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At This Hour

Obama, Hagel Announce Hagel's Resignation; Who Will Be the Next Defense Secretary?

Aired November 24, 2014 - 11:00   ET

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

ANNOUCNER: This is CNN breaking news.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: I want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting from Washington. We're following breaking news out of Washington right now. A key member of the president's administration is stepping down. We're talking about Chuck Hagel. He's leaving his post as the defense secretary of the United States., sources telling CNN Hagel is being pushed out after less than two years on the job. The White House is insisting the decision is mutual.

We're covering the story from all angles. Our Barbara Starr has the latest information from the Pentagon. Jim Acosta is joining us from the White House. Our chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, is joining us. He's in Vienna, Austria, right now, covering these U.S./Iranian nuclear talks. We're standing by for our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour.

Let's begin with you, Jim Sciutto, because you're working your sources over there. A lot of sensitivity, the president presumably will downplay this notion that Hagel is being forced out, pushed out. What are you hearing?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I'm hearing from defense officials that this was mutual. That's a consistent line. I know that others are hearing he was pushed out, and, to be frank, there had been talk of dissatisfaction from the White House with Secretary Hagel for some number of weeks.

Now, to be fair, that criticism does not only go in one direction. Fact is, in the halls of the Pentagon, you will hear frustration with the White House, with lack of strategic planning, with micromanagement, and that's, frankly, a criticism that I've heard, Wolf, outside of the Pentagon as well in other departments, the State Department, other wings of this government. It's a consistent frustration with this administration which we hear quietly and privately internally.

Keep in mind as well that Secretary Hagel when he came into this job he had a different remit. Remember, a little less, a little more than two years ago the focus was on withdrawing troops from Iraq, withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, shrinking the Pentagon budget in light of sequestration but also the president's priorities, and also continuing the rebalancing towards Asia, Secretary of State -- Secretary of Defense, rather, Chuck Hagel, a key proponent of that switch to Asia.

The world has changed very much in those last 18 months, returning to war in Iraq, an expanded mission in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of most of those troops, and for all the attention on Asia, getting dragged back into the Middle East, you can argue -- as some defense officials have been arguing to me today -- that this secretary of defense could have done a very good job with those old priorities but that the president has new priorities now these final two years and that that's the explanation behind this change.

BLITZER: We'll hear directly from the president within a few minutes. He'll be in the state dining room at the White House to make this announcement with Chuck Hagel at his side.

Peter King is joining us, the congressman from New York. He's a member of the House intelligence committee, the House homeland security committee.

With hindsight, Congressman, you say you're not surprised given all the stories that have been out there over these past few weeks of some differences between the defense secretary and the White House.

REP. PETER KING (R-NY), HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE (via telephone): I'm not saying I was pecking it, but I'm not surprised, because I've noticed really in the last several months just the public disagreements between the secretary of defense and the administration policies as far as Syria, as far as the use of ground troops, and also the differences between the top military officials and the administration.

I found that really very unusual that there would be a public disagreement like that between the Pentagon and the president, so it appeared to me that there was some tension, there was some friction, and so I can see why this is happening.

I'm saying as a Republican when Secretary Hagel was first nominated and went through the confirmation process, I think there was a lot of hard feeling toward him. One is because he endorsed President Obama but also just at his confirmation hearings did not do a very good job.

But I would say as secretary of defense, he has done what he's been asked to do, and he's tried to carry out the policies in the best way possible. And I hope the administration doesn't try and make Chuck Hagel a scapegoat here.

As I said earlier, when President Bush basically asked Don Rumsfeld to leave, there has been a breakdown in confidence towards Secretary Rumsfeld. Deserved or not, that was the reality. And also President bush wanted to change his policies dramatically in Iraq at that time.

I don't know. Does this mean the president is going to change his policy? If so, in what direction? Is he trying to find a policy?

So I find it very interesting that Secretary Hagel is leaving now and who the president is going to bring in. BLITZER: We'll soon find out who the president will be bringing in.

Congressman, if you could stick around I'd love to hear your thoughts. We're only a few moments away from the president about to make this announcement over at the state dining room inside the White House. We'll have live coverage coming up here on CNN.

I want to go to the White House. Our senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta is standing by.

Hagel, I don't know how close he was to the president, Jim. I know he was very close to the vice president. When he was a senator, Vice President Biden was a very close associate of then-senator Chuck Hagel. They were together on the Senate foreign relations committee all the time.

