[Rosemary Church, Cnn Anchor:] The former White House counsel refuses to talk to Democratic lawmakers investigating obstruction. We will look at the political and legal implications. The U.S. president is making threats and sending mixed messages about Tehran. An Iranian official talked to CNN about the current tensions. And later, Cuba's economic crisis. How food shortages are impacting the daily lives of millions of people. Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world, I'm Rosemary Church and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
[Church:] The U.S. Congress may finally get a glimpse of president Donald Trump's finances. This after a federal judge ordered the accounting firm Mazars to turn over Trump's financial records, going back years. In his ruling, the judge said that the president is subject to the same legal scrutiny as anyone else and Congress is within its rights to investigate the president. The decision may set a precedent for other judges considering whether to release President Trump's records. The president's attorneys are likely to appeal the decision, which he calls crazy.
[Trump:] This never happened to any other president. They're trying to get a redo, they trying to get what we used to call in school a do- over. And if you look, you know, we had no collusion, we had no obstruction, we had nothing. The Democrats were very upset with the Mueller report, as perhaps they should be. But the country is very happy about it because there was never anything like that. And they're trying to get a redo or a do- over and you can't do that. As far as the financial are concerned we think it's the wrong, it's totally the wrong decision by, obviously, an Obama appointed judge. He was a recent Obama appointed judge.
[Church:] The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee promises Don McGahn will be held in contempt of Congress if he does not show up on Capitol Hill in just a few hours from now. The White House says the White House counsel has immunity from congressional testimony and that is why he has been instructed to ignore the subpoena. Jim Acosta has the report.
[Unidentified Male:] Mr. McGahn, was it a mistake
[Jim Acosta, Cnn Sr. White House Correspondent:] In a dramatic attempt to block Democrats from conducting their own Russia investigation, the Trump administration is rejecting the House Judiciary Committee's subpoena for the testimony of former White House counsel Don McGahn on Tuesday. In a letter to the committee's chairman, Democrat Jerry Nadler, the current White House counsel argues that McGahn is immune from that subpoena, adding, "In order to protect the prerogatives of the Office of the Presidency, the president has directed Mr. McGahn not to appear at the committee's scheduled hearing." McGahn has already infuriated the president, declining to state publicly that Mr. Trump did not commit obstruction of justice. He's also told federal investigators in the Russia probe that he refused to follow instructions by Mr. Trump to get rid of special counsel Robert Mueller. It's a charge the president has denied but he hasn't gone as far as to say that McGahn committed perjury.
[Acosta:] Mr. President, is there a situation that you could see where Don McGahn is charged with perjury? You seem to be contradicting what he is saying.
[Trump:] I don't want to talk about that now.
[Unidentified Male:] And that is better for
[Acosta:] The president has been busy beating back another member of his party, Justin Amash, the first Republican congressman to accuse Mr. Trump of impeachable offenses, who started this tweetstorm over the weekend, first tweeting, "Mueller's report reveals that President Trump engaged in specific actions and a pattern of behavior that meet the threshold for impeachment." Then doubling down today, "They say obstruction of justice requires an underlying crime. In fact, obstruction of justice does not require the prosecution of an underlying crime." The president fired back, tweeting that he was, quote, "never a fan of Justin Amash, a total lightweight. Justin is a loser, who sadly plays right into our opponents' hands." GOP leaders are backing Mr. Trump.
[Rep. Kevin Mccarthy , Minority Leader:] Now you've got to understand Justin Amash. He's been in Congress quite some time. I think he's only ever asked one question in all the committees that he's been in. He votes more with Nancy Pelosi than he ever votes with me.
[Acosta:] The president is continuing another war of words with Iran, tweeting, "If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again." Mr. Trump turned to FOX to justify the brinkmanship.
[Trump:] I just don't want them to have nuclear weapons. And they can't be threatening us. And you know, with all of everything that's going on and I'm not one that believes you know, I'm not somebody that wants to go into war, because war hurts economies, war kills people, most importantly, by far, most importantly.
[Acosta:] Iran's foreign minister responded to the president that military action against his country would be a mistake, tweeting, "Try respect. It works."
[Pete Buttigieg , Mayor Of South Bend, Ind., Presidential Candidate:] The tweets are I don't care.
[Acosta:] The president is also mad at FOX News for hosting a town hall with Democrat Pete Buttigieg, tweeting, "FOX is moving more and more to the losing wrong side in covering the Dems," though the president appears to be more concerned with former Vice President Joe Biden, who holds a commanding lead over the Democratic field.
