Furious Fallout; Interview With Rhode Island Congressman David Cicilline; Tillerson Talks to CNN About His Future & Trump's Fitness; NYT: Sessions Searched for Dirt on Comey
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Tonight: new warnings that Mr. Trump is -- quote -- "losing it." Evidence of obstruction? We're learning more about the focus of the special counsel's Russia probe, including attempts to dig up dirt on James Comey and stop Jeff Sessions' recusal. Was the president behind it all? Tweet spiral. Mr. Trump goes into a tailspin online, bashing the tell-all book as phony, the Russia investigation is a hoax and dubbing his newly declared archrival Steve Bannon as Sloppy Steve. Can the president focus on a pivotal meeting this weekend? And coming to the table. Kim Jong-un accepts South Korea's offer for high level talks. Is it a breakthrough in the nuclear tensions? We will tell you why U.S. officials are skeptical. We want to welcome our viewers in United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. Tonight, disturbing new information that hits at the heart of two crucial questions about the president of the United States. Did he obstruct justice and is he fit to serve? CNN has confirmed White House counsel Don McGahn personally tried to persuade Attorney General Jeff Sessions not to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. "The New York Times" reports that McGahn acted on the orders of President Trump, who was furious when Sessions recused himself anyway. Also tonight, the author of a stunning expose on the Trump White House is now claiming that everyone in the president's inner circle, 100 percent, they question his intelligence and his fitness for office. Asked about the president's mental health, Michael Wolff, the author, said he would quote former Trump strategist Steve Bannon by saying, "He's lost it." As that new tell-all went on sale today, President Trump has been lashing out, tweeting that the book is phony and full of lies and denying he spoke with the author. Michael Wolff says he stands by everything in the book and says he has recordings and notes to back it up. Breaking tonight, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson insists he's never questioned the president's mental fitness, despite reports that he once called him a moron. In a TV exclusive, Tillerson also tells CNN that he expects to stay in his job at least through the coming year. We're covering all of that and much more this hour with our guests, including Congressman David Cicilline. He's a Democrat on the Judiciary Committee and Foreign Affairs Committees. And our correspondents and specialists are also standing by. First, let's go to our CNN justice correspondent, Jessica Schneider. Jessica, the special counsel appears to have a growing body of evidence that points to potential obstruction.</s>JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He does, Wolf. These new revelations that the president reportedly personally ordered Don McGahn to stop Jeff Sessions from recusing himself, well, that certainly adds another layer of evidence to special counsel Mueller's obstruction of justice investigation. That portion of the probe was sparked after the firing of FBI Director James Comey. And now that Mueller has the latest information, the questions are getting louder. Did the president improperly intervene?</s>SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Tonight, a source close to Attorney General Jeff Sessions tells CNN White House counsel Don McGahn personally reached out to Sessions in early 2017 to try to dissuade the attorney general from recusing himself from the Russia probe. "The New York Times" reports Mueller has learned about that outreach and that it was a direct order from President Trump, who reportedly erupted in front of several White House officials when Sessions announced his recusal in march.</s>JEFF SESSIONS, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I have recused myself.</s>SCHNEIDER: Sources put it this way to "The Times." "Mr. Trump said he expected his top law enforcement official to safeguard him, the way he believed Robert F. Kennedy as attorney general had done for his brother John F. Kennedy and Eric H. Holder Jr. had for Barack Obama." Reached for comment, White House lawyer Ty Cobb declined. Former ethics czar and CNN contributor Walter Shaub says at the time he recommended recusal and expressed outrage upon learning McGahn was personally lobbying Sessions against it.</s>WALTER SHAUB, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: While I was on the phone talking to Department of Justice officials telling them that Jeff Sessions had no choice but to recuse in order to resolve a criminal conflict of interest, we now learn that Don McGahn was pressuring Jeff Sessions on behalf of the president to do just the opposite. I think that we are in a neighborhood where I hope Mueller is looking at this very seriously for obstruction of justice because it could be.</s>SCHNEIDER: Obstruction is part of Mueller's probe, prompted in part by the president's firing of FBI Director James Comey in May. In this letter to the president from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the reported reasoning for removal centered on Comey's handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton's e-mails. But shortly after firing Comey, the president admitted he had Russia on his mind.