Transcripts For CNNW The Lead With Jake Tapper 20180511

Welcome to the lead. Im jim sciutto in for jay. And the white house moments ago going the trumpy an route and refusing to apologize time and time again about a cruel joke a staffer made about john mccain dying of cancer. That is right, a joke about him dying of cancer and refusing to answer if this overall tone comes from the very top. We there is not a a tone set here. We have a a respect for all americans. And that is what we try to put forward in everything we do, both in word and in action. Why not just apologize to senator mccain. I wont get into a back and forth because people want to create issues of leaked staff meeting. Well, not only did the white house not say those simple words were sorry, but as you heard there, pointed to the leak, that led to that cruel joke getting out in the first place. Lets begin with kaitlin collins, at the white house. Kaitlin, mou multiple chancem the white house podium to make a simple apology for june agrees was offensive and yet no apology. No apology, jim. And not even an acknowledgment that kelly sadler made this remark about senator john mccain. And now to remind our viewers the context. She was at a Communications Meeting and when she discussed the john mccains recent opinion about the cia nomination, kelly sadler said his opinion was irrelevant because hes dying any way. And senator mccain has incurable brain cancer. So she made the remark and it got released to the media and the white house more concerned with the fact the comment leaked than the fact that sadler made the remark like that about someone who served the United States in vietnam, someone who is a senator and someone who has brain cancer. The white house standing by kelly sadler, saying, yes, she still does work here and still does have a taxpayerfunded job and not acknowledging she made this remark. Im not sure any p. R. Company in the world would agree with this strategy. It seems quite easy to apologize for the remark to say that theyve discussed this with her or anything like that. None of that is what we got in that briefing just there. Instead, the white house seeming to be critical of the fact that another staffer revealed to the media that kelly sadler made this comment at all. And of course, Sarah Sanders was asking, some comment because of the tone that is set the at the top. And this is a president who mocked john mccain in the past and staffers who described what sadler said, said it was meant as a joke. Maybe her humor is more in line with the president who never apologized for belittling john mccain and his service to our country. And no apology then or today. And john mccains daughter weighed in on that cruel joke about her daughter. Tom foreman reports. Reporter reprehensible, inexcusable, shame on you, resign. Outrage is swirling around white house aide kelly sadler on twitter after she dismissed john mccains opposition to President Trumps cia nominee by mocking his grave illness. Hes dying any way. His wife cindy, may i remind you, my husband has a family, seven children and five grandchildren. His daughter meghan. I dont know understand what kind of environment you are working in when that is acceptable and come to work the next day and still have a job. That is all i have to say. Reporter the white house hasnt publicly said there is anything wrong but the aide apologized to the family and said we respect mr. John mccains service and his family are in our prayers. But not a word publicly from the president himself who never hesitated to go after mccain or never apologized for taupting the former prisoner of war during the campaign. Hes a war hero because he was captured. I like people that werent captured. Complicating the issue, on fox, one who endorsed trump reeastering a debunk claim that he gave information to his north vietnamese captors. They work on john. That is why hes called song bird john. Joe biden said the Trump Administration has hit rock bottom. John mccain has criticized the trump leadership and policies and he cast the deciding vote to stop a repeal of obamacare, among his many maverick moves his family and fans say will far out last his critics. My fathers legacy would will be talked about for hundreds of years and these people, nothing burgered. And for all of that, and with this opportunity for the white house to have Something Else to say about it, we still have no idea whether this staffer will pay any kind of price, let alone resign. And, jim, we have no word from the president who said he loves veterans, who said he wants to be fair to everyone and has the best of manners, whether he even thinks this was improper. The white house claiming to have respect for all people. Thank you. Lets go to our panel. And jason, you worked for the Trump Campaign, why not a simple apology. I think this is definitely an unforced error, not only inappropriate comment by miss sadler but should have been dealt with yesterday. If it did get deal with yesterday, well talk about the president got the hostages out of north korea and a terrible deal with iran and talking about the Embassy Opening up in jerusalem and this carried on for a second day, from public reports it looks like she did call and offered an apology to Meghan Mccain but this is something the white house should have dealt with