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President Trump Reportedly Overrode Intelligence Community Concerns to Grant Jared Kushner Top-Secret Security Clearance; Michael Cohen to Return to Testify Again to Congress; Interview with Democratic Congressman Hakeem Jeffries. Aired 8-8:30a ET
Aired March 01, 2019 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: -- another potential lie by President Trump. NEW DAY continues right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jared Kushner's background check had been a problem. The president ordered John Kelly to give one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president had no involvement pertaining to my husband's clearance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no way to defend. Those are things that should be very disturbing to people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was new material that took me a little bit by surprise.
MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: I will be back on March 6th. There is more to discuss.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He lied so much. And yet he said when it came to collusion, he said no collusion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A Texas butterfly sanctuary vows to keep fighting Trump's border wall.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congressionally approved plans would have spared this place, but Trump's emergency order trumps all that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were cutting down our trees. They said the government sent us to clear this land for the border wall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota on John Berman.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Friday, March 1st, 8:00 in the east, a week that's lasted at least a month.
New this morning, a report in the "New York Times" says that President Trump ordered his then chief of staff John Kelly to give his son-in- law Jared Kushner a top secret security clearance. And he did it over the objections of his own intelligence officials and despite the recommendations of his top White House lawyer. General Kelly, who was the chief of staff, was said to be so disturbed by what was going on he wrote a memo about it. This report, which was also confirmed by "The Washington Post" we should add, directly contradicts the president's public denials that he had any role in Kushner's security clearance.
CAMEROTA: Also this morning we learned that Michael Cohen will be back on Capitol Hill next week to give more testimony. Cohen's bombshell claims of alleged criminal activity by President Trump while in office now have Democrats interested in talking to the president's family. And President Trump tweeting about his failed summit with North Korea. What the president is now saying about why he left emptyhanded.
BERMAN: We have a lot to get to. We want to bring in Nia-Malika Henderson, CNN senior political reporter, Susan Glasser, staff writer for "The New Yorker" and CNN global affairs analyst, Renato Mariotti, former federal prosecutor and CNN legal analyst. We should note because we're going to get to this that Renato helped a Congressman Ro Khanna prepare for the Cohen hearings. They are old friends, and if I'm not mistaken at one point roommates, maybe even.
Renato, I want to start with you, but not on Cohen. I want to start with you on the report in the "New York Times" confirmed by "The Washington Post" that the president ordered his chief of staff to get top secret security clearance for Jared Kushner despite the fact the intelligence community didn't want it, the chief of staff didn't want it, the White House counsel didn't want it. What does that tell you?
RENATO MARIOTTI, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It's remarkable. It tells me that there is a good reason why we have anti-nepotism laws, and they should probably be extended to White House staff. Here we have a president who is under investigation for potentially being an asset of a foreign power. And there is a wide-ranging counterintelligence investigation of his campaign, and yet we are concerned, and understandably the reason the public is now concerned is because we are just discovering what the White House chief of staff and others knew and the White House counsel, that the CIA had recommended that Jaren Kushner not be given a top secret clearance because it would potentially be a threat to national security. And they were so concerned they wrote memos about it. And the president over-rided that, and, frankly, lied to the public until today about it.
CAMEROTA: Nia, the CIA didn't want it, the FBI didn't want it, as we've said, White House counsel. And so what was it, do we think, that they were so concerned that Jared Kushner be denied this top security clearance?
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Right. It isn't precisely clear why they were hesitant to give him this top-secret security clearance. But what we do know is that he tried to set up back channel relationships with foreign entities. So I think those are the threads. If you follow some of those early concerns about Jared Kushner's behavior that went outside of the normal chain of command, those would raise red flags I think for those intelligence agencies as well as just his family business and the ways they are in contact with foreign governments and foreign entities as well.
But again, in some ways it's not surprising. Here is a president who likes to act unilaterally, who also doesn't have much respect for intelligence agencies, has disparaged them in the past. So the idea that he would basically obey them and deprive his son-in-law of getting this top secret security clearance isn't surprising. And also, remember, Jared Kushner in the early days was described as the secretary of everything. He had this huge portfolio or was dealing with the Middle East, something that he is still is involved in. So in some ways it's not surprising that he overruled folks that he doesn't really seem have much respect for also lied to the public about it.
[08:05:06] BERMAN: Susan, I'm struck by the fact that General Kelly wrote a contemporaneous memo because he was so disturbed by this, he felt that he needed to leave a record. And it's not the first time. This is a sign of the times, something that James Comey did. It's something that to an extent Michael Cohen did as well by recording conversations with the president.
CAMEROTA: Don McGahn, too.
