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Trump Wants Grand Military Parade; Storm Impacts Travel; McDaniels Backs out of Colts Job; Clapper Responds to Trump's Accusations. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired February 07, 2018 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:33:58] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was your guest at Bastille and it was one of the greatest parades I've ever seen. It was two hours (INAUDIBLE) and it was really great (ph). And I think a tremendous thing for France and for the spirit of France.

To a large extent, because of what I witnessed, we may do something like that on July 4th in Washington down Pennsylvania Avenue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, that may be coming to pass. So after attending France's Bastille Day in Paris last summer, you heard the president say he wanted something similar for the U.S.

Now, at the president's request, the Pentagon is looking into a grand military parade in Washington.

So joining us now, CNN military analyst, Lt. General Mark Hertling, and retired Rear Admiral and former Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby.

Gentleman, it's great to have you and your perspectives here with us.

So, Admiral Kirby, what do you think of the idea of a military parade in Washington?

JOHN KIRBY, CNN MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC ANALYST: I don't like it, Alisyn. Not -- not at all. This is not about showcasing our military. This is about the president showing off. This is all about his ego. And that's just an inappropriate use of military time, talent and resources.

[06:35:01] We -- the second thing is, this is beneath us as a nation. We are the most powerful military on earth. We're very proud of that, and rightly so. We don't need to be parading our military hardware down Pennsylvania Avenue to show that to anybody.

And, thirdly, I think it's just a waste of resources. It will cost millions of dollars. That's money that could be put to other, better uses, operations, training, not to mention just even just taking care of our people, spouse education programs, that kind of thing. So I think this is just a -- it's a tremendously bad idea. CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: So, general, you were, I think, in Iraq

during the 1991 parade that they had to celebrate the, you know, unofficial end of the war back then. I guess that was President George H.W. Bush. So odd that they're having a parade while you're still out there fighting. But that's sometimes the nature of things.

What do you make of this? Because the counter argument is, MAGA, baby. You know, let's show off our greatness. We love our military. Let's do what everybody else does.

LT. GENERAL MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, a couple of things, Chris.

First -- first of all, I was still in Iraq. We were still in combat, post combat operations. And I'll never forget, you know, I was in an operations center and one of our soldiers said, hey, they're having a parade back in the states with all the guys who fought over here except for us. And he said, I'd rather be here in combat than marching down Pennsylvania Avenue. So that kind of gives you the intent.

I did an informal Twitter survey last night, very unscientific, but I will tell you, it was about 100 to zero in terms of people -- soldiers, former military saying they don't want any part of these kinds of parades.

And the reason for it, Chris -- I mean John is exactly right, there are resource issues, there are implications for logistics. It would be extremely expensive. It would tear up the streets. I mean you could get past all those arguments and just say one things -- one thing, it's not who we are as a military.

We have -- the United States has a different military culture. We do not portray ourselves walking down the streets. Instead, we do the parades on main street in the middle of Idaho during the Fourth of July parade with kids taped to -- you know, flags taped to their handlebars. That's the kind of parades we have. We don't have to portray military might because people know how strong we are. The world knows what we are. And it's just not part of our culture. It hasn't been since the military was founded in the 1700s.

CAMEROTA: So, Admiral Kirby, now what? I mean what does Secretary of Defense Mattis do with this request from the president since it's not going away? He's said many times how much he wants to do this. So what does a secretary of defense do when the president tells him to do something?

KIRBY: They are most likely planning this. They are -- they are -- in fact, I think we've seen General Dunford out in Thailand, just a few hours ago say he's got the request and they're working on the plan. So they're going to come up with options. That's what they do. When the commander in chief says go march, they'll go march. Now it's just a matter of how they're going to structure it.

