Transcripts For CNNW Anderson Cooper 360 20180404 00:00:00 :

Against the company of amazon and led a new somewhat baffling allegation against president obama. A side of himself that we and many others is going to be coming out. Today, and on twitter we got a big dose of President Trump uncut. Here he was speaking about the u. S. Military presence in syria which he announced last week that he wants to end. I want to get out. I want to bring our troops back home and start rebuilding our nation. We will have as of three months ago, 7 trillion in the middle east over the last 17 years. We get nothing, nothing out of it. And as you remember, in civilian life for years, i said keep the oil. We didnt keep the oil. Who got the oil . Isis. That is what funded their campaign. They took a lot of the oil. And we should have kept the oil then. We didnt keep the oil. The United States didnt keep the oil or take the oil which is the word mr. Trump used to use on the campaign trail. Didnt take the oil because among other reasons that is called plunder and pretty much went out with genghis khan. The issue is this seems to be news to Senior National Security Officials even though it has been several days since he first broached the idea. At almost the same promomoment the president said it. This was said. Our Mission Isnt Over and we are going to complete that mission. The president also spoke today about nato something his three baltic guests count on to determine his three russian occupiers. Which made it awkward when the president turned to another theme. Nato was delinquent. Not paying their bills. Not paying what they should be paying. Since i came in, many additional dollars have been paid by countries that werent paying. And they are going to have to pay more. The president has long spoken as if he believes nato is a dues paying nation. If it is Member Nation defense spending, there is a nato guideline on that. And the baltics sharply decreased that. And for accuracy sake, they started before. We have been tough on russia, and nobody has been tougher on russia. Nobody has been tougher on russia than i have. Nobody tougher on russia. Once again, keeping them honest, this president would be correct in saying no president has been tougher on russia in the last couple of weeks. He has joined nato in expelling russia personnel. He did not however lead the way. And shortly before the expulsion mr. Trump congratulated putin on winning an election. Be the policy of this nation to regard any Nuclear Missile launched as an tack by the soviet union on the United States requiring a full retaliatory response upon the soviet union. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down these walls. Has President Trump been tougher than that, tougher than president truman. It wasnt the only hyperbole, the president said this about the border with mexico. It is like we had no border because we had obama make changes that basically created no border. Called catch and release. You catch them, you register them and they go into our country. We cant throw them out and in many cases they shouldnt be here. Many, many cases they shouldnt be here. And after they get whatever happens over the next two or three years, they are supposed to come back to court. Almost nobody comes back to court. They are in our country. And we cant do anything about it because the laws that were created by democrats are so path etic and weak. Lack of space in Detention Fitzs and republicans say loopholes in state law. When you take a look at the post office, you take a look at the post office and the post office is losing billions of dollars and the taxpayers are paying for that money because it delivers packages for amazon at a very below cost and that is not fair to the United States. It is not fair to our taxpayers. Now, keeping him honest on that, if the president has a beef with amazon, he should leave the post office out of it. Now, here is another fact that might be relevant, amazon founder jeff bezos also owned the Washington Post which the president also despises. Sending the stock market into large gyrations. He took yet another shot at Hillary Clinton and tweeted this in reaction to some new polling. Thank you to rasmussen for new polling. Not sure what kind of cheatin he was referring to. Mr. Trump repeated his call today to send troops to the southern border. In speaking with general mattis, we are going to be doing things militarily until we have a wall. It is a big step. Jim acosta was in the room for much of it and he joins us now. Reporter the version of the president that we saw today is this part of a bigger shift in who he is listening to . It is hard to tell. He was in maralago yesterday. Seemed to be guiding his white hot immigration comments that are coming into this week. The president did have a National Security meeting with top officials including Chief Of Staff and defense secretary. Within the last hour who says that the Trump Administration does have a Working Number of National Guard troops that they want to deploy to the southern border. They are not releasing that number at this point. Waiting on the white house to make the announcement. They are looking into operation jump start which is something that happened during the Bush Administration when george w. Bush deployed National Guards to help down there. He is also harkening back to the Bush Administration to try to find a solution he likes on the border. I think it was 2006 theNational Guard troops were sent down and there to help on clerical things not stopping people from coming into the United States. The idea is to help free up Border Patrol. They were do other tasks that did free up Border Patrol agents. And the president was talking about this, and we should point out that not only did president bush do this, but president obama did this as well. Aides you are talking about in the west wing, what are they seeing now from the president. Reporter i have been taking to aides who are still looking at clarity on this syria issue. The president last week made this stunning announcement that he is willing to pull troops out. I talked to administration official