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White House Press Briefing. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired April 27, 2017 - 13:30   ET

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


[13:29:47] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We're waiting for Sean Spicer to come to the lectern and answer reporters' questions, and there are lots of questions on this important day, day 98 of the Trump presidency. Only two days until the first 100-day mark arrives.

Let's get back and talk about some of the issues, some of the questions he's, no doubt, going to be asked about.

NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, certainly on the agenda right now. The president says, at least up until a few days ago, he was ready to pull out of the trade deal. He talked to leaders of Canada and Mexico overnight, says he's ready to negotiate a new deal.

Here's Sean Spicer.

[13:30:25]

SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Good afternoon. It's a little bit of a different room this morning.

I'm sure you all know that I was up here earlier this morning off- camera with some of your kids. It was a pleasure to be able to share a little bit of the White House experience with them, and I hope they enjoyed it. I think some of you have trained them very well. I hope they enjoyed their visit and they -- I'm glad they got an opportunity to visit with the president and the vice president today.

We have a bunch to talk about today about what the president's been doing, and he's got an executive order coming up. So I'm going to try to get through it all.

This morning, the president welcomed the president and Mrs. Macri of Argentina for an official visit. As you know, the president and first lady of Argentina just left. So we will have a readout for you very shortly on that.

We've got a two p.m. -- at two p.m., the president will be signing a memorandum on aluminum imports and threats to national security, so we'll try to keep this briefing on time.

I know Secretary Ross spoke about the memo that the president is signing a bit yesterday, but I want to reiterate that the American aluminum industry is in trouble, having declined down to the lowest levels of aluminum that we've produced since 1952. It is critical for our national defenses -- the Army ground vehicles and the Air Force jet, Navy warships -- but American companies are producing less aluminum than before, especially in the high purity aluminum that's used to build things like the F-35, the F-18 and the C-17s.

The secretary of commerce has initiated an investigation to determine what effect our reliance on imported aluminum has on both national and economic security. The memo the president will sign today, similar to the memo he signed on steel, elevates this investigation and directs the secretary to prioritize its completion.

This memo, combined with similar action on steel, is an important step towards fulfilling the president's promise to, quote, "put American steel and aluminum back into the backbone of our country." The president has been speaking about revitalizing the American manufacturing industry for quite a long time.

Another one of the president's most significant pledges has been to ensure that the men and women who have served this nation, our military, have the care, treatment and support they so greatly deserve. So later this afternoon, the president will go to the Department of Veterans Affairs where he will sign an executive order that will take serious action to fix the broken V.A. system through the establishment of the new V.A. Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection, which will remove and discipline federal employees and managers who have violated the public's trust, while protecting employees that speak out about wrongdoing.

The president will be joined at the V.A. by several veterans and their spouses who have experienced or witnessed first-hand the poor quality of treatment that unfortunately too many of these heroes have received at V.A. facilities, including Sergeant Michael Verardo, who lost his leg and arm when he stepped on an IED in Afghanistan in 2010, and his devoted wife and caregiver Sarah.

The president is making it clear that the delays and improper care experienced by these veterans is unacceptable. The president's action today comes on top of the signing of the Veterans Choice Improvement Act last week, which gives more veterans the option of seeing the doctor of their choice without traveling long distance or waiting for V.A. care.

These actions, which are only the beginning of his plans to modernize the V.A., the president is making clear that the Trump administration will not accept anything but the best for those who have served our nation.

Today, as with every day this week as we approach the 100th day in office for this president, he's continuing to follow through on some of the biggest promises that he made to the American people. On Monday, he hosted a working lunch with members of the United Nations Security Council, reiterating his dedication to making America a leader in the world. On Tuesday, he prioritized the protection of the farmers and ranchers of America's heartland by establishing the Interagency Task Force on Agricultural and Rural Prosperity.

Today, he took several important steps to review a massive federal land-grab by the previous administration under the Antiquities Act, an egregious federal overreach. That was yesterday, actually. And today, as I mentioned, he's taking action on trade and veterans.

As we speak of trade, I know last night you saw a readout of the president's call with President Pena Nieto and Prime Minister Trudeau. As the president just said, the president and the prime minister called him and asked him to renegotiate NAFTA, rather than terminate it. The president has a great deal of respect for these two countries and their leaders. And he said that he would hold on the termination while we negotiate a better and fairer deal for America and its workers.

