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tv   Anderson Cooper 360  CNN  February 26, 2018 6:00pm-7:00pm PST

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and if you're pregnant or planning to be. ♪ otezla. show more of you. topping this hour, breaking news on a proposal in the wake of the parkland tragedy that the president himself called a great thing and chommon sense, raisin the purchasing age from 18 to 21. he says the national rifle association would go along with it and he would take them on if they didn't. then late last week he stopped talking about it, and tonight sources close to discussions say it appears the president is backing away from that idea, talking to governors at the white house today, he did not mention it. however, he did draw fire from washington's democratic governor about a proposal he is not backing away from about arming teachers. listen. >> i just think this is a circumstance where we need to listen, that educators should educate, and they should not be foisted upon this responsibility of packing heat in first grade classes. now, i understand you have suggested this, and we suggest
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things and sometimes then we listen to people about it. maybe they don't look so good a little later. so i just suggest we need a little let tweeting here, and a little more listening, and let's just take that off the table and move forward. >> all right. thank you very much. you know, we have a number of states right now that do that, and i think with that in mind, i'll call on greg abbott, the great governor of texas. greg? >> so that's on the table in this hour. less tweeting, more listening. governor inslee joins us momentarily. after some delays, hope hicks is heading to the hill tomorrow, talking to the house intelligence committee. also first daughter ivanka trump and what she's saying about the allegations from so many women against her dad. we begin with the breaking news on guns and the reaction to it. joining us, washington governor jay inslee who confronted the president today. first of all, i'd like to get your thoughts on this idea that the president seems to be moving away from something he seemed to be embracing last wednesday and
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thursday, which is raising the age to buy an ar-15 style weapon or a long rifle to 21. >> well, this is a pattern. this is a pattern of sort of saying things and then backing away from them and then going the opposite direction. it's the art of the con. the proposal to raise to 21 is just common sense. look, to say that you can go buy on your 18th birthday, blow out the candles and then get a semiautomatic weapon and then put a bump stock on it and be fully automatic is just nuts. >> it's interesting because when the president was talking about this last wednesday and thursday, he was saying he was sure the nra would get behind it. the nra had already put out a statement saiding categorically this is not something they would ever be backing. >> i heard he said this on a tweet. then he goes to lunch with the nra and, boom, he's back in the nra camp. i think this is a movie we have seen before with his approach that unfortunately is much more um pulsive. it is much more just sort of a spasmodic reaction on tweet than
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making policy because when you go out and listen on this issue, when you listen to teachers they tell you categorically, about 5 million teachers in the organizations have spoken on this subject. they don't want to have first grade teachers having to pack guns in the classroom. >> that does seem to be an issue that the president has now seems to be supporting, perhaps not co-ence dentally, it's also one the nra is supporting as well. i mean to those who say, well, look, you know, if the answer to a bad person with a gun is a good person with a gun, if there are -- you know, if it's a gun-free zone and nobody in the school has guns and the school police officer is outside or unwilling to come in, what's wrong with a teacher who is trained, a gym teacher who is trained having a weapon? >> several things. number one, it's just the nra line. this is the way they've stymied every common sense gun legislation so far and they've tied up congress. it's a wholly owned subsidiary of the nra right now. their answer has always been to every problem, more guns.
