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Trump Breaks With Bannon; Time For Jeff Sessions To Go; Brutal Storm Brings Blizzard To Northeast. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired January 04, 2018 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:02] JULIE PACE, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, ASSOCIATION PRESS: And making clear that they are with him and they are, you know, representing the Bannon-Breitbart ideals.

DANA BASH, INSIDE POLITICS HOST: So we played -- the President talking about Bannon and noting the fact that Bannon called him a terrific guy, a wonderful guy?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Great man, great man, great man.

BASH: So, here is what Bannon -- part of what Bannon has been talking about. He's been on a Breitbart News Radio last night and this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the south we have a saying. You know, when you get to the dance, you dance with the people that, you know, the person that brought you to the dance. You don't go off and dance with someone else.

STEVE BANNON, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF BREITBART NEWS: Debbie, do you think that President Trump should shut down the government if we don't get full wall funding?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't care what Trump says, he would have never gotten in without you.

BANNON: Nothing will ever come between us and President Trump and his agenda, don't worry about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Some danger Will Robinson moments there of Bannon. Go ahead.

PERRY BACON, SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER, FIVETHIRTYEIGHT: President Trump is not the only guy who likes to be flattered apparently.

BASH: Yes.

JACKIE KUCINICH, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE DAILY BEAST: Well, I mean, isn't that one of the reasons that Bannon got himself in trouble with the President in the first place because of this glowing profiles and the idea that Bannon was the man behind the President who was pulling the strings. Even SNL made a joke about Bannon having the big desk and Trump having the tiny desk.

But I will say it look real further than the Oval Officer to see Bannon's continued influence. President Andrew Jackson, his portrait is there, in part, because Steve Bannon turned the President on and in talking essentially about Andrew Jackson and his presidency, and compared the two quite a bit. I think that's still there, right?

BACON: I would say Bannon's influence in the kind of the right wing part of the party may be a little overstated. I know both Trump and Roy Moore basically said at some point, Steve Bannon didn't create me. Roy Moore had a long career in Alabama politics before --

BASH: Right.

BACON: -- he wanted to tell that to Steve Bannon. Trump beat 15 or 17 people without Steve Bannon on the campaign directly. So, the idea that Steve Bannon's decline, the outright decline is one story and that may happen. But there still going to be the anti-establishment mood in the party that we saw in 2010 and 2012, 2014, in all these Senate races and then in the Trump presidential campaign.

That's going to remain. And I still think there'll be plenty of Mitch McConnell candidates versus kind of Donald Trump candidates in his primaries and that's not dependent upon Steve Bannon completely.

BASH: No, that's a really good point, but the question now is at least until -- and lots of changes in the next 24 hours, which is entirely possible because you're starting to see reproach mom between these two men.

BACON: Yes.

BASH: But the idea, if it doesn't change that we're going to see not just the candidates, but more importantly, the base that was rah-rah Trump-Bannon because it was one and the same have to make a decision. And obviously, that was just one caller that we played. But at least that woman if she is an indicator of others, Bannon might have some trouble.

PACE: Yes. And this ties directly into the conversation that we were having about immigration. So, one of the values that Bannon brought to Trump both when he was in the White House and after he left was, he was basically the mouthpiece for the Trump base. He was the one that reminded Trump, hey, the base that brought you here, the base that has remained loyal to you supports a wall, supports name whatever position you wanted from the campaign.

If Trump were to try to strike a deal with Democrats, does Steve Bannon use the Breitbart machine to rally the Trump base against Trump?

BASH: And does it still have the --

PACE: And they'll still have to do that.

BASH: -- it doesn't matter, yes. PACE: That's why I actually think there are some potential consequences for Trump's legislative agenda for the position that he takes on immigration that are all caught up in his personal --

BASH: I agree. I think they are all related. I have --before we take a break, I have to show my favorite tweet of the day yesterday, it was a gift from Mitch McConnell's political arm in which I tweeted that sometimes pictures are worth more than a thousand words.

That's the Senate Republican Majority Leader whom Steve Bannon has said that he wants to do everything in his power to oust, to get rid of, and to run -- help run these conservative candidates who promised no more Mitch McConnell the fact that the President excommunicated Bannon yesterday. I mean, that's sets it all right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good bye.

