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Blinken Gambles On Xi Meeting; Blinken: China Says No To Military-To-Military Channels; Federal Blinken: Xi Meeting Was "Candid" And "In-Depth". Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired June 19, 2023 - 12:00   ET

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

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DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Today on "Inside Politics", a handshake and a hope for a reset, the American Secretary of State and China's leader meet face-to-face, both men say the superpowers made progress, but just how much, is an open question, with dramatic consequences for geopolitics. Plus, reckless, a security threat, a consummate narcissist, two former top Trump officials warned that another Trump presidency would endanger the country, but only some of his GOP rivals showed they're willing to confront him head on. And a debate from afar over race on this Juneteenth holiday, the first black President and the only black Republican in the U.S. Senate disagree on how much progress America has really made on race. I am Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines and inside politics.

Up first, the American Secretary of State takes a big trip and a big risk. Today, Antony Blinken stood shoulder to shoulder with China's Xi Jinping, that a handshake in a 35-minute meeting was even possible. That sends a signal that China and the U.S. are serious about taking the teeth out of tough talk these past few months. Listen to the U.S. Secretary of State as he strikes a realistic but generally positive tone.

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ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE, UNITED STATES: Very candid, very in-depth, and in places, constructive. And in other places, we have a lot more work to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: I want to straight to Beijing, and CNN's Kylie Atwood. So, Kylie, this was a huge promise for candidate Joe Biden in 2020 to confront China. And now, he is really gearing up in his re-election and he sends his Secretary of State to China. Talk about that in the context of what you saw today.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dana, you'll recall that this was actually supposed to be a meeting that the Secretary had planned to make earlier this year in February. But, there was that Chinese spy balloon that traversed over continental U.S. The Biden Administration shot it down. The Secretary had to postpone his visit. The Chinese were very angered by that. They said it was an overreaction. And so, that is where we are today. Finally, that rescheduled meeting four months later is happening.

So, it is interesting that this is happening while President Biden's campaign is gearing up. But, it's really a coincidence that this is happening at the same time. And frankly, a meeting with President Xi, a visit here to Beijing is going to open up the Biden Administration to some criticism from Republicans. We have already seen that from Republicans on Capitol Hill leading into this visit, saying that it wasn't worth it for the Secretary to just be going to Beijing without making sure that there were some victorious things that the United States got out of China on this visit.

But, when you listen to the Secretary of State today, he was very clear in saying that this was a critical meeting for the two countries, because this is the first time, first of all, that a Biden cabinet official has visited Beijing at all during the Biden Administration, two and a half years in. And he believes that it was important that they agreed on the need to essentially reduce tensions between the two countries to keep open dialogue to make sure that competition doesn't veer into conflict.

Now, one thing that they set out to accomplish was to set up military- to-military channels of communication. There are not regular military- to-military channels right now between these two superpowers, and that is a major issue. But, they are not leaving with a victory on that front. Here is what Secretary Antony Blinken told me earlier today when I asked him about that.

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BLINKEN: I think it's absolutely vital that we have these kinds of communications, military and military. That imperative, I think, was only underscored by recent incidents that we saw in the air and on the seas. And at this moment, China has not agreed to move forward with that. And as I said, there is no immediate progress, but it is a continued priority for us.

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ATWOOD: Now, he did cast this, however, as a relationship that is a work-in-progress between the U.S. and China, and work on that relationship is really now underway. He expects that senior administration officials are going to visit Beijing in the coming weeks. So, we'll watch to see when and if those meetings happen. Dana.

BASH: Kylie, thank you so much for that reporting, and that important context that you just gave us.

Here at the table to share their reporting is CNN's Phil Mattingly, Tia Mitchell of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, Laura Barron-Lopez of the PBS NewsHour, and The Washington Post's Josh Rogin.

[12:05:00]

So, as we have this discussion, let's pull back the curtain a little bit on how these high stakes, high-profile trips usually work. And usually, when somebody like the Secretary of State goes on a mission like this, there is stuff that's precooked. You know that when they come out, they'll be able to announce X, Y and Z. That admission, Josh that they couldn't even agree on having open channels of communication on a military level, what does that say?

JOSH ROGIN, COLUMNIST, WASHINGTON POST: Well, it says that although the effort to stop the decline of U.S.-China relationships is good, that doesn't mean that anything has been solved. That doesn't mean that they're not going to get worse over time. And it shows that the Biden Administration is willing to do things for China, like go and send the Secretary of State to Beijing, without getting really anything in return, no American citizens back, no real substantive progress on things like fentanyl or climate change, or any of the other things we're supposed to be working on together. So, that's not good. But, at least, we stopped the fall of relationship, which is better than nothing.

