Divulged

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1702/14/cg.02.html

CNN

TRANSCRIPTS

THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER

California Flooding; Flynn Resignation; Interview With Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar. Aired 4:30-5p ET

Aired February 14, 2017 - 4:30 ET


PSAKI: You know, I think that, right now in this media age, and the responsibility of a communication director or press secretary is to be as transparent with the public as you can possibly be, and see around the corner where you might have some enormous problems down the road.

And I think any professional who has been working as a communications official in any capacity knows that, in a case like this, you're going to be caught. And why wait weeks, and why be out there lying about it, whether you knew enough or you didn't know enough?

When the press secretary's credibility is hurt, the credibility of the president is hurt. The credibility of the country is hurt. And I don't think that connection is really being made right now in the White House.

CUPP: But, Jake, can I just add I think the other thing here, the underlying thing here is that the Trump White House wanted to see first if Flynn had done anything illegal.

They were interested more in issues of legality than whether this was going to be a big problem for the White House, a problem that Michael Flynn was speaking out of turn, a problem that Michael Flynn wasn't familiar with, say, the Logan Act, the problem with Michael Flynn lying potentially to Mike Pence.

They were waiting to see if he did anything illegal. So, that really -- that stall tactic, I think, just made things much, much worse.

TAPPER: And, Maeve, you and I were talking about this. Amazing that somebody with the years of service to his country and the information about how intelligence operates in this country, that he didn't -- it didn't even occur to him apparently that U.S. spies might be spying on the phone of the Russian ambassador to the U.S.

RESTON: That's just another completely stunning thing. You would just assume that he would know that those conversations were being monitored and that he should be extremely careful about what he said.

And that's all the more reason why we need to see the transcripts of the call and what exactly was said at that time.



- posted by H.V.O.M - Kerry Wayne Burgess 12:40 PM Pacific Time Spokane Valley Washington USA Wednesday 15 February 2017