Obama Delivers Rare Rebuke of Trump in Midterm Plea
SEN. CHRIS COONS, (D), DELAWARE: -- if they're coming to the conclusion that they just can't put the president on the witness stand in front of Special Counsel Mueller or even have him provide written testimony, that suggests something that reinforces some of the more disturbing allegations in the recently released book by Bob Woodward that the president can't keep to a consistent line in describing the events of 2016 that are being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.</s>WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: I don't know if you listened to the one-hour- plus speech that former President Barack Obama just delivered in Illinois, but he was really tough on the president. Point after point after point, going after him. This is really the first time he's delivered a campaign-type speech like this since leaving office. I wonder if you want to give us your reaction, if you think the former president was right in slamming the current president.</s>COONS: Well, Wolf, it's unfortunate that we're in a place where President Trump routinely personally and sharply critiques, criticizes attacks of former President Obama. And for much of the last 18 months, President Obama has largely remained off the political stage. This just highlights the extent to which the upcoming midterm elections in November will largely be all about President Trump. And I wish that we could have elections that really focus on the needs and the concerns of people in our states and our districts rather than having it all be about the contest between the current and former president. That's where I suspect this is going to head. It's my concern that we're veering away from what the average American wants us to do here in Congress and in the upcoming election, which is to focus on their concerns and their needs rather than what we've learned in the last year and a half, is that we've got a president who is really adept at making the day about him, day in and day out. My concern here, Wolf, is that President Obama may simply be feeding that dynamic where it is all about President Trump.</s>BLITZER: Your Republican colleague from South Carolina, Senator Lindsey Graham, says he has a new theory on this article by this unnamed senior Trump administration official that was published in the "New York Times." Listen to this.</s>SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: This op-ed piece about the personality of the president, suggesting that he's unhinged and is uncapable of being a good president without being minded, tells me a lot about the Mueller investigation. This, to me, is a signal that if there's -- there's nothing there with Russia in terms of the president working with the Russians during his campaign. The next line of attack is the man is unfit for office, he's crazy.</s>BLITZER: What do you think of Senator Graham's theory?</s>COONS: Wolf, I don't quite get the point he's making. The implication seems to be that he believes that editorial in the "New York Times" was written and placed not by a senior administration official, who while loyal to Trump's agenda, has concerns about Trump's behavior, but instead that somehow it was created by the Mueller investigation. Look, I have a lot of respect for Senator Graham. We work together well on some important foreign policy issues and some legislative issues. But I'll have to go back and listen to that again. That strikes me and more conspiratorial than I'm used to hearing from my colleague from South Carolina. The Mueller investigation has demonstrated that it's not a witch hunt, and it's not a group of unhinged Democrats. I'll remind you, Robert Mueller is a life-long Republican, a decorated Marine Corps veteran, and someone who's leading a team that has so far delivered felony convictions of the president's former campaign manager and a plea to a felony charges by the president's long-time personal lawyer. So I view the Mueller investigation as legitimate. And I think it should be left alone to reach its conclusion, whether that means there's or isn't compelling evidence of collusion.</s>BLITZER: All right. We're going to have a lot more on this. Senator Coons, I know you have a lot going on in the Senate right now. I'm going to let you go. Thank you so much for joining us.</s>COONS: Thank you, Wolf. Thank you.</s>BLITZER: We're getting some new information right now on the future of the attorney general, Jeff Sessions. We're going to update you on that. And will President Trump respond directly to former President Obama? The current president getting ready to speak live. You're looking at live pictures. Much more of our special coverage right after this.