I think it will be very interesting to see what options they present to the president and to the degree to which they maybe try to walk this back a little bit. I mean we're sort of talking like what date it's going to be and what avenue it's going to be down. I think the military leaders in the Pentagon are probably trying to think of how they can scope this in such a way that maybe it isn't such a waste of resources and doesn't get to that point that General Hertling brought up about sort of, you know, being a little bit too grandiose for our -- for our boots.

CUOMO: A buddy of mine, who's a special operator, said last night, we're all go, no show, is how he described what the -- the mentality. But that's the military. We'll see what they do politically.

General, let me get your sense about what we're seeing from this administration versus past administrations in terms of being there for the troops on the ground who are fighting around the world and what we've seen with recent visits.

HERTLING: Well, Chris, you know, I'm going to tie it to the parades. There's a great book called "The Centurions" about the French, interestingly enough. And it talks about their time when they were fighting in both Vietnam and Algeria. And one colonel in the book basically says, I wish France had two armies, one to fight our wars and one to march on the streets of Paris. And he said, and I would sign up for the ones that fought our wars.

There are quite a few military personnel all over the word, by last count 179 different countries, special operators, conventional forces, ships at sea, aircraft doing preventive operations and strike attacks. All of those people, all of those military personnel are all over the world. And the president has not visited the folks at the front line. He has shown his face at some of the headquarters and had troop behind him, but he has not seen the forces in the field. That's disappointing after a year of his administration.

So I'd just say Secretary Mattis, General Dunford are continuing with the kinds of things they need to do in the Defense Department. But I agree with your special operator friend who said, we need to be a little bit more show than go -- or more go than show. And that's what I think most of the people wearing the uniform are doing right now.

CAMEROTA: All right, General Hertling, Admiral Kirby, thank you both very much for that perspective.

[06:40:00] CUOMO: All right, strap yourself in. Markets open in less than three hours. You're going to see volatility. And there are a lot of good reasons and bad reasons for that. We'll give you a live look at the markets, what to expect. Of course, if we get it right, we'd be rich. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: OK, snow and ice storm hitting the Midwest and the Northeast today. The federal government and many school districts are already opening on a delay. Some have shut down. There could be major travel issues.

Let's bring in CNN meteorologist Chad Myers, who has our forecast.

I'm kind of tired of this, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and so is everybody else across the eastern half of the country, Alisyn, too. Absolutely.

Seven hundred flights already canceled this morning. That's about 10,000 flyers without an airplane right now. And it's just building.

The snow is moving into the Northeast, moving into Ohio, Pennsylvania, upstate New York and New England.

This weather is brought to you by Jared, the galleria of jewelry. Valentine's Day, only seven days away. Here you go. Get out there in the snow and get something.

[06:45:04] Here's the snow for upstate New York for later on today. The snow in New York does change back over to rain, but there will be some ice around as well. Slick conditions this morning.

A foot of snow upstate. Great in the ski resorts where you would have been, Alisyn, with this ski resort, but the temperatures aren't as bad as they were when you were there for Christmas. I know you were below zero. The temperature's not going to be bad this time.

A lot of rain across the Southeast and that's what we're going to see. Even New York City warming up with rain on Saturday all the way to 50.

Chris.

CUOMO: I like the rain. It washes away that ugly, depressing, sloppy snow that sticks around.

MYERS: Yes.

CUOMO: Chad, thank you very much. Keep us in the loop with what actually matters to people out there. Safety first.

All right, so investors are going to brace for another wild ride on Wall Street and you better get used to this because all the global markets are showing mixed signs. It's going to be more consistent. There's going to be more volatility. Why? Because we are getting into a cycle. You look at the Asian markets. You see them falling. You see Europe pointing slightly higher. The U.S. markets obviously bounced back after, you know, the biggest point drop of intraday trading that we've ever seen, yesterday up 500.

The futures remained jittery. Why? Well, there's 100 reasons and you're going to be hearing more and more from people. Right now the futures are down over 100 points. The markets are going to open in less than three hours. A lot can change between now and then.

