Transcripts For CNNW Wolf 20180907

A savior. You cant opt out because you dont feel sufficiently inspired by this or that particular candidate. This is not a rock concert. This is not coachella. We dont need a messiah. All we need are decent, honest, hardworking people who are accountable and who have americas best interests at heart. [ applause ] and theyll step up and theyll join our government, and they will make things better if they have support. One election will not fix everything that needs to be fixed. But it will be a start. And you have to start it. Whats going to fix our democracy is you. People ask me, what are you going to do for the election . No, the question is what are you going to do . Youre the antidote. Your participation and your spirit and your determination, not just in this election, but in every subsequent election and in the days between elections. Because in the end, the threat to our democracy doesnt just come from donald trump or the current batch of republicans in congress or the Koch Brothers and their lobbyists or too much compromise from democrats or russian hacking. The biggest threat to our democracy is indifference. The biggest threat to our democracy is cynicism. Cynicism led too many people to turn away from politics and stay home on election day. To all the young people who are here today, there are now more eligible voters in your generation than in any other, which means your generation now has more power than anybody to change things. If you want it, you can make sure america gets out of its current funk. If you actually care about it, you have the power to make sure what we see is a brighter future. But to exercise that clout, to exercise that power, you have to show up. In the last midterm elections in 2014, fewer than one in five young people voted. One in five. Not two in five or three. One in five. Is it any wonder this congress doesnt reflect your values and your priorities . Are you surprised by that . This whole project of selfgovernment only works if everybodys doing their part. Dont tell me your vote doesnt matter. Ive won states in the president ial election because of 5, 10, 20 votes per precinct. And if you thought elections dont matter, i hope these last two years have corrected that impression. [ applause ] so if you dont like whats going on right now, and you shouldnt, do not complain, dont hashtag, dont get anxious, dont retreat, dont binge on whatever it is youre bingeing on, dont lose yourself in ironic detachment, dont put your head in the sand, dont boo. Vote. Vote. [ cheers and applause ] if you are really concerned about how the criminal Justice System treats africanamericans, the best way to protest is to vote. Not just for senators and representatives but for mayors and sheriffs and state legislators. [ applause ] do what they just did in philadelphia and boston and elect states attorneys and district attorneys who are looking at issues in a new light, who realize that the vast majority of Law Enforcement do the right thing in a really hard job, and we just need to make sure all of them do. If youre tired of politicians who offer nothing but thoughts and prayers after a mass shooting, youve got to do what the parkland kids are doing. Some of them arent even eligible to vote yet. Theyre out there working to change minds and registering people. And theyre not giving up until we have a congress that sees your lives as more important than a Campaign Check from the nra. Youve got to vote. [ cheers and applause ] if you support the metoo movement, youre outraged by stories of Sexual Harassment and assault, inspired by the women who have shared them, youve got to do more than retweet a hashtag. Youve got to vote. Part of the reason women are more vulnerable in the workplace is because not enough women are bosses in the workplace. [ cheers and applause ] which is why we need to strengthen and enforce laws that protect women in the workplace, not just from harassment, but from discrimination in hiring and promotion and not getting paid the same amount for doing the same work. That requires laws, laws get passed by legislators. Youve got to vote. When you vote, youve got the power to make it easier to afford college and harder to shoot up a school. When you vote, youve got the power to make sure a family keeps its health insurance. You could save somebodys life. When you vote, youve got the power to make sure white nationalists dont feel emboldened to march with their hoods off or their hoods on in charlottesville in the middle of the day. [ applause ] 30 minutes. 30 minutes of your time. Is democracy worth that . We have been through much darker times than these. And somehow each generation of americans carried us through to the other side. Not by sitting around and waiting for something to happen, not by leaving it to others to do something, but by leading that movement for change themselves. And if you do that, if you get involved and you get engaged and you knock on some doors and you talk with your friends and you argue with your family members and you change some minds and you vote, something powerful happens. Change happens. Hope happens. Not perfection, not every bit of cruelty and sadness and poverty and disease suddenly stricken from the earth. There will still be problems, but with each new candidate that surprises you with a victory that you supported, a spark of hope happens. With each new law that helps a kid read or helps a homeless family find shelter or helps a veteran get the support he or she has earned, each time that happens hope happens. With each new step we take in the direction of fairness and justice and equality and opportunity, hope spreads. And that can be the legacy of your generation. You can be the generation that at a critical moment stood up and reminded us just how precious this experiment in democracy really is, just how powerful it can be when we fight for it, when we believe in it. I believe in you. I believe you will help lead us in the right direction, and i will be right there with you every step of the way. Thank you, illinois. God bless you. [ cheers and applause ] god bless this country we love. Thank you. [ cheers and applause ] im wolf blitzer in washington. