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Queen Elizabeth Welcomes Trump To Windsor Castle, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Makes Law Enforcement Announcement, Police Say That They Have Found The Source Of The Russian Nerve Agent That Killed A Woman And Poisoned Her Partner In England. Aired: 12:00-1:00p ET
Aired July 13, 2018 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: ... his itinerary was very clear and he didn't come to the capital, that in and of
itself is unusual for a foreign head of -- of government head of state, not to come to the capital and it's because of these protests, and so that was
also as the car now -- the limousine and the motorcade come through the great porticos there of Windsor Castle.
BECKY ANDERSON, HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: The arrival of the US President to Windsor Castle, a visit that has been described as the US Ambassador
here to the UK as the highlight of any President's visit to the United Kingdom. And the Queen awaiting his arrival now. She's met 10 of the 11
US Presidents who have held office as Christiane was pointing out, since she became Queen 66 years ago. In fact, she even met President Harry S.
Truman when she was Princess in 1951, so the arrival of the US President to Windsor Castle, this will be an appointment for tea for the President and
First Lady will join Her Majesty at the Castle.
AMANPOUR: I honestly would love to be a fly on this particular wall. I mean, there are many occasions where I'd love to be, but this one
particularly, because this is a visit that's been loudly requested by the President of the United States, obviously we're not out of line saying that
he is a very controversial figure and I would be so interested to know whether -- or what she made of the splash across "The Sun" today in a very
unprecedented and undiplomatic way to refer to your host, Prime Minister as the way he did. He has obviously walked that all back in his press
conference, but it is a breach of protocol. The Queen has lived by the highest standards of protocol her whole reign.
ANDERSON: Let's just pause for a moment and listen in to what we are seeing here. All smiles from Queen Elizabeth II and the US President and
Melania Trump now standing for what will be the National Anthem played by the Coldstream Guards.
Windsor Castle at just after 5:00 in the afternoon. He's it's a beautiful afternoon at this part of the country in the United Kingdom. These are the
Coldstream Guards and this is the Guard of Honor formed for the arrival of the US President. We've just heard the US National Anthem. The Queen Mr.
Trump will now inspect the Guard of Honor before watching the military march pass.
And we are aware, this is no secret that this was to be one of the if not, the highlight of the US President's trip here to the United Kingdom.
AMANPOUR: I wonder what she just said -- the Queen to Melania, either you know, you stay here and wait for us and I'll see you in a second.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR, CNN: You think back about all the planning that took place. Remember, whether the troop was going to have
it, right? What audience you would get with the Queen and where we are today, it's been quite a shift. But I am sure, he's very happy about it
this very moment at 5:00 in the afternoon here in the UK.
[12:05:20]
AMANPOUR: It's been a real sort of whiplash kind of 24 hours, because you've had not just this trip which began so controversially this morning
with this blaring headline, this incredible interview where he seemed to be and was in fact, dissing for want of a better word, the Prime Minister of
this country, a key, key, key ally. Not quite sure whether there'd been -- there we go ...
ANDERSON: She's done this before, Christiane.
AMANPOUR: She has, yes.
ANDERSON: She'd definitely done this before. She's giving him a little bit of advice ...
DEFTERIOS: Looking over his shoulder looking for her there for a second.
AMANPOUR: And you're absolutely right. This has been quite the roller coaster, hasn't it?
ANDERSON: It has because she's had all of these set pieces, this beautiful gala dinner at Blenheim, all the business leaders, the Prime Minister.
Again, you had a wonderful Honor Guard up there, then you had Chequers and you had the formal meeting.
AMANPOUR: This has been a schedule that as you say, the planning has to ensure that Donald Trump is certainly is kept out of London for most of
these where these protests have been -- but if you think about it, the headline has been made by his disruptive behavior or his disruptive talk.
It wasn't anything to do with the schedule that has made this as sort of slightly odd trip. It's been what he said which I guess, many people would
say, well, that's his style.
DEFTERIOS: Right, it's his unpredictability of course. He went in many different directions, only because of the interview, so everything around
him. The apparatus, the schedule was very tight. I think it was the interview that kind of changed the tone and his attitude at NATO as well,
Becky.
ANDERSON: I'm keeping an eye on Twitter here because one of -- firstly, we know how much he enjoys Twitter. It will be interesting to see whether he
breaks protocol and actually tweets about this meeting afterwards because that would just be not done as it were, but as I watched these images, I am
looking and a couple from here, suggesting that this is all slightly surreal. I'm watching Trump says one person on Twitter, arrive for tea
with the Queen with full British pomp and circumstance, as the Deputy Attorney General in the US gets ready to make an announcement, and that
announcement could be about new indictments at home. That will not be something that Donald Trump would want to hear as he enjoys this last hour
of his trip to the UK.
AMANPOUR: And of course, it's due to the Mueller investigation and he has called that a witch-hunt. He's used that word -- that terminology again
today and don't let's forget that he is on his way after this to Helsinki to meet with President Putin, so if indeed that is what we expect, if that
is what transpires in Washington, it will be ...
ANDERSON: And we don't know yet.
AMANPOUR: ... we don't know, but if it does, it will be a fairly significant power play before going into this meeting with Vladimir Putin.
It will be a very interesting dynamic to go into a meeting if indeed, there is another such.
