Transcripts For CNNW The Lead With Jake Tapper 20180411 : vi

CNNW The Lead With Jake Tapper April 11, 2018

Well call this today. Speaker paul ryan will join me shortly and monitoring the White House Briefing which may start at any moment. My panel is here. Lets start with them, david urban, a big supporter of President Trump, what do you make of this . One of the things that the fbi is looking for is information related to the access hollywood video, perhaps this hassing to smg perhaps this has to do with Michael Cohen keeping something out of the and i think the fbi action might be heavy. We heard professor der sh witz talking about there are many, many avenues to find information out without raiding the president s personal lawyer. You get im sure they could find out information about this access Hollywood Tape through a variety of different channels without kicking down the door of the president s lawyer and rivaling through his stuff. I think it could have been done different. And you heard mark meadow saying the House Freedom caucus is up upset because theyre asking for documents and not getting what they need but hearing it from different folks, not just folks who support the president on this one. Jen, what is your take on this. Im not a lawyer and i dont think any of us are lawyers david is. I think you can validate it is not easy to get a search warrant. So whether you like what they did or didnt get, there is justification and we dont know what it is because it hasnt been made public yet. We dont know what they had exactly and we also dont know what they got out of it because we dont know what mueller has. The most interesting piece is how trump reacted which was to completely freak out and melt down and make it look like he was not an innocent man in this case. Stand by because right now i want to bring in the House Speaker paul ryan. Thanks for joining us. It is a big day for you and i do want to talk about your retierm retirement but the New York Times is saying they were looking for information about the access Hollywood Tape and possibly attempted by cohen to suppress damaging information about there trump. After the access Hollywood Tape came out in 2016, mr. Trump was asked not to appear at an event for you and now it is back in the news in a major way. This must bother you, access hollywood, Stormy Daniels and Karen Mcdougal, at a certain point it must be embarrassing. I didnt read the article. Im familiar with what you are talking about. So were pretty focused on getting our work done here. And so this is something that ill let you guys speculate about. Right now im busy trying to get things done in congress. We have a big agenda and that is where my focus is and i dont have much punditry to offer you on this. And look, i just think the president ought to handle it is compartmentalize it and focus on doing your job. We have issues with syria and a budget to pass this week and we have a lot to do and that is what im focused on. Lets talk about your retirement. A big announcement. You said you want to spend more time with wife and kids and very understandable and youve said things to me like that privately but i do want to get your reaction to other speculation. Listen to the former republican governor of new jersey talking today about your decision. He said, quote, it is a big indicator that the speaker doesnt think he would be speaker any more, if you are a betting person youre betting on the democrats for the house in the fall, unquote. Again, i know family played a huge part in the decision, but isnt governor correct that the odds are you wouldnt be speaker any more come january. Actually, i dont believe that. Thats not true. Because we have an excellent track record to run on. Look at the economy and wages and bonuses and tax reform and regulatory relief. We just rebuilt the military. That is taking place. And weve actually passed an agenda into law, we are one of the crazy people that said what we would do after the campaign and were doing it and it is making a positive difference in peoples lives so i think well have a good story to tell so im confident we could keep the majority and one of the reasons why i was comfortable making this decision, jake. In a funny way, i decided to do this, number one, my kids are now teenagers, theyve only known me as a weekend dad because they were born after i was elected to congress. So thats a personal decision but i was able to make the decision because i feel like we have put our majority in a good place because we have gotten a lot done. It is making a big difference in peeps lives so im confident i will handle this over to another republican speaker and because of the list of accomplishments i feel content and confident and therefore i feel like i could do what ive always wanted to do which is to be a full time dad with my wife for at least part of my childrens upbringing because if i do another term, that is really all they will ever know me at home, is a weekend dad. And that is just something i just cant live with. There are also a lot of republicans on capitol hill speculating that President Trump hasnt exactly made your life as speaker any easier even though he obviously signs your bills as a republican president would. I do know youve had concerns about the way the president has conducted himself. Take a listen to john thune discussing your relationship with President Trump. That is a little bit of a difficult marriage from the beginning. They are very different in terms of temperament and character. Very different in terms of temperament and character and you are talking about your kids today. What do you tell your children when they ask you about the president s temperament and character . They dont ask me about the president s character. We try not to talk about these things. I try to spend my time talking about what is doing on in their lives. But to get to the point youre asking, were very different people. Im from the upper midwest. Im not from new york, were from a different generation. So we have different styles. But what we learned after we