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Russian Agents Indicted in Massive Yahoo Data Breach; Federal Judges in 3 States to Hear Challenges to New Travel Ban; WH Signals Health Care Bill Needs Changes; 2 House Intel Committee Leaders: No Evidence of Wiretapping at Trump Tower. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired March 15, 2017 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We just got a statement also in from the Yahoo! CEO Marissa Meyer. She tweeted this - and I'm quoting -- "Very grateful to the FBI and DOJ for bringing to justice the Russian officials and hackers that led the attack on Yahoo!."

Coming up, federal judges in three states are hearing challenges to the president's new travel ban scheduled to go into effect at midnight. Will they block this latest executive order? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In less than 11 hours from now, President Trump's revised travel ban takes effect. Until then lawyers and activists are using every second they have to try to fight it. Today, no fewer than three federal courts are hearing emergency arguments over whether its constitutional to block visitors from six Muslim-majority countries. That includes a hearing this morning in Maryland and another in Hawaii later this afternoon, and most notably, one in Seattle, Washington. That one will be heard by Judge James Robart, the one that blocked the first travel ban nationwide. It led to mass confusion and chaos at airports across the country as travelers unaware of the order had already boarded planes bound for the United States.

Our justice reporter, Laura Jarrett, attended this morning's hearing in Maryland.

Laura, give us an update on how the rest of the day will play out and what you saw there.

[13:35:40] LAURA JARRETT, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: These federal judges are really taking rulings down to the wire here, Wolf, with the travel ban set to go into effect just after midnight tomorrow. That federal judge in Maryland heard arguments for nearly two hours this morning. He said that he hopes to issue a ruling later today but cautioned not necessarily.

The real issue in all of these cases is whether the Trump administration did enough to remedy the legal problems that the courts found with the first executive order. Several states and immigration advocates say that this new travel ban still discriminates against Muslims and they mostly point to statements that Trump made while on the campaign trail. The Justice Department argued in court this morning that those statements shouldn't count because Trump wasn't president yet. Now it's in the hands of these three federal judges to see who is right -- Wolf?

BLITZER: We'll watch with you. Laura, thanks for that update.

Take a look at this. We're getting some pictures coming in from the Senate Intelligence Committee, who will convene to hear more about Russia's hacking in the U.S. presidential election. We're going to watch that closely, update you. We know that the chairman, Richard Burr, has already gone into that hearing. And the vice chairman, Senator Warner, of Virginia, has gone in as well. Other members are going inside even as we speak. We'll stake it out and report to you once it concludes.

Coming up, the House Speaker Paul Ryan says he's not considering major changes to it the health care repeal bill, but my next guest admits that changes may be needed to get the bill passed. Republican Congressman Tom Cole standing by to join us live right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:41:51] BLITZER: Looking at live pictures coming in from Michigan right now. Soon the president will deliver remarks there at the American Center for Mobility, a vehicle research center. We'll have live coverage of that once the president starts speaking.

Up on Capitol Hill, Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Paul Ryan are meeting to discuss the bill to replace Obamacare. It comes after more Republicans in House and Senate came out publicly to criticize the current bill.

Listen to this advice Senator Lindsey Graham gave to the president earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Right now, the House bill, in my view, will have hard time getting through the Senate. My advice to the president, if you can't find a better plan coming from Republicans, don't buy it just because the Republicans want to sell it to you. Let Obamacare collapse, and it will, and then try to replace it in a bipartisan fashion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Republican Congressman Tom Cole, of Oklahoma, joins us now from Capitol Hill. He serves on the House Budget Committee, which will take up the bill tomorrow.

Congressman, thank you very much for joining us.

REP. TOM COLE, (R), OKLAHOMA: Hey, Wolf. Great to be with you.

BLITZER: Let me get your response to what we just heard from your Republican Senate colleague, Lindsey Graham, that if the bill can't be improved, the president for now should abandon it.

COLE: I have a lot of respect for Lindsey Graham. He's a good friend. I think, in this case, what the Senate needs to do is use the House bill as a vehicle and make changes that it thinks is advisable and we'll go to conference or draft their own legislation. I think if this bill does not pass, the chances of reforming and replacing -- repealing and replacing Obamacare diminish significantly. That's a cardinal commitment that we made to the American people, so again, there's nothing wrong with us moving a bill that the Senate doesn't like. Their answer should be to move one of their own and we'll negotiate the differences out.