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just more guns. you just can't solve this problem everywhere, every time with more guns, number one. number two, this is where i think we need to listen to the people who are affected by this. and the people affected by this are guys like my dad, who was a biology taeper, who was a good biology teacher, who had a 30 odd six, but he would tell you it would be ludicrous to carry around guns at garfield high school, and my brother-in-law, who is a retired teacher in a rural area, lots of hunters, but they do want their first grade teachers carrying a glock on their hip because their job is to educate. look, they need more pencils, less pistols in the classroom. we've got that challenge. i heard the president say we'll just train these people up. look, the law enforcement community is opposed to this as well because the law enforcement community knows weapons do have risks, and you'd have to train people for six months as a fully official, you know, police officer to really get adequate training. we need them in the classroom. this is one of these ideas that
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turned out to be a really, really poor idea, and i hope the president would listen and really back down on this. >> certainly we saw his response, which his arms were crossed. he didn't seem all that pleased and quickly moved on to the governor of texas. i'm wondering what you've heard from other governors or folks you talked to, republicans and democrats, about the arming of teachers. is that a discussion you had with other governors today? >> there's some division. we heard some other voices in the room. but i would suggest that the politicians are not the experts on this. the experts are the people that we expect to train -- to teach our kids. >> should it be left up to states? >> i think it should be left up to teachers by and large because they're the ones that are going to be in this situation. we call on them to have a close working relationship with people. we call on them to focus on studies rather than their firearms. we call on them on focusing on training to teach, not training to be, you know, a pistol-packing first grade teacher. and they're telling us this is just a nonsensical idea. and when we ask so much from
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teachers -- and i guess, you know, i come from a family of teachers, so i have vast respect for them. those are the voices we ought to be listening. this was kind of an ideological response, and it's consistent with the president's statement that, you know, he would be the hero. he said he would have rushed in to solve this problem had he been there, had he not even had a weapon, sort of this rambo president. that's not a way. we've got to have thoughtful responses to this that will unify people, and you cannot implement a policy like this if 5 million teachers are telling you this is a bad idea. >> one thing we've heard about is mental health and more abilities for families to do something to prevent people who may have mental health issues. is that valid? >> yes. in fact that was my first comment to the president today. i told him he ought to take a look at what washington is doing. we have an extreme risk protection order system where family members who have a fepern
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who is a threat to themselves or others can petition to the court to have the law enforcement take the firearm out of the home. this has been very, very successful. it's a common sense measure. of course the nra opposed it, and we had to pass it by an initiative, and the people voted for it by like 68% in almost every county because it made sense. by the way, this is a suicide issue too. 80% of gun deaths are due to suicide, and this gives family, if you've got a depressed uncle, to get in there and remove that fire arm to save their live. so i commended this to him. i hope they will think about this. but, again, since the nra is opposed to this, you probably should not have a lot of optimism that president trump will be a here oh on thio on th. >> appreciate your time. thank you very much. stephen moore is joining us as well. does it undermine the president's credibility that -- i mean if he reverses his position after finding himself at odds with the nra on this
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issue of raising the age to 21, which is something he did embrace just last week? >> well, i'm not in favor of raising the age to 21. by the way, i'm kind of reasonable moderate when it comes to the gun issue, anderson. i do think we should get creative and thinking about real solutions to this. but one of the things i'd ask you and others on this panel, i would sl asked the governor is, look, if we allow people in this country to vote at the age of 18, 19, and 20, why shouldn't they be able to own a gun? if the answer is because they're not responsible, you can make the case they're not responsible to vote. that's the same thing with being in the military and so on. i mean i think if we're going to treat 18-year-olds as adults in this unccountry, then i don't tk we should take the right of gun ownership away. on this issue about arming teachers, i mean i'm not enthusiastic about that idea, but i do think we need to have more security obviously at the doors of the schools, and they
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need to be armed. i mean this idea that schools should be gun-free areas just isn't working. i mean it's making the kids sitting ducks. one other thing. why don't we try, you know, like when you go on a plane, they have sheriffs that are often there that you don't know who they are. why not at least allow some teachers, anderson, who can responsibly use a gun, have a gun in case there is another situation like what we saw in florida last week? >> i mean it was clear last week, either the nra would have to blink on this raising the age or the president would have to blink. it seems like if it still holds true that the president is going to blink. >> oh, of course. this was classic donald trump where he goes out and says one thing to try to, you know, appease maybe more moderate voters, seem like he's being thoughtful, and then he gets in a room with one of -- either one of his right -- ultra right wing advisers or with the nra, and, boom, he completely flipped his point of view. in account ffact, i think this a of arming teachers is going to