saying there is no clarity on that. We do know that the president was essentially contradicting his own envoy to the battle on isis. In real team as the president was speaking to this news conference, bret mcguirk at almost the same moment saying United States is not going to leave until the fight is finished. So he is confusing people, and also contradicting top officials like bret mcguirk who are looked to around the world for guidance in what the president is doing. I appreciate it. The panel ways on all of this shortly. Coming up tonight what could be Breaking News. New reporter on what Robert Mueller told the president s lawyer on whether the president is or is not a i can do more to lower my a1c. Because my body can still make its own insulin. And i take trulicity once a week to activate my body to release it, like its supposed to. Trulicity is not insulin. It comes in a onceweekly, truly easytouse pen. And it works 24 7. Trulicity is an injection to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes when used with diet and exercise. Dont use it as the first medicine to treat diabetes, or if you have Type 1 Diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. Dont take trulicity if you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, youre allergic to trulicity, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of a serious allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, or severe stomach pain. Serious side effects may include pancreatitis. Taking trulicity with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases your low blood sugar risk. Common side effects include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and decreased appetite. These can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. To help lower my a1c i choose trulicity to activate my within. Ask your doctor about onceweekly trulicity. I am very proud of the development of drugs that can prevent the rejection and prevent the recurrence of the original disease. I never felt i was going to die. We know so much about transplantation. And were living longer. You cannot help but be inspired by the opportunities that a transplant would offer. My donors mom says you were meant to carry his story. Before discovering nexium 24hr to treat her frequent heartburn, lucy could only imagine enjoying a slice of pizza. Now its as easy as pie. Nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for allday, allnight protection. Can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn . President trump began his tweeting day with defense of sinclair and attacks on everybody else. The Fake News Networks he wrote are worried about the competition and quality of sinclair broadcast. The fakers have done so much dishonest reporting. Raising questions along with all of it. Cnn political analyst david gergen as well as gloria borger. Is this the unrestrained version of him or less restrained version. I think this is the president now who has been talking to friends and i have talked to some of his friends that he feels like he knows how to do this job and has it under control. He has said publicly, that i am close to getting the cabinet i want. He is looking to people who he is comfortable with. The people who show up in his Living Quarters Night After night from fox news. And those are the people he is consulting as well as his own instincts. He told one friend, i got this. I know how to do this. You are seeing things not only on policy as jim acosta is talking about such as troops at the border or withdrawal from syria. And then he is also playing games with people like he did with general mcmaster on his future and like he may be doing with peruit. And maybe on general kelly. And i think this is the real donald trump and i think we are going to keep seeing him. David, the notion that the president has reembraced the idea that he is his own best advisor, i am wondering if you think that is going to serve him well . No. President s no matter how much experience they have need a stabilizing forces around them. They need someone there who can look them in the eye and tell them you are full of it or you need to hear the other side of the story. You may be hearing the fox version of the truth, about you if you consider there may be other ways to think about that and president s need that. So i think it is a mistake. I do think and what i am told is there were three heavy weights who were the stabilizing forces and two are gone. Ga gary cohen, and h. R. Mcmaster. And the third is general kelly. And so you have a trump who is unleashed on his own volition. And fox news has become even more important in his mind. Almost like people who work for fox are his advisors. Sean hannity playing golf and the like. What we are seeing is a new chapter in the trump presidency. And what we dont know if the people coming in, kudlow, or bolton, whether they are going to be stabilizing forces or play to his instinct. Gloria, there was this interesting moment in the luncheon, the president tried to get the president of estonia to praise him. Three president s told me that nato is taking in a tremendous amount of money because of donald trump. That would have never happened. You may want to say that. Would you like to say that madam president . That donald trump made a difference. Very risky question. Well, he is kind of used to getting that from his own cabinet as we saw in a couple of those dear leader cabinet meetings. He likes to get praise and the lithuanian president was honest when he said she said at one point that there was kind of unpredictable leadership. And that at some point, and we want, and she kind of moved, they moved around it and said but we still need leadership from President Trump. So there is a sense in the baltics that they want a president to be more predictable. And they went in there with a mission trying to get a straight answer identiout of him. I want to say, most disturbing part of the news to me today was this notion that he wants to now send troops to the border. It is true that two past president s have deployed National Guard to the border and it was because there was pressing need. There is no