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Pence on Capitol Hill; Education Secretary Hearing; HHS Nominee May Have Broken Law; Price Faces Obamacare Questions; Trump's Low Approval Ratings. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired January 17, 2017 - 13:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington.

We're right outside the U.S. Capital where, in three days, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States.

Wherever you are watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

The world of politics turned on its ear today. The Chinese president championed free trade over at the world economic forum. Leaders of the Republican Party directly contradicted the president-elect's comments on NATO.

And then there was this. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, defending Donald Trump, dismissing a dossier with unsubstantiated allegations that Russia had compromising information about the president-elect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT, RUSSIA (translator): These are clear falsifications. Trump came to Moscow. I don't know when he came, a few years ago, and he was not a political actor.

We didn't even know about his political ambitions. He was just a businessman. One of the rich people of America. Do you think that the security services are thrown out after every American billionaire? No. This is complete nonsense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Our Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance is joining us live from Moscow. Our Justice Correspondent Evan Perez is in New York. Our International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson is joining us from London.

Matthew, how unusual is it for the Russian leader, Putin, to speak out on behalf of an incoming American president?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, normally, I think it would be highly unusual, unprecedented, in fact. But, in fact, one of the characteristics of this emerging relationship between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin is that they're almost constantly defending one another and praising one another.

And this is the latest instance of that. Donald Trump saying that this whole dossier, this whole scandal, is an attempt to undermine the incoming administration of Donald Trump.

We heard from the sound bite there that he was talking about how it was not possible that the Russian security service would have any kind of compromising personal informational compromat (ph), as they call it here, on President-elect Trump.

And saying this is all part of the Obama administration. The outgoing administration in the United States. Their attempt to subvert the incoming administration of Donald Trump.

And, so, yes, an extraordinary defense by Vladimir Putin and coming just a few days before Donald Trump assumes office.

BLITZER: Truly extraordinary.

Evan, give us some context on the dossier, what CNN reported about it and Putin's response to it now.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, this is one thing we know that Vladimir Putin did say and that we -- I think we all agree on is that these are uncorroborated allegations. They've not been verified by anyone.

The FBI and the U.S. intelligence community has spent -- has spent some time trying to see what they can get on various parts of these allegations, and as far as we know, they have not been able to stand these up as yet.

But it is something that they're still working on. So, on that account, both Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are absolutely right.

We -- CNN published -- was the first to publish that the intelligence chiefs had briefed both the president, President Obama, and the incoming president-elect on these allegations, simply because they knew that these allegations were everywhere. They were all over Washington. And it was a way to make sure that they were aware of what was being -- what -- that this dossier was simply -- was out there.

We know that BuzzFeed, obviously, has published the entire contents of these dossiers. But the -- what's remarkable about what happened today with Vladimir Putin's press conference is how much alignment there is in the way he describes this document -- these documents and the way the Trump -- Donald Trump and his team have been describing it. It's almost very word for word, the type of response that we've seen from them.

Putin, today, says that the people who prepared this are worse than prostitutes, simply because they were Donald Trump's political opponents. And that's exactly true. These people were political opponents of

Donald Trump. We know that that is where this -- these allegations came from. They were -- they were dug up by people who were enemies of his, Republicans and Democrats.

But, right now, it's now in the hands of the intelligence agencies to try to see what is truth from fiction.

BLITZER: Very interesting.

Nic, let's talk about Donald Trump's interview with the German publican, "Build and the Times of London." He, again, said NATO was obsolete. That's causing a great deal of consternation among U.S. allies.

And there's more reaction coming in today. Talk a little bit about the reaction to his latest comments on NATO.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, Wolf. In the context of what we're hearing as far as his relationship with Vladimir Putin, at the moment. I mean, this is a 70-year flip-flop, if you will.

[13:05:05] What we're hearing is reaction in Europe to Donald Trump's comments about NATO being obsolete. Not fit for purpose. Not paying its way.

Donald Trump's comments about the European Union that Brexit was a good thing. That more countries might follow suit. That he's not really concerned one way or another whether the European Union remains united. This is a flip-flop over 70 years.