ANDERSON: Christiane, I had a conversation with a number of people today about that meeting with Vladimir Putin as we look at these pictures of
Windsor Castle, we'll now expect to see the US President and his wife and Queen Elizabeth II after this Guard of Honor, they will likely disappear
into Windsor Castle where they will take tea. We'll then see Marine One bring the US couple back to London.
I've had a number of conversations with people today about this next leg, Helsinki, and this one on one with President Putin, many people suggesting,
Christiane, and John, weigh in here as well, that Putin has absolutely nothing to lose in this meeting. Trump, however does.
AMANPOUR: Yes, I mean, look, it's a very, very tricky time. He did say today and that's going to be important because everybody was worried about
what would happen if there was a disrupted NATO summit before he went into this very important meeting with Putin because Putin's raison d'etre and
his strategy is to disunite the alliance and to drive wedges between them and for the Russian perspective, Donald Trump is a gift because that's what
he's been doing, shaking things up.
But he said very clearly with Prime Minister May today that they go in unified and strong, whether he believes it or not, he said it and we abide
by NATO, our allies are paying up and we are getting more money and I go to this meeting very strong, very unified, so that's important.
DEFTERIOS: A couple of points I would bring up on the Helsinki meeting though is that on the energy front, once again when he wrapped up the press
conference with Theresa May, he said that Nord Stream 2 pipeline is a tragedy, so he's sitting down with the man who built that pipeline to bring
gas into Europe and he's saying this is a raw deal because he wants to get the US shale and LNG producers into Europe right now. That's the strategy.
[12:10:02]
DEFTERIOS: The bigger picture which we know sitting in the Middle East normally is the role that Donald Trump has in discussions with Vladimir
Putin on Syria, something behind the scenes he's trying to work on a grand deal on Syria as well.
AMANPOUR: Which is a deal that people think doesn't have legs. It's what people have reported is that he would agree to keep Assad in power in
return for Russia trying to get -- well, agreeing to get Iran out of Syria, but Russian doesn't have that power, so it's very confusing actually, the
agenda that he may be taking.
So, now they've moved from the from the Honor part of this and the pomp, and they are going into Windsor Castle and let's not forget, the Windsor
Castle obviously, historic, but recently, in the news and splashed all over the world as the site of the Royal Wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan
Markle, the American -- Meghan Markle, and it is a simply magnificent, magnificent place and Windsor itself is a beautiful little town.
ANDERSON: Let's pause for a moment them and while we just watch this US couple and Queen Elizabeth disappearing to Windsor Castle. This was built
by William the Conqueror in the 11th Century. Christiane, you're right, the world's oldest and largest occupied castle. It's been home to 39
monarchs and Queen Elizabeth, we are told spends most weekends there. Queen Victoria opening the state apartments to the public in 1848.
And it was King George IV who gave Windsor its famous skyline almost doubling the height of the Castle's iconic Round Tower that we saw earlier
on today in the 1820s.
AMANPOUR: And several years ago, you remember there was a devastating fire and it threatened the whole castle.
ANDERSON: It was the annus horribilis -1992 ...
AMANPOUR: It was 1992, some years ago now.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: Yes, some years now. It was 25 years ago, it seems like yesterday, yes, you're right more than -- I mean, and then the Queen
describing it that year as annus horribilis.
AMANPOUR: And I would say that this whole visit comes in a time when the monarchy has really been reenergized. There's something special about the
British monarch right now. Her longevity on the throne, the popularity of the Queen, the whole popularity and renown of the series "The Crown" on
Netflix, the Royal Wedding ...
ANDERSON: And the role that the youngsters are now taking in what may be a post -- will be a post EU, we don't know what that will look like, but the
role they will play in organizing ...
(CROSSTALK)
DEFTERIOS: The transition with Queen Elizabeth and the modernization of the monarchy with a new generation, I think the wedding played well into
that ...
ANDERSON: Sixty six years on the throne.
AMANPOUR: I do think it's important to note, she's over 90. She's not going to have many more of these royal visit, she doesn't travel abroad
anymore. She is now hosting people over here. It's important that the President of the United States is here right now.
ANDERSON: Let me just stop you there. The Deputy Attorney General is speaking in Washington. Fascinating. Let's listen in.
ROD ROSENSTEIN, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: ... the defendants are charged with conspiring to hack into computers, steal
documents and release those documents with the intent to interfere in the election. One of those defendants and a 12th Russian military officer are
charged with conspiring to infiltrate computers of organizations involved in administering elections including State Boards of Election, Secretaries
of State and companies that supply software used to administer elections.
According to the allegations in the indictment, the defendants work for two units of the main intelligence directorate of the Russian general staff
known as the GRU. The unit is engaged in active cyber operations to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. There was one unit that
engaged in active cyber operations by stealing information and a different unit that was responsible for disseminating the stolen information.
The defendants used two techniques to steal information. First, they used a scheme known as spear phishing, which involves sending misleading e-mail
messages and tricking the users into disclosing their passwords and security information. Second, the defendants hacked into computer networks
and installed malicious software that allowed them to spy on users and capture keystrokes, take screenshots and exfiltrate or remove data from
those computers.
The defendant's accessed e-mail accounts of volunteers and employees of a US presidential campaign including a campaign chairman starting in March of
2016. They also hacked into the computer networks of a congressional campaign committee and a national political committee.
The defendants covertly monitored the computers, implanted hundreds of files containing malicious computer code and stole e-mails and other
documents.
