John Kelly Says Undocumented Workers Don't Have Education Or Skills To Be Assimilated In Society; White House Aide Makes Heartless Comment About John Mccain
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Hi there, I'm Brianna Keilar in for Brooke Baldwin. We are waiting for two live events from the White House just moments for now. The president is going to speak about his plans to cut prescription drug prices. That is just ahead of the White House press briefing. But once again whatever the administration has on its agenda, it's getting sidelined by controversial comments this time not from the president but from his chief of staff and a White House aide. In fact, former Vice President Joe Biden just slammed the comments about Senator John McCain saying it's a new low. McCain is battling brain cancer. While the president did not utter the offense, his lack of condemnation so far speaks volumes. McCain's daughter Meghan speaking out today.</s>MEGHAN MCCAIN, DAUGHTER OF JOHN MCCAIN: Whatever you want to say in this kind of environment, the thing that surprises me most is -- I was talking about this with you, Joy, that I don't understand what kind of environment you're working in when that would be acceptable, and then can you come to work the next day and still have a job. My father's legacy is going to be talked about for hundreds and hundreds of years.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I agree.</s>MEGHAN MCCAIN: These people, nothing burgers.</s>KEILAR: Meghan McCain was reacting to a comment made by White House aide Kelly Sadler. A White House official says that Sadler was dismissing Senator McCain's opposition to Trump's pick to the CIA director when she said as a joke about McCain, quote, he's dying anyway. And the White House issued a response saying quote, we respect Senator McCain's service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time. I am going to turn now to CNN's senior White House correspondent Jeff Zeleny who is there in the Rose Garden ahead of this prescription drug announcement from the president. Tell us about what the former vice president said when he weighed in, Jeff? JEFF ZELENY, CNN's</s>SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Brianna. So interesting of course, yet another controversy getting in the way of an issue to president is going to be talking about here shortly, lower prescription drug prices. But as you said it is Joe Biden of course the former vice president, but more importantly, long- time Senate colleague and friend with John McCain, he was out visiting with him recently in Arizona. He had this to say, just a short time ago about these comments. Let's take a look. He said, "People have wondered when decency would hit rock bottom with this administration, it happened yesterday. Given this White House's trail of disrespect toward John and others, this staffer is not the exception to the rule, she is the epitome of it. That statement from former Vice President Joe Biden of course. So, the word here from the White House is that Kelly Sadler, a fairly low-level said, she is working here at the White House, the White House has not apologized for it. We should note she did Meghan McCain and apologized last evening about this comment but so far, no word if any action will be taken here. I do suspect it will be one of the questions here at the press briefing later this afternoon, Brianna.</s>KEILAR: No doubt and also, I assume that Sarah Sanders is going to be asked about the chief of staff John Kelly, for something he said in an interview with NPR, he once again accused of insulting undocumented immigrants. Tell us about that.</s>ZELENY: Brianna, very interesting interview. We seldom hear John Kelly's voice. He gives very few interviews. But he did give an interview with NPR. Today's his birthday, we should point out. So interesting that this is coming on his birthday. He did talk specifically about immigration in some pretty tough terms. Let's take a listen to what he said.</s>JOHN KELLY, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Let me step back and tell you the vast majority of people that move illegally into the United States are not bad people, they are not criminals not MS-13. They are also not people that would assimilate easily into the United States. They're overwhelmingly rural people in the countries that they come from, fourth, fifth, sixth grade education, kind of the norm. They are coming here for a reason and I sympathize with the reason, but the laws are the laws.</s>ZELENY: Certainly, throwing a lot of immigrants in one basket there, suggesting they're not educated and rural. Of course, the comments may sound somewhat harsh but John Kelly we should point out is a fairly tough immigration hardliners. It's one of the reasons the president picked him initially to be the secretary of homeland security, and then again picked him to be his chief of staff. The comments certainly sound insensitive perhaps. We do know that immigration is certainly a boiling point here at the White House. He's frustrated with his own officials and own aides for not doing enough in his view to secure the border. We do not know if the president shares these views. He hasn't talked about it yet but tough words without question, Brianna.</s>KEILAR: And let's talk about the president's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, getting hundreds of thousands of dollars for presumably access to Donald Trump. Some of the companies are expressing regrets today, right?</s>ZELENY: They are indeed. Novartis and AT&T came forward and expressed their regret for dealing with Michael Cohen at all. Some of them have said he was not very effective in terms of helping them navigate the ways of Washington and this new administration. We should point out that Michael Cohen was not brought in to this administration. He was very much on the sidelines, although he did speak to the president frequently here and at Mar-A-Lago. But the AT&T CEO, of course AT&T trying to buy CNN's parent company, he said it was a mistake. It was a mistake to give money to Michael Cohen in this effort here. Yet another example of how these investigations and everything are really creating a cloud over this White House on a day when -- on a week when the president certainly focused on North Korea diplomacy and today prescription drugs. So many more things to talk about, Brianna.</s>KEILAR: Certainly. Jeff Zeleny in the Rose Garden. We'll be monitoring the scene there as the president is set to make an announcement on prescription drug prices. Moments from now those remarks will be coming from the rose garden. We'll bring it to you live. Also, this hour, the White House press briefing, among the questions likely to face the Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, will the president fire the White House aide who joked very distastefully about John McCain dying?