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New Day
Interview with Sen. Ed Markey; House Intel Committee Issues Subpoenas; Comey Testifies about Trump; Trump Announces Decision on Climate Deal; Tennis Star with Autism Shines on the Court. Aired 8:30- 9a ET
Aired June 01, 2017 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[08:33:14] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: The House Intelligence Committee issuing subpoenas in the Russia investigation to Michael Flynn and President Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. The chairman of that committee, Devin Nunes, also issuing subpoenas about the unmasking of Trump associates.
So here to discuss the latest on the Russia investigation, as well as the Paris Accord, is Democratic Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts.
Good morning, senator.
SEN. ED MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Good morning.
CAMEROTA: So, people that we've spoken to on The Hill, really that everybody has spoken to, seem to have a lot more confidence in the Senate Intel Committee's work in terms of the Russia ties than the House Intel Committee's work. Are you comfortable that Chairman Devin Nunes, who supposedly stepped aside from this investigation, or at least being the chairman of the investigation in April, is now issuing these subpoenas?
MARKEY: Look, Devin Nunes is too close to the Trump White House. What he has done with the issuance of these new subpoenas is nothing more than a diversion. It's a -- it's a red herring of -- the Trump White House is going to need an aquarium to contain all the red herring they're trying to send out as they try to divert attention away from the central issue, which is that there is an historic allegation that the Russian government tried to compromise our elections and did so potentially in collusion with the Trump campaign, the Trump transition team and ultimately with the Trump White House.
CAMEROTA: But you --
MARKEY: That is the question which the American people want to have the answer to.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
MARKEY: And Devin Nunes is just part of this attempt to divert people away from that central question. CAMEROTA: That is the central question. And, of course, you know that
the Trump supporters in the White House say no evidence, not a shred of it, of collusion.
[08:35:04] MARKEY: Exactly. And so that's why we need the hearings in the Senate. That's why we need the hearings in the House. That's why we need Robert Mueller to be able to conduct an unfettered, go anywhere, talk to anyone kind of an investigation so all the facts are out on the table so the American people can determine for themselves whether or not there was collusion between the Trump campaign transition team and the Russian government.
CAMEROTA: OK.
MARKEY: That is the -- that is what the American people want. Everything else is a footnote.
CAMEROTA: So former FBI director, as you know, James Comey is set to testify in an open hearing to the Senate, the Senate Intel Committee. What is the big question that you have for James Comey?
MARKEY: The question is whether or not the president asked Mr. Comey to go easy on Flynn, what Comey thought that the president was trying to accomplish with that kind of a request, whether or not he had told the president on three occasions that there was no investigation of President Trump and his relationship with the Russian government. All of that has to go out into the public domain.
Our elections are the most sacred thing that we have in our country. It's why we conducted the American Revolution, it was so we could have free and unfettered elections. That is the question which Mr. Comey has to answer, is President Trump and his campaign and his administration trying to cover up a collusion with the Russian government?
CAMEROTA: We just had Senator Mike Lee on who said that James Comey had an opportunity to say that, to say that the president pressed him on May 3rd when he testified in front of the Judiciary Committee, but he didn't do that. He said, "it's not happened in my experience." Now, he'll say that he was referring to questions about the Department of Justice, but why hasn't -- why didn't he say it before now?
MARKEY: Listen, Mr. Comey can speak for himself and Mr. Comey's testimony, of course, is the beginning of a new phase of this investigation where evidence that will be made more public because of the subpoenas, which have been issued by the Senate and now the House committees, are going to be out there for public dissemination. But Mr. Comey is going to have to speak for himself. And I think that as long as he's given permission by Mr. Mueller to do so, that potentially we could have bombshells that begin to land next week. But right now none of us really has any idea what he is going to say.
CAMEROTA: True. Paris Climate Accord. What happens if today President Trump pulls out of that?
MARKEY: If President Trump announces that he is going to unilaterally pull the United States out of climate accord that the rest of the world has signed on to, with the exception of Syria and Nicaragua, then it will be an economic, a national security, a public health and a moral failure for the United States of America. It is going to be a statement that we are withdrawing from global leadership, that we are not accepting our responsibility and that we're not going to take advantage of this huge economic opportunity in wind, in solar, in clean energy jobs generally, in all electric vehicles to drive the economy of the 21st century on the planet and to brand the products that are made, "made in America." Instead, they are going to seed this economic terrain to the Chinese, to the Germans, to the Indians and others who are going to move forward almost with thanks to the United States that the president is going to lower the standards for what the implications are for our country.
