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Clinton: Russia's Putin Can Be Trusted; Iran's New President: Yes, The Holocaust Happened; Ajami: Obama Checkmated By Iran; Army: No Tattoos Below Elbow Or Knee; Dr. Drew Shares Cancer Battle; What Obamacare Premiums Will Cost; High School Coach Suspends Football Team

Aired September 25, 2013 - 14:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: You should be brutally honest with people in private. And then if you want them to help you, try to avoid embarrassing them in public. Now, sometimes they do things which make it impossible for you to keep quiet. But by and large, all the people I dealt with appreciated it if I told them the truth -- how I honestly felt and what our interests were and what our objectives were and they appreciated when I didn't kick them around in public. That's my experience.

PIERS MORGAN, HOST, CNN'S "PIERS MORGAN LIVE": Did Putin every renege on a personal agreement he made to you?

CLINTON: No, he did not.

MORGAN: So behind closed doors, he could be trusted?

CLINTON: He kept his word in all of the deals we made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Clinton also talked about another leader making news, the president of Iran. Wait until you hear about what Clinton has said about Hassan Rouhani's ground breaking comments to CNN, specifically about the holocaust. I'll talk live to one analyst who is incredibly skeptical of Rouhani's recent offensive next.

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BALDWIN: In that sit-down interview with CNN's Piers Morgan, Bill Clinton talked about this groundbreaking comment from the Iranian president. A comment made specifically to us here at CNN. Three words, the holocaust happened. Here's what President Hassan Rouhani told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in this exclusive interview.

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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: One of the things your predecessor used to do from this very platform was deny the holocaust and pretend that it was a myth. I want to know, you, your position on the holocaust. Do you accept what it was and what was it?

PRESIDENT HASSAN ROUHANI, IRAN (through translator): I've said before that I am not a historian and that when it comes to speaking of the dimensions of the holocaust, it is the historians that should reflect on it. But in general, I can tell you that any crime that happens in history against humanity, including the crime the Nazis committed towards the Jews as well as non-Jews is reprehensible and condemnable.

Whatever criminality they committed against the Jews we condemn. The taking of human life is contemptible. It makes no difference whether that life is a Jewish life, Christian, or Muslim. For us, it is the same. The taking of human life is something our religion rejects. This does not mean on the other hand you can say Nazis committed crimes against a group. Now therefore, they must usurp the land of another group and occupy it. This, too, is an act that should be condemned. There should be an even handed discussion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: For 70 years, the world watched in disbelief as Iran continued to deny it, refuting the slaughter of millions of Jews, calling it, quote, "legend." But now, you just heard it, this explosive admission, and hours later, as I mentioned, Bill Clinton weighed in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MORGAN: President Obama has to at the moment trust three people who, as they would say in downtown abbey, you wouldn't necessarily trust with the family silver, President Assad, Vladimir Putin, and President Rouhani. Let's start with Iran because that's always a big talking point at the CGI.

Christiane Amanpour for CNN yesterday interviewed President Rouhani and he compared to the interview I did with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last year, struck a much more conciliatory tone, particularly in the fact that he basically admitted there had been a holocaust, which was certainly nothing that Ahmadinejad ever admit to.

What did you make of that? How important is that kind of concession, and do you see a real shift there in the relationship with America? How much do you trust him?

CLINTON: Well, first of all, I think it is interesting commentary on the world in which we're living that admitting that the holocaust occurred qualifies as being a moderate.

MORGAN: Right.

CLINTON: I mean, in other words, if you get into the fact-based world, there's something to it. At least we can have something to talk about. I was hoping, and I think the president was, that the opening of the U.N. would give them a chance to, you know, maybe even do more.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BALDWIN: Want to talk about this development and about Iran's new president with Fouad Ajami, senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. He joins me now. Fouad Ajami, it is a pleasure. Welcome.

Just yesterday, Israel said they wouldn't even listen to Rouhani's speech at the United Nations until he at least acknowledged the holocaust happened. As we saw with the interview with Christiane, he did that. You have been incredibly skeptical of Rouhani, his motives, his new outreach. Does this change your mind?

FOUAD AJAMI, SENIOR FELLOW, STANFORD UNIVERSITY'S HOOVER INSTITUTION: No, Brooke, it doesn't really because if you look at it and if you listen to the man, what you see the -- it's a kind of -- I think it was Prime Minister Netanyahu who said that Rouhani in many ways is a wolf in sheep's clothing. And even the big concession on the holocaust is prefaced by saying he's not a historian. It's up to historians to determine whether the holocaust took place or not.

So I think we have to be skeptical of this man and I think he's preceded by a very good PR effort. Here's one thing that we can quote from him on Israel, which I think qualifies his remarks about the holocaust. A couple months ago, he said this regime had been a wound on the body of the Islamic world for years and the wound should be removed. In a way, I think the message from Iran is perhaps the same, but it's packaged differently.