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Weve just heard from the former president of the United States, barack obama. He did not mince words. It was a campaign event, the first of its type for the former president , but he went after President Trump and his policies and his statements on point after point after point. Weve got a great panel here to assess what weve just heard. Dana bash, it was very dramatic. I thought he was going to be held back a little bit. He didnt hold back at all. No, not even a little bit. A couple things. One is, democrats who are, you know, in and part of the resistance ive heard and seen on social media for almost two years now, since donald trump has been in office, where is barack obama . Why isnt he out there . Hes a leader. He should be talking, concerned about the fact that at the beginning at least we saw instagram photos of him on boats and water skiing and having living his best life. Thats not the barack obama we saw here. He clearly is trying to he understands the power that he has to gin up the base. He had the same kind of message but in a very much more pointed way that we heard him give at the mccain funeral last saturday. But the thing about it is that what id heard from people around the former president is one of the reasons why he was reluctant to do this is because he understands that donald trump loves a foil. That just was an hour of foil material that President Trump is going to use in a big way to gin up his own base. But clearly president obama realizes that the stakes are really big and he wants to do whatever he can. I will also just point out that he gave these kind of speeches in the fall of 2016 when he was still president , saying please do this for me, and it didnt work. I think its also a big moment for obama as someone who, i think, held on for a long time to this idea that former president s dont attack current president s. Former president s dont weigh in on Current Affairs in this way. He has now abandoned that and it may be a reflection of where we are as a country and in the moment were in and the importance of this and maybe some of the nudging and pushing that hes been getting from democrats. And thats a big moment. I mean, that was a precedent that president obama really believed in, that we know that President Trump probably doesnt believe in, but the fact hes doing it is an indication that he thinks we have crossed that rubicon. I think he left democrats with a message today about how to attack trump. He started off with the economy. He continued on to talk about temperament issues. Then he went on to talk about corruption, about the idea that this administration is, in his view, not doing things in a way that is consistent with democracy. I think he left bread crumbs for the Democratic Party for how they can go forward and deal with this. And who he was speaking to is important. Dana makes a key point. Barack obama has never been successful in motivating his coalition in an election where hes not on the ballot. He was wiped out in his own midterm elections in 2010 and 2014. He could not deliver at the end for Hillary Clinton in 2016. He does know that like 2008, he senses this is a big democratic year. He senses it in the primaries. We already see evidence that coalition is coming out even before he gets involved. So who is he talking to . College students on campus. Young people dont vote in midterm elections. For democrats to take back the house and be competitive in the senate races, they need Younger Voters to come out. Africanamericans not only in the cities but in the suburbs. More College Educated africanamericans. He needs them to turn out. And he also spoke to republicans. He went after the tribalism of trump. He went after the corruption of trump. He went after the Republican Party saying they were afraid now to stand up to trump. And he made an appeal to republicans, suburban republican women will be the key in this falls elections if the other pieces of the Democratic Coalition come out, for the democrats to turn a small blue wave into a medium or big blue wave, they need to swing republicans. President obama was saying this president and this party have let you down. You dont even have to agree with us on the issues. Dont you want honesty . Dont you want integrity . Dont you want accountability in your government . We need your help. He even said lets get back to a good die dideological figh. We dont even have that in our corruption. I would add on one thing to what john said. He was speaking to his own lek trorl coalition. The one piece you didnt mention is College Educated men, you know, suburban men, ceo types who obama did attract for a variety of reasons. The problem that obama has is that hes trying to sen tynthes the argument against trump. Hes always been a singular sensation. Hes not helped the Democratic Party. He wanted to push other people out. Even here hes talking about dont wait for the messiah. What was the other word . Savior. Savior. The implication is you had it as good as you were going to get it with me. But i think that comes across. Theres a danger in that. Right now the fundamental point is just keep that energy going, and thats what he was trying to do. He went after President Trump on point after point. Charlottesville, what the president said in the aftermath of charlottesville. Puerto rico, pointing out some 3,000 people were killed in that hurricane and the aftermath of the hurricane. Where was the federal government . He went after the administration on all the president ial lies, whats going on inside the white house. He even raised the issue of this op oped by an anonymous official in the New York Times. And one of the summations is this is not normal. These are extraordinary times. We try to say that every time were trying to decipher