pressing need. This is more of a political move here. He sees the military as a play toy. First he wants to have this massive parade. You know, he wanted to take money out of the Military Budget and pay for the wall and now he wants to send troops to the border. There is no real reason to send troops to the border other than to make political points. And to satisfy fox. They are not supposed to be used for Law Enforcement anyway. Gloria, to davids point, it doesnt seem to be a coincidence that this idea that he now has sending the military, by the military, the National Guard because you cant send active service full time, inside the United States. But it cant be a coincidence that it comes now after he received criticism from some of the folks he has listened to according to the reporting has raised issues that maybe his base thinks he is weakening on immigration. Yeah. You can look at this, he invited the Fox Green Room to maralago over the weekend. And this is a president who is concerned more than anything about pleasing his base. And so what we are hearing from him are Base Sweeteners and he is going to build a wall. He is going to send troops to the border. He is going to with draw from syria because we won the war against isis. And so i think, you know, it is kind of he has become the echo chamber to these people. Gloria borger, david gergen, i appreciate it. Whether the president is or is not a criminal target in Robert Muellers probe. We will tell you what they were told when we come back. A place with flexible fmeal plans. E. And 24hour room service a place where seniors get the care they need in the comfort of home. Home instead senior care. 3 toddlers wont stop him. And neither will lower back pain. Because at a dr. Scholls kiosk he got a recommendation for our custom fit orthotic to relieve his foot, knee, or lower back pain, from being on his feet. Dr. Scholls. Born to move. Nondrowsy claritin 24 hour relief when allergies occur. Day after day, after day. Because life should have more wishes and less worries. Feel the clarity and live claritin clear. Breaking news in the news paper, the president loves to hate. The Washington Post reporting that mueller has briefed the president legal team saying he does not. In talks early last month, mr. Mueller described the president as a subject of the probe. What is the distinction, joining us for that is jeffrey could bein a toobin and carrie cordero. There are targets who are almost certainly going to be charged and indicted. There are witnesses. And in between the two there is somebody called the subject. Someone who is under investigation but who may or not be charged. Trump is a subject. And i dont think that is particularly good news for him. It is a big deal to be under criminal investigation by the fbi particularly if the you are the president of the United States. This has been implicit in what the Mueller Investigation has been doing. But this confirm aiation, that president is under criminal investigation, that is a profound thing to think about. Carrie, according to the Washington Post reporting some have told him that is part of the danger of sitting down for an interview, that you can go from being a subject to a target quickly. One could depending on the outcome of the interview. Being a subject, they shouldnt cracking open any champagne in the white house. There is certainly risk of him sitting down for an interview although it is difficult at this point to see a path forward for this investigation both in terms of its look at the russian influence on the election and any potential cooperation or knowledge on behalf of the campaign and the obstruction piece, it is hard to see how it will conclude without the president at some point being interviewed by the investigative team. Well, in a normal circumstance, a subject would simply take the fifth. Most lawyers would advise the subject of an investigation dont talk under any circumstances. The question is can the president of the United States take the fifth. I think he can. I think he can denounce the investigation and say this is a witch hunt, i am not participating. I think it is entirely possible he will refuse this interview. Carrie, according to the reporting, mueller is still pushing hard to interview President Trump to both determine if the president had corrupt intent and that is why he feels this interview is important. That he needs to figure out the intent behind mr. Trumps accuracies. The specific, the intent that he personally had is important to that investigation because it is actions that he took, statements that he took over the course of a year that potentially could put together a case for obstruction. On that piece in particular, he probably has the most exposure but also his statements or what he has to say about his intent is also the most relevant to that piece of the investigation. Jeff, you heard, i heard you earlier talking today, i heard you talking about some of the developments today led you to think it very possible that President Trump<\/a> uncut. Here he was speaking about the u. S. Military presence in syria which he announced last week that he wants to end. I want to get out. I want to bring our troops back home and start rebuilding our nation. We will have as of three months ago, 7 trillion in the middle east over the last 17 years. We get nothing, nothing out of it. And as you remember, in civilian\rlife for years, i said keep the oil. We didnt keep the oil. Who got the oil . Isis. That is what funded their campaign. They took a lot of the oil. And we should have kept the oil then. We didnt keep the oil. The United States<\/a> didnt keep the oil or take the oil which is the word mr. Trump used to use on the campaign trail. Didnt take the oil because among other reasons that is called plunder and pretty much went out with genghis khan. The issue is this seems to be news to Senior National<\/a> Security Officials<\/a> even though it has been several days since he first broached the idea. At almost the same promomoment the president said it. This was said. Our Mission Isnt Over<\/a> and we are going to complete that mission. The president also