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Trump and Tillerson Meet; Bannon On Corker; Bannon on Primary Challenge; Bannon Says Corker Should Resign; Fires Rag in California. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired October 10, 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. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

President Trump challenging his secretary of state to an I.Q. test, suggesting he's smarter than Rex Tillerson. The two dining together right now in the White House and what should be a rather interesting lunch.

The president clearly not finished with his very public feud with Senator Bob Corker, mocking his height and accusing him of sounding like a fool.

Firefighters, meanwhile, are battling unstoppable flames as the California wildfires spread and the death toll climbs.

But right now, the president is having lunch with his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is also at the table with a host of issues to dig into. Among them, North Korea, Iran and I.Q. tests.

We expect to hear all about all of this when the press secretary, Sarah Sanders, briefs the media later this hour. We'll have live coverage of that.

In the meantime, let's go to our Senior White House Correspondent Jeff Zeleny. He's over at the White House.

Jeff, in an interview with "Forbes Magazine", the president said maybe he and the secretary of state should compare I.Q. tests. This in response to a report that Tillerson called Trump, and I'm quoting him now, "a moron" in a private statement back over the summer.

How do you -- how do you think that's playing into their lunch conversation today?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, you would think it would certainly make for an awkward lunch conversation. But this added to the list of ongoing issues between this president and his secretary of state. We know there have been issues for months, really. It came to somewhat of a boil last week when the secretary of state, it was reported, that he referred to the president, as you said, as a moron. Well, they are breaking bread, at this hour I'm told, with the defense secretary there as well, James Mattis, who's very close to the secretary of state. So, he, perhaps, is providing something of a buffer here.

But in the Oval Office just a short time ago, the president was asked if by suggesting he has a higher I.Q. than his secretary of state, he's undercutting him. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you undercut your secretary of state today with the I.Q. comment?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, I didn't undercut anybody. I don't believe in undercutting people.

Thank you very much, everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you still have confidence in Secretary Tillerson?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, Wolf, the president there saying, I didn't undercut anybody. I don't believe in undercutting anybody. But there actually is a trail of examples and evidence where this president has, indeed, undercut his secretary of state.

Particularly two weeks ago on dealing with the arising nuclear threat of Pyongyang and North Korea. The president was saying that Rex Tillerson, his secretary of state, does not speak for this administration, in terms of negotiation there.

So, Wolf, there has been an ongoing series of back and forths between these two leaders here. But as the press was leaving the Oval Office, someone asked if he has confidence in his secretary of state. Wolf, the president answered, yes.

BLITZER: The president also seems to be escalating his war with the Tennessee Senator Bob Corker, the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, tweeting this earlier today. The failing "New York Times" set little Bob Corker up by recording his conversation was made to sound like a fool and that's what I am dealing with.

So, he's got a new nickname. Should we expect to hear any more on this later this hour at the White House briefing?

ZELENY: Wolf, I think we will. Again, this is something perhaps even more extraordinary than the feud with the secretary of state. Because Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee, the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee has been fighting back. He has been responding very aggressively, as we've seen throughout the weekend.

So, I do believe that Sarah Sanders, at this briefing coming up in this hour, will be asked about this. Because, Wolf, it impacts the president's agenda going forward, tax reform, other confirmations, before that committee.

I mean, as we were talking earlier about the secretary of state. Should the president decide to replace the secretary of state at some point, Wolf, the committee that would decide his replacement on confirmation hearing is Bob Corker's, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

So -- and he is in his position until the end of next year. That's why all of these fights online, other places, actually have consequences.

Wolf, a senior White House official I talked to earlier today said he hopes that they can just move on with all of this, the president and the senator, and get back to the legislative agenda. Wolf, I'm not sure that's likely to happen given what we've seen over these last nine months -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, I suspect you're right. All right, Jeff Zeleny over at the White House, thank you. We'll stand by for that live briefing coming up later this hour as well.

More now on the president challenging his secretary of state's I.Q. in that "Forbes Magazine" interview. The president responded to reports of Rex Tillerson calling the president a moron. He said this. He said, quote, "I think it's fake news. But if he did that, I guess we'll have to compare I.Q. tests and I can tell you who is going to win."