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go nowhere. i feel sorry for the teachers because they're totally wasting their time on this. >> even teachers that -- >> it is a waste of time to discuss this situation. it's never going to happen. you're never going to arm every teacher in america. >> i'm saying some teachers. >> so some kids are safe and others are less safe. here's why they're doing it. they want us to discuss arming teachers, which is absurd, so we don't talk about real things that we need to do, like banning some of these assault-style weapons. banning the bump stocks. that's what we should be talking about, but donald trump's got us talking about an absurd idea that will never happen. >> is it an absurd idea? >> i'm not for banning or confiscating any weapons. i'm also not for this arming of teachers. i have a son in coschool and the more coming alorng. the prospect of putting ordinary citizens who are not trained in a gun battle in a hallway full of kids strikes me as not realistic. they did studies on the nypd. one year in close range gun
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battles, the yienypd only hit 1 of their shots and they're highly trained. so expecting an average person to get into a gun battle i just don't think is -- we shouldn't put them in that position. do we want to win gun battles or do we want to prevent gun battles from happening, which is why i think the republicans ought to get around some things here that wouldn't erode the second amendment but would help move this debate along. bump stocks are a no-brainer. john cornyn's strengthening of the background system, no-brainer. apparently the shooter in florida had mental health issues but he didn't hit the no buy system because it wasn't involuntary. that could be strengthened. getting those things right there would move this debate forward. >> i agree with scott to a certain extent. i think there are bipartisan things like background checks. there's the thompson king bill
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that is on the table in congress in the u.s. house of representatives, and republicans are refusing to bring forward when over 97% of folks, including gun owners, believe in strengthening background checks and closing the loophole. i am vehemently against arming teachers for a number of reasons. post-columbine, 10,000 law enforcement officials were ininvestigated in ti injected into the schools to, quote, unquote, prevent what happened. i am especially concerned about a teacher who can conceal and carry in a classroom if they felt threatened by a person of color in the classroom and then shoots a person of color. this is not something that is an anomaly. >> we've also seen studies where african-american are either expelled or suspended at higher rates than -- >> but post-columbine, what
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we've seen where students were previously put into detention, they've now been arrested. i'm also concerned about folks such as philando castile. he was an employee of the school system in the state of minnesota, who had a conceal and carry, who was a licensed gun owner, who was pulled over by a police officer who he happened to be african-american, and when he noticed that he was concealing and carrying, he was shot. what about the teachers of color who are carrying, who are pulled over by police? this is a real thing. philando castile was shot. the nra didn't come out for him. when people say the nra is here to protect gun owners, to support and advance the second amendment, what about philando castile? >> i mean there's a lot of people have hopes there's some sort of groundswell of support you hear from these kids. in truth, on capitol hill, is there really some sort of --? >> no. as you've heard from scott, who's a republican, robby is right. this idea of arming teachers is
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going nowhere. there's no appetite among republicans for arming teachers, so we can move on to another topic. it would be somewhere in a really strong background check and president trump keeps talking about comprehensive background checks, capitand the republicans on capitol hill have no idea what he's talking about. >> he also talks about comprehensive immigration reform, which is a term that -- >> he has not spelled out for them what that means. they will not get out on a political limb in primary season for this president who doesn't stay on positions very long. they're not going to get behind reopening and funding mental institutions. they're not going to get behind arming teachers. you can do fix nix which is a first step. the democrats say is not enough. it would be something like the governor was talking about where you lose your right to have a firearm. it is taken out of your house if you're a danger to yourself or others. that's probably something the nra is going to oppose. so the republicans will look at polling i think months from now,
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in early summer, once they're out of most of their primaries and are beyond the threat from the right in their party and say, are enough new voters r registering? >> hold on. we have to take a quick break. we've got more on this next, including the president's claim that he would have rushed the school and without a weapon of his own confronted the parkland shooter. also more breaking news. we will preview hope hicks' expected appearance tomorrow before the house intelligence committee. a person who has worked up close with president trump might have to say, ahead on 360. . because your risk of heart attack or stroke is up to four times greater. but there are steps you can take to lower your cardiovascular risk. talk to your health care provider today about diabetic heart disease. and find out more at heartoftype2.com. your heart and type 2 diabetes.
