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Congressman wants Mueller to Resign; Trump-Putin Meeting in Vietnam; Sports Headlines in Bleacher Report; Inside the Sex Trade. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired November 10, 2017 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Wound up achieving their ends all too well, which is why you guys have to investigate it and figure out how to stop it. But it seems like you just --

REP. MATT GAETZ (R), FLORIDA: But those things aren't equally exclusive. The Russians are going to want to create chaos in the process, but they're going to also want to undermine our uranium access. And just like you pointed out with Roy Moore (ph), we learn more and more facts.

CUOMO: But you don't have any proof that they did Russian interference. You want to get rid of the special counsel.

GAETZ: We have proof that there was an informant who in 2009 --

CUOMO: Right.

GAETZ: Was saying that the Russians was trying to bribe people to influence our uranium. And, by the way, you have the Clinton Foundation filling out the very deposit slips which do serve as the circumstantial evidence for those bribes.

CUOMO: But why would that -- even -- even if there is something to it, and, again, that's your speculation, not mine, why would that disqualify the special counsel in this current investigation about whether or not --

GAETZ: Because the --

CUOMO: Members of the campaign coordinated efforts with Russian interference? I just don't see it. I mean as an attorney, as just a thinking individual, I don't see it.

GAETZ: That is proof that the appearance of a conflict demands recusal. Yes, but you know that the appearance of a conflict is what demands a recusal.

CUOMO: But the appearance is only to you. I don't see the basis in fact for it. That's what I'm asking you.

GAETZ: No, no, no. Well, there are other members of Congress who agree. And we're also seeing more and more that evidence continues to come out. Look, we're just learning that Fusion GPS was meeting with this

Russian lawyer the day before and day after she met with Donald Trump Jr. That looks like a setup to me.

CUOMO: To you, exactly. But the concern is, why Donald Junior and other members of the campaign were so anxious to rush into that meeting and whether or not they were truthful about it all along. Those are the concerns, because that's certainly, on the face of the facts, wasn't a solicitation about adoption.

GAETZ: So you're not concerned -- you're not concerned that Fusion GPS, paid for by the Democratic Party, was meeting with this Russian lawyer the day before and the day after she met with Donald Trump? That doesn't concern you that Democratic opposition political research was being used for these purposes?

CUOMO: What concerns --

GAETZ: I mean that's deeply troubling.

CUOMO: What concerns me --

GAETZ: We've got to look into that.

CUOMO: What concerns me is an effort to remove a man at the head of an investigation for political reason. That's what would concern me.

GAETZ: It's not political reasons. It's conflict of interest, Chris.

CUOMO: Bob Mueller is a lifelong Republican. He is a decorated veteran.

GAETZ: Do you not think Republicans can have conflict of interest? Can veterans not have conflict of interest?

CUOMO: I think that anyone can have one.

GAETZ: Of course.

CUOMO: I think that you may be exercising one right now because in your efforts to appease the president, you might be asking for removal -- the removal of the special counsel --

GAETZ: No, look --

CUOMO: And be disruptive to this process because it doesn't seem like you've got a strong case that the Uranium One deal implicates the special counsel in a way that he cannot be objective and impartial in his investigation of Russian interference.

GAETZ: He was the FBI director --

CUOMO: But you have no proof that he covered it up.

GAETZ: He was the FBI director when the Uranium One deal --

CUOMO: You have no proof that he covered it up or did anything untoward.

GAETZ: He was there.

Look, either by his acts or by his omission, that deal went through. As the FBI director, he should have stopped it.

CUOMO: He wasn't in charge of whether or not the deal goes through.

GAETZ: As the FBI director?

CUOMO: Yes.

GAETZ: It was a multi-agency process. That's what the Democrats say.

CUOMO: Yes. Yes, but it -- but it -- but there were nine different agencies that had to say yes. I mean the whole case that you guys make is that Clinton made it happen.

GAETZ: Yes, but the FBI could have said no. They didn't.

CUOMO: That's obviously not true, right? She was just one of many different levels of acceptance about this.

GAETZ: No.

CUOMO: You don't have to like the Uranium One deal.

GAETZ: It's ludicrous to suggest that the -- that the -- that the Clinton's don't have tentacles in a variety of agencies. Come on, Chris, that -- that doesn't have the (INAUDIBLE).

CUOMO: No, into Bob Mueller? You think Mueller is under Clinton's sway? I mean this is the stuff for a blog, not a congressman.

