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Both Sides Try to Rally Voters in Alabama Senate Race; Terrorism Charges Filed Against N.Y. Bombing Suspect; Jimmy Kimmel Makes Emotional Plea for Children's Health Care While Holding Son; Rep. Joaquin Castro Talks Russia Probe, Sexual Allegations Against Trump, Trump's Suggestive Tweet on Gillibrand; Tillerson: "U.S. Prepared if North Korea Makes Bad Choices". Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired December 12, 2017 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:30:00] JOHN MERRILL, ALABAMA SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, I anticipate a strong turnout. And I think the Alabamians that participated today had a lot of time to evaluate the information that has been prohibited to them, and when their voice is heard, it will be loud and clear. It may not be understood by the people throughout the nation, but it will be understood by the people in Alabama.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: The accusations against Judge Moore, by the women that came forward that he was in his 30s and they were 14, 15, 16, 17 years old and he was going after them, and they made allegations, that didn't bother you?
MERRILL: Oh, Wolf, there are a number of things that bothered me and concern me and continue to concern me. A number of them continue to be introduced to me each and every day. I know that I am just one of 4.8 million other Alabamians who will be very thankful when this day is over.
BLITZER: That didn't bother you enough to decide he was not fit to be the U.S. Senator?
MERRILL: Wolf, I know that you know this, and you and I had this conversation on and off the air, but this election is not about me. It's about Judge Moore and Doug Jones and people having their voice heard and vote counted. My job is concerning we want safe, secure, fair elections and everybody gets to vote just one time.
BLITZER: Just one final question, just to get back to the accusations, do you believe all these women in Alabama who have come forward and suggesting and said flatly that he did all sorts of sexually inappropriate things with them when he was in his 30s and they were teenage girls?
MERRILL: Wolf, it's not up for me to decide whether they are telling the truth or not. It's only up to me and other Alabamians to determine who they want to support for this U.S. Senate seat and cast their ballots for the candidates.
BLITZER: John Merrill is the secretary of state of Alabama. A busy day tonight. We'll watch it. And we will have coverage throughout the day and once the polls close at 8:00 p.m. eastern. Thank you very much for joining us.
MERRILL: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Breaking today, the suspect in the bombing near Times Square in New York City taunted President Trump on Facebook the morning of the attack. You will see his words.
Plus, I will speak live to a Democratic congressman on whether he thinks President Trump should resign over assault allegations. What he thinks of the president's rather suggestive tweet regarding Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:36:58] BLITZER: Authorities today filed terrorism charges against the man accused of setting off a homemade bomb at the New York City port authority bus terminal. And 27-yearold Akayed Ullah is charged with five counts of providing material support to a terrorist organization, using or attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, and bombing a place of public use. Federal prosecutors say police found bomb-making materials and more in the suspect's home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KIM, ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY: Officers also found a passport there in his name, with handwriting that included one particularly chilling note, and I quote, "Oh, America, die in your rage," closed quote.
Although in plotting his attack, Ullah had apparently hoped to die in his own misguided rage, taking as many innocent people as he could with him, but through incredibly good fortune, his bomb did not seriously injury anyone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Let's go to our national correspondent, Brynn Gingras, joining us from New York.
Brynn, we understand the suspect did declare support for ISIS. At one point this charging document, he said, quote, "I did it for the Islamic State." What more can you tell us about the motives and what this guy was all about?
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf. He said that after he waived his Miranda rights from his hospital bed and talked to investigators. Another point where he said that was in a social media post just before he carried out this attack yesterday, according to the court documents. He talked about how he did this again for ISIS. He also posted a note, a message possibly, for the president. He said, quote, "Trump, you failed to protect your nation." That was another post he added before carrying out this attack.
As far as his allegiance to ISIS, we learned he had a displeasure with the ISIS targets overseas, how Muslims are being treated all-around the world. Also, he talked about how he was radicalized in 2014. That was all about watching videos and getting inspiration. That seems to be the basis of his radicalization, more so than traveling over to ISIS territories before carrying out this attack -- Wolf?
BLITZER: Very interesting charging document, indeed. We will continue to watch. Sure, we'll learn a lot more about this man in the coming hours and days.
Brynn, thank you very, very much.
President Trump's lawyers demanding another special investigation involving Russia. You can hear the reasons and what this means for the fate of Robert Mueller.