[Joe Biden, Former U.s. Vice President And Presidential Candidate:] President Trump inherited an economy from Obama-Biden administration that was given to him, just like he inherited everything else in his life.
[Biden:] And just like just like everything else he's been given in his life, he's in the process of squandering that as well.
[Acosta:] Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.
[Church:] Former Trump fixer Michael Cohen says that the president's lawyers told him to lie to Congress about the Trump tower Moscow project. That information comes from newly released transcripts of a closed-door session earlier this year. In it, Cohen told lawmakers Trump attorney Jay Sekulow told him to say discussions on the Moscow project ended in January 2016. The project reportedly went on longer than that and well into Mr. Trump's presidential campaign. Michael Cohen is now serving three years in jail for financial crimes and lying to Congress. Sekulow says Cohen is just trying to blame others for his bad decisions. So, let's a take a closer look now at these allegations. And we are joined by CNN's senior political analyst Ron Brownstein, who is also the senior editor at The Atlantic. Good to have you with us.
[Ron Brownstein, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] Good evening.
[Church:] So, what do you make of these recently released transcripts that reveal President Trump's attorney, Jay Sekulow, told Michael Cohen, apparently to lie to Congress about the Trump tower Moscow project?
[Brownstein:] Well, you know, certainly, Michael Cohen has all sorts of credibility issues, but these kinds of revelations are exactly why so many Democrats in particular feel that, you know, the story is not over and that there are many aspects of it that need further investigation. And it is that belief that is running up against this stonewall that the administration and figuratively the attorney general is directing against the ability of Congress to conduct oversight here. And all of that is taking us into, what I think is accurately understood as a constitutional crisis that is going to involve lots of court decisions in the coming weeks.
[Church:] Right. And also, a federal judge has ruled that an accounting firm must turn over President Trump's financial records. How significant is this and just how big a blow is this to the president, who of course will appeal this?
[Brownstein:] Well, honestly, this is just the beginning up a long legal journey, it is just one of the subpoenas or requests for information like his taxes that are going to go into the courts. But Rosemary, I did think this was significant decision because of its breadth. I mean, the judge goes all the way back to James Buchanan in 1856 to make the argument that the courts traditionally have been very deferential towards Congress' authority to investigate the executive branch. And deferential towards Congress' own determinations about what it needs to undertake its legislative activities. At one point he talks about, it is not in the tendency of the courts to second guess whether Congress is acting out of some political motive. I think he has laid this judge has laid down a marker. Obviously, he's not the last word on this. Ultimately, it's likely that the Supreme Court will have to decide, but he has laid down a marker that I think other courts are going to have to reckon with.
[Church:] Yes. Certainly, the president was not very happy at all and of course, this ruling came just hours after the White House told former counsel Don McGahn not to testify before the House judicial committee, believing he has immunity, or that's what they say. But the chairman says if he doesn't appear, McGahn will be held in contempt of Congress. Who is right here and how would you expect this all to play out?
[Brownstein:] Well, look, there are many there are many aspects of this. I mean, the first and perhaps the most important is that Don McGahn is a former White House employee, so while the president can assert that he does not want him to testify, my understanding is that he cannot prevent them him testifying. We know that Don McGahn did testified to Robert Mueller's investigation. We also know that he rejected a request from the White House, you know, after the fact to declare that he did not believe the president committed obstruction of justice. What we don't know is whether he feels an obligation to explain to the public exactly what happened in the events covered in the Mueller report, especially now that the president is denying there. And the added twist here is that his law firm is a major contractor for the Republican National Committee, a major provider of legal services. And there have been reports that the president has mused about cutting them off in punishment for what Don McGahn has done. I mean, there are things in this presidency that are happening kind of in broad daylight that in the past if they were on earth, you know, behind the scenes would have been major scandals. I think this is this certainly qualifies as that, is the administration using the threat of the Jones Day law firm's work for the Republican National Committee to discourage Don McGahn from testifying and is Don McGahn going along with that?
[Church:] So, you don't think McGahn has immunity here because he was he's now a former counsel at the White House?