spoke today about nato something his three baltic guests count on to determine his three russian occupiers. Which made it awkward when the president turned to another theme. Nato was delinquent. Not paying their bills. Not paying what they should be paying. Since i came in, many additional dollars have been paid by countries that werent paying. And they are going to have to pay more. The president has long spoken as if he believes nato is a dues paying nation. If it is Member Nation<\/a> defense spending, there is a nato guideline on that. And the baltics sharply\rdecreased that. And for accuracy sake, they started before. We have been tough on russia, and nobody has been tougher on russia. Nobody has been tougher on russia than i have. Nobody tougher on russia. Once again, keeping them honest, this president would be correct in saying no president has been tougher on russia in the last couple of weeks. He has joined nato in expelling russia personnel. He did not however lead the way. And shortly before the expulsion mr. Trump congratulated putin on\rwinning an election. Be the policy of this nation to regard any Nuclear Missile<\/a> launched as an tack by the soviet union on the United States<\/a> requiring a full retaliatory response upon the soviet union. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down these walls. Has President Trump<\/a> been tougher than that, tougher than president truman. It wasnt the only hyperbole, the president said this about the border with mexico. It is like we had no border because we had obama make\rchanges that basically created no border. Called catch and release. You catch them, you register them and they go into our country. We cant throw them out and in many cases they shouldnt be here. Many, many cases they shouldnt be here. And after they get whatever happens over the next two or three years, they are supposed to come back to court. Almost nobody comes back to court. They are in our country. And we cant do anything about it because the laws that were created by democrats are so path etic and weak. Lack of space in Detention Fitzs<\/a> and republicans say loopholes in state law. When you take a look at the post office, you take a look at the post office and the post office is losing billions of\rdollars and the taxpayers are paying for that money because it delivers packages for amazon at a very below cost and that is not fair to the United States<\/a>. It is not fair to our taxpayers. Now, keeping him honest on that, if the president has a beef with amazon, he should leave the post office out of it. Now, here is another fact that might be relevant, amazon founder jeff bezos also owned the Washington Post<\/a> which the president also despises. Sending the stock market into large gyrations. He took yet another shot at Hillary Clinton<\/a> and tweeted this in reaction to some new polling. Thank you to rasmussen for new polling. Not sure what kind of cheatin he was referring to. Mr. Trump repeated his call today to send troops to the southern border. In speaking with general mattis, we are going to be doing things militarily until we have a wall. It is a big step. Jim acosta was in the room for much of it and he joins us now. Reporter the version of the president that we saw today is this part of a bigger shift in who he is listening to . It is hard to tell. He was in maralago yesterday. Seemed to be guiding his white\rhot immigration comments that are coming into this week. The president did have a National Security<\/a> meeting with top officials including Chief Of Staff<\/a> and defense secretary. Within the last hour who says that the Trump Administration<\/a> does have a Working Number<\/a> of National Guard<\/a> troops that they want to deploy to the southern border. They are not releasing that number at this point. Waiting on the white house to make the announcement. They are looking into operation jump start which is something that happened during the Bush Administration<\/a> when george w. Bush deployed National Guard<\/a>s to help down there. He is also harkening back to the Bush Administration<\/a> to try to find a solution he likes on the border. I think it was 2006 the\rNational Guard<\/a> troops were sent down and there to help on clerical things not stopping people from coming into the United States<\/a>. The idea is to help free up Border Patrol<\/a>. They were do other tasks that did free up Border Patrol<\/a> agents. And the president was talking about this, and we should point out that not only did president bush do this, but president obama did this as well. Aides you are talking about in the west wing, what are they seeing now from the president. Reporter i have been taking to aides who are still looking at clarity on this syria issue. The president last week made this stunning announcement that he is willing to pull troops out. I talked to administration\rofficial saying there is no clarity on that. We do know that the president was essentially contradicting his own envoy to the battle on isis. In real team as the president was speaking to this news conference, bret mcguirk at almost the same moment saying United States<\/a> is not going to leave until the fight is finished. So he is confusing people, and also contradicting top officials like bret mcguirk who are looked to around the world for guidance in what the president is doing. I appreciate it. The panel ways on all of this shortly. Coming up tonight what could be Breaking News<\/a>. New reporter on what Robert Mueller<\/a> told the president s lawyer on whether the president \ris or is not a i can do more to lower my a1c. Because my body can still make its own insulin. And i take trulicity once a week to activate my body to release it, like its supposed to. Trulicity is not insulin. It comes in a onceweekly, truly easytouse pen. And it works 24 7. Trulicity is an injection to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes when used with diet and exercise. Dont use it as the first medicine to treat diabetes, or if you have Type 1 Diabetes<\/a> or diabetic ketoacidosis. Dont take trulicity if you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, youre allergic