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without raising your blood pressure. coricidin hbp. well, he's obviously moving back from that. that's what a key republican congressional source says the president is doing about his own proposal to raise the age for buying rifles to 21. he said he was for it last week, said the nra would back it. well, it doesn't. now it appears that the president isn't. he's backing away. we're told he didn't mention the age restriction at all today. he did claim he would have rushed in to stoneman douglas or said nobody knows how they would be tested but he thought he would rush in unarmed to confront the killer. >> you know, i really believe -- you don't know until you're tested but i think i -- i really believe i'd run in there even if i didn't have a weapon. and i think most of the people in this room would have done that too because i know most of you. but the way they performed was -- was really a disgrace. >> i saw you shaking your head, a.b. >> i can't even go there. i mean none of us know what it would be like in that situation.
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he has very strong consternation for this person who failed in his role as an sro and didn't come into the building. there are other -- >> don't you think we should? >> yes. no, no, no. there were systemic failures at the local, state, and federal level, and that is a completely separate issue from the fact that there's a real fervor for some kind of new gun controls. that has to be dealt with. it can't be -- it is not the solution, to prevent someone who doesn't have something in their background, who didn't have 39 calls to the local sheriff's department, and didn't display all the signs of being disturbed. obviously, you know, we need to look at both the system that failed here as well as what could prevent things like someone raining fire down at a concert. >> -- under a little bit of assault. >> really, who? >> on this issue about gun-free school zones. i've heard this on other networks that, you know, cnn is
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not a gun-free zone. there's security to get in this building. there's security to get in, you know, most office buildings in new york. why shouldn't there be much stricter security with people with guns? >> because these are our kids. so what i'm saying -- >> that's especially why. >> i think this is a bunch of b.s. that a good guy with a gun is the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun. >> how do you stop a -- >> to stop anything because he got scared of a bald eagle on his desk when -- >> how do you stop a bad guy with a gun, then? >> first of all, i think this was a -- we have to talk about banning, in my opinion, weapons of war in our everyday regular lives. i'm from nebraska. i have shot a gun. i hunt turkeys, okay? every turkey hunting season, i am out there that i can be. but i do not need a semiautomatic -- >> i agree with you. i think those probably should be banned. i would be very open-minded to that. >> okay. this is what i like to hear from my republican friends, anderson.
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>> if we don't have the assault weapons, he's going to have a handgun. who is going to stop him -- >> i'd like to make it a little bit harder for people to commit mass shootings. i do hear the argument from you that, you know, if they're going to -- again, i am very concerned about the kids of color. but you just said you'd be here for maybe banning semiautomatic -- [ overlapping voices ] >> robby, do you give the president any credit for saying sometimes you have to take on the nra to the governors today? >> here's the problem. i don't believe him. we just talked about this. all of his comments are so fleeting. he'll say one thing one day and one thing the next. you know, if i were a governor there today, i think what i would have said to the president is, we seem to havecommon ground on mental health. why don't we pass a brand-new mental health bill for this country? push the republican party to actually vote for comprehensive mental health care in this country. that is one thing that i think has been absolutely -- >> not just mental health as it relates to guns, you're saying?
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>> i don't think they're serious. i hate to say that, but i would certainly, if i were in that room, i'd say, hey, we all seem to be talking about mental health all of a sudden. why don't we fund that? rick scott, when we're talking about florida, he should be held accountable for the mental health system that dropped this kid. this kid was moving around the foster care system. it's a tragedy what happened to him. this is why i don't think the republicans are serious. if they were, we would have a foster care and mental health bill ready to go, and we don't. and i don't think we ever will. >> you're talking about giving the government a lot more money and the government completely screwed up in this instance. people are saying, we're going to continue to empower a government -- >> a republican government. be clear. >> you're saying they shouldn't be moving on mental health? >> look, we spend tens of billions of dollars on mental health. i'm not an expert on mental health. maybe we do need to spend money. we spend a lot of money. >> we need to prove our mental health system. government doesn't work. government can't do the mental
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health. what are you saying? we need to have private charities do this work? >> all we have to do is spend more money and that's somehow going to make this problem go away. >> what would your change to the mental health system be? >> find better ways -- look, we knew this person was mentally ill. how many calls were -- and the government did not about it. >> the issue is it wasn't involuntary. when you're involuntarily committed, federal law prohibits you from going on the no buy registry. this was all apparently voluntary mental health treatment which mean he he didn't go on the registry. if you want to do something about mental health, the people like this shooter in florida clearly had mental health issues. that guy ought to be on a registry. i don't know in it taf it fakes -- takes money to do it. >>. every time there's a school shooting. all of a sudden we care about mental health. >> not chicago. nobody is talking about the mental health state of the kids
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in chicago, but republican folks always want to bring up chicago when we talk about gun violence. >> think about the cost. again, it's an absurd policy, arming teachers. think of the cost of that. we're not being -- i guess what's so frustrating, we're not being serious. let's put serious things on the table. let's debate them and have a vote. it's like waiting for the nra, waiting for a president who is -- >> at the very least, training tens of thousands of teachers in active shooter scenarios, you know, beyond just in a shooting range, i mean you actually have to train them in various, you know, vaguely realistic setting, that's just not going to happen. >> it's not workable, but also can we give the teachers school supplies? can we provide them resources first? >> we continue a conversation about arming teachers. i'll speak with john kasich who ran for the republican nomination in 2016, see how they do it in their state.