immediately. There is no reason for it to continue today as did. Is it as simple as an apology for this comment because as tom noted had the piece, this dismissal from john mccain came from the president , something he never apologized for and does this go to the top in your view . This tone that you heard Sarah Sanders deny there is any tone, such a tone exists . Of course it is the same tone. It is a tone that donald trump has set. It is the tone that he set during the campaign when he said that john mccain was not a hero. Mind you, he donald trump, a draft dodger is saying that john mccain, who hung by his thumbs and was tortured for five and a half years, was not a hero. Of course hes a hero. And then said it again and again and again. Hes said it after his dying diagnosis and at a pep rally in arizona and at cpac and over and over again. This is not the first time i hear about donald trump or somebody from that white house calling meghan or cindy mccain and offering an apology. How about you stop saying stuff you have to call and apologize for and showing a limb humanity. How about showing a little empathy so john mccain and his family. And to all of the people facing terminal illnesses and the people that love people facing terminalnesses. How about being decent for a change. They cant fire this woman. Theyve had to fire donald trump for the stuff he has said and done already about john mccain. Let me you heard ana mentions these kind of comments do not come in isolation. The president has uttered similar things himself, as a reminder. Have a listen. Hes a war hero because he was captured. I like people that werent captured. And except for one senator who came into a room at 3 00 in the morning and went like that, we would have had health care too. We have a bad vote. You know about that, right. That was not a nice thing. The fact is, despite his service, and his heroism, he is a lightning rod for folks on the right. When you heard that comment on fox the other day from general macan ernie, it is not the first time youve heard a comment like that. It has an appeal to a certain wing of the republican yeah. Look, democrats are outraged and im outraged and any decent human being is outraged. Agree with jasons assessment, the white house should have let her go and moved on and there should have been an apology from the white house. The president s base loves this because hes in the fight. I think the today is a perfect example of everything that is wrong with our politics right now. Lets go back to what the original issue is here, we have someone nominated to head our Central Intelligence agency and participated in a program that tortured people. John mccain is a hero because he was tort urd. We are not talking about whether this woman should become cia director, were talking about a stupid disrespectful thing that a white house staffer said. So once again donald trump is getting away with it. Were not focusing on the what matters, were focusing on the drama. Classic. And jill biden said decency just hit rock bottom in this administration. Here is how the Statement Read in part, given this white houses trail of disrespect toward john and others, this staffer is not the exception to the rule, she is the epitome of it. Jason miller, as you see that there, joe biden not farfetched to imagine him as a candidate against trump and does that concern you when you have someone like joe biden who brings respect and willing to make that as a potential chalg enk challenger to the president. Would love to see joe biden run against the President Trump and i think he would lose but that is a side issue. But his criticism of the white house is off base for the simple fact this is not President Trump that made the comment, it was a lower level staffer. But you heard the other comments the president made. And all of the other comments were made but there were comments on the policy front. Senator john mccain in note or us fashion go out on the senate floor and did the thumbs down to kill obamacare. He voted against something. And he went out and did the whole held up the vote and did the thumbs down so there there were policy items that wrp worked in but let me ask you this. Because she made a broader claim. In addition to not apologizing, Sarah Sanders, we have a respect for all americans and that is what we try to put forward in everything we do in both word and in action. Is the white house record, does it back that statement up. I think that is accurate what they do every day. That is the spirit that the people at the white house take and the president comments about immigrants and john kelly comment about grants yesterday in an interview. Lets talk about that. John kelly came out and i was looking through the interview, where the problem. He showed empathy i thought for Illegal Immigrants that are trying to come to the country incorrectly and pointed out that the Illegal Immigrants have very low skills, dont know english and not able to assimilate into the culture. That is an accurate comment. I dont see where the falsehoods are to what john kelly said. And anna navarro, your response to jasons view. Look, there were parts of john kellys interview which were substantive and talked about policy. He talked about tps, he taurked about congresss duty to do something and that it should fall