BERMAN: Don McGahn wrote a memo, too. They don't trust the president, so they want to leave a record at the time. What does that tell you?
SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIR ANALYST: Look, of course, this is going to be another example in the very long chapter of the toxic internal culture of the Trump White House and the death of process and due process in this administration. It is a striking aspect of the Trump presidency that's a huge departure, of course, from how presidents of both parties have handled their office previously. It's not really a question of presidential powers in this case. I don't think there is anyone who disputes that Trump has the ability to grant a clearance to any of us unilaterally on the spot if he wishes to do so.
The questions are, number one, why did the president and so many people around him lie about it? That's the interesting thing. It's the culture of lying that Michael Cohen described at the hearing the other day. It's many, many people who are involved in this. You have to ask, again, since it was within President Trump's powers, why did he lie about it directly to Maggie Haberman? Why did Ivanka Trump lie about it on air just a few weeks ago on air? Why did Abbe Lowell, an officer of the bar, a lawyer for Jared Kushner, why did he misrepresent it to the "New York Times"? I haven't seen any statement from him or from others apologizing to the public for misrepresenting the truth.
And so there's the question of enabling. What struck in your opening, John, when you made the point that General Kelly was so upset about this that he wrote a memo about it. The tools that one has to deal with this extraordinary, extraordinary behavior of the president of the United States are inadequate to the moment. And the question of enabling this culture of misrepresentation versus doing something about it, every single day there are examples like this.
CAMEROTA: Before we move on, I think it's important for the viewers to hear the president with their own ears, to hear him lying to Maggie Haberman. And we happen to have that audio. So listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Did you tell General Kelly or anyone else in the White House to overrule security officials?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No. I don't think I have the authority to do that. I'm not sure I do. But I wouldn't. I wouldn't do it. Jared's a good -- I was never involved with his security. I know just from reading, I know that there was issues back and forth about security for numerous people, actually, but I don't want to get involved in that stuff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Renato, this was one month ago. This wasn't a year ago. That conversation was a month ago after the president had already done this, where he says, no, I wouldn't do that. I don't even think I have the authority. This is strange, because I think the president often loud and proud breaks with convention. And to know that that was being taped and to tell Maggie Haberman, that's just strange.
MARIOTTI: Well, it really goes to the core of some of the issues that he's under investigation for. So I can understand why it's something he wanted to hide, because Jared Kushner has ties to foreign governments. It potentially could tie in legally to some of those investigations, and so he had a reason to want to hide it. And I will say this helps understand why President Trump is always trying to attack the press, say you can't believe the press. He is attacking Maggie Haberman as fake news at the same time that he's giving her an interview.
So he's doing that so that the public when the "New York Times" and "Washington Post" both report on this -- obviously the "New York Times" broke the story, but it has been confirmed by "The Post," he is hoping that his supporters aren't going to believe that. They're going to believe the false statements, the one you just played, to Maggie Haberman, the one that Ivanka Trump made to ABC News, because he can try to muddy up the issue, get them to not believe anyone but himself.
BERMAN: This is a political issue, though, for the president, not so much a legal one, because it's pretty clear he has the authority to do this. He can do this. He can grant this security clearance. So if he can do it, why not brag about it I think is your question, which he has done proudly in the past?
Nia, House Democrats have already said they want to know more about this. So add this to the list of what they are calling this morning a ten-course meal of things they want to investigate after the Cohen hearing, the Cohen testimony behind closed doors.
[08:10:05] Michael Cohen will come back. Felix Sater, who worked with the president, is going to come and speak to Congress. And Weisselberg, CFO of the Trump Organization, is going to come and testify. What do you think we are likely to see here? And of all of this, what do you think Democrats will focus on?
HENDERSON: One of the things you heard Elijah Cummings say yesterday was follow the transcript. And the transcript of that seven-plus-hour testimony from Cohen gave any number of lines of inquiry for Democrats. The issue of Donald Trump's taxes. Was there any tax fraud? Was there bank fraud? Was there misrepresentation of his assets, particularly in the last 30 or 40 minutes. You had Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asking pointed questions to Cohen. And Cohen very revealing there in terms of who he thinks folks on the Democratic side should question. So you imagine people like Allen Weisselberg who came up dozens of times. You had Cohen willing to really name drop any number of people, folks at the Trump organization who would know about Trump's finances, know about his real estate dealings. So I think that's where it is going to go. He said follow the transcript. It's also going to be follow the money for folks in the House over the next couple of weeks.
CAMEROTA: Susan, we only have a few seconds left. What are you watching?
