Trump Proposes New Immigration Rule; WF Staffers Briefed Tonight On Senate Health Care Bill; Special Counsel Robert Mueller Meets With Sen. Judiciary Cmte.
BERMAN: All right, the president has just wrapped up a combined victory lap and sentimental journey in Iowa. I guess that makes it a sentimental lap. But he also made some news on immigration as well. The victory lap for a pair of Republicans special election wins last night. The sentiment, it was the kind of rally that candidate Trump elevated to performance hours in the immigration news. CNN's Jeff Zeleny joins us once again tonight from Cedar Rapids with more on that. Jeff, Pres. Trump had a lot to say.</s>JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John, he had so much to say. It seemed like he's been missing these campaign rallies. Of course, these were a staple of his candidacy. He hasn't done nearly as many as president. But tonight, he talked for about twice as long as the White House advised he would. He stayed on stage for more than an hour, talking about really the whole gamut. As you said, it was a bit of a sentimental journey. But on immigration, specifically, he did float a new policy. He said that any immigrants coming here could not have access to welfare for some five years. He said they would have to show that they could actually work and not be sort of living off the government dime. But then he went on to talk about the people who have made up his Cabinet, his top advisers. He's talked about Goldman Sachs. He talked about the wealth of his advisers. And he also said he didn't want to be advised by poor people. Let's watch.</s>TRUMP: The legendary Wall Street genius, Wilbur Ross here, he's our secretary of commerce. We have Gary Cohn, who is the president of Goldman Sachs. In fact, somebody -- he's the president of Goldman Sachs. He had to pay over $200 million in taxes to take the job, right? So somebody said, why did you appoint a rich person to be in charge of the economy? I said -- no, it's true. And Wilbur is a very rich person in charge of commerce. I love all people, rich or poor. But in those particular positions, I just don't want a poor person.</s>ZELENY: So the president there, talking about his economic advisers. And, you know, it's something that I'm not sure, John, any other president or politician would be able to get away with saying that he does not want a poor person advising him. But that is one of the things that Donald Trump supporters liked about him, the fact that he was going to appoint successful people all around him. But the whole Goldman Sachs idea and the investment banker idea is certainly so much different than his message during the campaign, when he railed against Wall Street. Now he, obviously, is joined by Wall Street.</s>BERMAN: Had Lloyd Blankfein in some of the negative ads that he put up at the end there as part of his closing argument. Did he have anything to say about the health care bill tonight, Jeff?</s>ZELENY: He did, indeed, John. In fact, this is something that's actually going on right now in Washington. His White House advisers are being briefed on the details. The president did not talk about the details, but he did talk about his hope for a kinder, gentler bill in the Senate, if you will. He talked about his hope for Democratic support for it even. Let's take a listen.</s>TRUMP: And I think, and I hope, can't guarantee anything, but I hope we're going to surprise you with a really good plan. You know, I've been talking about a plan with heart. I said, add some money to it. A plan with heart. But Obamacare is dead.</s>ZELENY: So "Add some money to it" there, now, that is something that will certainly be controversial for some Senate conservatives. And they need Senate Republicans on this bill, of course. We'll find out tomorrow morning, John, if the president is going to get behind the specifics of this Senate bill, or if he's going to again remain on the sidelines and then bridge the differences between the House and Senate. But that health care discussion, John, was one of the more interesting ones, because the president, after, you know, launching into partisan attacks throughout his speech almost sounded wistful near the end of his remarks here, saying he wished Democrats could come along. He wished Democrats could join him with tax reform, health care, infrastructure. But, John, we are five months and one day into this presidency. We cover the White House every day. We cannot count really any examples of outreach the president has made to these Democrats here. But he was starting to say that, you know, that would be a perfect solution. He's trying, of course, to paint Democrats as obstructionists, and he's trying to go after the resist movement, saying that Republicans are trying to get things done. John, one thing that was not mentioned, Russian interference in the election. Perhaps not surprisingly, but that is a key topic here on Capitol Hill, elsewhere, not one mention of it. Not one mention of Russia at all tonight for more than an hour and about 15 minutes or so of speaking. John.</s>BERMAN: All right, Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much. Back in Washington, they are talking about Russia and Special Counsel Robert Mueller is meeting today with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. It's part of an effort as Manu Raju reported earlier, to make sure their probe, his probe, and the two Intelligence Committee investigations, don't get all tangled up in each other. It was also increasingly clear today that not only is he, Bob Mueller, investigating possible obstruction of justice by the president, it does seem the Judiciary Committee is too. Late today, I spoke with Democratic panel member, Chris Coons of Delaware.