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New Day
Trump has Victory Lap at Iowa Rally; Trump: I Don't Want a 'Poor Person' in Cabinet Roles; Senate GOP to Unveil Health Care Bill Today; Interview with Sen. Ron Wyden. Aired 7-7:30a ET
Aired June 22, 2017 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:02:00] REP. JIM HIMES (D), HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Remember, Chris, you know, has become evident with Michael Flynn. Here's a guy -- and, you know, the stories were out yesterday, here's a guy who the deputy attorney general told the White House could be compromised by the Russians. It could be subject to blackmail, and for almost three weeks he was in every closed room looking at all sorts of classified information. So people who are raising the alarm about this question I think, you know, again, I don't think we're going to pull a security clearance any time soon. But it's not unfair to raise that question.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Last question. You hear the Intel Chief say what the president asked us was odd, but we didn't feel pressured. We didn't feel that he was telling us we had to tell the public about what was going on in the investigation. What did you make of their testimony?
HIMES: Well, that's a great question. Because, of course, we have now seen from several senior administration officials including the attorney general, including the director of national intelligence and a couple of others. This weird refusal to discuss the nature of their conversations with the president about whether the president tried to stop this investigation, which of course that's something that points to the question. And I do say the question of obstruction of justice.
You know, you don't get to refuse to answer a question to the United States Congress unless you're claiming your fifth amendment rights, you don't want to self incriminate, or if you're claiming executive privilege. Those are the two excuses by which you don't get to answer --
CUOMO: But they said the White House put them in a jam because they asked whether or not the White House wanted to exercise its immunity and they didn't hear back.
HIMES: Well, if they didn't hear back, the answer is no, the White House is not exerting executive privilege. That's the way it's got to be.
You know, this idea that came up last week that, gosh, I'm going try to -- I'm going to say nothing because I want to preserve the right of the president to invoke executive privilege. That means that nobody's ever going to answer another question around here again. So, my point is that, you know, they have got to answer those questions so we can come to understand how intense the president's effort was to stop or slow the Russia investigation.
CUOMO: Congressman, appreciate your take on these issues. They all matter. Thank you very much.
HIMES: Thanks, Chris.
CUOMO: All right. Thanks to you, our international viewers for watching. For you, CNN "Newsroom" is next. For our U.S. viewers, we have new reporting and it is time to get after it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's important that the senate moves forward and passes health care reform.
REP. RON JOHNSON (R), WISCONSIN: I can't imagine, quite honestly, I'd have the information to justify a yes vote within just a week.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: If we went and got the single greatest health care plan in the history of the world, we would not get one Democrat vote.
BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: Let us improve Obamacare, but we're not going to destroy it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's great cause for concern in terms of Jared Kushner continuing to have a security clearance. We're a country of laws. And let's go through the due process.
JEB JOHNSON, SECRETARY OF DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We attributed the hacking directly to the Russian government.
TRUMP: And one individual in America to not accept this basic fact is the president of the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is "New Day" with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to your "New Day". In just hours, we're going to finally know what's in the Senate Republican plan to overhaul Obamacare, at least the big points. Senators are going to be briefed on those this morning. Not even the president says he knows what's in it yet.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile, President Trump is back in campaign mode. He was on the trail, for lack of a better word, touting accomplishments and announcing some new priorities.
The president also making an eyebrow raising comments about his wealthy cabinet and advisers. So we have it all covered for you. Let's begin with CNN's Suzanne Malveaux. She's live on Capitol Hill. What's the latest there, Suzanne?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. Well, the Senate health care legislation has been shrouded in secrecy, of course, to the frustration of many Republicans team in those key votes needed for it to pass. Well, all of that is going to change at 9:30 this morning. They will get a chance to actually take a look at the legislation and have it unfold. CNN has got an early look at some of the plan which, of course, is subject to change.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: I hope we're going to surprise you with a really good plan.
MALVEAUX (voice-over): Senate leadership hoping to appeal to both moderate and conservative Republicans with a bill that is expected to phase out Medicaid expansion starting in 2021, a year later than the house bill. And defund Planned Parenthood for one year which could be a deal breaker for two key Republican senators.
Republicans can only afford to lose two votes, since no Democrat is expected to support the bill.
SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R), IOWA: They made it clear they're not interested in helping.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMMER (D), MINORITY LEADER: This bill is mean, very mean.
MALVEAUX: The bill is not expected to include the controversial house proposal that would allow states to decide on protections for people with pre-existing conditions. But the Senate may allow for a new set of waivers that could eliminate essential health benefits.
There are still details we don't know about the bill that could decide its fate. Including when Obamacare taxes will be repealed, how much money will be allocated for high-risk pools, and how the Senate will calculate the distribution of tax credits. But they're expected to be more generous than the house plan. Already, some Republicans are expressing frustrations.
[07:0511] R. JOHNSON: I can't imagine, quite honestly, that I'd have the information to evaluate in just by yes vote within just a week.
MANU RAJU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are you satisfied with the process being undertaken by with the health bill?
JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: of course we will.
MALVEAUX: Whatever the final draft, Senate aides tells CNN Republican leaders want President Trump to stay far away from the negotiating, describing an earlier meeting as "kind of a disaster."
The president has not yet indorsed the senate bill, but sounded hopeful at last night's rally in Iowa.
TRUMP: Well, you know, I've been talking about a plan with heart. I said add some money to it. A plan with heart. But Obamacare is dead.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: The congressional budget office score is expected as soon as tomorrow, then we'll be followed by senate debate. There are likely lots of changes that will be made. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants a vote on the legislation by the July 4th recess which really gives very little time for lawmakers or even the public to read or amend this bill. Alisyn
CAMEROTA: That's right. And that could be a deal breaker for some of them that said. Suzanne, thank you very much.
President Trump is back in campaign motor. He was in Iowa last night, celebrating election victories and making news with comments about his cabinet and advisers. CNN's Joe Johns is live at the White House with more. What was he saying, Joe?
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, victory speech for sure. It's been eight months since the election night victory, that Donald Trump here to the White House. But last night Republicans were celebrating a pair of house sit victories in elections just this week, putting the president back in the campaign mode, able to celebrate at least four nights on the road.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: All we do is win, win, win. We won last night.
JOHNS (voice-over): An energized President Trump returning to the environment he loves the most, a campaign rally.
TRUMP: It's always terrific to be able to leave that Washington swamp.
JOHNS: Going after his favorite targets, the media and Democrats.
TRUMP: And they've been unbelievably nasty, really nasty. I am making it a little bit hard to get their support, but who cares?
JOHNS: While touting his promised border wall.
TRUMP: We're thinking about building the wall as a solar wall. This way, Mexico will have to pay much less money. And that's good, right?
JOHNS: President Trump rallying his loyal supporters with this immigration proposal.
TRUMP: Those seeking admission into our country should not use welfare for a period of at least five years.
JOHNS: A rule that is already the law of the land, and reiterating this rather vague concern about China's influence on North Korea.
TRUMP: I do like President Xi. I wish we would have a little more help with respect to North Korea from China, but that doesn't seem to be working out.
JOHNS: The president also touting his wealthy cabinet picks before making this eyebrow raising statement.
TRUMP: I love all people, rich or poor. But in those particular positions, I just don't want a poor person. Does that make sense?
JOHNS: And only briefly mentioning the Russia investigations hanging over his administration.
TRUMP: They have phony witch hunts going against me.
JOHNS: But Mr. Trump silent about Russia's interference in the 2016 election, an issue the White House continues to dodge when pressed for the president's position.
SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I have not sat down and talked to him about that specific thing.
JOHNS: A former homeland security secretary testifying Tuesday that evidence of Russian meddling is undeniable.
J. JOHNSON: In 2016 the Russian government at the direction of Vladimir Putin himself orchestrated cyber attacks on our nation for the purpose of influencing our election. That is a fact plain and simple.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: One of the president's lawyer have suggested this might be the week the president would reveal whether there are recordings of his conversations with the now fired FBI Director James Comey. So far, no word on that. The president has suggested journalists will be disappointed with the answer to that question. Chris and Alisyn.
CUOMO: All right, Joe. Appreciate it.
Let's discuss. We have political analysts David Gregory and John Avlon and CNN Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash who has some big reporting this morning. We'll get to that in a second. Main topic, David Gregory is the Senate bill. We get that the process was secretive and we get that that was opportunistic because they want to deliver on their promise to repeal and replace. And they -- Mitch McConnell believes this is the best way. So, what does today bring?
DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think it starts to sharpen the debate, both within the Republican Party and then the senate overall. And I think it's really interesting to try to understand, as I think some of the reporting and the discussion on the program this morning has gotten into, what is this strategy of Leader McConnell in terms of how he get to the votes and how he sells the plan.
[07:10:13] One big takeaway for me is that there is going to be a conflict between what the president says has got to be health care without a heart. He has described the house bill as mean. How is he going to square that with what the senate now wants to do, which is has been described in the program this morning is Obamacare light, rolling back some of this provisions that are in Obamacare while retaining some of the more popular provisions.
How is that going to work? That's that conflict between I think the president's reticents about actually making good on the promise to kill Obamacare, and the party's desire to move forward and do just that to please a conservative base that thought it was too much government intervention to begin with.
CAMEROTA: Dana, help explain the math here of this bill. Because they can only afford to lose two votes and there are already three senators who had publicly expressed being on the fence. So what's going to happen here?
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of those three has said no way, no how, Rand Paul of Kentucky and a couple of others are getting close to that. The math is what it is which is what makes this such a cliff-hanger.
And the fact is I was up on Capitol Hill talking to some sources this week and, you know, sort of noting that Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader is really the ultimate tactician. And just the years of covering him, I was saying to sources, you know, I have a lot of faith that he might have some, you know, series of rabbits in his hat that he's going to figure out.
And I was told, well, this time maybe not. Maybe he doesn't know exactly how this game is going to end or how this game of chess is going to end which is usually what he plays. And the reason is because of the math. That he can only afford to lose two Republicans. And you have a lot of Republicans on both sides of the Republicans spectrum and was pointed earlier who have problems with a lot of the substance of what they're doing.
But also, just on the pure politics of this, he has concluded that win, lose or draw, this has got to be dealt with. That the Senate has to deal with it. Much like we saw earlier in the year on the house side, that Paul Ryan said we just have to do it and he gave up for a short time. That is the calculus of Mitch McConnell, that even if it doesn't pass, it will be bad, but even worse will be a not trying.
CUOMO: All right. So, another big headline. Trump has a rally last night and the president taking somewhat of a victory lap and rightly so. He's done well on the special elections. And you can say, well, these are Republican districts. But they won and the Democrat made a hard push and fell short.
But he said something there last night that was met with applause that requires your consideration. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Somebody said why did you appoint a rich person to be in charge of the economy? I said, no it's true. And Wilbur is a very rich person in charge of commerce. I love all people, rich or poor. But in those particular positions I just don't want a poor person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: This I feel should bother a lot of people, not in that room where they were applauding, that Wilbur Ross, know him, covered him, smart guy, competent choice.
JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Nice loafers.
CUOMO: Nice loafers. And he made a point though last night that seemed to appoint some type of significance to wealth that goes to competency that poor people wouldn't have.
And I was thinking, boy, I wonder what young, scrappy and hungry would be thinking? Alexander Hamilton, you know, he revolutionized government finance spending and never had two nickels to rub together. And it's not just this commerce secretary that he was talking about.
AVLON: Right.
CUOMO: This is a man who said I'm going to after Wall Street. This is a man who said I'm going to drain the swamp, being wealthy is not bad. It's virtue in America that should be applauded when done the right way. But he's done the opposite. They rolled back Dodd-Frank and now he's saying I don't want poor people in certain positions.
AVLON: Well, he's got the wealthiest cabinet in history. Certainly a lot of his -- the prospect of a populous billionaire is always tough to believe. But then you got to go beyond the rhetoric to what policies he's implementing. Encircling his opening five months. There hasn't been a lot to try to shrink the gap between the rich and poor.
But let's focus on the history in the parallel. Because, you know, as much as I wanted to hear you rap -- and I thought you were going there.
CAMEROTA: He's going there.
AVLON: You know, I mean let me see if I can stoke the fire there. What Donald Trump basically said is that, you know, Alexander Hamilton need not apply for a job in my cabinet.
The man who invented America's finance system, our first treasury secretary was an immigrant who was dirt poor, hadn't had any financial success. And I think that just goes to show that that's the wrong criteria for the cabinet, that's the wrong criteria even specifically for economic position --
[07:15:07] CAMEROTA: But, hold on a second. You guys are being awfully quaint with this notion.