got to know each other because we didnt know each other at all in the campaign and yeah, we had a lot of friction in our relationship. But we learned is we have a common agenda to agree on and we want to get it done and it will make a difference in peoples lives and that is what we were elected to do. He got elected president , i got elected speaker and i think it is our job on behalf of the people we represent and the people of this nation to focus on their problems, get things done and make a big difference and that is what were doing and that is what im proud about. So i understand what you are saying, but obviously it is more than stylistic. It has to do you both have different visions of the republican party. You could come together on issues like repealing and replacing obamacare or tax cuts but in terms of the message of the republican party, you disagree and that has the deal youve made to try to get these things done for the American People has subjected you to criticism, Ron Brownstein wrote today, quote, paul ryan chose to tolerate both trumps personal excess and his racially polarizing words and deeds as the advance for his own priorities and cutting spending and regulations and above all taxes and he personified the devils bargon, the gop has signed with trump. What is your response when you hear criticism ive known ron for 25 years. I dont see getting things done for the country keeping your promises and making a difference a devils bargain. Look, we have a divided we have separation of powers. We have three separate coequal branches of government and many republicans an the secret to success from what i see is getting the different kind of republicans to form a Coalition Government that could actually deliver. That is what we have right now. Im grateful for the president to win the election, to give us this chance and opportunity to make a big difference in peoples lives. So im really proud of the accomplishment here. And so i dont see it as a bargain or whatever you call it, but the country said go fix these problems, you get the majority in the house and the senate, here is the presidency, now go do something with it. That is what were doing. That is not devils bargain. That is actually doing what the people in this country asked us to do and keeping our word, and im very proud of that fact. So if a year ago or two years ago somebody asks me what were the two most important things to paul ryan i would say tax cuts tax reform. Tax cuts or tax reform okay. And entitlement reform or changing the way the social safety net programs and Social Security and medicare and medicaid exist so they will exist in future generations. One of them youve done and the other you have not. The Congressional Budget Office as you know this week came out with a report projecting trillion dollar deficits will start in 2020 if nothing is done and by 2028 they expect the deficit to top 1. 5 trillion. Now the cbo said this is largely not entirely but largely because of the tax cuts, take a listen to republican senator bob corker. He said, quote, this congress and this administration likely will go down as one of the most fiscally irresponsible administrations in congress that weve had. Do you disagree. I do disagree. If you look at the projections and ive seen them from cbo, i was a budget chair and we knew we would have pressure on deficit hitting because of the baby boomers anden titlement which is twothirds of the budget. If you look at the forecast, Discretionary Spending rises about 300 billion. Tax revenue still increase, entitlement spending increases 2 trillion over the next ten years. So this is the issue. That is always been the issue when it comes to debt and deficit in the future. And that is one of the things ive talked about forever. And jake, i have to tell you, im particularly proud of the fact that the house, ever since i was budget chairman to this term of congress, has passed budgets that not only balance the budget but pay off the debt, last year we passed out of the house now it didnt go to law and that is one of my regrets but out of the house we passed the single biggest entitlement Reform Bill Congress ever considered and lowered Health Care Premiums and shaved trillion dollars off our longterm debt and unfortunately that bill did not pass the senate. But it did pass the house and im proud of that fact. So yeah, we got a lot of work to do, but i do really feel that ive helped contribute to advancing the cause of dealing with entitlement and i think we could make it better. I think the entightment, medicare and medicaid and Social Security, they could work better and get the debt under control but we have to reform the programs. Weve not had bipartisan con senso census to do that and we were able to get a bill this year and i wished we could have passed that into law because i think it would make a great difference but weve advanced the issues. These issues arent going away and i think were closer to a consensus than just a couple of years ago when we started talking about this issues. I have two more questions and then i know you have to go. Maybe it is early for you to be retrospective and look back at your career in congress and can you think of what your best moment in congress was and worst moment. Losing the majority in 06 was an ugly time when we lost the major. Losing in 2012 election was a pretty tough moment for me. I was on the ticket with mitt. Those are tough moments. I think getting tax reform done was one of the best moments, something ive been working on for over 20 years, since ive worked for jack kemp i worked on tax reform and i think it is critical for economic growth. I think there are a lot of things in the tax bill that help advance our poverty, like enterprise zones, social impact bonds and things that americans dont know about yet that im proud about it and im excited about advancing issues i care about that and that is what im most proud about. And lastly, i find it hard to believe that january will be the last time youre on the political scene. I find it hard to believe that you wont