let me start with you first. That sounds a little bit there. Joe Biden set the agenda and I'm working to pursue that agenda, OK? That sounds like a don't blame me. It's the president's fault. This thing was too big and we couldn't pass it.

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well and also if you look at what happened with voting rights. There was a lot of criticism that everyone came under in the White House and in the Senate for not being able to move forward with that. Is that Chuck Schumer's fault as the Majority Leader that they couldn't get voting rights through, they couldn't get that filibuster carve out through? He says listen, Joe Biden's setting the agenda. It's not me. But he's also talking about it in the broader way with Build Back Better, with the various ways that the Democratic agenda has gone through fits and starts here.

But you know, we got some of the extra back story here. You may remember that there was a document that came out in the fall that Chuck Schumer had signed his name to over the summer with Joe Manchin, and we knew that he hadn't told Nancy Pelosi about it knowing saying that the - that he was putting a cap on the amount of spending Manchin would agree to.

What we didn't know is he also didn't tell the White House about it. And so, the White House and the Speaker's Office were pursuing what turned out to be a ghost of trying to get this massive spending bill through even though Schumer apparently knew that Biden - that Manchin was never going to agree to it. He said to us, "It wasn't an agreement. I was doing it to try to work Joe Manchin through." And what this speaks to I think is how in this 50-50 Senate everything is up in the air. You see Schumer his critics saying not saying no to anybody. He says trying to figure out how to get anybody to say yes.

KING: Well whoever you want to send the blame to, Manu, one of the issues here is what happens next. There's a lot of animosity among Democrats. They blame Sinema and Manchin, Bernie Sanders among those who have said we should primary those guys next time they're on the ballot because they're not good Democrats.

In your interview Chuck Schumer did not really take a stand on that. He didn't want to talk about 2024. He said I'm focused on 2022, getting things done, and winning the election. I'm not at all focused on 2024 right now and neither should anyone else be.

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