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Erin Burnett Outfront
Top Dem: Impeachment Hearings "Should Commence Immediately"; Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) is Interviewed About the House Impeaching Trump; Trump's UK Visit: Pomp, Circumstance & Controversy; Gunman's Resignation Letter Reveals New Details. Aired on 7-8p ET
Aired June 03, 2019 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: ... confirmation, Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We shall see. Great reporting, Drew. Thanks very much. And to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. Erin Burnett OUTFRONT starts right now.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT next, an audience of one. Jared Kushner's disastrous interview may have made one person happy, his father-in-law. Plus, a major shift on impeaching Trump. A top Democrat changing his tune, will more follow? And Trump gets the red carpet treatment from the Queen of England as he's bracing for protest tomorrow. Let's go out front.
And Good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, an audience of one. Jared Kushner, the President's most trusted advisor saying exactly what his father-in-law wants to hear, breaking his silence in an extraordinarily rare interview. Kushner is in London tonight with his father-in-law and Queen Elizabeth after a disastrous interview back home with Axios. In which Kushner time and again could not answer some of the most basic questions. Take for example this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN SWAN, POLITICAL REPORTER, AXIOS MEDIA: Was birtherism racist?
JARED KUSHNER, DONALD TRUMP SON-IN-LAW: Look, I wasn't really involved in that.
SWAN: I know you weren't. Was it racist?
KUSHNER: Like I said, I wasn't involved in that.
SWAN: I know you weren't. Was it racist?
KUSHNER: Look, I know who the president is and I have not seen anything in him that is racist. So again, I was not involved in that.
SWAN: Did you wish he didn't do that?
KUSHNER: Like I said, I was not involved in that. That was a long time ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: That was for the long time ago. Kushner, of course, was Trump's son-in-law during the entire birther imbroglio and second Kushner was a top adviser on the campaign and it was not until the eve of the election itself that President Trump finally backed off the unfounded racist conspiracy theory. This was in September 2016.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: But Kushner's performance didn't stop there. Here is Jared Kushner on the infamous 2016 Trump Tower meeting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SWAN: On June 8, 2016, you were sent an email with an offer of help for the Trump campaign from the Russian government.
KUSHNER: I'm sorry? Which email are you talking about?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK. That's absurd, of course. But it is not as shocking as this, Kushner would not say whether he would inform the FBI about another email like that, future interference efforts by the Russians.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SWAN: But would you call the FBI if it happen again?
KUSHNER: I don't know, it's hard to do hypotheticals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: This is incredible. The President's son-in-law and top advisor unwilling to say he would call the FBI if it happen again. If Russia or any other government offered to help his campaign again. It is shocking and it sure isn't a hypothetical that Trump's FBI Director had any trouble answering under oath to Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: My view is that if any public official or a member of any campaign is contacted by any nation, state or anybody acting on behalf of a nation and state about influencing or interfering with our election, then that's something that the FBI would want to know about.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: Said with a smirk. I mean that says it all. It's not a
question and the Kushner interview though kept going. Here's Jared Kushner on whether the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammad Bin Salman, is responsible for the murder of American journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SWAN: The Senate has unanimously said that Mohammad Bin Salman ordered it. The CIA briefed Members of the Senate who voted that way. I don't know what the administration is waiting for in terms of accountability.
KUSHNER: Yes. I believe that there's a report that they're working on. They've been doing an investigation and when they have the facts of the investigation, then it'll be up to the President to make a determination on what he wants to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: A report, the facts, just a quick reminder here, the CIA has concluded that the Saudi Crown Prince ordered Khashoggi's death which should be enough for the Special Advisor to the President of the United States. But Kushner decided to parrot his father-in-law instead of the CIA.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I hate the crime. I hate what's done. I hate the cover-up and I will tell you this, the Crown Prince hates it more than I do and they have vehemently denied it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Jared Kushner is not just a low-level employee, just a family member. He is in charge of Mid East peace, Mexico, China, the opioid crisis, veterans care, government reform, prison reform. Seriously, that is a joke for any person and this person has the job he has for one reason. Here he is with Swan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KUSHNER: In my job, it's not about what I believe, it's about what the President wants to push for ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It's not about what I believe. It's about what Trump wants. Not about experience, not about a resume and that is why Jared Kushner sits where he sits. Abby Phillip is out front in London tonight with the President. So Abby, what did the President think of Kushner's interview?