and explain whats happening on a minutetominute basis. They dont want to hear it from us. Exactly. He used the words, these are dangerous times. For a former president of the United States to say that the United States of america lives in dangerous times is a big deal. Thats not normal. He spoke of things coming out of white house as crazy. That was his word. He said crazy stuff coming out of the white house. You talked about it was president bush who we still really havent heard from. For a couple reasons. He really wanted to get out of the spotlight. And he also realized that his own base had kind of moved past him. But here with obama, i dont think thats the case. I think hes not been able to deliver couldnt deliver for Hillary Clinton, but he still has this obama base thats out there that could come out in the midterm race. I think thats who hes speaking to. Lets play a clip. This is president obama speaking about the unnamed Senior Trump Administration official writing this very, very damning article in the New York Times. Listen to this. The claim that everything will turn out okay because there are people inside the white house who secretly arent following the president s orders, that is not a check. Im being serious here. Thats not how our democracys supposed to work. These people arent elected. Theyre not accountable. Theyre not doing us a service by actively promoting 90 of the crazy stuff thats coming out of this white house and then saying, dont worry, were preventing the other 10 . Thats not how things are supposed to work. Then he adds these are not normal, these are extraordinary times, and they are dangerous times. Right. Which really strikes me as thinking more about the fact that barack obama used dangerous times, the hope, change guy, the guy who was all about hope and he tried to talk, in fairness, about hope, trying to bring about everything you want to bring about, but it was a warning that was intended to strike fear in the hearts of those College Students and everybody else who might not be sure if it matters to go out and vote. That is a different kind of tone and tenor that weve heard from barack obama in the past. It does speak to where we are. And to connect it to the congressional races, which is what is front and center. 60 days from today, the midterm elections. Will the democrats take back the house . Can the republicans hold the senate . Can the democrats get the senate back . To that point, after saying that, he criticized not only the president but the Republican Party in congress is ignoring all this, trying to forget this is happening to protect itself, protect its power, even if it hurts the country. Where is todays Republican Party . Abby, you make a good point. It isnt really protocol. It isnt really tradition that a former president attacks his predecessor in a way like this. When president obama talks about the Current White House and the crazy stuff thats coming out of this white house. He uses the words crazy stuff. Thats literally what you hear on twitter from democrats who are livid about this situation. Youre hearing it from the former president of the United States. But its worth noting, i mean, obama is not just any former president. He also just happens to be the favorite punching bag of the current president. President trump uses obama as the person to lay blame on for virtually everything that is going on or that might go wrongly. And so in some ways, obama has been sitting and taking that for 18 months now. Now suddenly were hearing his rejoinder to that. It is not by accident that we heard obama saying, oh, and by the way, this economy that trump is touting as his own, these long streaks of Economic Growth that hes touting as something solely brought on by i had governance is something that i started. Hes finally taking credit for something that as president he was very hesitant to do. Theres an argument here, reaching out even to republicans to say, look, you may support trump on some things, but at least there should be more of a check on him ginn some of the things that have happened. Thats an argument that could be made without a full takedown of trump. I think it may have an add yuud, among supporters of trump who may feel there is unhinged behavior. Theres no president who would not get withering scrutiny from these circumstances where somebody in the cabinet, you know, or senior officials writing an anonymous oped saying we have to make decisions for him or keep him from making decisions. Anybody would face withering scrutiny. Thats true, but remember in politics, theres always a ying to the yang. Just as when donald trump goes out and tries to go to a place like montana where he won by 20 points, he was there last night, to energize the Republican Base, youre also, by definition, getting the democrats all fired up because they cant stand him. Thats the same kind of day namna dynamic were going to see with barack obama. Theres such deep resentment among the Republican Base, the Republican Base thats not enthusiastic right now. He might have just fired them up. I want to read a tweet from republican senator lindsey graham. Its a quote. The more president obama speaks about the good old years of his presidency, the more likely President Trump is to get r reelected. In fact, the best explanation of President Trumps victory are the results of the obama presidency. Those are strong words from lindsey graham. I want to bring in s. E. Cupp. Let me get your reaction to what we just heard from senator lindsey graham. On a broader basis, that one hour plus speech that former president obama just delivered. Well, look, being generous, let me say i think that president obama was trying to do the right thing. Appealing to common ground, trying to get that audience engaged without getting them angry. As dana mentioned, there was a little fear trafficking there, but i think they was trying to do the right thing. But in ticking off all of the Republican Congress ills and the trump administrations ills and saying none