Return to Transcripts main page

Inside Politics

Former GOP Governor William Weld Looking to Challenge Trump In 2020; Mueller To File Sentencing Report In Paul Manafort Case; McCabe: There Were No Extended Discussions On 25th Amendment; Sen. Harris Makes Second 2020 Campaign Visit To SC; Declaring A National Emergency: How Did We Get Here?. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired February 15, 2019 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00] JONATHAN MARTIN, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: -- scenario, not that Trump could lose the primary but just so he could get damaged in the primary, have a messy convention and have trouble in the fall (ph).

MARGARET TALEV, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, BLOOMBERG: It sounds like someone's race in 2016, doesn't it? I mean, the other party.

MARTIN: Yes, no exactly, exactly. But as a sitting President, though, you know --

TALEV: Yes.

MARTIN: -- in Trump's case. I'm not sure that Bill Weld is the best messenger for this case. But, I think, his entry does suggest the sort of opportunity that exists in the marketplace.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: So what is Bill Weld's message, well we've heard some of it. Here's where he is on the issues. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM H WELD (R), LAUNCHED 2020 PRES. EXPLORATORY COMMITEE: We need the opposite of socialism. Federal taxes need serious downward adjustment. Consumers should be permitted to establish personal health care savings accounts and to choose their health care provider.

We don't need a path to citizenship for 11 million people, but we do need more and longer work visas and we need to consider seriously abolishing the United States Department of Education.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: And there's been a lot of angst build on what the current Republican Party actually is. Where its ideology has moved towards under the age of President Trump, the administration of President Trump, you know, those issues. Is that something that appeals to the, you know, as J. Martin pointing out to 20 percent.

FRANCO ORDONEZ, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, MCCLATCHY: I mean, I think -- I think he could potentially like shift some of the conversation a little bit. I mean there's a lot -- there's a big push, as he just talked about immigration. There's so much focus on illegal immigration. There's a big push in the business community for more visas, for more legal immigration to hit these jobs and Trump has kind of started to kind of shift his rhetoric on that.

We saw it in the State of the Union. We saw it the next day when he was talking to a small group of reporters and he's talking about more workers, foreign workers for the companies and that is a shift from before, from the by American, high American kind of Philosophy of the Steve Miller's of the world you could say.

MARTIN: It's a kind of Libertarian flavored GOP. And you mentioned, Phil, that the -- he ran for the Libertarian Party nomination in 2016 and that's what it sounds. It also sounds like a message to college educated or even advanced degree holding Republicans. You know and here is a place that you can go.

If you don't like Trump and you can't swallow socialism, you know, here's a third option for you. Not saying that he'll be a viable candidate but that's what this sounds like is. I'm trying to create a place that's not populism on the right or on the left but it's a kind of pre-Trump year out Party.

MATTINGLY: You ask, the "INSIDE POLITICS" team delivers, Orlando 2016 Libertarian Convention, I was there. Flash it back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WELD: I pledge to you that I will stay with the Libertarian Party for life. OK.

It feels good to be back there with the R on my name.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN: That's some good work CNN "INSIDE POLITICS" team.

ORDONEZ: Life comes at you fast (INAUDIBLE).

MARTIN: Accountability, Phil. Accountability.

MATTINGLY: All right, before we go to break, Stacey Abrams, a rising star in the Democratic Party responds to whether or not she's thinking about running for basically anything.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JELANI COBB, IRA A. LIPMAN PROFESSOR OF JOURNALISM, COLOMBIA UNIVERSITY: I'm really like, particularly excited to be here, Stacey, when I've realized that she were announcing your campaign for President. And so, it's like --

STACEY ABRAMS (D), FORMER GEORGIA GOV. CANDIDATE: My HOA is looking for a leader, yes.

COBB: Yes.

ABRAMS: No, I do not want to run the DNC.

COBB: Are you going to run for Senate?

