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NATO: Nine Members Have Reached Two Percent Target on Spending; Supreme Court Hears Biggest 2nd Amendment Case in a Decade; Trump Restoring Steel and Aluminum Tariffs on Brazil and Argentina; Pelosi: Hope to Pass USMCA, But Still Have Issues with It; Lisa Page Breaks Two-Year Silence: "I'm Done Being Quiet"; Bullock, Sestak Drop Out of 2020 Race. Aired 12:30-1p ET
Aired December 02, 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]
JOHN KING, CNN HOST: -- the way he has done that has infuriated everybody. He's bludgeoned people, he's bullied people. But if you just look, 9 NATO members have now reached the two percent target of defense spending that, you know, you're supposed to pay for your quote-unquote NATO dues.
Bulgaria, United States, Greece, U.K., Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Poland. But the president still casts it as, you know, they need to do more as opposed to, hey, we're making progress here. Which, again, you can criticize the tactics, the bullying, but this has been a success.
JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: But the president hasn't really been very good at pushing his -- some success stories. I can't say all success stories, but in particular when there are other distractions at play. Now, he's been better about it in the last, I don't know, this morning. But this is a marathon, not a sprint, and we'll see how the next couple days go.
But you're absolutely right. In a lot of ways, this is a promise that's been made and a promise the president has kept.
KING: And the meetings include Chancellor Merkel with whom he's always had a testy, hot and a cold relationship and with President Macron which is interesting. Because as Merkel fades, she's giving up her position of leadership, Macron is trying to reassert France as the leader of NATO and he drew a lot of controversy when he said this last month.
"What we are currently experiencing is the brain death of NATO. Europe stands on the edge of a precipice, he said, and needs to start thinking of itself strategically as geopolitical power. Otherwise we will no longer be in control of our destiny." Making the point as he said that he saw America stepping more and more back under President Trump therefore the alliance was at risk.
This is also a fascinating moment there. They started off as trying to make friends, Macron and Trump, and Macron has seemed to have decided, not in my interest.
TARINI PARTI, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, BUZZFEED NEWS: But it's also what he's saying is in line with what the president wants which is an America first foreign policy. You know, that's -- they're not saying different things here. He's saying that America has retreated which is something the president campaigned on. You know, he campaigned on a very isolationist foreign policy which he has, and to a certain degree, enforced.
KING: So we'll watch as it plays out on the world stage. I'm interested in the keep off the grass sign myself.
Before we go to break, we come back across the pointier of festive visit to the White House. The first lady Melania Trump showing off this year's Christmas decorations. It's a patriotic theme for 2019.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:37:15]
KING: Topping our political radar today, a big day at the Supreme Court. The justices are hearing arguments in a major Second Amendment case today for the first time since 2010. This case have dispute over New York City gun law that limits where licensed handgun owners can take a locked and unloaded handguns.
CNN's Ariane de Vogue was in the room for the arguments. Five for a majority, a giant issue. Ariane, take us inside the room.
ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: Right. Well, this case is important because the big question is whether the new conservative majority of this court is poised to broaden gun rights. But the case has an unusual issue looming, and that's the fact that the New York gun law at issue was changed after the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. So the four liberal justices during oral arguments, they seized on that. They want the court to dismiss this case and not issue a broad ruling.
But critically, Chief Justice Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh, their votes are going to be really important here, and neither one said much. In fact, Justice Brett Kavanaugh didn't even ask a question. So the case now will continue. They'll go on.
Critically, what it's about is this New York regulation that tells where licensed gun owners can take their handguns. It was immediately challenged by people who said that it was too restrictive, it was unconstitutional. They brought the case to the Supreme Court but then the law was changed. So now New York City wants to dismiss the case, get rid of it, but others, including the Trump administration, they want this court to issue a broad ruling and expand gun rights, John.
KING: A fascinating case to watch. We'll wait for the decision. Ariane de Vogue outside the court. Appreciate it very much.
President Trump telling reporters before heading to Europe today that he's, quote, very happy with how U.S.-China trade talks are going right now. But Beijing anything but happy with the president at the moment. And time now running out to cut a deal before planned new tariffs kick in.
Our Chief Business Correspondent Christine Romans is following the progress or perhaps the better way to put it, lack thereof.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: John, just 13 days now until new tariffs on Chinese-made goods and no discernible progress in the trade deal between the U.S. and China. Talks appear to have stalled. China is unhappy that the president signed a bill supporting pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. There are no high- level talks on the calendar right now and Chinese state media now says it wants all tariffs, China wants all tariffs removed, not just those new tariffs planned for December 15th.
Now remember, those tariffs, that list is going to hit home here. Iphones, video games, toys, those are products popular during the holiday season. Now, a Chinese deal isn't the only Trump trade deal on hold. It has been, John, exactly one year since the administration agreed to a revised NAFTA, but the deal still needs approval from Congress.