So, on the one hand, now, you have Vladimir Putin saying positive things about the future U.S. president. And for the first time in so many decades you have now European politicians, French, German, and others saying -- the French foreign minister saying, in answer to Donald Trump, the only way to defend against this is for the Europe to stay united.

You have the former French prime minister saying this is -- this is -- this is, essentially, declaring war on Europe by not being clear about whether he wants a united European Union or not.

And you have the German foreign minister echoing what some of Donald Trump's chosen appointees for defense, for State Department has said. The German foreign minister said how can the president-elect go against what his incoming, his pick to lead the Pentagon, General James Mattis, has said about NATO, that NATO is vital to United States.

So, this is the level of consternation. You have European leaders, for the first time, feeling that they are out of sorts with the United States, for the first time in 70 years. And then -- and then, at the same time, some warming of a relationship with Russia.

BLITZER: "CNN MONEY" Editor at Large Richard Quest is also with us. He's joining us from Davos, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum.

Richard, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, also talking about Donald Trump, though not by name, in his speech at the economic forum, where you are. She said, globalization has made millions of lives better. That's in reaction to Trump's intention to push the U.S. economy in a more isolationist direction, especially when it comes to trade barriers.

Considering China is a communist country, the speech seems, to a lot of folks, and I'm sure you'll agree, rather ironic.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN MONEY EDITOR AT LARGE: Ironic, surreal, unrealistic. It was the most extraordinary thing, Wolf. Here you had the communist party head and the head of China coming to the heart of capitalism's elites and giving a speech that included quotes from Charles Dickins, the Gettysburg Address. They had Chinese proverbs.

But the thrust of it, Wolf, that was all about globalization. It's not responsible for many of the ills of the world, at the moment. And more than that, China was determined to be part of the global economy.

Now, that sounds like a bit of old pablum that we've sort of heard before. But it has to be seen in context, as you rightly say, of a U.S. that seems to be disengaging and putting more isolationist policies on the agenda.

Whilst you have Xi from China saying, quite clearly, look, the oceans may be choppy, the winds may be severe, the seas may be stormy, but you don't sail back to harbor just because things get difficult.

So, what Xi said is to -- right down the barrel to Donald Trump, don't start a trade war. Don't start protectionism. If you do start a trade war, everybody will lose.

BLITZER: Really, really amazing stuff. Our Richard Quest, thank you. Nic Robertson, Matthew Chance, Evan Perez, thanks to all of you.

Our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger is with me here in Washington. Gloria, how unusual is it for the president-elect to have inserted himself on the world stage even before dramatically he's sworn in on Friday?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's completely unprecedented. We're used to the concept, in this country, of one president at a time. And Donald Trump either inadvertently or deliberately has been undercutting the sitting president of the United States.

And I think that's part of the confusion from foreign leaders as well as confusion about what he is exactly saying because it is, in fact, quite different from what many of his cabinet people were saying in their confirmation hearings.

And --

BLITZER: No, go ahead. BORGER: No, I was going to say, to me, it's undistilled, unmodified Donald Trump. A lot of the things we've heard him talk about which is trade or immigration or American first foreign policy, we heard that on the campaign trail.

[13:10:00] The confusion is about what happens with his members of his cabinet when they disagree with him? We saw what happened with General Mattis on torture. General Mattis seems to have convinced Donald Trump that, perhaps, torture is not a good thing. But we don't know what the impact will be on other issues.

BLITZER: And Trump did say, over the weekend, something rather dramatic. He said, I want my cabinet nominees to say what's on their mind.

BORGER: Right.

BLITZER: To tell us how they really feel.

BORGER: Right.

BLITZER: Even if they disagree with me. There's nothing wrong with that.

But what you are suggesting is that creates some confusion internationally.

BORGER: Well, it does create confusion internationally. They're all watching the confirmation hearings. They're hearing Tillerson say that he supports the transpacific trade agreement. We know Donald Trump doesn't support that. They heard Tillerson say that he had not yet talked to Donald Trump about Russia, for example.

So, what this -- and this is a question. We don't know, when push comes to shove, and Donald Trump has to confront some of his cabinet members on issues of great importance to the world, what he will do with disagreement. Will he -- will he trust his gut check or not?

