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Trump: "You'll Soon Find Out" If the U.S. Plans Iran Strike; Trump and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau Talk Trade, Iran; Trump: Possible Drone Shot Down by Someone "Loose and Stupid". Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired June 20, 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] RET. RDML JOHN KIRBY, CNN MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC ANALYST: After what Iran has done now in the last week. But it doesn't have to be either or like you come along with us for more economic and diplomatic pressure and/or we're going to, you know, conduct a retaliatory strike.

There are military options that can be played out that are not provocative, not offensive but demonstrable enough to try to further deter Iran. So far they've been unsuccessful but there are other things that they haven't done that they could do.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: But it is also important I think to note that over the next week we have Brian Hook who is the special representative to Iran at the State Department heading to the Middle East. He's not going to meet with Europeans. He's going to meet with UAE. He's going to meet with Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to talk to them about this.

And then we also have John Bolton on Sunday going to Israel, and he's going to be meeting with his Israeli counterpart and his Russian counterpart. So we don't see any proactive outreach to the Europeans at least at this point. However, both of those trips were planned before this attack actually happened.

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: It just reinforces again, you can peel this onion for months, years, and decades in the sense that it's an incredibly complicated neighborhood that is now even more complicated. Whether we're talking about the civil war in Yemen, whether we're talking about other tensions in the neighborhood, whether we're talking about the Khashoggi murder in Saudi Arabia.

Sam Kiley is one of our CNN international correspondents, he's in the United Arab Emirates. Sam, just from your perspective, this military confrontation at an already incredibly complicated time in the region, a little perspective from your end and then more on the discussions of, if you're the citizens of the United States now and you see that Iran shot down a drone, and you're hearing the president say you're finding out soon if there'll be a U.S. military response. More perspective on the U.S. military footprint there.

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, first in the terms of the regional reaction, there is great enthusiasm for the Trump policy towards Iran in the UAE, here in the Emirates where I am, in Saudi Arabia, in Bahrain, obviously in Israel. But as Fred was pointing out, there are a great number of vulnerabilities in terms of particularly the sheer population that is spread through Iraq and Syria in particular and into south Lebanon. And on top of that, there is deep cynicism whichever side of the Islamic Sunni-Shia divide that people sit on the popular level over the actions of the United States of America anywhere in the Middle East.

So, the downing of a drone will be seen as the death of a robot, not of an individual. It will not be seen in the broader Middle East as an act of war, it'll be seen as an act of defiance. So I think that there'll probably be a degree of shot (INAUDIBLE) directed at the Americans even by the enemies of Iran. Little Iran striking a bit of a blow in downing a very expensive high-tech piece of equipment with technology that is homegrown. So I think that's something that will play very significantly on the minds of the leadership, even in these authoritarian Gulf monarchies.

And then on the wider issue, the extent of military capability. Again, as Fred was indicating, but it really is important to get this across, the Iranians have a capacity to absorb the pain that is really quite terrifying. Remember, a million people altogether died in the Iran-Iraq War with wave upon wave upon wave of almost unarmed in some cases Iranian fighters hitting the Iraqis. You had at that time the backing of the west. They'll also recall, John, that the downing of an Iranian airliner by the USS Vincent over the Straits of Hormuz did not result in a conflict between the United States and Iran. And that was --

KING: Sam, I'm sorry, I need to interrupt. We need to take you to the Oval Office. The president of the United States with the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Iran made a big mistake. This drone was in international waters clearly, we have it all documented. It's documented scientifically, not just words. And they made a very bad mistake.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, how will you respond?

TRUMP: You'll find out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you going to war with Iran?

TRUMP: You'll find out. You'll find out. I mean, obviously, you know, we're not going to be talking too much about it. You're going to find out. They made a very big mistake.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, what are your concerns about China and the Canadians who were detained, sir?

TRUMP: No concerns. We'll be discussing that. It'll be one of the issues I think we'll be discussing right now with Justin.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Say it? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Fed made no change to the interest rate, sir.

TRUMP: Well, I guess they indicated they're going to be low. He should have done it sooner but what you're going to do. You can't win them all. He should've done it sooner but you can't win all. And eventually, he'll do what's right perhaps. Let's see what he does.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will you ask China to release the Canadians?

PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADA: Obviously, we are -- we're very concerned about the escalation by Iran recently. We have a significant presence in the area, including a NATO mission in Baghdad and Iraq.