I think what you're going to see now is the economic officials are going to come in. Here comes Janet Yellen, the Secretary of the Treasury. Here comes Gina Raimondo, the Secretary of the Commerce, possible 2028 presidential candidate. And that's what Beijing really wants. They don't like Tony Blinken. They don't like Lloyd Austin. They want the Econ people to come.

And of course, there is a huge lobbying effort going on in Washington now from Wall Street and the Chamber of Commerce, as the elections get near to both Democrats and Republicans to say, hey, do you want your campaign coffers filled? Well, we'd better get rid of some of these tariffs, better to get back to business with China. You don't want a Cold War. And Biden and Democrats and Republicans are affected by that. And I think that's what you're going to see play out over the course of the summer.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I think Josh makes a great point. The bar is low, right? And this wasn't necessarily a traditional bilateral visit, given the fact it had been cancelled before, given how things have been on a downward trajectory for the better part of really the President's entire time in office, but certainly over the course of the last couple of months.

I think when you talk to White House officials and national security officials, they acknowledge, a, that's the reality, and b, that in their view, particularly when you look at what else the administration is doing on the economic side related to how they've addressed China with trade, how they've worked on export restrictions in technology, specifically, but also in some of their military alliances that they put together, and how they've kind of driven Europe more towards their position on China, that they felt like this was a moment where speaking, having relationship, reopening lines of communication and setting the groundwork to have the economic officials go over as well, was more important than trying to secure major deliverables.

I still, to Josh's point, the most fascinating thing is the military- to-military contact or complete lack thereof. But, I think there are some inside the administration who feel like maybe people assume that China is a monolithic entity where the PLA and President Xi, while he is certainly the leader of the country and has underscored that 10 times over by the fact he once again is in power, one or anybody else in a very long time, that there are differences there --

BASH: Yes.

MATTINGLY: -- and whether or not they can use those to the U.S. advantage.

BASH: Just like in the United States --

MATTINGLY: Yes.

ROGIN: Exactly.

BASH: -- our internal politics.

ROGIN: Exactly. We have the national security people versus --

BASH: Yes.

ROGIN: -- the economic people, and the national security people have been winning for the first few years, but they're not winning anymore --

BASH: In China.

ROGIN: -- in both place.

BASH: In China.

ROGIN: In China, the national security people are still winning.

BASH: Yes.

ROGIN: In the Biden Administration, the economic people are being given the ball because Biden wants to run for election on a good economy.

BASH: So, I mentioned this to Kylie when we were speaking at the beginning of the show about the fact that candidate Joe Biden was very forward leaning into making China a top priority if he won, which of course he did, talking about China being -- America being more competitive with China, and also about confronting China and some of its human rights abuses. Take a listen.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I spent more time with Xi Jinping than any world leader had by the time we left office. This is a guy who is -- has -- doesn't have a democratic with a small d bone in his body. This is a guy who is a thug, who in fact has a million Uyghurs in reconstruction camps, meaning concentration camps. We got to make it clear they must play by the rules.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Mr. President. BIDEN: Period. Period. Period.

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TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, THE ATLANTA-JOURNAL CONSTITUTION: Yes. And I think Biden now that he is running for re- election, he also understands this is a place where Republicans have started to weigh in a lot. We see House Republicans with their Select Committee on China competitive witness, and they've been leaning on the Biden Administration saying, you guys aren't telling us what you're doing. You guys aren't explaining how you're planning to be tough on China. So, that's perhaps a perceived vulnerability for the Biden team as they go into re-election season that Republicans could try to seize on the fact that they haven't been able to deliver a lot of tangible, and so therefore, they're ramping up the discussions to at least say there is evidence we're working on these things.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, PBS NEWSHOUR: The evidence right now, I mean to Josh and Phil's point, is a lot of, look, we're reopening communications and we're reopening these channels because it was just striking when you listen to what Blinken or Xi Jinping said right afterwards which was there was progress that was made but then there were no specifics that were given about what exactly that progress was, and that's because there is still a lot of disagreements on you go down the list that you just mentioned, Dana.

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And so, I think that the White House right now is using this trip to try to project, look, we're opening communications. We're still talking. But, of course --

BASH: Yes.

BARRON-LOPEZ: -- there is a long way to go ahead --

BASH: OK.

BARRON-LOPEZ: -- of the re-election.

BASH: Everybody standby. Josh, thank you so much for coming in your expertise.

Coming up. President Biden is on his way to the West Coast, officially in re-election mode and looking to drum up some campaign cash. Stay with us.