SPICER: But the president also made it clear that if the parties are unable to agree on a deal that is fair for American workers and companies, after renegotiation -- giving renegotiation a good shot, he will move forward with termination.

And with that, I'll take some questions.

Yes.

QUESTION: What changes in NAFTA does the president hope to achieve through these negotiations?

SPICER: Well, I think, when you look at the various sectors, it's -- obviously being a multilateral agreement, there are areas in Canada, sectors, whether it's agriculture, manufacturing, services, that we look on both of them, where I think there's both a modernization, recognizing the world has changed, and also some trade imbalances and issues that have come up, and also, frankly, some areas that fall outside the scope of NAFTA as it was current -- as it was negotiated at the beginning that I think we want to look at.

Obviously, the issue of dairy came up, right? So that's an area that we would -- we would want to look at as well.

And so, part of this is to look at not just the existing agreement, but areas and sectors and industries that have fallen outside or because over the last couple decades have -- have not kept up with -- with the promises and the commitments that were made.

But that's -- we've got a ways to go.

Matt?

QUESTION: Thanks, Sean.

As you know, under both the Reagan and Bush administrations, concerns about tax-cut-fueled deficits were dismissed with promises of growth and we're hearing that same sort of rhetoric now.

The deficit increased a great deal under both those administrations after the tax cuts. What's different about the president's plan that won't lead to the same sort of ballooning of the deficit?

SPICER: Well, there's a few things. Number one, we outlined those principles yesterday. We've got a lot of work to do with Congress, and I think it's moving in a very positive direction. There's a lot of pay-fors, as they call them, in this -- in this proposal that will continue to be refined as we move forward and -- and negotiated with Congress.

So there's a lot of things. But I think the president laid out a plan that achieves -- or seeks to achieve three basic things.

One is -- is economic growth and job creation.

Two is a simplification, so that the American people can actually file their taxes in a -- in a -- in a rather normal process that doesn't require a ton of money and time.

And, three, is to do stuff that makes our -- our -- create a better business climate that makes sure that manufacturing and job creation -- people want to hire here, and that we help the middle class.

Those are the three guiding principles that the president has.

As we do that, one of the things that you recognize through a lot of the models here is that you're going to achieve greater economic growth. It's something that we saw both following the tax cuts in the Kennedy administration and the Reagan administration.

I think that we can achieve greater growth, economic prosperity and job creation under the plans the president laid out.

John (ph)?

QUESTION: Thanks a lot, Sean.

You may have seen the news about the Office of the Inspector General announcing that it's launched an investigation into the payment that the former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, received, prior to becoming the national security adviser, from RT, Russia Today, which is an entity of the Russian government.

What's your reaction to that, first of all?

SPICER: I think that's appropriate. If they think that there's wrongdoing, then the department's inspector general should look into that.

QUESTION: Are you satisfied with the vetting that was done of General Flynn by the transition team before he came on board as the national security adviser?

SPICER: So, that's a -- a great question. I appreciate you bringing it up.

Let's walk through that for a second. General Flynn was a career military officer who maintained a high-level security clearance throughout his career in the military. His clearance was last reissued by the Obama administration in 2016 with full knowledge of his activities that occurred in 2015, as you point out. So the issue is, you know, he -- he was issued a security clearance under the Obama administration in the spring of 2016. The trip and -- and transactions that you're referring to occurred in December of 2015, from what I understand.

So, we -- you know, obviously, there's an issue that -- that, as you point out, the Department of Defense inspector general's looking into. We welcome that.

But all of that clearance was -- was made during by the Obama -- during the Obama administration, and apparently with knowledge of the trip that he took.

So that's how the process works and I -- and I welcome the Department of Defense's I.G.'s review.

Jordan?

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: If he wasn't fired by the president for -- sorry.

If he wasn't fired by the president for lying to the vice president, would he still have a job today, right here at the White House?

SPICER: I -- I -- it's -- I will just say that I think the president made the right call at the right time and it's clearly paid off.

Jordan?

QUESTION: Thanks, Sean.

Given the progress that congressional Republicans have made on the health care talks, does the president want a vote on that bill this week?

SPICER: He wants a vote when they have 216 votes. And I feel very good about the progress that's being made to get to that number.

I think Speaker Ryan's comments this morning indicate that it's moving in the right direction. And that should be good news for everyone in America, as we a move towards a system that creates a health care system that -- that serves us, and that makes sure that premiums don't skyrocket like they are now and that we're able to see the doctors that we want to see and have plans that have competition in them (ph).