[19:05:01] ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, as everyone in the White House, all of the senior officials are here sitting down at a state dinner earlier tonight, sources are telling me that the President has really not been focused on this. He's been focused on the state dinner, on the feuds.
He's been brewing with several officials here back in London and it's really generally downplayed, the outrage over Kushner's interview. In part because there is a really important view in this White House that the President was more than happy to have Jared Kushner refused to criticize him repeatedly in this interview with Axios.
Multiple sources said that it's unlikely that the President has actually even seen much of this interview even as we are playing it here tonight and it's being broadcast all over the internet. This is an interview that it was conducted several weeks ago that White House officials knew was happening. They knew generally the contents of what was being said in this sit-down interview that lasted multiple sessions with Axios.
And ultimately, President Trump just has not been focused on it. In fact, when reporters on Sunday night asked him about the Khashoggi element of this interview, the President seemed surprised that Jamal Khashoggi was even in the news again. And so a lot of officials are generally saying tonight that this is not something that even while a lot of other people might be outraged about it, the idea for example that Jared Kushner would not condemn birtherism.
President Trump on the other hand isn't focused on it and in fact would have been happier that Jared Kushner didn't go any further than he did by simply not answering the question he refused to criticize President Trump. And in this White House, that is one of the highest currencies that you can have with this president that you hold the line when he is facing criticism and don't add on to that criticism as well, Erin.
BURNETT: Abby, thank you very much live from London. And out front now, Gloria Borger, our Chief Political Analyst, David Freedlander worked with the Jared Kushner for more than two years at The New York Observer which, of course, Kushner owned and April Ryan White House Correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks.
David, you've worked with him. You've reported on him. You've written in-depth about him, what went through your mind as you watched this interview.
DAVID FREEDLANDER, CONTRIBUTOR, POLITICO MAGAZINE & NEW YORK MAGAZINE: Just somebody completely out of his depth. Having a job once again in his life that he's completely unprepared for. I mean, he seemed not only did not know about the basics of his duties in the White House, but he seemed to be completely unprepared for this interview and unable to answer even the most basic questions.
BURNETT: I mean that part was shocking. I mean April, you're at the White House almost every day. You know how rare it is to hear from Kushner. It isn't like, "Oh, the guy does a ton of interviews." No, the guy doesn't do any interviews, why would he ever agree to do something like this?
APRIL RYAN, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN URBAN RADIO NETWORKS: Well, it's interesting you would say that, Erin, because Jared Kushner and I have talked one-on-one several times and I have asked him for interviews. And I remember him telling me, "I have to give the first interview on prison reform to Van Jones because Van Jones has taken a lot of heat for trying to push this bipartisan issue through."
BURNETT: Yes.
RYAN: So for this the optics were horrible for Jared Kushner and the White House wants everything to be a win when it comes to the look, the image, the optics of it. But when he sits down for an interview, he wanted to paint his father-in-law, the President of the United States, in a great light even though it did not look good.
This president, again, Abby was absolutely right, feels that he did a great job because he showed his loyalty. Jared Kushner is someone he's an anomaly. He's like that mythical unicorn that you don't hear from. He spoke. The optics weren't great, but the President thinks still it's a win.
BURNETT: I mean, Gloria, I just find it shocking that sometimes silence can give you the perception of strength and this interview did not do that, because he spoke. He didn't answer a lot of questions posed to him, very basic questions. I mean I gave a couple examples there, but here's another quick sense for people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KUSHNER: I'm not going to go into any of my discussions with the CIA and I'm not going to go into any discussions I've had with foreign leaders. I'm not going to go into security clearance related issues. I was not the person who was elected. In my job it's not about what I believe, it's about what the President wants to push for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, Gloria, why give an interview if you are not going to answer a single question, essentially?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I think that's a really good question. I'm not sure why Jared Kushner did this and he didn't seem to have any particular message that he wanted to get across a lot of times, White House officials, when they have something they really want to tout, I mean he's talking about Middle East peace, for example. He was very vague on that.
They will sit down for an interview because they have something they actually want to say. In this interview, he just seemed to me to be evasive on everything particularly on the birther issue that you showed which should have been pretty easy, except he didn't want to displease the President. But by saying four times, by my count, "I wasn't involved in that," made it look worse, because that wasn't the question.
