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Obama and Congressional Leaders Meeting Now; Obama and GOP Search for Common Ground; Working with Iran; Bin Laden Sniper Steps Up; Kim Jong Il's Dark Side; Attorney General Choice; U.S. Reaches out to Iran; SEAL Secrecy Broken

Aired November 07, 2014 - 13:00   ET

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

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JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, the president is meeting with top party leaders from both sides of the aisle hashing it out and trying to figure out how they will get along and, more importantly, get things done over the next two years.

And communicating with Iran, President Obama's letter to supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei expressing shared interest what the U.S. would need from Iran. And is it even possible for the two countries to work together?

And a look like you've never seen before, hear from the man who was Kim Jong-Il's personal bodyguard. Find out more about the dark side of North Korea's former leader.

Hello, I'm Jim Sciutto in today for Wolf Blitzer who is on assignment. It is 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 6:00 p.m. in London, 7:00 p.m. in Berlin and 8:00 p.m. in Jerusalem. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thank you for joining us.

We'd love to be a fly on the wall in the old family dining room at the White House right now. That's where President Obama is meeting with more than a dozen Congressional leaders. They are having lunch to talk about what happens now. After mid-term elections that gave Republicans a sweeping victory and full control of Congress. Leaders from both parties are on the guest list and both sides say they need to find common ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My attitude has been and will continue to be that good ideas don't necessarily come from just one party, and I'm looking forward to seeing the leaders, both Democratic and Republican caucuses, this afternoon to have a chance to share with them both what I think we need to be doing to build on the economic momentum that we already have and make it even stronger. But I'm also going to be interested in listening to them, in terms of areas where is we think it's possible to work together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Still, Republican leaders say the president's threat to issue an executive order on immigration would undermine these efforts to cooperate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: I believe that the president continues to act on his own. He is he going to poison the well. When you play with matches, you take the risk of burning yourself. And he's going to burn himself if he continues to go down this path. The American people made it clear Election Day. They want to get things done and they don't want the president acting on a unilateral basis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Chief Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash is here with me and Senior Political Analyst David Gergen joins us from Montreal. Dana, I wonder -- you've covered a lot of these things. What is the mood in that room after what can only be described as a debilitating defeat for the Democratic Party as well as the president? And there's not a lot of warm and fuzzy feelings between the president and this Congress.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Well, unfortunately, I have not been inside one of these luncheons but I'm waiting for the invitation. Yes. But I should actually report to you that we're waiting for a pool (ph) report to come out. But just from looking at my e-mail, the pool reporter that just came out said that there was no news yet. They were -- the cameras were allowed in.

But sort of big picture look. This is a group of 16 people. It's not an intimate group of just the top leaders which is what generally you see at the White House. So, that means that the White House and -- the president, I should say, and Congressional leaders are probably going to be a little bit more cautious and a little bit more careful because it's such a broad group.

But the tone is going to be probably nice in some time -- at some points but when they start talking about the tough stuff that you were just pointed out, immigration, Obamacare, maybe not so much. But I should point out, there are some really important things that they can do and will do. They are planning on working together on Ebola. They are planning on working together on things that you cover, like treaties, that need to get done.

So, there are some areas and common ground. And despite the public privado that we've seen from the president and Republican leaders, they are planning on pulling that low hanging fruit at the beginning.

SCIUTTO: So, you think these hard positions stated now by the Republicans saying, we're going to repeal Obamacare, the President saying, I might go the executive path on immigration, is that just pleasing the base and kind of a starting negotiation position? They might soften those positions?

BASH: Well, when it comes to immigration, I think the president is -- you need to take him on his word. He's serious. He'd planning on doing this even though his former advisor, David Axelrod, pleading today that he should hold off and try to get the Congress to vote. But when it comes to Obamacare, yes, they're going to take a vote but it's not going to be a short vote because they know it's not going to get done. That is politicking.

SCIUTTO: OK. So, they got that done. David Gergen, you've been in negotiations -- involved in negotiations like this before. There was a school of thought here in Washington, and Dana referenced this, that there is potential common ground here. People talk about corporate tax reform. They talk about, perhaps, some international trade treaties, maybe even progress on immigration. But I feel like every couple of years, we talk about that potential that the two sides retreat to their corners and start -- you know, then start slugging each other again. Do you see real potential for making real progress on some of those issues?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I do. I think on at least two areas where I think they will make progress, one is -- and we've already heard this from Mitch McConnell, that is that Republicans do not plan to shut down the government nor let us go into default when we go over the top, in terms of our credit here next year. That's very important. We've had three straight years of going to the cliff. That has shaking confidence in the economy, and it's hurt the United States overseas. So, that in itself I think is a gain.

