President Trump Set to Announce Iran Nuclear Deal Decision; Melania Trump Unveils Agenda; Interview With California Congressman Ted Lieu
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: A rare speech by the first lady, as she unveils her official platform 16 months into the Trump presidency. Did her husband try to upstage her with a tweet? And rivers of lava. Remarkable new images of the unfolding disaster in Hawaii, where molten rock from a volcano has destroyed dozens of homes. How long will the eruption last? We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. Pleading the Fifth Amendment, refusing a subpoena, Rudy Giuliani suggests his client could do either as the Russia investigation closes in on President Trump. Giuliani's efforts at damage control after his disastrous debut as the president's new lawyer are creating even more problems, though, for the White House. We will talk about that, much more with Congressman Ted Lieu of the Judiciary and Foreign Relations Committees. And our correspondents and analysts are also standing by. First, let's go to our chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta. Jim, the White House insists Giuliani is adding value to the Trump legal team.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. The White House said that today, that Rudy Giuliani is adding value to the Trump legal team. That is despite the fact that the president said last week that Giuliani did not have his facts straight. The White House, they were shying away from questions today about the president's legal troubles, whether they be about the Stormy Daniels case or the Russia investigation. Aides to the president, you could tell this just by watching them today, Wolf, they have gotten burned in the past with statements that later turned out to be true. Today, they were being much more careful with their words.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): The only scheduled appearance of President Trump, an embrace with the first lady, as she unveiled a campaign aimed at the nation's children. That moment came less than an hour after the White House press secretary stated cautiously that she's not aware of any other hush money to women alleging affairs with the president.</s>SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I'm not aware of any other activity, but I would refer you to Rudy Giuliani to respond to any of those questions.</s>ACOSTA: That question was prompted by comments made by the president's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who tried to do some damage control over the weekend after he revealed Mr. Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen was reimbursed for a payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels, money Giuliani insisted did not violate campaign laws.</s>RUDY GIULIANI (R), FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK: It was not a campaign contribution, because it would have been done anyway. This is the kind of thing that I have settled for celebrities and famous people.</s>ACOSTA: On the Russia investigation, Giuliani argued the president has the right to refuse a subpoena to sit down with special counsel Robert Mueller.</s>GIULIANI: We don't have to. He's the president of the United States. We can assert the same privilege as other presidents have.</s>ACOSTA: Asked whether the White House agrees, Sanders dodged the question. (on camera): Does the president believe it is within his executive powers to reject a subpoena from the special counsel's office?</s>HUCKABEE SANDERS: That's a question I would refer you to special counsel.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): It was a sign White House officials are becoming more guarded in their comments, after their own false statements came back to haunt them. (on camera): Were you lying to us at the time or were you in the dark?</s>HUCKABEE SANDERS: The president has denied and continues to deny the underlying claim. And, again, I have given the best information I had at the time.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): The White House is trying to dig out of a credibility crisis, as it tries to convince the Senate to confirm the president's pick for CIA director, Gina Haspel, who nearly withdrew her name from consideration after questions arose about her involvement in the CIA's use of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques after 9/11. Sanders says the White House is all in on Haspel.</s>HUCKABEE SANDERS: She wants to do everything she can to make sure the integrity of the CIA remains intact, isn't unnecessarily attacked.</s>ACOSTA: And the president has his eye on a different campaign, urging Republicans to reject GOP Senate candidate Don Blankenship, who is running again the Republican establishment with a message that sounds overtly racist.</s>DON BLANKENSHIP (R), WEST VIRGINIA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Mitch McConnell has created millions of jobs for China people. While doing so, Mitch has gotten rich.</s>ACOSTA: The president tweeted: "To the great people of West Virginia, we have together a really great chance to keep making a big difference. The problem is, Don Blankenship, currently running for Senate, can't win the general election in your state. No way." The problem for the president, Blankenship comes across a lot like Mr. Trump.</s>BLANKENSHIP: The fake news is also pretending to be offended by my use of the words China people. They seem not to realize that China is a country, not a race.</s>ACOSTA: And the White House obviously does not want a repeat of what happened in Alabama, where the president supported Roy Moore, who had been accused of sexual misconduct, and then lost a Senate race down there. On a completely different front, though, just before the president was out there in the Rose Garden with the first lady as she unveiled her message of Be Best, earlier today, the president revealed he will be announcing his decision on the Iran nuclear deal. That's at 2:00 tomorrow here at the White House. It is widely expected, Wolf, the president will pull out of the deal which he's repeatedly attack as one of the worst agreements in U.S. history . Wolf, if the president makes good on this rhetoric, it is likely Iran will restart its nuclear program. And European allies of the U.S. are already indicating, Wolf, that the writing is on the wall that the president will pull the U.S. out of that deal -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Very, very serious situation unfolding. Jim Acosta, thank you very much. The president also lashed out at the Russian investigation in a series of very angry tweets. Our justice correspondent, Jessica Schneider, is working this part of the story for us. Jessica, the president clearly on this issue very much on the offensive.