[12:15:07]
ROSENSTEIN: The conspirators created fictitious online personas including DCLeaks and Guciffer 2.0 and they use those personas to release information
including thousands of stolen e-mails and other documents beginning in June of 2016.
The defendants falsely claimed that DCLeaks was a group of American hackers and that Guciffer 2.0 was a lone Romanian hacker. In fact, both were
created and controlled by the Russian GRU.
In addition to releasing documents directly to the public, the defendants transferred stolen documents to another organization that is not identified
by name in the indictment and they used that organization as a pass-through to release the documents. They discussed the timing of the release in an
attempt to enhance the impact on the election.
In an effort to conceal their connections to Russia, the defendants used a network of computers around the world and they paid for it using crypto
currencies. The conspirators corresponded with several Americans during the course of the conspiracy through the internet. There is no allegation
in this indictment that the Americans knew they were corresponding with Russian intelligence officers.
In a second related conspiracy, Russian GRU officers hacked the website of a State Election Board and stole information of about 500,000 voters. They
also hacked into computers of a company that supplied software used to verify voter registration information. They targeted state and local
officials responsible for administering elections and they sent spear phishing e-mails to people involved in administering elections, including
attaching malicious software.
The indictment includes 11 criminal allegations and a forfeiture allegation. Count one charges 11 defendants for conspiring to access
computers without authorization and the damage to those computers in connection with efforts to interfere with the presidential election.
Counts two through nine charge those 11 defendants with aggravated identity theft by employing usernames and passwords of victims in order to commit
computer fraud. Count 10 charges those 11 defendants with money laundering for transferring crypto currencies through a web of transactions in order
to purchase computer servers, register domains and make other payments in furtherance of their hacking activities while trying to conceal their
connections to Russia.
Count 11 charges two defendants for separate conspiracy to access computers without authorization and the damage of those computers in connection with
efforts to infiltrate computers used to administer elections.
The filing the indictment seeks the forfeiture of property involved in the criminal activity. There is no allegation in this indictment that any
American citizen committed a crime. There is allegation that the conspiracy changed the vote count or affected any election result.
The Special Counsel's investigation is ongoing and there will be no comments by the Special Counsel at this time. The Assistant Attorney
General John Demers is here with me today because we intend to transition responsibility for this indictment to the Justice Department's National
Security division while we await the apprehension of the defendants.
Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Ed O'Callaghan is also with me and he's been assisting in managing the Special Counsel investigation. I
want to caution you, the people who speculate about Federal investigations usually do not know all of the relevant facts. We do not try cases on
television or in Congressional hearings. Most anonymous leaks are not from the government officials who were actually conducting these investigations.
We follow the rule of law which means that we follow procedures and we reserve judgment. We complete our investigations and we evaluate all of
the relevant evidence before we reach any conclusion. That is how the American people expect their Department of Justice to operate and that is
how our Department is going to operate.
In our justice system, everyone who is charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. That should you go without
saying, the people who are not charged with a crime also are presumed innocent. The indictment was returned today because prosecutors determined
that the evidence was sufficient to present these allegations to a Federal grand jury.
[12:20:20]
Our analysis is based solely on the facts, the law and Department of Justice policies. I briefed President Trump about these allegations
earlier this week. The President is fully aware of the Department's actions today.
On my remarks, I have not identified the victims. We confront foreign interference in American elections. It's important for us to avoid
thinking politically as Republicans or Democrats, and instead to think patriotically as Americans. Our response must not depend on which side is
victimized.
The internet allows foreign adversaries to attack America in new and unexpected ways. Free and fair elections, always hard-fought and
contentious. There will always be adversaries who seek to exacerbate our divisions and try to confuse, divide and conquer us. So long as we are
united in our commitment to the values enshrined in the Constitution, they will not succeed.
The partisan warfare fueled by modern technology does not fairly reflect the grace and dignity and unity of the American people. The blame for
election interference belongs to the criminals who committed election interference. We need to work together to hold the perpetrators
accountable, and we need to keep moving forward to preserve our values, protect against future interference and defend America.
I have time to take a few questions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Attorney General Rosenstein, a quick question for you, sir. Number one, the timing today on the eve of the President's meeting
with Putin, can you talk about that and also just today (inaudible), the Mueller investigation is a witch-hunt. Your response.
ROSENSTEIN: The timing, as I mentioned is a function of the collection of the facts, the evidence and the law and the determination, it was
sufficient to present the indictment at this time. As I mentioned, I did brief the President with regard to the nature of the investigation. I only
comment on the evidence.
The evidence reflects -- is reflected in our indictments and in our charges. It represents a determination by prosecutors and agents without
regard to politics, that we believe the evidence is sufficient to justify the charges.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, Deputy Attorney General, I know you've talked about the fact that in your view, the evidence doesn't show any votes were
changed as a result of this hacking. But you did say that a company uses a pass-through, coordinated with these defendants to enhance the timing of
the release and the impact on the election. Can you talk a little bit about what the evidence you have shows in that respect.
ROSENSTEIN: What I have talked about today is what is alleged in the indictment. We know that according to the allegations of the indictment,
the goal of the conspirators was to have an impact on the elections. What impact they may have had or what their motivation may have been
independently of what was required to prove this offense is a matter of speculation. That's not our responsibility.