Beyond that, Jim, I think it's very likely we'll get some trade action and that opens a way for the president to do something really important in the Pacific which is where he wants to concentrate his long-term focus and that is to make this pivot more easily.

Having said all of that, the -- I -- today's meeting will be civil and be cordial on the surface but there will be statements made by each side that will, underneath, really cause the other side to boil. The fact that the president has now said he's going forward on the immigration bill, I think that that is absolutely right. That's not a negotiation ploy. That's not the first step. He said he's going to do it and that, we already know from John Boehner and from Mitch McConnell, that is really going to upset their caucuses and it will make it much harder to get agreement on other things beyond trade and beyond maybe even the budget.

SCIUTTO: Well, that's a -- that's a pessimistic read or it takes away some of the hope here if the president is going to stick with that position that could, as John Boehner said, poison the well. So, how do you get over that?

BASH: Well, it gets to the issue of trust and the really big trust deficit that exists. Because the president has been there for six years. John Boehner has been the Republican leader, now the speaker, before that, you know, the minority leader, and these players know each other and they don't trust each other. I mean, that's the bottom line.

And that is the problem, to be able to get over that with just two years remaining and some of these big things in front of them is going to be very difficult which is why, when you have Republicans threatening to repeal Obamacare, even though they know it's not going to happen, and you have the president saying that he's going to move unilaterally on immigration, that is why it doesn't -- out of the gate, it adds to the trust deficit. It doesn't create an environment where they're actually starting to at least move towards one another so that they can get these big things done.

But one thing I want to mention on immigration because this is such a white hot issue. You can't underestimate the pressure that John Boehner is under, the reason why he says that this is like lighting matches and throwing it -- and throwing it on some fuel is because he wants to get immigration reform done so badly. He really does. Personally and also for the future of the Republican Party. But he knows his caucus. He's dealt with them. That's why they haven't done immigration reform for four years. And the minute the president signs that executive order going alone, it will reinforce the idea of many of his caucus that they can't trust the president and that he's an imperial president and everything we've heard. And that's the problem.

SCIUTTO: Beyond trust, we've got to talk about shared interests here. Do Republican -- we heard this after 2012, Republicans need Latinos, right? So, they need immigration reform. Didn't move the needle in the last two years. And let me just -- before you answer that question, I want to show you pictures coming out of this meeting. This is the president here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All of us had the responsibility, me in particular, to try to make that happen. And so, this gives us a good opportunity to explore where we can make progress on behalf of the people who sent us here. The good news is today, we saw another good set of jobs' numbers. We now have 56 consecutive numbers of job growth. More than 10.6 million jobs have been created and the unemployment rate now is down to 5.8 percent. So, business is out there, investing, hiring, the economic indicators are going in the right direction.

As I travel to Asia for the G-20 summit, I'm going to be able to say that we've actually created more jobs here in the United States than every other advanced country combined. And they notice that we're doing something right here. But what we also know is that the American people are still anxious about their futures. And that means that what we can do together to ensure that young people can afford college, what we can do together to rebuild our infrastructure so we're competitive going forward, what we can do together to make sure that we've got a tax system that is fair and simple and unleashes the dynamism of the economy. What we can do together make sure that we keep the progress that we've been making in reducing the deficit while still making the investments we need to grow. Those are all going to be areas where I'm very interested in hearing and sharing ideas.

And then, the one thing that I've committed to both Speaker Boehner and Leader McConnell is that I am not going to judge ideas based on whether they are Democratic or Republican. I'm going to be judging them based on whether or not they work. And I'm confident that they want to produce results as well on behalf of the American people. So, I appreciate their graciousness in coming here, and I'm very much looking forward to giving them some updates on progress we've been making on issues like Ebola and ISIL. There's going to be some specific work that has to get done during the next several weeks before the new Congress commences. And my hope is that even as we enter into a new Congress, the previous Congress has the opportunity still to make progress on a whole bunch of fronts, and I'm confident we can get that done. So thank you, again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE.)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You're going to be the -- you're going to be the first to find out, Megan (ph), along with everybody else. Thank you, everybody. Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: That's President Obama speaking just a few moments ago from a meeting with 16 Congressional leaders, both Democrats and Republicans. The president speaking about the shared goals, the shared interest that they have, potential for a deal and saying that he won't judge ideas based on whether they are Democrat or Republican.