The question wasn't whether you were involved with what the President said. The question is whether you thought what the President said was appropriate or outrageous or just fine. And he wouldn't even go there because I think as Abby was saying the job when you work in the White House is to make the President happy and he knew that eh --
[19:10:27] BURNETT: So, April, I want to jump to this because it is baffling that he would think that that wouldn't come up and we played at a moment ago, obviously. But then we asked Patrick Leahy about this today obviously, very senior Senator. Here was his comment about that question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT): I would have no trouble answering the question. Those who pursued the birther controversy, especially the leaders of it like Donald Trump that had to be racist and wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: April.
RYAN: It was most definitely racist and wrong. And Jared Kushner, we understand why he did not say that. One, that's his father-in-law. He wants to be able to go back home and have a good day or a good evening with the President's daughter, his wife.
But at the at the end of the day also Jared Kushner strategically understand that he needed black people, a large portion of black people to help push through, I'm going back again to the issue of prison reform that was a hard issue for him because of his dad and also they are looking to try to get an increase in the black vote for this 2020 election. So they want to make sure that they leave it on the table with a question instead of coming out yes it was racist.
I mean not just birtherism which tried to delegitimize the President of the United States at the time, Barack Hussein Obama, but let's go to The Central Park Five. Let's also go to the seize that were placed on the housing applications of those people of color. So there is a litany and a list, that was before he was president and now as president as a man thinketh, so is he, as a man do it, so is he.
BURNETT: Well, look, of course there's no good answer to that question and, again, unless you've got something else really important to get on the interview which as Gloria points out, David, we don't know what that was, why would you invite a moment like that? But Gloria mentioned Mid East peace and I want to ask you about that, because this is actually kind of stunning because as I've pointed out, he's in charge of Mexico, and China, and opioids, and veterans, and prison reform and government reform and also in charge of peace in the Middle East and here he is on that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KUSHNER: I've spoken with a lot of people from the region. I spoke with a lot of people from the Israeli side, a lot of people from who've been involved this in the past.
SWAN: That seems mostly gulf people. Have you really spoken to that many Palestinians? KUSHNER: Again, Jonathan, one thing about the way I've conducted
myself is not a lot of people know who I've been talking to and what I've been talking about and that protects people. I mean the Palestinian people do live under a fairly authoritative regime today and a lot of people are afraid to step up.
SWAN: Do you understand why the Palestinians don't trust you?
KUSHNER: Look, I'm not here to be trusted. I'm here to --
SWAN: Well, you are frankly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: What's happening there?
FREEDLANDER: Well, I mean, "I'm not here to be trusted," that's sort of like the line, I'm not here to make any friends from reality TV or something. I'm not really quite trying -- putting Jared Kushner in charge of Middle East peace. I mean it's sort of like putting Rick Perry in charge of the Energy Department or Mick Mulvaney in charge of CFPB.
I mean he's obviously has an agenda on this. He can't be an honest broker and it was being clear in that interview. I mean is he really going around the streets of Ramallah and talking to ordinary Palestinians, where is he getting his information from, I mean, it's just absurd.
BURNETT: Right. Not only does he have a point of view, Gloria, he lacks experience.
BORGER: Well, sure, and this is not to say that somebody who lacks experience can't be brilliant, terrific, a quick learner and all the rest of it, but this is not the case here. This is nepotism. He wouldn't be in this job if it weren't for nepotism and this is why you have nepotism laws.
And I give Jared Kushner, for example, on prison reform you talked to our colleague Van Jones who gives him great kudos on how he worked with Van on prison reform. Something he knew an awful lot about, learned an awful a lot more about and managed to get bipartisan support for.
But I think he doesn't do himself any good when he refuses to answer these basic questions, for example, on the birtherism issue. It just doesn't ring true from him and we know why he's not saying anything.
[19:14:44] BURNETT: All right. Thank you all very much. And next, more Republicans tonight slamming President Trump for tariffs, but will that stop him? Plus, what Nancy Pelosi just told Democrats about impeachment behind closed doors that just happening moments ago. And the mystery deepening tonight over why a man opened fire, killing 12 co-workers. His resignation letter has just been released.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [19:18:42] BURNETT: New tonight, two key Republicans slamming
President Trump's threat to impose tariffs on Mexico unless the country stops allowing people to enter the United States illegally. Senate Agriculture Chairman, Pat Roberts, calling the threat extremely counterproductive. Senator Cory Gardner calling the tariffs a bad idea, plain and simple. Said he has shared that with, at the White House, quote, every chance I get.