GLASSER: What am I watching? While we're distracted by the president's untruths in security clearances, the world is kind of melting down now. You have an India-Pakistan nuclear confrontation, you have the collapse of the nuclear talks with North Korea, you have the potential indictment of the prime minister of Israel right before an election. You have Brexit heading towards a decisive moments in March. And American leadership in the world is where now?
BERMAN: Right. Susan, Renato, Nia, thank you very, very much.
Michael Cohen's testimony has opened new avenues for investigations. That's what Democrats tell us. Where will they focus first? What's the agenda here? We're going to speak to a key member of Democratic leadership, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:15:49] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: House Democrats are planning to dig into many allegations leveled against President Trump during Michael Cohen's testimony this week.
Joining us now to discuss is Democratic Congressman Hakeem Jeffries. He serves on the House Judiciary Committee and is Democratic Caucus chair.
Congressman, thank you.
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D), NEW YORK: Good morning.
BERMAN: -- very much for being with us today. Jerry Connolly, a key member of your caucus, said that he looks at this as a ten-course meal now, the various investigations. I want to know the first, second and third course here. What order are you going after this?
JEFFRIES: Well, there are three committees of jurisdiction, oversight will have a role in how we move forward. The Judiciary Committee and Intel Committee. The Intel Committee, of course, is going to focus on national security matters. The Judiciary Committee will focus on matters inherently connected to the Constitution, obstruction of justice, abuse of power, things of that nature.
And then, of course, you have oversight which has begun its work relative to what may or may not have taken place as it relates to the Trump real estate organization. The American people need to know if President Trump is a president or an organized crime boss.
BERMAN: OK. You say organized crime boss, right? I have heard other Democrats to say, they have seen evidence of crimes now, including crimes committed while he's in office. Correct?
JEFFRIES: Well, we are at the beginning of the process, not the end of the process. We have the Southern District of New York, one of the most prestigious U.S. attorneys offices that is engaging in an ongoing investigation. I think we're going to have to wait until that includes, but begin to present information to the American people, Michael Cohen himself detailed the whole menu of potential criminal activity that seems to have occurred.
BERMAN: You know, yesterday, we had David Cicilline say crime spree. You say organized crime boss. Again, these are phrases that indicate you believe there were serious infractions here? Serious issues, crimes.
Jerry Nadler, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, you were just talking about that, said, yes, we have unambiguous evidence that the president has committed a crime at this point, think. This is key here. Do we have unambiguous evidence he has done impeachable offenses? We have a ways to go yet.
So, what's the difference in your mind between unambiguous evidence of crimes and unambiguous evidence of impeachable offenses? What's the different?
JEFFRIES: I wouldn't necessarily lay it out in that fashion. Jerry Nadler has been one of the most thoughtful congressional leaders on a host of issues including with respect to how to conduct appropriate oversight.
We're not focused on whether the president engaged in treason, bribery, high crimes and misdemeanors because we have to wait for the Mueller report to run its course and be presented to the American people which we plan to make sure occurs as Democrats. We do have a separate and coequal branch responsibility to serve as a check and balance on an out of control executive branch. We want that to run its course as well. BERMAN: But it sounds like you're dancing around the issue here,
because Michael Cohen, much of what he testified do had nothing to do with the Mueller report. It was tangential. Neither it's in the Southern District of New York and their purview. Or other events all the way together.
So, you don't need to wait for the Mueller report to say you have seen evidence of crimes in terms of hush money. That's not part of the Mueller report.
JEFFRIES: Well, Michael Cohen is a singular witness. He laid out a series of individuals the committee will have to --
BERMAN: I understand.
When you said organized crimes, Cicilline said crimes, Nadler says unambiguous evidence of crimes -- so, there are democrats who say, they see crimes already.
JEFFRIES: I phrased it as a question --
BERMAN: OK.
JEFFRIES: I think the American people deserve answers.
BERMAN: So, you haven't seen, you're not willing to sit here on March 1st and say, I have seen evidence of crimes?
JEFFRIES: There is evidence that there was wrongdoing that's taken place. Where it rises to the level of criminal activity, I think there is a lot of work to be done.
BERMAN: There are Democratic activists who would like to see you be more aggressive here. They don't necessarily see the need to be as cautious as Democratic leadership, which you are a member of as the leadership is being now. Tom Steyer, who is a big founder of the Democratic causes, he said this, he said: You cannot uphold the rule of law and say we are not going to prosecute the president.
[08:20:04] We are not going to hold him to account. We are going to throw out the constitution because it makes it politically award for us because it makes harder in an election.