of this is conservatism, what happened to the Republican Party, believe me, conservatives like me have the very same laments and ask the very same questions. One of the most moral, decent men we know is mitt romney. President obama called him, quote, a bullshitter. He mocked mitt romney for his russia warnings. The Democratic Party painted mitt romney as a sexist monster. So call me a little skeptical when president obama seems a bit nostalgic for not the good old days of his presidency, as senator graham said, but the good old days of good conservatism. There was a little selfrighteousness in there. S. E. , i want you to stand by. Were getting more news coming in right now. Breaking news. President trump now says he wants the attorney general of the United States, Jeff Sessions, to investigate the oped author in the New York Times to find out who that individual was and if necessary to go ahead and prosecute that individual. Yesterday the president suggested that individual may have engaged in treason. I want to bring in our senior White House Correspondent jeff zeleny. The president is not letting up at all on this article in the New York Times. Wolf, hes not. The president is away from the white house today. When he was flying from billings, montana, to fargo, north dakota, where hes doing a republican fundraiser, he talked to reporters aboard air force one and said in the most explicit terms yet hes calling on his attorney general to investigate and look further into the author of the essay in the New York Times that really has shaken and rocked this white house. Hes saying specifically on the grounds of National Security reasons. He says this, i think so because its National Security. I said that jeff should be investigating who the author of this piece is because i really believe its about National Security. Now, reporters on air force one pressed him on that. What he means by National Security isnt just someone whos just essentially assailing his presidency, critiquing his presidency. He says this. If i have someone whos at a highlevel meeting with china or russia or some other country, how can i know theyre not the author of this . So he said he wants to investigate who it was first and foremost and find out if this person could be violating National Security perhaps by leaking other things. Wolf, the reality here is the president , we know, still fuming about this. On the one hand, hes trying to, you know, essentially act like its not bothering him, blaming it all on the New York Times. But that, we know, is not true because his sheer fact of asking the department of justice to look into this is a sign that it certainly has rankled him. He went on to say a variety of other things on that flight from montana to fargo, and hell be away from the white house all day today, wolf. But the Justice Department has not given an indication, at least as of yet, that they plan to take up this investigation. Yeah, clearly the president is obsessed with finding out who this individual who wrote that article in the New York Times is. Jeff, stand by. Delaware senator chris coons is joining us right now. Hes a democrat. He sits on the Senate Judiciary committee. Let me get your reaction to what the president said, he wants the attorney general Jeff Sessions to investigate, to find out who was responsible for that article. And remember last night the president suggested whoever did that may have engaged in treason. If youre convicted of treason, that potentially carries with it capital punishment, the death sentence. Well, wolf, ive just stepped out of day four of the kavanaugh hearings here in the senate, and i just heard this. My initial reaction is that President Trump, given his recent history of tweeting about who he wants the attorney general Jeff Sessions and the department of justice to investigate or prosecute or not based on his own political calculation ill remind you, he was recently sharply criticizing the attorney general for the department of justice prosecuting two republican incumbent congressmen. I think it would be wise of the president to stop acting in ways that suggest he thinks the department of justice is the inhouse Legal Department of the Trump Organization and recognize that they have an independent role here in protecting the country and upholding the constitution. The attorney general and the professionals at the department of justice swear alee yelegianc the government, not a particular president. I think the president would be well advised to hang back, rather than directing there be an investigation or prosecution here, trust theyll take it up in an appropriate way. The president also is now saying that he doesnt want any interview he may grant to Robert Mueller, the special counsel, to become a setup for what he calls a perjury trial. It doesnt sound like hes ready to sit down with mueller at all. According to Rudy Giuliani, they may be willing to answer some questions on the issue of collusion during the campaign, but hes not ready to talk at all about this whole issue of if there was any obstruction of justice after he became president. The best way to avoid being charged with perjury is to not lie. Frankly its striking to me if the president s team is coming to the conclusion that they just dont think they can have the president , despite his repeated public protestations that hes eager to testify, that hes eager to provide testimony to the special counsel, if theyre coming to the conclusion that they just cant put the president on the witness stand in front of special mueller or even have him provide written testimony, that suggests something that reinforces some of the more disturbing allegations in the recently released book by bob woodward that the president cant keep to a consistent line in describing the events of 2016 that are being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller. I dont know if you listened to the onehour plus speech that former president barack obama just delivered in illinois, but he was really tough