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at&t, not so much. get internet on our gig-speed network and add voice and tv for $34.90 more per month. call 1-800-501-6000. ohio republican governor john kasich says the moment is right for at least some actions on gun control but whether kons will actually act on anything meaningful, another question entirely. i spoke with the governor earlier today. governor, you've been saying that when it comes to guns, the president needs to lead. do you think his comments today about bump stocks and the nra was a step in the right direction? >> there's no question. when he says that they're going to have to eliminate these bump stocks -- and for those that are watching, of course, that allows a semi to act like a fully automatic weapon -- that he'd write the order himself. if he follows through on that, it's fantastic. and, you know, i mean i think
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that's positive. as you know, anderson, i'll come on sometimes, and i'll criticize what he's doing. but in this case, he deserves credit for this, and i hope he'll keep it up. >> let me ask you, in ohio, one of the things the president has talked about looking at is arming teachers, allowing them to carry arms if they're trained. the law in ohio, as i understand, allows teachers to carry a firearm. i believe you're an advocate for that. i've talked to a number of teachers who -- a teacher from columbine, a teacher from parkland, a teacher from sandy hook as well, all of whom have said that they didn't think it should be a teacher's responsibility during a school shooting to both take care of students and also potentially go after a gunman. the potential for a student being caught in the crossfire. we even saw, you know, a police officer not going in in florida, and that's a person who is well trained. so i'm wondering about your support for teachers being armed. >> well, anderson, what we have here is if the school board
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thinks it can be done, which is the right way to do it, then the school board can give permission for a teacher to be trained. we had a terrible school shooting here in ohio, and i was there when it happened. i actually had the great privilege to address that class as they were graduating from high school. and there were teachers there who literally threw themselves and chased the gunman out of the school or threw themselves in front of that gunman. this is not -- i mean i don't want to have bonuses or anything like that, but there are teachers who are in a school who say, i want to do something. and it's not for everybody. but you got to make sure they're probab properly trained, that they know what they're doing. but it's not to put all this responsibility on them. it's hardening the schools. it's having all the safety things we can do. i think we spend $30 million on hardening schools, doing the things that need to be done, training about what you do if an incident occurs. and, of course, it's also about
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the issue of mental illness and being able to keep guns out of the hands of people who are mentally ill. it's about giving people the ability to report somebody who they think is not stable so that action can be taken. it's all of those things. but if there's somebody in a school that says, hey, i'd like to do this, i don't see any reason to not let them do it. >> would you favor a change in the availability on high capacity magazines or on -- >> yes. >> weapons like an ar-15? >> yes. >> would you support raising the age of somebody who could buy -- >> oh, yeah. yes. see, we have a group -- in fact, we're going to meet tomorrow. we'll see how far we can get. you know, these restraining orders, if you have somebody that you know of in your home where you can report to somebody about the fact that they're not stable and can harm somebody, should their guns be taken? i believe they should. high capacity magazines, should you have more than 15 bullets in one of these long guns? do you need a clip like that? do you need 30 or 50?