Even though Hagel was a Republican, Biden a Democrat, they traveled together, they worked together. This is going to be a disappointment, I suspect, to the vice president who is very close with Chuck Hagel.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf, and we are hearing Vice President Biden will be at this event that's going to be happening in just a few minutes over here at the White House.

We should mention this is going to be in the state dining room and it's going to be pooled press, in Washington parlance, which means you're not going to have a lot of reporters in there, shouting questions at the president or at Chuck Hagel.

But there will be a briefing this afternoon, and the White House press secretary will be asked ten ways to Sunday, Wolf, whether or not Chuck Hagel was forced out of this job.

And it is true that Chuck Hagel did endear himself to the president, did endear himself to this White House team when he was criticizing the war in Iraq under George W. Bush. This White House liked that in Chuck Hagel.

But when Chuck Hagel testified at his confirmation hearing in the Senate, he was already seen by some in this administration as somebody who wasn't just really strong rhetorically, and then there were a couple instances over the last year as you know where that view was cemented in the minds of some people in this administration when Chuck Hagel said that ISIL goes way beyond anything we've ever seen before.

That was in sharp contrast of what the president said earlier in the year when he said ISIS and other groups in the Middle East were like the j.v. team of al-Qaeda. And so that raised questions as to whether or not Chuck Hagel and Martin Dempsey, who was also espousing different views, were on the same page as the president. And the White House would say what matters is they're on the same page as President Obama.

And so I think this is an effort on the part of this White House to put together a team for the last two years who will be on the same page as the president, who won't be going off in different directions rhetorically on these important issues.

And, remember, there was that very important memo that Chuck Hagel wrote to national security advisor Susan Rice, sharply criticizing the White House policy on Syria, and this president was asked in recent days about his policy in Syria, and he is determined, as he has been in the last several weeks, to stick with this policy, which is no ground troops in Iraq, perhaps in limited cases, and no ground troops in Syria, just working with groups and developing rebels on the ground and not really taking a different posture when it comes to Bashar al- Assad.

So all of that adds up to some very key differences. And I talked to a senior White House official this morning, Wolf, who said you can characterize it this way, they arrived at this decision together.

Chuck Hagel in the view of this White House wasn't forced out, but the president wasn't really asking him to stay, either, Woolf.

BLITZER: There certainly wasn't the comfort level, a mutual comfort level, I suspect as well.

Jim, stand by. We're only moments away from the president making this announcement in the state dining room at the White House.

Christiane Amanpour is our chief international correspondent. She's joining us right now.

Christiane, that comes as a really awful time for the U.S. right now, with the war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, an effort to get some sort of nuclear deal with Iran, serious tensions potentially reemerging, North Korea, serious Ebola problems in Africa, I could go on.

How will this be seen around the world?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly it's going to be viewed very, very much in the narrow focus of ISIS, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and as Jim was talking about, the differences between Secretary Hagel, the Pentagon versus a very political staff around President Obama and his national security staff at the White House, if Secretary Hagel was more forward leaning on the threat of ISIS and the threats of leaving a vacuum in Syria, that of course was the correct analysis because that is what has transpired.

So the threat of ISIS, huge, even General Dempsey, even Hagel, even President Obama have said this is not something that's going to be won very quickly, and some have said it's definitely not going to be won from the air alone.

So that's a how long policy principle that has to be resolved. If ISIS is going to be pushed back, it's not going to happen just from the air.

Switch over to Afghanistan, and President Obama, we're hearing now reports in the "New York Times" and elsewhere over the past few days, may expand the mission of the remnants or the residual force that will stay in Afghanistan.

At first it was going to be no combat role and just to sort of train and watch out and be there to support the Afghans. But now he is apparently going to say, apparently if these reports are correct, that actually U.S. forces will have more of a continued combat role at least for another year, to keep fighting off al Qaeda, Taliban, and the like.

And there he has a very willing partner in the new president of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, who has just over the weekend signed and approved all these new security arrangements with the United States, is a much more close collaborator than President Karzai was towards his last years as president. So very, very important there.

And if indeed Michele Flournoy, the former undersecretary of defense for policy, if indeed she is chosen, I spoke to her a few months ago, actually just after the last major foreign policy speech that President Obama made in May, and she too believes that the effort on the ground must dictate any timetable for withdrawal, that, yes, America may be a war-weary nation but good leadership and effective leadership will make them understand.

