Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom With Brooke Baldwin 201612

CNNW CNN Newsroom With Brooke Baldwin December 12, 2016

Than a week. House Speaker Paul Ryan also just released this statement saying, in part, quote, any intervention by russia is especially problematic because under president putin, russia has been an aggressor that consistently undermines american interests. Earlier Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell expressed his confidence in the work of the cia while strongly condemning russia. Belief that somehow republicans in the senate are reluctant to either review russian tactics or ignore them. The russians are not our friends. Invaded crimea, senator mccain and i and some of our democratic friends met with delegation from the baltic countries just this past week to say theyre nervous about the russians, is to put it mildly. Now, contrast to that to what weve heard from the president elect. Mr. Trump told fox news he doesnt believe russia tried to influence the election to help him. Today took to twitter and tweeted this. Unless you catch, quote unquote, hackers in the act, it is very hard to determine who was doing the hacking, why wasnt this brought up before the election . The answer is a resounding, yes, of course, we have been reporting about russian interference into the elections since june. Lets begin with our goto guy on capitol hill, manu raju. There is a major battle looming over this investigation. Reporter absolutely, brooke. This is going to overshadow a lot of things donald trump may want to do in the beginning parts of the new administration, the new congress. Now, this investigation is probably going to take shape in both the house and the Senate Intelligence committees as well as the Senate Arms Services committee, which is chaired by senator john mccain. One thing senator Mitch Mcconnell, the majority leader said today, he wants these investigations to happen in the existing Standing Committees on capitol hill, rejecting that call from democrats to create a separate Bipartisan Commission with subpoena power, similar to what we saw after the 9 11 attacks and watergate style commission. Nevertheless, there is going to be this investigation. Republicans are being very careful not to say that russia got involved to sway the elections to donald trump. But one person, brooke, who is not being as judicious, i should say, is senator harry reid, the outgoing minority leader who believes that james comb y the fbi director, intentionally tried to sway this election to help donald trump and suppressed Key Information about russias involvement. I had a chance to talk to him in his Senate Office a few moments ago. Heres what he had to say. If trump had won this race, if russia did not get involved in the race . All i know is russia helped a lot. Those wikileaks coming out, drip, drip, drip, hurt her. And comey helped trump significantly. A week before the election he came out with. Oh, we found some more emails. As a result of that, we lost senate seats, and i think we lost the presidency. Reporter so you think comey singlehandedly swayed this election to clinton and kept republicans in control of the senate . Im not saying singlehandedly but for him well, ill say singlehandedly. Had he not written that letter a week before the election, she would have won and we would have picked up almost two more senate seats. Reporter are you okay with the president taking that briefing once a week . Well, its very concerning to me. I know the people that brief the president. They spend 80 hours a week getting ready to brief the president. 80 hours a week. Because that information is so sensitive. I dont get a briefing every day, but i get one every couple weeks thats very concerning. And i think its unbelievable that he said, well, let pence do it. That should be done by the chief executive of our government. Reporter now, that last reference was in reference to donald trump saying over the weekend that he only takes that president ial Daily Briefing of classified information once a week rather than every single day. Obviously, reid very critical of that. In that same interview reid also said Donald Trumps choice of secretary of state, likely choice, Rex Tillerson, exxonmobil ceo, would have a very difficult time getting confirmed. Even though harry reid wont be here any more, he knows how to read the senate very well. Joe manchin, West Virginia democrat, meeting with donald trump right now. Reid told me he thinks manchin is running for that position. Incredible, well pose it to some newsmakers. Manu raju, thank you. While there is no question among intel agencies the russians hacked into the 2016 election, there is a question as to why it was done. The cia says it was all about helping donald trump. The fbi not going that far. Lets bring in pamela brown. Its important to point out the nuances and differences between what the cia is saying and the fbi is saying. You hit the nail on the head saying nuance. Thats what were dealing with here. When you have intelligence, its not a perfect science, art, as one trying to describe the differences between the agencies. Some intelligence agencies who believe russia not only meddled in the u. S. Election but theyre increasingly confident that they helped undermine Hillary Clintons campaign to help trump win. That was shared with the cia in congress during a classified briefing on the hill after the election. As you point out, the fbi is simply not willing to go that far about russias motives just yet. The fbi, from what were told, gave a more conservative estimate to congress. There is a broad agreement that russia had some involvement in the election. Intelligence agencies