Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Opposes Reparations, Says No One Alive Is Responsible
BLITZER: We're following all the breaking news on the congressional testimony by Hope Hicks, who was one of President Trump's closest aides. Democrats venting their frustrations tonight, after Hicks refused to answer any of their questions about her time serving in the White House. Let's bring in our analysts. And, Jamie Gangel, the president is tweeting his support for his former communications director. He said this in his tweet. He said: "So sad that the Democrats are putting wonderful Hope Hicks through hell." But, Jamie, CNN is learning that Hicks' relationship with the president has actually changed a bit. The two are speaking, obviously, a less frequently. Hicks has even failed apparently to return several of his phone calls. What does all that tell you?</s>JAMIE GANGEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very few people do not return the president's phone calls. This is reporting from our colleague Kaitlan Collins. What we don't know here is, is this a personal dynamic? Did she just want to distance herself from him? Or is it a legal strategy? Were her lawyers telling her not to be in touch with him so much? But there is no question that this is someone Trump cared about. A lot of people have left the White House, but, when she left, the president was clearly very upset about it. But I think, for today, Wolf, what's important is, to the White House, she did not -- Hope Hicks did not answer questions the White House didn't want her to answer.</s>BLITZER: Important point. David Swerdlick, the president formally launched his 2020 campaign attempt last night with a blistering attack on Democrats and his critics. Listen to this.</s>TRUMP: Our radical Democrat opponents are driven by hatred, prejudice and rage. They want to destroy you, and they want to destroy our country as we know it. Not acceptable. It's not going to happen.</s>BLITZER: They want to destroy our country, as we know it. They want to destroy you. David Swerdlick, this is extremely damaging language coming from the President of the United States.</s>DAVID SWERDLICK, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right. And the President, clearly, was coming out hot. You can imagine him saying things along those lines as the campaign gets rolling. But to launch his campaign in that way suggests and it sends a shot across the bow to all democratic opponents that he is going to be in their face and really bringing a very divisive, a very aggressive fight to them. I think he was saying two things at the same time there, Wolf. Both he was sort of without saying the word, socialism, laying some track for himself, where later in the speech and later in the campaign, he's going to try and paint all democrats as socialists even though the only declared socialist is Senator Sanders. And then the other thing is that it sounded like a little bit of projection there, right? He talked about hate and negativity, I think, was the word he used there, but he is the person who, in 2016, and, to an extent, last night, really, has come out with the most vitriol and the most negative campaigning at least thus far.</s>BLITZER: David Chalian, what did you think?</s>DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, I agree with what David Swerdlick is saying. I think that Donald Trump showed us last night that he believes so very much so about what got him to the Oval Office, right, the immigration line of attack, the way he gets the crowd riled up. He believes these are the things that delivered him the presidency. And he's not going to deviate at all from that script going forward. He wants to repeat it.</s>BLITZER: Jamie, let me move on to this other story we're following today involving the former Vice President, Joe Biden. He's now being widely criticized after he invoked his previous work with segregationist U.S. Senators to illustrate his ability to reach across the aisle. He told donors at a fundraiser. He said this. I was in a caucus with James O. Eastland. He never called me boy. He always called me son. Well, guess what, at least there was some civility. We got things done. We didn't agree on much of anything. We got things done. How much of a misstep was this to bring this up last night?</s>JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it was a big misstep. At the very least, it is tone deaf. But we also note this is not a story. This is not the first time he's told this story. And his staff, his advisers, have said to him, do not tell this story. This is not appropriate. We're also seeing, I think, we're up to either six or seven of his democratic rivals coming out and say that he needs to apologize, that he shouldn't be saying this. I think it speaks to another thing. What we're waiting to see with Joe Biden, we've talked about a lot is the D word, discipline. His staff told him not to tell this story, and he went out and told it again.</s>BLITZER: David Swerdlick, let me read to you what Cory Booker, one of the democratic presidential rivals, said. You don't joke about calling black men boys. Men like Senator James O. Eastland, a democrat of Mississippi, used words like that and the racist policies that accompanied them to perpetuate white supremacy and strip black Americans of our very humanity. What do you make of this controversy that has erupted today?</s>SWERDLICK: Yes, well, a couple things. First, to Jamie's point, his staff should be or is telling him not to tell these stories, and while no one expects Senator Biden to be at the sort of cutting edge of a discussion about racial dynamics in this country, people, when you look at a comment like this, feel like he should really know better. And I think that's why he drew so much fire from Senator Booker and others. Look, Senator Booker, a younger African-American Senator, is a very glass half-full, can't we all just get along type of guy. So for him to come out and have these sort of sharp words for Vice President Biden suggests that Vice President Biden really sort of misstepped here. I think Cory Booker is right when he says, look, it's one thing to come out and answer that question and say, I was in the Senate with these guys. I had to work with them. It's another thing to bring up this issue of whether they called him boy or son. Calling African- American men boy has traditionally been an insult. Vice President Biden should know that. He was right to be called out.</s>BLITZER: You know, David Chalian, all this comes as the Senator majority leader, Mitch McConnell, suggests a conversation about around reparations is not necessary because no one was alive today who was responsible for slavery. What do you make of this whole debate over beginning a serious dialogue about reparations?</s>CHALIAN: Yes. I think Senator McConnell went further to say, Wolf, that the election of Barack Obama was somehow reparations enough, if you will, that an African-American was elected president. No mention that, of course, Mitch McConnell made it his mission to blockade everything Barack Obama tried to do and made that his stated goal. I think that Mitch McConnell is misreading the moment here where this issue is. It's obviously gotten some real currency inside the Democratic Party right now. And I think that's why you saw a hearing on this matter today. We saw a conversation around this on Capitol Hill. I don't think we've ever seen that get this kind of attention today. I think this issue is not going away so fast, especially for the democrats.</s>BLITZER: I totally agree. All right, guys, stick around. There's more news we're following. Just ahead, her rising poll numbers don't tell the full story. We're going to take a closer look at why Elizabeth Warren is now in the top tier of democratic presidential candidates.