[Brownstein:] Well, there are two separate questions. Whether the whether they can defend the idea of him not testifying in court, in other words, does he have immunity. Possibly. I don't think I can answer that. I don't think we can answer that. I think courts are going to have to decide whether the president can claim immunity for his conversations with his former council, but a separate question is whether the president can prevent him from testifying if he wishes to. And I think on that ground the president is on much more tenuous footing. And again, the issue is where does Don McGahn feel his highest obligation? He said to his lawyers in a letter that he would respect the president's wishes. But is that what he feels his highest obligation is to, the president's wishes? Or is it to the country and to explain not only what he told Robert Mueller but now the discrepancies between his version of events and the president's version?
[Church:] Very quickly, Donald Trump appears to have anointed Joe Biden as his main Democratic rival, is that a good or bad thing for Biden?
[Brownstein:] I think it's a good thing for Biden because he is trying to lift above this 23-person Democratic race and focus it on Trump. When Joe Biden gave his kickoff speech in Philadelphia on Saturday, it was easy to fast forward in your mind and imagine that being a Labor Day speech in September of 2020. So if the president is elevating Biden into his principal rival, I think that plays into Biden's argument that he is the strongest candidate against Trump, whether or not that's empirically proven by his performance. But I think it does reinforce the argument and the focus of the campaign that Joe Biden is trying to create.
[Church:] All right, always a pleasure to have you with us, Ron Brownstein, many thanks.
[Brownstein:] Thank you.
[Church:] The U.S. president keeps sending threats and mixed messages when it comes to Iran. Mr. Trump has been on Twitter a lot these past few days. He wrote this on Sunday, "If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again." Iran's foreign minister tweeted back, saying his country survived past economic Iranians have stood tall for millennia while aggressors all gone. #EconomicTerrorism & genocidal taunts won't "end Iran". #NeverThreatenAnIranian. Try respect it works! Then he spoke to reporters on his way to a campaign rally.
[Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] So, with Iran, we'll see what happens. But they've been very hostile, they've truly been the number one provocateur of terror in this country and then you know, representing their country, but certainly, our country has been very much involved because we are trying to help a lot of people out and I don't mind that at all. We have no indication that anything has happened or will happen, but if it does it will be met, obviously, with great force. We'll have no choice.
[Church:] And all this comes after the United States sent warships to the Middle East, citing a Iranian threat. Iran responded by saying it would abandon parts of the nuclear deal and claims it has increased uranium enrichment capacity. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Tehran and spoke exclusively with a senior Iranian diplomat.
[Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] The Iranians have shown themselves to be quite angry at some of the bellicose tweets that Trump has sent out recently. However, they also seem to show themselves fairly unfazed by a lot of the rhetoric that as in those tweets. I spoke to one of Iran's most senior diplomats and he said that, at this point in time, Iran is not considering changing its ways. And certainly, at this point in time, does not want to go to the negotiating table with the Trump White House.
[Pleitgen:] President Trump last night tweeted that if Iran wants to fight it would be the end of Iran. What's your comment on that?
[Hossein Amirabdollahian, Iranian Parliament:] He's got no idea what the culture and the authority of the Iranian people. Trump wants to control us through tweets and threats. The Islamic revolution in Iran have shown that he cannot talk to Iran through threats. If he thinks by bringing in some aircraft carriers and bombers he can take advantage of Iran and to force Iran to negotiate for an unequal position, he's wrong. But when their ships get close to us, it's a threat to them. We never welcome war but we stand steadfast.
[Pleitgen:] What President Trump is saying is that he would like Iran to pick up the phone and call him. Why not?
[Amirabdollahian:] Trump can discuss talking to Iran through a phone when he does not use the language of threat and force. He can talk about phoning us when he goes back to the nuclear agreement. And he needs to ensure that neither know the next president will renege on the agreement. In his mind, Trump thinks he has a gun to Iran's head with sanctions and he is trying to shut down our economy. This is all in his imagination. Now he wants us to call him? This is a crazy president.
[Pleitgen:] So some pretty clear words come from one of Iran's most senior diplomats. The Iranian messaging has been fairly consistent over the past days and weeks, since this new standoff between the U.S. and Iran started. The Iranians are saying on the one hand they don't want an escalation, they don't want a war with the United States. But on the other hand they are saying that if it does come to that, that they are ready and that it will be painful, not just for the U.S. interests here in this region but for the region as a whole Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.
[Church:] We will take a short break here. Still to come, the pressure is ramping up on Huawei. The action Google is taking and what it could mean to the Chinese telecommunication company's future. Plus how welfare cuts have left thousands of families in the U.K. without enough food to eat. We will be back with that in just a moment.