President Kennedy was born 100 years ago this week. He challenged America to put a man on the moon in eight years and return him safely to this planet. We got that done. Donald Trump is like JFK in reverse. He is saying, we can't do it. We can't have a clean energy revolution. We can't move to non-fossil fuel burning vehicles. And the rest of the world's going to move in that direction and we are going to lose millions of jobs for hard-working Americans because the president --
CAMEROTA: Yes.
MARKEY: Is going to honor a promise to the coal industry, rather than the promise that he should be honoring to the rest of the world --
CAMEROTA: OK.
MARKEY: And to the future generations of Americans.
CAMEROTA: Senator Ed Markey, thank you very much for your perspective.
Chris.
MARKEY: Thank you. (INAUDIBLE) again.
[08:39:57] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, so video has come out of golf legend Tiger Woods in a world of trouble. His arrest for DUI captured on dash cam video. What it tells us about how Tiger was doing and what lays ahead for him, next.
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CUOMO: Time now for the "Five Things to Know for Your New Day."
Number one, the House Intel Committee issuing their first subpoenas in the Russia investigation. Three of them are from Chairman Devin Nunes about the unmasking of President Trump associates.
CAMEROTA: Sources tell CNN that fired FBI Director James Comey could testify before a Senate panel as early as next week. He is expected to confirm accusations that the president pressured him to drop the Michael Flynn investigation.
CUOMO: Congressional investigators want more information from Attorney General Jeff Sessions following the revelation that he may have had another meeting with Russia's ambassador last year.
CAMEROTA: President Trump will announce today his decision on the Paris Climate Accord. Sources tell CNN he is expected to withdraw from the 195 nation agreement.
[08:45:03] CUOMO: And police in Florida releasing video of their DUI arrest of Tiger Woods. They say he was not under the influence of alcohol, but prescription drugs, and he was not operating his vehicle at the time. They found him asleep in the car.
CAMEROTA: For more on the "Five Things to Know," go to newdaycnn.com for all of the latest.
CUOMO: All right, so could President Trump change his mind on the Paris climate deal today? Yes. So what is "The Bottom Line."
CAMEROTA: But first, a young woman facing daily challenges easily dominates on the tennis court. CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has her story in this "Turning Points."
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twenty-six-year old Brittany Tagliareni needs help fixing her hair and tying her shoes. But give her a tennis racket and she turns into an ace on the court.
CATHERINE TAGLIARENI, BRITTANY'S MOM: I'm glad that she found something where she can be successful.
GUPTA: As a baby, Brittany never learned to crawl or make babbling sounds.
C. TAGLIARENI: So every time, you know, I went to the pediatrician, it went, oh, don't worry, don't worry, some babies are later.
GUPTA: Brittany was diagnosed with motor control issues and an auditory processing disorder.
C. TAGLIARENI: But it wasn't until she was nine that we heard the word "autism."
Before tennis, she didn't have any friends. She's also loved her brother. So now A.J. started tennis. Brittany wanted to start tennis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Love it!
GUPTA: She picked up a racket and with patient coaching and repetition, she started winning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good job.
C. TAGLIARENI: When she played special Olympic competitions, they pair up with men because she's always usually in the top division.
BRITTANY TAGLIARENI, COMPETITIVE TENNIS PLAYER: I think the best about competing is the trophy then beating the men.
GUPTA: She also competes against people without disabilities.
B. TAGLIARENI: I am very happy about playing tennis because it is a lot of fun.
GUPTA: And it's helped her improve her social skills.
C. TAGLIARENI: Being out there and being able to be more independent and think for herself, that has changed her life.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good job.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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[08:50:54] CUOMO: All right, so there are some big headlines we've been giving you this morning. You have that the fired FBI director, James Comey, is going to testify next week. You got that the House panel is issuing their first subpoenas. And, of course, you have the big moment when the president is going to decide to or not to remove the United States from the Paris Accords for the environment.
So, let's get "The Bottom Line" on what matters most, CNN political director David Chalian.
What do you take as the top story?
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, that first headline you mentioned about learning that Jim Comey is going to be going to The Hill to testify and tell the stories of his conversations with President Trump, presumably, Chris, I think that is huge. I said yesterday, and I've been rattling -- sort of racking my brain trying to think of I could think of a better example. I don't think there's been as big a hearing as this one will be since Anita Hill. And I think that because we know Comey enjoys the spotlights in these moments, we have seen him give just unbelievably compelling testimony in the past in the Bush years, if I were Donald Trump, I would be extremely worried about just how bad of a day that may be for him.