BLITZER: Here we go. Here comes the president, the Secretary of Defense, and the Vice President.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES Good morning, everybody. Please be seated. About a year ago, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel was visiting our troops in the Republic of Korea thanking them for their service and answering their questions. And they asked about the usual topics, about our national security, the future of our military. And then one soldier, a sergeant from Ohio, asked him what was the pertinent question of the day, which was what was your favorite college football team, to which Chuck replied, "Born and raised in Nebraska, I don't have a choice. I am a strong Cornhuskers fan."

Now, there was a time when an enlisted soldier might have been reluctant to ask that kind of question of the secretary of Defense, but Chuck Hagel has been no ordinary secretary of Defense. He was the first enlisted combat veteran to serve in that position. He understands our men and women like few others because he stood where they stood. He's been in the dirt, and he's been in the muck. And that's established a special bond. He sees himself in them, and they see themselves in him. And their safety, their lives, have always been at the center of Chuck's service.

When I asked Chuck to serve as secretary of Defense, we were entering a significant period of transition: the draw-down in Afghanistan, the need to prepare our forces for future missions and tough fiscal choices to keep our military strong and ready.

Over nearly two years, Chuck has been an exemplary defense secretary, providing a steady hand as we modernized our strategy and budget to meet long-term threats while still responding to immediate challenges like ISIL and Ebola.

Thanks to Chuck, our military is on a firmer footing engaged in these missions and looking ahead to the future.

Last month, Chuck came to me to discuss the final quarter of my presidency and determined that having guided the department through this transition, it was an appropriate time for him to complete his service.

Let me just say that Chuck is and has been a great friend of mine. I've known him, admired him and trusted him for nearly a decade since I was a green-behind-the-ears freshman senator and we were both on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

If there's one thing I know about Chuck, it's that he does not make this or any decision lightly. This decision does not come easily to him, but I consider myself extraordinarily lucky to have had him by my side for two years.

And I am grateful that Chuck has agreed to stay on until I nominate a successor and that successor is confirmed by the Senate, which means that he'll continue to guide our troops at this challenging time.

I'll have more opportunity to pay tribute to Chuck's life of service in the days ahead. For now, let me just say this.

Chuck Hagel has devoted himself to our national security and our men and women in uniform across more than six decades. He volunteered for Vietnam and still carries the scars and shrapnel from the battles that he fought.

At the V.A., he fought to give our veterans, especially his fellow Vietnam veterans, the benefits they had earned.

As head of the USO, he made sure America always honors our troops.

As a senator, he helped lead the fight for the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill, which is helping so many of our newest veterans and their families realize their dreams of a college education.

As secretary, Chuck has helped transition our military and bolstered America's leadership around the world. During his tenure, Afghan forces took the lead for security in Afghanistan. Our forces have drawn down. Our combat mission there ends next month and we'll partner with Afghans to preserve the gains we have made.

The NATO alliance is as strong as it has ever been, and we have reassured our allies with our increased presence in Central and Eastern Europe. We've modernized our alliances in the Asia-Pacific, updated our defense posture and recently agreed to improve communications between the U.S. and Chinese militaries.

Chuck has been critical to all these accomplishments. Meanwhile, Chuck's ensured that our military is ready for new missions. Today, our men and women in uniform are taking the fight against ISIL in Iraq and Syria, and Chuck helped build the international coalition to ensure that the world is meeting this threat together. Today, our forces are helping support the civilian effort against Ebola in West Africa, a reminder, as Chuck likes to say, that America's military is the greatest force for good in the world.

Finally, in a very difficult budgetary environment, Chuck has never lost sight of key priorities: the readiness of our force and the quality of our (sic) life of our troops and their families. He's launched new reforms to ensure that even as our military is leaner, it remains the strongest in the world and so our troops can continue to get the pay, the housing, the health care, the child care that they and their families need -- reforms that we need Congress to now support.

At the same time, after the tragedies that we've seen, Chuck has helped lead the effort to improve security at our military installations and to stamp out the scourge of sexual assault from the ranks.

And, Chuck, I also want to thank you on a personal level. We come from different parties, but, in accepting this position, you sent a powerful message, especially to folks in this city that when it comes to our national security and caring for our troops and their families, we are all Americans first.

