Return to Transcripts main page

Inside Politics

Trump Approval Ticks Up On Key Issues; Kelly: Illegal Immigrations Don't Easily Assimilate Into U.S.; George W. Bush Warns Against American Isolationism; Limbaugh: Trump Thinks "Appearing As A Victim" Helps With Base; Giuliani In 1998: President Must Comply With Subpoena. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired May 11, 2018 - 12:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:31:49] JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Welcome back. President Trump was on the road last night giving Indiana voters this midterm mission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, give me some reinforcements, please, OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now, conventional wisdom says the president might not get that wish, and if they blew away this coming if you talk to strategists here in Washington. But there are some new signs for Republicans that maybe not all is lost.

Look at this, a CNN Poll showing a steady erosion in the Democrats so- called a "generic ballot advantage", which party do you want to run the Congress? From 16 points in February to six points in March to just three points now.

While by no means confident, Republicans in Washington are feeling a little bit better about November, especially if they can keep the president, as he did last night, stuck to the message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: All of the great momentum that we're having as a country on jobs, on safety, on security, on our military, it's all at stake in November. The strides that we're making had never, ever been made like this before. But it can also disappear if you put fools and if you put the wrong people in. It can disappear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: That's the President's case about the economy. And it also can disappear, what Republicans think that by no means momentum, don't get me wrong, but a slight improvement in the climate which was horrific. And as if it gets a little bit better, they feel better about it. Now Indiana (ph) is one of the safest places on earth for the president of the United States that red state he won it by 19 points. Are Republicans feel more confident about the Senate race there, maybe a chance to knock back the Democratic incumbent. But if you're a Republican, you're worried about the president on the road and you watch last night you think, I can live with that.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And Republicans will tell you that there is a benefit to the president if he can stay on message, if he can execute his attack lines against the Democratic opponent, he didn't become a major distraction, he didn't become less popular. And, of course, those are, you know, risks as we know particularly with this president and the controversies that consistently come out.

But Republicans are feeling better about keeping the Senate. The map has always favored them. There are ten states where Democrats hold seats in that Trump won. Five of those are from very red states, they have generally pretty good candidates who could knock off at least one of those incumbents, keep the Senate probably narrowly. But the House is still a very difficult to hold for them. The map really favors the Democrats. Still, what enthusiasm is favoring Democrats? That margin though, getting narrower. So, if you're a Democrat, you can't be too confident.

KING: And you're at the moment of the parallel universe in the sense that, you know, you have the cloud of the Mueller investigation, you also have the president about to sit down with Kim Jong-un. The president doing what he thinks is the great about this, what he thinks is the right thing ripping up the Iran nuclear deal. President feels happy about the foreign policy right now. He's got Mueller cloud of him. But look, the numbers don't lie. And, again, there's a long way. We're in May, long way to November. But the president's number is a little better. They're still bad in many cases, but they're a little better.

If you look here, here's his approval rating. He's at 41 percent in our latest poll, that's pretty steady. If you go back to January it's 40 percent, you see a couple of odds (ph) in flows. Now, that's not good, but some Republicans were worried it was going to keep dropping down into the, you know, low to mid-30s.

And look at the president on the issues, on the economy, on foreign affairs, on foreign trade and on immigration, again, not spectacular numbers but the trajectory, at least, is heading up. So, if you're a Republican, you're feeling a little better, if you're a Democrat should you be getting a little nervous?

[12:35:08] CATHERINE LUCEY, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Well, I mean, we know the president is feeling good. You saw him last night. He wants to get out in the road a lot. We're going to see him a lot I think throughout the whole midterm schedule. He wants to have a robust campaign schedule. And he's focusing in such a good -- that good focus for him keeps him on the road if he stays on message.

But one question obviously is that, we've all been at these rallies over the last couple of years and he does sometimes go off script. And so you've kind of have to be prepared for the unexpected.

MICHAEL BENDER, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: And so that's the right way to put it. Maybe a little bit nervous, you know, and if you're a Republican maybe a little bit positive. Last night, is kind of what you saw I think is what's possible, what's not -- maybe not likely, right. I mean the president's feeling good. He's got, you know, his authorized strikes in Syria. I mean the foreign policy -- the foreign policy generate (ph).

Now you mentioned Iran and the North Korea meeting. I mean it was at the Joint Base Andrews the other night when he brought those prisoners back. It was a legit moment of celebration for this administration. One of the few honest to god moments to celebrate and that was appropriate. And he stayed on message.

I mean it did take him a little while to get going and bring up Mike Braun. But he stay on message, he was enthusiastic about him. But you still saw signs of it too like -- the moment where he tried to go after Keith Ellison but couldn't quite do it because, as you remember Keith Ellison predicted I would win. So you can't really -- like you can't really hate the guy, right. But it's still look that top ideology is egotism, right. And that's just going to be something you have to deal with.

KING: That would be breathtaking how this Trump state Democrats especially Indiana, West Virginia and North Dakota navigate the Trump effect.