BALDWIN: So you're saying just so I'm clear, that with the qualifiers and putting it on historians, he didn't really answer the question.

AJAMI: He didn't really answer the question. Exactly right.

BALDWIN: I read your "Bloomberg" article from yesterday, and you referred to the U.S. moves on Syria saying Iran is watching the moves closely, likening this to a chess board. On the diplomatic chess board and before the big crowd that has gathered to watch the protagonists in a standoff with high stakes, it's easy to see the American player being decisively outclassed. How might the Obama administration's stalling on Syria impact Iran, impact Rouhani's strategy, on his own nuclear assets?

AJAMI: Well, you know, Brooke, in fact, President Obama came to this encounter, came to this chess game, if you will, with the Iranians and with Rouhani and the foreign minister, he came weakened by the way he handled Syria. I think the Iranians watched him in Syria. We had a proxy war in Syria on one side, the opposition forces, the rebellion, and supposedly with the democracies behind them.

On one side, the Bashar Al-Assad regime and I think the Iranians have won this contest. And so we come now, and we want to negotiate with Iran when we have seen a weak hand over Syria. Then you listen to Rouhani, and this is really what makes me skeptical of this man, fundamentally skeptical of him.

In his "Washington Post" article that he wrote, Rouhani says he describes Syria as a civilization jewel and he laments and shed crocodile tears over what's happening to Syria. And who is causing the mayhem in Syria? The allies of Iran, Bashar Al-Assad, the Revolutionary Guard of Iran, and the Hezbollah forces will answer to Iran.

BALDWIN: Fouad Ajami, thank you. Come back.

AJAMI: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up, the Army getting ready to ban certain tattoos in certain places. Is this OK? Should this be allowed and won't it hurt recruitment? We'll discuss that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Now to tattoos in the military, the connection obvious. Take a look at this article from the Army's own website that talks about, quote, "the military's love affair with tattoos." With one sergeant guessing about 90 percent of soldiers have one. That article we found was from 2009. Now, the Army is about to, well, not to end this affair, per se, but definitely get in the way.

Sergeant Major Raymond Chandler in "Stars and Stripes," his article, quote, "When a soldier gets a tattoo that contains a curse word on the side of his neck, I question, why there? Are you trying to stand out? Chandler said. He said the army wants soldiers to stand out but because of their achievements, not because of the way they look.

Let's talk about this, Darren Kavinoky and Faith Jenkins joining me, two attorneys. So faith, first to you, what if a soldier has a special tattoo and he or she says no and takes this to court? Is there a fight there?

FAITH JENKINS, ATTORNEY: Not really. The Army has always had a policy that governed the appearance of its soldiers whether it's tattoos or piercings or even haircuts. They do that because they want soldiers to look in a very professional manner and they want to sort of control the uniformity you present as a soldier whether you're on or off duty as an active member.

So that's what they are saying as long as those standards are reasonable, they can do that, and they are allowed to do that. Soldiers understand that when they sign up for the military, there are certain restrictions placed on them by virtue of their service in the military and not as a civilian.

BALDWIN: You want to jump in?

DARREN KAVINOKY, ATTORNEY: Yes, I do want to jump in because certainly there needs to be uniformity, but the standards have been elastic based on recruitment needs. And that's the fundamental problem that I have where it may be tougher in terms of a standard. At one point, when they need more soldiers, they'll relax it. Also, this policy is going to allow for the grandfathering in of tattoos that are done before the policy kicks in.

BALDWIN: I read that. KAVINOKY: May be rushing in to get it done now.

BALDWIN: It's sort of unclear as well because they'll still be going on a case by case policy. If they decide it's to be removed, it's also up to the soldier to do the removing.

KAVINOKY: That's right. They've got to pay although there could be a test case to try and get the Army. If you're changing up the policy on me, you may have to pay for that removal. I think there's a good argument there.

BALDWIN: OK, Faith and Darren, thank you both very much. We'll see you guys next hour talking something else. Now to this --

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DR. DREW PINSKY, HOST, HLN'S "DR. DREW ON CALL": Men are hard-headed, even those of us who are physicians. Thank God my wife forced me to get a physical.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Do you hear about this today, Dr. Drew revealing his battle with cancer? You will hear what the doctors hold him and his prognosis in his own words.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: After being diagnosed with prostate cancer, HLN's Dr. Drew Pinsky had surgery just in July, and now I'm happy to report, he's cancer free. He actually talked about his recovery this morning with CNN "NEW DAY" anchor, Kate Bolduan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PINSKY: Men are hard headed, even those of us who are physicians. Thank God my wife that forced me to get a physical. It was during that physical and routine screening. That the PSA, which is a screening blood test that men over 50 should get for prostate cancer was found to be a little bit elevated. One thing led to another. It was the intuition and judgment of my physician I need a biopsy. Lo and behold, cancer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Dr. Drew encourages men to get screened for early detection because he's living proof it can be a life saver.