When I nominated you for this position, you said that you'd always give me your honest advice and informed counsel. You have. When it's matter most, behind closed doors in the Oval Office, you've always given it to me straight. And for that I will always be grateful.

You know, I recall when I was a nominee in 2008, and I traveled to Afghanistan and Iraq. Chuck Hagel accompanied me on that trip, along with Jack Reed. And it's pretty rare, at a time when sometimes this town is so politicized to have a friend who was willing to accompany a nominee from another party because he understood that whoever ended up being president, what was most important was that we were unified when we confronted the challenges that we see overseas.

And that's the kind of class and integrity that Chuck Hagel's always represented.

Now, Chuck, you've said that a life's only as good as the family you have and the friends you surround yourself with, and in that you are blessed.

I want to thank Lilibet, your son, Ziller, and your daughter, Allyn, for the sacrifices that they've made as well. I know that as reluctant as we are to see you go, they are equally excited to be getting their husband and father back. And I'm sure the Cornhuskers are also happy that a fan will be there to cheer them on more often.

Today, the United States of America can probably claim the strongest military the world has ever known. That's the result of the investments made over many decades, the blood and treasure and sacrifices of generations. It's the results of the character and wisdom of those who lead them as well, including a young army sergeant in Vietnam who rose to serve as our nation's 24th secretary of Defense.

So on behalf of a grateful nation, thank you, Chuck.

(APPLAUSE)

CHUCK HAGEL, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Thank you. Thank you very much.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you very much.

Mr. President, thank you. Thank you for your generous words, for your friendship, for your support, which I have always valued and will continue to value into my -- not old, but my -- long-time dear friend Vice President Biden, who I have always admired and respected, and both the president and I have learned an awful lot from the vice president that (ph) over the years, thank you.

And I want to thank the deputy secretary of defense who is here, Bob Work, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Marty Dempsey, who also is here. I want to thank them for being here this morning.

I also want to thank you both for your tremendous leadership of the Defense Department and what you mean to our men and women and their families all over the world, and for the honor I've had to serve with each of you, and the privilege it's -- it's been in every way.

And I want to thank the entire leadership team at the Pentagon. Without their support and wise counsel over the last couple of years, our many accomplishments -- and the president noted some -- I have been part of that, but it's a team. It's all these tremendous men and women, as you know, Mr. President, that make this happen, and I couldn't be prouder of them and what we have accomplished over the almost two years that I've had the honor of serving in this position.

And as the president noted, I have, today, submitted my resignation as secretary of defense. It's been the greatest privilege of my life -- the greatest privilege of my life to lead and most important, to serve -- to serve with the men and women of the Defense Department and support their families. I am immensely proud of what we've accomplished during this time.

We have prepared ourselves, as the president has noted, our allies and Afghan national security forces for successful transition in Afghanistan. We've bolstered enduring alliances and strengthened emerging partnerships while successfully responding to crises around the world.

And we've launched important reforms that the president noted, reforms that will prepare this institution, the challenges facing us in decades to come.

I believe we have set not only this department, the Department of Defense, but the nation on a stronger course toward security, stability and prosperity. If I didn't believe that, I would not have done this job.

As our country prepares to celebrate Thanksgiving, I want to -- you, Mr. President, and you, Vice President Biden, acknowledge what you have done and how grateful I am to both of you for your leadership and your friendship, and for giving me this opportunity to serve our country once again.

I will continue to support you, Mr. President, and the men and women who defend this country every day so unselfishly, and their families, what they do for our country so unselfishly.

And as I have said, and as the president noted, I will stay on this job and work just as hard as I have over the last couple of years every day, every moment until my successor is confirmed by the United States Senate.

I'd also like to express my gratitude to our colleagues on Capitol Hill. My gratitude to them for their support of me, but more importantly their support of our troops and their families, and their continued commitment to our national security.

I also want to thank my international counterparts for their friendship and their partnership and their advice during my time as secretary of defense. Their involvement with me and their partnership with me in so many of these important areas as we build these coalitions of common interest, as you have noted Mr. President, are so critically important. And to them, I am grateful. I will be forever grateful.

And finally, I'd like to thank my family. My wife, Lilibet, who you have mentioned, Mr. President, who is with me this morning, as she has been with me throughout so many years and during so many tremendous experiences. And this experience and opportunity and privilege to serve as secretary of defense has been one of those. And my daughter, Allyn, and my son, Ziller.

