Trump-Russia Investigation Intensifies; Interview With California Senator Dianne Feinstein
TAPPER: Welcome back to STATE OF THE UNION. I'm Jake Tapper. After a week of major developments in the Russia investigation, CNN is now learning of a new meeting between a Trump campaign adviser and a top Russian official. Carter Page confirmed Friday behind closed doors that he met with the Russian deputy prime minister while in Moscow in July of last year. And he told CNN that that was the case. After his trip to Russia, Page sent an e-mail to at least one Trump campaign aide describing insights he had learned from his conversations, according to "The New York Times." In an interview on Friday, I asked Page about that trip.</s>TAPPER: What did you tell people on the Trump team about your trip?</s>CARTER PAGE, FORMER TRUMP FOREIGN POLICY ADVISER: I just mentioned that there was in general from people on the street and the things you would hear in the media enthusiasm for the possibility of a little bit of a warming in U.S.-Russia relations.</s>TAPPER: Here to discuss is the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Dianne Feinstein. She's also a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Senator, thanks so much for joining us. Appreciate it, as always.</s>SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: Thank you.</s>TAPPER: So, we learned this week that former Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos traveled to London in March 2016. And then, in April, he met with a professor who promised dirt on Hillary Clinton from the Russians. Have you seen any evidence that this dirt, these e-mails were ever given to the Trump campaign?</s>FEINSTEIN: Not so far.</s>TAPPER: Not so far. Have you ever seen -- have you seen any communications that suggested that the Trump campaign wanted them to release them through a different means? Because, obviously, they were ultimately released by WikiLeaks.</s>FEINSTEIN: No, I have not.</s>TAPPER: OK. Former Trump campaign adviser J.D. Gordon told CNN that, at a March 2016 meeting with then candidate Trump, the candidate listened to Papadopoulos when he presented the idea of arranging a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. But take a listen to what President Trump had to say about this on Friday.</s>TRUMP: I don't remember much about that meeting. It was a very unimportant meeting. It took place a long time -- don't remember much about it.</s>TAPPER: He says he doesn't remember much about it. Do you believe him?</s>FEINSTEIN: Well, we saw the photograph of the table with President Trump at one head, Sessions at another, and Papadopoulos in the middle on the left. And that was reportedly to discuss Russia. I think we have got committees looking, both Intelligence and Judiciary. And these things are hard to ferret out exactly what went on, and people often don't give you the straight scoop in terms of their testimony. So, we will see how that turns out.</s>TAPPER: Speaking of people not giving you the straight scoop, former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page told me on Friday that he told then Senator, now Attorney General Sessions that he was traveling to Russia in the summer of 2016. But take a listen to what Sessions had to tell your committee, the Judiciary Committee, about this on last -- last month.</s>SEN. AL FRANKEN (D), MINNESOTA: You don't believe that surrogates from the Trump campaign had communications with the Russians? Is that what you're saying?</s>JEFF SESSIONS, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I did not and I'm not aware of anyone else that did. And I don't believe it happened.</s>TAPPER: Do you think that Attorney General Sessions lied to the committee under oath?</s>FEINSTEIN: Well, I'm not going to say whether it was a lie or not. But it seems to me that Senator Franken has been very good in outlying -- outlining the various instances where there was more than one contact on behalf of Sessions. Now, whether he remembers it or not does not mean that it didn't happen. And I think some of that needs to be developed further.</s>TAPPER: Do you think that -- you're the ranking Democrat on Judiciary. Are you and Chairman Grassley going to ask the attorney general to come back to clarify this?</s>FEINSTEIN: Well, I think that the request has been made by Sessions, and -- excuse me -- by Franken. And I think he should come back and clarify it. I have not discussed this with the chairman. I will discuss it.</s>TAPPER: There are a lot of people out there who might be watching this unfold and think, boy, the attorney general sure gets to -- gets a lot of leeway when it comes to telling your committee things that turn out not to be true.</s>FEINSTEIN: Well, I don't know what you mean by that. But...</s>TAPPER: Well...</s>FEINSTEIN: We certainly don't want him to tell things that aren't true.</s>TAPPER: Right.