You have to hear the opening 5 minutes of this 30 min interview .... and then listen to the last 5 minutes too.
IMO Amanpour thought was gonna get a scoop...but NO.
April 24, 2019
Christiane Amanpour speaks with Dimitri Simes in an exclusive interview
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/april-24-2019-5k7vo8/
> WELCOME TO THE PROGRAM EVERYONE.
PRESIDENT TRUMP SAYS HE WILL FIGHT CONGRESSAL SUBPOENAS TO HAVE TESTIFY ON THE HILL AS HOUSE DEMOCRATS PLEDGE TO CARRY THE MANTLE.
POLITICIANS AND LAWYERS AND INVESTIGATORS ARE STILL ALL PICKING OVER THIS REPORT, AND TODAY WE HAVE THE RARE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK WITH A MAN WHO'S INTERACTIONS WITH DONALD TRUMP'S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN EARNED HIM A SPOT IN THAT TWO VOLUME.
Dimitri Simes.
MONTHS BEFORE THE ELECTION, CANDIDATE TRUMP GAVE HIS FIRST MAJOR FOREIGN POLICY ADDRESS AT AN EVENT AFFILIATED WITH SIMES'S THINK TANK.
IT WAS AT THAT EVENT THAT SIMES MET JARED KUSHNER AND TOLD HIM WE LIKE WHAT YOUR CANDIDATE IS SAYING.
IT'S ONE OF MANY INTERACTIONS BETWEEN SIGNS AND THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN.
I'M JOINED BY DIMITRI SIMES.
WE WERE NOT A FOCUS OF THE INVESTIGATION.
NO, I DID NOT MEET MR. MUELLER PERSONALLY.
I MET ONE OF HIS DEPUTIES AND SEVERAL ATTORNEYS AND FBI AGENTS WHO ASSIST HIM.
AND HOW EXTENSIVE WAS THE INTERVIEW?
HOW MANY TIMES DID YOU SIT WITH THEM OR FOR HOW LONG?
HOW MUCH DID -- WE KNOW FROM THE REPORT THAT THEY ASKED YOU LOADS OF QUESTIONS.
BUT HOW LONG DID IT TAKE?
WELL, I WOULD RATHER NOT DISCUSS SPECIFICS BECAUSE OUR UNDERSTANDING WAS THAT NEITHER SIDE WOULD GO INTO ANY DETAILS.
AND I DO UNDERSTAND THAT THE INVESTIGATION IS OVER BUT I UNDERSTAND THERE WILL BE OTHER INVESTIGATIONS FOCUSING ON OTHERS.
WE HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO REASON TO THINK THERE WILL BE ADDITIONAL INTEREST IN US.
BUT ALL I CAN TELL YOU IS THAT I THOUGHT THE INTERVIEWS WERE EXTENSIVE, DELIBERATE, CONDUCTED IN AN APPROPRIATELY TOUGH MANNER, BUT VERY PROFESSIONAL.
SO, LET'S GO THROUGH SORT OF BIT BY BIT SOME OF THE MAIN BUILDING BLOCKS.
YOU OBVIOUSLY HAD CONTACTS WITH JARED KUSHNER AND YOU CREATED A RELATIONSHIP OF SORTS ARE HIM.
....
WELL, LET ME SAY FIRST, YOU DESCRIBE ME AT THE BEGINNING AS A RUSSIA-AMERICAN.
WELL, I WAS BORN IN RUSSIA.
I AM AN AMERICAN CITIZEN SINCE 1980.
AND I THINK THAT BY FAR THE GREATER PART OF MY LIFE, PRACTICALLY ALL MY CAREER, TOOK PART IN THE UNITED STATES.
AND YOU KNOW WHAT?
I THINK I'M ENTITLED TO BE CALLED AN AMERICAN WHO WAS BORN IN RUSSIA.
AND THAT'S EXACTLY HOW I FEEL.
WHEN I APPEAR ON RUSSIAN TV, THAT'S HOW I POSITION MYSELF AND HOW I AM INTRODUCED.
POINT NUMBER ONE.
POINT NUMBER TWO, IF YOU WOULD LOOK AT THE MUELLER REPORT, YOU WOULD KNOW THAT WE HELPED ARRANGE A COUPLE OF DINNERS WITH A NUMBER OF LEADING FOREIGN POLICY EXPERTS.
THERE WERE CHAIRS KIND OF PRESIDED BY SENATOR SESSIONS WHO LATE OF COURSE BECAME ATTORNEY GENERAL SESSIONS.
FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF THE DINNERS WHERE WE'RE PROVIDED OUR INPUT TO THE CAMPAIGN, FIRST, EVERYONE WHO ATTENDED THE DINNERS WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ME, WAS A FORMER SENIOR OFFICIAL OR AT LEAST A THREE OR FOUR-STAR GENERAL.
THE DINNERS INCLUDED FORMER DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE.