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: Yes, yes. No question. All right. Everybody, stand by. Up next. New pressure from inside the Republican Party for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to step down, while some lawmakers say he's lost control of the agency that he has been tasked to lead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:38:16] BASH: Today, two Republican lawmakers say it's time for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to go. In a new op-ed, Congressman Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan cite recent leaks from the FBI and Justice Department as a reason they say to step aside.

Here's what they write. They write, "It would appear he has no control at all of the premier law enforcement agency in the world. It is time for Sessions to start managing in a spirit of transparency to bring all of this improper behavior to light and stop further violations. If Sessions can't address this issue immediately, then we have one final question needing an answer. When is it time for a new attorney general? Sadly, it seems the answer is now.

Back with our panel. You know, for people who don't know, you actually mentioned this earlier, Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan are among the most conservative. They are premier members of the Freedom Caucus in the House.

And the fact that they are saying Jeff Sessions should go certainly seems to be a way for the Congress to try to give the President wiggle room to say, "OK, if the attorney general is gone, we can point a new one and maybe we can get rid of the Special Counsel". Wishful thinking?

KUCINICH: I think it's a little bit of wishful thinking at this point. We are talking about how Bannon has pull with the base so does Jeff Sessions, particularly on the issue of immigration.

BASH: Great point. KUCINICH: And that is if Trump would get rid of Sessions, not only would it start a firestorm for Russia reasons but also when it comes to the base, Jeff Sessions really does has -- have a reservoir of good will among your immigration hard liners.

BACON: I think that's right. He goes to this anti-Jordan, particularly his going to big lead in the anti-Mueller Mueller's investigations going too far. I think it gets into that context.

[12:40:04] Also remember, there was an idea that Sessions would run for the Senate again once more (INAUDIBLE). So, it's hard for me to imagine that Jeff Sessions would give up, you know, give up a Senate seat he basically for life to be A.G. and then leave after a year.

I think he's already shown he's in a fight to keep this job for a long -- and he want this job, he's going to fight to keep it. Trump doesn't seem to have the guts to fire him, you know, I like the way to say that because he knows there will be a big problem politically. So, I think that Jeff Sessions is unlikely to move, but it does show you conservatives are really trying to push back in the Mueller probe in a variety different of ways.

JOSHUA GREEN, SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK: But it also creates a huge problem and you have to get somebody else nominated to be attorney general.

BASH: Right.

GREEN: And you now have an even narrower margin in the senate. That job would be almost impossible.

BASH: Very good point.

PACE: And even before we saw this come out from these House lawmakers as you've seen a little bit of a split in the -- of hardliners in the House and the senators -- Republican senators who have very little appetite to take on a conformation flight over an attorney general in this political climate now.

BASH: But it does speak to the broader increasing and more aggressive GOP push in the Congress against the Justice Department. And if there is noting even though it might be obvious that they're pushing against a Republican and Justice Department.

PACE: Right.

BASH: Like it was OK with Eric Holder and Barack Obama, this is their own party. I want to play something that Manu Raju, our Congressional Reporter, talked to Chuck Grassley who is the Judiciary Chair in the Senate about with regard to the Justice Department.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU MANU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The President had twitted about the Justice Department criticizing as a deep state Justice Department. He also said publicly that, you know, he has the authority to direct the Justice Department to do whatever he wants. I'm wondering as the chairman who oversees the Justice Department if you're concerned about the way he's handling Justice Department, his criticism in the Justice Department and whether he should be independent of the White House?

SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R), IOWA: I think the tradition is independence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: A man of few words, but he makes those words count.

PACE: Well, he's making an important point that both parties have made regardless of who is in office. The relationship between the White House and the Justice Department is always a little bit of a tricky one because the President nominates the attorney general and they nominate the top officials of the Justice Department. Yet there is a tradition and expectation that there will be distance between the White House and the Justice Department investigations, particularly when those investigations crossover with other parts of the executive branch and the White House.

So, that is why you see some of this nervousness among Republicans when Trump puts forward the possibility of firing Jeff Sessions, when he put forward the idea that there is a deep state of Democrats out to get him at the Justice Department because they think about --

BASH: And elsewhere.

