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Erin Burnett Outfront
Sixty-Plus Ex-Intel Officials Blast Trump On Security Clearances; Trump Warns DOJ Official Could Lose Clearance "Very Quickly"; D.C. Mayor Taunts Trump After Cancellation Of Military Parade; Trump Donor Blasts Offer to Pay Omarosa With Donor Money; Rate of Pregnant Women Addicted to Opioids Quadruples. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired August 17, 2018 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:00] NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: -- Yemen on the ground will accept that ever so readily, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Nima Elbagir, thank you very much for that important report. I'm Jim Acosta, thanks very much for watching. "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.
ERIN BURNETT, OUTFRONT HOST: Out front next, breaking news. More than 60 former members of the intelligence community hitting back at Trump. This as the President threatens to revoke another security clearance, quote, very quickly. Plus Trump's very revealing statement about the Special Counsel today. The President's former longtime attorney is out front.
And the opioid epidemic. The number of addicted pregnant women skyrocketing, unbelievable numbers, and an eye opening report from our Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Let's go out front.
And good evening, I'm Erin Burnett. Out front tonight, the breaking news, taking on Trump. Sixty-three more former intelligence officers speaking out against the President tonight. That brings the total to 75 including seven former chiefs of the CIA. They say in part, "former government officials have the right to express their unclassified views on what they see as critical national security issues without fear of being punished for doing so". This comes as the President threatens to strip a current Justice Department official of his security clearance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think Bruce Ohr is a disgrace. I suspect I'll be taking it away very quickly. I think that Bruce Ohr is a disgrace with his wife Nellie. For him to be in the Justice Department and to be doing what he did, that is disgrace. That is disqualifying for Mueller.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Why target Ohr? Well, Trump aiming at him because Ohr was in contact with Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence agent who authored infamous dossier about Trump's alleged ties to Russia. So tonight this is not just about a former director of the CIA strip to his ability to help the nation if called to do so. Right now if he's called, he's got to get re-cleared, it could take months. Can't actually answer a question about a crucial national security issue.
This is about threatening to end a current official's career. And Ohr, by the way, has never even publicly criticized this President. Trump aiming at Ohr comes as the President shifting his story about why he revoked the security clearance of the former CIA Director John Brennan. Today, he made it clear he stripped John Brennan's security clearance because he ties Brennan to the Russia investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Look, I say it. I say it again. That whole situation is a rigged witch hunt. It's a totally rigged deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Totally rigged witch hunt. Minus the word hoax you know what he's talking about. Those are Trump's favorite words for the Russia investigation. And maybe the President today is being honest about his motivations that it comes down to Russia. But his Press Secretary gave a different explanation this week for why Trump revoked Brennan's clearance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Any benefit that senior officials might glean from consultations with Mr. Brennan are now outweighed by the risks posed with his erratic conduct and behavior.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Erratic conduct and behavior. Maybe President Trump realized that that excuse wasn't going to work, because if erratic behavior was the standard for security clearance he would lose his, too. Remember this tweet, "I too have a nuclear button, but it is a much bigger and more powerful one that his". And remember these comments?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself. North Korea best not make anymore threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. I don't know. Maybe it's the calm before the storm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the storm?
TRUMP: Could be the calm before the storm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Well, that last comment, that threat made from the White House of his entire Cabinet including his military and intelligence team flanking him, but the President being erratic doesn't matter. Because the truth is being erratic is not the reason Trump took away Brennan's security clearance. The real reason is he doesn't like hearing Brennan's criticism.
Kaitlan Collins is out front live at the White House. And Kaitlan, 63 more former intelligence officials standing up against the President's move. It's a veritable tsunami today. Is the President paying attention?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Erin, it doesn't seem that the President is understanding the kind of criticism he's getting. Instead he thinks he's getting tremendous reviews for this move and he is, from some of his allies, that this statement not just from the officers but from the leaders of the CIA. And a former intelligence chief really coming together to rebuke the President truly does say something. These aren't just people who were there during Democratic administrations but also Republican, too.
And that name you saw going on today, Robert Gates, who was not only the head in CIA but also the Secretary of Defense joining onto rebuke the President really does say that they really do feel strongly about something the President has done. Because we don't often hear people like this rebuke a sitting president. But the President doesn't seem to be hearing this and instead it's fitting in the larger context of how he's using his presidential powers to lash out at the Russia investigation. Something he's fumed about for months and now has found an outlet for those frustrations.
[19:05:11] And as you pointed out, going not just after people who have vocally criticized him but also by targeting Bruce Ohr, or targeting anyone who is within walking distance of this investigation. And judging by what we heard from the President today, he does, Erin, seem eager to do it again.