What I said is there's no allegation in the indictment about it, and that's not our charge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In terms of the state election information, you said about 500,000 voters' information was collected, is there any evidence that
what the Russians did with that information? And is there any evidence of other states being successfully penetrated by the Russians?
ROSENSTEIN: I think that it's important for you to understand what I've told you are the allegations that are included in the indictment. The FBI
and other intelligence community agencies are working constantly to defend against cyber attacks in the United States. This case is just about one
particular effort that was made during the 2016 election.
The efforts of our Department and the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies and of all of the State Election Boards throughout
the country are all ongoing and those efforts preceded this indictment and they are going to postdate this indictment, so we have continued to share
any relevant intelligence with all of our partners and we'll take a longer time to talk about this, but there is a concerted and organized effort by
the Federal government to make sure that we do deter and prevent any further cyber attacks on our elections and that we harden our election
systems to prevent against any kind of intrusions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last question (inaudible) ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Deputy Attorney General, you had mentioned that you had briefed President Trump on this (inaudible) this week. Did he indicate any
significant support for this action and what was his reaction?
[12:25:08]
ROSENSTEIN: I would like the President to speak for himself. Obviously, it was important for the President to know what information we've uncovered
because he's got to make very important decisions for the country, so he needs to understand what evidence we have of foreign election interference.
Thank you very much.
ANDERSON: Well, well, you've been listening to the Deputy Attorney General with a news conference timed literally as the US President and his wife
were walking into Windsor Castle for tea with the Queen. The Deputy Attorney General announcing that the US President knew that this was about
to come.
Christiane Amanpour is with me, John Prideaux, the US editor of "The Economist" is with me and Nic Robertson our international diplomatic editor
also outside the residence where the Trump's have been staying.
Christiane, what do you make of what we have just heard?
AMANPOUR: Well, it's obviously very interesting timing. You wouldn't be drawn onto why, but whatever the reasons, the legal reasons for doing it
right now, it is still happening right before Trump goes to meet Putin, and I think that's important because it will arm President Trump with facts to
tell President Putin this is what our Attorney Generals have discovered and this is the allegations and these are the indictments -- 12 members of your
intelligence, GRU have been indicted for hacking into the American electoral system, into the DNC and he was very specific about some of the
charges, some of the charges, some of the actual terms of the indictment, saying that some of the Americans, although none has been charged with a
crime knew that they were interacting with Russian intelligence.
And he's talked about huge numbers of hacks and that kind of information coming up, and of course President Trump today was asked in the press
conference with Theresa May, "Will he tell Putin to stop interfering in American elections." That was a question fired at him by Jim Acosta and he
said, "Yes, he will tell him."
ANDERSON: The DNC of course, the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, as was in 2016, John Prideaux, let me just remind our viewers what we have
just heard. You're looking at images just moments ago of the Deputy Attorney General in the US announcing that Mueller has indicted 12 Russian
intelligence officers, intelligence officers working for the GRU for hacking the DNC.
The Justice Department announcing these indictments in the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016
election. As I said, against 12 Russian nationals and accused them of engaging and I quote, "a sustained effort to hack into the computer
networks, the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton and released that information on the internet under the names DCLeaks and Guciffer 2.0 and
through another entity."
JOHN PRIDEAUX, US EDITOR, THE ECONOMIST: The first thing is that these leaks were pretty damaging at the time. I don't think there's any question
about that. They came at a very poor time for the Democratic Party just as it was going into its nominating convention in Philadelphia. These are not
the first times that the Justice Department has indicted Russian nationals in relation to cyber crime, but it's a bigger indictment.
And correctly, as you say, these are members of the GRU, so Russian military intelligence. The Russian government has tried out of a couple of
lines on there, saying "We have nothing to do with it." Or, "Nothing was done at the Russian state." This indictment puts this conspiracy right at
the heart of the Russian state.
It's a very interesting indictment -- the details. So two of those people who have been indicted have been indicted for money laundering. That's
something I want to know a lot more about. Why was that money laundered? What was that laundered money used to pay for? So, we have a few more
questions than answers at the moment, but as Christiane said, the timing of this just before the President goes to meet with Vladimir Putin is pretty
extraordinary.
AMANPOUR: I do think as you say, that the indictment against official Russian state apparatus is very, very important precisely for the reason
you said because one of the great skills of Putin since 2014 is this obfuscation, right? "No, the Russian forces didn't invade Eastern Ukraine,
it was the little green men. No, we didn't do this. It was maybe -- who knows who it was, but it certainly wasn't directed by us."
But all along, all along, experts said, this level of interference and sophistication and hacking and the whole fake news that went around it as
well, could not have happened without the sophistication of the state and the resources of the state.
[12:30:02]
ANDERSON: Donald Trump has called this entire process a witch-hunt and a hoax, as you rightly point out, this new emerges two days before Trump is
due to meet the Russian President, Vladimir Putin who has denied election meddling as we know in Helsinki, for a summit that includes a one on one
meeting with only interpreters present.
We've been discussing this one on one meeting, a Congressional delegation that has been in Russia has reported back to the White House that the US
President should come very well prepared and probably shouldn't be on his own. You point out, Christiane that he has said today that he will ask
again about meddling.
AMANPOUR: Well, not only will he ask because he was then asked, "Will you tell him not to do it." And he said, "Yes." But here is the thing, look,
we've said this, until the cows come home. Everybody is trying to figure out why it is that President Trump has not found it in himself to say
serious things about President Putin and criticize Putin for these very legitimate and serious actions on the international stage not to mention,
basically violating American sovereignty by hacking into their election system.