And Comedian Jimmy Kimmel making a very emotional plea over health care for children while holding his son who just had a second heart surgery, and his warning to Congress. That's coming up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[13:39:48] JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE: He is fine, everybody.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: An emotional Jimmy Kimmel returned to late night with a special guest, his son, Billy. Billy went through his second heart surgery last week and Kimmel choked up when thanking doctors. Then he made a special plea for health care funding, specifically the Children's Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP, that just ran out of federal funding. CHIP covers children whose parents earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private coverage. Here's what Jimmy Kimmel said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIMMEL: This is literally a life-and-death program for American kids. It always had bipartisan support. But this year, they let the money expire while they work on getting tax cuts for their millionaire and billionaire donors. Imagine getting that letter, not knowing how you can afford to save your child's life. This is not a hypothetical. About two million CHIP kids have serious conditions. I don't know about you, but I have had enough of this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[13:45:05] BLITZER: Congress just passed a temporary patch lasting through the end of the year. Some states have notified parents already that their benefits may end in the coming months. We will watch and see what happens on this front.
Other news we're following, President Trump's legal team is demanding that a second special counsel be appointed to look into questions surrounding the Russia investigation. Jay Sekulow, a private lawyer for the president, says the additional special counsel is needed to investigate conflicts of interest within the Department of Justice and the FBI. Sekulow's concerns include the recent demotion of a senior Justice Department official who reportedly failed to disclose meetings with people that behind that so-called Trump dossier.
Joining us is Congressman Joaquin Castro, a Democrat from Texas, and he's a member of the House Intelligence Committee.
Congressman, thank you for joining us.
REP. JOAQUIN CASTRO, (D), TEXAS: Thank you for having me, Wolf.
BLITZER: What's your reaction to the idea that the president's lawyers are demanding a second special counsel?
CASTRO: I think the president is basically, apparently, trying to do one of two things. He is either trying to get around Robert Mueller and his investigation or somehow threaten Robert Mueller in the investigation, or he is continuing to lay the ground work to get rid of Bob Mueller as the special counsel investigating any ties that the president or his associates may have had with Russian operatives who undermined the 2016 presidential election.
BLITZER: What would happen if he fired Robert Mueller, the special counsel?
CASTRO: I think you would see a lot more support for impeachment.
BLITZER: On the basis of what?
CASTRO: Obstruction of justice.
(CROSSTALK)
CASTRO: The fact that he is obstructing this investigation, which he knows could reach the highest levels of his former campaign team, and quite possibly, those who are working in his White House.
BLITZER: Do you believe he would fire Robert Mueller?
CASTRO: I think it's quite possible. In fact, I would say, with this president, anything is possible.
BLITZER: Let's get to other issues while I have you, Congressman. The president has been tweeting, as you know, about the colleague, Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, calling her someone who would come to my office, in his words, "begging for campaign contributions not so long ago." And he put in parentheses, "and would do anything for them," closed parentheses. What do you think the president of the United States was implying with those words involving the Democratic Senator from New York?
CASTRO: We have seen this from President Trump over and over. It is the president really saying things beneath the dignity of the office of the president of the United States. He is trying to bully the Senator. And she stood up and said she would not be silenced, just like the women who came forward and talked about their experiences with President Trump are not going to be silenced. This was certainly a very ugly statement, a statement made with certain innuendos to it, as has been mentioned before this morning. Unfortunately, the president keeps doing this, and it's what the American people have come to expect from President Trump. It's the reason that he only has a 32 percent approval rating among the American people.
BLITZER: He was asked this morning what he meant by the words, "and would do anything for them," referring to Senator Gillibrand. He didn't answer that question. White House officials aren't answering. There will be a briefing later in the day. What do you think he was referring to? That was a sexist comment?
CASTRO: Absolutely. This guy is basically like a seventh grader, like a middle schooler, that's where his mentality is stuck, and you see that in his words and tweets.
BLITZER: The House Democratic leader, the minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, said she is backing a call to investigate the president over sexual harassment allegations. She stopped short of saying he should resign. Other Democrats are already calling on the president to resign. Do you believe the president should resign over these allegations?
CASTRO: Yes.
BLITZER: You are saying yes?
CASTRO: Yes.
BLITZER: Tell us why.
CASTRO: I believe that now more than a dozen women have come forward with very detailed allegations about how they were treated by the president of the United States. He has not been held to account, even though he personally made remarks that suggested he engaged in this behavior. And that is unbecoming for the president of the United States to have a long history having done this and not be held accountable at all. For the sake of the nation, he should resign.