Eamon? QUESTION: (inaudible) won't be disappointed?

SPICER: I think the president wants a vote and wants a health care system as soon as possible. But that's going to be dictated by the speaker and the majority leader and the majority whip in the House when they feel they have the votes.

That being said, as we've now maintained for the last several days, we feel very positive about the work that's being done to get to that, and the reaction that we're having. As you recall, there was a lot of members that had initially had some problems, and we're very pleased with the reaction -- the public reaction that they are having to what is currently been -- been negotiated. And I think it's only getting bigger, and that's welcome news.

Eamon?

QUESTION: Thanks, Sean.

On the president's tax plan, we've been getting a little bit of mixed signals here on exactly what his vision is in terms of retirement savings. Can you lay out what the president's vision is for 401(k)s and particularly tax deductions surrounding those? Does the president involve (ph) -- imagine removing those deductions entirely along with the other deductions, or is he going to protect those (ph)?

SPICER: So, the secretary of the treasury and -- and Director Cohn yesterday both talked about that the current plan right now both protects charitable giving and mortgage interest and that's it.

As we move forward with negotiations in the House and the Senate, you know, that -- that plan will continue to flesh out.

But one of the benefits of the tax plan on the individual side, in particular, is by expanding the standard deduction to $24,000 for a married couple, that really effectively creates a -- a bracket of zero taxes for many, many Americans. And that's good news. We're going to see more and more Americans get some relief that they so desperately need.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Sean, these tax deductions, though, of course, comes with its own group, its own lobby, its own interest group.

SPICER: Yes. QUESTION: They fight very hard for these things. Are you guys prepared for a battle on all those tax deductions -- eliminating all of those? I mean, politically that's -- that's a big lift.

SPICER: Well, I think the one interest that the president's going to fight for are the American people and the American worker. That's what he made his entire campaign about is putting America first and he's going to fight hard. His special interest is the American people and making sure that, whether it's putting more money in their pocket or making sure that the economic growth leads to more jobs and greater manufacturing, that's -- that's the one interest that he's fighting for every day.

So, we'll do battle with whoever we have to to achieve a greater outcome for Americans and American workers.

Zeke?

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Just two on General -- General Flynn. First, you said earlier at best the Obama administration had reissued his clearance last year.

SPICER: Yes.

QUESTION: Is the implication there that should be taken that if the Trump administration was the one adjudicating his clearance, this year he would not have been issued that clearance now that the White House knows everything that there is about General Flynn?

SPICER: No.

I -- I think I'm just making sure people understand the process and how it works.

And the way a process works is that if you have a top security -- top -- top security clearance, you fill out a form. There's an investigation done. You are reinvestigated every five years if you are able to maintain that clearance.

And then whoever owns that clearance, whether it's the FBI or the Department of Defense, goes out, does the investigation. In between that period, you're responsible for updating the information that you've provided in accordance with the agency that issued that.

My only point is is that when General Flynn came into the White House, he had an active security clearance that was issued during the Obama administration with all of the information that's being discussed that occurred in 2015. So, I'm just -- I guess my -- my only point is to explain how the process works and who adjudicated that.

QUESTION: So you -- you're not -- find wrongdoing on the part of... SPICER: No.

That's why the Department of Defense inspector general's looking into this, to see how that process worked.

But I -- I think it's important for folks to understand that -- that when someone applies for a clearance, they get that clearance, it's issued at the top security clearance level for five years, and that the person who has been issued it then has a legal obligation to update the issuing agency any variances in what they supplied as information (inaudible).

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ... when you were here on February 14th, the morning after General Flynn was fired by the president, that -- that the president asked -- asked him to leave the White House because of the situation regarding the phone call with Russian Ambassador (inaudible) vice president, but also put a series of other questionable instances. I was hoping now you can provide some more information, now that more -- you know, some of his -- some of his financial dealings in particular now have come to light. Is that what led to his -- his termination at the White House?

SPICER: Look, I -- I think we addressed it at the time. And I think as...

QUESTION: (Inaudible)

SPICER: No, no. But I -- that's right. And I don't -- I think the president made the right decision at the right time and he continues to stand by that.

Major?

QUESTION: (Inaudible) follow-up on a couple of things that have been brought up to you today.

John's question. Not the process but your own vetting, meaning the transition, are you satisfied that that met the standard that should have been met with Michael Flynn?

