Public Impeachment Hearings Set For Tomorrow; NYT: Trump Has Considered Firing Intelligence Inspector General.
TAPPER: Breaking news just in, "The New York Times" reporting that President Trump has discussed with aides whether he should fire the intelligence community inspector general, Michael Atkinson, according to four people familiar with the discussions, because Atkinson reported the whistle-blower complaint involving the Trump/Ukraine scandal to Congress. CNN's Kaitlan Collins is at the White House. And, Kaitlan, "The Times" reporting that President Trump has said to aides that he believes Atkinson is disloyal.</s>KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And, Jake, keep in mind, this is someone President Trump put in this job. But now, this is someone who had and read this whistle-blower complaint deemed that it was credible and then, of course, shared it with Congress which has led to where we are now. The president has been venting publicly about Michael Atkinson, questioning his loyalty and hinting at times he believed he was working with Democrats to sabotage him. And now, "The New York Times" is reporting that the president has been in discussions about firing the inspector general for the intelligence community and, of course, this all comes as the president has also been frustrated privately about those public hearings that are starting tomorrow which, of course, this whistle-blower's complaint is at the center of at.</s>COLLINS (voice-over): With the public impeachment hearing said to begin, there was a head-spinning move by the chief of staff today. Mick Mulvaney is reversing course and now saying he'll no longer file a lawsuit asking a court to decide who to listen to when it comes to a subpoena from House Democrats.</s>MICK MULVANEY, ACTING WHITE HOUSE ACTING CHIEF OF STAFF: Get over it. There is going to be political influence in foreign policy.</s>COLLINS: Last night, his attorney said he would file his own lawsuit after the former deputy national security adviser said he didn't want him piggybacking off of his. The move adding to the impeachment drama since it was Mulvaney who played a role in drafting a White House letter telling aides not to cooperate. It also comes amid a simmering feud between Mulvaney and the White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who Mulvaney believes is trying to take his job, though Cipollone believes Mulvaney has made impeachment matters worse.</s>MULVANEY: Did he mention to me in the past the corruption related to the DNC server? Absolutely.</s>COLLINS: The White House is bracing for what they fear could be damaging public testimony. Though publicly the president said today he wasn't worried.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Outrageous hoaxes and delusional witch hunts which are going absolutely nowhere. Don't worry about it.</s>COLLINS: He complained from behind his keyboard that Democrats were relying on second and third-hand witnesses. All of this as new reporting from CNN's KFILE team shows that Trump interacted frequently with two men he claimed not to know.</s>TRUMP: Again, I don't know how he knows these people.</s>REPORTER: They're his clients.</s>TRUMP: OK. Well, then, they are clients. I mean, you know, he's got a lot of clients.</s>COLLINS: Prosecutors allege that Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, associates of Rudy Giuliani's, illegally funded Republican politicians and campaigns with money from foreign nationals, in attempts to buy influence.</s>TRUMP: I don't know those gentlemen. That was possible I have a picture with them because I have a picture with everybody.</s>COLLINS: Not only does he have one picture with them, he has several. Ranging from VIP campaign events, high-dollar fundraisers and even an intimate dinner with the president.</s>COLLINS: Now, Jake, the in-fighting between Mick Mulvaney and Pat Cipollone is more than just that, because they are two key figures in this impeachment inquiry that is unfolding before us with these hearings getting underway, of course, because of Mick Mulvaney's role in a lot of this as the officials have testified and, of course, Pat Cipollone has been the one leading the impeachment defense strategy behind the scenes along with Jared Kushner. So, that is something to keep an eye on that as you're watching the president's reactions to these hearings as they start tomorrow, we should note, those are going to be going on as he's welcoming a foreign leader, the Turkish president, to the White House.</s>TAPPER: All right. Kaitlan Collins, traveling with the president, thank you so much. So let's talk about this big news "The Times" is reporting that President Trump has discussed firing the inspector general for the intelligence community, Michael Atkinson, for basically doing his job, and letting the Congress know this whistle-blower complaint existed and moving on it after he found it credible. It says that the aides -- the story says that one of the reasons it hasn't happened is aides think it would be a horrible idea for him and would erode the Republican support for him on Capitol Hill.