President Trump Tweeting An Apparent Threat To Ousted Fbi Director James Comey
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: President Trump making a veiled threat to former FBI director James Comey. This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon. The President tweeting, James Comey better hope that there are no tapes of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press. But here ass a question. Did Trump's firing of Comey this week dampen the investigation into Russia's meddling into the election? Some answers in just a moment. And look at this. It's not a bird or a plane, but Melissa McCarthy, playing Sean Spicer speeding around the streets of Manhattan on the White House briefing room podium. We are going to see why. But I want to begin this hour with developments in the Russian investigation. Joining me now to discuss is Alexander Vershbow, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, Julia Loffe, staff writer at "the Atlantic" and Jack Barsky, a former KGB spy who is the author of "Deep Undercover." Good evening to all of you. Ambassador Vershbow, you first. CNN learned today that deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein doesn't see a need at this point for a special prosecutor in the investigation to Russia's meddling in the election. Do you think that's the right decision?</s>AMB. ALEXANDER VERSHBOW, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA: No, I don't. I think that the firing of Comey and all the things that have happened in the last few days, just underscore the need for an independent prosecutor, or a 9/11 style commission, something that would elevate this to something that would have more credibility. Unfortunately, it looks like the Republicans and the Senate aren't prepared to do that. I think that they are in effect becoming accomplices after the fact to the kind of cover-up by the administration.</s>LEMON: You said the administration the must better served by a Russian policy than a Russian scandal. Look at these pictures. Pictures like this with the foreign minister Lavrov, joking about director Comey's firing like this as well. Listen to this.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does the Comey firing cast a shadow over your</s>LEMON: I mean, what would a White House Russian policy even be at this point?</s>VERSHBOW: Well, I think it's not completely impossible to get the focus back on policy and away from these scandals and investigations. But the administration just keeps tying itself up in knots. The handling of Lavrov in the oval office just made it worse. The optics were just terrible coming after the firing of Comey and all this glad- handing and black slapping with ambassador Kislyak and with Lavrov just gave the impression that the President either doesn't believe or doesn't care that the Russians tried to hijack our elections. But I hope that some lessons can be learned after this horrible week. And that we can actually get down to the business of developing a policy towards Russia. The world isn't going to wait, the situation in Syria gets worse and worse. In the Ukraine, there is still an undeclared war going on. And the President, if he gets engage, maybe make a difference working with the French, the Germans and the Ukrainians to get the Russians out of eastern Ukraine. But right now, everything is being swallowed up by these scandals and by the mad tweeting.</s>LEMON: Jack, you say you are distraught over what's happening, why?</s>JACK BARSKY, FORMER KGB SPY: Well, the lack of class, the lack of understanding what's going on, the lack of, you know, awareness that you are playing in - you are playing hardball in the international arena, all of that is really disconcerting, particularly, when we're talking about the head of our government showing a phenomenal level of naivete in this realm. And that - it is not just about the Russians, you know. This would apply to everything else in foreign policy. And apparently, he doesn't listen to advisors, assuming that they are actually talking to him.</s>LEMON: How is all this being perceived in Russia, Jack?</s>BARSKY: They are running victory laps, absolutely are. I mean, this is what they are after. And they have succeeded beyond their wildest expectations for sure.</s>LEMON: Julia, Deputy A.G. Rosenstein has agreed to brief the whole senate next week on the firing of FBI director James Comey. Do you think we'll get any clarity as to what actually happened?</s>JULIA LOFFE, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: I don't know. I think this scandal has so many layers. I think we are at the very, very beginning of this. And if you think about - you know, I'm not the first one to draw parallels to Watergate. They have been floating in the air all week. It took almost two years from the beginning to the end when Nixon resigned. So I think we are like, you know, the first week in what could be a very long process. What I think is really ironic about Rod Rosenstein is he was an unheard of bureaucrat. People who know him say that he made the DOJ a way his life. He was kind of a faceless functionary in this giant apparatus known to be a very impartial like, you know, his reputation going into this was that he was impartial, he was apolitical, he was just about the DOJ and the rule of law, and the way the public finds out about him is in this very politicized, very toxic scandal and that he is now going to be forever associated with. Even if this doesn't end in impeachment or the removal of the President, it will still go down in American history as a massive, massive scandal and Rod Rosenstein who have played this a pivotal role in it after spending decades in the DOJ trying to be the exact opposite of it.