QUESTION: And are there any regrets that this White House has about bringing him in, knowing what you know about him now, seeing a behavior that would be plainly inconsistent with the standard that candidate Trump set during the campaign?

SPICER: Well, with respect, your saying our process. The process is every government employee who's eligible for a clearance goes through the same process. So it's not -- we don't have a unique process.

QUESTION: That's not the only question you asked Michael Flynn. It couldn't possibly be the only thing you asked him.

SPICER: When someone comes in, the question is: Do they have a clearance? If not, they apply for one. And if they have one, then the clearance is made available from the issuing agency. That's -- you can't -- the -- the whole reason you have a clearance is so that someone is found whether or not they are...

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ... it was not just the episode with the Russian ambassador. It was other instances. Those things have come to light.

Any regret about bringing...

(CROSSTALK)

SPICER: Look, I will just say the president...

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ... and knowing what you know now, that you missed something, and you regret bringing Michael Flynn...

(CROSSTALK)

SPICER: I think the president made the right decision at the right time. And it's been pretty clear that -- that -- he -- you know...

(CROSSTALK) SPICER: No, it's -- I'm just saying he made the right decision. And I think we looked (ph) forward from that decision and the decision stands. (CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ... question about Gary Cohn and the treasury secretary left us with the implication yesterday when asked about retirement savings, that they were protected. But you just said -- indicated they might not be. Can you help us...

(CROSSTALK)

SPICER: I can't. Let me get back to you on that. I was not clear on that distinction. I will have the Treasury folks read that out for you.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: So General Flynn came in with just the Obama administration vetting? Is that right, Sean?

SPICER: That's how -- OK...

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Because that's the impression you're giving.

SPICER: It is.

QUESTION: General Flynn came in and he walked through the doors with the clearance that was conducted by the Obama administration? That doesn't make any sense.

SPICER: Sure, it does. The same way that when you applied for a credential to the White House press briefing room; when you were here...

(CROSSTALK)

SPICER: Hold on. Just let -- hold on. Let me explain the answer to you. Calm down. The kids have gone. Hold on.

(CROSSTALK)

SPICER: And I'm trying to answer it, Major. This is the answer.

When you applied...

(CROSSTALK)

SPICER: Hold on. Listen.

When you applied to come here to this briefing room as a member of the press, you applied; you filled out certain forms with the Secret Service to have your background run. When I came in here on January 20th, the people that had been cleared the day before were cleared on the 20th, the 21st and et cetera. We didn't re-run your background. We trust that when you were cleared the first time, whether if you were cleared on, you know, December 15th or January 20th, that you were still -- that your background check still cleared.

Every individual who came into this White House either applied for a security clearance or had one. Everyone in the government goes through the same SF-86 process -- every single person. And so why would you re-run a background check on someone who is the head of the Department of Defense Intelligence Agency that had and did maintain a high-level security clearance?

That's it. It doesn't -- there's no difference between administrations when you come in from one, they re-run it. You -- they -- the reason they grant them for five years is that it's a very extensive background where they check your contacts, your places of residence, your employment. They go out in the field. They do a lot of that work. And then you are required to maintain updates to that clearance. They readjudicate it every five years.

That occurred in this case. And now the Department of Defense inspector general is looking into it. That's how...

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Congressman Cummings accuses this White House of a coverup. Can you say why?

SPICER: Say that -- I -- I was frankly taken back by his comments today because they're frankly not true. The Department of Defense was the issuing agency for General Flynn's SF-86. We referred them to the Department of Defense who owns and issued his security clearance and they got a copy of it. That's how the system works. The documents that he requested, he received.

So with all due respect, he -- he got the documents that he requested. Our job -- they sent a form letter to multiple agencies asking for a copy of this. What we did was properly refer him to the issuing agency and department, and said this is where you got it, and he got it.

QUESTION: Are there no other documents that you have at this point that could be turned over to this committee that would be relevant to this investigation?

SPICER: Well, he asked for -- he asked -- not that I'm aware of at this point. What they sent to us, they asked for the SF-86. That we referred them to the Department of Defense. That's great. Two is they asked for a contract -- all copies of his speaking engagements from a speaker's bureau. I believe he was referred to the speakers bureau for those contracts.

And three is they asked for all foreign contacts that he may or may not have had. Since the incident occurred that they're questioning before his employment at the White House, I think we have complied with every document that they've looked for.