[12:40:05]
Earlier this month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it may not happen this year. The holdup, sources say, is over labor standards.
Meantime, the president also kind of brushing off his tariff moniker. He tweeted this morning the U.S. will restore steel and aluminum tariffs on Brazil and Argentina, citing massive evaluation of their currencies. You know, some folks say the president appears to be in the poll position here on trade, John because you've got the stock market -- he S&P500 at 25 percent this year. Stocks really holding in there. And American consumer that spent strong over the weekend seems to be in a good position, and a jobs market that is still so strong.
So the president doesn't seem to think that his tariffs and his trade wars are hurting the American economy.
John?
KING: Thank you, Christine Romans. It's an interesting bet by the president. The passage of the USMCA would no doubt be a big victory for the incumbent president in the middle of this impeachment fight heading into re-election. But it also could be a chance for Democrats to prove they can get some business done during impeachment.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi repeating earlier today she hopes to pass the USMCA, but she says only after Democrats get their concerns addressed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): We are hoping to come near to conclusion on a U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. We still have some issues that relate to enforcement because if you don't have enforcement, you just have a nice conversation and a list of nice things but you do not have a fair deal for workers in any of the countries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: This one has been fascinating for the speaker because she is a free trader. She wants to get this done. For the California economy, for the national economy, she thinks it's a good thing. She's been working very closely for all the discord in Washington with the trade rep Robert Lighthizer has had a very close relationship with House Democrats trying to figure this out. The question is will they.
MICHAEL SHEAR, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: It's a delicate line for her in particular politically because on the one hand, there are many of her members who really want something substantive as an accomplishment going into the election year. This would be one of those things that they could tout. On the other hand, it would be handing the president of the United States a huge victory, a real win that not only would the president be able to tout, but it would I think frustrate many of Pelosi's own members who don't particularly want to be in the position of running against Republican candidates who can go out on the stump and talk about it. So it's a delicate thing for her.
I think my sense is that there will be some kind of at least handshake agreement if there isn't a vote before the end of the year, and then perhaps come back after the holidays and vote.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It would obviously be a Trump victory, but Democrats I think, you know, also want to have some accomplishments. The question to your point is whether or not many in the caucus would see this as an accomplishment. The fact this is even still on life support given everything else's going on, that it is still a possibility, maybe not a probability that they could pass this says something.
KING: There are three pretty important economies to the neighborhood. Sometimes -- if they can figure out the deals, the country first thing every now and then.
Up next, former FBI lawyer Lisa Page breaks her silence about what's it like to be a constant target of the president's anger.
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[12:47:50]
KING: One of President Trump's favorite targets, Lisa Page, is defending herself after two years of silence. That defense coming in a new interview with the Daily Beast. Page in a single tweet on a new account tweeted this, "I'm done being quiet." President Trump has regularly criticized and ridiculed the former FBI lawyer along with former FBI agent Peter Strzok after text messages between the two were made public about two years ago. Page says she chose to come forward now because after this at a recent Trump rally.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I love you, Peter. I love you too, Lisa. Lisa love! Lisa! Lisa! Oh God, I love you, Lisa. And if she doesn't win, Lisa, we've got an insurance policy, Lisa.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: So I'm trying to process that. We'll come back. This is one of the things she said to the Daily Beast. "The president of the United States is calling me names to the entire world. It's sickening. But it's also very intimidating because he's still the president of the United States. And when the president accuses you of treason by name despite the fact that I know there's no fathomable way that I have committed any crime at all, let alone treason, he's still somebody in a position to actually do something about that."
It is interesting for her, a, to come forward because now you're risking provoking him to do more by coming forward. And b, obviously, the timing here, we're expecting the Department of Justice Inspector General report out next week. One of the questions for the Inspector General was to address the texting between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page certainly improper but was there anything wrong done.
KUCINICH: Well -- so this piece by Molly Jong-Fast for the Daily Beast really goes through the beginning of this to the end of this for Lisa Page, and to what you referenced, she doesn't think she does anything wrong. She thinks that the IG report that supposed to come out on December 9th is going to exonerate her. But she also says it doesn't really matter that the president has this megaphone and will continue to make her life difficult no matter whether or not this report says that she does -- she did anything wrong.
But she also says she's a lawyer, she knows what the boundaries were when she was texting and she says that, I, of anyone, would understand that I didn't do anything wrong.
[12:50:09]
I still don't think I did anything wrong here.
KING: Right. She says she had a personal opinion that she shared with a man with whom she was having a relationship in their text messages, but she says she was able to put her blinders back on and do her job as a professional when it came to what should we do about the information before us in the Russia investigation. To the point about the IG report, she said, "While it would be nice to have the IG confirmed publicly that my personal opinions had absolutely no bearing on the course of the Russia investigations, I don't kid myself that the facts will matter very much for a lot of people. The president has a very loud megaphone."