He's perfectly willing to attack allies, but he hasn't really built up a head of steam over Vladimir Putin where the problem lies, and he did again
today talk about a witch-hunt, but obviously, you heard the Deputy Attorney General address that point as well. He said, "We do not act as partisans
or political. We must as patriotic Americans. This is according to law enforcement, law and order. We will not try this case in television. We
will not try it anywhere, but in a court of law."
ANDERSON: Nic Robertson is our international diplomatic editor and your perspective, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR, CNN: I think from an investigative point of view, this establishes some very important things.
I mean, we've heard Mueller hand down indictments before for people in conversations that appear to have involved the Russians offering dirt on
the Hillary Clinton campaign.
Now, what we are hearing here is that they found the people who got the dirt, so now, you have essentially perpetrators who had the original
custody of the dirt and if you're involved in an investigation and you think you've got one end of the trail of this dirt, then you've now got the
beginning of the trail of the dirt, then you can begin to piece together better that whole sequencing of it went from who, these GRU operatives, to
who? To whom? To whom?
So, the essence of that very fundamental question of what potential malicious political involvement may have happened in bringing this material
out from the computers that these GRU agents who we now know, these 12 unnamed GRU agents stole this material, got it from their computers, onto
who knows what recording devices and passed them and passed it and passed it, until it ended up in the public domain, and the investigators know
ended up in the public domain.
That begins to strengthen the prosecutors hands, as well to establish that chain of custody and therefore, who was responsible? Who was involved
along that whole chain and it's that chain and who's involved particularly at the sharp end of dissemination that has been critical in all of this, so
we can see this investigation beginning to come together, that forensic investigation of data, which is so hard to forensically investigate. It's
not like picking up a piece of paper or a dropped coin or something like that, Becky.
ANDERSON: Nic Robertson, standby, we've got more breaking news this hour, and from England now, police say that they have found the source of the
Russian nerve agent that killed a woman and poisoned her partner, Nima Elbagir, joining me from the London bureau, what can you tell us, Nima at
this point.
NIMA ELBAGIR, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, the police have now announced that they found the source of the agent. It is a small
bottle, a small container found in Dawn Sturgess' partner's house, Charlie Rowley, who is still in hospital and police say has now regained
consciousness.
This is crucial because the inquiries can now take real, pick up real steam into this object was found, where it was found, how it came into -- finding
itself into the hands of Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley and ultimately where this bottle originated from. Does it lead back to the killing of --
sorry, does it lead back to the contamination of the Skripals and ultimately, does it lead back to Moscow?
These are the key questions and the finding of this container is a really, really big key to open that door, Becky and police say that they will
continue to look into this and a coroner's investigation will start on Thursday next week now that they have this really crucial bit of evidence
in their hands.
[12:35:18]
ANDERSON: So, the breaking news this hour, let me just repeat for those who may just have joined us, the Metropolitan police in the UK announcing
that they believe a small bottle found on Wednesday was the source of the Novichok that killed a British citizen and left a second, as we have been
explaining critically ill in a hospital in Salisbury. Christiane?
AMANPOUR: Well, look, I mean, this is a one-two punch. I'm sorry, no matter how you paint it, it's going to be looked at and perceived as the US
law enforcement, as the British law enforcement piling this on just ahead of this -- just ahead of this visit to President Putin.
President Putin needs to understand according to the United States and British authorities, clearly, that's the message we are getting that they
have the goods, that they know that there is something really bad going on and the death of Dawn, the woman there is being treated as a murder, and
Prime Minister May brought it up over and over again in the press conference today when people said, "What do you hope the President Trump
takes as a message to President Putin." The first thing she said was about the Novichok and then the other was about Crimea and hacking into the
Western democratic process, and the strength and don't sort of mess around with us in NATO.
They are really looking to present a solid crack free wall and they are trying to bolster President Trump before he goes into that meeting, so that
he has stuff.
ANDERSON: And we heard from Rod Rosenstein and when the announcement of these 12 indictments against Russian intelligence officials, just moments
ago in this Mueller investigation, he said he had spoken to Donald Trump that he said earlier in the week, or earlier on to say, earlier on in the
week, so, the President is well aware that this news would be delivered. He will have known exactly when that news was being delivers, he walked
into Windsor Castle, he's disappeared for the last 36 minutes, he's having tea with the Queen.
John, I mean, Christiane making a very good point there, this is a one-two sucker punch at this point, isn't it? I mean ...
PRIDEAUX: It looks a lot like to me like both the British and American governments are trying to stiffen the President's spine before he goes in
to meet with Vladimir Putin.
ANDERSON: Can he achieve that? Will he be successful in doing that?
PRIDEAUX: Well, we will never know because nobody is going to be in that meeting apart from the interpreters, but I mean, it's fascinating, both
these stories are fascinating. Just on the GRU indictment. I mean, I know 2016 is ancient history right now. But there's a famous speech that Donald
Trump gave at a campaign events, where he said, "Whoever has the rest of e- mails, whether it's Russia or whoever, give them to us. That will be great." It now turns out that he was inviting Russian military
intelligence to do that.
I don't really have adjectives to describe that, I'm afraid.