SECOND, SOME OF PEOPLE WHO TOOK PART IN THE DINNER ACTUALLY WERE NOT TRUMP SUPPORTERS AT ALL.
THEY ENDED UP BEING HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTERS.
BUT WE INVITED THEM TO TAKE PART WITH A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING THAT WE WOULD NOT BE CALLED ADVISERS TO CAMPAIGN, THAT PEOPLE WHO TAKE PART IN THIS WOULD NOT DESCRIBE THEMSELVES AS ADVISERS TO THE CAMPAIGN BUT WOULD EDUCATE THE CAMPAIGN.
ONE FINAL POINT.
YOU ASKED ME WHY WOULDN'T YOU DO IT FOR HILLARY CLINTON?
WE INVITED HILLARY CLINTON ON A VERY SENIOR LEVEL.
UNFORTUNATELY SHE COULD NOT DO IT.
BUT A MONTH LATER, WE HAD TIM KAINE WHO CAME OF COURSE HILLARY CLINTON'S RUNNING MATE, NOT JUST SPEAKING AT THE CENTER, BEING HONORED AT THE CENTER, DELIVERING THE FOREIGN POLICY SPEECH.
AND BEFORE THAT, HE SPOKE TWICE AT THE CENTER.
SO, WE GENUINELY WERE NONPARTISAN.
OKAY.
YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY I'VE BEEN READING THINGS HERE TO YOU THAT POINT OUT THAT THE CENTER DID ADVISE THE CAMPAIGN, AND YOU ALSO OBVIOUSLY ARRANGED, FOR INSTANCE, THAT THAT SPEECH INTRODUCED DONALD TRUMP TO THE -- TO KISLYAK.
I DO ACTUALLY, TO YOUR POINTS RIGHT NOW, WANT TO ASK YOU THEN WHY -- I ASSUME HAVING BEEN ASKED A LOT BY THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN, YOU SEEM TO HAVE SAID TO JARED KUSHNER THAT CERTAIN, TWO CLOSE CONTACTS WOULD BE BAD OPTICS.
...
WELL, FIRST OF ALL, I THINK THAT SPECIAL COUNSEL HAS DESCRIBED VERY FAIRLY MY INPUT TO THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND MY SUGGESTION THAT THEY SHOULD NOT HAVE ANY SECRET CONTACTS WITH THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT AND THEY SHOULD BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL ABOUT ANY CONTACTS WITH RUSSIA DURING THE CAMPAIGN.
I, MYSELF, WAS NOT A SINGLE TIME IN RUSSIA SINCE TRUMP BECAME A CANDIDATE UNTIL 2017 WHEN HE ALREADY WAS PRESIDENT.
MY VIEW WAS THAT WHAT TRUMP SAID ABOUT A POSSIBILITY OF A BETTER RELATIONSHIP WITH RUSSIA FROM THE POSITION OF STRENGTH THAT IT WAS APPROPRIATE.
I DID NOT THINK THAT HE WAS ALWAYS DESCRIBING THE REASONS FOR THIS INTEREST IN THE BETTER RELATIONSHIP APPROPRIATELY.
WHEN HE TALKED ABOUT PRAISING PUTIN, I STARTED TOWARDS NOT WHAT THE U.S. INTEREST WAS ABOUT.
THE INTEREST WAS ABOUT HAVING A RELATIONSHIP WITH ANOTHER GREAT NUCLEAR POWER WHICH WOULD ALLOW THE UNITED STATES TO HAVE A NORMAL DIALOGUE.
AND INCIDENTALLY TO THE EXTENT OF INPUT, I SUGGESTED THAT RUSSIA SHOULD BE DESCRIBED MORE AS AN ADVERSARY, THAT WE SHOULD FOCUS ON CONTINUATION OF AMERICAN ALLIANCES MADE IN EUROPE AND U.S. ALLIANCES IN ASIA.
SO, WHILE I THOUGHT WHAT TRUMP WAS SAYING IN MANY RESPECTS WAS REFRESHING AND CONSTRUCTIVE, BUT I CERTAINLY DID NOT AGREE ENTIRELY WITH HIS APPROACH, IN PARTICULAR WITH HIS RHETORIC.
GIVEN THE WAY EVERYTHING HAS UNFOLDED OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS SINCE DONALD TRUMP HAS BECOME PRESIDENT, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUALMS OR QUESTIONS -- AND I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT RUSSIA BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT RUSSIA INTERFERED IN THE ELECTION.
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUALMS ABOUT THAT?
DO YOU THINK IT WAS THE RIGHT STRATEGY THAT RUSSIA SOUGHT TO HELP PRESIDENT TRUMP IN THIS ELECTION?
I'M GLAD THAT YOU HAVE ASKED ME.
I WAS ON RUSSIAN TV THIS MORNING AND I REMINDED THEM AGAIN ABOUT THEIR INTERFERENCE IN U.S.
ELECTIONS AND ABOUT THE COST OF THIS INTERFERENCE.