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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: The president spent the weekend before the firing at his club in Bedminster, New Jersey, where sources say the president drafted a letter he intended to send Comey, but never did. In it, President Trump, according to "The Times," described the Russia investigation as "fabricated and politically motivated." The paper reports Mueller knows about this letter. A source tells CNN the special counsel has also obtained handwritten notes from former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. They document the president telling Priebus that Comey had assured the president he was not under investigation. "The New York Times" also reports that days before James Comey was fired, one of Jeff Sessions' aides asked a congressional staffer whether there was any damaging information on Comey in an effort to undermine the FBI director. The DOJ has denied this account. The new evidence relating to Mueller's obstruction of justice probe also raises new questions about Jeff Sessions' future as attorney general. He has offered his resignation before, but the White House suggests he's still safe.</s>SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Right now, he's focused on doing his job, we're focused on doing ours. We don't have any reason to see that there's anything different today than there was yesterday. We feel like we're in a great place and we're moving forward. And the attorney general is going to continue showing up to work this week and next week, just like he has every day since we started, and keep doing good work and moving the president's agenda forward.</s>SCHNEIDER: And new developments tonight pertaining to the so-called Steele dossier. Republican Senators Chuck Grassley and Lindsey Graham, they have referred Christopher Steele to the Justice Department for a criminal investigation. These two senators say that Steele lied to the feds about how he distributed the dossier and the information in it. This criminal referral, it really does seem to further politicize this dossier, Wolf. And, of course, this dossier itself has been a flash point for Republicans. And now Senators Graham, as well as Grassley, they are even saying they want a special counsel.</s>BLITZER: Yes, Grassley is the chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the Senate. Jessica, thank you very much. A very significant development. Also tonight, President Trump is over at Camp David in Maryland preparing to talk 2018 strategy with Republican leaders in Congress. Questions about his fitness to serve may cast a cloud over meeting now that the author of a new book has thrown a red-hot spotlight on President Trump's state of mind. Let's go to our senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta. Jim, we heard very, very briefly from the president today.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. He was not in the mood for questions on all of that, but President Trump briefly talked to reporters today before heading off to Camp David, but he steered clear of the book that unleashed fire and fury all week long. It was a rare moment for the president, who passed up a chance to punch back in person after taking a few hits earlier this morning.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): It was perhaps the only on-message moment of the week for the president, touting his economic record as he was leaving for Camp David.</s>TRUMP: The tax cuts are really kicking in far beyond what anyone thought. The market is good. The jobs reports were very good and we think they are going to get really good over the next couple of months.</s>ACOSTA: The president, who boasts he always punches back, made it clear there would be no on-camera comments today about the book "Fire and Fury" written by author Michael Wolff and starring his former chief strategist and sudden Trump critic Steve Bannon.</s>QUESTION: Mr. President, have you read the book "Fire and Fury"?</s>ACOSTA: Mr. Trump saved his fury for his Twitter feed, tweeting: "I authorized zero access to White House. Actually turned him down for many times for author of phony book. I never spoke to him for book. Full of lies, misrepresentations and sources that don't exist. Look at this guy's past and what happens to him and Sloppy Steve," a new nickname for Bannon. Appearing on NBC, the book's author did not hold back, hammering the president's mental fitness for the job.</s>QUESTION: According to your reporting, everyone around the president, senior advisers, family members, every single one of them questions his intelligence and fitness for office.</s>MICHAEL WOLFF, AUTHOR, "FIRE AND FURY: INSIDE THE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE": Let me put a marker in the sand. One percent of the people around him.</s>ACOSTA: And Wolff thanked the president for driving up interest in his book, which was released early due to the heightened demand.</s>WOLFF: What I say is, where do I send the box of chocolates?</s>QUESTION: You think he's helping you sell books?