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no, i don't think so. i think it's reasonable to put significant limits on that. in terms of the ar-15, as far as i'm concerned, i don't care if it never was invented. i voted for an assault weapons ban, but it didn't have the impact. so the question is if you're going to do something like that, what is the best way to impact it so you're not taking somebody's, you know, deer hunting rifle and going from 18 to 21, absolutely. comprehensive background checks including casual sales. you just got to go and check who you're selling a gun to. i mean these are things that are just -- they're not depriving anybody of their second amendment. it's not designed to have a slippery slope to go and grab somebody's, you know, something that is their constitutional right. it's about reasonable limits which the public is saying they favor and which the kids -- i don't want to call them kids. these young students, these young heroes are demanding. i think it's very responsible. >> i've read some of your critics who have said you used
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to have a pro-second amendment section on your website, that over the weekend it was taken down and replaced by a segment called smcommon sense on the second amendment. as governor, you have signed more than a dozen bills loosening restrictions on guns. is that fair to say? and to those critics who say maybe this is a shift of political opportunism, what do you say? >> i voted for the assault weapo weapons ban in 1994 and when i ran for governor, i was opposed by the gun people. they worked very, very hard to defeat me all over the state. i have signed some gun bills because i favor the second amendment. but i'm not signing anything that i think puts a risk on the public. and i made it clear to them here on a bill they were trying to pass or thinking about passing on changing stand your ground, i said don't send it to me. i'll veto it. >> governor, i appreciate your time. thank you. >> anderson, thank you. unnext, breaking news on ivanka trump's visit to south korea. new reporting about who in the west wing is saying the trip was a bad idea and what it might
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there is more breaking news from the white house fnlts turns out ivanka trump's visit to south korea for the olympics is not sitting well with some in the inner circle. what have you learned about this? >> reporter: we do know that of course ivanka trump returned to washington today from the visit to south korea where she was leading the u.s. delegation for the olympic closing ceremony as
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well as having key meetings with south korean leaders at the blue house, their version of the white house. we are reporting, talking to a variety of officials here, who say initially there were tensions about the idea of ivanka trump, who of course juggles two hats. she's the senior adviser to the president as well as the president's daughter. there was some consternation internally among some officials that she was going to go over to represent the u.s. here, particularly because of the, you know, hot atmosphere on the korean peninsula about the nuclear threat of north korea. but she went along on the trip. she briefed the south korean president last friday on those new sanctions, and it is raising some new questions about this relationship, the dual relationship here between the senior adviser and the daughter to the president. there was some concern from the white house chief of staff john kelly, we're told, at the time, wondering if this was a good idea. but the white house tonight, sarah sanders is explaining all of it like this. she was along on the visit here,
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and she says that, you know, there is nothing to see here. the officials are not, you know, some people might be jealous of ivanka trump, but she put out this statement just a short time ago, anderson. she said general kelly and general mcmaster were supportive of the trip since the planning process began. we all that it was a great success. ivanka was a great representative for the administration. so pushing back on the idea that there is consternation inside here again between jared kushner, his security clearance, and ivanka trump, her role here. but the trip seems to have gone smoothly despite some concern from john kelly and others. >> this isn't the only thing that has frustrated chief of staff john kelly about ivanka trump, correct? >> exactly. over the last several months there has been some tension between the chief of staff office as well as the senior advisers, particularly the president's son-in-law and daughter. it is all over the control and the discipline in the west wing. so john kelly has talked
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privately about this to others in the west wing. he has sometimes not been thrilled about the son and daughter and vice versa here. but it does seem like things have come to more of a resolution here after the rob porter situation a couple weeks ago. that staff secretary resigning. they seem to have come to more of a working agreement here, and john kelly's job seems safe at this point. but it certainly has underscored that there are tensions in the west wing, and a lot of them seem to revolve around ivanka trump and jared kushner. >> jeff zeleny, thanks very much. back with the panel. should ivanka trump be representing the u.s. in south korea? >> well, i have news for all the people that gossip behind her back in the west wing. her father thinks she is more than qualified, and that's all that matters. she and her husband run the show. this might even be these reports about mcmaster and kelly -- particularly kelly, might be