I SAID MANY TIMES ON THE RUSSIAN TV WHEN I WAS INVITED TO BE THERE THAT I THINK THE RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE WAS SERIOUS, REAL, AND CAME AT A CONSIDERABLE COST.
I THINK THAT THE WAY THIS INTERFERENCE IS DESCRIBED IN THE SPECIAL COUNSEL REPORT IS, AGAIN, OBJECTIVE AND WELL DOCUMENTED.
WHAT IS IN DISPUTE IS WHY THEY WERE DOING IT.
AND THE SPECIAL COUNSEL DESERVES CREDIT FOR SAYING THAT THE RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE CORRUPTION STARTED NOT IN 2016, NOT EVEN IN 2015, BUT IN 2014 WHEN RUSSIA CERTAINLY WAS NOT AWARE OF TRUMP RUNNING AND BECOMING PRESIDENT.
YOU COULD SEE FROM INTERACTIONS WITH TRUMP, WITH HIS BUSINESS ORGANIZATION, THEY WERE NOT DOING TRUMP ANY FAVORS UNTIL THE VERY LAST MOMENT THE ASSUMPTION IN MOSCOW WAS THAT HILLARY CLINTON WAS VERY LIKELY TO WIN.
SO, WHY WERE THE RUSSIANS INTERFERING?
I CANNOT QUOTE YOU A PARTICULAR DOCUMENT WHICH I CAN CITE AS A KIND OF EXPLAINING ALL OF THIS COMING FROM THE RUSSIAN SIDE.
BUT I HAD NUMEROUS CONVERSATIONS IN MOSCOW.
AND I THINK THAT THESE CONVERSATIONS, THE IMPRESSION WHICH I GOT, IS WIDELY SHARED BY THE U.S. INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.
IMPRESSION NUMBER ONE.
THE RUSSIANS WANTED TO RESPOND TO WHAT THEY THOUGHT, AMERICAN INTERFERENCE IN THEIR ELECTIONS AND U.S. ROLE IN UKRAINE IN 2013.
THEY THOUGHT IT WAS A PAY BACK TIME AND THEY WERE DOING IN THEIR OWN CLANDESTINE AND NOT VERY EFFECTIVE METHOD.
SECOND, THEY REALLY DESPISED HILLARY CLINTON.
THEY WERE NOT SO MUCH THINKING ABOUT HELPING TRUMP.
BUT THEY WANTED TO DO SOMETHING TO THE HILLARY CAMPAIGN TO BE AGAINST HER TO SHOW SHE WAS PARTICULARLY HOSTILE TO THEM.
THAT WAS PART OF THEIR MOTIVATION.
SO, I'VE GOT ONE LAST QUESTION THAT I NEED TO ASK YOU ON THAT BECAUSE CLEARLY WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE ALLEGATIONS THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WAS SEEKING DIRT ON THE HILLARY CLINTON CAMPAIGN.
IN THIS BIG VOLUME ONE ON THE RUSSIAN COLLUSION INVESTIGATION, IT SAYS IN THE REPORT THAT YOU OFFERED KUSHNER DETAILS OF, QUOTE, HIGHLY QUESTIONABLE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN BILL CLINTON AND THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT.
BUT IN HERE, IT'S REDACTED.
SO, YOU WANT TO ENLIGHTEN US?
WELL, WHAT IS NOT REDACTED OF COURSE IS WHERE I GOT THIS INFORMATION.
CLEARLY, THE SPECIAL COUNSEL WHEN THEY SAID THAT WE WERE NOT DELIVERING ANY AND I WAS NOT DELIVERING ANY MESSAGES FOR MOSCOW, THEY MADE VERY CLEAR THEY DID NOT THINK THAT I GOT ANY INFORMATION FROM THE RUSSIANS WHICH RELATE TO THE CAMPAIGN.
AND IN THIS PARTICULAR INSTANCE, IN THAT PARAGRAPH, THEY MENTIONED WHO I ACKNOWLEDGED WAS MY SOURCE WHERE I MENTIONED FORMER VERY SENIOR INTELLIGENCE OFFICIAL WHO BEFORE THAT WAS SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY COUNSEL OFFICIAL.
IT SO HAPPENS THAT THIS OFFICIAL WHICH HAS JUST DONE AN EXTENSIVE INTERVIEW THE 'EXAMINER' IT COMPLETELY CONFIRMED HE WAS MY SOURCE, THAT HE WAS THE ONE WHO BROUGHT THE SITUATION TO MY ATTENTION.
IT HAD NOTHING WHATSOEVER TO DO WITH RUSSIA.
ALL RIGHT.
TALKING TO SOMEBODY WHO WAS A MEMBER OF THE U.S. INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE.
ALL RIGHT.
IT'S BEEN REALLY INTERESTING TALKING TO YOU.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR JOINING US TONIGHT.
THANK YOU.
THANK YOU.
> NOW WE TURN TO ONE OF THE RISING DEMOCRATIC STARS.
: C-0-L-L-U-S-I-O-N