CUOMO: No.
CAMEROTA: In our capitalist society, wealth equals success. It just does.
AVLON: Not always.
CUOMO: It may --
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: Equals opportunity, equals advantage. It could have been handed to you.
CAMEROTA: It could've been handed to you. But I'm saying it --
(CROSSTALK)
AVLON: Someone's going to have a check written to get into college --
CAMEROTA: That is the goal. And so that means that these people have been -- I mean, I'm telling you I'm channeling how some of Donald Trump's voters feel. And that is that these guys obviously have some sort of secret sauce and they want a part of it from somebody who has been wildly wealthy.
AVLON: I think it's the equating of that with wisdom, with insight, with expertise, with virtue, right. Obviously, someone has been economically successful on their own, i.e. They haven't had it given to them and pretended they were, you know, but they weren't on third base and thought they had a triple. It's not that kind of a situation.
And clearly Trump's crowd in cedar rapid is eating it up, partly because it is a tribal environment.
CUOMO: Right.
AVLON: He's planned that is --
CUOMO: Right. And he's got to call celebrity around of it. Dana, my point is this. And, you know, it's always dangerous to say we'll go with Trump people want. You know, because he can talk to different people and lots of different opinions about it. But it was a big thrust.
When Trump was campaigning, what would he say to these people, the working class in general? I know these guys. I know how they make their money. They can't do that to me. I will take care of them. And instead he surrounded himself with them for better or worse. And now he's saying, and the reason I do it is, you know, poor people, I love them, but, you know, they're not as good as rich people when it comes to certain jobs.
BASH: Listen. I mean I went to Trump rally after Trump rally. And definitely they're not monolithic, but I did hear over and over again one of the things that were drawing Trump voters to him was the fact that he made a lot of money. Or at least he says he made a lot of money. And Alisyn is exactly right. And that was, you know, it was aspirational. It was also that he didn't care, that he was going to bust this place up, this place in Washington and all of the above. But that was a part of it.
And so -- and the president knows that. And he was completely playing into that by talking about Wilbur Ross. I would bet that if he were to do it over again, if you would, you know, put truth serum, you know, in his wheaties and say, would you say it just like that. I don't need poor people? Probably not
He was trying to make the flip side of that argument about the fact that he thinks that people who know how to make money, who have made money can be there. But I also think that Alexander Hamilton and others who are intellectually capable of understanding the economic process.
CUOMO: And what would be the policy to be there when you have all one kind of people designing, you know, your economic opportunity?
BASH: Well, but the rich doesn't necessarily mean they're all kind of one people.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
CUOMO: Right. But let me just add one other point here.
BASH: Go ahead.
GREGORY: I do think this is an example of overly interpreting Trump. I mean we've been around now long enough in the Trump presidency to watch him make these eye rolling statements that seem to be so offensive to people if they took it literally. And some people will and they will be offended on the merits of it.
But what he's basically saying is, look, we're going to come in from the outside. We want to win. I'm going to get people who are winners in the private sector and they're going to come in and they're going to bust up the government and finally do this thing right.
And that's, a, not necessarily the case. And, b, can really turn a lot of people off.
AVLON: Can we just for a second the square, the circle on this whole literally, seriously, dichotomy which was very effective and I think has been too different through the campaign, because we can square the circle on that now that he's governing, now that he's actually president. Where the rubber meets the road is what he's actually doing in terms of policy. And where his policies keep sidestepping that, you know, that rhetoric about, you know, taking it to the rich and powerful and special interest and instead feeding them and creating loopholes they can drive through, that's where I think we need to keep our actions focused right now.
I mean, Chris's, big point is, because he's been surrounded by folks with a certain perspective, the rules and policies and executive orders came seem to cater to their interest. And that's kind of the basic expectations.
GREGORY: That's a good point. Yes.
CAMEROTA: And, John, are you tired of winning?
CUOMO: Right. Apparently he doesn't want to win anymore. That's my problem with Avlon.
CAMEROTA: OK. I got it. Understood.
BASH: We're all exhausted from it.
CAMEROTA: Yes. I know. And I feel that. Thank you all very much.
Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are about to unveil their secret health care bill. So what are Democrats planning in response? Senator Ron Wyden tells us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:23:28] CAMEROTA: Details of the secret Senate GOP health care plan will be made public in just a few hours. Senators on both sides of the aisle say they are frustrated about being kept in the dark, but President Trump saw it differently.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Obamacare is a disaster. It's over, and there's nothing to compare what we're doing. I think -- I hope the Republican senate, if we went and got the single greatest health care plan in the history of the world, we would not get one Democrat vote, because they're obstructionists. They're obstructionists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Joining us now is Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon. Good morning, senator.
RON WYDEN (D), OREGON: Good morning.
CAMEROTA: Have you any sense of the meet of what's in this plan?
WYDEN: Look, here is what we're dealing with. Senate Republicans are playing with numbers, forgetting that those numbers are people's lives. We're talking about, for example, a baby boomer who has had a stroke and needs nursing home care, special needs kids, disabled folks. What we know is that this is going to look a lot like the house bill and it's going to mean a lot of pain for millions of Americans.
CAMEROTA: So, are you Democrats in that case preparing some sort of rapid response team to react to this? What's your plan once it's unveiled today?
WYDEN: Yes. We are all in. And our big job as I just indicated, is to actually make clear what this means for people's lives. For example, tomorrow a number of democratic senators are going to have a day of action in their home states. We're going to do it on the floor of the United States senate. We're talking to provider groups, particularly those in places like rural America
[07:25:18] The house bill, we'll have to see what the senate does -- have something called an age tax, which would mean that if you're between 55 and 64 you would pay hundreds of dollars more in premium for your health care. We're going to make clear what this means for people's lives.
CAMEROTA: And are you leaning on your senate colleagues, the Republicans who have publicly stated that they may be on the fence about this. I'm talking about Murkowski and Collins and Rand Paul. Are you talking to them?
WYDEN: Yes. And the fact is the Senate Republicans have now put themselves in a real vice. We've got some of the Senate Republican conservatives who want to actually be meaner than what the house is talking about. Then you have a number of Republican senators who say that they care about Medicaid. I've worked with them. I've worked with them on a bipartisan basis on health care and I sure hope they haven't ended up changing.
CAMERTOA: Senator, here is the confusing thing. If the plan is as bad as you foresee it, it doesn't make political sense. I mean it is political suicide for Republicans to hang their hats on something that would hurt their constituents.
Their constituents voted to replace Obamacare. They weren't happy with their choices. So it doesn't make sense if they're going to deliver something the way you describe it as being so pure any shows.
WYDEN: Well, remember, their constituency is especially the fortunate few. And this legislation, again, based on the house, is likely to deliver hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts to the very fortunate. We're going to have to see the details, but when you talk about their constituency, certainly the fortunate here, the one percent based on the house bill would benefit tremendously.
CAMEROTA: Right. But you know that that's not President Trump's base. I mean you see all the big, you know, stadium-style events and rallies that he has. They're not what you're calling the fortunate few.
WYDEN: That shows the gap between what he says at those rallies and then what he supports. Again, if you look at the house bill which he welcomed on the White House grounds that had hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy paid for by hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts.
For example, in Medicaid, which that counts for two out of three nursing home beds. There's a big gap between his rhetoric out on the stump and the bills that he talks about on the White House lawn.
CAMEROTA: Before I let you go, I want to ask you about President Trump's top adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner. There's some call for him to have his security clearance revoked because of the on going Russia investigation. Do you want to see his security clearance revoked?
WYDEN: I'm following up on those questions. Look, there are a lot of unanswered questions. I've asked, for example, the CIA Director Mike Pompeo, about matters relating to what Mike Flynn learned in secret briefings. So we have a lot of questions to get resolved.
CAMEROTA: But you just have -- you're not taking a position yet on whether Jared Kushner's security clearance should be revoked?
WYDEN: We don't talk about committee deliberations. I'll tell you, I'm digging into the area.
CAMEROTA: OK. Senator Ron Wyden, thank you very much for being on "New Day".
WYDEN: Thank you.
CAMEROTA: Chris.
CUOMO: All right. Alisyn, up next. What are Senate Republicans going to do with this health plan bill? Once they find out what's in it, how are they going to get together within their own party?
We're hearing something unusual. GOP senators, other lawmakers are saying they don't like what's going on. How do they get together next?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