BLITZER: Listen to what another Republican colleague of yours, Rand Paul, said just a few moments ago. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL, (R), KENTUCKY: The problem is this, though, the leadership in the House is weak-kneed and they are afraid to lead - they are afraid to lead with freedom and capitalism, so they're giving you something that's half as much as Obamacare but doesn't fix the problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Getting a lot of grief from conservative Republicans who don't like this plan that the Speaker Paul Ryan has put forward. Your reaction to what we just heard from Senator Rand Paul?

COLE: Well, I want to congratulate Senator Paul, first, on putting out his own plan, which is something no one else in the Senate has done. I have a lot of respect for that, quite frankly. I think his critique is wrong. Frankly, this is a conservative bill. We don't make any bones about it. Both the president and the speaker have said we can change it during the course as it moves through. That's what the legislative process is for. We're anxious to have the suggestions that the Senate wants to make. But again, in the end, if the Senate has a different approach, they should pass the bill. It could be Senator Paul's bill or another one of their own. I know that Senator Cassidy has had legislation out there as well. But they need to come to the table and actually negotiate, not just throw rocks over on our side. At the end of the day, you have to have a product that you can improve on. This is what we didn't have, frankly, when Obamacare moved through. It did not have this rigorous legislative input. So we welcome the debate. At the end of the day, we have to move a product and I think this is a good start. It lowers the deficit over time. It lowers premiums. We have concern with the number of uninsured, but we've got some serious questions about the CBO's estimates.

[13:45:36] BLITZER: I'll point out that debate over Obamacare back in 2009, the first year of the Obama administration, that debate went on for months and months and months. There was an enormous amount of hearings. It wasn't just a few weeks as this legislation you're attempting to pass within a few weeks.

Let me point out, Congressman, a bunch of Republicans in the House are now saying, either from the right, the conservatives don't like it, or moderates like a colleague from Florida are saying they can't vote this. Do you have -- are you sure you will have the 216 votes needed to simply get it out of the House and move it to the Senate?

COLE: I think we will. Again, you know, you never know until the day of the vote, quite frankly. You usually grow a vote over the course of the debate. Remember, while this legislation has gone through relatively rapid process this Congress, it's not as if these ideas haven't been out there for a long time and we haven't moved legislation all of the way in some cases to President Obama's desk. So, again, these ideas have been kicked around. They've been in various legislative form. We're not starting in the way that, frankly, the Obama administration did with a single sheet of paper and eight bullet points. That was the beginning of Obamacare. This legislation has been introduced and worked on for years. We're in a better position to move than they were in 2009.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Let me get your quick reaction on a sensitive issue right now, your take on the House Intelligence Committee chairman, Devin Nunes - he's a Republican like you are -- telling reporters he sees no evidence that Trump Tower in New York City was wiretapped. Take a listen to what a Democratic Congressman, John Yarmuth, said about the president's claims and then we'll get your reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN YARMUTH, (D), KENTUCKY: You can't have a president in the White House who because he has as hissy fit, mad about something or excited about something, makes an accusation like this, with no foundation, and then doesn't have any concern over the repercussions of what he says.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let me get your reaction. Go ahead, Congressman.

COLE: First, I'm very proud of Devin Nunes. He's my friend. He's the chairman of that committee. And it's not easy to do what he did. I think he did exactly what the president asked, which was investigate and see if there was any evidence, and he hasn't found any. I think that's the appropriate response.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: He would be in a position -- he would be in a position to know if what the president alleged in those four tweets 11 days ago was true, right?

COLE: I would think so. He's in a better position than most. He's an extremely responsible and thoughtful member, so --

BLITZER: Should the president retract those words and apologize to the former president?

COLE: I'LL leave it to the president to decide what he should do. In this case, I think something like that is warranted. You ought to walk it back if the evidence doesn't support the charge you made. In this case, I don't think it does.

BLITZER: That's a serious charge.

Congressman Cole, thanks, as usual, for joining us.

COLE: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: A reminder, later tonight Dana Bash and I will moderate a live town hall with Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price on the future of health care. That's tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern here on CNN.

And Paul Ryan will join Jake Tapper later this afternoon on "The Lead." That's at 4:00 p.m. eastern here, right on CNN.

Coming up, live pictures coming in from Michigan. President Trump getting ready to deliver remarks there any moment now. We'll bring it to you live. All that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:53:30] BLITZER: Looking at live pictures coming in from Michigan. The president will be delivering remarks shortly. We'll have large coverage of that. Stand by.

This will be the first time we hear from the president since Intelligence Committee leaders, both of them, the Democratic and Republican leaders, announced today they see no evidence backing up claims that Trump Tower in New York City was wiretapped on the orders of President Obama during the election campaign. President Trump blamed surveillance on that facility, insisting there was surveillance ordered by President Obama.