to trulicity, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of a serious allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, or severe stomach pain. Serious side effects may include pancreatitis. Taking trulicity with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases your low blood sugar risk. Common side effects include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and decreased appetite. These can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. To help lower my a1c i choose trulicity to activate my within. Ask your doctor about onceweekly trulicity. I am very proud of the development of drugs that can prevent the rejection and prevent the recurrence of the original disease. I never felt i was going to die. We know so much about transplantation. And were living longer. You cannot help but be inspired by the opportunities that a transplant would offer. My donors mom says you were meant to carry his story. Before discovering nexium 24hr to treat her frequent heartburn, lucy could only imagine enjoying a slice of pizza. Now its as easy as pie. Nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for allday, allnight protection. Can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn . President trump began his tweeting day with defense of sinclair and attacks on everybody else. The Fake News Networks<\/a> he wrote are worried about the\rcompetition and quality of sinclair broadcast. The fakers have done so much dishonest reporting. Raising questions along with all of it. Cnn political analyst david gergen as well as gloria borger. Is this the unrestrained version of him or less restrained version. I think this is the president now who has been talking to friends and i have talked to some of his friends that he feels like he knows how to do this job and has it under control. He has said publicly, that i am close to getting the cabinet i want. He is looking to people who he is comfortable with. The people who show up in his Living Quarters Night After<\/a> night from fox news. And those are the people he is\rconsulting as well as his own instincts. He told one friend, i got this. I know how to do this. You are seeing things not only on policy as jim acosta is talking about such as troops at the border or withdrawal from syria. And then he is also playing games with people like he did with general mcmaster on his future and like he may be doing with peruit. And maybe on general kelly. And i think this is the real donald trump and i think we are going to keep seeing him. David, the notion that the president has reembraced the idea that he is his own best\radvisor, i am wondering if you think that is going to serve him well . No. President s no matter how much experience they have need a stabilizing forces around them. They need someone there who can look them in the eye and tell them you are full of it or you need to hear the other side of the story. You may be hearing the fox version of the truth, about you if you consider there may be other ways to think about that and president s need that. So i think it is a mistake. I do think and what i am told is there were three heavy weights who were the stabilizing forces and two are gone. Ga gary cohen, and h. R. Mcmaster. And the third is general kelly. And so you have a trump who is unleashed on his own volition. And fox news has become even\rmore important in his mind. Almost like people who work for fox are his advisors. Sean hannity playing golf and the like. What we are seeing is a new chapter in the trump presidency. And what we dont know if the people coming in, kudlow, or bolton, whether they are going to be stabilizing forces or play to his instinct. Gloria, there was this interesting moment in the luncheon, the president tried to get the president of estonia to praise him. Three president s told me that nato is taking in a tremendous amount of money because of donald trump. That would have never happened. You may want to say that. Would you like to say that madam\rpresident . That donald trump made a difference. Very risky question. Well, he is kind of used to getting that from his own cabinet as we saw in a couple of those dear leader cabinet meetings. He likes to get praise and the lithuanian president was honest when he said she said at one point that there was kind of unpredictable leadership. And that at some point, and we want, and she kind of moved, they moved around it and said but we still need leadership from President Trump<\/a>. So there is a sense in the baltics that they want a president to be more predictable. And they went in there with a\rmission trying to get a straight answer identiout of him. I want to say, most disturbing part of the news to me today was this notion that he wants to now send troops to the border. It is true that two past president s have deployed National Guard<\/a> to the border and it was because there was pressing need. There is no pressing need. This is more of a political move here. He sees the military as a play toy. First he wants to have this massive parade. You know, he wanted to take money out of the Military Budget<\/a> and pay for the wall and now he wants to send troops to the border. There is no real reason to send troops to the border other than to make political points. And to satisfy fox. They are not supposed to be used for Law Enforcement<\/a> anyway. Gloria, to davids point, it doesnt seem to be a coincidence that this idea that he now has sending the military, by the military, the National Guard<\/a> because you cant send active service full time, inside the United States<\/a>. But it cant be a coincidence that it comes now after he received criticism from some of the folks he has listened to according to the reporting has raised issues that maybe his base thinks he is weakening on immigration. Yeah. You can look at this, he invited the Fox Green Room<\/a> to maralago over the weekend. And this is a president who is concerned more than anything\rabout pleasing his base. And so what we are hearing from him are Base Sweeteners<\/a> and he is going to build a wall. He is going to send troops to the border. He is going to with draw from syria because we