BURNETT: All right, Kaitlan, thank you very much. And it's stunning when you're thinking of current people who, you know, relying on these jobs, they're working there, they're doing their job. He's now threatening to strip them of their clearance which would strip them of their job, it's a pretty stunning thing.
Out front now, John Dean, the former Nixon White House Counsel during Watergate, April Ryan, White House Correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks, and Frank Bruni, Columnist for The New York Times. John, you're the one who famously revealed Nixon's enemy list. Is what we are seeing from this President, right, John Brennan, he has this list of other people but he has put names on, right, General Clapper and others, now Bruce Ohr, is this the same thing?
JOHN DEAN, FORMER NIXON WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: Nixon's revenge was very general. There were people he had accumulated over the years he disliked. There were partisans he didn't like. But he was more talk than he was action. But this is more Nixonian than Nixon for that reason because Trump is right out front about it. He's just openly attacking people and he's also not only getting his enemies but he's obstructing justice in the process and not hiding it whatsoever. BURNETT: So Frank, you know, 63 additional former intelligence officials came forward today, that were 12 last night, and we have 75 now. That's pretty incredible. And that list has included every CIA director since George Tenet in 1996. George Tenet never speaks.
FRANK BRUNI, COLUMNIST, NEW YORK TIMES: Right.
BURNETT: It's a big deal his name was on this. The only names, not only John Brennan himself, he's made his point very clear, Gina Haspel and Mike Pompeo who were Trump CIA directors. And, you know, I think what's important is they are saying, "Our signatures do not necessarily mean we agree with the opinions expressed by former Director Brennan.
BRUNI: Right.
BURNETT: Or the way in which he expressed them. What they do represent is our firm belief that this country will be weakened if there's a political litmus test applied before experts are allowed to share their views".
BRUNI: Right, they're not saying they agree with Brennan but they are saying they disagree with the President. And as you said this is really, really extraordinary. We need to pause here and think about what's happening. It's so easy in the Trump administration for so many oddities just, you know, to kind of whiz by and we don't pause. This is not normal in American government to have these 63 come out or more than 63. This is not normal in the presidency to have this sort of exchange.
These people are saying that the President of the United States is behaving in a dangerous fashion, in an erratic fashion to use your very good adjective. And there are Republicans as well as Democrats. This is not a partisan thing that's going on. This is about kind of patriotism and a genuine fear that Donald Trump is behaving erratically and out of the anger in the White House.
BURNETT: Impulsively. I mean, April, Trump insisted today, though, you know, hey, this is not about silencing my critics. I want to play the exchange with the reporter. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you say to those who say you're trying to silence your critics?
TRUMP: There's no silence. If anything I'm giving him a bigger voice. Many people don't even know he is and how he has a bigger voice, and that's OK with me because I like taking on voices like that. I've never respected him. I've never had a lot of respect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: He gave Brennan a bigger voice, April?
APRIL RYAN, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN URBAN RADIO NETWORKS: I don't know about that. Brennan had a voice, had a large voice. I mean, his national security footprint looms large, larger than it was, you know, with this. People just respect him and they listen to him.
But here's the issue, Erin. This President wants to take the security clearances from those in the national security community who's talking against him. Now, let's really look at what it's about. The people who have security clearances from prior administrations, those security clearances are used when they are read in by this White House, if they're ever read in, which they haven't been, to a situation.
Now, they haven't even gotten any information on national security. So really this is all-for-naught. This is just -- It's just sable rattling and they may do it, but it's not going to produce or do anything. They haven't done anything with it. So this is basically another silver bowl I believe to distract from something else that's out there.
BURNETT: Yes. People should understand exactly what April is saying. You know, John Brennan can't just go in and look at anything he wants to stop secret. He was read out when he left the CIA.
RYAN: Right.
BURNETT: This was -- So Gina Haspel or some with the CIA called John Brennan say, hey worked on this for 25 years, the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Kim Jong-un, whatever it might be, can I get your opinion. He could give them an opinion that day, get read in. Now he's got to go through month of security clearance again. So just to people understand what we're talking about here.
And John, you know, it's not just now a former head of the CIA. It's now a current Justice Department employee that he says he's going to take security clearance away from, Bruce Ohr, who did have contact with the man, Christopher Steele who wrote the infamous dossier. And Trump's threat today was extremely direct.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[19:10:13] TRUMP: I think Bruce Ohr is a disgrace. I suspect I'll be taking it away very quickly. I think that Bruce Ohr is a disgrace with his wife Nellie. For him to be in the Justice Department and to be doing what he did, that is disgrace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: John, Ohr being a current employee, right, so stripping him of his clearance would essentially fire him and he can't do his job without that, right? Who knows whether he'd have to be transferred to if not fired. That is actually taking this to yet another level, isn't it?