I want to talk more about that with our CNN political analyst, David Gregory.

David, the Justice Department missed the deadline to provide evidence of a tap. The House Intelligence Committee leaders say they see zero indication it actually happened, so what is the White House's next move?

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I don't know, Wolf. This is a real credibility blow to this White House and this president. But to upping the ante and saying, put up or shut-up, on such an incendiary charge of criminality from one president to a former president is really stunning. And all these people around, from the vice president to the press secretary to advisors, kind of circling the wagons, absent any evidence, is really going to hurt America's credibility and this president's credibility. You have Lindsey Graham, the Intelligence Committee chairs of both parties saying there's nothing here. The FBI director has already said there was no FISA warrant. So if this was an overly broad charge, then it contradicts how specific President Trump was with regard to President Obama. And it's a mess. And I don't know where they go from here --

[13:55:16] BLITZER: So how -- GREGORY -- other than backing down completely.

BLITZER: So how do you explain the White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, at the White House briefing yesterday -- and you and I are both former White House correspondents -- saying he is extremely confident that the president's assertions will be vindicated. How do you explain that?

GREGORY: They should know. The president can find out and he can present this evidence if he wants to. Of course, what's so damming about this is that he's either not telling the truth and hasn't been or there's evidence of a warrant and there's a reason why there was some kind of surveillance of him and his team. Remember, this is all about contacts with Russia, potentially, when Russia was up to no good trying to manipulate a U.S. election. So they have the ability to put the cards on the table. The Justice Department could put this out here. What we have heard is that they haven't shown anything. And the FBI director, who is in a position to know, has said it's not true and it should be corrected. So that's what we know so far and we're trying to figure out what's going on.

BLITZER: On this coming Monday, the FBI Director James Comey is scheduled to testify in open session before the House Intelligence Committee. I'm sure there are going to be a lot of questions for him. And all of us are wondering how far he will go, in open session, on, A, the issue of Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election and, B, on the president's assertion that President Obama ordered the wiretapping of Trump Tower? What are you going to be listening for?

GREGORY: Well, that last point is really important. Will he come out and publicly say what the president said is simply not true? James Comey, as head of the FBI, has, on record, leaning into these investigations, to say whether someone, in the case of Hillary Clinton, should not have been prosecuted, should have been prosecuted, really making public elements of the investigation that is unprecedented in terms of following the rules that is set forth by the Justice Department. We'll see if he steps back or if he doubles down on that.

And, of course, the issue of Russian meddling, that is the key point, much more important than the president, though his credibility is vitally important, more important than the president tweeting and making up claims against a former president. What is the evidence? What is that leading investigators to know more about whether there was any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and to what extent Russia was interfering in the election!

BLITZER: The House Speaker Paul Ryan, on another sensitive issue, strongly defending the Republican health care bill today. Listen to what he said this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN, (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: This is something we wrote with President Trump, something we wrote with the Senate committees. Just so you know, Maria, this is the plan we ran on all of last year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The speaker clearly tying the president to this current legislation, which seems to be in serious trouble right now. What do you make of this?

GREGORY: I think that's significant, right? The president has said he's backed Ryan and the Ryan plan, and does he stay there? There's a lot of different forces here. There are moderates, conservatives. There are others this the president's orbit who say this is bad politics you're going to alienate parts of your base here, elderly voters, low-income voters, working class folks who could be left out in the cold under a new Trumpcare plan, don't do it. But now you have the speaker of the House making it very clear the president has been on board. And he has been onboard and he has been fighting for it. It will be interesting to see to what extent he will continue to campaign for it and use political capital and whether the White House, which now says it's open to amendments on all of this, is going to back away or put more pressure on Ryan to give in. Again, what's striking is this is being defined very negatively very quickly. And Obamacare suffered the same thing. You recall, of course, failed Hillarycare, back in the early '90s, that got defined early and was killed. Obamacare survived, but had a very difficult go of it, in terms of how it was defined in communicating its effectiveness.

BLITZER: And you heard Republican leaders in the House, they need those 216 votes to get it through the House, towards the Senate, for consideration, and they're not 100 percent sure they have the 216 votes in the House of Representatives. Potentially, if it fails, it could be a huge embarrassment for the leadership and for the president himself.

David, thank you very much --

GREGORY: You're welcome.

BLITZER: -- David Gregory, for helping us with all that.

That's it for me. I'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room." And then, 9:00 p.m. eastern, Dana Bash and I will be moderating a town hall with Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.

But first, waiting for President Trump to come and speak in Michigan.

NEWSROOM with Brooke Baldwin starts right now.