[12:35:02] We look forward to discussing with our closest ally their perspectives on this and how we can move forward as an international community.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will you ask China to release the Canadians, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) with Xi Jinping (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: Well, I don't know that he's trying to meet. Are you trying to get (INAUDIBLE)?

TRUDEAU: We've got a lot of things to discuss.

TRUMP: Well, otherwise, I'll represent him well. I will tell you, we have a meeting set up with President Xi and it's obviously on the big transaction that we're talking about and negotiating. Our people are actually speaking now. We'll see what happens with that. But anything I can do to help Canada, I will be doing.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Excuse me?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you planning to bring it up with President Xi when you meet with him?

TRUMP: I would at Justin's request. I will absolutely bring that up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE), will that be the end of --

TRUMP: Don't say when because so far I have to get the Democrats to approve it, all right? So, I like your positive thinking, but if and the if is really subject to the Democrats. Let's see what happens. But I really believe that Nancy Pelosi and the House will approve it.

I think the Senate will approve it rapidly. It's going to be very bipartisan. It's great for the farmers, manufacturers. It's really great for everybody. And unions, it's great for unions.

I mean, I -- we have tremendous union support too. It's a tremendous -- it really shows a partnership between three countries. And it's sort of three countries in the trade since we're competing with the European Union, we're competing with China. It gives us a bigger dialogue, it gives us a much bigger platform.

It's really good for all three. It's something that's very popular. I hope politically they can do what they have to do.

Now, a day after the election, it would win with tremendous support. We have an election coming up. But I think Nancy Pelosi is going to do the right thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And will that be the end of tariffs on Canada and Mexico?

TRUMP: Well, we'll see. I mean, you know, they have to do what they have to do. We understand that. We can't have big -- tremendous shipments of certain products. And we understand that very well.

TRUDEAU: We were very pleased with the lifting of the tariffs on steel and aluminum.

TRUMP: They've been lifted, as you know, and there won't be hopefully transshipping. If there's transshipping, I'll call Justin and I'm sure he'll take care of it. And if he doesn't take, I'll probably call him a second time and if he doesn't, then we'll have to talk, right?

But I think that situation is very well taken care of. Very important for both countries and for all three countries, the farmers. Very, very important. More so in that case from us and Canada.

But the farmers are really happy with it. The manufacturers are very happy. Mexico is thrilled. You saw the vote, it was very lopsided in a positive way to vote. A great vote. And I think it's going to be something very special.

Again, it's the largest trade deal by far ever entered into. And we're very close to having it finalized. It means a lot of jobs for our country, a lot of wealth for all three countries.

And we're really competing against the world. You know, we're not competing with each other so much. This brings us into a position where we're not competing with each other, we're competing against the world. And that's what we are doing.

We're competing against big sections of the world, including Asia and including other areas. And I think it's going to be very special. I think it's going to end up being a very important deal, but the biggest ever made.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you going to invite the Toronto Raptors to the White House?

TRUMP: Say it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will you invite the Toronto Raptors to the White House?

TRUMP: Well, we thought about that. That's an interesting question. They played phenomenal basketball. I watched a little bit of it. They were really terrific.

Congratulations, by the way. That was a great job by a great team. So we'll think about that. If they'd like to do it, we'll think about that. We have a lot of other folks coming.

And the presidential medal I just spoke to him, we're going to be presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Roger Penske. Roger Penske is a great gentleman who has won 18 Indianapolis 500s. He's won just one Daytona. He won the Daytona, he won Indianapolis, he won probably more than anybody in the history of racing. I can't imagine anybody ever being close.

But Roger Penske is going to be getting the Medal of Freedom and he's very thrilled to be getting it. And that'll be announced over the next little while but I guess actually I'm announcing it pretty much now. But they'll be putting something out in a little while.

He's very deserving. He's a great gentleman. I've known him for a long time. And a very brilliant guy. You know, when you think of all the countries that want to win Indianapolis and Daytona and they fight and they spend, even Canada, they spend a lot of money. And, you know, when a man wins Indianapolis, when he wins it 18 times and he just won the Daytona. He won many things over the course of years and he's become a very successful man.

We talked about electric cars today.

[12:40:00] I think nobody knows more about that subject in terms of common sense than Roger Penske. So, Roger Penske will be getting and receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, you said Iran is a different country. Do you still hold that opinion?