won the war against isis. And so i think, you know, it is kind of he has become the echo chamber to these people. Gloria borger, david gergen, i appreciate it. Whether the president is or is not a criminal target in Robert Mueller<\/a>s probe. We will tell you what they were told when we come back. A place with flexible fmeal plans. E. And 24hour room service a place where seniors get the care they need in the comfort of home. Home instead senior care. 3 toddlers wont stop him. And neither will lower back pain. Because at a dr. Scholls kiosk he got a recommendation for our custom fit orthotic to relieve his foot, knee, or lower back pain, from being on his feet. Dr. Scholls. Born to move. Nondrowsy claritin 24 hour relief when allergies occur. Day after day, after day. Because life should have more wishes and less worries. Feel the clarity and live claritin clear. Breaking news in the news paper, the president loves to hate. The Washington Post<\/a> reporting that mueller has briefed the president legal team saying he does not. In talks early last month, mr. Mueller described the president as a subject of the probe. What is the distinction, joining us for that is jeffrey could bein a toobin and carrie\rcordero. There are targets who are almost certainly going to be charged and indicted. There are witnesses. And in between the two there is somebody called the subject. Someone who is under investigation but who may or not be charged. Trump is a subject. And i dont think that is particularly good news for him. It is a big deal to be under criminal investigation by the fbi particularly if the you are the president of the United States<\/a>. This has been implicit in what the Mueller Investigation<\/a> has been doing. But this confirm aiation, that president is under criminal investigation, that is a profound thing to think about. Carrie, according to the Washington Post<\/a> reporting some have told him that is part of the danger of sitting down for\ran interview, that you can go from being a subject to a target quickly. One could depending on the outcome of the interview. Being a subject, they shouldnt cracking open any champagne in the white house. There is certainly risk of him sitting down for an interview although it is difficult at this point to see a path forward for this investigation both in terms of its look at the russian influence on the election and any potential cooperation or knowledge on behalf of the campaign and the obstruction piece, it is hard to see how it will conclude without the president at some point being interviewed by the investigative team. Well, in a normal circumstance, a subject would simply take the fifth. Most lawyers would advise the subject of an investigation dont talk under any\rcircumstances. The question is can the president of the United States<\/a> take the fifth. I think he can. I think he can denounce the investigation and say this is a witch hunt, i am not participating. I think it is entirely possible he will refuse this interview. Carrie, according to the reporting, mueller is still pushing hard to interview President Trump<\/a> to both determine if the president had corrupt intent and that is why he feels this interview is important. That he needs to figure out the intent behind mr. Trumps accuracies. The specific, the intent that he personally had is important to that investigation because it is actions that he took, statements that he took over the course of a year that potentially could put together a case for obstruction. On that piece in particular, he\rprobably has the most exposure but also his statements or what he has to say about his intent is also the most relevant to that piece of the investigation. Jeff, you heard, i heard you earlier talking today, i heard you talking about some of the developments today led you to think it very possible that Paul Manafort<\/a> might try to get a plea agreement. Well i thought that for a long time. He is in desperate legal trouble. Now that his right hand man, gates has pleaded guilty and cooperate against him, i think his case is nearly indefensible. It will take millions of dollars to prepare. He is nearly 70years old and looking at a sentence that could leave him in prison for the rest\rof his life. The judge is being asked by manaforts lawyer throw the case out because mueller doesnt have the jurisdiction. Muellers brief makes a good case that he does have jurisdiction. Carrie, mueller is required to report his conclusions to the Deputy Attorney<\/a> general rosenstein. And it basically says he has been checking in with rosenstein all the way. Rosenstein has been clear in his public statements and testimony before congress that he has been conducting active oversights in the investigation. Confirms that oversight that he has been conducting. But on the issue of a report, this is really a question that myself and other observers of this case have been trying to figure out. What type of report might get filed . The regulations dont require what we might think of as a white water style report or what we might see in a congressional type of investigation. A narrative explanatory document that is meant for public consumption. Nothing in the regulations that might require that. What might happen is the investigative team, they could write a report or could write prosecutetive memos and submit those to rosenstein. And then it is up to him whether or not to make those reports in whatever format they take place whether or not they make them public. Appreciate it. Just ahead, President Trump<\/a> delivers another surprise today this time saying he wants\ramerican military troops to help protect the Mexican Border<\/a> until his promised wall is built. We will show you more on the details of how that might work ahead. The 3pointer changed the game. And so does this. The new 3point rib bloom, only 12. 