on congress to make the immigration laws. That was a substantive discussion he was having. I thought the part about immigrants not being able to assimilate and having a poor education were unnecessary and hurtful. Particularly coming from someone like john kelly who comes from poor irish migrants like the italy and the irish and have come and made this country a great country and contributed. And it also i thought it was particularly disturbing because john kelly is a four star general. And he commanded so many troops. Go to any go to any memorial, go to any u. S. Settlememt ce and see the name of rodriguez and martinez, of people who came here and assimilated in the most american of ways, being willing to sacrifice their lives and serve their country which is say hell of a lot more than donald trump lets give robbie mook a chance to respond. Again, this interview was classic for somebody in the Trump Administration. Hes he clearly wasnt telling the truth. He was asked, what do you think of President Trump. He said i think hes a brilliant guy and have you ever wanted to quit. No. We have a close relationship and interesting listen to miss mccain when she talked about how her father will be remembered for hundreds of years. I think john kelly and the staff in the Trump Administration will be remembered for all of the lies they told and not anything that they are doing. And i just have trouble taking any of this ser yus seriously and he sprinkles it with hateful kmentds because that is what the base needs, and that is what were talking instead of substance. But this is nothing new. And this brings up the larger conversation on immigration. We saw Sarah Sanders say that is one of the things theylike to get done today. I dont know if they could get into Immigration Reform but the president has outlined a detailed plant to a merit based system, similar to canada where it is based on skills and then the other thing is i think anna was conflicting a bit of people who have come here legally with people who come here illegally, but id like to have this debate on immigration and something i think the president wants to also a lot of those poor irish and italian immigrants did not come here legally. And if you want to talk about unskilled immigrants and have a conversation about melania trumps parents who are here under what do we call it family reunification when it is her parents and we call it Something Else, when it is the parents of other people. I think her father was, what a driver in her native country. I am glad they are here. I am glad they are here to help her daughter, to help raise their grandchild. I am glad that melania trumps parents are able to reunify with her daughter. I wish others had the same chance. If for our viewers at home who might not be familiar with john kellys comments in the interview yesterday, im going to read them here. He said the following, and im quoting, they dont integrate well or have skills, speaking about immigrants. Theyre not bad people, theyre coming here for a reason and i sympathize for the reason but the laws are the laws. John kelly himself, hes italian irish and i looked at someone posted the immigration records of his grandparents and very similar to mine, early 20th century came without many skills and came without Language Skills as well. Illegal Illegal Immigrants is the topic of the conversation. He was pretty broad in his description of the question was about illegal immigration. I love when the Trump Administration talks about law and order. The irony is so rich. When it comes to government ethics and spending and people getting their security clooerns and the clearance and the law is fungible and when it comes to immigration status and when the president s own wife and her family the rules and the laws dont matter but when it is somebody else from mexico or another country, it matters a lot. There is more to talk about. Is President Trump embarrassed or distracted. And also john kelly playing cleanup when it comes to the russia investigation. Well have more just after this. 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Wow. Yeah, wow. Not getting in today. Not on my watch. Pests never stop trying to get in. We never stop working to keep them out. Terminix. Defenders of home. As the white house today deals with another mess over a staffers cruel joke about john mccains health, the chief of staff john kelly is trying to clean up his own comments after telling npr that President Trump is, quote, embarrassed by the russia investigation and that it lacks, quote, real meat on the bone in his words. Retired marine general saying he meant the president is distracted, not embarrassed by special Counsel Robert Mueller probe but the tape seems to say otherwise. Kaitlin colins is back from the white house. Really a remarkable shift on some very important words there, kaitlin. Reporter jim, i believe the phrase is damage control. Now we dont often here from the chief of staff john kelly and the last time he did an interview he said that the president s views on immigration had evolved and the president quickly rebuked him for saying as much. So it seems like john kelly is trying to steer clear of Something Like that happening again. President trump in the rose garden today. While his chief of staff john kelly is back in the