</s>BARRON-LOPEZ: Yes. The inspector general, a part of any agency is supposed to be a check on that agency. It is supposed to be nonpartisan and not political. So for the president to retaliate against that because he fears this report said that the I.G. is working with Democrats to sabotage his presidency, even though there is no evidence to suggest that, it's a classic Trump move. So it's not that surprising that he would be considering this given that he has retaliated against former officials for -- like Sessions for recusing himself and then he's been fired.</s>TAPPER: So, what do you make of the fact that it fits in perfectly with the reporting that President Trump doesn't think that Michael Atkinson, the inspector general, is loyal to him. We've heard President Trump say similar things about James Comey or about Jeff Sessions. And I don't doubt it. It doesn't sound like he's loyal to him. It sounds like he's loyal to what he's supposed to do for his job.</s>DENT: Yes, inspectors -- inspectors general guard their independence zealously and jealously, and they do not take loyalty oaths to the president but to the Constitution. And I've dealt with these guys and I'll tell you what, if the president thinks these guys are disloyal, an I.G.'s nose is not a heat-seeking missile to the president's back side, he should know that because this is serious stuff. But these I.G.s are some of the most independent people, thoughtful people, and I think this is almost the equivalent of trying to fire Don -- Don McGahn being asked to fire Mueller.</s>TAPPER: Mueller, yes.</s>DENT: It's similar to that. Again, you know, some of these people have backbone.</s>KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But this is the way Donald Trump has operated all of his life, right? He -- even in government, he doesn't understand it is not about loyalty to him, it is about -- some people have jobs where they're supposed to be loyal to our foreign policy of the United States of America or to what they believe is the right thing to do. I will tell you what the story does, though. This is going to be the problem for Republicans throughout this hearing. Every little -- this is clearly not on the GOP strategy. This was not part of the -- what they just put out, right, and every single thing --</s>KUCINICH: It looks like the president didn't read the memo.</s>FINNEY: I don't think he did. I don't think he knows. So, right, the GOP on the Hill is trying to do one thing and they're going to be sabotaged by every little bad instinct that Donald Trump has and I suspect he'll get more whipped up the more the testimony goes on.</s>TAPPER: But that -- whatever you want to call it -- revenge, anger, whatever is motivating President Trump to fire Atkinson, although he has not done so, that wrath is something that House Republicans and Senate Republicans are more than aware of.</s>KUCINICH: But no less able to handle, because it changes, right? I mean, this week, the president was saying that Adam Schiff somehow altered the transcripts being relied.</s>TAPPER: Right, it's a lie. A lie.</s>KUCINICH: Which is a lie.</s>TAPPER: Yes.</s>KUCINICH: And so, they're not -- which is why they have these talking points so they can come to the table with something. But it is always changing.</s>FINNEY: That is right.</s>KUCINICH: And how do you defend that?</s>FINNEY: Right.</s>TAPPER: He also said he signed the Whistle-blower Protection Act into law and it is like 30 years old. But I mean, I guess here is the question, Congressman, do you think it would erode Republican support if he had fired Michael Atkinson? I have to say I'm skeptical that there is anything the president could do to erode Republican support in the White House.</s>DENT: At this point, why fire him now. The act has already been done. Because of the politics of this country are so tribal, I think many Republicans, you know, are -- tell me privately they're just disgusted with the behavior of the president but I think many of them are more worried about their elections than they are legacy --</s>KUCINICH: And that is why they do it. I mean, they would step away from the president if they could.</s>DENT: Watch the retiring members because they could be worried about their legacies.</s>TAPPER: All right. Everyone, stick around. We've got more to talk about. The damning information about president Trump unveiled today at his former adviser Roger Stone's trial which could prove President Trump lied to special counsel Robert Mueller. Stay with us.