BLITZER: One other issue I want the get to. You are on the Intelligence Committee. I assume you have been briefed on the investigation into the terror attack in New York City near Times Square yesterday. If you have, what can you share with the viewers about the suspect?
CASTRO: I actually can't give you any special information. I have not had a briefing on that. Perhaps the ranking member and the chair have. But ordinarily, when these things happen, they allow the dust to settle, collect all the information to make sure they get it right, and then give us a wider briefing.
[13:50:19] BLITZER: What's your reaction to the president saying this terror attack in New York underscores the need to end any sort of lottery that would allow people to come to the United States from various countries? And he also says we should end what is called chain migration. In other words, if you are already here legally, you could bring in close relatives legally through chain migration. What's your response to the president on those two sensitive immigration issues?
CASTRO: Well, I think the president wants to prevent even legal immigrants here, folks that have become citizens, for example, but have kids or other relatives in another country, close relatives in another country, he wants to prevent them from bringing those folks over.
It is true, you'll have people who commit bad acts, but that's not something particular to someone nationality or skin color or religion. We have seen bad acts committed by people born overseas and also, of course, by native-born Americans. The man that killed 59 people in Las Vegas was an American citizen who was not affiliated with ISIS or not inspired by ISIS or was not a Muslim or anything that the president likes to point out when these things happen. Same thing in Texas. So I think the president's focus is wrong. I think our focus should be on figuring out people who are radicalized for whatever reason, whether it's because of a religious or ethnic belief that makes them or inspires them to commit these wild acts. But I think his focus is totally wrong. And it seems to me that he's basically looking for every reason and every excuse to try to keep as many people out of this country as possible.
BLITZER: Congressman Castro, thanks for joining us.
CASTRO: Thank you.
BLITZER: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson holding a town hall over at the State Department amid very low moral and complaints about his leadership. You'll hear what happened, what he said about the threat from North Korea.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: "The military plan is ready to go," that's what the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said today about North Korea during a State Department town hall.
Let's go to our senior diplomatic correspondent, Michelle Kosinski.
Michelle, walk us through what else the secretary had to say about North Korea.
[13:55:02] MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT: This was a town hall he was holding for the entire State Department. So a perfect opportunity for him to put the perfect face on everything possible and to inject some positivity. And this question about whether he's satisfied on how things have been going on North Korea came in from somebody at an overseas post. That question would have been easy for him and understandable for him to answer with a, no, there is more we can do. But he said he was quite satisfied with how things are going on North Korea. And he said that when diplomatic options run out, that's when he will feel like he has failed. He did pay heed to that military option saying that if North Korea makes bad choices, then the U.S. will be prepared to act, but that is not a path that he wants to take. So he's been throughout his time in office a kind of foil to President Trump, that every time there is this mention of military action or a possibility of that coming from the White House, he's been the one to say, no, no, we are focused on diplomacy. Although, of course, he says there is a time when diplomacy could run out, and left that open-ended.
And when his new assistant secretary for public diplomacy today was asked the same question, why does he feel like things are going OK on the diplomacy front with North Korea of all issues, he said, well, he feels like it's a success that he's been able to gain international support for trying to choke North Korea off. They have been able to ban about 90 percent of North Korea's exports that they are having trouble getting oil. And even though that takes a lot of time, the State Department feels, under Tillerson, that is a good start -- Wolf?
BLITZER: Very quickly, Michelle, what did he say about his future at the State Department?
KOSINSKI: I felt like everyone was waiting for a question like that to come up. He's been criticized by so many in Washington. And just yesterday, a letter came out from a very honored and respected diplomate who is leaving and wrote a scathing letter about him. So today, he was asked, does he enjoy his job. He said he's working on enjoying it, but acknowledged it is difficult. What he said lately, though, is he intends to stick with it and that he's committed to the State Department. And he often throws in there, though, that he serves at the pleasure of the president -- Wolf?
BLITZER: Yes, he does.
All right, Michelle, thanks very much. Michelle Kosinski reporting.
President Trump clearly on the attack right now, firing back at the women accusing of sexual misconduct. And he's now being accused of a sexist smear against a sitting U.S. Senator. We'll have details and a lot more when we come back.
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[14:00:01] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, there. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You are watching CNN. Thanks for being with me.
Calls for the president to be investigated are growing. We just learned that about 100 Democratic lawmakers are now demanding that Congress take action after multiple women have --