on the President Point after point after point, going after him. This is really the first time hes delivered a Campaign Type speech like this since leaving office. I wonder if you want to give us your reaction, if you think the former president was right in slamming the current president. Well, wolf, its unfortunate that were in a place where President Trump routinely personally and sharply critiques, criticizes attacks of former president obama and for much of the last 18 months, president obama has largely remained off the political stage. This just highlights the extent to which the upcoming midterm elections in november will largely be all about President Trump. And i wish that we could have elections that really focus on the needs and the concerns of people in our states and our districts rather than having it all be about the contest between the current and former president. Thats where i suspect this is going to head. Its my concern that were veering away from what the average american wants us to do here in congress and in the upcoming election, which is to focus on their concerns and their needs rather than what weve learned in the last year and a half, that weve got a president who is really adept at making the day about him, day in and day out. My concern here, wolf, is that president obama may simply be feeding that dynamic where it is all about President Trump. Your republican colleague from south carolina, senator li lindsey graham, says he has a new theory on this article by this unnamed Senior Trump Administration official that was published in the New York Times. Listen to this. This oped piece about the personality of the president , suggesting that hes unhinged and is uncapable of being a good president without being minded tells me a lot about the Mueller Investigation. This to me is a signal that theres nothing there with russia in terms of the president working with russians during his campaign. The next line of attack is the man is unfit for office, hes crazy. What do you think of senator grahams theory . Wolf, i dont quite get the point hes making. The implication seems to be that he believes that editorial in the New York Times was written and placed not by a senior Administration Official who while loyal to trumps agenda has concerns about trumps behavior, but instead that somehow it was created by the Mueller Investigation. Look, i have a lot of respect for senator graham. We Work Together well on some important Foreign Policy issues and some legislative issues, but ill have to go back and listen to that again. That strikes me and more conspiratorial than im used to hearing from my colleague from south carolina. The Mueller Investigation has demonstrated that its not a witch hunt, and its not a group of unhinged democrats. Robert mueller is a lifelong republican, a decorated marine corps veteran and someone whos leading a team that has so far delivered felony convictions of the president s former Campaign Manager and a plea to a felony charges by the president s longtime personal lawyer. So i view the Mueller Investigation as legitimate, and i think it should be left alone to reach its conclusion. Whether that means there is or isnt compelling evidence of collusion. All right. Were going to have a lot more on this. Senator coons, i know you have a lot going on in the senate right now. Im going to let you go. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you, wolf. Were getting some new information right now on the future of the attorney general, Jeff Sessions. Were going to update you on that, and will President Trump respond directly to former president obama . The current president getting ready to speak live. Youre looking at live pictures. Much more of our special coverage right after this. 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You wouldnt accept an incomplete job from any one else. Why accept it from your allergy pills . Flonase sensimist relieves your worst symptoms, including nasal congestion, which most pills dont. It helps block six key inflammatory substances. Most pills block one. Flonase sensimist. All the tools you need for every step of the way. Make it, squarespace the attorney general of the United States, Jeff Sessions, may be embracing the reality that his relationship with President Trump probably will not end well. I want to go to our White House Correspondent kaitlan collins. Youre getting new information. What are you hearing . Reporter thats right, wolf. As the president is calling on Jeff Sessions to investigate this anonymous white house staffer that criticized him, this comes as Jeff Sessions is telling people that he realizes his relationship with President Trump is not going to end well one way or the other. Of course, you noticed last year when President Trump first started attacking him, Jeff Sessions kept his head down, kept doing his work at the Justice Department, and later on as those attacks continued, he started pushing back a little against President Trump. Now, wolf, in recent weeks the attorney general is readily conceding to people that his relationship with President Trump has sunk even lower in the last few weeks. Hes even taking to joking to people, wolf, that he checks out the president s twitter feed to see what his job status truly is. Now with the president calling on the Justice Department to act at his political will as he did as far as those indictments of those two Republican Congressmen go, President Trump criticizing Jeff Sessions for bringing those indictments, now Jeff Sessions is telling people that he is prepared for whatever the outcome is going to be with President Trump, even, wolf, if that includes President Trump firing him. Good reporting, kaitlan. Thank you very much. Lets get some analysis. The president of the United States is now telling sessions, i want to know who wrote that article in the New York Times because potentially legal action, National Security issues are at stake. You know, wolf, i read the oped several times. I cant see anything in