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some chess where they're trying to make it seem like he's upset when he's not even upset. there is such a power struggle going on right now. we've heard reports about mcmaster and kelly potentially leaving, kelly particularly because he doesn't want to grant a full security clearance for jared kushner, who is ineligible. and the president obviously believes that he, as president, has the right to declassify anything anytime he wants in front of his daughter and son-in-law. the rules are not going to change. they're trump's rules. it might be that kelly is safe, but i think this is more of an indication, more of this leaking and this drama is an indication that it's on tender foots again. >> i worked alongside ivanka on the campaign, and i got to tell you, she's extremely influential with her father. i'd say she's probably one of the two or three people she listens to the most and values her advice. now, what the proper -- her proper role is in the white house, i mean in terms of these issues of security clearance,
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i'm not qualified to say. but she is trusted, i think, almost every decision donald trump makes, he consults with jared and ivanka. no question about it. the question is whether she should be representing the united states. i don't have a problem. i think she's incredibly competent and -- >> i like to play the reverse on these things. if hillary clinton had been elected and chelsea clinton was -- had this amorphous role in the white house and was representing the country overseas, wouldn't republicans be saying, what is going on? i mean what is this? kazakhstan? i mean this is not like some oligarch who has his family members doing things. >> no, but if chelsea clinton was in fact representing the united states abroad, in meetings, sitting in on meetings, briefing other heads of states, would you have -- >> without a security clearance. >> without a security clearance. >> well, that's a good question. >> particularly her husband. >> probably not. >> my bigger issue here, it's not just that there's nepotism and it's totally inappropriate
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as far as i'm concerned, but it's the business ties. i mean there are not even allegations. i think there's a lot of evidence that jared has been using his position in the white house to raise funds to help get his company out of debt. >> certainly during the transition, i mean there's a lot of reporting. >> which is an official capacity. we know ivanka has kept up her business dealings. the president's son, don junior, was overseas, had a very -- you know, he claimed it wasn't official but it certainly felt like an official visit with the meeting with the prime minister and so on. that's what really bothers me is it's not just that he's giving away a role to the family. you know families use their children for different roles, symbolically. they're actually getting richer off their father being president, and that's what's inappropriate. >> scott? >> i think we're trying to communicate to an ally, south korea, that we take our relationship with you seriously in the face of a threat from north korea, and what better way to do that to send the president's top adviser and daughter, somebody as stephen said, he listens to?
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i'll tell you something else people don't talk about a lot. ivanka trump is highly respected by the republican leadership on capitol hill. she goes to meetings up there. they think she's smart. they know she has the ear of thement -- president. >> does it bother you she doesn't have a security clearance or -- >> you know what qualifies you to do these jobs? do you have the confidence of the president? that makes you qualified. she's as qualified as anybody to go represent our country until the president loses that confidence. >> i disagree. i think the fact that the president has confidence in her gives her the access. that does not in fact give her qualifications. she has access. she has a level of access to be able to access information, to be able to talk to the president, to go out there on the president's behalf. does that make her qualified? absolutely not. i don't doubt that ivanka trump is a very knowledgeable person
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and is extremely smart. but she is not qualified. she has no foreign policy experience. she has no political experience. she runs a fashion company, okay? >> what could qualify somebody -- >> some experience. it's not just her going to 9 olympics. ivanka trump was having the time of her life. these photos, she was having a ball. i want to be ivanka trump girl on this trip. but when it comes to briefing the president or the prime minister, whoever she briefed in south korea, you need some foreign policy experience. i think the fact we're conflating the fact of being smart with foreign policy chops to be able to do the job. in this day and age, i'd like tow remind folks this is not normal. your qualifications are not simply that you have access. her qualifications, if you will, are her proximity to the president because the president is her daddy. >> we've got to take a short break. when we continue, our other breaking news, hope hicks expected on capitol hill tomorrow. the question is will she actually answer questions in the russia probe? what happened? hey, joy, you should let your new pals know
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long time aide to donald trump hope hicks is scheduled to testify tomorrow. she's now white house communications director and has been one of the president's closest assistants since he ran for the president and before. back now with the panel. we've seen so many kind of interesting approaches in terms of trump confidants refusing to answer questions. invoking executive privilege, and/or they feel like i just don't feel like i should have to answer that question like jeff sessions. >> i cannot imagine after the steve bannon performance at the house intelligence committee that she's going to say anything differently. her problem is bob mueller. she has been around that president more than his -- more than ivanka and jared.