CAMEROTA: Well, look, you heard Senator Mike Lee, or maybe you didn't, he was on our program, basically suggesting that James Comey is sort of an unreliable narrator. He had his chance on May 3rd when he -- the last time that he testified to mention this, that the president may have pressed him to back off an investigation, but he didn't.
CHALIAN: Yes, and he'll be pressed on any inconsistencies. He'll be pressed on those kinds of things to try to poke some holes in him, I'm sure, from Republicans. But, I don't know, Alisyn, you've watched Jim Comey over the years. I've -- I've watched him too. He seems to me to stand up to that kind of stuff pretty easily and can sort of overcome that if he has a narrative to tell.
CUOMO: And also, the more you press him, the more you're going to give him an opportunity to dig into what that situation was.
However, you want to talk about the bottom line, at the end of the day, in all likelihood, this is going to be a political situation, not a legal one. So guys like Mike Lee, Republican, who say that, you know, whatever he says, I'm going to be all right, that's going to be very big in terms of what this actually means.
All right, so now we get to Devin Nunes. How big a deal is his saying that he was stepping away, not stepping away, issuing subpoenas reportedly without conferring with the other ranking member of his committee, which is exactly what they brought him up on ethics charges for the last time.
CHALIAN: Yes, I just think this adds to the sort of circus atmosphere that is the House Intel Committee on this probe. It is totally different in tone and tenor than the Senate Intel Committee. And now, remember, we have the special counsel with Mueller, which is an entirely sort of removed from the Capitol Hill antics investigation.
So Nunes now getting back in the game here and trying to play the president's part here on unmasking I think just adds more to the sideshow nature of what the House Intel Committee has been doing thus far.
CAMEROTA: OK, next topic. David, we know -- we all know that one of the big things that President Trump loves is a good reveal as we call it in the TV biz where there is a surprise and you work up the anticipation for the surprise. And so there is going to be a reveal today about whether or not he stays in the Paris Accord. What do you think's going to happen?
CHALIAN: Yes, in the Rose Garden, right, but no rose ceremony at this reveal, I don't think. But, yes, obviously our reporting indicates that he is posed to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.
You know, politically, I find this such a fascinating moment that Donald Trump is in because clearly if indeed he does withdraw, it is part of his promise to do so, part of the dismantling of the Obama agenda and legacy that his voters are eager to see and clearly a play to the base. What will be interesting to see is, how does Donald Trump thread the needle that a majority of Americans, a pretty big majority of Americans, somewhere north of 60 percent I believe, do -- they want to see action on climate change. Maybe not the Paris Climate Accords. But how does he thread the needle that he is moving forward in combatting climate change, preparing for future generations, while also getting out of the Paris Climate Accord.
[08:55:00] CUOMO: Good question. We'll see how he does that this afternoon.
Thank you, David Chalian.
CHALIAN: Thank you, guys.
CAMEROTA: "The Good Stuff" is up next.
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CUOMO: All right, here it is, Friday adjacent, Thursday. So we've got a good "Good Stuff" for you.
Would you buy a plane ticket for a complete stranger? That's what Josh Rainey did. Keaton Tilson is a member of the U.S. Army. He was trying to get back home to see his family for Memorial Day, but wound up stuck at the airport for two days. Just about lost hope until Josh gave him a ticket.
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JOSH RAINEY, BOUGHT PLANE TICKET FOR KEATON TILSON: He walked away and then he came back and asked if he could hug me. And I think we both had to fight back the tears after that.
KEATON TILSON, U.S. ARMY: For him to do that not even knowing who I am was just -- it just made me so appreciative.
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CUOMO: Now, usually, you know, the U.S. government allows them to fly back and forth, but there are restrictions.
CAMEROTA: Yes. So what happened?
CUOMO: And he got caught in one of those spaces where it wasn't going to work out for him and this man who didn't know him decided, let me reward his service and get him home.
CAMEROTA: What a great good Samaritan and a great "Good Stuff." Thank you very much.
It's time now for CNN "NEWSROOM" with Poppy Harlow and John Berman.
[09:00:00] Good morning, guys.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: An inspiration to us all. Not just "The Good Stuff," but the both of you.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Awe.
BERMAN: Thank you so much.
A lot of news. Let's get right to it.
Good morning, everyone. I'm John Berman.
HARLOW: And I'm Poppy Harlow.