(CROSSTALK) QUESTION: Thank you. Two questions. One, does the president still feel that Mike Flynn should seek immunity?

SPICER: I think Mike Flynn should do what his counsel advises him best to do.

QUESTION: (inaudible)

SPICER: I -- I don't -- I have not asked him, but I believe that General Flynn should do what his counsel advises him to do.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: OK. Secondly, the president said he wants to start renegotiating NAFTA as soon as today. Has he notified Congress about that yet?

SPICER: He is -- we've been in communication with Congress for a while on this. Yeah.

Adam?

QUESTION: Thanks, Sean.

The president tweeted this morning about Puerto Rico...

SPICER: Uh-huh.

QUESTION: ... (inaudible) going to begin defaulting on their debt May 1st...

SPICER: Right.

QUESTION: ... (inaudible) some kind of solution.

There are millions of investors in the United States, senior citizens, who may not be aware that they hold funds within muni-bond mutual funds that expose them to a default in Puerto Rico.

Is there anything the White House should do or the administration can do, one, to safeguard those senior citizens and their investments; and, two, to prevent an -- an increase in cost to states and municipalities that may have to pay more to borrow when they access the muni-bond market if Puerto Rico defaults?

SPICER: Right.

I think there's -- that -- the issue itself is extremely complicated, in the sense that the president's tweet and the president's discussion revolves around the continuing resolution to fund our government. Our government needs to get -- there needs to be a continuing resolution effective this Friday.

The president has done everything possible, worked extremely hard with Congress, to ensure that we maintain the government open -- keep the government open. The Democrats at the last minute have come in and thrown a lot of monkey wrenches into the ability for this to get done, despite the president doing everything that he can to show good faith to keep this going.

So it's not just a question of it's -- they keep moving the goalposts. And the issue right now is to make sure we do what's in the best interest of this country and our people by keeping the government open. That's the -- that's the issue at hand right now, not a question of whether or not that can be dealt with.

There are ways that that issue can be dealt with. But throwing in it (sic) at the last minute and -- and trying to gum up keeping the government open is probably not the most effective way.

QUESTION: (inaudible) I understand that the C.R. is different. But Puerto Rico default, with or without the C.R., is the administrative working...

(CROSSTALK)

SPICER: Again -- and I think that that is a separate issue that needs to be addressed by Congress in terms of how it get (sic) done. I think the -- the method right now is to make sure that we do everything in our power to keep the government open effective Friday.

George?

QUESTION: As the tax plan evolves and we start to get details, do you believe it is a fair question for anyone to ask how that plan personally affects the president and his family?

SPICER: Well, I think the -- the -- the president's plan right now is -- is something that every American should worry, hopefully, about how it's going to affect them. And I think when you look at the ways that this is going to benefit middle-class Americans, middle- income working Americans grow businesses, that should be, and I think, frankly, that is, the concern of most Americans out there.

They're worried about their job. They're worried about whether their company's growing and expanding. They're worried about whether or not they're saving enough money and how much they're paying in taxes.

And I think what -- the president's number one goal right now is to provide middle-income and lower-income tax relief to Americans.

And that -- that's what his goal is, and I think that's, frankly, what most Americans' goal is.

Cecilia?

QUESTION: But is it a fair question to ask?

(CROSSTALK)

SPICER: I don't -- that's up to every individual to ask. But I would guess that most Americans would applaud what the president's doing to spur economic growth and job creation in this country.

Cecilia?

QUESTION: If middle -- if middle-income Americans should feel empowered to ask how this plan affects them, why is it that Secretary Mnuchin today could not guarantee (ph) that no one in the middle class would pay more under this proposal?

SPICER: I think everyone in the middle class should know that -- that this president's plan is going to make sure that they have more in their pocket.

QUESTION: So there is a guarantee from the White House -- that's...

SPICER: I think that...

QUESTION: ... the position of the White House right now, that...

(CROSSTALK)

SPICER: ... that -- the position of the White House is that the -- the goal of this thing -- of this president's tax plan is to provide them and lower-income people with more money in their pocket and a tax cut. Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

SPICER: Thank you guys very much. I look forward to seeing you at the signing.

[13:53:41] BLITZER: All right. So Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, wrapping up his daily briefing. Lots of questions, as you just heard, on Michael Flynn, the president's former national security adviser, amidst all of the latest allegations against him.

Let's get some analyst.