</s>FEINSTEIN: And maybe he has a faulty memory. So, there are a lot of excuses one can make. But, at this stage, he's got to narrow his recollections. When he comes before the committee again, he has to be precise, and it has to be accurate.</s>TAPPER: One of the things that's been going on the last couple days has been, President Trump seems to be telling the Justice Department and the FBI that he wants them to investigate and prosecute Hillary Clinton. There's this one tweet he wrote -- quote -- "Everybody is asking why the Justice Department and FBI isn't looking into all the dishonesty going on with crooked Hillary and the Democrats." What's your response?</s>FEINSTEIN: Hillary has had a big FBI investigation. That's what the October surprise was. And so I think she's been investigated in and out by the best investigators in our country. And if you look at Mueller's operation, you see how good his operation is, when conducted by the FBI, as opposed to congressional investigations, where the authorities to investigate are much more constricted and much less.</s>TAPPER: Your colleague Senator Bob Corker issued a statement Friday saying he was troubled by how much the president seems to be directing the Justice Department and the FBI to investigate his political opponents. Does it trouble you?</s>FEINSTEIN: Yes, it troubles me very much. This has been this president's response to virtually everything. He hits back at Hillary Clinton. Well, Hillary Clinton was defeated in the election. I think the time has come to forget about it and go on to other things. This president has a very -- excuse me -- big hill to climb on this trip, on legislation, on getting DACA done, if there is going to be a tax bill, play a role in that tax bill, certainly in health care reforms that are needed under the Obamacare bill, which is where I think we are, that there need to be amendments to that bill. And we can make them, and perhaps even do them on a bipartisan basis.</s>TAPPER: Let's talk about that trip, President Trump currently on a 13-day trip in Asia, where the main focus seems to be how to handle escalating tensions with North Korea. The Pentagon sent a letter to lawmakers in which they say the only way to locate and secure all of North Korea's nuclear weapons is -- quote -- "with complete certainty" is an invasion with U.S. ground forces. The letter also says any invasion force would be subject to possible biological and chemical weapons attack. This is a pretty bleak assessment. Are you worried that we're headed for war with North Korea?</s>FEINSTEIN: It is the most bleak assessment. I have spent a lot of time reading the intelligence. I have had an opportunity to discuss the situation with Secretary Mattis. I believe that an outbreak of war would kill hundreds of thousands of people. And I'm very pleased that Secretary Tillerson is with the president. I think, if he will stay the course and use diplomacy the way diplomacy can be used, that it might be possible to work something out. The worst alternative is a war, which could become nuclear.</s>TAPPER: You're up for reelection next year. And this week, Alison Hartson, who is a 37-year-old Bernie Sanders supporter, announced that she is going to enter the race. You are already facing a challenge from state Senate President Kevin de Leon. Their argument is that you haven't held President Trump accountable and that you're part of the problem in Washington. How do you respond?</s>FEINSTEIN: Well, I respond that there's a certain agree of unfairness in that. I'm well aware of the president's deficits. I'm also well aware of the fact of what I said. And what I said was, in a Commonwealth speech -- and parts of it were excised from the speech -- but what I said, I hope, in these months, he can learn, and be -- end up being a good president. I don't think -- and that was catastrophic for some people in my state. Everybody sees what the flaws in this president are. There's no question about it. And that's why this trip right now going on, I think, is worthy so much attention. Can he actually stay on script? I watched his remarks in Japan with respect to the military that were receiving him. And I thought he did a good job. He stayed on script. It's when he goes off script. It's when he tweets. It's where he has to attack everybody if he feels even slightly aggrieved, and his comment that: The only one that matters is me. He isn't the only one that matters. He's the one that's there to solve problems on behalf of the United States. And that's what this trip is about. And I hope and trust he sticks to that mission.</s>TAPPER: Senator Dianne Feinstein, always good to have you here. Thank you so much.</s>FEINSTEIN: Thank you very much.</s>TAPPER: Appreciate it. A top Republican taking aim at the president for his criticism of the Justice Department, saying President Trump's comments are -- quote -- "totally inappropriate." That's next. Plus: What's a picky president to eat when out of his comfort zone? That's the subject of this week's "State of the Cartoonion" -- coming up.