[13:05:09] The "Forbes Magazine" editor, Randall Lane, is joining us now. We have more on this interview. Randall, thanks very much for joining us.

Give us a little background. What was the president's demeanor when he suggested comparing I.Q. tests -- I.Q.s with Tillerson, after he boasted in January about his cabinet having the highest I.Q. of any ever assembled?

RANDALL LANE, EDITOR, "FORBES MAGAZINE": So, maybe it's -- you know, it's a face off and they both have really high I.Q.s.

The president was very -- he was in good spirits. I interviewed him on Friday. He was in good form. It was admittedly surreal to have to ask the president in the Oval Office about these reports when the secretary of state called him a moron. And he paused and he thought about it and he delivered that.

I think the last sentence is the key. I mean, when you're dealing with Donald Trump, he is the alpha dog. And it was that last sentence that, I know who will win. I think that sent the message, like, I am the boss. And as you mentioned, Wolf, I mean, here is somebody who, in the last two weeks, has made it clear that the only one who speaks for the U.S., in terms of foreign policy, is the president.

BLITZER: Yes. And the article refers to a long history the president has had with your magazine, "Forbes Magazine." The title of the article is "Inside Donald Trump's Head And The Single Theory That Explains Everything." So, explain, Randall, that theory.

LANE: Well, you know, we've been covering him 35 years. We've seen how he operates as a business person. And if you look at how he's acted as a business person, all of a sudden, a lot of the things that confuse people about why did Trump do this or that make a lot of sense.

I mean, this is somebody -- I think he had a perception that here's this great business builder. And, listen, he's very -- you know, we have him worth more than $3 billion. He's been very successful.

But he's, really, somebody who's cobbled together deals. He's a transactional person. And here's somebody who every single -- you know, so he's not somebody who incrementally builds. But somebody who looks at every single aspect and every single thing he does as, I win, you lose.

So, it's not even -- it's not the classic business win-win where the stock goes up. The shareholders are happy. The employees are happy. The customers are happy.

This is somebody who approaches everything like, if I get a better deal and the other side gets the worse deal, that's good for me.

So, you see that in foreign policy. You see that with his Obamacare negotiations. And you see that, again, with everything that he's, kind of, having this spat with Rex Tillerson and Mattis. Whether it's Iran, whether it's North Korea, he sees a lot of the world, especially on foreign policy, as a zero-sum gain where he says it's America first.

And that's what he said. It's America first. But if you look at everything he does, it's an I want to win even if somebody else has to lose.

BLITZER: You know, it's interesting. You say he's worth $3 billion. "Forbes Magazine" every year puts out the wealthiest and how much they're worth.

I've been interviewing Donald Trump, now the President of the United States, for about 20 years. And every time I bring up what Forbes says he's worth, whether it was 1 billion, 2 billion or 3 billion, he always gets upset. He always gets angry. They're way low. They're libeling me. I'm sure you've heard those complaints from him over the years as well.

LANE: Yes, directly from him. Well, at Forbes, we've long had a -- the Donald Trump rule which is whatever Donald Trump says, we usually then have to divide by three to what the real number is.

But that said, there are a lot of people out there who've said, well, Trump is actually not rich and it's all a facade.

He's worth several billion dollars. He is a billionaire. He's been incredibly successful. But, again, look how he's been successful. He's been successful cutting good deals. Sometimes at the expense -- you know, trying to beat other people.

I mean, he's a very competitive person. He wants to win. And, again, there are a lot of aspects of that that you see. That's why he is president now. He knows how to win.

But now, when you're the president and you're setting policy, really, a lot of time what you're looking for in a situation, especially foreign policy where you're trying to find win-wins. And his default is win-you lose. And that -- if you look at -- you know, if you look at the stats. If you look at the domestic policy.

If you look at the foreign policy, you see a consistency there that Donald Trump, it's less about ideology. It's less about policy. It's about that he wants to make sure that he comes out on top.