</s>LEMON: On the other hand, the former FBI director James Comey will not testify before the Senate intelligence committee next week. The "New York Times" is reporting tonight that Comey wants to testify, but he is insisting that it be in public. What's your reaction to that?</s>LOFFE: We don't know that he will testify, right. He turned down a voluntary - like he turned down an invitation. They can still compelled them to testify. And if I were Comey, I would wait until I was compelled. Because if you were to go just for the regular invitation, go and just spill the beans, it also - it makes him look petty. It makes him look political. It makes him look partisan. If he were to wait for subpoena which could very likely come, then you know, he is just serving a law. He is doing as he is being made to do. He is not doing this voluntarily. He is not voluntarily sinking to this much lower level.</s>LEMON: Ambassador, who do you think of the reporting tonight of the "New York Times," he wants to do it in public?</s>VERSHBOW: Well, I think he feels that he has been mistreated this week, so I think he wants the public to hear, and not just the committee to hear his side of the story. But I think the important thing is that who is going to be the next FBI director? Is the investigation going to be allowed to continue without political interference? That I think is the most important thing. But Comey needs to have his say. And explain why he asked for additional resources or additional personnel, where the investigation is going, doing it in public, I think, is better for the public and better for him.</s>LEMON: Jack, what do you think about how the White House feels about this, they may not want him to do it publicly.</s>BARSKY: Yes, the whole way this all transpired is. It's bizarre, really. It's totally bizarre, where, you know, one day, it was the assistant district attorney who triggered the firing, and the next day, Trump actually disagrees whole heartedly in public with that. And so, you know, that threat was another one of those tweets about, you know, he better not leak anything. Why would Trump even assume that there is a leak? And you don't know what he is playing, whether he has a game pan or he is just loose. It's very difficult to discern from the outside.</s>LEMON: Jack, we talked about this tweet last night, and said Russia must be laughing up their sleeves watching as the U.S. tears itself apart over Democrat excuse for losing the election. And then today, Sean Spicer was asked about it. Watch this.</s>JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I would like to quote from another of the President's tweets this morning. He said quote "Russia must be laughing up its sleeve watching the U.S. tearing itself apart over Democratic excuse for losing the elections." What did the President view by that? How do you - specifically, is the U.S. tearing itself apart for all of this?</s>SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think the President's comments about the Russia and collusion have been very clear, with respect to some of the charges that have been made. He has been very clear that it's one thing that he believes that the notion that there's collusion is a hoax. It's been reaffirmed by several people, including Senator Grassley and others who have spoken to him. And that he wants to make sure that he is focus every day on doing what's best for the American people.</s>LEMON: So Jack, subpoenas have been issued in the investigation. It is a real thing, not a hoax. Does it get to the bottom of what happened at best for the American people?</s>BARSKY: Absolutely. And I think our President should just stay out of it, you know. It's like his feelings are hurt all the time. He is acting out like the narcissist that he is. And, you know, this doesn't help anything or anybody. And he is not acting Presidential.</s>LEMON: Ambassador, the President goes overseas next week. How do you think he's going to be received? What is the world thinking about this, looking at us, you know, from across the shores?</s>VERSHBOW: Well, I think the effects of all the events of this week unfortunately damaged the President's credibility. And it raises questions in the minds of foreign leaders, whether they can take him at his word because his grasp on the truth is so tenuous. But at the same time, he has got important responsibilities on this first trip, visiting Saudi Arabia. He is going to have his first summit with NATO. That's less than two weeks away, yet we haven't heart from the President, what is his vision for the trans-Atlantic relationship, our most important alliance. We are so completely bug down in this investigations and scandals that the important business of our government is not being carried. So hopefully he will kind of refocus in the coming days. Certainly, I don't think he wants a repeat of this week. And we can begin to hear some ideas about how he is going to strengthen our security, how he is going to better fight ISIS, how he is going to reset relationship with Russia without selling out Ukraine. These are the things he should be dealing with rather that tweeting at 6:00 in the morning about Comey and mysterious tapes that may or may not exist.</s>LEMON: I have got about 20 seconds here. Jack, you say that we aren't going to win this and we will lose influence in the world.</s>BARSKY: We are not going to win this as long as we are shooting arrows at each other. I think what needs to happen here is cooler heads should prevail and determine who the fall adversary is.</s>LEMON: Thank you all. I appreciate it. When we come back, was Comey's firing the beginning to the end of President Trump's presidency? I'm going to speak with someone who says it could be.