ABRAMS: I do not know. You want more?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:38:01] MATTINGLY: Topping our political radar, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell just issued a statement on the President's national emergency declaration, "President Trump's decision to announce an emergency action is the predictable and understandable consequence of Democrats decision to put partisan obstruction ahead of the national interest. He also urged Democrats to put partisanship aside as the wall funding gets allocated.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is back at work at the Supreme Court today for the first time since her lung cancer surgery in December. She missed two weeks of oral arguments in January for the first time in her career. The court says, the 85-year-old Justice is now completely cancer free.

The U.S. commander in the war against ISIS is breaking ranks with President Trump on his plan to pull American troops out of Syria. General Joseph Votel tells CNN the terror group still has leaders and fighters and resources. And he says, when the President made the pullout announcement in December, local troops were not ready to handle the ISIS threat on their own.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. JOSEPH VOTEL, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: It would not have been my military advice at that particular time. I think the capabilities, the pressure, the approach that we've had in place has been working and so we were -- we were keen to kind of stay along that track and make sure that we finish the mission for which we were assigned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: And just in to CNN, new developments in the Special Counsel investigation and more fallout for Paul Manafort. Robert Mueller plans to file a sentencing submission for President Trump's former campaign chairman after a judge with Manafort intentionally lied to the Special Counsel violating his cooperation deal.

CNN Reporter Kara Scannell joins me now. And Kara, you've been all over this. Walk me through why this is significant?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: Well, Phil, now that we have Special Counsel's Office saying that they're going to file the sentencing submission in this case. We're looking for a couple things here. One of them is will they reveal new information, as we've seen in a lot of these filings little new bits come trickling out. So, the question here will be is there any new information that we learn about Paul Manafort that is part of a conspiracy or part of crimes that the Special Counsel's Office feels that the judge should know he participated in when it comes time to sentence him.

[12:40:05] We'll also learn from the Special Counsel's Office, how much time they think Paul Manafort should serve in prison, especially after the judge in the Washington D.C. case decided that he intentionally lied to the Special Counsel's Office and breached his plea agreement.

And it will also, you know, the timing of this, we now have the Special Counsel's Office saying that they're going to file the submission today. They're going to ask the judge also to set a sentencing date as soon as is practical. So we're seeing the Special Counsel's Office want to speed this up, which could indicate that we're now getting -- it's another hand of indication that we're getting possibly to the end of the road in this investigation, Phil.

MATTINGLY: And everybody keep their head on a swivel. And Kara, we've now heard from another individual who's been in the news a little bit on the last couple days, former FBI number two Andrew McCabe. What exactly is he saying?

SCANNELL: That's right. So McCabe has been in the news since he gave that interview to 60 minutes where he talked about, you know, having some knowledge about a discussion around the 25th Amendment that's whether the Cabinet officials would all get together to vote that the President Trump was not suitable for office.

Now McCabe's Office, his spokeswoman came out today, you know, trying to put this a little bit more into context saying that, you know, McCabe was not present when there were these discussions among administration officials, saying merely that at no time did McCabe participate in any extended discussions about the use of the 25th Amendment nor is he aware of such discussion. He was present and participated in a discussion that included a comment by Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein regarding the 25th Amendment. Mr. McCabe has nearly confirmed the discussion that was initially reported elsewhere.

So, his spokeswoman saying that McCabe was not present when there was any discussion among Cabinet officials nearly that he heard the Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein discuss this in a meeting that he was present in. Phil.

MATTINGLY: It seems like a pretty important clarification. Kara Scannell, thanks for keeping us up to date on everything. All right, up to date here.

Up next the 2020 election may be 627 days away, J. Martin's counting. But you wouldn't know it on this weekend's campaign trail.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:46:20] MATTINGLY: 2020 Democrats are heading into a very busy weekend on the campaign trail across eight states just through Monday. This hour, Senator Kirsten Jill Brand is in New Hampshire while Senator Kamala Harris is in Charleston South Carolina.