Mr. President, again, thank you to you and to all of our team everywhere. And as we know, Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, it is a team effort. And that's the -- part of the fun of it, to help build teams and to work together to make things happen for the good of the country and make a better world. For all of that, I'm immensely grateful.

And to all of you, your families, happy Thanksgiving.

Thank you very much.

(APPLAUSE) BLITZER: So there it is, the official word from the White House, the secretary of defense. Let's just listen in, see if a reporter shouts a question to the president.

Not happening, no questions. You see Susan Rice there. You see the Attorney General there, Denis McDonough the White House Chief of Staff. The president speaking for about nine minutes, the Secretary of Defense speaking for about five minutes. Putting a very positive spin on what is going on. The Secretary of Defense, after nearly two years, stepping down. He says he will stay as the Secretary of Defense until a successor emerges, confirmed by the Senate, the United States Senate.

Let's go to our Pentagon Correspondent, Barbara Starr. Barbara, I know there are names out there already. We're hearing several names, potential candidates, to succeed Chuck Hagel. What are you hearing?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, you know, the usual cast of names already circulating around Washington, I think it's very early at this point to perhaps highlight any one of them. I want to go back to what we just saw. That was a very important optic that you saw. The Secretary of Defense, also a Vietnam veteran, Sergeant Chuck Hagel, and this time getting a very dignified sendoff from the White House, very deliberately I think, sending a message out to the troops that Hagel will have a dignified departure from office. Clear out all of the underbrush, clear out all of the politics, he was basically forced out by a White House perceived as micromanaging the Pentagon, micromanaging all of the decisions.

Hagel, perhaps himself, not quite satisfied with what was going on. He had been known to be objecting to some of the ISIS policy, particularly concerned about the involvement Syria and his Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General, Martin Dempsey, also at odds with the White House publicly about the potential need for a small number of troops on the ground. So you saw a Pentagon and White House at odds.

The question now is, what does this really mean for U.S. troops? Will the president shift gears? Will he shift policy? Removing Chuck Hagel, what does it really get you unless there's going to be a policy change? And that takes you to the question, who will be his successor?

One of the names most mentioned, Michele Flournoy, a former Under Secretary of Policy, basically No. 3 at the Pentagon. I saw her last Saturday out in California, I chaired an event at the Reagan Presidential Library, she was on my panel then. Very much positioning herself, for some time now, as a centrist on defense policy, that she can work with both Republicans and Democrats. The temptation, perhaps, to name her to be the first female Secretary of Defense, that is out there. Many people believe that I've already spoken to this morning talked about how qualified she is, she has long years of experience. But will she want the job?

Senator Jack Reed already weighing in, saying he loves his job in the Senate. Former Deputy Secretary of Defense, No. 2, Ashton Carter has a lot of international experience. He is out there. The president may decide to go another way. I think it's -- I'll go out on a limb, I would be very surprised if he picks a retired general or admiral. I think he will reach into the civilian sector. There are a lot of people very well qualified, but I think it really goes back to this question. You've gotten Chuck Hagel out of office, where do you go from here? What have you achieved? What will the new policy be? And of course, for thousands, tens of thousands, of American troops and their families, the question is, what does it mean for them? Will they be headed back into Iraq, possibly into Syria? What does it mean for U.S. troops? Wolf?

BLITZER: You're absolutely right. It was a very dignified sendoff for the Secretary of Defense. I suspect, though, this is not the timing he would have liked to have served throughout this second term of the Obama administration. But as you point out, that was not meant to be for a variety of reasons.

Stand by, Barbara. Peter King is a Republican Congressman from New York, he's a member of the Intelligence Committee, as well as the Homeland Security Committee. What was your reaction? What did you think of that sendoff, Congressman?

KING: Well, it was dignified and Chuck Hagel was entitled to that, but there was no reason give as to why he is leaving now. I mean, the president read off all his accomplishments, and yet did not give any real reason why Chuck Hagel is stepping down now. So it's obvious that there has been a split between the president and secretary, at least between the White House and Secretary Hagel.

So I go back to what Barbara Starr said, what does that mean as far as a new policy? And that, I think, is going to lead us into the Senate confirmation hearings, which I think will go even beyond the question of who the individual is or what our policy is going to be, because John McCain is the Chairman of -- is going to be the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and nobody has stronger views on our military and on what he believes is a failed policy in the Middle East than Senator McCain.