</s>BERMAN: Senator Coons, special counsel Mueller met with leadership from your committee today, which then released a statement that characterized the meeting as including the investigations, plural, into Russian interference in the 2016 election and the circumstances surrounding the role of former FBI Director James Comey. Can we deduce, then, that your committee is, in fact, looking into possible obstruction of justice in the firing of James Comey?</s>SEN. CHRIS COONS, (D) DELAWARE: Well, it's clear, I think, that you've got two different committees in the Senate that we'll be moving forward with investigating the details around the firing of former FBI Director Comey and whether there was inappropriate political interference into an ongoing FBI investigation. Whether that amounts to obstruction of justice is a conclusion for a prosecutor to reach, but an investigation into political interference in an ongoing investigation, that's certainly an investigation into the circumstances that would lead to an obstruction of justice charge.</s>BERMAN: And you're saying your committee is doing that. It is underway. What about special counsel Bob Mueller? Is that committee statement a confirmation that he is looking into possible obstruction of justice or the circumstances?</s>COONS: Well, I think the statement speaks for itself. What's encouraging about the meeting today is that there is ongoing coordination between the special counsel and the leadership of committees of the House and Senate to make sure that we're not stepping in each other's lanes and to make sure that the ongoing investigation that special counsel Mueller is meeting is able to pursue leads wherever they might go. This is an investigation that may have criminal consequences, may have counterintelligence consequences. And so I think it's important that committees of the Senate and the House operate in closed coordination, so that we don't interfere with each other's investigations.</s>BERMAN: A new development this afternoon. Some of your Democratic colleagues in the House Oversight Committee, you used to acknowledge, there are a lot of different committees looking into a lot of different things.</s>COONS: Yes.</s>BERMAN: They're concern over the idea that then National Security Adviser Michael Flynn continued to attend presidential daily briefings by CIA Director Mike Pompeo for weeks after intelligence officials became concerned that Michael Flynn had been compromised. Does that concern you?</s>COONS: It does concern me. This is something I previously asked questions about in hearings, why it is that the national security adviser was allowed to continue access to the situation room, access to the president and to highly sensitive, highly classified material long after then attorney general, Acting Atty. Gen. Sally Yates, had directly raised the issue of his vulnerability to blackmail by Russia with the White House Counsel.</s>BERMAN: Now, does your concern go as far as to cover Jared Kushner? I'm asking you, because these same Democrats say they're also concerned about Kushner maintaining his security clearance while the investigations continue, even though I don't think anyone has leveled the level of accusations against Kushner, as they have against Flynn. There is no proof that Kushner, at this point, did anything, you know, untoward or if he been being investigated as doing something illegal?</s>COONS: Well, I think there's a significant evidence that Mike Flynn, the former national security adviser, had very complicated relationships with foreign powers that he failed to disclose, that he had been untruthful with the vice president, which is what led to his ultimately dismissal, but he had been untruthful at the very beginning of his service with this administration. And I think that's the foundation of questions by the House Oversight Committee Democrats. I'm less certain why they're pressing the issue with Jared Kushner, but my hunch is they have good reason for raising concerns about his security clearance, given other matters that may have come before their committee.</s>BERMAN: Your hunch is, but as you sit here based on what you know in your committee, which would be judiciary and the senate foreign affairs, also do you have any reason to believe that Jared Kushner has been compromised?</s>COONS: I don't have direct knowledge of that. I'm not in the leadership of the committee. I'm neither the chair nor the ranking, but there's nothing that I've seen from the Senate Judiciary Committees relatively limited activities on this matter to question Jared Kushner's security clearance.</s>BERMAN: Understood. You each do have your lanes. I understand you only see what's in your lane there. Lastly, it's a big week in the Senate. Some time tomorrow, you may get your look at the Senate version, the Senate Republican version of the bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. Do you have any sense what's inside of it?</s>COONS: I have no idea what is in the Senate Majority bill that would repeal and replace Obamacare. And frankly, neither do many Republican senators. There's been a lot of concerns, a lot of complaints by Republican and Democratic senators that this bill which will have an impact on hundreds of millions of Americans by affecting how health insurance and health care is regulated in this country has been composed behind closed doors by a very small group of folks. I'm encouraged that it is going to be public tomorrow. There will be a CBO score, if that's what's being reported, I hope that is what happens.</s>BERMAN: I'll get a chance to look at it tomorrow within the clock as you say will be ticking. Senator Chris Coons, thank you so much for being with us.</s>COONS: Thank you.</s>BERMAN: As senator Coons mentioned, there is a secret chorus of Republican senators frustrated with the secret process to draft this bill. We'll hear from them after the break. Also North Korea could order yet another underground nuclear weapons test. How the president might react tonight on "360."