</s>JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very much on the offensive here, Wolf. And the president continues to make his case both on Twitter and in the press, reiterating he did not obstruct justice; instead, he says he's just been fighting back. But on the legal front, the obstruction of justice probe by the special counsel's team will definitely be a lot more intricate than what the president has really been trying to simplify.</s>SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Tonight, the president continues to fight back questions about whether his actions inside the Oval Office obstructed justice, tweeting: "The Russia witch-hunt is rapidly losing credibility. House Intelligence Committee found no collusion, coordination or anything else with Russia. So now the problem says, OK, what else is there? How about obstruction for a made-up, phony crime. There's no O. It's called fighting back." Fighting back, a favorite phrase.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you fight back, they say, oh, that's obstruction of justice. Somebody says something wrong, you you fight back, they say that's obstruction of justice. It's nonsense.</s>SCHNEIDER: Rudy Giuliani backs the claims that all the president's actions have been well within his power.</s>GIULIANI: There's no evidence of obstruction of justice. Everything the president did, he has perfect authority to do under Article 2.</s>SCHNEIDER: But legal experts say fighting back and obstruction of justice are on two separate plains. Fighting back is more of a political tactic, while obstruction carries hefty legal implications.</s>MICHAEL ZELDIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: He's entitled to fight back. The question is, how does he fight back? If he just says no collusion, no obstruction, that's fine. If he intervenes in an ongoing investigation, fires the head of the investigative team, pardons people maliciously or otherwise, then it may be obstructive behavior.</s>SCHNEIDER: Obstruction of justice is a felony under federal law and punishable by up to 10 years for in prison for whoever corruptly or by threats of force obstructs or impedes or endeavors to influence, obstruct or impede the due administration of justice. One of the key words is corruptly, indicating intent is an important element.</s>ZELDIN: What the person who is investigated obstruction has to do is do it with corrupt intent, meaning bad purpose. He can't accidentally intervene in a case and be charged with obstruction. He has to with purpose and intent to endeavor to interfere with its success.</s>SCHNEIDER: The special counsel's investigators are looking at the president's actions and words involving his role with former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and fired FBI Director James Comey. The key questions to determine if there was obstruction, whether the president asked Comey to let it go during a January 2017 dinner referring to the Flynn investigation, whether the president asked the attorney general to protect him, and whether he has retaliated against the attorney general for his recusal from the Russia probe, and why the president fired James Comey. So far, the president and his new attorney had given three separate rationales. On the day the former FBI chief was fired, the White House pointed to this memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein pointing out Comey had mishandled the Clinton e-mail investigation. But, days later, the president acknowledged the Russia probe was a factor.</s>TRUMP: When I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story.</s>SCHNEIDER: And , last week, this explanation from Rudy Giuliani:</s>GIULIANI: He fired Comey because Comey would not, among other things, say that he wasn't a target of the investigation. He is entitled to that. He is entitled to that. Hillary Clinton got that, and he couldn't get that. So, he fired him and he said, I'm free of this guy.</s>SCHNEIDER: And Rudy Giuliani has really been unrelenting in his rhetoric against the former FBI director. Giuliani has called James Comey a liar. This weekend, he also called him Judas, saying the special counsel's team instead views Comey as a Moses. And, of course, these attacks are likely just another tactic by the Trump team to work to discredit the FBI director, since, of course, Wolf, the firing of FBI Director -- former FBI Director James Comey, it is a crucial element and aspect of Mueller's obstruction of justice investigation.</s>BLITZER: Important point, indeed. All right, Jessica, thanks very much. Let's get some more on all of this. Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu of California is joining us. He's a member of both the Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees. Congressman, thanks for joining us. As you know, the president tweeted -- and I'm reading it now -- "There is no O," referring to obstruction. "It's called fighting back." If there is no underlying crime, do you think the president has a point, that what you may call obstruction, his supporters would just see as fighting back or counterpunching?</s>REP. TED LIEU (D), CALIFORNIA: The president is absolutely wrong. You can fight back without violating the law. And in this case, the president chose to fight back by committing obstruction of justice. When he fired James Comey, he accidentally fire James Comey. He did that intentionally. And then a few days later, he went on national TV and told America his reason for doing so was because of the Russian probe. That's textbook obstruction of justice. That's not how you fight back legally.</s>BLITZER: If this does eventually come down to impeachment in the House of Representatives, isn't that, though, a useful political argument for him?</s>LIEU: You're right, Wolf. Impeachment is both a political and legal matter. I think impeachment, like Congress' power to declare war, is one of our gravest responsibilities. It should never be our first option. It has to be our last, and only if we have enough facts and if the law is behind us. So we have to wait to see what the special counsel's investigation reveals.