released a joint statement saying they were united in the belief that russia tried to sow chaos during the election. Officials tell cnn that new intelligence sheds more light on russias intelligence, according to the New York Times part of the cias shift in assessment is based on the fact that russians hacked democratic and republican groups but chose only to publish documents from democrats online. We have learned, brooke, fbi investigators did find a breach of a thirdparty entity that held data belonging to the rnc but it appears it was outdated and of little value to the hackers. The fbi has not concluded the rnc was breached. The rnc has denied its been hacked at all. Thats right. Theres a lot here to digest. Pamela brown, thank you so much for that. Lets delve a little deeper into this. Have i two voices standing by, julie pace, chief White House Correspondent for Associated Press and contributor on cnns inside politics and dave williams, former cia special agent in charge and counterterrorism expert. So, welcome to both of you. And i think lets take three steps back, if we can just for a second, julie, and first of all, the headline. The cia has concluded that russia intervened in the president ial election to help trump win. This is an explosive allegation. It really is. Obviously, during the campaign we had reports from intelligence agencies that russia was interfering in the election, but to go this extra step and say they were doing that on behalf of donald trump, i think, is really troubling if youre someone who cares about the integrity of american elections. Thats what youre hearing both from democrats and some republicans now, that this really isnt about the outcome of this election, its not about challenging this outcome. Its about protecting our elections going forward. If russia was interfering on behalf of a specific candidate in 2016, whats to prevent them from doing that in the future if we dont get a handle on how this happened. Let me pause and correct myself if i said cia. Of course, dave, forgive me, fbi. I have cia on on the brain based on what they have said. Of course, youre former fbi. Julie, back to you, because we learned maybe an hour ago that john podesta, Hillary Clintons campaign chairman, today is now backing these Electoral College electors who are saying, yes, we want these intel briefings on any kind of foreign intervention in the president ial elections ahead of the big vote december 19th. Do you think hes hoping they will change their minds . I think that they want to create not doubt about the outcome of the election but some doubt as to who was to blame for Hillary Clintons loss. Youve seen a lot of people in the Clinton Campaign with their backs up against the wall, trying to point to comb y trying to point to other outside factors. Again, i dont think youre seeing them challenge whether donald trump won the election or not, but theyre certainly trying to point their fingers to other people besides Hillary Clinton and their own decisions. Now, dave, to you. Just the fact that mr. Trump does not believe the cias conclusions from your intel fbi perspective, i want to first explain to us how important a working relationship is between the president of the United States and the Intel Community and how working in a more, you know, hostile environment woulding challenging . Well, the relationship, i think, between the president and the Intelligence Community is a very important one. That relationship has been handled differently by different president s. This president apparently chooses not this president elect chooses not to be briefed every day on the president ial daily brief. Others have also not done that exactly. Some want absolutely delve into it every day. Its an important relationship. That is the feeder information to the president as to whats going on in the world. Do you think hes right, though, to be skeptical, it was one of his Transition Team personnel who essentially said, these are the people, as in the cia, you know, who said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. What do you make of that . Hes made the statement that Saddam Hussein the Intelligence Community errored, so to speak, that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Lets not forget the entire western world at that time was of the opinion that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The primary reason for that was Saddam Hussein wanted iran to believe that. And he went to Great Lengths to have that done. So, the error on the part of the western Intelligence Services was widespread. Julie, take it a step further. This is what im also wondering. If you have a president of the United States here, a president trump, who then doesnt entirely trust his intelligence officials and community, how then can Americans Trust mr. Trumps decisionmaking if he doesnt trust the information hes getting . Are you with me . Right. Absolutely. I think the consequences of what hes saying here could be pretty great. The one thing i would caution is that a lot of things change, even from your transition to actually being in office. When youre the person whos having to make decisions based on the intelligence not just putting out statements and tweets about it. So thats one thing we should look for, how his position changes in office. But he may be able to change over the leadership of the intelligence agencies with some of his political appointments, but hes going to be getting information from a lot of the same career officials that have been there, providing the information about russian intelligence and other matters that he disagrees with. How he handles that and how he conveys, then, his decisions and what hes basing those