it that actually would have a National Security justification for any kind of legitimate investigation to be conducted. The attorney general has withstood tremendous pressure from the president to conduct investigations not based on actual information that normally would justify an investigation. And in this case, there just is nothing apparent that would justify the fbi actually opening an investigation under their guidelines. They have rules they have to follow before they start investigating anybody. And so really, its another instance of the attorney general probably having to withstand this political pressure that the president places on him because theres just no it might be unpleasant for the white house, it might mean theres a person who white house officials might not feel trust in that individual, whoever they are, but there doesnt appear to be any National Security reason for the fbi or Justice Department to get involved. And its amazing, david, how this president , not just over a few days or a few weeks, but for a year, maybe even longer has gone after, humiliated, berated, attacked publicly the attorney general that he named, the first u. S. Senator that endorsed him, making him look, you know, awful. This is ive covered washington for a long time. I dont think ive ever seen a cabinet member attacked by a sitting president along these lines. No, its unbelievable what hes done, and particularly when the attorney general is supposed to have some independence from the administration, whereas this president in a kind of caricature of what a president is supposed to be wakes up with a todo list for Jeff Sessions of all the things he ought to be investigating. As president obama said in the last hour, you know, you dont use an attorney general or a Justice Department as a cudgel against your enemies. And so if you just track the history of this, if you follow the president s words and his tweets, Jeff Sessions was supposed to get Robert Mueller off his back, put Hillary Clinton in jail, back off two Republican Congressmen, who if you read those indictments against Chris Collins and duncan hunter, wow, is it stunning, brazen, horrible corruption, if they are guilty. And now investigate the leaker. To davids point, and you heard former president obama saying this is not normal, it is just not normal, whether youre a democrat, a republican, an independent, not sure what you are in politics. Its not normal for a president of the yats to tell the Justice Department what to do and whatnot to do. Is he involved on sentencing, drug policy, on Prison Reform . Sure. But on picking and choosing, put my opponents in jail, go easy on people who like me, thats not the way its supposed to work, period. And its not normal, abby, for a president of the United States to accuse someone. He obviously is not happy this senior official attacked him the way he did. But accused this individual of treason, which is a specific legal charge that carries with it potentially the death sentence. Yeah, and hes accused a lot of people of treason. To my knowledge, none of those people have done anything that would qualify as that. According to woodward, he actually considered gary cohns threat to quit treason. This is a president who uses that word pretty flippantly. Its also worth pointing out that whoever this person is that wrote this oped didnt, to my knowledge, leak anything. There was nothing of real substance in this oped. There was no sensitive National Security information. There were some opinions about the president s temperament he didnt like, but now President Trump is saying, i want Jeff Sessions to investigate this person, and this is one of the reasons why im concerned about security clearances. This is a president who keeps mixing up issues that are really unrelated to each other in part because he doesnt seem to understand the found daugs of some of these things. This is not necessarily leaking. This does not necessarily have to do with someones security clearance. And this is no place, apparently, for the Justice Department to weigh in. As he keeps attacking a book and an oped that say hes erratic and doesnt understand how things work in washington, he keeps being erratic and showing he doesnt know how things work in washington. It is interesting that just as former president obama attacked Republican Leaders for not standing up to the administration, how about the attorney general of the United States. His first supporter in this as a senator, someone whos roundly criticized on the left for other policy positions and general ideological views, has stood by the integrity of what it means to be the attorney general in the Justice Department. I would be surprised if he went anywhere before the Mueller Investigation is done because he wants to protect the integrity of that investigation. You know, i want to take a quick break. Were getting a lot of reaction to former president obamas speech. He spoke for more than an hour, didnt mince any words. He went after President Trump on point after point after point. And were standing by to hear now from President Trump. Hes getting ready to deliver a speech. Youre looking at live pictures from fargo, north dakota. Well have coverage of that. Much more on all the breaking news right after this. door bell rings its open hey. This is amazing. With moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, are you okay . Even when i was there, i never knew when my symptoms would keep us apart. So i talked to my doctor about humira. I learned humira can help get, and keep uc under control when other medications havent worked well enough. And it helps people achieve control that lasts. So you can experience few or no symptoms. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. 