Those are Republicans and this comes as Trump while in London taunted Mexican officials holding talks here in the United States. The President tweeting, quote, as a sign of good faith, Mexico should immediately stop the flow of people and drugs through their country and to our Southern Border. They can do it if they want.
Out front now, former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Obama, Austan Goolsbee and Director Strategic Communications for the Trump Campaign 2020 Marc Lotter. Austan, OK, so the President is taunting Mexico. There's talks supposedly going on here in the U.S. and he throws that bomb from London, so could it work? Could it work to scare Mexico and Trump get what he wants?
AUSTAN GOOLSBEE, FORMER CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA: I don't think so. I mean one got the sense that he was doing this. He started it by tweet before he left for his trip. He got the sense he was doing this to try to distract from other news, whether it was the Mueller press conference or what have you.
Two-thirds of the imports from Mexico are parts and supplies to U.S. manufacturing. This would be a direct tax on U.S. manufacturers that's why you've seen normally Republican groups, including the Senators you mentioned, but U.S. businesses saying to the President, "Wait, wait, wait, don't do this. This will be the biggest tax increase on the American people in the last 30 years," and I don't think that that will work.
If you look at the number of people coming here from Mexico illegally, the number of undocumented immigrants has fallen over the last three years, so this is a made-up crisis.
[19:20:44] BURNETT: OK. So, Marc, Trump is specifically threatening up to 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico if they don't stop this full-scale immediately. Now, Deutsche Bank put that into English, Austan is giving the numbers, two-thirds are the goods from Mexico are manufactured parts. So Deutsche Bank says that this is going to add to the average car in America, if you're buying a car at $1,300, $1,300 extra money because of these tariffs. Is the President aware of that and is he really willing to do that to the American people?
MARC LOTTER, TRUMP CAMPAIGN 2020 DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: Well, I think we have to look at this twofold. Number one, a hundred thousand people at this very moment, at any given moment are transitioning up from Central America, breaking the law in illegally entering Mexico, then coming up a thousand miles to illegally enter our country. So the President is absolutely correct when he says Mexico can and should do something about it. When it comes to the economic side of it that math may be good on the
surface of it, but it doesn't get to basic economics which means those suppliers, those companies that are down there in Mexico if these tariffs take effect, they will lower prices, they will reduce profits, they will make adjustments and companies will make adjustments to their supply chains to lower the prices.
And when you look, we had so many economists out there last time when we were talking about China that were saying that this was going to add to consumer prices, Americans were going to pay for this and inflation is under control. Prices are not going up. So the market is absorbing it and the producers are going to bear the burden of these tariffs.
BURNETT: Well, the tariff prices are being passed on. I mean even CEOs that I know that think that maybe when it comes to China, this could be a smart move. They're all saying, "Oh, the minute I get the 25 percent tariff. I just put it on the price." They're all saying that. I don't know anyone who wasn't saying that.
LOTTER: Well, that's also why we're talking. The President says we're talking 5 percent on June 10th and that gives Mexico two weeks. And guess what within a matter of days Mexican officials are now in the United States talking to the administration and they are suddenly talking about what can we do to deal with this crisis so the tariffs do not go into effect in the first place.
BURNETT: Austan.
GOOLSBEE: OK. But, Erin, the government of Mexico is not sending people to the United States. People on their own are coming to the United States to escape when their economies go bad. If we do something to try to blow up Mexico's economy, it's going to cause more people to try to come to the United States, not fewer. So I think this is a mixed up policy in which we're going to tax the American people, harm the farmers, harm the manufacturers and the consumers here in an effort to try to do something that's backfiring.
BURNETT: I mean because, Marc, what I'm curious about is you say he doesn't want to put the tariffs on. Obviously, I know he doesn't want to but if they don't stop all immigration in the next few weeks like he said which they're not going to do, then he has to back off and he is going to be outed as a bluffer and in fact he has done this before. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Mexico is going to have to do something otherwise I'm closing the border. I'll just close the border.
North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.
Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign. All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Border is still open, people were not sued, fire and fury has not happened. What I'm getting at is, Marc, is if you keep bluffing, do people no longer believe your bluff and then all of a sudden he's stuck putting the tariff on.
LOTTER: But if you take a look at the results of what happened, especially in those first two instances, you did see Mexico deal in a very short-term way with the migrant caravan that was coming up at the time when the president made that threat. You also saw North Korea stop its nuclear testing. You saw them stop the launching of long- range and medium-range ballistic and sorts.
BURNETT: Well, they're doing all sorts of stuff now.
LOTTER: And they're launching some short-range missiles and we've got to get them back to the table. But the long-term threat to the United States was erased because they know this president means business unlike the previous president who drew fake red lines and those kinds of things.
BURNETT: OK. But to be honest, I don't have a discussion on North Korea, but I don't think anybody can say the long-term threat from North Korea has been erased just to be fair.
[19:25:01] LOTTER: But it's being dealt with there at the table and they have not tested nuclear weapons. They have not launched long- range missiles or ballistic missiles since they made that commitment to the President.
BURNETT: They just killed the guy who tried to make the deal with them. But anyway like I said I won't talk about North Korea and I'm not trying to make light of it. All right. Thank you both very much.
GOOLSBEE: Thank you, Erin.
BURNETT: And next, Nancy Pelosi behind closed doors talking impeachment. What is she telling Democrats tonight? Plus, President Trump racing for protests amid a public feud with London's mayor yet he's still taking in the pomp and circumstance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Thank you for your warm welcome for this beautiful weather.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:29:33] BURNETT: Breaking news, contempt. The full House will vote to hold Attorney General Bill Barr in contempt on June 11th. That announcement coming out just moments after the powerful Oversight Committee announced it is moving to hold Barr and Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, in contempt.
And a top Democrat in the House is now changing his position on impeachment. It's a signal move, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries, the fifth ranking Democrat in the House asked about impeachment proceedings today said, quote, I'm of the view that those hearings should commence immediately.
What you call those hearings, that is a decision that will ultimately be made by Chairman Nadler and Speaker Pelosi. Sunlen Serfaty is OUTFRONT.
So, Sunlen, obviously, that's a big shift coming from Congressman Jeffries. And now, you're hearing about a closed door meeting with Speaker Pelosi with leadership. What happened in that room?
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Erin. Speaker Pelosi again tonight behind closed doors, reiterating that she's opposed to opening up impeachment proceedings. Now, this is something that she has publicly stated in the past, but the fact that she's having to renew that stated position again behind closed doors, in front of the members of her leadership team certainly gives you an indication where she is at the moment, what she's facing up here on Capitol Hill among members of her own party.
By CNN's count now, 56 House Democrats believe that an impeachment inquiry should be opened up, including and, you know, there's a notable statement over the weekend from the third top ranking Democrat in the House, Jim Clyburn. He told CNN's Jake Tapper that he believes at some point, President Trump is indeed going to face impeachment proceedings.
And just a few minutes ago on Capitol Hill, Pelosi really brushing that comment aside saying, look, that's his point of view. You know, her directive to the caucus has been and clearly will remain for the moment to be the same, to stay focused on the investigations. Don't go down the path of impeachment yet.
Very clear that tomorrow will a very important day for her. The entire House Democratic caucus will be meeting. This is their typical Tuesday morning meeting, but certainly in the wake of Robert Mueller speaking out publicly last week, this conversation is going to be swirling -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Sunlen, thank you very much.
And I want to go straight now to Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal of Washington, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, co-chair of the Progressive Congressional Caucus.
And I appreciate your time, Congresswoman.
I know you support opening an impeachment inquiry, and, obviously, Hakeem Jeffries now saying he does, too. Clyburn saying it's inevitable. But now we're now finding out behind closed doors the speaker still says she's opposed.
What do you say to her?
REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): Well, look, I think the big point here are Democrats are united on our "For the People" agenda and we're united on holding the president accountable. There's a different opinion within some of the caucus on how best to do that. You're going to see this contempt vote for the attorney general, for others that we might hold in contempt. You're going to see them come to the floor.
We are going to be holding hearings in judiciary. We just announced on Monday, we will have a part two with some very powerful prosecutors there. Many of us on the Judiciary Committee who have been in the details and in the weeds of this day and in and day out for the last six months, we understand exactly what's at stake, and we have more information than some of the other caucus members.