decisions on to the american people, i think, is going to be critical going forward. Back to the president ial Daily Briefings, he says we know mike pence is taking them, i would to say almost daily, but mr. Trump says he doesnt feel the need to be briefed daily. Here he was talking about it. These are very good people giving me the briefings. If something should change from that point, immediately call me. Im available on one minutes notice. I dont have to be told you know, im like a smart person. I dont have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years. Could be eight years, but eight years. I dont need that. Dave, he says hes a smart person. Got a lot of smart people around him. Do you think hes right or no . Well, smart people like to be briefed by smart people as well. The United States Intelligence Community is made up of professionals. Regardless of who might be the agency head at any given time, the core people who are putting out the Intelligence Briefings know what theyre talking about. Theyre very good. And id also like to say, brooke, there really is no difference here between what the fbi is finding, shall we say, in the cia. You dont think so . Theres a different culture as to where we go. The fbi primarily comes from a culture. Were looking for a very high standard. Probable cause going into beyond reebl doubt. Thats a much higher standard. Now, i recognize that in the world, you dont always get to that standard. You dont always get there. But you strive to get as high as you can. And thats where i think theres a little bit difference of how far we perceive we are in this thing. I got it. Dave williams, thank you so. Former fbi. Julie pace, always a pleasure. Thank you both. Coming up next, president elect trumps leading candidate for secretary of state, a big oil giant and buddy of Vladimir Putins and now republicans are sounding the alarm. They are some of trumps fiercest supporters, so why are they being shut out of his administration . Well discuss that. And just a chilling confession on video by the racist who carried out that massacre inside a Charleston Church. See why he laughed immediately following his arrest. Youre watching cnn. Welcome back. This is cnn. Im brooke baldwin. Rex tillerson, one of the most recognizable faces in big oil. Saying the ceo of exxonmobil is also Donald Trumps choice for secretary of state. Mr. Trump calling tillerson much more than a business executive. Well, in his case, hes much more than a business executive. Hes a world class player. Hes in charge of, i guess, the large oes company in the world. Hes in charge of an oil company thats pretty much double the size of his next nearest competitor. Its been a company thats been unbelievably managed. And, to me, a great advantage is he knows many of the players. And he knows them well. He does massive deals in russia. He does massive deals for the company, not for himself, but for the company. And it would appear the kremlin echoes tillersons business acumen. He has negotiated oil deals with russia for billions of dollars. He was ordered russias order of friendship by Vladimir Putin himself. This is not sitting well with Top Republicans. Here to discuss, Clarissa Ward and cnn political analyst jackie kucinich, also Washington Bureau chief for the daily beast. Clarissa, first to you in london. What do we know about tillersons ties to russia and what message would that be sending if hes the guy trump selects . The most important thing we know about tillerson, other than the fact he has no diplomatic experience in the traditional sense, is that he actively spoke out against u. S. Sanctions against russia, which were levied against russia after it annexed crimea in 2014. So, that is significant. He has been outspoken and saying those sanctions were wrong and, of course, the question now is, would he try in some sense to repeal them . Now, today we heard from the kremlin who had something to say about tillerson, which in and of itself is highly unusual. Normally the kremlin would not comment on somebody, especially before this person had been officially announced. What the kremlin said was this, they praised tillerson and said hes very professional and then said, quote, as to whether or not hes friendly to russia, theres a huge difference between being a secretary of state and being a ceo of a big corporation. All sympathies must take a backseat. At the same time, the fact the kremlin wrote this statement and came out and voiced its opinion about tillerson is, i think, indicative of the fact that they are cautiously optimistic and, indeed, enthusiastic about the possibility of tillerson as secretary of state, primarily because they want to see those sanctions repealed. They want to see european sanctions repealed as well. Those hitting them even harder because theyre bigger trade partners. But they need someone to make that happen and perhaps theyre hopeful tillerson could be that person. Statement from the kremlin, that speaks volume. Jackie kucinich, you have all the backdrop and timing. Cia saying russia interfered in the election to help trump. Then you have, you know, tillersons ties to russia causing concern among Top Republican senators, including marco rubio took to twitter saying, being a friend of vladimir, quote unquote, is not an attribute im hoping for from secretary of state. With 48 democrats, we know he wont be confirmed. What do you think his chances are . Reporter that has to be one of the things the emerging Trump Administration has to be looking at. There needs to be a serious charm offensive. Whether that be enough, he he it remains to be seen. No matter what, he is going to have to

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