PACE: -- and elsewhere. But they think about the idea of this tradition of independence being breached as a Democrat in the White House.

BASH: Yes, exactly. And on that note, the Justice Department is pushing back in a big way.

PACE: Absolutely.

BASH: Rod Rosenstein who is a deputy attorney general who is effectively in charge of the Special Counsel investigation because Jeff Sessions recused himself. He made pretty clear it seems in a meeting with Devin Nunes that Republican House Intelligence chair who has been, you know, beating a drum of getting more infamous about the infamous dossier and more information about what went on inside the Robert Mueller probe that Republicans claim is anti-Trump, pro- Hillary.

Here's what Nunes said after a meeting with Rosenstein. After speaking to Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein this evening since, last night, I believe the House Intelligence Committee has reached an agreement with the Department of Justice that will provide the committee with access to all the documents and witnesses we have requested. The committee looks forward to receiving access to the documents over the coming days.

Now, this may seem potentially like it is in the weeds on the Russia investigation, but it is very, very important because this is all about Republicans saying don't worry so much about this Russia investigation. Let's investigate the investigators.

GREEN: Well, part of the fear here is for Republicans and for people in Justice Department is that, Mueller's investigation has been very bottled up. It hasn't leaked and yet much of the testimony we've seen from House and Senate Intelligence Committee has leaked almost immediately, and Nunes has been thought to be responsible for a lot of this.

And so, one worry I've heard is that if the Justice Department were to turn over these documents to make these witnesses available, then essentially they would immediately pass through into the media and all the dirty laundry would be aired in a way that could be, you know, spun to be anti-Justice Department in a way that could inhibit Mueller's investigation and basically cause trouble for the idea of an independent investigation.

BACON: The real issue -- sorry, the real issue briefly is the Republicans and the Congress, the Jordan's and the Meadow's and the President want them kind of Hillary Clinton investigation, new investigation probe.

[12:45:01] It looks like Rosenstein is trying to push that off but not directly say we're not doing it. And also they keep the Mueller thing going out, Mueller is going out but not be too frontal about it. They are trying to play a great careful game of defending DOJ without irritating the people in their own party.

BASH: Dancing on the head of pen. No question.

BACON: Yes.

BASH: OK. Everyone stand by. Up next, some scary sounding weather that's living up to the hype. Millions on the East Coast are finding out what a bomb cyclone is as we speak.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: A few things popping up on our political radar today. Luck of the draw literally has put Republican David Yancey into office today in the Virginia State House. It was a drawing.

His name was pulled first from a bowl about an hour ago to settle a tie from the State House election back in November. In that election, both Yancey and Democrat Shelly Simmons got 11,608 votes. Rules are rules so the election is now decided and David Yancey is the winner, keeping Republicans in control of the Virginia House of Delegates now with a one-vote majority.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is wiping out some policy rules that have to do with the federal government's attitude towards legalized marijuana. There're some memos from the Obama days that basically say the federal government will not interfere with states where pot is legal even though it's still technically illegal on a nationwide level.

[12:50:10] No word yet if Sessions will replace that policy with something else. But look who is not happy about it. Republican Senator Cory Gardner from California -- excuse me, Colorado rather, where pot is legal. Here's what he tweeted.

He said, "This reported action directly contradicts what Attorney General Sessions told me prior to his confirmation. With no prior notice to Congress, the Justice Department has they trampled on the will of the voters in Colorado and other states". He went on to say, "I am prepared to take all steps necessary including holding DOJ nominees until the attorney general lives up to the commitment he made to me prior to his confirmation".

And it's another milestone for the American stock market. The Dow blasted across the 25,000 line today, first time ever. That's a 36 percent spike just in the past calendar year. President Trump tweeting quote "Congrats, big cuts in unnecessarily -- unnecessary regulation rather, continuing".

And this just in to CNN, Republican Congressman Greg Harper says he will not seek reelection. He is represented Mississippi's 3rd District since 2009. Congressman Harper is the 29th Republican member of Congress to announce that they are leaving office.