DEAN: It certainly is. And I'm not sure he can do it, and I'm hoping somebody in this group who is being threatened or have had their security stripped from them actually takes action against the President. There is a procedure in place. There is an executive order that sets up a process.
Trump is totally ignoring it. Does he have the authority? Probably. Can he ignore the procedure? No. There's something in our country and our constitution also called due process. And when there is a regulation in place, you've got to follow it. He could repeal that regulation and create more chaos, but he's got to follow the process when he's doing this.
BURNETT: And as you point out, that has not happened. I mean, Frank, here's the thing, the President's obsession with these sorts of things in this case a petty revenge which ends up being much more than petty because it's about free speech but it's petty about an individual. This week he's tweeted witch hunt seven times, Omarosa eight times. "Omarosa, you beat the Russia investigation, congratulations". Even Bruce Ohr who probably no one outside of Washington has ever heard of, got four tweets. Putin got zero tweets, North Korea got one tweet.
BRUNI: Yes. One might ask about the President's priorities and whether he's actually focused on the most important aspects of his job. But the other thing that I think when you read that out is he keeps drawing attention to things that he supposedly doesn't want us to pay attention to. He's emboldened his critics, you know, like Brennan. Brennan has a louder voice now than he had before.
BURNETT: Right. Trump was right on that in one way, which I think April was pointing out. Yes, he is amplifying it.
BRUNI: Omarosa and her book have gotten 10 times the publicity they would have if Donald Trump hadn't been tweeting endlessly about her and calling her things like dog. So, there is no strategy here. This is someone acting purely out of emotion and against his interest and actually hurting his presidency hour by hour, tweet by tweet.
BURNETT: April, you know, I also want to make the point here today the Paul Manafort jury didn't make a decision. Lot of people thought they would by today, they haven't. And Trump was asked today whether he pardoned Manafort. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I don't talk about that. I think the whole Manafort trial is very sad when you look at what's going on there. I think it's a very sad day for our country. He worked for me for a very short period of time, but you know what, he happens to be a very good person. And I think it's very sad what they've done to Paul Manafort.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK, he was his campaign chairman for many months. I mean, let's just, you know, forget the facts there. April, the point is, is he dangling out again a pardon to Paul Manafort. Hey, buddy, don't worry, if you get sentenced to 100 years, 150 years, whatever it is, don't flip. I'm telling you. Is he sending a message there or not?
RYAN: Well, let me say this, the last words of the President, you know, it's very sad, he's a good man, those are very telling. Now let's see what happens. And here's the piece right here. You know, once we -- if there is a conviction and if there is sentencing, you know, this is a possibility that Mueller could come back and try to -- well, once he is convicted before sentencing, could come back and talk to Paul Manafort. Because just before that sentencing, that's the time when Paul Manafort could give up some information.
BURNETT: Right.
RYAN: So it all depends how Paul Manafort handles this. The President is dangling a carrot telling him he's a good man right now but who knows what can happen down the road if there's a conviction.
BURNETT: All right, thank you all very much.
And next, President Trump pulling the plug on his military parade, blaming D.C officials and the D.C. mayor just fighting back, just having (INAUDIBLE). Plus Trump telling Bob Mueller to just go ahead and write the report. Does that mean that the President has made the decision? There is no interview, Bob Mueller.
The President's former longtime Attorney Jay Goldberg is out front. Plus team Trump apparently willing to use donor money to pay off former employees. I'm going to speak to one Trump donor tonight, who has a pretty opinion about his money use that way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:18:12] BURNETT: New tonight, Trump in a battle of words with the Washington, D.C. mayor. President Trump abruptly cancelling his military parade today and he blamed Washington, D.C. officials. The President tweeting, "The local politicians who run Washington, D.C. (poorly), know windfall when they see it. When asked to give us a price for holding a great celebratory military parade, they wanted a number so ridiculously high that I canceled it. Never let someone hold you up. I will instead attend the big parade already scheduled at Andrews Air Force Base on a different date, and go to Paris parade, celebrating the end of the war, on November 11th. Maybe we will do something next year in D.C. when the cost comes way down. Now we can buy some more jet fighters."
OK, so D.C. officials were having none of it. They said the cost of the parade from their end was $21.6 million. But that, of course, is only a fraction of the reported cost, the new estimate putting the total price tag at $92 million, which is $80 million more than the original estimate. And as you can see that had nothing to do with the D.C. part of it.