TRUMP: Oh, absolutely. When I came here, Iran was in 14 to 18 different sites of confliction. They were extremely hostile. They were hostile when they signed the deal, they were screaming death to America. And I think probably Iran made a mistake. I would imagine it was a general or somebody that made a mistake in shooting that drone down.

And fortunately, that drone was unarmed -- it was not -- there was no man in it and there was no -- it was just -- it was over international waters, clearly over international waters, but we didn't have a man or woman in the drone. We had nobody in the drone. It would have made a big difference, let me tell you. It would have made a big, big difference.

But I have a feeling, I may be wrong and I may be right, but I'm right a lot. I have a feeling that it was a mistake made by somebody that shouldn't have been doing what they did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who do you think did that?

TRUMP: I think they made a mistake. And I'm not just talking -- the country made a mistake, I think that somebody under the command of that country made a mistake.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you talking to Iran's leadership?

TRUMP: Let's just see what happens. Let's just see what happens. It's all going to work out.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Say it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you saying you think it wasn't intentional to strike the drone?

TRUMP: I don't know. I find it hard to believe it was intentional if you want to know the truth. I think that it could have been somebody who was loose and stupid that did it. We'll be able to report back and you'll understand exactly what happened. But it was a very foolish move, that I can tell you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are there members of your administration who are trying to push you into conflict with Iran?

TRUMP: No, not at all. Not at all. In fact, in many cases, it's the opposite. But I will say, look, I said I want to get out of these endless wars. I campaigned on that. I want to get out.

We've been in Afghanistan for 19 years. As you know, we've reduced very substantially in Afghanistan. We beat the caliphate, we took back a hundred percent of the caliphate. When it was 99 percent, Justin, I said we're going to get out, we're going to start peeling back and everybody went crazy because it was 99. So I said, all right, so we'll finish it up, so we got 100 percent. And we're pulling a lot of back out of Syria. We're pulling a lot of people back.

But this is something -- this is a new wrinkle. This is a new fly in the ointment what happened shooting down the drone. And this country will not stand for it, that I can tell you. Thank you very much.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks, guys. Thank you. Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Press, let's go. Thank you. Press, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

KING: A very important conversation between the president of the United States, the prime minister of Canada, and reporters in the Oval Office discussing many big issues. Relationships with China, the prospects for the U.S./Mexico/Canada trade agreement. I'm going to set those aside though to talk about the moment of war and peace that dominated the discussions between the president, the prime minister, and the reporters there.

President Trump saying, and this is very important, he thinks somebody made a mistake, a general or somebody else made a mistake in Iran in shooting down an American drone. The president saying it would have made a big difference had that been a manned aircraft as opposed to an unmanned aircraft. And he's saying somebody was, quote, loose and stupid in Iran.

The president there even though he also said we'll see if there is a U.S. military response seeming to de-escalate if you will, not directly blaming the Iranian Government, not escalating his rhetoric there.

Our CNN's Kaitlan Collins is live at the White House. Kaitlan, as the president took those questions there, he seemed to be saying that what he believes and one assumes he has been briefed by intelligence officials about this is that the Revolutionary Guard, forgive the term, got out over its skis perhaps here and did something that surprised even its own government.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And, John, I was in the room there and I asked the president what does the intelligence show? Does it show that because that was the president there making news for the first time saying that he thinks this was an actual mistake by someone in the Iranian government to shoot down this U.S. drone?

Now, of course, he didn't say how the United States is going to respond but that was in response to my question, do you still think Iran is a different country. That's a statement that the president has made several times saying essentially he believes that they've changed their behavior since he has gotten in the office.

So you see the president there saying that but that is news there that the president was saying he thinks that there must some general potentially who may have made the decision, they were being loose and stupid. So the question now is, is that going to change how the president responds to this because they've been pretty clear so far based on what Centcom has said about shooting down that drone that it was the Iranians, that it wasn't over Iranian airspace, that it was over international waters which the president did tell reporters there in the Oval Office that that is clearly documented.

[12:45:00] But every time we asked what is going to be your next action, the president would not telegraph that because he said he didn't think that would be a smart decision. He only said that we will see. But of course, John, a big deal there that the president is saying he thinks it might have been an actual mistake that Iran shot down that U.S. military drone.

KING: (INAUDIBLE) on times change his tone and his emphasis within the course of an hour, a little on the day but very important there. The president of the United States trying to create a little bit more space for himself and perhaps for the Iranian government as they try to work this out.