All right, got a calculator handy? We are getting a look at what it will cost to buy health insurance through the federal exchanges set up under Obamacare. The national average according to the Obama administration, here we go, in just terms of dollars and cents here, $328 a month. This is before government subsidies. That is 16 percent less than government analysts expected.

So to help us understand all this, "Yahoo! Finance" columnist, Rick Newman is here to help us sort through the maze of plans and numbers. So Rick Newman, you have these different, different levels of coverage. You have bronze, silver, gold, platinum, what does that mean for someone shopping for an insurance plan?

RICK NEWMAN, COLUMNIST, "YAHOO! FINANCE": I think a month from now, a lot of people might be hearing about that $328 a month number and wondering, why the heck doesn't that apply to me? What's really going on is there are so many different variables. This varies by state, sometimes by city. It depends on your income, depends on how many family members you want to insure and other factors.

These premiums are going to be all over the map. It's going to be a mixed mag. Even now, we have the government saying, we finally have some data to tell you how much this is going to cost. You might think this would simplify things. It's almost doing the opposite because there are a lot of interest groups who were saying they're not including this. They are not including that.

So a lot of interest groups are now coming out with their own estimates, which in most cases are quite higher than what the government is saying. So it's really hard to generalize. At this point, figure out what's going to cost you. You really need to just go to the exchange once they're online beginning October 1st and figure it out for yourself.

BALDWIN: So you talk about the specific number. You know, who knows ultimately what one family may be paying, but you hear about government subsidies, you know, helping pay for these premiums. Will most people get help?

NEWMAN: You know, I think you can generalize in a couple ways. If you qualify for subsidies and that mainly applies with people with incomes up to 400 percent of the poverty line and everybody can look this up. It's online what the poverty line is. I think that will turn out to be a pretty good deal for you, especially if you couldn't get insurance, if your employer doesn't offer it or can't get affordable insurance any other way.

I think the crunch is going to come for people who are just above that threshold, the 400 percent of the poverty line. They're going to get no subsidies. They might find out that this is actually quite expensive and it would especially hurt people if their companies say -- I think this might be medium-sized companies.

You know, just over the 50-person limit, for instance, where they say we think it's a better deal for everybody if we stop offering insurance and you get it on the exchange. So I think we're going to hear some success stories once this goes and replaced. I think there will be lots of anecdotal stories of people ending off worse off as well.

BALDWIN: OK, and again, exchanges everything goes online Tuesday. Rick Newman, thank you. I'm sure we'll be chatting again once this thing begins. Thank you.

Coming up next, a high school football coach suspends his entire football team. Hear the reason and why tonight they will learn whether they're back on the field or not.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Keeping a spot on the football team at one Utah high school is not just about getting touchdowns but showing good character. This is what the players here, all 80 of them, of Union High in Roosevelt are learning after the coach suspended the whole team. Why? Bad behavior according to our Salt Lake City affiliate KSL.

So what did the head coach do? His name, Matt Labrum, he took the jerseys of every single one of those 80 players who must now do off field services to get back on the team. Tonight, each player finds out if he earned his black and gold jersey back.

Joe Carter from our "Bleacher Report" joins me now. Eighty kids, I'm thinking if I'm one of the good kids, I'm irked because I had nothing to do with this, but you take one for the team.

JOE CARTER, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, in high school football, they preach, you win as a team and you lose as a team. I think in this instance, there are a few bad apples, but they all go together. The coach has them doing a number of things this week. He made the decision on Friday after the game that he was going to pull the jerseys of all of the varsity as well as JV players and he was going to cancel practice this week.

They were going to do community service, pull weeds, wash windows, and work at a retirement home for two days. They are also going to do mandatory character building class as well as a study hall session, every one of the kids together, all 80 of them, and they also had to do an individual service project at their home for their parents. They had to do the project, write a report on the project, take photos, and then have their parents sign off on the project.

In addition to all that, they also have to come today prepared to recite. They had to memorize and recite a quote about good character. What the value is of good character. It says, good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are, to some extent, a gift. Good character by contrast is not given to us. We have to build it, piece by piece, by thought, by choice, courage, and determination. And here's Coach Matt Labrum on why he decided to make this decision.

BALDWIN: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT LABRUM, UNION HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL COACH: Just felt like everything was -- was going in a direction that we didn't want our young men going, so we felt like we needed to make a stand. I think it's going to bring our team closer. I think we're going to be more accountable, not only for ourselves but for our buddy next to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARTER: I think the example here is that you are not privileged when you play football. It is a privilege to play football. He's teaching them all that right now.

BALDWIN: I appreciate that coach. We'll see. We're talking to the athletic director next hour.

CARTER: Refreshing to hear that, right?

BALDWIN: It is. Joe Carter, thank you very much.

And we will be right back. Coming up next, brand new video released of the gunman preparing to go on his rampage a week ago last Monday at the Navy Yard in Washington. We'll break it down for you and show it to you in 60 seconds.

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