BLITZER: How do you see the president's current battle with Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and his battle, to a certain degree, against the larger Republican establishment playing out?

LANE: If you go back to "Art of the Deal" which is, of course, is (INAUDIBLE) book that, really, put him on the national stage. He said it right in black and white. To win you have to sometimes destroy your enemies. You have to -- whoever your opposition is, it's not enough to, kind of, negotiate if you have to emasculate them. You have to chop them down.

And you see that time and time again. When somebody challenges him, he's one of the great counterpunches in the history of America. If you challenge him, every single time, he will come back at you and come back at you 10 times stronger. And that's all that is. That's all this is.

[13:10:06] I mean, Corker, you know, is in the latest in line with Lindsey Graham and John McCain. If you challenge Donald Trump and do it publicly, he's going to knock you down.

Listen, Rex Tillerson is feeling that too. If Trump feels like, especially if you're working for him, and you're disrespecting him and-or you're stepping out of line, it's the president who needs to be the alpha dog. And that's what's playing out right now.

BLITZER: Randall Lane from "Forbes Magazine." Very good article. Very good interview. Thanks very much for joining us.

LANE: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Let's turn to our panel now. A.B. Stoddard, Associate Editor and Columnist for "Real Clear Politics." Our Senior Political Analyst Mark Preston and CNN Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger.

So, Gloria, let's start with what we just heard, the possibility of dueling I.Q. tests between the president of the United States and the secretary of states of the United States.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I don't think the secretary of state's going to pay a lot of attention to that, to be honest. I think we can all agree from all of our reporting that he's clearly a short-termer here and his tenure can be measured in how many more months rather than how many more years.

This is a relationship that looked like it was going to work out when the president did his casting call for secretary of state. He didn't want Corker too short. Now, he's little Bob Corker. And found Rex Tillerson, the chairman of Exxon.

It hasn't worked out. The president has undercut Rex Tillerson on many occasions. And I'd like to be a fly on the wall at that lunch today between Tillerson and the secretary of defense, Mattis, and the president of the United States. I'm sure they're going to be discussing more important things, like potentially decertifying the Iran deal and North Korea, than whether they should all get out their number two pencils and take an I.Q. test.

BLITZER: You know, it's interesting. They've got a lot of really important national security issues facing the United States right now. But, all of a sudden, we're talking about I.Q. tests, being a moron, stuff like that. People who are watching this, not only here in the United States, but around the world, they're saying, what's going on?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: And we don't have an answer other than Donald Trump continues to show that he's very unpredictable. That he's not very loyal. That he's very impulsive. And if you're an ally of ours, of the United States, then you've got to be very much concerned.

Now, through our reporting and who we talk to here in Washington, those that are representing other countries, we are hearing that. The fact is they don't know how to deal with President Trump.

Now, coming in, Wolf, remember people said, wow, that was such a good thing. He's so unpredictable. People won't know which direction he's going in. That's all fine and well. Except when your administration doesn't even know what direction you're going in, that's when it becomes a major, major problem.

BLITZER: It's -- you know, the fact that he's now little Bob Corker in this tweet. I'll put it up on the screen one more time. The failing "New York Times" set little Bob Corker up by recording his conversation. He was made to sound a fool and that's what I'm dealing with. You know, it's pretty unusual. First of all, the spelling of little. The way he spelled it.

A.B. STODDARD, ASSOCIATE EDITOR AND COLUMNIST, REALCLEARPOLITICS: With the apostrophe after the little. We don't know what that means.

BLITZER: I mean, it was -- it was a -- it was a little strange.

STODDARD: Sort of a trademark thing.

BLITZER: You know, Bob Corker, what, is only five foot seven so I guess he's little.

STODDARD: President Trump has made it clear to people around him for a long time that he doesn't like short people, for some reason. They're not powerful enough or something. But Bob Corker can take that. He can take the nicknames.

But everyone knows, who understands journalism, that this was recorded on purpose and that the senator was aware of that. So, it's fine that the president doesn't know that and he's trying to convince people who follow him on Twitter that he was -- that Corker was set up and he's a fool.

