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Trump Keeps Up Criticism of Germany Amid Tensions; Pentagon to Test Ability to Shoot Down Intercontinental Missiles; Democrat Congressman Calls for Kushner's Resignation; Trump Attorney Michael Cohen Refuses Congressional Invitation to Testify on Russia; Awaiting White House Press Briefing with Sean Spicer. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired May 30, 2017 - 13:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[13:30:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Sean Spicer expected to come out within the next half hour or so for his first on camera briefing since the president returned from his international trip. We're going to have live coverage of that coming up. Stick around. It will be interesting.

President Trump earlier today not backing down from criticism he's receiving from various quarters. He's leveling some criticism at Germany, taking a swipe at that country saying Germany is bad on trade and not fulfilling NATO obligations. Is the president's America First policy creating a rift between the U.S. and its closest, strongest allies?

Joining us now, CNN's political analyst, David Sanger, of "The New York Times." He's the national security correspondent.

What's your reaction, David, to the president's latest tweet going directly against Germany?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Wolf, it's a little bit of a strange fight to pick because the Germans are on a schedule to get up to the 2 percent of GDP contribution that they and other members of the NATO have committed to. They're not supposed to reach that level now for six or seven years. That was the agreement. It's not a binding treaty. He is right, I think, to keep pressing this issue as President Obama did and President Bush did before him. The question is, by putting on all of these additional discussions of burdens and not discussing the U.S. commitment to Europe, the European experiment, the European unity, or everything the United States and Europe have done together since World War II, is he actually undercutting part of the America First element? Because you can't do America First by yourself.

BLITZER: He also complains that there are too many German cars here in the United States.

I want you to listen to Angela Merkel responding earlier to -- her comments explaining why she's losing confidence in this connection with the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translation): The discussions with the United States of America, of course, are important, just as the discussions with other partners. The transatlantic relationship is of incredible importance. And what I said is really just to point out that, at the current point in time, there are more reasons than there even were before to take our fate into our own hands within Europe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Meaning not necessarily with the United States.

SANGER: That's right.

BLITZER: She's not apologizing. She's sort of just clarifying what she had said.

SANGER: If we were in her position, Wolf, I think we'd probably be saying the same thing. The president came out, made a perfectly reasonable case for why Europe should be spending more not to defend us but to defend themselves, described as a partnership. But then he missed the next line, which is, of course, the United States stands with its NATO allies under Article V, which is basically an attack on one is an attack on all. It's what the Europeans invoked the day after the September 11th attacks to give support to the U.S. Many of the NATO forces were in, not in a huge way, but they were in Iraq and Afghanistan in a significant way. I think they're feeling as if that is not acknowledged and that the American withholding of the commitment to the underpinning of NATO makes them wonder do they need defenses that would operate separately from the United States. And ultimately, though no one has said this yet, do they need a nuclear weapons force that is separate from the United States? Because right now, they depend on American nuclear weapons.

BLITZER: It's a very sensitive moment in this U.S. alliance, this transatlantic alliance.

SANGER: It is.

BLITZER: David Sanger, thanks for joining us.

SANGER: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Today, also for the first time, the Pentagon will test its ability to shoot down an intercontinental missile using its own upgraded intercepting system. The test comes amid new threats from North Korea, which launched its ninth missile test this week. The Pentagon insists the test is not just about Pyongyang, but meant to counter any threat, even one from Iran.

Barbara Starr is joining us from Pentagon now.

Barbara, what more do we know about this new system and the timing of this new test?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf. All eyes will be peeled between 3:00 and 7:00 today east coast time. It will start, if it as goes as planned, an interceptor missile, a U.S. missile will launch from an Air Force base in California. At the same time, a test missile mimicking a North Korean or Iranian ICBM will launch out of a remote island in the far Pacific. They both climb very rapidly into space. The whole idea. We saw a preliminary test. I think we have video to show.

It's essentially a bullet hitting a bullet out in space. They hope this works. If it does, this is going to be a big step down the road to proving that the U.S. could shoot down an intercontinental ballistic missile.

But remember, this is just a test. Nobody's really clear at this point what capability the North Koreans have in hand. This test is a step down the road to try to make sure that the U.S. has the capability to shoot something down if it came to that -- Wolf?

[13:35:23] BLITZER: Very quickly, some new U.S. aircraft carrier deployments in that region. What are you hearing?

STARR: Wolf, the "USS Carl Vinson" out there, and as soon as tomorrow, the carrier "USS Ronald Reagan" may be joining it in the Sea of Japan for a couple of day of exercises. Not that unusual. They'll be several hundred miles off the Korean peninsula. But the North Koreans will be watching that and we expect Pyongyang to have lots to say about this training exercise -- Wolf?

BLITZER: I'm sure they will.

