CNN "State of the Union" - Transcript: Interview With Virginia Senator Mark Warner

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

TAPPER: Welcome back to STATE OF THE UNION. I'm Jake Tapper.

President Trump is back at the White House this morning, after attending the G20 summit in Argentina, as the pressure over the Mueller investigation ratchets up.

Now we know the president's former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen told Mueller he lied about a potential business deal with Russia to protect his boss, who was also out there not telling the truth about it.

Joining me now, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia. He's the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Senator, thanks so much for joining us.

So, Michael Cohen says in this court filing on Friday that -- quote -- that he -- quote -- "remained in close in regular contact with the White House staff" when he -- when he was lying to Congress about the development and attempted development of a Trump Tower in Moscow.

Did President Trump or the White House staff know that he was lying, instruct him to lie -- to lie? Do we know anything about that?

WARNER: Well, first of all, Jake, I just in light of the earlier segment and the news in the last few days, want to add my voice in terms of great deal of respect and admiration for President Bush.

And, boy, oh, boy, that kind of strong leadership he brought to the world stage, we could use that now. Could you imagine a George Bush at this last G20 vs. the performance of Mr. Trump?

To the Mueller investigation and what happened last week with the Cohen pleading, let's step back and look at what we know. We know that now that then candidate Donald Trump was still trying to do business with Russia in the summer of 2016. We know as well that his son and son-in-law had been meeting with Russians to get potential dirt on Hillary Clinton.

We know that his campaign aides had -- knew about the e-mails that had been stolen by the Russians. And we knew that his campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was trying to offer the brief the Russians. And now --

TAPPER: When you say the campaign aides knew about -- you're talking about --

(CROSSTALK)

WARNER: I'm talking about Papadopoulos.

TAPPER: Papadopoulos, OK.

WARNER: Papadopoulos.

So, these are all things that have been established by Mueller. And what I find particularly interesting with the revelation of Cohen's plea is that he's saying he lied to protect then candidate Trump's stories that he had nothing to do with Russia.

So, now I -- the president seemed to already be changing his story a little bit and say, well, it was all legal. I will leave lawyers to make those determinations.

But I have got to believe that most Republicans who were about to nominate Donald Trump in the summer of '16 would probably have thought it was a relevant fact, they would like to have known that then candidate Trump was still trying to do business with Russia.

TAPPER: Do we know whether or not -- we know Michael Cohen said that he was in -- in contact, close and regular contact with White House staff, while he was lying to Congress about this deal, the Trump Tower Moscow.

[12:20:10]

Do we know anything about whether or not the White House was aware that he was lying?

WARNER: I'm not aware of that. Obviously, this was just the plea arrangement with Michael Cohen. And, clearly, most of these characters who are around Donald Trump, none of them have exactly a sterling record of telling the truth.

TAPPER: Right.

WARNER: But I got to believe that the special prosecutor has more details to come.

TAPPER: Now, you said on Thursday that it might not be a coincidence that Mueller waited to announce Michael Cohen's new plea until after he had received these written answers to his questions from President Trump. Are using suggesting that President Trump was less than truthful in his answers to Robert Mueller?

WARNER: I'm not suggesting anything. And I'm purely speculating.

But I know there had been a four- or five- -- three- or four-month time-out where Mueller had not taken many actions, appropriately, I think before the election. And it just appeared that he was waiting to get the president's written responses before he took or at least announced this Cohen plea.

But that's pure speculation. And, obviously, with this White House that seems not able to go a day without a factual inaccuracy or failing to tell the truth, anything's up for grabs.

TAPPER: Jerry Nadler, the congressman from New York, is likely going to be the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

He said on Friday -- quote -- "It's become very clear that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians."

Now, he meant that not necessarily about conspiracy to affect the election, but collusion in a broader sense, having to do with business deals, having to do with whatever.

Do you agree? Is there evidence of that?

WARNER: Again, I'm going to continue the same position I have had from the beginning of this investigation, why we have kept it bipartisan.

Both Chairman Burr and I are going to reserve that final judgment until we get all our facts. We still need to see people like Michael Cohen back before our committee.

But we do know this. It's pretty clear that the Russians, not only did they -- they hacked into the e-mails. Not only had they stolen other information, but they were very forward-leaning in terms of offering this information to the Trump campaign.

And it appears that a number of the senior Trump officials or campaign officials continued to lie about those kind of contacts.

TAPPER: I wonder, though, if there is a narrative here that is different from the one that a lot of Americans were thinking it was, which is, for instance, in March 2016, President Trump suggested -- or then candidate Trump suggested easing sanctions against Russia for the invasion of Crimea.

He was in the middle of also trying to curry favor with Putin to have this very lucrative deal, Trump Tower Moscow.

WARNER: A Trump Tower deal that, supposedly, they were going to offer Putin a $50 million penthouse apartment.

TAPPER: A $50 million penthouse suite for free, yes, exactly. So, my question, maybe this -- maybe there was a motivation of greed and avarice and business dealings, and not, we're doing this for Russia so that they help us win the election. Maybe it's, we are doing this for Russia so that, after we lose the election, we can make a lot of money in Russia.

WARNER: Well, there were clearly -- from on the outset, I think everyone wondered, why was Donald Trump, who was willing to whack almost anyone, was never willing to say an ill word about Vladimir Putin?

TAPPER: Right.

WARNER: Now, was it -- and we still don't know the answer to this -- was it because of his business dealings for potential business dealings with Russia? Or was it because at some point during the campaign -- and I think special prosecutor Mueller's zeroing in on Roger Stone as well -- was there some communication about what the Russians had and the potential then release through WikiLeaks and the ties between WikiLeaks and Roger Stone?

That's a whole chapter that I think that Mueller still has much to reveal.

TAPPER: But I guess, while on that subject of the Roger Stone part of it, is there evidence that Roger Stone, Randy Credico, Jerome Corsi, any of this gang actually coordinated with WikiLeaks for the release of --

WARNER: We have not had a chance to interview Mr. Stone yet.

Clearly, the special prosecutor has. And I, like you and I think most of America, want to hear that results of those kind of interviews.

TAPPER: Wait. The special prosecutor has interviewed Roger Stone?

WARNER: It's my under -- I believe. I'm not 100 percent sure on that. I know they have been back and forth, and know at least they have dealt with Corsi. I'm not sure whether they have dealt with --

TAPPER: Yes, it seems to me like they have been circling around Roger Stone. They haven't necessarily gone towards him.

Senator Mark Warner, it's always a pleasure to have you here.

WARNER: Thank you.

TAPPER: Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source