run for senate or governor or president some day. Youre shaking your head. You dont think there is no chance youll reenter politics. Not while my kids are growing up. And not in i dont see that. I really thought when i took this job, jake, this is the probably last elected office i would have. Im not going to run for president. That is not my plan. I will not do that. I want to spend time doing the things that ive just discussed doing. Im always going to advocate for the causes that i have but right now the last thing im thinking about is running for something. I believe that. But well see. Im going to believe that well see. Because your kids are teenagers, theyll be out of the house soon enough and that is why youre going home. I really dont think ill change my mind, but thanks, jake, appreciate it. House Speaker Paul Ryan thank you so much for your time and best to your family. White House Press Secretary sara sanders is holding the briefing. Lets listen in. Are they an enemy at this point . That is something that russia needs to play a role in determining. We hope they will continue or not continue, im sorry, but to be a bad actor and make changes in their behavior but that is something russia will have to determine. As you say all options are on the table when it comes to syria and russia, has diplomacy been exhausted. All options are on the table. And are you saying that again, all options are on the table. That contains a number of different things. It could still be in play . It could be. But there are a lot of other options also on the table. [ inaudible ] to ensure that a special counsel isnt fired for political reasons. Does the white house support that bill or does the white house think a bill like that is necessary . We dont have an administrative policy on that right now. John. Thank you, sara. Two questions. On monday i asked you if president had contracted president macron and Prime Minister may about an alliance with france and england, not unlike that that president obama tried to forge in 2013. He has had two conversations with both of them. Have there been any new developments . Has he spoken with any other world leaders, especially those in the Central Europe about a larger coalition instead of the u. S. Going it alone in syria. Weve had regular contact with regional allies and partners, including israel and saudi arabia, france and the u. K. As well as a number of other countries at various levels. Weve provided readouts of the conversations the president has directly had. But both are the National Security adviser as well as the secretary of defense, the acting secretary of state and a number of others in the administration have had regular contact with their counterparts from a number of other countries. And the other thing i wanted to ask, the president has a Good Relationship with congressman scalise and a good personal relationship with his family. What does he think about the reports that congressman scalise will run for speaker soon . The president has a great relationship with a number of members in the house of representatives who support his agenda. And he looks forward to working with all of them over the course of the next six and a half seven years i guess. Is the president considering firing or in other ways pushing out rosenstein . I dont have any personal announcements at this front and one other thing paul ryan said today hes been given assurances by the white house that president isnt planning to fire rosenstein or mueller. Do you know where hes getting those assurances, from the president or coming from others . Where is it coming from. Again, i dont have any announcements on that front. And a member of the Foreign Relations Committee Said today that the president must come to congress for authorization prior to another military strike on syria and others who are also saying that. Does the administration intend to do that and if not, why not . Obviously the administration will follow whatever laws and regulations are necessary for any actions that we take and because we havent laid out any specific acs i cant tell you exactly what needs we would have to go to congress with. It sounds like the president hasnt left a lot of wiggle room. You said all options are on the table but when the president said get ready russia, the missiles are coming, how is that anything but an announcement of a pending air strike. That is certainly one option. But that doesnt mean it is the only option or the only thing that the president may or may not do. Just because he does one thing doesnt mean he cant do a number of other actions as well [ inaudible question ]. And he hasnt laid out the timetable which would be broadcasting his intentions. And one thing on speaker ryans announcement, there were fears up on capitol hill and we understand some in the white house that have democratic wave could sweep the republicans out of power in the house and that could potentially lead to impeachment proceedings that the democrats could bring forward. What is the president s thinking of on that and your thinking on that. Like i said earlier, were confident in the record that we have and the very successful first year and a half the president had in office and we expect to talk about that a lot. We would love for you guys to talk about that a lot more too and wed be happy to send you some talking points if you need some guidance on that. You think a wave is coming . We certainly think we have a great story to tell and we think america will be ready to listen to that and certainly has i think felt the impacts, certainly from an economic standpoint from this administration and were proud of that. Next question. [ inaudible ]. Is there anything syria or russia could do at this point to avoid military action. I wont get ahead of anything but certainly like ive said a few times today, all options are on the table. And well continue conversations with our allies and partners and move forward from that point. Thanks so much, guys. Have a great day. Youve been listening to th

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