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Like a month, tops. Oh boy. Wifi fast enough for the whole family is simple, easy, awesome. In many cultures, young men would stay with their families until their 40s. Were standing by to hear from President Trump. Well see if he reacts to the strong condemnation that former president obama just delivered in a more than one hour speech. Looking at live pictures from fargo where the current president is about to speak. Well of course have coverage of that. But there is a lot of breaking news unfolding right now. I want to get some serious analysis. Joining us is norm eisen, former special assistant on ethics. And he is also author of a wonderful new book entitled e last palace. Norm, let me start with you. Well get to the book in a moment, but i want to get your thoughts on now the president is suggesting questions of obstruction of justice, perjury. That wont be on the table if Robert Mueller does want to question him on those issues maybe in a direct interview or everybody written form. Well, ive been on the record for months in the New York Times the president is never going to answer questions about obstruction of justice. There is overwhelmingly substantial evidence of a violation there. And he is trapped between on the one hand telling the truth and stumbling in, helping build the obstruction case. Or lying and establishing perjury. Having worked with and against bob, you can see the walls closing in on the president from all directions. But he would only make his situation worse. John dowd was right to walk out when the president wanted to testify. And were in a sad situation though when the president of the United States cannot honestly answer questions without admitting to a crime or lie and commit perjury. Because what Rudy Giuliani the president s lawyer is suggesting, maybe he will answer some questions in written form on what happened during the campaign, allegations of collusion or conspiracy with the russians for example. Maybe he will answer some written questions on that. But he certainly is not going to do an interview on anything that has happened since taking office, since that would violate protocol. Well, first of all, i still cant think of any good reason that the special counsels office would want to accept written answers from the president if they have specific questions to ask him because obviously the lawyers will write those and the special counsels office would know that. They point to the precedent of Ronald Reagan when he was ask t ed for answers during iran contra, he did it in accepted form. It was accepted then. They can use that as an example, but given the Different Things that are an issue in this particular investigation, and a obstruction being the aspect of that investigation that is most closely tied to the president s intent. Mine the k i mean the key aspect of that is what he intended to do through a variety of activities that he took throughout his presidency and whether or not he was trying to shut down or derail different parts of the investigation. What do you think of the president s call today for the attorney general Jeff Sessions to launch a formal investigation into who wrote that oped in the New York Times . Wolf, i have a new oped up on cnn talking about this. There is no crime. As she said earlier, in a democracy you do not sick the attorney general on your political adversaries and the media especially in the absence of a crime. So i think it is outrageous. Frankly, it goes to the First Amendment because this is a form of government retaliation against speech. Tell us about the new book, the last palace. When i was sent to prague, i looked under a beautiful antique table and i discovered a swastika. And that discovery under the table for me as the child of a holocaust survival kindled in me a curiosity to discover what happened in this magnificent house. The book tells the story of five people, four of whom preceded me in that house. Its jewish builder, nazi general, american cold war ambassador. And another American Ambassador who ended the cold war, Shirley Temple black. And there are lessons in this book that all of us still need to learn today. Were in a moment over and over again, my protagonist fought for democracy. Even the german general turned on the ss at the end the war. What were seeing in these weeks is this same trajectory. The fight for democracy now unfolding in the United States and the struggle between trumps autocracy and i withe mechanism. And i think anonymous is a hero. And let me put the book jacket up on the screen once again. The last palace, europes turbulent century in five lives and one legendary house. Congratulations. Norm, thank you very much. The president of the United States getting ready to speak any moment now after former president obamas very, very tough criticism of his policies, his posture, his statements. Well have a special coverage. It will continue right after this. Shop at Bass Pro Shops and cabelas stores and online for great deals on great gear. And save thousands on americas favorite boats during our model year clearance sale. Bass pro shops and cabelas. Your adventure starts here. All the tools you need for every step of the way. Make it, squarespace are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool . Try zyrtec®. Its starts working hard at hour one. And works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. Stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®. Im brooke baldwin. You are ware watching cnn. Thanks for being with me. I want you to keep this in mind. President trump and his predecessor have not spoken a single time since the inauguration. Not once. And yet some eight week away from the midterms, today both are publicly making their case for the future of america. In true split screen fashion, former president obama delivering rare political remarks, rebuking the current presidency after months and months of not even uttering trumps name. On the right, live pictures of the Campaign Rally in north dakota where President Trump is about to speak. He is, quote, pissed off were told about a number of things. So well get in to that in a moment. But first, obama speaking on the state of americas democracy in illinois a short while ago. He