It may take us a while, but I really do believe that we need to have these hearings. I believe we should call them a formal impeachment inquiry, and we need to make sure we get the facts.
BURNETT: Do you think the speaker is moving at all in your direction? I mean, obviously, she keeps having to address. So, in some level it's a thorny problem for her.
But do you think she's moving at all? I mean, do you still have confidence in her making the ultimate decision, which, of course, she does?
JAYAPAL: I do have confidence in her. She's got a different role. She's speaker of the whole caucus. She's got to get everybody to the same place.
And, you know, we don't have that role. We are in judiciary, and I think really this president is the one who controls what happens, because as he continues to just evade, obstruct, ongoing obstruction of justice, stopping witnesses from coming, ignoring legally authorized subpoenas, that is where you see us having to ramp up and say nobody is above the law, not even the president of the United States. That's what makes us a democracy.
BURNETT: Now, you know, back in the Nixon days, people point to the polls that shows less than 20 percent of Americans supported impeachment before formal impeachment hearings. And then when you got those proceedings people tuned in, they listened. It was formal. They could see the evidence. Obviously, that changed dramatically.
Right now, 41 percent of Americans support impeachment, which is way more than back then. But what I take away is actually 33 percent of Americans wanted to impeach Obama at this point in this presidency, 30 percent wanted to impeach George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. So, we're higher than that, but sort of in that range, it just seems to be a more partisan time.
Are you concerned about the public support numbers?
JAYAPAL: What I'm really concerned about is protecting our Constitution. That is what we were sworn to do. That's what we go to bed at night and wake up in the morning thinking about. And for me, you can't compare what has happened with this president,
what's in the special counsel Mueller's report, the ten potential charges of obstruction of justice, the interference by Russians into our elections and the absolute refusal of this president to do anything about it because he and his campaign team were deeply integrally involved.
All of that just makes everything else that's come before us in recent years anyway, not the Nixon years, really pale in comparison. And I think at some point, we are here in office because we were elected by people to lead.
[19:35:05] And we have got to lead. We've got to help Americans understand what is in the Mueller report and lay it out for people. Make sure we have to the facts we need ourselves and then follow them to their conclusion, because in the end, much more important than any specific election result is, do we have a democracy where there are three coequal branches of government holding accountable everybody and not allowing us to have a king instead of a president?
BURNETT: All right. Congresswoman Jayapal, thanks very much for your time.
JAYAPAL: Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, the U.K. rolls out the red carpet for President Trump. But that welcome may be short-lived.
Plus, the heroes from the Virginia Beach shooting, including one man who lost his life but saved others.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's my savior, my hero. I'm sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, pomp, circumstance and controversy. Britain rolling out the red carpet for Trump despite tensions heating up even before the president landed in London.
Kate Bennett is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATE BENNETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Marine One touched down at Buckingham Palace, the president and the first lady were greeted by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall. On display, all the pomp and circumstance that comes with a state visit by a U.S. president with one of the country's oldest allies.
A special audience with the queen of England on her turf.
QUEEN ELIZABETH III, UNITED KINGDOM: Visits by American presidents always remind us of a close and long-standing friendship between the United Kingdom and the United States.
BENNETT: The president adhering to the highest level of protocol managed not to trip up, sticking to the script, something he did not do before he even landed on British soil. Tweeting this morning his fury at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, calling the vocal Trump critic, a quote, stone-cold loser.
But his focus returned to the grandeur of the day and evening, keeping his respect for the queen on full display at the white tie banquet, a top tier event with 170 guests, tables that took four days to set and a menu that included steamed fillet of halibut and Windsor lamb. Flower arrangements loaded with roses, and on the guest list, princes and princesses, dukes and duchesses, lords and ladies and the family Trump.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Your Majesty, Melania and I are profoundly honored to be your guests for this historic state visit.
BENNETT: For the queen, a party with the president isn't a new thing. She's been doing this for decades, dining with nearly every leader of the free world since she was young.
QUEEN ELIZABETH: I paid my first state visit to your country at the invitation of President Eisenhower.
BENNETT: Trump accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump who for the days events wowed in a white dress and matching custom hat and who interest for banquet wore a couture Christian Dior white gown and long gloves commended the queen's patriotism.