MARY KATHERINE HAM, SENIOR WRITER, THE FEDERALIST: Well, I mean -- so he does defy political gravity a bit, sort of like a half-filled helium balloon, right. Like he just hovers like sort of lower they you should be, but this is a moment for Democrats to really like the Hillary Clinton club, why are we not up by 50.

But there are good things for many voters to focus on that sort of base Democrats are focused on something else, right, the Mueller probe and all of this stuff. But the economy numbers in the big moments like bringing hostages home, folks (ph), that resonates with people and so that does help him. The question I think isn't any of this whether he's off script or on is whether any the transfers to the actual districts and we don't have a ton of polling out of it.

KING: That's just a great. It's a great point --

(CROSSTALK)

RAJU: And challenge those (ph). With those red state Democrats attacking the Trump is not necessarily good for them, but I'd say, well, Trump is popular. That makes it hard and especially if they try to generate enthusiasm from their base which is running a campaign on resistance.

(CROSSTALK)

KING: Joe Donnelly's campaign for example in the state in last night noting he had voted with the president, 62 percent in time. So, it's a delicate balance from here to November, we'll have fun watching it.

Next, the former Republican president using the words of Winston Churchill to send a not so subtle message to President Trump.

(COMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:42:13] KING: Topping our political radar today, two major companies now, what we might call this may (ph), a couple? Admitting it was a big mistake to enter to deals with President Trump's personal lawyer who's now under criminal investigation.

Pharmaceutical giant Novartis gave Michael Cohen a one year $1.2 million contract on the promise he get them access to the White House on health care policy. That deal quickly soured. AT&T, which is trying to buy Time Warner also admitting a serious misjudgment for hiring Cohen. He was paid $600,000 to advice the company on its purchase of our parent company here at CNN Time Warner give the Justice Department a suing, trying to block.

Some people in Scotland are seeing orange after a local Trump golf resort banned the country's best selling soft drink. Irn-Bru, a bright orange fizzy drink, yes, it's more popular than Coca-Cola in Scotland. Trump's Turnberry (ph) Resort nixed it out of concern it would stain the fancy carpets. The backlash was swift. One historian at Edinburgh University calling it tantamount to a declaration of war.

Already then (ph). Former president George W. Bush, invoking the words of Winston Churchill as he warned the country against the dangers of isolationism, the warning coming just days after President Trump's decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal. Bush was here in Washington accepting an award from a foreign policy think tank when he spoke about the need for a generous and a morality-based foreign policy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: America is indispensable for the world and the dangers of isolation loom. The price of greatness is responsibilities. One cannot rise to be in many ways a leading community in a civilianized world without being involved in these problems. People of the United States cannot escape world responsibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: And as we mentioned a short time ago, the White House Chief of Staff John Kelly giving a rare interview to NPR. One thing we learned from these interviews, he shares the president's hard-line views on immigration, and sometimes like the boss he sparks a little controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KELLY, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Let me step back and tell you that the vast majority of the people that move illegally into United States are not bad people. They're not criminals, they're not MS13. But they're also not people that would easily assimilate into the United States. They're overwhelmingly rural people in the countries they come from, fourth, fifth, sixth grade educations are kind of the norm. They're coming here for a reason and I sympathize with the reason, but the laws are the laws.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: The Trump base will love that, the laws are the laws. So there'll be some on the left to say, wait a minute, that's the dream of America. This is one of the big debates. We don't get time of policy debate on the immigration right now. Everybody's barking at each other. But should it be needs base, should it be based on the needs of the economy, or should it be, you know, read the inscription on Statue of Liberty.

RAJU: Well, that's the end of the line debate, right. You're already seeing some backlash from the left as you've mentioned, that Congressional Hispanic Caucus gentlemen just put out a statement moments ago saying that these are bigoted comments. Clearly Kelly does not see it that way, but that's how the left is pushing it.

[12:45:15] But it didn't -- it would be interesting a lot of what happens also legislatively on the immigration issue in the house, there's a push around bipartisan group of members led by some Republicans to force a vote on the house floor. Something on DACA to ensure that those DACA recipients don't get deported. But what speaker is resisting there at the moment, because he says the president won't sign it. So, this debate is still raging in the Capitol.

KING: And it's rare to hear from John Kelly. It's just as rare, if not more rare to hear from George W. Bush, the former president who has made it as man point to stay out of politics for the most part. It's hard to listen to that speech and not take it as a bit of a shout or at least a hello to President Trump, right.

LUCEY: Well, certainly it comes right after this announcement on the Iran nuclear deal. So yes, it's hard not to separate those two things. And what we're seeing is a real -- the real difference between of the Trump doctrine and previous to all (ph) different presidents. I mean the announcement from the president this week really made that America first ideology clear. I mean they're not going in the same direction as past for all different presidents.

KING: And, yet, Trump step outside of the conservative Republican mainstream on Iran, maybe for George W. Bush who was president, who understands when he went through an agreement maybe he needs to stay in. So even if you compared it for a boss you don't like where it have the Senate ratifies quick point, yes.