JEFFRIES: It's not about political awkwardness for us. It's about -- what did we promise the American people we would focus on? We promised we were going to fight for working families, middle class folks, senior citizens, the poor, sick, afflicted and veterans.
The other side of the aisle, they fight for the wealthy, the well-off and well-connected.
The campaign we ran, thanks to the grace of the American people was to focus on lowering health care costs, protect people with pre-existing conditions, strengthen the Affordable Care Act, increasing pay for everyday Americans, enact a real bipartisan plan and cleaning up corruption by bringing the democracy to light. Those are the promises we made to the American people. Those are the promises we should keep to the American people, and that's why we are focused on kitchen table, pocketbook issues.
BERMAN: So, you are telling Tom Steyer, impeachment isn't one of those priorities now?
JEFFRIES: There is no evidence that in any campaign in all of the seats we were able to flip from red to blue, our candidates ran on impeachment.
BERMAN: Right. But what he's saying is it's not about a campaign issue. What he's saying if there is a crime committed, he thinks that's reason to begin the process.
JEFFRIES: Well, I think, as we have said, we have to allow the Mueller investigation to run its course, and then for the Mueller report to be issued. We have to allow the southern district of New York's investigation to run its course and simultaneously we can begin our oversight responsibility.
BERMAN: I want to ask you about another -- obviously there was friction during the Cohen hearing between Rashida Tlaib, a new member of Congressman from Michigan, Democrat, and Mark Meadows from the Freedom Caucus, long time Republican in there. Did she call him a racist and has things he said and done, were they racist or things?
There was a moment on the House floor. I want to start this on a good note, draw your attention to the Rashida and Mark Meadows, They met and talked. You can just see they hugged it out on the house floor yesterday. Whatever friction they had, they hugged it out. Do you have comments on this?
JEFFRIES: Well, in terms of interpersonal relationships between members, it's important that we can agree to disagree without being disagreeable. And so, that was a good moment.
Although it's not often projected, Democrats and Republicans work closely together. We were able to pass historic criminal justice reform last year and convince the president to sign it into law to begin the process of breaking the back of the mass incarceration epidemic we have in the United States of America. I can cite issues where we are trying to find common ground on behalf of the American people.
Bu the issue that Congresswoman Tlaib raised is important in an area where we see an increased division and increased effort to divide the country. We are going to try to bring the country together.
BERMAN: Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, thanks so much for being with us today.
JEFFRIES: Thank you, John.
BERMAN: Alisyn?
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, John. What goes on inside the government of Saudi Arabia? Fareed Zakaria will take us inside the kingdom of secrets, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:27:10] BERMAN: They are a family that's produced one senator, two governors, two first ladies and two presidents. The new CNN original series "The Bush Years: Family, Duty, Power" will take us inside the Bush family dynasty to see how they have influenced U.S. policy and culture at pivotal points in the nation's history. This is a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT: I would like to introduce you to my family. The fact is I would be nothing without them.
Our four sons, our daughter, my own Barbara Bush.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's hard to imagine any family that have been more significant to American politics.
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT: I can hear you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Bush family going back generations believe in public service and helping their fellow man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People referred to the bush family as a dynasty. That's what it is. That's what it was.
GEORGE W. BUSH: I'm running for president of the United States. There is no turning back and I intend to be the next president of the United States.
GEORGE H.W. BUSH: That's my boy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: All right. Joining us now is Tim McBride who served as personal aide and assistant to President George H.W. Bush.
Tim, great to have you on this morning.
TIM MCBRIDE, FORMER PERSONAL AIDE AND ASSISTANT TO PRES. GEORGE H.W. BUSH: Good morning.
BERMAN: You know, in one sense, we had a chance to reflect back on the presidency of George H.W. Bush with his passing. It was a chance for the nation to come together and say "thank you"| for his service to the country.
This documentary, this series takes a broader look looking at the presidency of his son as well. Talk to me about the contribution you see the family made to the country.
MCBRIDE: Well, the Bushes were fiercely devoted to the country. And their service to the country is highlighted in this series. You'll take away from the series this love of family certainly, but also service to others. This is something shared by the entire Bush family.
CAMEROTA: And, obviously, George H.W. Bush personified that as did so many other members of the family. I'm interested in the family and the family dynamic. Were they as close knit as all of the home videos seem to suggest or was there more tension than we saw?
MCBRIDE: No. It may seem storybook but, in fact, it is a very close knit family. George Bush, 41, prided himself as did Barbara on the fact that the children came home. The children, the grandchildren gathered every year. Usually at Kennebunkport but this love of family, this love of being in each other's company drove them.
BERMAN: So you know they called each other 41 and 43. There was also the phrase Quincy passed around.
END