ANDERSON: You were asking about the charges against these Russians and wanted to know a little bit more about those, so, 11 of the Russians are
charged with identity theft, conspiracy to launder money, and conspiracy to commit computer crimes. Two defendant are charged with a conspiracy to
commit computer crimes. Your point being we need to know more about these crimes than simply that.
PRIDEAUX: Particularly the money laundering. I mean, for investigative journalists, follow the money is the first word of advice. I want to know
who laundered that money? Why they needed it? Who was paid off?
AMANPOUR: I must say -- I'm sorry go ahead.
ANDERSON: Let me just -- let me have Nima back because I know that Nima is working on this Novichok lines, Nima, I know we've just heard this news
that the police in the UK have found the source of this Novichok that they believe killed Dawn Sturgess, any further details at this point?
ELBAGIR: Well, interestingly, to further bolster Christiane's point, they found this container on the Wednesday. They chose to release this
information today, so going into that summit President Putin, it is interesting that there is at least a sense of the unified front, this crack
free wall with regards to reinforcing to President Trump that there is massive, massive outreach, which is far as the NATO. Allies are concerned,
this outreach, this overextension of Russian influence and Russians interference has been going on since 2014.
And when President Trump talks about pushing up NATO allies and their contribution into NATO, he slightly shoots himself in the foot because of
course, the reason that they started pushing up that contribution was because of Russia's expansionism into Crimea, but the fact that they chose
to release this today and the fact that they chose to make clear that Charlie Rowley is now conscious and is now aiding police with their
inquiries, that sends a very specific message to the Russians. It sends a very specific message to President Trump.
We do know more and we may know even more, so we need to go in there and we need to present a unified front to President Putin that clearly Europe, at
least has decided that there is al line in the sand, Becky.
ANDERSON: Even at the news conference earlier on today, President Trump was saying that he has been harder on and the Russian President. I think
his line was that anybody -- and he said something like the last hundred years, I can't quite remember, but then he sort of rolled back.
[00:40:30]
AMANPOUR: The thing is, Becky, the US has been -- they've got very stiff sanctions on President Putin and Russia under the Trump administration and
-- but he hasn't been. The Congress is, the law enforcement are, but he hasn't been. And people can't figure out why.
I am fascinated though. I picked up on what you said because we were all outraged or rather surprised when President Trump looked down the barrel of
that camera and said, "Russia, if you know where those e-mails are, come and find them." Or something to that effect, and people did interpret that
back then as inviting Russia to hack into the American system.
So, the fact that you brought that up, do you think this indictment somehow leads to Trump asking him to do -- I mean, what are you saying about that?
PRIDEAUX: I just -- I suppose, this is a moment in history, it's just so extraordinary. The conspiracy theories around the President -- there are
some people who seem in the Mueller investigation, the idea that either his campaign collaborated with the Russian government or there's something a
bit fishy going on.
President Trump is working with the Russian government may not have been intentional. I'm sure it wasn't, or at least, I'm fairly sure it wasn't,
but you had him as a presidential candidate saying, "Go ahead, hack those e-mails," and it was Russian military intelligence who were hacking them.
It's absolutely extaordinary.
ANDERSON: We're going to take a very short break at this point. Don't go away, viewers. You two stay where you are. Let's take a look as we go to
break of some live pictures literally just behind where we are now. These are the protests in London. These are demonstrations against what is this
visit to the UK by the US President. Stay with us.
[12:45:22]
All right, it is a very, very busy hour on Becky Anderson in London. The US President is at Windsor Castle as we speak. We will return to our
coverage of President Trump's visit here to the UK.
Right now, he is having tea with the Queen at her home in Windsor, that is Windsor Castle. The President and the First Lady met the Queen a little
earlier this hour, a Guard of Honor forming of the Coldstream Guards gave her a royal salute and the US National Anthem was played. In an interview
though with "The Sun" newspaper, the President praised Her Majesty describing her as a tremendous woman who had avoided controversy during her
66 year reign, that was in stark contrast to the way that he described the Prime Minister Theresa May. We'll talk about that a little later.
The Queen of course has met every US President since her reign began in 1952 with the sole exception of Lyndon B. Johnson who didn't visit Britain
during his time in office. I think these pictures that are up, this was a little earlier on, Richard Fitzwilliams is the Royal Commentator and John
Prideaux is the US editor of "The Economist," and well, I'm going to get you two commentate on what we've seen earlier.
Let's start off with our expert, resident expert here, Richard, the Queen hanging on in the end it seems for the arrival of the US President and the
First Lady, a lot of pomp, a lot of pageantry and the US President will have liked that. The Queen has done this, some -- numerous times, it's not
a few times before, but many, many times before.
RICHARD FITZWILLIAM, ROYAL COMMENTATOR: Many, many times.
ANDERSON: Is this a first for you as President Donald Trump?
FITZWILLIAM: Literally, something he's always wanted that his mother being a fervor monarchist. I think there's no question that this is something
again, but hopefully will shall we say, improve his current feelings towards Britain as expressed, shall we say in the press conference. It was
certainly not short, and which involved a certain backtracking in an interview which he gave to "The Sun," of which I think something one would
say, that the Queen very, very safely one would say., that she would personally strongly disapprove but he wouldn't have an inkling of it.
Very, very clearly the Queen would see her purpose now, has to smooth things over. I mean, it's been said that the best way of persuading
someone is when they don't know it's being done and the idea now would be to make Donald and Melania Trump feel at home at Windsor.