</s>BLITZER: The president also tweeted this: "Is this phony witch-hunt going to go on even longer, so it wrongfully impacts the midterm elections, which is what the Democrats always intended?" What do you say to that point the president's making? Do you think Democrats should be campaigning on this issue, or is that a mistake?</s>LIEU: What Democrats actually are campaigning on, having a better deal, better wages, better jobs, and better skills. And we're campaigning on an economic message. In terms of the special counsel investigation, these things take time. Federal investigations take time. Ken Starr's investigation took a very long time. So we just have to wait to see what happens with all the interviews and how the investigation proceeds.</s>BLITZER: The president's new lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Congressman, says that they don't have to comply with a Robert Mueller subpoena. Giuliani says they can -- quote -- and I'm reading now -- they can assert the same privileges other presidents have. What does that mean?</s>LIEU: Giuliani is just flat-out wrong. The central lesson of Watergate is that no one is above the law, not even the president. And Nixon vs. the United States, the U.S. Supreme Court came in and said the president has to comply with a subpoena. Now, in this case, Donald Trump could comply with the subpoena, show up at an interview, and then plead the Fifth Amendment. That is his right to do so. But, politically, it would look very, very bad.</s>BLITZER: Well, elaborate. Would be the implications if he were to plead the Fifth? Which, of course, is the right of every American citizen to do so, so you don't incriminate yourself.</s>LIEU: The Fifth Amendment protects defendants in a court of law and in legal proceedings. It does not protect anyone in the court of public opinion. And Donald Trump, if he were to plead the Fifth, which cause the overwhelming majority of Americans to wonder, what is he hiding and what is he guilty of? So, it would be politically a very bad thing for him to do.</s>BLITZER: Yes, he has said on several occasions -- we have played the clips many times -- that the mob pleads the Fifth. If you have nothing to hide, why are you pleading the Fifth? If you're not guilty, why are you pleading the Fifth? He said that on many occasions. Let's turn to another sensitive issue that's unfolding right now. What do you make of the efforts by the House Intelligence Committee chairman, Devin Nunes, to hold the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, in contempt?</s>LIEU: So, CNN has reported that Devin Nunes doesn't read documents after he requests them. So I'm not sure why he's even requesting documents from Attorney general Jeff Sessions at Department of Justice. And in this case, there's a difference between Congress doing oversight and Congress meddling in an active investigation. What Devin Nunes is doing is meddling in an active investigation. And the Department of Justice has said this could potentially put sources and lives at risk. It's a really bad idea, what Devin Nunes is doing.</s>BLITZER: Do you believe that Congressman Nunes would do such a thing, threaten the Republican-appointed, the president's appointed attorney general, Jeff Sessions, that he would do this, threatening him with contempt, without some sort of green light from the White House?</s>LIEU: I don't think he would do that. As you know, last year, he coordinated with the White House and misled the American people by saying he had all this super-secret classified information he needed to go brief the White House on, and it turned out the White House had given it to him for him to do a press conference for. So he really looks like a puppet of the White House. So, I think this is something that he is working with the White House on to again -- to make the Department of Justice look like they're not credible. And that really is an assault on our democracy and on our law enforcement, and it has just got to stop.</s>BLITZER: On a different topic, I'm curious to get your thoughts. What's your reaction to the Trump administration's decision to refer every person now caught crossing the border into the United States illegally for federal prosecution?</s>LIEU: That is a really bad idea in terms of resources. We don't have the resources to do that. There's no massive problem. If you look at the data, net migration from Mexico for the last six years has been negative. That means more Mexicans have left America then entered. And we're really focusing on a problem that is not there. So I think we should apply our federal resources to much more important problems facing America.</s>BLITZER: And what's your reaction to Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, saying that if, let's say, a mother crosses the border illegally into the United States with, let's say, two children, they're going to separate the mother from the kids; they're going to send the mother to one detention facility, the kids someplace else? What's your reaction to that?</s>LIEU: I think that's a horrendous policy. Separating families is not what America does. And I hope Jeff Sessions reverses that policy. There really is no place for a country, for policies that are cruel and inhumane.</s>BLITZER: One final question, Congressman, before I let you go. The president tweeted earlier in the day he will be announcing his final decision on the Iran nuclear deal tomorrow afternoon from the White House. What are your fears if he decides to walk away from the deal?</s>LIEU: It would make negotiations with North Korea much more complicated. If the North Koreans see that the United States pulls out from a deal where Iran is still complying with, then they're going to wonder, can they trust the United States in making a deal for the future? I think that's one of the fears that not only North Korea has, but also many people in the world, because it does affect American credibility on an ongoing basis.</s>BLITZER: Congressman Ted Lieu, thanks, as usual, for joining us.</s>LIEU: Thank you, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Just ahead: President Trump's new lawyer Rudy Giuliani raises the possibility there may have been more hush money paid to women on the president's behalf. And Giuliani also slams presidential accuser Stormy Daniels for her cameo appearance on "Saturday Night Live." (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE") ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: I solved North and South Korea. Why can't I solve us?</s>STORMY DANIELS, ADULT FILM ACTRESS: Sorry, Donald. It's too late for that. I know you don't believe in climate change, but a storm's a coming, baby.