</s>WOLFF: Absolutely. And not only is he helping me sell books, but he's helping me prove the point of the book. This is extraordinary that a president of the United States would try to stop the publication of a book. This doesn't happen -- has not happened from other presidents, would not even happen from a CEO of a mid-sized company.</s>ACOSTA: As for the attacks on his book, Wolff was ready for that one.</s>WOLFF: My credibility is being questioned by a man who has less credibility than perhaps anyone who has ever walked on earth at this point. I will quote Steve Bannon. He's lost it.</s>ACOSTA: Both the White House and the president's friends have fanned out across the airwaves to condemn the book.</s>HUCKABEE SANDERS: Look, we said they spoke once by the phone for a few minutes, but it wasn't about the book. They had a very short conversation, but he never interviewed the president about the book. He repeatedly begged to speak with the president and was denied access.</s>ACOSTA: Slamming Wolff's key takeaway that the president is not mentally fit for office.</s>CHRISTOPHER RUDDY, CEO, NEWSMAX: This is just like so absurd. It's so ridiculous. So, 100 percent. I'm around the president. I have been around him quite a bit through the past year. I met him 20 years ago. He is not psychologically unfit. He's not lost it, as he claimed.</s>ACOSTA: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told CNN's Elise Labott he has never raised the issue of the president's mental state.</s>REX TILLERSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I have never questioned his mental fitness. I have no reason to question his mental fitness.</s>ACOSTA: Now, the president will spend the weekend meeting with GOP congressional members and his Cabinet up at Camp David to go over the party's agenda for 2018. One Cabinet member who won't be present is Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Let's put this up on screen, Wolf, just to give you a sense as to all of the top officials, not only in the Cabinet, but members of Congress and the White House staff, quite a number of them, including the vice president there as well. But Jeff Sessions will not be there. As you know, he has been frequently the subject of the president's fury, but the White House says there's no message being sent to Sessions and an official here says the White House stands firmly behind him. We should note, though, Wolf, in the statement from the White House, they are not saying the president stands firmly behind Jeff Sessions, just the White House, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Jim Acosta at the White House for us, thank you very much. Let's get some more on all of this. Congressman David Cicilline is joining us. He's a Democrat on both the Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees. Congressman, you're on the Judiciary Committee, the top Democrat on your committee. Congressman Jerry Nadler reacted to the news on the White House counsel Don McGahn's behavior by saying -- and I'm quoting Jerry Nadler right now -- suggesting that his behavior was completely unacceptable and he should be removed from his post immediately. Do you agree?</s>REP. DAVID CICILLINE (D), RHODE ISLAND: Yes, absolutely. The attorney general was required to recuse himself both because of provisions in statute and because of the code of professional responsibility. The idea that the president of the United States attempted to change his mind and discourage him from recusing, which he was required to do by law, and the fact that Don McGahn delivered that message is very disturbing. It was completely inappropriate. And it raises real questions about whether or not the president and Mr. McGahn understand the role of the attorney general, his oath to the Constitution of the United States and the obligations he has to recuse himself in the circumstances of this case. It also raises questions about the president's sort of understanding what the attorney general's role is. He keeps talking about the attorney general should be there to protect the president. That is not the job of the attorney general. The job of the attorney general is to be independent, to be the chief enforcement officer of our country, to impartially administer the laws of the United States. He's not there to protect the president. Don McGahn knows that, and his conduct is completely unacceptable.</s>BLITZER: Does the White House counsel, Don McGahn, need to come and testify before Congress?</s>CICILLINE: Absolutely. I think Mr. Nadler has already made that representation, that he expects to bring him before the Judiciary Committee. We need to understand exactly what happened here and really reinforce this very basic idea that the White House counsel is counsel for the office of the president. He is not the personal lawyer for Donald Trump. And certainly he should understand the recusal statute. And the idea of trying to discourage the attorney general of the United States from recusing himself from an investigation that he's required to recuse himself from, because the statute requires it, to undermine that is very, very disturbing. We need to know more about it. But, again, I think it's a reflection of this notion that somehow everyone in the White House and everyone in the administration works personally for Donald Trump, rather than for the institutions and for the country and for the Constitution that they were sworn to uphold.