ANDERSON: Perhaps one might call her a subtle genius and that is certainly how Donald Trump refers to himself. He stood shoulder to shoulder ...
PRIDEAUX: A stable genius.
ANDERSON: Yes, a very stable and subtle genius. He stood shoulder to shoulder earlier on today with the UK Prime Minister as certainly, Richard
rightly pointed out, after what can only be described as a humiliating diatribe on the way to that the Prime Minister has dealt with the exit from
the EU. Effectively, he said, she has wrecked Brexit. There will be no US deal, no deal which he loves to say. Of course, this is the backend of
this visit now. How would you rate his performance while he's been in the UK?
PRIDEAUX: I think he did a very Trumpian characteristically Trumpian thing, which was to say one thing when he arrived. Criticized the Prime
Minister for her handling of Brexit say that there is no possibility of a US-UK free trade deal at the moment, praised Boris Johnson, her rival and
the Conservative Party.
Those two things are probably as unhelpful as he could possibly have been to his host, and then in the press conference, where he said completely the
opposite and said, "Oh, I'll work with you, whatever the outcome. Praise Prime Minister May." He talked about the special relationship, this lovely
phrase, he said, "It's the highest level of special," which I enjoyed very much.
So, as a kind of a Trump commentator or analyst, you're left with which of these completely contradictory statements to take seriously, and it's not
clear to me. I mean, I think if you took the first half of the visit, it would have been seen as a disaster for the British government. After tea
with the Queen, after that press conference, I think they'll be able to say, "Hey, we got out of that alive."
ANDERSON: Which I want to -- he may be very relieved by the fact that he perhaps got away with this trip because the next one, now, is building up
to be quite something, Richard. Forgive while we just go and talk Russia for the time being, but we will get back to the Royal Family because
literally in the last hour, we have heard that the Mueller investigation is now indicting 12 Russian intelligence officials for interfering in -- well,
effectively conspiring to meddle in the 2016 campaign.
[12:50:12]
ANDERSON: The Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein who announced this news specifically said there is no allegation in this indictment that any
American citizen committed a crime. I think we should probably clearly assume as a suggestion that nobody -- neither Trump nor anybody in Trump's
coterie who is an American citizen was involved, correct?
PRIDEAUX: That feels right to me, Becky. We also don't yet know where these GRU intelligence agents are based I suspect they are probably based
in Russia that's why this indictment -- it's not exactly very ethical. I mean, they won't be able to come to America anytime soon, but the idea that
the Russian state will suddenly hand them over to the DOJ for prosecution is clearly fantasy.
ANDERSON: But this news coming literally just hours before the President leaves here, he's got a couple of days golfing in Scotland, but after that,
he's got a one-on-one, the first official one-on-one with the Russian President who has always denied any interference in the 2016 campaign.
Trump himself has called it a witch hunt and a hoax. He promised reporters when asked today at the press conference, he promised that he would ask
again, but he almost did it with a sort of rolling of his eyes, I'm sort of paraphrasing his eyes to a certain extent here, but he's "I'll ask again,
but I don't expect to get a kind of a ..." I think he called it a Perry Mason moment out of Vladimir Putin.
And then, not moments after we find out about these indictments, we find out that the source of the day Novichok poisoning of the latest death in
the UK has been found. UK-US, lots of pressure on the Russians it seems.
PRIDEAUX: Yes, a lot of pressure on the Russians. I mean, too much really to process. It feels like an overdose of news. I mean, going forward to
this Helsinki meeting on Monday, normally, in anticipation of something like that both sides, the Russian side and the American side will be
working for weeks on kind of deliverables, trying to very carefully manage the message from the American side how are we going to work on nuclear
proliferation? How are we going to work on Russian election interference? What about the murder on British soil of British citizen by Russia?
All the briefing has been so far -- but from the American side, at least that preparation hasn't taken place. So we don't really know what's going
to happen going in there. The President as you say was asked about this during the press conference, he said, Ukraine, nuclear weapons, hacking --
a few other things, but we really don't know whether he will.
I think, it's not too conspiracy minded to see the news that's been released but now from the DOJ and from the British police, trying to really
remind the President before Monday that Vladimir Putin is an adversary.
ANDERSON: And Rod Rosenstein suggesting that President Trump was informed about these allegations he said earlier this week.
PRIDEAUX: Right, I mean, so, if that's the case, why release it now? And there is a venerable tradition in America of releasing news on a Friday.
You know, people are thinking about what they're going to be doing in the weekend, you kind of bury the news somewhat, but the timing does seem
deeply weird, just before the President is due to fly to Helsinki.
ANDERSON: Well, the President present as we speak, he is at Windsor, Richard. This is the Queen's residence off times at the weekend, residence
that she likes outside of London. Of course, so the kickoff to her weekend has been entertaining the US President and his wife for tea.
FITZWILLIAMS: And this is a time he talked about a lack of controversy, well, this is one occasion.
ANDERSON: This is a new image by the way. This has just come up, Richard. This is an image inside Windsor Castle and certainly, the US President, a
big smile on his face.
FITZWILLIAMS: Yes, and we're also seeing them behave because there's a certain protocol with greetings to the Queen, the way for example, you bow,
the way that she extends her hand, the way that she begins conservation and so forth, and there's no question. I think it's probably a big moment for
him and I think also hopefully, she will be able to convey very thoughtfully, very quietly some ideas or thoughts that even in the mad
whirlpool which consists of the Trumpian world, he might wish to consider perhaps at a quiet moment.