But, you know, this is just a -- this is, sort of, more of what he did over the weekend which is to pretend that he begged for his endorsement and all this stuff that everyone knows isn't true. You know, the -- comparing these two is so interesting.

Because as you mentioned, Wolf, and Mark's talked about. It's -- making fun of the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee is not OK. But it's what he's done to undercut Rex Tillerson.

And the fact that he, sort of, made fun of him on Twitter when Tillerson was in China. What it has told the world is that the secretary of state doesn't speak for him and that he doesn't really believe in diplomacy.

And so, there is no use in Tillerson staying in this job at all anymore. He has been completely undercut. I don't know how he could be undercut further.

Bob Corker is a senator to the people Tennessee. He intends to serve out his term. He doesn't care what the president says. But this relationship with Tillerson, it's really damaging to us, to our allies. And it's -- at this point, I think it's futile.

BLITZER: Well, let's see if they emerge from this meeting and say something.

But, you know, it also comes at a time, Gloria, when Steve Bannon, the president's former top strategist at the White House, is now making it clear, following his win, with his candidate's win, in Alabama. He's going to go after every Republican incumbent senator in 2018, except for Ted Cruz of Texas.

Listen to what he said on Fox.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[13:15:02] STEVE BANNON, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, "BREITBART NEWS": McConnell and Corker and the entire clique, an establishment globalist clique on Capitol Hill have to go. If Bob Corker has any honor, any decency, he should resign immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And not just Bob Corker -- but he also is going to go after a lot of other conservative Republican incumbent senators because they're the establishment.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. Dana Bash, Eric Bradner (ph) and I did a piece on that today. And it's very clear that Steve Bannon has decided -- and in some ways I think with a wink from the president of the United States, that this isn't his Senate. He doesn't get along with this Senate. He considers them too establishment. He believes they're not his friends or they would gotten more done.

And so Steve Bannon's feeling is, well, we're going to challenge all of these establishment Republican who really don't like you and who are whispering about you and trying to undermine you behind your back.

The question is, of course, whether this is going to succeed and whether, in fact, this would actually mean that the Republicans would lose control of the Senate. Bannon's argument is that it will succeed because by primarying these establishment Republicans, they will have a better shot against Democrats. And you look at others who say this is ridiculous, it's not going to happen.

The president has to kind of thread a needle now because he's close to Steve Bannon. And what does he do? I mean he's upset that he lost in the Luther Strange fight in Alabama. So what does the president do now? Does he start endorsing people who are non-incumbents or does he stick with -- with his incumbents?

BLITZER: He doesn't like to lose, the president of the United States. And as Dana -- as Gloria points out, he did lose in Alabama.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. So let's go back to the idea of loyalty. He has absolutely no loyalty except for himself and his family a little bit.

Let's look at the numbers right now. Right now going to 2018, you have 25 Republicans that are on the ballot. Excuse me, you have nine Republicans that are on the ballot, 25 Democrats.

BLITZER: Incumbents, yes.

PRESTON: Incumbents.

BORGER: Incumbents.

PRESTON: If there was ever a time right now for the Republicans to build upon their Senate majority, which is now only two seats, it would be 2018. We're not seeing a battle for control of how to govern Washington right now, we're seeing a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party. An ideological war that's taking place in the Republican Party. And while we're not here to discuss it right now, we're also seeing the same thing happen on the Democratic side. BLITZER: And they're going to pump a lot of money into these

Republican primary races for the Senate -- for the Senate nomination. And it's going to be a bruising battle over the next year and a half.

A.B. STODDARD, ASSOCIATE EDITOR AND COLUMNIST, REALCLEARPOLITICS: Yes, the Democrats are delighted that they're not going to be able to spend this money in the general election races. They're going to be spending them in the primary races to protect their own incumbent senator who is have very conservative voting records. But if they haven't been dually loyal to President Trump, then they're considered unacceptable globalists to Steve Bannon.

So it's a real experiment on his side, but he's definitely very open about it. He's trying to rip open and break in half the Republican Party.