spotlight, revealing that President Trump is embarrassed by the Mueller Probe and investigation he has repeatedly dismissed as a witch hunt telling npr there may not be a cloud but certainly the president is somewhat embarrassed frankly. Reporter from a top aide that works for a president that sees it as a weakness. And trying could clean up the comment, and telling jeff zeleny i corrected it. Distracted. So but were not doing an interview. Hes distracted by it . Yeah. Its untrue. It is a witch hunt. And it is a distraction. But not too much, but it is unfair. Reporter kelly asserting that the russia investigation is hampering trumps ability to have relationships with World Leaders. You walk in and the first couple of minutes, of every conversation might resolve around that kind of thing. Reporter and suggesting the yearlong investigation should come to a close. Something that has gone on this long without any real meat on the bone, it suggests to me that there is nothing there relatively to our president. Reporter kelly, a former four star marine and director of Homeland Security also made headlines with his divisive comments about immigration. Theyre also not people that would easily assimilate into the United States. Theyre overwhelmingly rural people, in the countries they come from, fourth or fifth or sixth grade education are the norm. Reporter despite reports he threatened to leave the white house on multiple occasions, kelly insisting hes staying put for now. In retrospect i wish i had been here from day one. Reporter his replacement Kirstjen Nielsen is the latest to garner the ire of the president after trump erupted at her in a tense Cabinet Meeting on wednesday. The president lashing out because he thinks she isnt doing enough to secure the border. The New York Times reporting she was on the verge of resigning. Something the white house disputes. As weve said many times before, if the president no longer has confidence in a cabinet member, hell let you know. Now jim, it may not be a question of the president s confidence because my sources said that kneelsen pushed back on the president during the Cabinet Meeting on wednesday. John kelly, who picked nealsen suggested her to trump and he said he expected her to stay on but i think well have to wait and see what happens in the next Cabinet Meeting. Exactly. Does the president like that, pushing back. Kaitlin collins, thank you very much. It is shocking how many white house staffers have trent trent threatened to resign. 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And do it like that. snaps if youd have told me that i could afford. A gigspeed. A gigspeed network. Its like 20 times faster than what most people have. Id of said. Id of said youre dreaming. Dreaming definitely dreaming. Then again, dreaming is how i got this far. Now more businesses in more places can afford to dream gig. Comcast, building americas largest gigspeed network. Welcome back. The big story today, the white house tripping over itself trying to clear up all kinds of comments, chief of staff john kelly backtracking now on his remark the president is, quote, embarrassed by the russia investigation. My panel is back with me now. Jason miller, i wonder, john kelly said the president is embarrassed by the investigation frankly. His words. And he said the first minutes of any conversation with the world leader end up focusing on the probe. I wonder if he was inadvertently revealing the truth. I dont think the investigation is embarrassing for the president , but for the dod for the d. O. J. And he said embarrassed with the World Leaders and dragged into discussion like this. And i have no idea the conversation the president has with foreign leaders but it is a distraction and gets away in fact the president opinion on Foreign Policy or trade or denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and next thursday is an important milestone. That is the one year mark since mueller came in as special counsel. And the fact that were a year into this and there still isnt any evidence that the Trump Campaign colluded and in any way, shape or form, with a foreign entity is stunning. There has been no clear dismissal of that frankly. But there hasnt been any proof. And the fact that were a year in shows the divide and the dichotomy where Trump Supporters say, after a year, what the heck is going on. Why do we still have this. And quite frankly i wouldnt be surprised if this is what foreign leaders are saying. Trump, this is going on and they havent said or proven anything im sure foreign leaders echo the talking points. Do you think that john kelly said the president is embarrassed in meeting with World Leaders that he talks about this and it is frustrating. Look, i think there is no secret in that, right. We see it every Early Morning tweet full of capitalized letters and exclamation points and this trump investigation is in his head and that upsets him terribly and im not surprised he would be embarrassed and bring it up with World Leaders but there is so much things to be embarrassed, this should be the least. He should be embarrassed he had a Domestic Worker working a few feet from the oval office and embarrassed he had a Communications Counselor about someone facing down a terminal illness and said over 3000 lies as president. Listen, in the list of