Turning now to that brutal freezing storm pounding New England right now with a terrifying name, it's called a bomb cyclone. It basically means it's a very big blizzard dumping several inches of snow on a wide swath from Virginia Beach all the way up to the Canadian border. Let's get right to Brynn Gingras -- Gingras rather, looking very cold and very white there in Massachusetts. Brynn how is it going there?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Oh, yes, Dana. We are getting pelted right now with ice or going in and out of white out conditions of this bond of snow keep coming toward the shore about an hour south of Boston in the south shore. I want to point at the camera though look at those waves that we're seeing. I mean the ocean is filled with chunks of ice. Where, you know, locals are estimating those waves of -- the swells rather to be about three feet high and then further out into the ocean about 13 feet high what they're reporting.

So the problem here that officials have been telling us is that that super moon everybody's been sort of admiring this week that's causing the high tide to be higher than expected. So this is going to cause flooding, particularly for this area. And people who certainly live along the coastline, some reports of minor flooding at this point too. And as we sort to move the camera over, you guys can get a really good idea of how strong these winds are other than looking at me.

I mean these are 50-foot fishing boats that we've seen fishermen come to this area tying them down with extra ropes to make sure that there isn't a major damage because they are really just smashing up against each other at this point. But the next worry, Dana, is going to be the ice that goes on to power line if any of those come down and arctic blast comes in next. And they are worry is, that people will be without heat for an extended amount of time. Dana.

BASH: Those are some incredible pictures there, incredible scenes where you are. Stay safe Brynn. Thanks for that report.

Now let's head north to Alison Kosik. She is in Boston. What are the conditions like there Alison?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dana, we were just been standing about 50 yards from Boston Harbor. Now emergency officials don't just have the snow to contain with, they've got some major flooding.

High tide happening about 15 minutes ago and the harbor jumping the sea wall, the water jumping the sea wall. The emergency vehicles coming down the street here to block cars from coming down the street this is water from the harbor. It only gets deeper down the street where that fire truck is going up to at least a foot or two deep of water down this way down the street.

And so emergency vehicles trying to get down the street and tell cars not go because we've seen numerous vehicles get stuck in this water and people just couldn't get out. So you see fire officials coming here to park to put up a blockade to cars know that they shouldn't go down this way. We're expected to get up to a foot of snow. We're in the thick of it two to three inches an hour. Dana.

BASH: Wanted to know what a bomb cyclone looks like. It looks like that. Alison, thank you so much for that.

Let's now head to CNN Weather Center to Tom Sater who is our meteorologist there. Where is the storm headed next?

TOM SATER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, we can count a couple of blessings here. One, it's about 250 miles off the shore. That's one blessing. And the second and its moving fast.

Here's the big problem first and we'll talk more about the storm. We've had 3,600 cancellations across the US but just for Boston, Philadelphia, and New York over 2,800. So it is causing chaos for air travel of course on the ground.

This is a wide swath. We already have up to 11 inches about two miles from Atlantic City. Virginia Beach had 50 mile per hour winds for three consecutive hours.

[12:55:07] My big concern always has been and will continue to be the night power outages because if you eliminate the snowfall, even the winds alone, tropical storm force could knock up power to tens of thousands, few toss in heavy snow coming down to two or three inches per hour. And then we can be talking 100-200,000 loss power with the coldest air of the season move in. Pretty good band just moved across New York City, Hartford as well.

We've got a number of areas that are going to see a big drop off in the snow totals the further west you go. But the rain is changing over to snow now in eastern mass and typically you have your heaviest snowfall right north of that -- of the ice line.

But now we've got 13 million in blizzard warning, yesterday it was $7.7 million. The system, thank goodness, Dana, is 250 miles offshore. Because if it was 50 miles closer, hurricane force winds would buff to the entire East Coast. But by tonight at midnight the snow is going to be tapering off quickly and then comes the bitter cold single digit high temperatures.

BASH: Oh my goodness. Thank you so much for that. Glad to hear its going to be heading offshore and north very, very soon.

Tom Sater, appreciated. Thank you so much for joining me on INSIDE POLITICS today. We are waiting for the White House briefing set to start in about a half hour. Wolf Blitzer will bring you that. He's up after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)