TRUMP: She has embodied the spirit of dignity, duty and patriotism that beats proudly at every British heart.
BENNETT: For the first lady, the day has been the culmination of weeks of planning, brushing up on her protocol and studying the best way to both honor the visit and be a first lady comfortable in the presence of a monarch.
Yet it was the president who seemed to relish most the special relationship between the two countries and his personal ties to the U.K.
QUEEN ELIZABETH II: And with your Scottish ancestry, Mr. President, you too have a particular connection to this country.
BENNETT: Tiara's sparkling and royal pedigrees dating back ages, guests raised glasses and Trump this morning grumblingly tweeting, tonight, all smiles, took in all the attention.
QUEEN ELIZABETH II: Ladies and gentlemen, I invite you all to rise and drink a toast to President and Mrs. Trump.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BENNETT: Well, tonight may have gone well but tomorrow there's more chance for possible controversy as President Trump is set to meet with outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May. He's been openly critical of her and her handling of Brexit, so who knows what tomorrow will bring -- Erin.
BURNETT: Yes, thank you very much, Kate.
And tomorrow, of course, going to be a very different day.
CNN presidential historian Tim Naftali, former director of the Nixon Presidential Library and now NYU professor joins me.
As Kate says, tomorrow's interview a very different day. The mayor of London, you have this battle going on with the president throwing a spear today. Protests, major protests are expected.
TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: I just want to talk about the first American president to have a state -- head of state visit to Queen Elizabeth, and that was Eisenhower, and it was in August 1959. And he took a car from the airport downtown 17 miles to the U.S. embassy, an open car. And as he went in that open car, there were cheers. People were cheering General Eisenhower.
Now, many of them have served in World War II.
BURNETT: I mean, right --
NAFTALI: But imagine the difference of the image of our country in Great Britain, which is our closest. It's not our oldest ally, that's France, but it's our closest ally.
BURNETT: Yes.
NAFTALI: That's what was on display today.
And I have to say Queen Elizabeth is not allowed to make political speeches, but she gave a fantastically interesting speech today. Her toast, it was a little like the eulogies at George Herbert Walker's funeral. She didn't mention Mr. Trump until the end, but she tied up sacrifices, alliances, friendships, all the important things between the United States and Great Britain and things President Trump hasn't believed in.
BURNETT: Right, and he's been critical of them, intelligence, all of that and, of course, on Brexit. But he did revel in the pomp and circumstance.
NAFTALI: Sure.
BURNETT: You could see him looking at that and saying ah.
NAFTALI: You know, good for him. You know, that's OK. I think all American presidents.
[19:45:02] And why not, it's a big deal. The queen of England is your host. What is a little sad is that our president doesn't leave domestic
politics at home. When he goes there it should be about our relationship with this country, our history with this country, our joint sacrifice. After all, why is he there, he's there because of D- Day celebrations across the channel.
That's all about allies, friendship, and enlightened self-interest. These are big themes and they should be themes he hits, not for his dislike for individual Brits.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Tim.
And next, new details tonight coming in about for Virginia Beach shooter, what he was doing before the deadly mass shooting where she massacred 12 people.
Plus, on a much lighter note we talk about President Trump and talking about individual -- well I guess in this case it was an American, his history with the word nasty.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: The breaking news this hour, we are learning more about the gunman who killed 12 people in the Virginia Beach municipal center. We now know DeWayne Craddock gave his two weeks notice and did it over e-mail. He wrote that it had, quote, been a pleasure to serve the city, and that his resignation was, quote, due to personal reasons.
[19:50:02] Miguel Marquez is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The investigation turns to why. Why a 40-year-old, 15-year city worker turned a gun on his colleagues.
CHIEF JAMES CERVERA, VIRGINIA BEACH POLICE: He was not terminated and he was not in the process of being terminated.
MARQUEZ: The motive is still a mystery. The shooter's resignation e- mail short and concise, writing it has been a pleasure to serve the city. Due to personal reasons I must relieve my position.
The city manager saying the shooter's job was not under threat. His work satisfactory with no issues of discipline ongoing.
Victims, their families and those who witnessed America's latest mass shooting trying to make sense of it all.
NED CARLSTROM, WITNESS: I thought he was playing a part of an active shooting for our drill. It looked so theatrical because of the extended magazine and the suppressor that was on the end of it.
MARQUEZ: A horrific scene complicated by confusion.