Gloria Borger, he did defend the Trump administration's record and tried to pin some of the blame on the Obama administration.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. He started throwing Flynn under the bus, saying that if Congress thought there were transgressions, they ought to investigate it. But then, kind of what I thought was stunning, he blamed the Obama administration, for which Flynn had worked before he was fired, for not doing a proper vet, because there's a five-year period, I believe he was saying, that you don't need to reinvestigate somebody. And so he said, well -- basically, he passed the buck, it was their fault, not ours. Which leads me to believe, stunningly, that the person who was to become the new national security adviser didn't get a new vet, given the fact that he's a pretty controversial person, and he was fired by the last administration.

(CROSSTALK).

BLITZER: It's interesting, because Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, who revealed all of these new documents, that there's the Department of Defense inspector general investigation now under way involving Flynn's security clearances, he was complaining, Cummings, that the White House is not cooperating with this House committee and giving them the documents they need.

[13:55:13] DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, after this briefing, it makes you question whether they are withholding the documents or that the process has been so sloppy or that the proper documents, that would have proved and shown the vetting of the national security adviser for the president of the United States didn't happen or happened that was a big suspicion. And I also, you know -- you always know watching Sean Spicer to say the president is watching me now. He was asked whether the president regrets appointing Michael Flynn as national security adviser, and he said it is the right decision at the right time.

BLITZER: Just to remind our viewers, Mark Preston, at issue is the $45,000 that Flynn took from the Russian Television and the more than $500,000 he took -- his lobbying firm took from various Turkish elements for which at the time he did not register as a foreign agent of Turkey. Only after he was fired did he retroactively register as an agent of Turkey.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: That's right. So the time line, 2014, fired by the Obama administration after two years, overseeing intelligence out of the Pentagon. 2015, December, he goes over and does this RT appearance. 2016, he lobbies for Turkey at the same time he's advising then-Candidate Trump. 2017, 24 days on the job before he gets fired.

BLITZER: And, Susan Page, this is clearly still an embarrassment. As much as Sean Spicer would like to pin the blame on the Obama administration, it's clearly an embarrassment that the president of the United States had to fire his first national security adviser after less than 30 days on the job.

SUSAN PAGE, WASINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, USA TODAY: It underscores the continuing price that they are paying for a transition that did not work the way transitions have worked after people have won the presidency. The Trump team was not ready for the transition. There hadn't been the groundwork laid during the final few months of the campaign. Usually, you have a vetting process by the transition team before you make a nomination, before it goes to the vetting process. That did not happen at this time and this is one of the ways you see the consequences of that.

BLITZER: This is just one committee, this House Oversight Committee, that's looking into this. There's the Senate Intelligence Committee, House Intelligence Committee, a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and a criminal investigation that the FBI is engaged in. So this is not going away.

BORGER: No, it's not going away. There's tentacles of a large investigation into the question of Russian hacking into our election and whether there was any collusion on the part of the Trump campaign into that Russian hack. But Flynn, who is fired, remains a distraction because he's become symbolic of the sloppiness, as you guys were all talking about, of the way this administration has disregarded, I would say, the process and the vetting that you would think that a new national security adviser ought to have, even if he had been cleared previously.

BLITZER: And everyone knew about him trip to Moscow when he was sitting there with Putin.

BASH: Absolutely. It's hard to hide that.

Listen to you, Susan, it made me think that the administration didn't properly vet when it came to their nominees, but what makes Michael Flynn different is that he didn't have to come up for confirmation in the Senate because he was a presidential aide, the national security adviser. So it was a different standard and probably they knew that inside the White House. They focused more on the ones who are in public where the members of Congress and the Senate are digging into records.

PRESTON: And we're going into a couple weeks now of congressional hearings, and we're going to hear from the likes of Sally Yates, who was overseeing the Department of Justice during this transition time, who -- she herself was dismissed, and others that were in the Obama administration. So certainly, not going away.

BLITZER: Yeah, May 2nd, the first House Intelligence Committee hearings in all of this, they will take place. Some of it in open session and some of it behind closed doors.

Guys, thanks very much.

That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching. I'll be back at 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room." Congressman Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, will be my special guest on all the breaking news, the investigation into the president's former national security advisor, Michael Flynn.

Coming up next hour, we'll hear from the president himself when he formally orders an investigation into the effect of aluminum imports on national security.

The news continues right now.

[14:00:14] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.