Out front now, Maria Cardona, former DNC Communications Director and Amy Kremer, Co-Founder and Co-Chair of Women for Trump. Amy, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is not bowing down before the President on this one, OK? Here's her tweet back to his tweet. "Yes, I'm Muriel Bowser, Mayor of Washington, D.C., the local politicians who finally got thru to the reality star in the White House with the realities. $21.6 million of parades, events, demonstrations in Trump America, sad."
Amy, she is giving him a dose of his own medicine and making it clear that his numbers do not add up.
AMY KREMER, CO-FOUNDER & CO-CHAIR, WOMEN FOR TRUMP: Well, Erin, guess what. I don't think millions of people across the country know who the Mayor of D.C. is, and I really don't think they care. I'm glad she got a little bit of publicity today. But the bottom line is, the President canceled the military parade for this year. I'm glad that we have a chief executive that is cognizant of the money that's going to be spent, he was concerned about it and he canceled it.
[19:20:07] And I would think that, you know, the left and the media would be jumping for joy because they never wanted the parade anyway. So, I would expect some praise from Donald Trump for this.
BURNETT: Well neither did the military or veterans or a lot of other people. I mean, you know, which is, oh we never report it. And Maria, what do you make of this, though, this rather childish twitter war?
MARIA CARDONA, FORMER DNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: I think it's childish on behalf of the President, but again that's par for the course for this childish President. I'm proud of my mayor for standing up because he talks about D.C. being run poorly. I'm sorry, D.C. has $2 billion in surplus, a AAA credit rating. And he is talking about it being run poorly? We are about to go to a $1 trillion deficit. Thanks to mismanagement of this President.
And I would hope that people like Amy Kremer who was at the forefront leading the Tea Party on being, you know, stewards of fiscal responsibility, and when the President wants to spend $90 million on a parade they don't say anything? It's a little hypocritical.
BURNETT: I mean, Amy, of course, deficits have surged. You know, they say the tax cuts will eventually fix that, but they have surged. There's no question about that. But you're saying, Amy, you just applaud him for, you know, hey it's too expensive. You don't care that he's blaming somebody wrongly for it, but you're just glad about the money is the point?
KREMER: Well, I mean, the bottom line is he canceled the parade. I mean, the country was divided over it. A lot of people liked the idea, a lot of people didn't. I personally think that we need to take care of our vets, our veterans. You know, their -- We have seen people losing their lives. I have friends that their husbands have lost their lives waiting for care. There's a problem with the VA system. So I think we need to definitely take care of our veterans.
You know, I wouldn't be surprised if this is part of President Trump's negotiation tactics. We've all learned that no matter what he is for the Dems are against. There's nothing that he has stood for that they have said, you know what, we can support that too because they gets everything. So, you know, could be part of his negotiation -- and we could see military parades next year but I do want to --
CARDONA: Negotiating for what?
BURNETT: Look, there's been a lot of reporting on Defense Department not being for this, the American legion disagrees with this. Amy, you know, their comment, the national commander, quote, "Until such time as we can celebrate a victory on the war of terrorism and bring our military home, we think the parade money would be better spent fully funding the Department of Veteran Affairs and giving our troops and their families the best care possible".
I understand you were making that point, Amy, but they are making that point saying this was not a good idea.
KREMER: Well, that's fine. And Erin, guess what? I'm entitled to my opinion, you're entitled to yours, Maria is entitled to hers. Does that make of this wrong? I mean, this is America. Last time I checked, we are all entitled to our free opinion. I don't think there's a problem with that.
But the bottom line is --
(CROSSTALK)
KREMER: -- he canceled the parade and he's going to go to Paris and celebrate the end of World War I with some of our allies and I think that's great. And I think let's take care of our military and our veterans. I think that should be our number one priority and I would hope all of us could come together and agree on that.
CARDONA: Well, yes, we do agree that this parade was a huge waste of time, but the issue that you get into is that you have a President who does want to spend this money on a parade and would have had he been given the leeway to do so. And then he is criticizing supposedly radical liberals who are heading up a city that has a $2 billion surplus versus the feds and people who support Trump, who want to spend ridiculous money on dictator like military parades and putting kids in cages. That's a big disposition (ph).
KREMER: How about our former president who spent millions of dollars in cash on pallets to Iran, one of our arch enemies who wants to wipe America off the face of earth? Let's talk about that. And where were you then --
BURNETT: The pallets to Iran, what do you -- I'm sorry.
CARDONA: I don't know what you're talking about, Amy.
KREMER: Pallet to cash to Iran.
BURNETT: We're turning them the money that they have had originally.
CARDONA: Right. When you go to that talking point, it tells me that you have absolutely zero argument to back up what this President wanted to do.