It's Senator Harris' second visit to the state since she announced she was running for president in 2020 less than a month ago. And just one day after picking up an early endorsement from former congressional black Caucus chair, Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

CNN's Kyung Lah joins us now from Charleston. And Kyung, I can't believe this is already starting, but you're in the thick of it right now. What are you actually seeing on the ground from the Harris campaign?

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're seeing is that she's actually going to get intimate with some of the Democratic base here. She's stopping here at Rodney Scott's Whole Hog Barbecue. She's going to walk through this restaurant. She's going to greeted by customers, just to say (ph) she's going to be arriving here. I'm seeing some of the press moving outside.

In just a few minutes she's going to take some time to talk to voters here about her LIFT act and she's going to tailor specifically to voters here according to her campaign.

Speaking of background, they said that there are some critical numbers that she wants to share with voters that there are going to be 1.8 million people in South Carolina if a middle class tax cut is passed that would be lifted out of poverty.

But that's a larger issue here just in South Carolina, we're anticipating according to her campaign that she's also going to be talking about news of the day, hitting Trump on this emergency declaration that she has already called his wall a vanity project, that it is needless, it is costly, and we're anticipating that she's going to continue to call this emergency declaration "ridiculous and a waste of your money".

Those are her words that's been put out by the campaign. So, again, she's going to -- we're expecting her to arrive shortly. The press is starting to gather where she's going to shake some hands and we're told she's going to sit down and eat some barbecue Phil.

MATTINGLY: I'm jealous of the barbecue, of being in Charleston. And Kyung, you're already racking up air miles and hotel miles. Kyung Lah in Charleston, South Carolina with the Harris campaign, thank you very much.

MATTINGLY: Up next, the shutdown averted, a national emergency that's declared, is Washington changed forever or is it just another day?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:53:07] MATTINGLY: He promised to build a wall. And now, the president just forced the U.S. Government to pay for it. Whether or not he will be met with legal challenges to keep that funding is, yes, a major question. But another important one, will the division and defiance that launched this stalemate get these 57 days ago change how this president and this Congress govern going forward. Here is how we got to this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: The President informed us that he will not sign the bill that came over from the Senate last evening.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D), MINORITY LEADER: President Trump, you own the shutdown.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MAJORITY LEADER: We pushed the pause button until the president, from whom we will need a signature, and Senate Democrats from whom we will need votes, reach an agreement.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), MINORITY LEADER: And to the speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi, I extend to you this gavel. Thank you.

TRUMP: My administration is doing everything in our power to help those impacted by the situation.

S.E. CUPP, CNN ANCHOR: It's the 22nd day of the partial government shutdown making it the longest in American history.

TRUMP: I'm not looking to call a national emergency.

If we don't get a fair deal from Congress, the government will either shutdown on February 15th again or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and the constitution of the United States to address this emergency.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE SPEAKER: A State of the Union is not planned now. Get that. What I had said to the president is when the government is open we will discuss a mutually agreeable date.

TRUMP: See-through steel barrier, not just a simple concrete wall.

MCCONNELL: I've just had an opportunity to speak with President Trump, and he, I would say to all my colleagues, has indicated he's prepared to sign the bill. He will also be issuing a national emergency declaration at the same time. I'm going to support the national emergency declaration.

[12:55:13] TRUMP: I'm very disappointed at certain people, particular one for not having pushed this faster.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To Speaker Ryan?

