CAMEROTA: Because we actually have Anthony Scaramucci on the phone. CUOMO: Right so let’s get him. White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci joins us this morning. Anthony Scaramucci can you hear us? ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, WHITE…
CAMEROTA: Because we actually have Anthony Scaramucci on the phone.
CUOMO: Right so let’s get him. White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci joins us this morning. Anthony Scaramucci can you hear us?
ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Yeah so when I was speaking to you last night Ryan I said it was unpatriotic that you weren’ t telling me who the leakers were. I was on a plane landing in New York I have to go visit my mom. And so you may have caught it the wrong way.
I was teasing you and it was sarcastic. It was one Italian to another, it wasn’ t me trying to get you to say, if you could give me some sense of who they are because I have a responsibility to the President of the United States–
CUOMO: Anthony?
SCARAMUCCI: When you said you didn’ t I totally respect your journalism and your integrity. Chris I don’ t know–
CUOMO: Hold on Anthony I just want to make sure, I don’ t know if Ryan could hear you.
LIZZA: I can.
SCARAMUCCI: Good.
CUOMO: But just in case, it did go out over the air so he heard what you meant when you were talking to him about being unpatriotic. Let’s just reset us at zero here. What’s going on here from your perspective?
SCARAMUCCI: I want to reset at zero. But I also want you to know, I just spent about 15 minutes on the phone talking with the President of the United States who has given me his full support and his full blessing. And I’ m going to read you something Chris and you’ ll bear with me. And the president also told me, if you’ re nice to me in this segment, he’ ll let me come back on the show. Is that cool?
So why don’ t you let me talk for a little bit and then you can ask me questions. But this is super, super important to the country. Now whether you agree with the president or you disagree with the president, you have to love the institution of the presidency. You have to love the office and you have to love our country.
And what is going on right now I’ ve done a major amount of work over the last five days. I’ ve interviewed most of the assistants to the president. I’ ve interviewed most of the people on the Communications Team in the White House. And what the president and I would like to tell everybody we have a very, very good idea of who the leakers are, who the senior leakers are in the White House. We’ ll get to that in a second.
What I also want to say is that we are working together, the president and myself and other members of his team and law enforcement to undercut and undercover or out if you will the leakers in the entire country. As the president would say in his own words, the White House leakers are small potatoes. I’ ll talk to you about a few leaks that happened last night that I find reprehensible.
But the White House leaks are small potatoes relative to things that are going on relative to things that are going on with leaking things about Syria or North Korea, or leaking things about Iraq. Those are the types of leaks that are so treasonous that 150 years ago people would have actually been hung for those types of leaks.
So the president brought me in. He knows I’ m his friend first Chris. You’ re from New York, I’ m from New York, the president is from New York, we had dinner last night. I sat next to the First Lady. I love the president. I said that. I know the press wants to ridicule me for saying it six times from the podium. But we started out as friends. I am not a politician. I’ m an American businessman, an entrepreneur who has built two businesses and I try to play it straight with people.
The president is trying to play it straight with people which is why he has 140 or 125 (PH) social media followers because they want to hear it straight from the president. And I said to the president this morning, I can’ t afford to be a sycophant to you sir. I have to talk to you straight as a friend so I can help you with this problem.
And so what I want to say to you is I understand the law. I know that there was a public disclosure mechanism in my financial forms. What I’ m upset about is the process and the junk pool, the dirty pool Chris in terms of the way this stuff is being done. And the leaking won’ t stop.
I can’ t have a couple of friends up from “Fox & Friends” and Sean Hannity who’s one of my closest friends, dinner with the president and his First Lady without it being leaked in seven minutes. It’s absolutely, completely and totally reprehensible.
And the, as you know, from the Italian expression, the fish stinks from the head down. Well I can tell you two fish that don’ t stink OK? And that’s me and the president. I don’ t like the activity that’s going on in the White House. I don’ t like what they’ re doing to my friend. I don’ t like what they’ re doing to the President of the United States or their fellow colleagues in the West Wing.
If you want to talk about the Chief of Staff, we have been at odds, we have had differences. When I said we were brothers from the podium, that’s because we’ re rough on each other. Some brothers are like Cain and Able. Other brothers can fight with each other and get along.
I don’ t know if this is repairable or not, that will be up to the president. But he’s the Chief of Staff, he’s responsible for understanding and uncovering and helping me do that inside the White House which is why I put that tweet out last night.
When the journalists who actually know who the leakers are, like Ryan Lizza, they know the leakers. Jonathan Spain at Axio (PH) , these guys know who the leakers are. I respect them for not telling me because I understand and respect journalistic integrity. However, when I put out a tweet and I put Reince’s name in the tweet; they’ re all making the assumption that it’s him because journalists know who the leakers are. So if Reince wants to explain that he’s not a leaker let him do that.
Let me tell you something about myself. I am a straight shooter. I’ ll go right to the heart of the matter. OK so I’ m done talking. You can ask me questions. But be nice on this segment Chris because this is a very serious matter of interest to all of America.
CUOMO: Anthony look, I know when you say be nice you’ re in part joking. Because you know the job is to be fair. So let’s be fair in this situation, let’s get a sense of what’s going on–
SCARAMUCCI: I’ m saying again the way I said it to Ryan Lizza, unpatriotic, it’s that nuance Chris.
CUOMO: Absolutely.
SCARAMUCCI: It’s sometimes hard to pick it up on Twitter.
CUOMO: Ryan heard it. He accepts what you said.
SCARAMUCCI: Be fair, be fair Chris. And the truth of the matter is I’ m used to all different types of questions. I’ m used to meanness. It doesn’ t matter to me. I’ m here to play it straight for the American people and to protect my friend who’s President of the United States. Go ahead.
CUOMO: And understood. And Alyson and I have felt the bite of personal comments from power as well. But we still do the job and we do it the right way because that’s what matters more.
SCARAMUCCI: Go ahead.
CUOMO: So let’s do that right now instead of talking about doing it.
SCARAMUCCI: Go ahead.
CUOMO: These tweets seem to indicate a problem that didn’ t start today.