BENDER: Yes. That's where we sort of seen the movement and the gravity in the White House as well as far as foreign policy goes. We've gone from just kind of that Reince-Bannon White House, the John Kelly White House and now it's looking like maybe a Pompeo-Bolton White House. More in step with a Marco Rubio and Tom Cotton.

KING: Not as alone.

(CROSSTALK)

KING: It's still debatable but not as alone.

BENDER: Right. I mean they're much more aligned with Trump's foreign policy positions than with Reince (ph) was.

KING: Next, if you follow the President's Twitter feed, you know, all about the witch hunt references, are they working?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:51:14] KING: President Trump's constant attacks on the special counsel are working, if you accept accepted his goal is to shore up his base more than to win any legal argument.

Get this from a new CNN poll, just 17 percent of Republicans approve of Robert Mueller's handling on the investigation. It's a bad number and it's a 12 point drop since March. Democrat and Independent approval as you can see showed just a slight tip.

Contributing to that drop, the constant Trump bid of attacks (ph) for the Justice Department from the president's allies in Congress. The latest example, an effort by some house Republicans to audit the special counsel to reveal the scope of his investigation. They say it's to find out what he's spending, but we know what it's about. But it's the president himself leading the charge, and whether you like or don't like Rush Limbaugh, he gets this just right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSH LIMBAUGH, CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST: I think the president likes the perception that they're out to get him. He loves tweeting about the witch hunt. He loves tweeting that they're out to get him. I think he believes that appearing as a victim of this giant deep state effort to get rid of him solidifies the bond he has with his supporter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: And it has two goals, essentially. Number one, we're in a midterm election here where Democrats have an intensity advantage, the president trying to tune up (ph) his support. But number two, if Mueller comes out with more charges against more people or a critical report, the president's trying to convince at least about a third of the American people pay no attention to, don't believe it.

RAJU: Yes. The strides of political effort, there's a political argument and the legal argument. There's the political argument. And the remarkable thing about that same poll is to show the partisan divine in this country about how they view the Mueller investigation. Roughly eight and ten Democrats viewed it as a serious effort, and roughly eight and ten Republican voters view it as an effort to discredit the presidency. So, clearly, he's doing this in an election year in which the base turn out will be important enthusiasm and Republican side is down. Perhaps this will allow them to get riled up because they believe that the president they supported is a victim of what the president says is a witch hunt. So on that regard, it could be working.

KING: And in the middle of this, one of the big question is, will the president agree to sit down with Robert Mueller, the special counsel?

Rudy Giuliani is his lead attorney. Rudy Giuliani has been around a while. I was covering the White House when another president face this question. It's, funny Rudy Giuliani appears to have changed his mind on the question, can a president say no to a subpoena from the special counsel? A little then and now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLIE ROSE, HOST, PBS: If the president is asked to testify, subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury and says, no, not going to do it.

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER MAYOR, NYC: He got to do it. I mean you don't have a choice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happens if Robert Mueller subpoenas the president? Will you comply?

GIULIANI: Well, we don't have to. He's the president of the United States, we can assert the same privilege that other presidents have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: All politics is legal, correct?

BENDER: Yes. And that was a long time ago. Rudy has learned a lot more about the law in those couple of decades, I think.

We talked to some of the lawyers around Trump who are still going through this. And as we've seen, Trump talk about Rudy's catching up to the facts, the -- so are the rest of his really new team and this idea of an interview, the potential interview is still is not a decision that's imminent.

But to bring that back to the poll, there's a lot of people who want to see Trump testify, which, I don't know. I think we'd all like to see Trump testify, right. I mean just out of a sheer kind of, you know --

KING: And kind of raise the federal deficit with the pay-per-view.

BENDER: Yes, exactly, and the news value of that. And part of it he's got to wonder when you look at these numbers, I mean that's got to be what a lot of American see too, right. And we didn't want to see that happen.

Maybe Trump sees a certain value in that as well. I mean you talk about breaking the ratings at 3:00 in the morning when he brought the North Korea detainees home and even break the --

KING: That's what his lawyers worry about. His lawyers worried and he'll think of it as a spectacle and not to think about it as significant legal jeopardy.

[12:55:11] HAM: Let me ad this thoughts of -- I mean just look at those numbers and the fact that the trend is the same among Republicans, Independents and Democrats, I mean in the same direction, obviously much smaller among those other demographics. It's interesting to me and I think there's another element of this, which is a hallmark of American justice that it is expeditious, not never- ending.

And so there is a part of this where people go, this is supposed to be about Russian collusion in election we'd like to know by 2018. I would like to know before 2018 exactly what was going on here and it has been going on for a long time. So, that part of it I think he taps into a bit there as well in addition to his obvious moral obligations.

KING: And I think that coverage of that (ph) last week raising questions about Mueller will, again, speed that up. Mueller at some point is going to have to be more -- I get the secrecy right now, I get your investigation, but he's going to have to be more open and transparent with the American people both for legal reasons and political reasons.

All right, we'll continue to this conversation. Thanks for joining us today on "INSIDE POLITICS", I hope to see you up bright and early Sunday morning a.m. in East, I'll be here. Wolf starts after a quick break. Have a wonderful weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)