GAETZ: Well -- hey, listen, I don't know if he's under Clinton's sway. I do know that Bob Mueller was there at the FBI. He should have spoken up about the Uranium One deal. They were essentially bribing the Clinton Foundation to get it done. And that should necessitate his recusal.

CUOMO: All right. Thank you for making the case, congressman. Appreciate you taking the time on NEW DAY.

GAETZ: Thank you, Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Chris.

A short time ago, President Trump arrived at a gala dinner at the economic summit in Vietnam. Here is his arrival. Russian leader Vladimir Putin is there as well, but it is unclear if the two leaders will have a formal meeting or even an informal one.

So here to discuss is the former governor of New Mexico and former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Bill Richardson. Hi, Mr. Ambassador. Thanks so much for being with us.

BILL RICHARDSON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Help us understand all of this on again/off again, will the president meet with Vladimir Putin, will he not? Aren't these things planned in advance? Why does this have such an impromptu quality to it?

RICHARDSON: Well, there's jockeying going on between the Russians and the Americans, game playing. This happens. Are they going to meet? Are they going to meet on the sidelines? Are they going to have what is called the pull-aside? You know, they're standing up and they go into a corner.

My sense is that there will be a meeting. I think it's important that there be a meeting, hopefully a formal one, if not an informal one because we've got a lot of issues with the Russians. We've got North Korea. Russians can help on North Korea. We've got Syria. Right now the Russians continue to help President Assad in that investigation of the chemical weapons.

We've got issues also relating to the investigation by the special counsel. That, I think, is keeping President Trump from formally having a meeting because he's going to have to talk about that to the press and he may not want to upset President Putin because he's going to have to be strong.

[08:35:11] CAMEROTA: Right. Well, let's talk about that, right, because since they have all of these issues of North Korea, of Syria, as you say, let's not forget about ISIS beyond Syria. So they have a lot of things that they could work on together and that they could discuss together. So do you think it would be wise for President Trump to bring up the Russia investigation, I mean if he's trying to make diplomatic progress with those other things?

RICHARDSON: Yes. Yes. I think it's important that a meeting take place, a formal meeting, otherwise it's going to be a setback for both sides. And I think it's important that the president, perhaps for the first time, say that Russian interference in our election was unacceptable.

Now, the issue of collusion, that has to be determined by the special counsel. But I think it would be good politics for the president to separate himself a bit from President Putin on these domestic issues and then say, look, you did wrong there, but let's focus on how we can jointly get Assad out into a peaceful resolution of the Syrian issue. Start helping us on North Korea, Russia, because it doesn't seem China's doing as much as it should and it's in the interests in the region. And Russia was part of the six-party talks on North Korea in the past.

We try to bring stability to this region right now where all of these meetings, these APEC meetings are taking place, and Russia is a big player. So it would be a significant setback if a meeting doesn't take place. But I think politics are being played, game playing. I see the

Russians are a little mad that it hasn't been scheduled yet. Foreign Minister Lavrov, who I know, who I served with in the U.N., he's very good at sort of sending these little buzz signals that it's important that a meeting take place. I suspect it will and it should.

CAMEROTA: Look, there's all of these things happening here at home while the president is abroad. Obviously last weekend's Texas church shooting. There's all of these sexual harassment claims, including one that is now embroiling Senate candidate Roy Moore. There's the tax plan. I mean it just goes on and on that has, you know, somewhat overshadowed what the president is doing in Asia. So what do you think the upshot of his trip will have been? Do you see the needle being moved somehow?

RICHARDSON: Well, I think it's a trip of mixed results. On South Korea, on Japan, I think the trip went relatively well. On China, I think he cow-towed too much to China. China is not responding on the North Korea issue. I think President Trump asked them to cut oil exports, to shut down North Korean banks in China, to send North Korean workers out of China. The Chinese didn't do it.

But there's incremental steps that they're taking, but not enough. Hopefully the good side of this result of China's stonewalling a bit will be that the president is going to need to look at diplomacy or deterrents. And I think diplomacy is a better policy towards North Korea, a freeze for a freeze potentially of two sides.

You talk to the North Koreans. The North Koreans stop some of the missile activity. They haven't had a missile activity since September 15th. So maybe longer range the trip's result on North Korea will be good.

But I think he cow-towed too much to China and I think a lot of the countries in Asia wanted us to stand up to China, to be the dominant player in the region. But I think by some of these America first statements on trade, by saying that we're getting out of the Transpacific Partnership that 12 countries in Asia that are part of this summit, and Latin America, that that cedes American leadership to China. China, I think, is going to be the big winner in this entire summit, in these entire meetings the president is having.