TRUMP: Let's not talk about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: All comes back together. It's like it's a big circle. Speaker Ryan, no longer in Congress and seems like nine years ago when he was actually outside the White House. But I think, look, a lot of times people in Washington are maybe are a little overdramatic, this is the moment that changes everything, this is the biggest moment in the world, and then two days later we've had 15 more major headlines and 16 stories. What's your sense of things? Does this drive the relationship between the White House and Congress going forward or does this disappear in two weeks?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's what's going to be interesting to watch because this isn't the last spending fight that we're going to have. There are going to be a lot more of these. We've seen the President butt-heads with the chairman of the appropriations committee over this complaining about Senator Richard Shelby who was really involved in this in briefing the President on it and the President complaining that he thought Republicans got outplayed by Democrats and you heard what he said about Paul Ryan there. So I just don't think this is anywhere the end of it. I think they're going to continue to fight more wall money through spending processes. So it'd be interesting to feel that going forward.

MARTIN: Phil, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that maybe there's some more Trump news in the weeks and months ahead that could step on the news of today if the last three plus years or any kind of indication. I think we'll see more Trump news.

You know, the last 10 days or so, I was in Richmond for this crazy story about my home state and what's happening there, and the Democrats were obviously very, very depressed about the turn of events but they were taking solace Phil on the back of that.

There's a long time until Election Day and President Trump does have a way of making news and creating some challenges for his own party.

MATTINGLY: Margaret, what's -- you're inside the White House, are we going to go to a point where it's really easy to run against Congress, even when your party controls one of the chambers of commerce. The President is in re-election cycle now for all sense (ph) and purposes. Is that what's about to happen in a very tangible way?

TALEV: Well, we are starting to see distinctly -- of course he's running for reelection since day one, but now a real turn toward that and I think the president himself has done arguably a much better job than Barack Obama every did about staying in touch with lawmakers on a regular basis. But you have seen, you see you talk about the moment when everything changes, there's been a series of moments over the last two plus years when everything has changed.

And we've seen the Republicans push back on occasion, Russia sanctions, Syria, now Yemen. But at the same time they've always gotten things they wanted like much more conservative judicial nominees, deregulation, and the tax cut package. And so that's been imbalanced.

The power of the first three (ph) is something different. And I think this could be long-term a turning point because fundamentally the implications for this, if the courts go along with it last well beyond Donald Trump's term, whether it's one term or two. MATTINGLY: Yes, and I think I actually might subscribe to your theory. I'm usually not thinking that and if you like it -- everything going to --

MARTIN: But where do the voters line up? Where do the voters of the party lineup?

MATTINGLY: Yes. And that'll dictate (ph). And you've mentioned the Republican conference and the Senators, the 20 plus senators are up for reelection in Republican conference they'll dictate it.

You talk about relationships, Anne Coulter who the president spoke on earlier just tweeted "Not Ryan's fault, this is not Paul Ryan's fault, it's not Mitch McConnell's fault, Trump ran against the GOP and won, responsibility is 100 percent his."

You talk about the Congressional issue.

COLLINS: What was the title of her book again? "In Trump we Trust?"

MATTINGLY: Is that what it was? I wonder what the next title is going to be. But frankly, one of the interest, not to be completely getting sideways but one of the people say during the press conference since the president just acknowledging the relationships that he has with Fox News hosts, conservative talkers who are very important inside the movement, very important inside the base, maybe not usually so important inside the Oval Office, how does that move forward after what we just saw over the last 15 (ph) days?

ORDONEZ: It's a big part. I mean, I think he's like how much he was touting and speaking about rush Limbaugh's skills of speaking for three hours without taking a phone call and asking reporters and everybody in the audience, could you do that? You know, it's easy to take phone calls.

This is obviously something that is very important to him. You guys were reporting earlier about how Trump was -- and his staff were kind of reaching out to those media and asking them to kind of help sell this and kind of rewrite the narrative much like kind of -- instead of build the wall, finish the wall, but kind of like show that this is better than it was than the shutdown. There's no question that they will continue to be part of it.

MARTIN: It's a public relations presidency because the president himself has been consumed with PR and press for 40 years.

MATTINGLY: Yes. He says the quiet things out loud quite often. All right, thanks for joining us on "INSIDE POLITICS". I'll see you back here Sunday morning. Brianna Keilar starts right now.