We have our Michelle Kosinski at the White House. Looking at that meeting there, as I saw those picture, I saw some stiff backs. It didn't look exactly like the warmest environment. Do you -- from your perspective, Michelle, do you see the potential there and when speaking to White House officials that the president is ready to deal?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And so it begins. OK, this is the big test to see if all of this talk about cooperation and finding that common ground will actually lead to anything. And you know, both sides have a political incentive. You could say Republicans now have all of this incentive looking ahead to 2016 to find ways to make the government work better, to reach across the aisle and to, you know, get their agendas satisfied by having that compromise element as well.

So, the way it's being framed by the White House is let's start small. The agenda for this meeting is about Ebola. It's about an update on ISIS. It's about finding common ground and then the president says he wants to listen to other people's ideas, what they want to accomplish.

On those areas of common ground, again, it's starting with things like early childhood education, hardly huge controversial issues. I mean, those -- there are places in that and expanding exports on Ebola where, yes, there is going to be agreement. So, that's what is being emphasized now.

The thing is though, Jim, what's looming over all of this is the president's impending executive action on immigration. I mean, that's been laid down as a gauntlet. Even today, we heard from the White House. OK, the president is going to do this before the end of the year. But Republicans carry a trump card. What they can do is bring this up for a vote. They can prevent the president from taking this odious to Republicans executive action if they simply bring it up for a vote.

So, that's kind of the stalemate. We've heard this rhetoric, this tough rhetoric over the last two days. It's really tainted the spirit of cooperation that everybody is trying to project at the same time. So, we'll see. I mean, the president wants Republicans to act on it. They don't want him to act on executive action. Neither sides want -- neither side wants this to blow up in everybody's face but that question mark is there of how is this going to go? You know, is there going to be some common ground forged before that executive action happens?

SCIUTTO: Also couldn't help hearing the president also taking some credit, perhaps, for the good economic numbers out today, --

BASH: Sure.

SCIUTTO: -- another strong data job growth, interesting to hear what the Republican reaction to that is. Michelle Kosinski at the White House. Dana Bash here next to me as well.

President Obama reaching out as well to Iran's supreme leader about their shared interest. No need to adjust your set. You heard that correctly. What the U.S. could be working on with Iran and what it could mean for international security.

And a man who says he put a bullet in Bin Laden comes forward, breaking the Navy SEAL code and putting his own life at risk.

And he could kill someone at the drop of a hat and he did. You're about to hear the dark details of Kim Jong-Il right from his former body guard.

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SCIUTTO: Welcome back. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington.

And this just in to CNN. We're learning that the U.S. Supreme Court has just announced that it will review another controversial part of Obamacare, the health care reform law championed by the president. The justices say they will decide whether the IRS can impose regulations extending tax credit subsidies to coverage purchased through the health exchanges established under Obamacare. Oral arguments will be held next year with a ruling in June. We're going to have more on this later in the hour, but we wanted to give you that update right now.

And changing gears now, here in Washington, President Obama gets closer to naming his choice for attorney general. An announcement is expected in the coming days. And officials briefed on the matter say the likely pick is a low-key but accomplished U.S. attorney from New York. Justice reporter Evan Perez joins us now with details.

So, Evan, when you look at the candidate here, Loretta Lynch, not particularly well known, even in New York. You could say she's the second best-known federal attorney in New York. Tell us some more about her and how the president came to this decision. EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Jim, you know, Loretta Lynch

is a long-time prosecutor in the Justice Department. She's well-liked. She's very popular inside the department, as you said. Outside in New York and nationally she's not very well known, often overshadowed by Pete Bharara, the prosecutor in Manhattan.

But she's got a - you know, quite a resume. She served in this job previously under the Clinton administration in the late '90s and has been U.S. attorney in Brooklyn since 2010. She's not going to be controversial for the Republican Congress that's going to take over in January. We expect that that's one of the reasons why she probably rose to the top of the president's list.

She is well-known for a couple of things. She's done a bunch of financial cases against HSBC, Citigroup in the last couple of years. She also oversaw a major prosecution of a terrorist, Najibullah Zazi, a few years ago in New York. And more recently she indicted republican Congressman Michael Grimm, who's from Staten Island. And that case is still pending.

That said, I don't expect that that's going to be a big part of the discussion.

SCIUTTO: Evan Perez, thanks very much, with that update on a possible new attorney general choice.

Also in political news, a full three days after the vote, we finally have a winner in the Virginia Senate race. Republican challenger Ed Gillespie conceded that election just moments ago and called the incumbent, Democrat Mark warner, to congratulation him. This was a race that ended up a lot closer than many experts thought, but it is one in the win column, a rarity in this election, for Democrats. The Senate race still undecided in Louisiana. A recount expected there.