CAMEROTA: All right, listen to this. In a shocking turn of events, Josh McDaniels spurning the Colts to stay with the Patriots just hours before he was to be introduced as the team's next head coach.

Andy Scholes, you have my attention in the "Bleacher Report." What's this about? ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, drama, drama, drama. And,

you know, what, Alisyn, the Colts had actually tweeted out welcoming Josh McDaniels as their next head coach yesterday and announced a press conference for later today.

This "Bleacher Report" brought to you by the new 2018 Ford F-150.

But after Robert Kraft and the Patriots made a late push to keep him, McDaniels, well, he had a change of heart and decided he's going to remain as the Patriots' offensive coordinator. In a press release, the Colts announcing McDaniels had agreed to a contract but then told them he changed his mind. And the Colts added they were surprised and disappointed by his decision.

All right, just devastating news for the New York Knicks last night. Second quarter against the Bucks. Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis going to the basket, throws down the slam, but comes down awkwardly. Kristaps immediately grabbing his knee. The team announcing he tore his ACL. He's going to need season-ending surgery. Kristaps was going to be play in his first all-star game next week. Now he's going to be out for at least 10 months.

And, Chris, I can just see New York fans everywhere just looking, well, I guess spring training's two weeks away.

CUOMO: Look, that sucks. I've had the same injury. The good news is, guys his age, with all the stuff they have around him, he will be back and better forever and they're not missing much this season.

Did you see that map that shows who likes what football team on the country and the Jets isn't on it? Did you see that map going around?

SCHOLES: Shock. I haven't seen it yet but I'll take a look.

CUOMO: Nobody likes the Jets. Fakes news. Anyway, look it up, Andy. I'll send -- I'll send it to you.

SCHOLES: Be well.

CUOMO: The president called him a liar and a leaker. OK. We're talking about James Clapper. And now he is getting to respond. The former director of National Intelligence joins us live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:52:36] CAMEROTA: President Trump is weighing whether to make public the Democratic rebuttal to the Nunes memo that alleges FBI surveillance abuses. In a tweet attacking Democrats, Congressman Adam Schiff, the president also slammed former intelligence officials. He tweeted this.

Little Adam Schiff, who is desperate to run for higher office, is one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington, right up there with Comey, Warner, Brennan and Clapper. Adam leaves closed committee hearings to illegally leak confidential information. Must be stopped. Joining us now is one of those named in that tweet, CNN national

security analyst and former director of National Intelligence, James Clapper. He's read the controversial dossier and was among a group of intel officials who briefed then President-elect Trump on national security threats days before he took office.

Director Clapper, thanks so much for being here.

JAMES CLAPPER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Thanks, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: You are one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington according to the president. What's your response?

CLAPPER: Well, I have seemed to progress from being a Nazi, to a choker at the hearing that Sally Yates and I testified last May 8th, and then a political hack on Veterans Day, no less. And so being a leaker and liar, I guess -- actually, I think I'm in very good company with the likes of Adam Schiff and Mark Warner, Jim Comey and John Brennan. So I guess this is just --

CAMEROTA: But, I mean, is this -- yes, but is this all just the cost of doing business in Washington or is this at a different level? I mean being called one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington, does this get to you?

CLAPPER: No, it doesn't. And that in itself, I think, is kind of a sad commentary.

I remember thinking when he tweeted out about Sally Yates and me choking at this hearing, had had I showed up in the Oval Office in the last administration and President Obama had commented to me, hey, you really choked on this hearing, I'd have been devastated. But now it doesn't seem to matter. And that in itself is a sad commentary because this is just -- this is normal now. And that is a part of the regrettable situation we find ourselves in where the discourse in Washington has gotten so crude and so coarse that, you know, people are starting to get -- to be jaded to it.