99. Signature Barbecue Ribs<\/a> and cheese fries on top of our bloomin onion. Available for a limited time. Outback steakhouse. Aussie rules. Were on the move. Hey rick, all good . Oh yeah, were good. Were good. Terminix. Defenders of home. What guides me is ensuring that the public is going to be safer and that these forests can be sustained and enjoyed by the community in the future. During that meeting with the heads of the Baltic States<\/a> today, the president said that he is asking the military to\rguard the border at least until the border wall is built. We are going to be doing things militarily until we can have a wall, we are going to be guarding our border with the military. That is a big step. At that same meeting, the president couldnt resist a shot at Hillary Clinton<\/a>. With all of that being said, because of me, and you can speak to the head of nato, he said that because of what i have said to the countries, they have taken in, general, i think you will confirm this too, many billions of dollars more than they would have had if you had crooked Hillary Clinton<\/a> as president. That i can tell you. Many billions of dollars more. Joining now by wesley clark who is natos former supreme\rcommander. And by mark hurtling. General clark, i wonder what you make of the president s comments. What went through your mind when you heard him say that today. Well, first, anderson, these countries have all paid their debts to nato. What we have tried to explain for years to President Trump<\/a> but he doesnt want to hear is how much money they have been spending on their own defense. What nato wants is consistent, strong, reliable leadership. Nato is our organization. It is not something that pays us to be over there. We are not mercenaries. Nato is the glue that holds the United States<\/a> and europe together. The bedrock of security. Carried us through the cold war, the post cold war and we need this more than ever. The president talked about the amount of money needed and who was paying what amount. But what he didnt talk about is the strength of the alliance. Working with the partners from the baltics they are unbelievably strong in their support not only for us as a country but for us in combat operations. The special Operation Forces<\/a> were with us in both iraq and afghanistan. I had a lithuanian soldier who was killed under my command in northern iraq. These people have given more than funds. The president is confused about this. They are not contributing any\rmoney to any pot. They are spending a percentage of their gdp on their own defense funds. For him to say billions of dollars more has been allocated isnt true. It is a narrative that has been false across the board. The president was not very specific today in terms of what he meant. He talked about them guarding the border, but my understanding is what was done under president bush as well as president obama, is that it will be National Guard<\/a> troops and they will not be Standing Shoulder<\/a> to shoulder preventing people from coming over. That is right. They are support troops, National Guard<\/a>. We dont know what President Trump<\/a> has in mind. But whatever he has in mind doesnt seem to be justified by anything about the political\ropinion. Apparent pressure on the border has declined. Record deportations run. So by all, short of objective measures, situations on the border seem to be better than it ever has been. So we dont understand stand this in terms other than political. The United States<\/a> military is under resource. We are behind and spent 15 years in the middle east. We werent going on up against peer competitors. A huge technological disadvantage. Meanwhile, russia, and maybe china has invested. And we are on the catch up mode to this. And got to get our forces. So i look at it as a diversion of resources that is unnecessary militarily. Might be necessary for President Trump<\/a> to do it politically. General hurtling, does it concern you that a president would be using military forces, the National Guard<\/a> for political objectives that he feels he is under pressure that his base doesnt feel he has done enough on immigration and not getting the Border Wall Funding<\/a> that he wanted and he would be sending troops for political purposes. Factually, he can do that. At any given time, any Federal Agency<\/a> can request u. S. Forces and truthfully right now we have\ractive duty forces right on the border and a variety of other places who are running things like airo stats and uavs in order to watch Illegal Immigrants<\/a> coming across the border and feeding that to Homeland Security<\/a> forces. But to put people there without a mission, seems to be like General Clark<\/a> says senseless. I appreciate it. Up next, questionable first class travel. Murky ties to lobbyist, Will Scott Pruitt<\/a> manage to keep his job. Coming up. Its a pill that treats psoriasis differently. With otezla, 75 clearer skin is achievable\rafter just 4 months,. With reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. And the otezla Prescribing Information<\/a> has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. Otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Tell your doctor if these occur. Otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Other side effects include Upper Respiratory Tract Infection<\/a> and headache. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. Muscle aches or cough. Before starting tremfya\u00ae, tell your doctor if you plan to or have recently received a vaccine. Ask your doctor about tremfya\u00ae. Tremfya\u00ae, because you deserve to stay clearer. Janssen wants to help you explore Cost Support Options<\/a> for tremfya\u00ae. Pruitt an unqualified endorsement except he didnt exactly deliver on that. I hope hes going to be good. Ironically scott pruitt has fulfilled much of the president s agenda at the epa but all the while the atmospherics havent been great. Heres cnns tom foreman with details. Reporter the epa boss has raised alarms among Government Watchdogs<\/a> for his super low cost rental of a room at a d. C. Condo from an oklahoma couple. 