The city had active shooter plan for the next day. The shooter also used a suppressor on his weapons, which according to witnesses made the gunfire sound more like this -- a nail gun used in construction.
Two veteran detectives rushed into the building to confront the shooter. It's interior offices described as maze-like.
CERVERA: Five to eight minutes after the officer began to enter the building, they made contact and engaged the shooter on the second floor of the building.
MARQUEZ: The shooter had extended magazines on at least two .45 caliber handguns. He fired on police.
CERVERA: They were returning fire. At one point, the suspect was firing through the door and the wall at the officers then the firing stopped.
MARQUEZ: The focus now on the victims.
CHRISTI DEWAR, WITNESS: We were going to go to the break room and Keith was standing there. He said, no, don't.
MARQUEZ: Christi Dewar says Keith Cox, an account clerk who worked for the department for 12 years helped seven to safety, then went looking for others in need.
DEWAR: He's my savior, my hero.
MARQUEZ: Cox died a few feet from where his colleagues had barricaded themselves in.
DEWAR: He said, get on the ground.
MARQUEZ: Kate Nixon, an engineer worked for the department for ten years. Among others, she leaves behind a newborn.
JOSEPH SCOTT, CO-WORKER: Kate Nixon, she just had another child not long ago. I can't believe she's gone.
MARQUEZ: Bobby Williams worked for the department for 41 years. He was looking forward to retirement later this year.
Burt Snelling was the only non-government worker killed. The contractor who dealt with the city often was found deceased in his car just outside the building.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: Now, I want to show you a scene that has become all too common across America, the growing memorial at the police station on this campus, this government campus where all of this took place a few days ago. People trying to grapple with this, coming from not only the local community, but across the state and other states, to lay flowers, hold each other, say a prayer, and hopefully, figure out a feel, something, somewhat better about this latest situation.
Virginia Beach, Virginia, now adds its name no a grim list of U.S. cities that have suffered these sort of mass shootings -- Erin. BURNETT: Miguel, thank you. And Jeanne is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:45] BURNETT: Tonight, Trump and his use of the word nasty. Here is Jeanne.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hold on to your hat. This is going to get nasty.
The nastiness started when President Trump was asked about things Meghan Markle said about him as a candidate.
MEGHAN MARKLE, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX: As misogynistic as Trump is and so vocal about it.
REPORTER: She said she'd move to Canada if you got elected. It turned out she moved to Britain.
TRUMP: What I can say? No, I didn't know that she was so nasty.
MOOS: He also praised her, saying it's nice to have an American princess and he is sure will be excellent. Then in a tweet, the president said, I never called Meghan Markle nasty.
TRUMP: No, I didn't know that she was nasty.
MOOS: He later called the mayor of London nasty after the mayor wrote a harsh op-ed about it.
(on camera): President Trump is pretty much an equal opportunity attacker when it comes to flinging the word nasty.
(voice-over): He's called Marco Rubio nasty, as well as Jed Bush and Ted Cruz, even his current buddy Lindsey Graham.
But most famously, he used the word to describe Hillary Clinton during the same debate in which he said.
TRUMP: Nobody has more respect for women than I do, nobody.
MOOS: But when Hillary made a crack about Trump avoiding paying taxes --
HILLARY CLINTON (D), THEN-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Assuming he can't get out of it. But what we want to do is to replenish the Social Security trust fund.
TRUMP: Such a nasty woman.
CLINTON: Nasty woman became badge of honor, plastered on hats and tee shirts.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go to HillaryClinton.com and buy a limited edition nasty woman mug.
MOOS: Trump made nasty messages about Elizabeth Warren and the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, who responded by wearing insult.
MAYOR CARMEN YULIN CRUZ, SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO: I was a nasty mayor.
MOOS: But now, there is a new nasty woman after Kamala Harris grilled the attorney general.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes or no, please, sir?
MOOS: The president dropped the nasty bomb on Harris twice.
TRUMP: Boy, she was probably very nasty. A little bit of a nasty wit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's that about?
HARRIS: God only knows.
MOOS: Clearly, nasty is one of the president's best word.
TRUMP: Such a nasty woman.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: And thanks so much for joining us. Don't forget, you can watch the show anytime, anywhere. You just have to go to CNN Go.
In the meantime, "AC360" begins right now.