And this is an interesting beyond -- even beyond Lisa Page. A lot of the reporting so far based on sources about what the IG is going to say, is yes, some judgment calls, yes, one low-level lawyer who altered document and that's reprehensible. However, Carter Page was warranted. There was no political bias in the FBI leadership in the investigation. That's not what the president wants to hear.
PARTI: I think it's the alternative fact as the president's own White House has said that he likes to push that his base believes more so than, you know, this report might say what Lisa Page might say. And I think that's why it's interesting that she has chosen to speak out at this time even though she knows that no matter what she says there will be a significant portion of the American population who will never believe her.
BASH: Also, you know, it's also a reminder that, on both sides of the aisle, people who are used as pinatas are human beings.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
BASH: And the fact that she came out as a human being and as somebody who talks very, very specifically about what it's like to walk down the street and see somebody wearing a mega hat and wondering if they recognize her and she needs to look the other way. It's a reminder that we -- as partisan and as tribal and as horrible as the times are, these are human beings.
KING: We'll watch as this one plays out as well. It's an interesting decision to come forward.
Up next for us, a little bit of a lightning round. But before we go to break, 2020 candidate Senator Michael Bennet invokes the Hillary Clinton campaign. Here you go, I'm not doing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MICHAEL BENNET (D-CO), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm just chilling in Cedar Rapids listening to "Ave Maria."
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm just chilling in Cedar Rapids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:56:51]
KING: Let's close today with a quick look at the 2020 campaign including some subtraction. The former Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Sestak and the Montana Governor Steve Bullock now ending their campaigns. That leaves 16 candidates still competing for the Democratic nomination. Only six, though, have qualified for this month's presidential debate. And as we inch closer to the first contest in Iowa, we're also getting closer importantly for those struggling to the end of the year fundraising deadlines.
This has been a crowded field for a long time. It is interesting, Congressman Sestak, no offense, was always a long, long, long shot. For a governor of a Trump state whose message was, look, I can win where Trump wins. He got almost no oxygen. That to me is a bit of surprised that this has become a Washington-centric race if you will. With the exception of Mayor Buttigieg.
BASH: Right. Which is unusual if you think about where we are in the political world. Steve Bullock got off to a late start.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
BASH: He refused to start until the legislature was done in his state, and that was -- that basically did him in. It didn't allow him to get traction. But particularly in this cycle with so many candidates, you had so start early in order to get any recognition.
KING: And some Democrats, when we had 24, something we're hoping several of these guys would drop out and then run for Senate. That they would get some experience and be better. But if you look, Steve Bullock drops out, they wanted him to run against Senator Daines, he has said, no flatly no. Beto O'Rourke dropped out, they want him to run again for Senate this time against John Cornyn. He says no.
John Hickenlooper did drop out, the former Colorado governor and get in the race against Cory Gardner after saying he never would. But only one of the three if you're Chuck Schumer, you wanted to do better than one for three.
PARTI: He did. And especially if they have any -- if Beto or if Bullock have any presidential ambitions, what we've seen is it's easier as we just said to run for president if you've been a senator in part because it's -- you can transfer money from your Senate account over to your presidential campaign which you can't do as governor.
KING: And you touched on one of the names earlier in the program, there's a great political drama playing out between the governor of Georgia and the president of the United States. Brian Kemp wants to name a candidate for Senate not named Doug Collins. He wants to name a woman. He believes it's better in the suburbs. There's a big fight about this.
Matt Gaetz, one of the president's defenders, read this series of tweets from the bottom up. Matt Gaetz, our Florida congressman, says, you all begged for real Donald Trump support. Now you're directly acting in contravention to his request. And you think attacking the closest -- clothing of the president's defenders in Congress is your next best play. You aren't good at this. That because a Kemp aide if you read the top part of this here, it says, "Inquiring minds want to know if you prefer flat front jorts, pleated jorts, or cargo jorts with room to put all of your Legos, Pokemon cards, and jellybeans. Oh, and mind your own business. We don't know you and we don't care what you think.
KUCINICH: Oh, what a saucer of milk with that to me. But --
KING: Little family feud there.
A little bit. Did Georgia and Florida tension but -- I mean, there's two ways to look at this. Yes, the president really did push hard for Kemp. That said, he's the governor of the state and this is his decision, and he's hoping, I'm guessing that the president falls in line if he makes the decision that we've heard.
KING: We'll see how that one plays out. I wonder if he thinks Trump or Lincoln is the better Republican president. We'll have to ask Governor Kemp that question if we get a shot.
Thanks for joining us on INSIDE POLITICS. Come back. We'll see you this time tomorrow.
[13:00:01]
Don't go anywhere, a busy day. Brianna Keilar starts right now. Have a great afternoon.