CAMEROTA: OK, in our very few remaining seconds, I know that you are not in the business of giving fashion tips normally, but can you just comment on the president's garb? He's obviously wearing sort of the native garb it looks like of Vietnam. It looks as though he's been given this shirt. Is this customary that when leaders go over, they all sort of dress alike in this show of unity?

RICHARDSON: Yes, this is something American presidents really don't like because when they especially go to Asia, they have to wear the big white Filipino or Vietnamese shirts with all this embroidery. It makes them feel, you know, a bit strained. And it's always a debate, I recall, in some of President Clinton's trips whether the president should simply say, I'm not going to use those shirts or turn them on. But then you have to do it because you don't want to insult, especially in Asia, where saving face --

CAMEROTA: Sure.

[08:40:11] RICHARDSON: Not insulting people is very important.

CAMEROTA: Yes. So there he is.

RICHARDSON: So you just go ahead and use them. And --

CAMEROTA: Yes.

RICHARDSON: Yes.

CAMEROTA: You got it.

All right, Ambassador Bill Richardson, thank you very much for covering the gamut of all topics with us.

RICHARDSON: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Chris.

CUOMO: All right, so voting is now underway for the CNN Hero of the Year. Here is one of this year's top ten heroes. Please meet Jennifer Maddox.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER MADDOX, CNN HERO: A lot of our young people are fearful to even come outside. The shooting. The killing. Five, six, seven-year- olds. They're losing people that they love and care about.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My brother.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My cousin.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My uncle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My brother.

MADDOX: We are in a state of emergency here in the city of Chicago. I'm a law enforcement officer, but I'm also a mother and a member of this community. I don't think that any child should grow up feeling like this could be it.

Our center offers an escape for the young people.

What's that?

We make sure that the kids have healthy, hot meals. They get help with their homework.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eleven. So what you do with the one?

MADDOX: We mentor them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, don't cry. Don't cry, baby.

MADDOX: I am very proud to be one of the bridges to connect police and community. We have to learn to trust one another.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: You know what I love about these? It restores your faith in ordinary people.

CAMEROTA: Oh, for sure.

CUOMO: You know, for all the negativity, all the perfidy that we're seeing around us, regular people doing extraordinary things just because they feel it's right.

CAMEROTA: And that's the beauty of CNN Heroes. So you can vote for Jennifer or any of your favorite top ten heroes now at cnnheroes.com.

All right, so the on again off again suspension of Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott appears to be on again. I'll find out what that means in our "Bleacher Report," next.

CUOMO: For your fantasy team.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:45:27] CAMEROTA: The power struggle between Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the NFL continues, with both sides jabbing at one another through their attorneys. Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report."

Hi, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi. Good morning, Alisyn.

You know, the next owners meeting might be pretty uncomfortable after this latest exchange. Jerry Jones, according to ESPN, says the owners have been misled by Falcons owner Arthur Blank and the compensation committee about negotiations with Roger Goodell and his contract extension. Now, Jones is threatening to sue the NFL if Goodell gets an extension. He's reportedly mad about Ezekiel Elliott's six-game suspension, which is now back on, and how the anthem protests have been handled. The NFL responding to Jones' claims, calling his stance, quote, uninformed.

All right, if you follow LaVar Ball on social media, you wouldn't know his son, LiAngelo, is facing three to ten years in prison for allegedly stealing sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store in China. One hundred miles from where the UCLA players are confined to their hotel while the legal process plays out, LaVar and his youngest son LaMelo opening up a pop-up shop in Shanghai for their Big Baller shoe brand. And as you can see, some big smiles on their faces. Don't seem too worried about LiAngelo's situation. UCLA's basketball team in China to play their season opener tonight.

And, Chris, I spoke to a couple of attorneys who are familiar with international law and they both told me they don't expect severe punishment for those UCLA players. Most likely just going to get a stern warning and told never to get in trouble in China again.

CUOMO: Andy, appreciate it. Thanks for doing that reporting, my man. Taking my job.

All right, the figures are staggering. The number of kids being exploited in the sex trade in this country, you have never heard about this. You think you understand what prostitution is. You think you know who human trafficking is. That it's about girls from oversea. We are so wrong. And that's why we decided to take you inside the reality on America's streets, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:51:36] CUOMO: All right, this is really important information that so many of us just don't know. So, according to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, there were more than 7,000 cases of human trafficking reported to law enforcement in the U.S. last year alone.