ANDERSON: This isn't a state visit. This is known as -- this has been slugged a working visit. Did Queen Elizabeth II have to offer this
invitation to tea?
FITZWILLIAMS: Absolutely, no doubt. Originally, as you know, Theresa May very, very rashly just asked her at the inauguration, and then she said, a
state visit, this would have really been the third ever.
[12:55:05]
FITZWILLIAMS: Because a large number of American Presidents of course since 1920 with President Woodrow Wilson, but only George W. Bush and
Barack Obama had a state visit. This was offered. He believed that he did in fact stay at Buckingham Palace with all the pageantry and the panoply,
and to the point in fact, it would have been absolutely and totally impractical given the feeling against him and given also the policies and
the reprehensible aspect of some of them, but there's at least it was something that had to happen because you couldn't have the President of the
United States with his premier ally visit and not be received by the Queen.
ANDERSON: You've battled valiantly against the sound of choppers in the air. I mean, there are, of course, there's a lot going on over London
today. There's a lot going on, on the streets of London. These are live pictures coming to know, not from Windsor, let's get the pictures out of
London for our viewers now. This is what -- if you look at the juxtaposition here, thousands of anti-Trump protesters in London. These
demonstrators want to send a clear message that President Trump and his policies are not welcome.
CNN's Atika Shubert joins me now from a packed Trafalgar Square in the middle, Atika of those protests. Can you hear me? I feared that Atika
would struggle to hear me and the police, okay, Atika, can you hear me?
ATIKA SHUBERT, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: I do hear you, Becky, and I am actually near Downing Street because where we are at now is at the very small group
of pro-Trump supporters and they have been surrounded by a number of these anti-Trump supporters which polices are standing in the middle.
And it's pretty tense here, but just down the road from where tens of thousands have gathered at Trafalgar Square, the Stop Trump Campaign there,
so what we have here is basically what I am seeing now, you might see some of this on our video here is a clash, it's basically a war of words right
now, between those who are for Trump, raised some Israel flags and England flags and those who are against Trump here, saying that he is not welcome
in London.
And I think it just goes to show that there are divisions here even though this is a much smaller group of pro-Trump supporters and there is a much
larger group of anti-Trump supporters here. It shows us how divided it can become here, how divisive this visit has been.
ANDERSON: How would you describe the atmosphere? For much of the afternoon, I know that it's been described as sort of carnival atmosphere,
ultimately, does that still feel even though we're looking at relatively good natured sort of discussion altercation going on here, has it largely
been a good natured affair, these protests?
SHUBERT: Absolutely. I mean I was in Trafalgar Square earlier where we were hoping to go live with you, but frankly, there were so many people at
what they called this Carnival of Resistance, tens of thousands, filling Trafalgar Square, filling Regent Street that we couldn't go live because
there were just so many people there taking up the phone signal, but it was largely this Carnival atmosphere with kids holding up placards, families
out there and it was very much good natured, exactly as it was described, a Carnival of Resistance against Trump.
What we're seeing now here is what is a very small pocket of pro-Trump supporters that felt that they had to come out and speak out for him
against what seems to be this very large protest that does not want to welcome him.
So, I think it still remain a carnival like atmosphere for most of the protest, in this very small pocket that we're at, at Downing Street, it has
evolved into something of a shouting match between pro and anti-Trump supporters.
ANDERSON: Well, that is London. This is Windsor. President Trump and his wife Melania leaving Windsor Castle there and a tea with the Queen. They
posed for a photograph in the grand corridor inside Windsor Castle during what was his visit to the UK just on Thursday. We will get that photo for
you as we see what -- this is the delegation now heading out and this has been moving back and forth from London to Chequers, back to London, back to
Windsor Castle, the Trumps now on their way, or shortly on their way back to Marine One and that pretty much wraps up this UK leg, Europe, NATO
summit controversial, gets here, a controversial interview with "The Sun" newspaper in which the US President lambasts the UK Prime Minister, only to
apologize to her later on today during a press conference they stood shoulder to shoulder.
These are the images of that. It's been a busy day and then the invitation by the Queen, the Guard of Honor, Coldstream Guards, Windsor Castle, tea,
back and out of here to Scotland where Donald Trump will be playing golf for the next couple of days.
We won't see him over the next couple of days. We will though see him when he arrives in Helsinki what is slugged to be really quite the moment in
time, his one-on-one meeting with Vladimir Putin, an awful lot going on, but Donald Trump will have enjoyed this last hour or so.
These images we'll leave you with. Earlier today, Windsor in England. I'm Becky Anderson, thank you for watching live from London. This was our
coverage of President Trump's visit. We continue now with Wolf Blitzer after this very short break.
WOLF BLITZER, ANCHOR, CNN: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. We begin with major breaking news. New indictments of the Russia
investigation. Just moments ago, the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, Rod Rosenstein announced that 12 senior Russian military officers
have been indicted for trying to interfere with the 2016 presidential election here in the United States.
ROSENSTEIN: Eleven other defendants are charged with conspiring to hacking the computers, steal documents and released those documents with the intent
to interfere in the election. One of those defendants and a 12th Russian military officer are charged with conspiring to infiltrate computers of
organizations involved in administering elections including State Boards of Election, Secretaries of State and companies that support ...
[13:02:00]
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