While the president was speaking to the prime minister in the Oval Office, the Pentagon releasing what it says is more evidence about what happened. CNN's Barbara Starr -- a video. What are we talking about?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: We have a very short clip to -- a video clip to show the viewers, John, and we'll try and keep playing it. The Pentagon releasing this black and white video a short time ago that it says shows the smoke trail of the U.S. military drone being shot down over the Strait of Hormuz. You're going to see that black smoke trail come into view. Very short, very brief video clip. Not the best quality the Pentagon knows but they are adamant that this is the shoot down of the U.S. military drone over the Strait of Hormuz.

Let's unpack a little bit more as we look at this of what the president had to say. He is saying this may have been a mistake. How could the president of the United States reasonably know that? You would have to have either perhaps intercepts, eavesdropping of conversations between Iranian commanders and government officials that would tell you it's a mistake. You would have to have some understanding that the launch point on the coast of Iran was not under government control, that it might have been the Revolutionary Guard Corps acting on its own.

You would have to come to an awful lot of conclusions. You would have to have the assessment that the government does not control the Revolutionary Guard Corps and in some cases, they don't fully. This is a proxy, very militant wing of the Iranian security forces and they often do go out on their own.

So, if this is all true that it's a mistake, it becomes even more dangerous because the U.S. has to make the calculation of what part of the Iranian regime is behind any incident that it sees and how to respond to it. And that may be exactly what you mentioned creating some space to make some decisions, to get some advice here about what to do. We know the president is looking at the possibility of military options. It's exactly what you would expect him to do.

His advisers are there today at the White House. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff arrives a short time ago. He weighs in when there are discussions of military options obviously. But the president also trying to really, you know, dampen this down a bit, give himself some space, not taking on the Iranian military directly at this point.

We will have to see. We just simply don't know what he's going to decide. This attack is somewhat different. This is a direct attack on a U.S. asset in international airspace. But as the president said, it wasn't an attack on U.S. troops. This was an unmanned drone collecting intelligence on Iran. No U.S. troops involved in this. If it went to that next step, perhaps a different -- KING: Barbara Starr live at the Pentagon for us. Let's bring the

conversation back in the room. Admiral Kirby, I'll start with you again, you have experience in the State Department and the Pentagon. Do you agree the president was trying to create some space for himself? But still, even if you think this is a loose cannon or a loose unit or a provocative element of the Revolutionary Guard which has happened before in history, they still shot a U.S. military drone down so one assumes there will be some response.

And I'll add lastly, I don't expect even if the Iranian government right now is trying to figure out what happened. If this was somebody as the president says being, quote loose and stupid. They're not going to raise their hand and say sorry. That's not the way they work, so what happens now?

KIRBY: Right. In a way, he has created a little bit of a maneuver room for himself but in another way, it continues to being closed down around him because the Revolutionary Guard is not accountable to the Iranian state government. They report to their supreme leader.

KING: And forgive me, they were also accountable, the administration says for those tanker attacks. So, is this part of a pattern of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard trying to provoke a confrontation?

KIRBY: Remember, they are the hard-liners. And nobody hated the Iran deal more than them other than maybe Trump. And they -- and just a month or so ago or a Revolutionary Guard commander was calling for regime change in his own country. There are tensions between them and the Rouhani Government. So to a degree, yes, he's giving himself a little bit of space but he's also I'm sure is mindful that these guys operate on their own timetable and according to their own precepts. And there's a -- they're still a very dangerous force that has to be dealt with.

If you strike them which certainly, you know, you could be considering doing that. You have to remember that they also have outposts and proxies in Iraq and elsewhere, they can do great damage to U.S. forces and assets elsewhere outside of Iran.

[12:50:02] KING: And from your experience, the top advisor to the president right now would be either John Bolton or the secretary of state. There is no -- there's an acting defense secretary, the one who's leaving, the president hasn't really loved to begin with. The one who's coming in is new to the job. Where is Pompeo's head at this moment when the president is asking for his options?

ATWOOD: Well, Secretary Pompeo has been suspiciously quiet this morning. We heard him at the State Department rolling out a report of human trafficking. He didn't say anything when it came to Iran. We haven't seen him tweet. We know he was in the meeting at the White House on this today.

But that was alongside the other officials. But it is his voice that we have seen sort of muted over the past few days. Over the weekend he said that a military option was on the table. And then when he visited Centcom down in Florida, he didn't say that so explicitly. And that was after we saw President Trump saying he doesn't want to go to war with Iran.