BORGER: Well, and the battle is on. Steve Bannon is out talking to donors because the -- in the Republican Party because the battle is on for the money. And do you give your money to the establishment Republican PAC who Bannon says haven't done a thing for you, or do you want to win, as Bannon would say, and go with us and give us your -- give us your bucks.

BLITZER: I can only imagine how conservative incumbent Republican senators, like John Barrasso of Wyoming --

BORGER: Oh, they're thrilled. They're thrilled.

PRESTON: Right.

BLITZER: Or Deb Fischer of Nebraska, how they are reacting to this latest threat that they will face some serious challengers for the Republican nomination.

And I should point out, less than a year, those Republican contests are going to be coming up next year fairly soon. So let's all get ready for that.

Guys, thank you very much, Gloria, Amy and Mark.

As explosive new accusations surface against Harvey Weinstein, the big question now, at least a big question, why are Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama so silent about the media mogul who gave them so much money? We'll discuss that and more.

Plus, a dramatic twist in the timeline of the Las Vegas massacre. Why we're now learning the gunman targeted someone a full six minutes before his attack on those 22,000 concert goers.

And there's breaking news. At least 11 people are dead, dozens more missing as flames devastate California's wine country. We'll take you there live.

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[13:23:37] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Moments ago I informed Governor Brown that President Trump has approved a major disaster declaration for the state of California to assist in the response to wildfires that are impacting across the state.

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BLITZER: The vice president, Mike Pence, declaring an emergency in California as unstoppable wildfires continue to whip through the state's wine country. At least 11 people have lost their lives, more than 100 others are reported missing. About 1,500 homes and buildings have already been destroyed. Some of those who managed to flee barely escaped with their lives.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It came burning. All the embers just came this way. The wind and -- it just happened so fast. You just -- time just to run away with nothing.

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BLITZER: The vice president, by the way, tweeted out earlier today, quote, Trump and our entire administration will work closely with Governor Jerry Brown to see California through these challenging times.

Let's go to CNN's Miguel Marquez. He's in Santa Rosa for us, one of the hardest hit areas.

Miguel, it seems no one actually predicted just how quickly this fire would spread.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you mix in fire, wind, and dry conditions and it is the perfect condition for a firestorm. And that's just what they had. Seventeen fires erupted in about a 24 hour period. Santa Rosa, two fires actually burning in Santa Rosa, who was kind of hit the worst.

[13:24:59] This was a beautiful Sonoma County wine country resort 24 hours ago. Now it's absolute rubble.

I want to show you where it came from, though. This neighborhood here, that's where the fire came -- that's the direction is came from, up this hill, and then took out this entire hotel.

You can see that the trees, the green trees that sort of survived, anything with a little bit of moisture survived the fire. But everything else just went right up in flame.

The -- the one neighborhood here, Coffee Park, kind of puts it all in perspective. You can see this lovely little California one day, and a complete -- completely obliterated the next by the fire.

One hundred and twenty thousand acres in total burning across California. The biggest concern now, not so much up here, where the temperature has come down, the wind has come down and the humidity has gone up, but down south, in Anaheim, there was a fire that broke out there yesterday.

Santa Ana winds. Those winds coming in off the desert towards the ocean. Very hot, dry winds blowing that fire right near Disneyland, up hills, destroying several homes. Several thousand more homes are in jeopardy there.

Those winds are back. They are back today and possibly the rest of the week. That will be hell for firefighters to get on top of that.

Here in the northern part of the state, they can finally get into some of those hot spots, start putting them out, and hopefully contain the fire at the same time.

Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Miguel, be careful over there. Miguel Marquez up in wine country, Santa Rosa. It certainly doesn't look like wine country right there.

There are more developments unfolding right now, including a new twist in the moments leading up to the Las Vegas massacre. Police dramatically changing their timeline involving the person who first encountered the killer in his hotel room.

Plus, disturbing new accusations against the movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. More stars are coming forward. Some accusing him of sexual assault. New details just in.

And stand by for the White House press briefing as the president picks new fights with allies. That's only moments away.

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