And then, I would also add one thing, Wolf. This is going to be a real test of the balance of power in this country, because Congress has a lot of Republicans who disagree with Donald Trump. They will clearly assert themselves, as we see is occurring on the investigation of the Russia hack, with John McCain and Lindsey Graham, et cetera.

So, I think what we're going to see is a Congress that is going to assert itself and maybe very much conflicting with the sitting president of their own party. We're going to have to see how that plays out.

BLITZER: It's going to play out. We'll see and we'll watch. Thank you very, very much, Gloria.

Coming up, the Vice President-elect Mike Pence, he's heading to Capitol Hill today, while two of the incoming Trump administration nominees head to the Senate for their confirmation hearings. And the Senate Democratic leader says Trump's pick for Health and Human Services secretary may have violated the law. We're going live to Capitol Hill. That's next.

[13:12:11]

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[13:16:01] BLITZER: Vice President-elect Mike Pence makes the rounds up on Capitol Hill today. A spokesman says Pence will be meeting with lawmakers from both parties.

Our senior political reporter Manu Raju is up on Capitol Hill right now.

Manu, what more can you tell us about the vice president's visit? The vice president-elect's visit, I should say.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: That's right, soon to be vice president. Trying to get on the same page with members of his own party as the administration takes shape and comes into power come Friday. Now this is an effort by Pence to play a pretty significant role as the key liaison to Capitol Hill as the Trump agenda really starts to take shape.

Now, what we know is that Donald Trump's plans for Obamacare and the Republican plans to replace Obamacare may not be really united at this point. That's because Donald Trump gave a weekend interview to "The Washington Post" in which he said that he wants to try to insure everybody with health insurance -- with his Obamacare plan. Now, I've talked to several top Republicans who are not sure what that means. They have not seen any details of a Trump plan. And they're going forward with their own approach, a piece by piece approach, to try to replace elements of the law and they want to focus on actually reducing costs, less -- not so much expanding coverage. So this is part of an effort today, Mike Pence, to get on the same page with his own party on this key issue, Wolf.

BLITZER: Very interesting.

Manu, the latest round of Senate confirmation hearings gets underway next hour. What should we expect?

RAJU: Well, probably some fireworks in the evening session. That's with Betsy DeVos, the Education Department secretary nominee. She's someone that Senate Democrats have targeted as part of their effort to try to stop some of Donald Trump's nominees. They are concerned with her positions on vouchers and about public schools, saying that she does not have enough experience on the issue of public schooling. But she does have significant support from Republicans and watch for Republicans to really defend her record going forward.

Now, also in the next hour, Ryan Zinke, the Montana congressman chosen by Donald Trump to lead the Interior Department, facing questions about his views on selling federal land, about possibly opening up new areas to oil and gas drilling, and as well about his views on climate change. But Zinke's nomination seen as less controversial than DeVos', which is being targeted by Democrats who are waiting for actually more information about whether or not she has any conflicts of interest given that she's a billionaire and has vast financial holdings. They have yet to see paperwork from the Office of Government Ethics on her nomination, Wolf.

BLITZER: And we'll, of course, have extensive coverage of both of those hearings.

You're reporting about a questionable stock purchase by the health secretary nominee, Tom Price, getting a lot of attention from lawmakers. As you reported, Price bought some stock in a medical device maker. Only days later, he introduced the measure that would have benefitted the company. You just spoke to the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer. What was his reaction?

RAJU: Well, he is calling for an ethics investigation, Wolf, and he believes that Price may have broken the law if he knew about it. He is questioning Price's defense that a broker purchased this without his knowledge. Some sharp words from the Democratic leader. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D), MINORITY LEADER: This is very, very troubling. This is not some broad legislation, cut all Medicare and it affects some large company like Johnson & Johnson. This is a very narrow, specific company that dealt with implants, hip and knee, and the legislation specifically affects implants. He puts it in a week after he buys the stock. That cries out for an investigation.

RAJU: By the House Ethics Committee?

SCHUMER: By the House Ethics Committee or who knows. I mean if he knew about it, it could very well be a violation of the law.

RAJU: You think he broke the law?

[13:20:02] SCHUMER: If he knew about it. Now, they say there's a broker. It's kind of strange that this broker would pick this stock totally independently of him introducing legislation that's so narrow and specific about this company.