So, we know Pompeo and Bolton are both Iran hawks. But the question is, are they willing to voice that opinion so openly at the risk of receiving the ire of the president.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. The one thing I would note is that unlike John Bolton who makes his views very clear, Secretary Pompeo is very careful never to get out in front of the president. That's why you're not hearing him right now.

KING: Even just yesterday tweeting again the president does not want war.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I was going to say not only are their crosscurrents inside the administration but also you made a good point earlier in terms of the president polls people on a regular basis. And he's also getting crosscurrents in Capitol Hill. You -- he spoke to Lindsey Graham this morning. He speaks to Senator Tom Cotton regularly.

They are calling for a robust response, a military strike. They're not necessarily unified in the Republican conference. He's hearing from people inside the Republican Party on Capitol Hill calling for more restraint. So it's on several levels people taking different views on this. And as we've said repeatedly, it's the president's decision and he's going to have to define what proportional is and how far he's willing to go right now, and that's the big outstanding question.

KING: A short time ago, you mentioned the Republicans. The top Democrat in the United States, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, telling CNN we need to deescalate right now is how she put it. The question is, how.

CNN Global Affairs Analyst Aaron David Miller joins us live from the Wilson Center. Aaron, you've worked for several secretaries of states, you've done negotiations in this delicate region. Connect the dots of today. Iran acknowledges it shot down a drone. The Iranian Government says the drone was in Iranian airspace, the Pentagon says that's a lie. The president says he thinks it was a loose and stupid act. Now what?

AARON DAVID MILLER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, maybe the Intel suggests that in fact, it was, that these operations are not highly or centrally coordinated. But, the problem, John, I think is this, you have a (INAUDIBLE) risk-averse president and right now I think an Iranian regime that is actually quite risk ready. And the administration has put enormous stock in this question of deterrence. They've deployed military assets, their rhetoric suggests they don't want war but they want to deter.

And now even if this was a loose cannon act by an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps unit, you have the problem that a $150 million drone, no one was killed and maybe that impressed the president as well, I suspect that -- and the way the president has been talking, you'll see, you'll see, it's a big mistake, it's a big mistake, that at some point whether it's today or tomorrow there's going to be a response.

Second point, I don't see the off-ramp here. If in fact, we were hours or days away from a de-confliction channel hotline, some device designed to create political space jaw-to-jaw rather than war as Churchill would say. I'd feel a lot more confident that there's a margin here for extrication. I don't see that right now.

KING: You don't see that right now. Admiral Kirby, you wanted to weigh in on that.

KIRBY: Well, yes. If you remember when our sailors were taken, they were in these two patrol boats, they strayed into Iranian waters, Secretary Kerry was able to get on the phone with Foreign Minister Zarif within the hour of the news. And within 24 hours was able to get not just the sailors but the boats back because we had a channel of communication that the Iran deal gave us direct communications.

This administration has blown that all up and the only channel of communications are back channels and they're not the most effective. They have limited themselves in their ability to try to affect an off- ramp.

KING: To that point, Aaron David Miller, if we needed to create a backchannel because if we don't have a good one at the moment, who or what might one be?

MILLER: Well, I think there any number of ways, John knows this to -- he was there to create all kinds of back channels. Even if we were ready to jaw, the real question is whether the supreme leader and the Iranians are ready without first demonstrating that they're under tremendous pressure and pain and they need to demonstrate this event was widely televised and announced within the Islamic republic.

So it's clear they've set an escalation frame here. And it would take both sides and a lot of will right now in the middle of this thing to create some sort of deescalation.

[12:55:04] I think it's going to get worse, John, before it gets worse.

KING: Aaron David Miller. Go ahead, Phil.

MATTINGLY: Yes, I just want to say not on that point, on something separate. I was just told by several sources that the White House has invited congressional leaders and key committee chairs and ranking members to the White House for a Situation Room briefing on Iran this afternoon. So this is continuing to move forward and they're continuing to try and loop in Capitol Hill which is a shift from the past couple of weeks that they've really deployed over the course of the last couple of days.

KING: Just the fraction of that sentence tells you what you need to know. Situation Room briefing on Iran at the White House. A major day of breaking news.

Thanks for joining us in the INSIDE POLITICS. Our coverage continues in just a moment. Breaking news here in the United States. For our international viewers, AMANPOUR starts after the break. For those here in the United States, Brianna Keilar will be here in just a minute. Have a great day.

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