Now, moving overseas. The U.S. reaches out to Iran in the battle against the terror group ISIS. In fact, President Obama gas written a letter to Iran's supreme leader. But the administration says it's about communication not cooperation. This is what National Security Advisor Susan Rice said just a short time ago from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN RISE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: With respect to potential presidential correspondence, I think you know that I'm not going to comment on any private communication between the president and any world leader. But I will say this. First of all, the -- as I've said repeatedly in public, and others have too, we are in no way engaged in any coordination -- military coordination with Iran on countering ISIL. The fact of the matter is, that ISIL poses a threat, not only to the people of Iraq and Syria, but to the broader region and to the United States and to Europe and we are dealing with that threat. But we are not doing so in coordination with the government of Iran.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: I want to bring in global affairs correspondent Elise Labott. Now, Elise, you were able to confirm the existence of this letter

yesterday. It's not the first time the president has written the supreme leader of Iran.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

SCIUTTO: But, still, a significant time with nuclear talks coming up -

LABOTT: That's right.

SCIUTTO: The battle against ISIS. How significant is it for him to reach out to the supreme leader?

LABOTT: Well, Jim, I think it's pretty significant at a significant time. And it's for two reasons. Obviously the November 24th deadline is coming up and the president is saying to the Supreme leader, listen, there's a lot of shared interests in the region, particularly with the threat against ISIS coming up, but we really need to get this nuclear issue resolved first. That's going to open the door to greater communication.

And, listen, the U.S. and Iran have shared interests in terms of combatting ISIS. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, so to say. But they don't have shared objectives. Obviously, Iran is very close to the new Shia government of Prime Minister Abadi, just as it was to Prime Minister al Maliki.

SCIUTTO: Too close. Too close many say (ph).

LABOTT: Too close. And the U.S. has a lot of concerns that Iran has a great, great hand in Iraq and that has been part of the problem, that the Shia majority has really hurt (ph) the situation.

SCIUTTO: You know, the amazing thing about Iraq and Syria is, with ISIS, you have a common enemy between the U.S. and Iran. But you look just across the border in Syria, which is in effect the same war, and there you have a very different situation. Iran, the principle backer of the regime of Bashar al Assad, which the U.S. is sworn to removing from power. And at the same time you have this U.S.-led coalition with a lot of Sunni partners who are very uncomfortable with Sunni Iran, you know, any sort of cooperation with them in any way. How does - how does the U.S. diplomatic team, Secretary of State John Kerry, balance all those competing interests?

LABOTT: Well, it's not easy. And, again, they have shared interests in making sure that ISIS doesn't completely take over Syria, but not shared objectives.

SCIUTTO: Right.

LABOTT: Iran wants Assad to stay. The U.S. says for years it's wanted him out. And these Gulf partners are very upset about the letter. I'm being told by diplomats that the U.S. did not talk to their partners about -- in this coalition about this letter. It's not the first time. If you remember a few years back, the U.S. had secret talks with Iran about the nuclear issue. SCIUTTO: Yes.

LABOTT: And what diplomats say is this just reinforces the perception and the fear that the U.S. is going to side with Iran, doesn't want to get rid of Bashar al Assad.

So, you know, in one sense it is good for the U.S. and Iran to be talking. They, obviously, they don't want to be working at cross purposes in the region. But what the diplomats and the U.S. allies are saying, listen, if we're your partners, too, we all need to be on the same page about what the goals are and what you're talking to Iran about.

SCIUTTO: In a word, the deadline of this nuclear deal, November 24th, better than 50 percent chance or lesser than 50 percent chance of the U.S. and Iran reaching a nuclear deal?

LABOTT: Well, I think they've reached agreement on a lot of issues, as you know from your sources too. There's narrowing of gaps on a lot of things. Still some of the major areas in terms of how much Iran would be able to enrich uranium, that capacity that would move them towards a nuclear weapon, the pace of sanctions relieved, those things are really the sticking points that might hold up a final deal, but negotiators say they have made a lot of progress on all the issues. So I think they want to still keep going.

SCIUTTO: I know you'll be following it, I'll be following it and we'll be telling you about it.

LABOTT: That's right.

SCIUTTO: Thanks very much, Elise Labott, global affairs correspondent, for joining us.

Still ahead, a former Navy SEAL says he's the one who pulled the trigger on Osama bin Laden. So why aren't his fellow Navy SEALs backing him up?

And in Jerusalem, violence erupts over restrictions over a holy site. The details ahead.

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