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BASH: President Biden is going west after holding the first rally of his re-election campaign this weekend in Philadelphia. The President is on his way to California. He'll spend part of his time courting big donors as the end of the second quarter fundraising deadline approaches.

[12:15:00] Let's go to CNN's Arlette Saenz who is now at the White House. Arlette, what are we expecting to see from the President this week on this trip?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dana, the campaign is really heading into a critical stretch as they're trying to scoop up as much cash for their campaign as they can as that June 30 deadline approaches. Now, the campaign has yet to lay out any type of targets for how much they're trying to raise in their -- this first quarter that they are in the race. But, they are hoping to be able to post up a big number. And that is why the President and other top officials here at the White House will be fanning out across the country over the course of the next week. Today and tomorrow, he is out in California, in the Bay Area, attending fundraisers. And next week, he'll be traveling to fundraisers here in the D.C. area, also in Chicago, and New York City, all with their eyes on that June 30 deadline.

But, on top of all of these fundraisers, the President is also expected to be pushing some of the key messages that really resonate with their base. We saw that over the course of the last week as he spoke to climate groups, gun safety groups, and also held that first rally with the unions which has been a very mainstay group for him as he has run for office in the past. Now, today, he will be trying to talk about some climate commitments that his administration has made. And additionally, towards the end of the week, there is expected to be a focus on reproductive rights as that Dobbs decision anniversary is approaching. The White House trying to make some ground in these early days of the campaigns with the key constituencies that they need to help him win re-election in 2024.

BASH: Arlette, thank you so much for that reporting. And my panel is back here with me. Let's, again, just think about the Biden presidency, the Biden re-election message, and go back to Saturday. As we said, it was his first big campaign rally, really first rally at all, right, since he announced re-election, and the message of what he said and what he didn't say was very telling. Let's listen.

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BIDEN: Inflation has come down 11 in a row, and going to continue to come down. Today, it's less than half of what it was one year ago. Folks, this didn't just happen. We made it happen. Remember what it was like when I came to office -- we came into office. Remember the mess we inherited. If Republicans come after what I've done, when they come back to try to get rid of all these clean energy investments and they try to stop the plan on infrastructure, when they try to do these things, guess what? They're coming for your jobs.

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BASH: So, it's here are all the things I've done. If you haven't heard about it, I'm going to tell you, and watch out for the Republicans, because if they win they're going to unravel it. Kind of a typical re- election campaign message. BARRON-LOPEZ: It is. He is trying to make it more of a choice versus a referendum on his -- on the first four years of his presidency. He -- what's striking there he is trying to make the economic argument because we know that Republicans are going to be attacking him, attacking Democrats, trying to -- on the economy, specifically, if they're able to coalesce around that. We know that during their primary campaign right now, that's not what they're focused on. They're focused on a lot of different issues, anti-LGBTQ, anti- transgender issues.

But, that's something that establishment Republicans want to be focused on, is the economy and the general election against Biden, and you hear the President talking about, look at all these jobs that are being created, whether it's through the semiconductor chips bill, whether it's through the infrastructure bill, and that he is arguing that Republicans are going to essentially try to repeal that, because not all of them supported it even though those were bipartisan bills.

BASH: Yes. Phil, when you listen to what Laura just said and think about the frustrations that I know you hear covering the White House, I hear, one step removed, talking to administration officials, it is incredibly deep for them that there have been, from their perspective, economic gains, and that they're not getting credit for it. And just look at the latest Quinnipiac poll numbers that we can put up on the screen, and it really actually shows, well, first of all, if you look at now, 38 percent of the people on this poll approve of Biden's handling of this economy, 57 percent disapprove. So, he is doing better if you look at the trend starting back in March, but he is still very much underwater, and they believe it's because they can't get their message out.

MATTINGLY: That they can't break through.

BASH: Yes.

MATTINGLY: And I think to some degree, this -- it cuts both ways, and it's a contradiction that I always kind of to somebody we get a kick out of and talking to the administration officials who make the point that we're not here to get the big flashy headlines. We're governing, right? We're getting stuff done. We have a legislative record. We have a very clear not just recovery from the pandemic on both the public health and on the economic side, but then durability and stability with both of those successes that they believe they had over the course of years, despite the fact that economists continued to predict that there would be a recession, despite the fact they didn't believe it would be sustained. Many people were attacked for it.

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And those two things don't necessarily come together, right? If you don't want to make the headlines, if you don't want to drive the news necessarily, maybe people aren't going to pay attention to a resume, a record that you believe should resonate, should prove everybody wrong. I think it's going to be something they're going to have to confront going forward. As you know well, they've been confronting this for the entirety of their time in office, things that they thought that they succeeded on a record that they thought people should absolutely respond to in a positive manner that people just don't seem to be able to settle on.