KREMER: No. I have no problem with the President supporting our military and standing up and praising our military if that's what he chooses to do. I'm glad that he --
CARDONA: You're one of the few. Very few people supported this ridiculous parade. Many Republicans --
KREMER: That's not true.
CARDONA: Most Republicans did not support this ridiculous parade. They knew it was a huge waste of money.
KREMER: That's not true.
CARDONA: Absolutely, it's true. And I hope that you, before that too, because before you were a Trump supporter, you were for fiscal responsibility. Once Trump --
KREMER: Did I not do this? Maria, I just said that I'm all for paying down our debt and deficit. We have economy right now, it's booming and I think that that's where we need to go. But I was not in support of our former president sending millions of dollars of cash to Iran.
[19:25:03] CARDONA: That's not what we're talking about and that's not true either.
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: Jeff has said (INAUDIBLE) more than a $1 trillion since Trump has taken over. So, look, we'll see. We've got to give the tax plan some time, but the numbers on the deficit side look bad. Thank you both.
And next, is Trump now suggesting he's no longer willing to sit down for the interview, the big interview?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Let him write his report. We did nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Trump's former longtime Attorney Jay Goldberg is my guest next. Plus a story you'll see only on "OutFront" from Sanjay Gupta. More pregnant women addicted to opioids and the new numbers are staggering.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How worried were you about the baby?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was very worried.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: New tonight, just write the report. That's President Trump's message to Robert Mueller.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: Mr. Mueller is highly conflicted. In fact, Comey is like his best friend. I could go into conflict after conflict. But sadly Mr. Mueller is conflicted. But let him write his report. We did nothing, there's no collusion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Out front now, former longtime Attorney for Donald Trump, Jay Goldberg. Jay, good to have you with me. So, the President telling Bob Mueller just write the report, you know what, the report is sort of the tone in his voice. Does that mean he's made up his mind, there's no interview coming, because he's saying, give me the report, we're done here?
JAY GOLDBERG, PERSONAL FRIEND AND LONGTIME ATTORNEY FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP: I think he'd be foolish to submit himself to an interview. His chief deputy is a person who's schooled in obstruction of justice.
[19:30:00] He's the prosecutor in the Arthur Anderson case, Andrew Weissmann. And I told the president to be very careful of submitting to an interview where Weissmann is the chief deputy.
And so, I think it'd be very foolish. We're not going to see an interview by him.
BURNETT: So, was there a serious effort made by team Trump to negotiate one? Because it's been eight months and Rudy's out there saying, well, June 12th, and July 4th, and September 1st, and September 3rd. Was that all Rudy yapping?
GOLDBERG: Well, it wasn't -- not only Rudy. It was the predecessors of Rudy. But I got my licks in as well. I feel very strongly about this. I don't think there's any question that a competent lawyer would advise him not to submit to the pitching perjury trap that Mueller has in store.
BURNETT: Right. But they weren't really negotiating, right?
GOLDBERG: I don't think they were negotiating -- I don't want to say in bad faith, but I don't think it's in good faith.
BURNETT: Yes, why did they do that, all that public rigmarole?
GOLDBERG: Well, they just pulled it along, hoping that the public would get tired of the investigation, that the investigation would show no need for Trump to be interviewed, that there'd be no clear indication of his collusion.
Now, keep in mind, Erin, there's no such doctrine of collusion. It's not in the state law. It's not in the federal law.
BURNETT: No, conspiracy would be the nearest term?
GOLDBERG: It would be conspiracy, but you'd have to know of the wrongdoing. It would be misconduct if he knew that the information he was receiving was the result of stolen documents. But there's nothing to indicate that.
BURNETT: Now, you know, Rudy Giuliani said not only as you're saying not bad faith, but not good faith.
GOLDBERG: Yes.
BURNETT: But they're willing to fight a subpoena on this all the way to Supreme Court.
GOLDBERG: Yes, yes.
BURNETT: But Rudy Giuliani was a totally different guy, I don't know, maybe even a year ago, but certainly back in 1998. He thought a presidential subpoena in the Clinton investigation was totally fine. Let me play Rudy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NYC MAYOR: All the Watergate litigation resolved the fact that the president is not above the law is not able to avoid subpoenas, and the president has a right like anyone else to go before a judge and say, this is being done for improper purpose, being done for purposes of harassment. And if a judge agrees with that, fine. But if a judge doesn't, then you have to testify.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Can Rudy with a straight face now say the opposite? I mean, it's pretty incredible the change here.
GOLDBERG: Well, it's an unfortunate testimony about the attitude of lawyers, how they shift positions depending upon their client at the time. But I think it would be a mistake to have the president submit to a deposition. It would create a terrible precedent.