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she's physically close to him at meetings, at decision making, on that air force one when they reportedly concocted a false statement about don junior's meeting at trump tower. she knows everything, and she cannot lie to bob mueller. i don't know what she'll do with the intelligence committee, but her big day is what he tells or what does not tell bob mueller. >> well, her statement was did that ever get to donald trump, and she's the person who can provide that evidence. and i completely agree with tat. at some point this is going to close in on trump. there's a lot of associates who either were engaged in illegal finance practices or were communicating directly about the russians. about in the case of carter page it sounds like a quid pro quo. i'm not a lawyer, but they were talking about lifting sanctions and at the same time talking about giving compromising information about hillary clinton. and at the same time at what point does that get to the
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president? it'll be a story for a day, but in the long-term -- >> but also it's still unknown. donald trump, jr. says he never told his father about the meeting in trump tower with the russians who allegedly said they were offering dirt on hillary clinton. but hope hicks would know for sure whether or not that conversation actually did occur. >> but she was also there on the plane ride when they were discussing what they would say to describe it. and other people like reince priebus and sean spicer were not there for the drafting of the statement. she was there for the entire conversation which i believe included jared and ivanka. the point is she is around when they draft all kinds of statements. she's at all kind of meetings. she knows more i believe even than his kids. >> and as an assistant to the president, as a sitting white house official there'll be legitimate claims of executive
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privilege. it's really interesting the white house is sending a sitting assistant up there at all. because there's a lot of precedent in other administrations not sending people at that lev to testify before congress. if they do it'll be legitimate because of her current title hold. >> so you believe she will be able to exert executive privilege? >> i mean she probably will. >> but that wouldn't necessarily cover campaign activities. but in terms of white house activities. >> then the president isn't going to be able to have confidential conversations -- >> but also the question steve bannon raises is does it cover the transition? >> i'm not sure the privilege based on my understanding would necessarily cover transition. my point is this if she claims tomorrow executive privilege democrats are going to go nuts,
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but every president has claims of executive privilege. this won't be any different. >> republican leaders on key committees have told cnn that's not part of their purpose. >> you mean his finances with his business? that should be completely out of bounds. >> because guess he has ties to? russia. >> that's why i have a problem with this investigation. it just never ends. >> what about his taxes? >> that was an issue during the campaign. and the left keeps obsessing about it. if the american people cared about it they would have voted for hillary. >> if he is in sway beholden in debt through loans or something to russians, doesn't that have some bearing? >> this is man who has done financial transactions for over 30 years and it's just an endless thing. >> if you committed financial crimes and you are compromised
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by oligarch money that you laundered when you -- >> those are just allegations. >> no, if mueller finds that how are you -- if mueller finds he's compromised by the russians because he laundered money or jared did, is that going to be out of mueller's purview in your view? >> i don't think it should involve his financial transactions. >> we'll be right back. more news ahead. for only thirty-five bucks each. woah. plus, netflix for the whole family. on us. prrrrrrr... so, they get their shows... let's go, girl! you're gonna love this bit! and you get yours. watch however you want. on your phone, tablet, or tv. for a limited time, get 4 lines for just thirty-five bucks per line, with no extra charges. it's showtime! all on america's best unlimited network, t-mobile. a hilton getaway means you get more
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other side effects include upper respiratory tract infection and headache. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you're pregnant or planning to be. ♪ otezla. show more of you. that's it for us. thanks for watching "360." time to hand it over to don lemon. "cnn tonight" starts right now. see you tomorrow. this is "cnn tonight." i'm don lemon. what will president trump really do about gun violence? what will he do? there's what he says and there's what he might actually do. will he raise the age to legally purchase an ar-15. a source saying tonight the president is backing away from that. will the president who had lunch over the weekend with the leaders of the nra and calls them great people, great patriots, will he arm ac