[06:55:07] CAMEROTA: I mean I think that what the president was referring to, if it's possible to get into his brain, is just what you're talked about, is that you were one of the people who saw the classified intel. You saw the documents in which their -- some of the Trump associates were unmasked. And you were asked about that at the hearing and you wouldn't talk about that at an open hearing. But he's suggesting that later you leaked information, that you were one of the anonymous sources.

CLAPPER: Well, I didn't leak anything to the media. And I did talk about the process involved in unmasking and what occasions it. And when a U.S. person is engaged with a valid foreign target, that's a very important phrase, and there is reporting on it, and that person -- U.S. person, in order to protect identity and civil liberties and privacy will be as identified as U.S. person one or U.S. person two or U.S. person three, you're going to understand the context of that, then there is a process for requesting the identity or unmasking of that person. And I did describe the process at that hearing. I did not go into details about specific unmasking requests because that, of course, is classified.

CAMEROTA: OK. So at -- because you're one of the people who knows the intel, and who read the dossier, and who went to brief the president- elect on some portions of it, as well as President Obama, what do you think of this Devin Nunes memo being released and the possibility of the Democratic rebuttal being released?

CLAPPER: Well, first on the memo itself, is it reminded me of the old Peggy Lee song, and I'm dating myself here, is that all there is, from a content standpoint. From a form (ph) standpoint, it has many more implications, not the least of which, of course, is demeaning and distinguishing the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is a magnificent organization, and the Department of Justice. And so, from that standpoint, it's bad.

There are all kinds of sub implications here in terms of sources of information. Now, I'm perhaps being a lot more reticent about providing information to the bureau in the interest of sources and methods. Foreign partners may become more reluctant. So for all those reasons and others, I think this is really -- it's bad for the committee. You know, I was around when the two committees were stood up in the late '70s, the two oversight committees in the House and Senate. And the general attitude --

CAMEROTA: When they were formed?

CLAPPER: I'm sorry?

CAMEROTA: You were around -- you were in the intel community in the 1970s when they were created for their oversight role?

CLAPPER: Right. Exactly.

CAMEROTA: And --

CLAPPER: And the general attitude of the members on both those committees, not 100 percent but mostly, was, this is an important national responsibility, a sacred public trust. And it's unrelated to my home district, home state, or my party. And what we have now is a far cry from that. And the other bookend of that, of course, is the previous chairman, Chairman Mike Rogers, now a commentator for CNN, and Ranking Member Dutch Ruppersberger, and they did things on a bipartisan basis. And --

CAMEROTA: And now what do you see happening?

CLAPPER: And now the committee -- and now the committee is paralyzed with partisanship and its completely dysfunctional. And it's a sad thing to see, just the -- you know, what's happened to the committee.

CAMEROTA: And have they lost their ability, in your mind, to investigate and have oversight?

CLAPPER: I don't see how they can certainly do anything on a bipartisan basis. It may end up -- and I think it was headed that way anyway in the House. The Senate, I think, there's still a chance that -- you know, there's still bipartisanship there thanks to Chairman Burr and Vice Chairman Mark Warner. But I think the history is -- is beyond hope at this point. The best they can hope for is two separate reports.

CAMEROTA: Meaning the House. So --

CLAPPER: The House Intelligence Committee.

CAMEROTA: You mean the House Intel with the chairman, Devin Nunes, you don't think is capable of doing its job?

CLAPPER: I do not. Not in the -- not in the manner in which it was intended. I mean not --

CAMEROTA: I mean --

CLAPPER: Not used as a political lever to do a drive-by shooting in the interest of defending the president or the White House.

CAMEROTA: A drive-by shooting? I mean just -- can you expound on that? What do you mean?

CLAPPER: Well, I think this is a hit job, more or less, to attack the FBI, attack the Department of Justice, and inferentially, or by extension, the Mueller investigation. I think the whole point here was to discredit all this. And, of course, that -- that gives rise to the president's claim that he was completely vindicated, which -- which he was not. The memo doesn't do anything of the sort.