things you should be embarrassed about, the fact that there is an investigation about the integrity of our democracy and our elections should be the least of your problems. And another comment stood out, he called the russia investigation unfair and a witch hunt repeating the phrase have used. Are you surprise to hear that frame coming from former uniform marine general, some former dhs secretary . Not in this case. And like i said, before, what stood out is how many times he covered for the president and things he said he didnt believe. To the point you made, i think he did believe what he said about it being embarrassing. And as a president youre stand tlg with a world leader and people asking you about a scandal. But no, this doesnt surprise me. And obviously the president is making this all worse. If he would never tweet about this, if he would just step back and say, you know what, these visits with foreign leaders are so important to me, im going to go silent on this and ill focus on Foreign Policy, i actually think he wouldnt be as embarrassed because we wouldnt be talking about it as much. So again, i dont feel i dont feel bad for the president because i think it is a legitimate investigation but i dont feel bad because he brings it up so much. I dont think he can expect the press not to. Jason miller, im curious how the president is receiving. This there was upset we heard from the president when kelly said the president s views on immigration had evolved. He had to pull that back and now kelly is saying well the president is embarrassed by the investigation and pull that back and say hes frustrated by the investigation. To your knowledge, what is the level the president s confidence in his chief of staff . I think it is very high. I think we saw the two men stand together before they took off on air force one a few days ago. I think general kelly has a strong standing with the president right now. Look, when you work in this white house, when you work for President Trump, you have to have a thick skin. If hes upset with something, hell tell you. Hell put you on notice quick. And i think everyone who works for him, i think gets that. At a certain point, i cant speak to how other president s operated, but President Trump does have high accountability if he doesnt like the way something is going, hell tell you about. It another story this week of a john kelly replacement at dhs threatening to resign after the president apparently berated her in a meeting. Not the first time that threat has come from a white house official. Here is a list of people who have threatened to quit while working for the Trump Administration according to several reports. A lost those folks did not in the end do. It but they made those making those threats public, that is normally on purpose, is it not . As you look at that list there, what does it say to you. This is the management style. The list you dont have are the people who got fired. That is a pretty high volume as well. And we know this white house is having trouble filling jobs. This is this is part of the issue here. Is that there theyre not there is still not a kmupgs Communications Director and colleagues around town they dont want to do the job because they know where it will so i think this will continue to be a challenge for him. In the case of kelly, i obviously dont know as well as jason, my guess is hes reached some kind of agreement with trump and he seems to be like seems like hes pushing back less than he did before. My guess is trump recognizes that he has to have a chief of staff. He can live without this kplu s kplungss director but has to have a chief. And hes had big wins and i think that is part of it. Kelly has played an instrumental role with regard to the north korea progress move ago long and secretary of state pompeo a critical part of that and also with the iran deal and moving the embassy as i mentioned before and this is this is National Security is at the forefront right now. It is dominating a lot of the news. And i think having achieve of staff who is a achieve of staff with a four star general is a critical opponent, as opposed to last year when the focus was on domestic politics. And a cnn poll out this week found that 30 of respondents approve how the president is handling cabinet officials, and 55 disapprove two to one. And do you i know how you feel about the upset within the Trump Administration. But speaking of republican voters, base voters, do you sense any exhaustion with the drama in the white house or do they still see that candidate that they voted for, someone who, yeah, sometimes speaks off the cuff but hes our guy. Look, i have been amazed by the tribal loyalty that some in the Republican Base have and continue to have for donald trump. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that he does things here and there that are very symbolic and that please part of the base. Some of it big things. Big things like naming neal gorsuch to the Supreme Court and some not as big but things that mean a lot to the base like like not celebrating pride month. Like curtailing lgbtq rights, like going on and on about a wall that exists in his head and nowhere else. And so i i think trump knows how to play his base. He knows how to keep that base happy and you keep seeing that level of loyalty. Anna, robbie, jason, thanks so much. And always, just when you thought the scandal surrounding scott pruitt could not get worse. It just did. Who the head of the epa had dinner with while visiting the vatican. Here is a hint. It wasnt the pope. G for her wo. And my brother ray and i started searching for answers. vo when its time to navigate inhome care, follow that bright star. Because brightstar care earns the same accreditation as the best hospitals. And brightstar care means an rn will customize a plan that evolves with moms changing needs. woman because dad made us promise wed keep mom at home. vo call 8444brightstar for your free home Care Planning guide. Today companies that did briz with Michael Cohen are rushing to call the business deals mistakes. But only after they were outed this week in documents from Stormy Daniels lawyer. Today the pharmaceutical giant novartis and at t as well, currently we should say trying to buy cnn Parent Company time warner, trying to clean up hits to their reputations. Joined now by jeffrey toobin. Jeffrey, you look at this, there is lobbying done in washington. But when you look at these payments, were these actual consulting deals or were they buying access to the president . After all Michael Cohen is the president s personal lawyer. They were buying access. But most of lobbying is buying access. What i dont understand about this controversy is what do people think is going on in washington . The whole business stinks. And the idea that Michael Cohen is somehow worse than all of the other lobbying these companies done, it is mysterious to me. Cory President Trump Campaign Manager is doing a thriving business. Why do you think people are hiring him . Because of his great policy expertise. No, because hes opening doors. All of the exsenators, evan bye, john lowe, trent lott and they pay him because they could get access. This whole business stinks but it is legal. Phil mudd, you have experience in washington. Is there anything more transparent d. C. Or swampy about this or do you agree with jeff, this is more of the same. Jeff is dead on. If you go into a bar and theyre going to serve alcohol. If you go into washington, d. C. , youll get paid to get access. Im going to have a martini at 7 00 and i have to go to a bar. If you want access in d. C. , you go to somebody like this. I think there is uninterestin l investigation angle and, jim, that is one of the questions of special counsel wanting to understand is the flow of money and influence related to russia. I dont think at t and novartis are at risk. I agree with jeff. But i guarantee theyre being transparent with the special counsel about how theyre relationship developed, how the money flowed and if i were the special counsels sort of adviser, i suspect that adviser is saying lets look at the money flows from the Clean Companies and see how that compares and contrast to what russia entities are doing with cohen. I think there are interesting aspects to understanding the russia angle but not to understanding lobbying. Washington is dirty. Big surprise. Sarah sanders, jeffrey toobin, made an interesting claim and asked if the president feels it is a mistake for cohen to work with the companies. Here is her response. I think this further proves the president wont be influenced by special interest. This is the definition of draining the swamp, something the president talked about repeatedly during the campaign. Is this the definition of draining the swamp, jeffrey toobin. I have no idea what shes talking about there. I think i this in fairness to President Trump, it is not clear that he knew about any of the payments that went to Michael Cohen. But he had lunch he had dinner with Michael Cohen just a couple of weeks before they searched his office in he had dinner maralargo with him just a couple of weeks before they searched his office. So Michael Cohen still had access at the time he was getting money from the companies so it is entirely possible that the Companies Got what they were paying for and got information, they got access to someone who had accessory to the president on a regular basis. It is interesting, phil mudd, because the companies are saying the opposite. Novartis paid 1. 2 million for one meeting and they got to the meet and determined they werent getting or he didnt have Michael Cohen, the access they believed that he had so what publicly traded company pays 1. 2 million for a meeting, one meeting that gets them nowhere . I hate to tell you this, but i dont i dont think that is uncommon in washington, d. C. We have someone unknown in washington political circles an that is donald trump. Cant go to k. Street, the center of lobbying in d. C. , 18 months ago and say who will help us get access to the president and who is credible and who has a track record so these companies are going to have to go to people who dont have a track record. I think paying for less than what you get in my judgment is common in lobbying circles but that other angle, paying for access to somebody who who the standard channels cant get you access to might have Led Companies to waste a lot of money and i think the bottom line is the people i dont think they did anything illegal, just really embarrassed. And you saw that, jeffrey toobin, at t forced out their lobbyist after this was exposed. They