Barbara, at the Pentagon, thank you.

Meanwhile, ISIS targeting children and the elderly, claiming responsibility for two bombings that happened just hours apart in Baghdad. The first bomb killed 40 people and wounded others at an ice cream shop in the heart of the city in a street typically filled with young people and families. Especially busy during the holy month of Ramadan. The second bomb went off as elderly residents waited in line to collect their pensions this morning. 11 people died, another 43 wounded. ISIS seemingly more aggressive as these incidents follow the deadly attacks in Manchester, England, at a pop concert killing 22 people and the twin bombings on Egyptian Coptic churches on Palm Sunday killing 44 people.

Also coming up, the scrutiny surrounding the president's son-in-law and trusted senior adviser, Jared Kushner, regarding his contacts with Russia has one Democratic congressman calling for Kushner's resignation. We'll speak with Congressman Ted Lieu. He's standing by live. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:41:07] BLITZER: The White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer expected fairly soon to come into the White House briefing room to start taking questions from reporters. His first on-camera briefing in quite a while. We'll of course, have live coverage right here on CNN. Sean Spicer likely to address lots of questions, including the latest

scrutiny surrounding the president's son-in-law, trusted senior adviser, Jared Kushner, his contacts with Russia. A source familiar with Kushner's White House duties, that source says he is not giving up any part of his vast portfolio, which includes Middle East peace, streamlining government, and other issues. The sources saying Kushner, quote, "has a strong team around him working on every part of his portfolio," end quote.

That information not likely to sit well with Democratic Congressman from California, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee member, Ted Lieu. The congressman is joining us.

Thanks for joining us.

REP. TED LIEU, (D), CALIFORNIA: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Why should he resign? Why do you believe there's enough evidence for him to resign?

LIEU: It's very clear that Jared Kushner lied on his security lee clearance form. The White House does not deny he omitted multiple Russian meetings. Now we know those meetings were significant. One dealt with a secret back channel to Russia. A second dealt with the head of a bank that was being sanctioned by the U.S. At the time. You don't just forget about these meetings. Jared Kushner deliberately omitted those on his security clearance form. That's a felony and it also puts in a compromised position.

BLITZER: His attorney, the former deputy attorney general, Jamie Gorelick, who served under Bill Clinton, says he's ready to answer all of your questions in Congress. He's ready to appear and he has nothing to hide. Your response?

LIEU: I would love for Jared Kushner to answer why he lied on his security clearance form under oath. And keep in mind, Reuters just broke a story that says that on the second revised security clearance form Jared Kushner lied again. He omitted two additional contacts with the Russians that were not on that form.

BLITZER: They deny, Congressman, that he lied and he did correct that security form a day after, once he got some new information. It was not a deliberate omission. That's what they're pointing out. One day later he fixed all of those contacts. As you point out, Reuters is saying there were maybe two other phone calls, maybe three phone calls that he didn't report on. His attorney, Jamie Gorelick, is saying he had thousands of phone calls during that year and he couldn't remember all of them.

LIEU: Jared Kushner fixed his first security clearance form only because it was pointed out to him that he omitted all these Russian meetings. And because these were significant meetings, these were deliberate omissions. You can't actually fix it a day later because the felony occurs at the time he made the deliberate omissions. And then with respect to his multiple calls to the Russians, why was he even making those calls? You would remember those calls to a Russian ambassador. It's not as if he was filling out this form about events years later. He was filling out this form within months of these contacts.

BLITZER: I just want to also point out to be convicted of a felony, you have to show intent, that he intended to lie on those forms. His attorneys will argue that.

Let me get to another issue that's come up, Congressman, the breaking news we've been following. One of President Trump's long time personal attorneys in New York, Michael Cohen, has now declined an invitation to provide information and testimony pertaining to the entire Russia investigation, saying the request was poorly phrased, overly broad, and not capable of being answered. Your response?

LIEU: I hope that Mr. Cohen will eventually answer these questions. Certainly, the intelligence committees can give him narrower interrogatories. But this shows the investigations are getting closer to President Trump.

With respect to Kushner, one of the questions is, did he ask his son- in-law to talk about these secret back-channel meetings or was this something that Kushner came up with by himself.

[13:45:22] BLITZER: Does the attorney, Michael Cohen, would he benefit from attorney/client privilege in declining the request to testify?

LIEU: Yes, he would. As an attorney, I believe attorney/client privilege would actually cover a lot of his discussions with President Trump if he was acting in that capacity.

BLITZER: Congressman Ted Lieu, as usual, thanks so much for joining us.

LIEU: Thank you.