I think there's a very good chance that he will not be confirmed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, in order for him to not be confirmed, Republicans would have to vote against Tom Price's nomination. And we have not gotten any indication whether there will be enough Republican defections to block Price's nomination, which goes before his first confirmation hearing on Wednesday. And Price's office is pushing back on these reports saying that this is a smear campaign launched by Democrats. But, interestingly, Wolf, Price recognizing that this stock that he purchased could be a liability if he were to become Health and Human Services secretary, promising to divest from that company because of possible conflict of interest concerns and he did not divest from that company while servicing in the House and pursuing legislation that could affect that company.

Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Manu, good reporting, as usual. Thank you.

One of the cornerstone campaign promises from President-elect Donald Trump has been on health care. He has vowed to repeal and replace Obamacare as soon as possible. The man who would conceivably be the point person for that effort is the man we've been talking about, the Georgia congressman, Dr. Tom Price, the nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services.

Joining us now, our national politics reporter MJ Lee, who's been doing a lot of reporting on this.

MJ, Price's confirmation hearing, as we noted, set for tomorrow. How has the Trump team actually prepared him for these tough questions he's going to be asked on health care plans?

MJ LEE, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: Well, Wolf, the reason this is such a highly anticipated hearing tomorrow is because of the ongoing discussions to repeal and replace Obamacare, as you and Manu just discussed. Now, keep in mind, Tom Price, the Georgia congressman, he has been one of Washington's most vocal and critical members when it comes to Obamacare, and he has, in the past, released detailed legislation to roll back the health care system.

Now, presumably, if he is confirmed as HHS secretary, he could play a very influential role in the party's efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare. Now that being said, I am told, Wolf, by a transition official that Price actually doesn't want the focus of the hearing tomorrow to be about his own Obamacare legislation. The way that it was described to me is that Price doesn't' want to signal that he is asking fellow lawmakers to endorse his own bill. And a part of his thinking is that he understands that being a policymaker is very different from moving into a position where he would be implementing and overseeing policy.

And another interesting tidbit that I should mention too, Wolf, is that Price has not been a part of the ongoing debate among Trump transition officials to write this Obamacare repeal and replace plan that Trump has been talking about. Remember, Trump said over the weekend that he is actually close to finishing this bill and that he wants to release it as soon as Price has been confirmed. Now we're learning from a transition official that Price has not been a part of those meetings and discussions.

So, all told, Wolf, the -- a confirmation hearing tomorrow could be very contentious. He obviously could face many questions, especially from Democratic senators about his past financial investments. So this could be an uncomfortable moment as Price takes the hot seat tomorrow for this hearing.

BLITZER: Lots of coverage tomorrow for that confirmation hearing.

MJ Lee, thank you very much. Coming up this hour here on CNN, we're going to hear directly from two lawmakers on the future of Obamacare and on the Democrats who are boycotting President-elect Trump's inauguration on Friday.

And Mr. Trump is coming into office with the worst approval rating of any recent U.S. president by a long shot. We're going to break down the latest numbers. That's next. Stay with us.

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[13:28:30] BLITZER: Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States in just three days. And a new poll shows he's coming into office with the lowest approval rating of any recent U.S. president. The CNN/ORC poll shows 40 percent approve of the way the president-elect has handled the transition. That's 44 points lower than President Obama back in 2009. It's also lower than Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

CNN political director David Chalian is with us -- joining us now, with us for more.

How do these disapproval numbers, David, for the president-elect compare to the poll numbers he had immediately after the election?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Right. So you just showed historically the other presidents at this point on the eve of the inauguration, he's not measuring up well at all. But measuring up against himself post-election, take a look at this, Wolf. We asked that question -- approval question immediately after the election in November, 45 percent disapproved of how he was handling the transition in November. That's up seven points now, 52 percent, a majority of the country, disapproving now. So his own transition is just not wearing well with the public.

BLITZER: On CNN's "New Day," Senator John McCain was asked why those numbers are, you know, increasingly bad as far as the transition for the president-elect. Listen to what he said.

[13:29:50] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Well, I think you can assume that it is because he seems to want to engage with every windmill that he can find rather than focus on the large aspect of assuming the most important position on earth. And, obviously, apparently, according to the polls, many Americans are not happy with that approach.