Trump: Mueller "Witch Hunt" "Attack on Our Country"; Grassley Reacts to Possibility of Trump Firing Mueller
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: President Trump certainly has long seen the overall Russia investigation as a personal attack on him, but now he's expressing the opinion that it's much more than just about him. Listen.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have this witch hunt constantly going on for over 12 months now. And actually, much more than that. You could say it was right after I won the nomination, it started. And it's a disgrace. It's, frankly, a real disgrace. It's an attack on our country in a true sense. It's an attack on what we all stand for. So when I saw this and when I heard it -- and I heard it like you did -- I said, that is really now in a whole new level of unfairness.</s>BLITZER: Here with us now is Richard Ben-Veniste, CNN legal analyst, former Watergate special prosecutor. Richard, what was your reaction when you heard about the raids on Michael Cohen's apartment, his home, his office, his hotel room, and then you just heard the president's blistering response.</s>RICHARD BEN-VENISTE, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It's a response that seems more appropriate to the king of France, who said, (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANUAGE, "The state is me." This is not an attack on the United States. This is the legal process. Yes, it was an aggressive act. And I suspect that when the dust settles, the justification for the search warrant will become more clear. But this is nothing like how the president has described it. This is our legal system working.</s>BLITZER: He says it's a "witch hunt," "it's a disgrace," "it's an attack on the United States." Why do you think Mueller would refer at least part of the investigation to Michael Cohen, the president's lawyer, to the office of the U.S. attorney in New York?</s>BEN-VENISTE: You know, all this Stormy stuff started with a suspicious transaction report by the bank. After all, this was a shell company that Cohen used to make this payment --</s>BLITZER: The $130,000.</s>BEN-VENISTE: Very suspicious looking. So he would have had to give some explanation for it. And if that explanation was misleading or false, then he's got a separate criminal potential for an additional crime beyond all the others that have been described.</s>BLITZER: And they're also looking into what, if any, connection he may have had to the $150,000 payment from American Media, the parent company of the "National Enquirer," to Karen McDougall, the former playmate?</s>BEN-VENISTE: Yes. And Ms. McDougall said, and her lawyers have said, there was collusion between her lawyer and Mr. Cohen to arrange for that payoff, and that she wasn't really getting the true representation from her lawyer. That's a serious charge in and of itself. And so if all of this was to disguise a favor to Mr. Trump by his friend, David Pecker, then there's another potential for fraud. So the Southern District of New York is notoriously -- it's my alma mater, so I can take some pride in this. And I was head of the Official Corruption Section before I went down to Washington to work on the Watergate case.</s>BLITZER: Let me get your quick reaction to the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley, reacting today when he was asked about the possibility the president could fire Robert Mueller. Listen to this.</s>SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY, (R-IA), CHAIRMAN, SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: I think it would be suicide for the president to fire him. I think the less the president says about this whole thing, the better off he will be. And I think that Mueller is a person of stature and respected, and I respect him. Just let the thing go forward.</s>BEN-VENISTE: That is hugely important.</s>BLITZER: Why? Tell us why you believe that's important.</s>BEN-VENISTE: I testified before Senator Grassley's committee back in June, and the import of my testimony was that the Judiciary Committee needed to protect Robert Mueller against the potential for firing, just what's been discussed. And what has been reported to have been the case back in June, when the president supposedly asked his counsel, Don McGahn, to orchestrate the firing of Robert Mueller. So this is the very, very powerful Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee speaking, saying that this would be suicide. That's a huge statement, warning the president not to do it. And, indeed, I think that is the only thing on the table that might warrant a resolution of impeachment, that is, the firing of Rosenstein and Mueller, or at least a hobbling of Mueller through various moves that the president might make.</s>BLITZER: Richard Ben-Veniste, thank you for coming in.</s>BEN-VENISTE: Thank you.</s>BLITZER: Is the president of the United States considering firing deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein? I'll speak to a Senate Democrat who, along with his colleagues, are preparing right now for that possible scenario. Plus, we're only moments away from two major live events in Washington. The White House set to respond to the raids on Michael Cohen's office, his home, his hotel room. And Facebook CEO Mike Zuckerberg set to be grilled by lawmakers on the massive data scandal up on Capitol Hill. We'll have live coverage. We'll be right back.