did. But what is so interesting about the controversy, it illustrates michael kinsleys law. A great journalist, one of my mentors who said the scandal isnt what is illegal, the scandal is what is legal. The scandal is what society chooses not to punish. And at t was embarrassed because this laid bare just how shabby the business of access peddling, of is, but as Randall Stevenson said in his letter, and i think he was correct, there was nothing illegal about what they did. Its just that when the light shines on this, it does embarrass these companies and everyone involved and at least that is a good thing. Jeffrey toobin and phil mudd, thank you very much. Scott pruitts list of possible ethics violations and alleged scandals keeps getting longer and now questions about a dinner that he had while visiting the vatican. When i received the diagnoses, i knew at that exact moment. Im beating this. My main focus was to find a team of doctors. Its not just picking a surgeon, its picking the care team and feeling secure in where you are. Visit cancercenter. Com breast a cockroach can survive submergede guy. Underwater for 30 minutes. Wow. Yeah, wow. Not getting in today. Not on my watch. Pests never stop trying to get in. 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Graduation rates soared. Antonio for governor. Mixed messages from the white house about other problem. The cabinet level chief with nine lives. The president saying he has confidence in scott pruitt while his white house said theyre tl are some concerns. Pruitt is back in the news for all of the wrong reasons today after the New York Times obtained documents about a dinner that he had with a Catholic Cardinal accused of child sexual abuse. Sarah gannon reports. Reporter documents uncovered by the New York Times reveal epa administrator scott pruitt dined with a controversial vatican figure, along with over a dozen other Church Leaders at a fivestar restaurant during his trip to italy last year, even though his public schedule said he was simply having a private dinner with staff. Sometimes the very learned and can be brilliantly foolish. Reporter the guest of honor according to the document was a known climate denier, Cardinal George pell. Are there any longterm benefits from the schemes to combat global warming, path to extra effort and income for those with the extreme. Reporter and bell is the highest Ranking Member of the Catholic Church to be charged with child sexual abuse. Decades of allegations are now going to court in australia where pell was an archbishop. He has pled not guilty and while the dinner took place before he was charged, he was under investigation when he dined with pruitt. The epa wont say who paid for the dinner, costing up to 240 per plate. Or why pell was kept off the public schedule n. A statement to cnn, the agency said on june 9th, 2017, administrator pruitt had dinner with over a dozen leaders from the holy sea and on june 29th, 2017, Cardinal Pell was charged. But the documents specifically said that the dinner was with pell even noting it would take place a day before the cardinals birthday. This tri this trip is under scrutiny by 120,000 and his justification. It was a g7 trip a week after the paris decision jim, the epa claims that scott pruitt didnt know the cardinal was coming to the dinner. However that does seem to be contradicted by the may schedule where he is the only named vatican participant and clearly states dinner with Cardinal Pell and even mentions the following day is his birthday. There is a paper trail. Sarah gannon, thanks very much. Be sure to tune in tont for a special report investigating the controversy epa chief scott pruitt tonight here on cnn in the 9 00 hour. Phone is ringing and it looks like a number you know, but, wait, is it a telemarketer . And is anyone trying to stop those pesky robocalls . Well have more. Almost 800 when we switched our auto and home insurance. With liberty, we could afford a real babysitter instead of your brother. Hey oh, thats my robe. Is it . When you switch to liberty mutual, you could save 782 on auto and home insurance. And still get great coverage for you and your family. 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The caller adrianne abramovich denies he is the king pin of robo calling and says his work is legit, offering vacation deals an the democrat on the fcc saying more needs to be done, there were 3. 4 billion robocalls last month and it is not enough when we are drowning in nuisance calls. Be sure to tune in this sunday morning for state of the union. John bolton and senator Bernie Sanders will join jake tapper at 9 00 a. M. Eastern and 12 00 p. M. Eastern here on cnn. That is it for the lead. Im jim sciutto in for jake tapper and i turn you over to wolf blitzer in the situation room. Happening now, breaking news, embarrassed and distracted. White house chief of staff john kelly walks back his comment that the president is embarrassed by the russia probe and now saying the president is distracted but hes not walking back his latest comments on immigrants. Auditing mueller. Critics of the special counsel launch a new attack on the russia investigation. Will the threat to audit Robert Mueller team help a republican congressman get his hands on a secret memo. Big mistake. The head of Communications Giant at t a