The president instead of concerning himself with national affairs could be tied up in lengthy depositions. And I don't think that Rudy has completely changed his position, recall from the snippet that you played --
BURNETT: Yes.
GOLDBERG: -- he said that, the movement, the president could claim that the purpose was to create an effective perjury trap. And he said that in the snippet that you played.
And I think here we have a perfect example of a perjury trap. I don't see that they've come up with any --
BURNETT: You could say it's being done for improper purpose or purposes, but he doesn't use the word perjury trap.
(CROSSTALK)
GOLDBERG: Improper purpose and the improper purpose would be a perjury trap. I can't think of any other improper purpose. BURNETT: Now, I want to ask you about Omarosa Manigault Newman and
this whole imbroglio going on this week. President Trump and Omarosa have been engaged in a war of words, right? The president called her a loser, a low life and a dog.
GOLDBERG: Yes.
BURNETT: Look, it's not presidential to do that. I don't care who she is or what she did or how she expresses herself. That's not presidential.
Does the Donald Trump you know care at all?
GOLDBERG: The Donald Trump I know which I detail in the book that will be out at the end of the year is far different than the Donald Trump you see as president. He's a person who doesn't engage in anti- black remarks, doesn't degrade women. He's a person who's been changed by the office that he holds.
But I have no excuse for the fact he would use words like dog, low life. I would say that she's a person who most people thought of as a character, not as a person of substances. That's my opinion.
BURNETT: So, why -- so you say the office changed him.
GOLDBERG: Yes.
BURNETT: But why? Why into someone who is willing to throw these inductives around and say things that are --
GOLDBERG: Well, he's always --
BURNETT: -- so horrible about people of color or women as he now does publicly?
[19:35:01] GOLDBERG: I think the information that he gave about women on the bus was an attempt to show that he's one of the boys. I don't believe it.
BURNETT: You don't.
GOLDBERG: I don't believe he had that kind attitude where he was -- picked up women randomly. I don't think so.
I don't -- and the time I was with him -- don't forget I was with him for 20 years. I never saw him exhibit the kind of looseness -- comparable to the form of president. He wasn't the kind of character that you would expect of a person who had no regard for women. That was not his approach.
BURNETT: So, you're saying that he has changed.
All right. Well, thank you very much, Jay. I appreciate your time as always. Good to see you and see you soon.
GOLDBERG: The best to you. Forgive for my shoulder, but good to see you.
BURNETT: All right.
And next one Trump donor speaking out against a tape of Lara Trump, allegedly offering Omarosa a job in exchange for her silence.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
LARA TRUMP: And all the money that we raised and to pay salaries is directly from donors.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: Plus, the story you'll see only OUTFRONT tonight. The number of pregnant women addicted to opioids skyrocketing. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta talk to some of them. The stories are painful and it could be life or death for these expecting mothers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I honestly just thought I would lose this one at 20 or 25 weeks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:40:21] BURNETT: Tonight, a Trump donor speaks out, slamming Lara Trump's offer of a $180,000 campaign job to Omarosa Manigault Newman allegedly to keep her quiet and have her only say good things. The salary that would be paid using money from Trump campaign donors, not a dollar of it coming from the billionaire himself. No, all of it from donors.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
LARA TRUMP: So the only thing that we have to consider when we're talking salary as far as the campaign is concerned is that as you know everything is public. And that all the money that we raise and that pays salaries is directly from donors, small dollar donors for the most part. So I know you were making 179 at the White House.
And I think we can work something out which would keep you right along those lines. Specifically, let me see, I haven't even added up the numbers but we were talking about like 15k a month. Let's see what that adds up to 12, yeah.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: A hundred and eighty thousand.
OUTFRONT, Dan Eberhart, the CEO of Canary, an oil field services company based in Colorado.
And, Dan, I appreciate your time tonight.
You gave the individual max earlier this year to Donald Trump.
DAN EBERHART, TRUMP DONOR, UPSET DONATIONS COULD HAVE BEEN USED TO PAY OMAROSA: Thank you.
BURNETT: That's $2,700. What bothers you when your hear Lara Trump talking about using donor money to pay Omarosa?
EBERHART: Well, it bothers me because I like for, you know, my donation and donations of other folks like me to be focused on, you know, winning the midterms or being stored up for Trump's 2020 election.
BURNETT: So, I want to play for you, Dan, because it's not just it was going to be donor money used for her salary, her job description was then laid out by Lara Trump. You know, what exactly Omarosa would be doing. So, let me just play the job description for you.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
LARA TRUMP: In terms of your position specifically I really feel like your commission would require, you know, you to be able to be flexible in terms of where you are. Sometimes, you know, come to New York for occasional meetings, but I would love if you could, you know, occasionally go to speaking engagements and that sort of thing for us. I think you'd be awesome doing that.