50 a night. Complicating matters, those landlords donated money to his past political campaigns and were lobbying his agency on behalf of an energy company. Pruitt has also been dinged for extensive use of firstclass air travel and staying in Luxury Hotels<\/a> all on the taxpayers dime. What an exciting day. Reporter and hes come under scrutiny for giving some aides\rsubstantial raises even after the white house said no. Wheres scott . Reporter so how has he kept his position this long . We have the right man with scott pruitt. Reporter the president promised massive cuts to environmental regulations and pruitt has been the hatchet man. The future aint what it used to be at the epa. Reporter the secretary has promised to simultaneously step up enforcement while pruning federal regulations around air pollution, superfund cleanups, drinking water, and climate change. I believe that we as an agency and we as a nation can be both proenergy and jobs and proenvironment, that we dont have to choose between the two. He has met far more often with Industry Bosses<\/a> than with environmentali environmentalists. Hes praised budget cuts to his own department while pushing for states to take more control over environmental rules. And time and again, especially in the area of Global Climate<\/a> change, he has called for the reversal of obamaera rules. I am determining that those standards are inappropriate and should be revised. [ applause ] reporter and even as conservationists have howled, pruitt has praised Donald Trumps<\/a> vision, even on the biggest matters like pulling america out of the paris climate accord. Today youve put America First<\/a> with regard to International Agreements<\/a> and the environment. Reporter but pruitts problems are now clearly reflecting badly on the white house, and trump has shown some sensitivity to that sort of thing in the past. So political pundits are wondering if the hatchet man is himself about to get the ax. Anderson . Tom foreman, thanks very much. Joining me now is someone who knows a great deal about the epa. Former administrator Christine Todd<\/a> whitman. Thanks for being with us, governor. Im wondering with these allegations against pruitt, would he be in office still if he worked for a different president . I dont think theres any way. Frankly if i were he, i would be\rpreparing my resume, making it look as if this was going to be my decision to leave because i cannot see how he survives this. The president doesnt like members of his cabinet getting, aer more press than he does, and, b, to be under scrutiny like this. Im not sure hes long for this world. The flip side of it, as tom foreman pointed out, in terms of the president s agenda, he is following what the president wants and whether one agrees with it or not, has been very effective in that at the epa. Absolutely. Theres no question about it. But there are others who can do that job. As a cabinet member, your job is to do what the president wants you to do. I mean youre not the one who was elected to anything. Youre appointed and youre there to give your best advice to the president and to push back if you think hes making a mistake. But once that decision is made, you salute and you carry it out. In this instance, i happen to think scott pruitt believes absolutely in what hes doing too, which makes it very easy for him to roll back all the progress that weve made in keeping people safe and healthy\rand protecting our environment. Do you see this as part of a bigger issue when it comes to some of the president s cabinet . I mean, you know, you had obviously secretary carson with the issue of the 30,000 table and a dining room set. Secretary price was fired for using his use of private planes. Others as well. Well, there seems to be a Tone Deafness<\/a> about whats appropriate and what isnt, especially when youre talking about taxpayers dollars and what looks right and what doesnt. For scott pruitt, i dont care if he was paying 50 or 500 a night for his room, but you just dont as the head of an agency accept Something Like<\/a> that, particularly when youre getting a good deal, but you still wouldnt do it anyway with someone who has business before the agency, who is lobbying before the agency. You wouldnt even take meetings with them if you had an active case with them or something that they were lobbying you hard on. You just shouldnt do that. Not the administrator. Others. They can meet with others, but not with the administrator. Particularly when the president has made a point of during the campaign, talking about draining the swamp, this does seem to be down in the muck. I would say so. It is very swampy, and its a shame because thats an agency whose sole duty is to protect human health and the environment. It is not to promote certain forms of energy. Its to encourage alternate fuels if theyre cleaner. Its to encourage cleaner things, things that will keep us healthier. For instance, rolling back these tailpipe standards makes no senls. Most of the Car Companies<\/a> have already allowed for it. Theyre ready for it. Theyve started to move in that direction. Many of the utilities are encouraging carmakers to go for the electric car because they see it as a way to keep their demand up for electricity. And we know that some 300,000 people a year in this country die from dirty airbornerelated causes. So when you talk about rolling\rback and cars are the major source of that, more so even than Energy Utilities<\/a> of dirty air. So its endangering Peoples Health<\/a> without doing much, frankly, if anything at all, for the major Car Companies<\/a> and jobs. Governor whitman, i appreciate your time. Thank you very much. No problem. Coming up, more on tonights Breaking News<\/a> in the Washington Post<\/a> about what Robert Mueller<\/a> told the president s lawyers just last month about whether the president himself is a criminal target in the investigation. Well have the latest on that next. Hey, what are you guys doing here . Weve been helping you prepare and invest for retirement since day one. Why would we leave now . Because im retired now. So . Were voya. We stay with you to and through retirement. With solutions to help provide income throughout. So youll still be here to help me make smart choices . Well, with your finances that is","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"https:\/\/vimarsana.com\/images\/vimarsana-bigimage.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240618T12:35:10+00:00"}