</s>BLITZER: "The New York Times" reports that the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, was searching for dirt, negative information on the FBI Director James Comey and that Sessions wanted one negative news article a day about Comey. The Justice Department flatly denies this. Does Sessions' behavior, from your perspective, Congressman, need to be investigated?</s>CICILLINE: Absolutely. If those facts are true, that is incredibly disturbing information. It makes it clear that his recusal was not only necessary, but appropriate. But in addition to that, it raises real questions about the judgment of the attorney general. Where did he get those instructions from? What was he attempted to justify? And so I think there are a lot of questions that the special counsel will have. I know there's a lot of questions that Congress has with respect to those claims, and we need to learn a lot more about it.</s>BLITZER: In "The New York Times" also, there's a report that news -- report that when President Trump decided to fire the FBI Director James Comey, he drafted a letter whose first sentence read that the Russia investigation was -- quote -- "fabricated and politically motivated." Is that additional evidence potentially of obstruction of justice?</s>CICILLINE: Absolutely. Look, the president has made it very clear. He's done everything he can to stop and impede and undermine this investigation, first characterizing it as a hoax, then trying to stop the concurrent congressional investigations by reaching out to senators, then telling Jim Comey to let this Flynn thing go, then ultimately firing the director of the FBI, and giving the explanation in part because of the Russia investigation. And, remember Wolf, he then went into the Oval Office and yucked it up with Russian officials right after he did that, saying: I got that off my chest. That was really hanging over my head. And so they were all laughing about it. This is in the Oval Office. The press was not allowed into that, the American press. We only learned that from the Russian media. This is a president who has made every effort to impede this investigation, to try to minimize it. And now we have additional evidence that it's one of the reasons that he got rid of the director of the FBI. That on its face is obstruction of justice. Obviously, Robert Mueller has lots more work to do, and he will make the final determination. But there's been an ongoing and very coordinated effort from this president to stop and undermine this investigation. You have to wonder why. What is he afraid of? Why is he so eager to stop Mr. Mueller from doing his job?</s>BLITZER: In the new book -- and, obviously, we have a copy of the book now, "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" -- the author, Michael Wolff, reports that a spokesman for President Trump's lawyers in the White House, the Counsel's Office, quit over the president's false statement in response to that June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with the Russians. And that spokesman felt, according to the book, that the statement amounted to obstruction of justice. What's your reaction to that?</s>CICILLINE: Well, I think it's just one more piece of evidence. If in fact it is true that the president participated in the development of a fake story about Russian adoptions to camouflage the real meaning of that Russian meeting between Trump officials and the Russians, that's just one more piece of evidence. But one of the things that is so frustrating as you watch all of these things unfold is, this ongoing battle between Steve Bannon and President Trump, the work of the American people is not getting done. We haven't reauthorized the Children's Health Insurance Program. We haven't taken care of funding for our veterans. We haven't dealt with the opioid crisis in our country, and any number of things. There's important work that is not getting done because we have a White House that is embroiled in scandals and conflicts and investigations. And that's consuming all of their energy, and we're not getting the work done for the American people. And I think that's the -- it's an untold story of this time and time again. My constituents here in Rhode Island and people all across this country is are suffering because we're not getting the work done that they need us in addressing the urgent issues. My constituents want to know, what are we doing to create good-paying jobs, what are we doing to reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program, how are we taking care of our veterans? And this ongoing sort of chaos at the White House and attempt to interfere with this ongoing investigation is undermining our ability to get this work done.</s>BLITZER: Congressman Connolly, thanks for joining us.</s>CICILLINE: Thanks for having me.</s>BLITZER: Just ahead, we will talk about the fate of the top White House counsel and whether the president effectively ordered him to obstruct justice. The former U.S. attorney Preet Bharara -- there you see him -- he's standing by live. He knows a thing or two about getting fired after being forced out of his job as the U.S. attorney in New York by President Trump.