So, it doesn't really matter where you are. If you're comfortable staying in D.C., then, you know, we're more than happy to have you.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, occasional meetings, occasional speaking engagements, live wherever you want. Does that job, Dan, sound like it's worth $180,000 a year?
EBERHART: Not at all. Not at all, and I think what Omarosa did is obnoxious and odious and offensive.
BURNETT: In recording it?
EBERHART: In recording it in the Situation Room and improperly using vehicles and just her general actions since leaving the White House.
BURNETT: Right. No, I understand that. Maybe you didn't understand my question. My question is what Lara Trump is saying is what I want you to do for us for the donor money is occasional speaking engagements and occasional meetings. Does that job working for Team Trump sound like it's worth $180,000?
EBERHART: I don't think that's -- no, I don't think that sounds like a complete job at all. I mean, we don't have to complete audiotape or we don't have the complete facts or written job offer, but what you just played doesn't sound like a full time job at all.
BURNETT: I mean, Dan, are you concerned that your money could have been used for other sorts of whatever word we're using for this, you know, I don't know, jobs like this or pay offs, are you worried about that?
EBERHART: Well, you know a little bit. I hope that this is, you know, an isolated case. I think that a lot of people from the White House to a campaign. I have friends that have done that, and I think that's a normal path, but I think it's not -- not a normal path to lead this kind of Machiavellian hush money that, you know, appears to be the case here. But we really don't have the complete story I think.
BURNETT: But --
EBERHART: But it's definitely worrisome.
BURNETT: Yes.
EBERHART: I'd rather, you know, I'd rather -- go ahead.
BURNETT: No, I just said, I was going to ask you, Dan, bottom line, are you going to keep donating?
(CROSSTALK)
EBERHART: I'm definitely going to keep donating because I think what matters is, you know, winning the midterm elections and focusing on the economy and trying to get policy outcomes. But I think this kind of Machiavellian practice as is, you know, portrayed on these tapes is definitely worrying and disconcerting to myself as a donor.
BURNETT: And just to be clear, when I say donate, I'm talking about donate to Trump. And that's what you're talking about, right? You're not talking about to the RNC or Republicans winning. You're talking directly to Trump, you're still going to give him another chance?
EBERHART: Yes, no, I'm still a Trump supporter and I think overall, look, I think the economy is doing well and I think he's fighting for the American people.
[19:45:02] And I like the direction that the country is going and since he's been elected. But I think this specific practice is worrisome practice, and I wish the campaign would, you know, take a harder look at doing stuff like this, and hopefully, this is an isolated case, not a practice.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Dan. I appreciate your time. Appreciate it.
And next, the story you'll see only out front, pregnant women increasingly addicted to opioids. Wait until you see Sanjay's report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, a record number of overdose deaths in America. According to the CDC, more than 72,000 Americans died of an overdose last year. Most of those deaths opioid related, and the number of pregnant women addicted to opioids has skyrocketed. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has this important report. I want to warn you,
though, that some of the footage that you will see is difficult to watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RACHEL SOLOMON, OPIATE ADDICT IN EARLY RECOVERY: I have been addicted to opiates since I was 17. My grandmother gave me my first Percocet. I had a headache, and she told me that would help.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If there was a last refuge of people insulated from the opioid epidemic, it was pregnant women. But even they are no longer immune.
[19:50:00] For them, the risk of opioid addiction has quadrupled over the last 15 years.
(on camera): What do you think when you hear that?
SOLOMON: I believe it because I did it.
GUPTA (voice-over): Rachel Salem grew up here in eastern Tennessee, a part of the country hard hit by the opioid epidemic. Two years ago, she had a miscarriage her doctors say due to her opioid addiction.
So, when Rachel found out she was pregnant again, she was terrified.
(on camera): How worried were you?
SOLOMON: I was very worried., but I just thought that my body was not going to be able to carry it.
GUPTA (voice-over): It's hard to overstate the risks of being pregnant while addicted to opioids: miscarriage, stillbirth, and a possibility a baby would essentially be born into a crisis of withdrawal, known as neonatal absence syndrome, NAS.
This is tough to watch: the uncontrollable crying, unstoppable tremors, and this distinctive scream.
(on camera): They're essentially coming off of opioids I guess like an adult would, except these are babies that have just been born?
DR. CRAIG TOWERS, THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE MEDICAL CENTER: That's correct. We're going to see how big the baby is I can tell.
GUPTA (voice-over): For Dr. Craig Towers, this was not acceptable. So, he decided to challenge the status quo.