The reality, though, is when you point to the things that are driving the headlines in terms of what's happening in the Republican primary, in terms of what the leading Republican candidate is dealing with right now, I think they take their side of things and the opportunity to build --

BASH: Yes.

MATTINGLY: -- to raise money, to lay out kind of their messages to specific groups in this process right now, and then be able to have an idea of exactly what they want to focus on next year.

MITCHELL: I think what the Biden Administration is challenged by, in addition to what Phil just laid out, is that what people are feeling at home is different than the message they're portraying, and they understand that there is a conflict there. They do have a record. They do have accomplishments, but they also know that people at home still think gas is too high. It might be lower than what it was a year ago. But, they still say there is pain at the pump, the same thing at the grocery store with prices -- with the price of goods. Their rent going up, all these things that people say they don't think they're in a great financial position.

So, it's hard for them to receive a message from the President saying, hey, you guys are doing better. Look what I've done. It's just I think there is a disconnect there that quite frankly there is no easy answer for how the White House deals with that disconnect because they kind of don't really have a way to fix it.

MATTINGLY: Yes, and I think this gets to Laura's point, which I think is the best point, is contrast is the way they think they can deal with it, right, when you have an opponent, when you have somebody else sitting out there, right now you're speaking kind of amorphously about Republican -- general Republican acts. When you have a Republican opponent, a Republican nominee, they believe that contrast will become --

BASH: Yes.

MATTINGLY: -- very clear, and the groundwork they're laying now will set the stage for that moment.

BASH: OK. Everybody standby. Just into CNN, a deep sea search and rescue mission with life or death consequences. Right now, there is a rush to find a submersible that ferries people to the wreckage of the Titanic, nearly 13,000 feet below the surface. The company that runs the vessel "OceanGate Expeditions" says its entire focus is on finding those on board and returning them to their families. The underwater vehicle typically holds five people on the journey from sea level to the sunken ship. It takes around eight hours. We're going to keep monitoring the situation and bring you more details as we learn it.

And ahead on Inside Politics, the Trump of it all, his former administration officials are sounding the alarm. Many of his political opponents, meanwhile, are trying to say as little as possible. With you on that after a quick break.

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BASH: The former President's own cabinet members are branding their 2024 Republican frontrunner as a threat to national security, someone who puts his own interests over that of the country. Mark Esper, Trump's former Defense Secretary, told my colleague Jake Tapper. Watch out.

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JAKE TAPPER, HOST, "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER": Do you think Trump can be trusted with the nation's secrets ever again?

MARK ESPER, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: Well, based on his actions, again, if proven true under the indictment by the Special Counsel, no. I mean, it's just irresponsible action that places our service members at risk, places our nation's security at risk.

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BASH: And Trump's former Attorney General Bill Barr warned "Trump is a child".

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BILL BARR, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: He is a consummate narcissist. He will always put his own interests and gratifying his own ego ahead of everything else, including the country's interests. There is no question about it. This is a perfect example of that. He is like a nine-year-old -- a defiant nine-year-old kid who is always pushing the glass toward the edge of the table, defying his parents to stop him from doing it. It's a means of self-assertion and exerting his dominance over other people.

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BASH: I mean, wow.

MATTINGLY: Subtle.

BASH: Can you try to figure out what he actually means?

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BASH: I mean, particularly as parents that was -- he knows, as a parent, like, everybody can relate to that who has had a kid. But, do you think that any of that is going to penetrate with the Republican voting electorate? MATTINGLY: I mean, look, I think the hard part here is we think of it as like a monolithic electorate. Like, no, there is the percentage that is never going to shift. There is the percentage that's always going to feel like this is political, or they don't believe it, or probably more often than not, they don't care. They like him no matter what this is.

I think the bigger issue right now, when you look at it from a purely political lens, is this is starting to -- this will, almost inevitably, and this is what when you talk to Democrats in particular and some Republicans, start to chip away at the suburban voters that they absolutely have to win back. They cannot win it on Trump's base support alone in terms of a general election. General election is a problem. Everybody keeps focusing on the primaries. The numbers aren't dropping. Nobody is gaining on him. The general election is what matters. You talk to Republicans who actually kind of really care about what's going to happen here and not just the primary, that's what they're focused on,

BASH: Of course. But, a Republican has to get through the primary in order to win the general election. And the question is, is anybody who is opposing Donald Trump going to win with these kinds of arguments? The one who is trying the hardest is Chris Christie, his former friend, former Governor of New Jersey. Listen to what he told --

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