BLITZER: We're only moments away from the White House press briefing. There you see live pictures coming from the West Wing of the White House. Press Secretary Sean Spicer will likely face some serious questions for the first time in nearly two weeks on camera. We're going to have live coverage of that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:49:58] BLITZER: You're looking at live pictures from inside the White House press briefing room. Press Secretary Sean Spicer's first on-camera briefing since the president's first international trip. He will face several questions about that trip, the activities of the president's son-in-law, senior adviser, Jared Kushner.

I want to bring in our senior political analyst, Mark Preston.

Mark, lots of questions. You're looking at three big questions that are likely to come up. Tell our viewers what they are.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I am. Again, there are so many questions that he's going to get today. First and foremost, what does President Trump know about Jared Kushner's meetings, you know, as a representative of him, specifically with the Russian bank executive, Sergey Gorkov, as well as the Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. And the reason being, this brings it so much closer to President Trump than the likes of Paul Manafort or Michael Flynn. This is in the family at this point. So what does he know about these meetings and was he supportive of them?

Secondly, we saw Mike Dubke, communications director, resign. He's leaving the White House. Is this the beginning of a big wave of people leaving? There's been a lot of talk about Sean Spicer, the press secretary, leaving or moving into another role. We won't necessarily see that. But what is going to happen to Reince Priebus, the chief of staff? Could we see someone like David Urban, who is a contributor at CNN, but is well liked, could he come in, as well as Corey Lewandowsky has been seen at the White House in the last few days.

And this comes down to how to get things done in Washington. Trump this morning said that the Senate should change its rules to get 51 votes to pass legislation on taxes and health care. A couple things are in play here. One is, he's trying to throw out the government system that has been in play now for a very long time and really has run our democracy very well. He also seems to not understand what the separation of government is, those are three branches of government. Also, Mitch McConnell has said it never, ever is going to happen. And as our Phil Mattingly points out, the bottom line is, Trump's problems are not Democrats on Capitol Hill, it's people within his own party.

BLITZER: They had the nuclear option for federal judges, for Supreme Court justices and cabinet members. But to do it in a whole host of other legislative issues, that would be an enormous change.

And you're correct, the majority leader says no. He tweeted this at 9:59 a.m. today, Trump, "The U.S. Senate should switch to 51 votes immediately and get health care and tax cuts approved fast and easy. Dems would do it, no doubt."

But even if they did that, there's no guarantee there would be three Republicans who would go along. The Republicans only have a 52-48 majority. You need 50 if the vice president is going to break a tie. So if three moderate Republicans refuse to go along, the Democrats win.

PRESTON: The Democrats win. And some of them, such as Susan Collins from Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, have expressed concerns about his legislative proposal. It's not going to happen. And this is now how you work with Congress -- Wolf?

BLITZER: He was busy tweeting on Germany, "We have a massive trade deficit with Germany and, plus, they have paid far less than they should for NATO. Very bad for U.S. This will change."

He's been busy, once again, tweeting. All those who thought he would come back and stop tweeting, guess what?

(CROSSTALK)

PRESTON: He did it.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: Stand by. Everybody stand by.

Mark Preston, we appreciate it.

That's it for me. I'll be back at 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room."

The Press Secretary Sean Spicer should be coming out in any moment.

Our own Brooke Baldwin will pick up our special coverage right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:58:07] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to take it a little early today. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you for being with me.

Any second, a big moment at the White House because Sean Spicer will be giving his first briefing since before the president's big trip overseas, and, of course, since the avalanche of news into the investigation of Donald Trump's campaign, ties to Russia and the events leading up to the president's firing of FBI Director James Comey.

Of all of the things here, the most pressing headline is the new CNN reporting that Russia believed it had derogatory information about Candidate Trump and his campaign aides, according to two former intelligence sources and a congressional source. We're told the information was, quote, "financial in nature" and that the intercepted communications centered around whether the Russians had leverage over him and his team.

A lot of players standing by to go through this as we have our eyes on the podium.

Jim Acosta, let me begin with you, our senior White House correspondent, there in the briefing room.

This is a huge briefing. This is the first time we've seen Sean Spicer at the White House in some 15 days.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right.

BALDWIN: What do you expect?

ACOSTA: Well, there's been a lot of news this morning on the Russia investigation, Brooke. There probably will be, judging by the pace of things, probably Russia news during the briefing today for Sean Spicer. So we'll have to see how fast he can keep up. It is his first briefing in a couple of weeks since the president went on that foreign trip. I suspect there will be plenty of questions about the foreign trip, the president's perception of it, the staff's perception of it.

Obviously, there was a tweet from the president this morning about Germany after so much conversation last week about how the president was dealing with European leaders, with NATO leaders. I suspect that will come up.

But, of course, the Russia investigation hangs over so much here. And we understand that in just the last hour or so, that the president's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, has been asked to cooperate with House and Senate Intelligence Committee investigators. I contacted Michael Cohen over the phone and he said that is true, he has been requested to provide information and testimony to those committees. He --