Now, you think this is going to be girls from somewhere else, right? Seventy-three percent were sex trafficking, and 70 percent of the kids are from the United States. And the ages of the kids that you'll see walking the streets in this country will shock you.

And that's why we decided to make it an episode of "Inside." We went to Los Angeles for HLN and we saw how it's not just prostitution. These aren't women who have made some decision to turn a buck this way so you can just turn away. This is a multimillion dollar profit center for traffickers. They are exploiting kids.

Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RACHEL THOMAS, FOUNDER, ENDING THE GAME: The agent met me halfway in the parking lot and he said, you're going to take care of my man tonight. And I started crying. And I said, please, do not make me do this. Oh, my God, please don't. And he just grabbed my arm very tightly and walked me back towards the car and he said, I told you, you're going to do what I tell you to do. Don't make me hurt you. And then he opened the back seat and threw me in there.

And that was the first night that I was forced into sex trafficking. And of that the start of every type of physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, every type of abuse you could imagine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: We were so fortunate to get the young woman that you just saw on our screen, Rachel Thomas, to help us tell this story. She is, as you saw, a survivor of domestic sex trafficking and she now makes it her life's mission to help kids understand about what's going out there and help people like you understand that it's got to stop.

She joins us now. How are you?

RACHEL THOMAS, FOUNDER, ENDING THE GAME: Hi, Chris. I'm doing well. How are you?

CUOMO: Oh, boy, I'm so happy to have you on this. I know how important it is to get out there. And, you know, you introduced me to the difficulty that we have in getting people to see this for what it is because we think we know. You see young people who you assume are young women walking the streets and that they've made a life choice that this is how they want to make money by selling their bodies. And the reality is something so different and so dark. Tell us.

THOMAS: Well, you know, I'm so glad that you're acknowledging that and that's a huge misconception that causes so much shame and stigma that should not be there for the victims. There's exploitation. They are preying upon those who are unaware of what sex trafficking is, others who have run away from a destructive or a damaging home environment looking for something better and finding themselves in the pit of human trafficking. Others who are looking for love or others like me who weren't really seeking anything but were preyed upon by someone with a good scheme. In my case, he was a modeling agent. So --

CUOMO: And, you know, we'll learn -- people -- we'll tell people your story last night and such a great counter-narrative to this assumption that, well, you know, if you're doing that, you know, you're some dummy and you've made a lot of bad life choices. You're an addict.

You had a life that was checking every box of excellence. You were a great student, in college, good family, you know, good opportunities. You weren't -- there was nothing wrong with you. And yet you were vulnerable. Why?

[08:55:07] THOMAS: My main vulnerability was that I had never heard of human trafficking. I had no idea what it was. And so if you don't know what to look out for, then you don't -- you're not looking out. And so their -- in retrospect, there were red flags along the way that I wish I would have put altogether and known that this guy was dangerous. But having been from a happy sheltered home and a naive college girl thinking that the world is all my friend, I was more vulnerable because I was unaware.

CUOMO: And, lastly, what point do you want to make to people about this being an American problem? Because they will have heard of sex trafficking. Once we're able to make them make that transition from just seeing prostitution for what they think and know about it, to its dynamic of trafficking, that the kids are from here and their ages. What should people know?

THOMAS: Well, the ugly truth is that many of the kids are born and raised right here in America and many of the buyers are too. And so as we're looking at the exploitation of the victims, we have to know that there are exploiters in the traffickers and also the buyers. And so we really have to attack this angle -- this problem from all angles. And so we are -- we are the cause and the problem. CUOMO: Well, we will show people lots of different dynamics tonight.

It was great to meet you. Thank you for your work and your advocacy to help save young women from what you had to fight through and the best to that beautiful little boy of yours as well.

THOMAS: Thank you. Thank you, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Be well, Rachel.

So this story tonight, look, it's just worth watching. This whole series, the team worked so hard for you all to take you inside situations that you wouldn't understand otherwise. HLN, 9:00 p.m. tonight, I'll be live tweeting.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh, that is eye-opening. I mean you couldn't have a better spokesperson for this. She is incredible. I can't wait to watch it.

All right, thanks very much.

Ahead, President Trump and Russian President Putin standing side by side and shaking hands already at tonight's gala in Vietnam.

CUOMO: There they are.

CAMEROTA: There they are.

CNN "NEWSROOM" with John Berman will have more after this very quick break.

CUOMO: Matching shirts.

CAMEROTA: Indeed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)