(on camera): Conventional wisdom has been if someone has a use disorder during pregnancy, don't try and detox. Wait until after they've delivered the baby. The thought was that would be safest. Is that right?
TOWERS: That's correct. But our two systematic reviews now have shown that that's not the case. GUPTA (voice-over): Dr. Towers says he has now detoxed more than 600
women from opioids while they were pregnant. Not a single baby has died.
(on camera): What was it that made you convinced that maybe you could get through this time?
SOLOMON: He asked me just to trust him, and nobody has done that with me. You know? They've never cared like that.
GUPTA (voice-over): It's the same compassion Michaela Howard felt when she detoxed during pregnancy. It wasn't easy, but look at how it turned out.
(on camera): How is JC doing?
MICHAELA HOWARD, OPIATE ADDICT IN EARLY RECOVERY: She is good. She is a happy baby.
GUPTA: Yeah?
(voice-over): This is her beautiful baby girl, who is now 3 months old.
HOWARD: She was born with no withdrawal symptoms, and she didn't go to the NICU.
GUPTA (on camera): You're pretty proud I imagine that she is doing so well.
HOWARD: I'm very happy about that.
SOLOMON: We're almost there.
TOWERS: Yes, we're doing good.
GUPTA: Now, just weeks away from her due date, Rachel is hoping for the same miracle as Michaela.
(on camera): You got names picked out?
SOLOMON: Brantley.
GUPTA: What's it like to look at Brantley?
SOLOMON: It's amazing. It's amazing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Sanjay, gosh, it's so hard to see some of those images. But how exactly does this detox work that you could detox someone during pregnancy, and then as in one of the women there, see a baby born without withdrawal symptoms?
GUPTA: Well, you know, what we're looking at, Erin, first of all is happening in real time. I mean, this is a direct reflection of this opioid epidemic. This is new. I mean, this really hasn't been done before.
The way it works is you gradually wean these women, these pregnant women off opioids slower and smaller doses over time. And you also give them medication ultimately, a medication known as Naltrexone that basically blocks all the opioid receptors. If they then take an opioid at that point, they won't feel well. It will make them sick. It's a deterrent so to speak.
The problem is, and this is a crucial point, Erin, is that while you're detoxing, if you have a relapse and you go back to the higher dose, all of the sudden, that could potentially be fatal. And when we hear about these overdose deaths is that's often the scenario, is that their body got used to a lower dose and suddenly, they spiked the dose high again.
BURNETT: All right. Gupta, thank you very much.
GUPTA: You got it. Thanks, Erin.
BURNETT: And next, Jeanne Moos on the word that has Trump getting choked, chocked up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:39] GUPTA: Tonight, Trump chokes on the word choke. The president in a tweet slamming the New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for a, quote, mistake spelled choked, chuck. chuck, whatever. It was a mistake.
The tweet was deleted. It's the second time Trump has deleted a Cuomo tweet this week, presumably because of typos, and those typos join a long list.
Here's Jeanne.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump knows we're watching his tweets with eagle eyes.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If I do a typo, it's like death. They just go -- they go wild.
MOOS: But it was the president who went wild misspelling. Trump sets new record for most typos in one tweet. There was whether, missing an h, there was the the, and three mistakes with the same word.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He meant C-O-U-N-S-E-L.
MOOS: Twitter helpfully pointed out the difference between special counsel, a lawyer, and in a special council as in a meeting of say, white dogs.
All those mistakes got grade and mocked. Hees a ideot.
We welcome you to the Donald J. Trump presidential typos and misspelling hall of fame. That all spelled correctly?
The president got off to a fast start the day after his inauguration tweeting: I am honored to serve you, saving this for posterity, joked one reporter. But the president was so honored, he later did it again. He misspelled everything from hereby to tap my phones, even tapping out this unforgettable non-word, perhaps while falling asleep.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Covfefe. Huh?
MOOS: He once call something China did an unpresidented act.
TRUMP: I'm very smart.
MOOS: Smart enough to misspell on purpose.
TRUMP: L-y-e-n. Lyin'.
MOOS: Sure, President Trump's predecessor blew a word or two now and then.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT: When Aretha first told us what R-S-P- E-C-T --
MOOS: But you've got to respect that we can learn from President Trump's mistakes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whether, another typo.
MOOS: Wether is no mere typo.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wether.
MOOS: Wether is an actual word that means castrated ram, a male sheep.
UNIDENTIFEID KID: He's not a happy lamb.
MOOS: The president may be castrating the English language, but he sure doesn't seem sheepish about it.
Jeanne Moos, CNN.
TRUMP: Trust me, I'm like a smart person.
MOOS: New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Thanks for joining us.
Anderson starts now.
