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Obama Nominates Ashton Carter as Defense Secretary; NYC Launches Pilot Body Camera Program Today

Aired December 05, 2014 - 10:30   ET

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


BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICAIn one way or another, Ash has served under 11 secretaries of defense, he's an innovator who helped create the program that has dismantled weapons of mass destruction around the world and reduced the threat of nuclear terrorism, he's a reformer who's never been afraid to cancel old or inefficient weapons programs, he knows the Department of Defense inside and out, all of which means that on day one, he's going to hit the ground running.

Ash is also known by our allies and our friends around the world. Having served both Republican and Democratic secretaries, he's respected and trusted on both sides of the aisle. He's been a close partner with our military leaders, and he's admired by civilian leaders across the department because he's a mentor to so many of them.

There's one other quality of Ash's service that I think often gets overlooked, and that is his true regard, his love for the men and women in uniform and their families -- his relentless dedication to their safety and well being. When he cut outdated, unneeded systems, he did it because he was trying to free-up money for our troops to make sure they had the weapons and the gear that they needed and the quality of life for themselves and their families that they deserve.

When our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan were struggling to defend against roadside bombs, he moved heaven and earth to rush new body armor and vehicles. It's no exaggeration to say that there are countless Americans who are alive today in part because of Ash's efforts. When our forces sat down for Thanksgiving dinner far from home, or as our wounded warriors recovered in the hospital, or when our fallen heroes returned to Dover, Ash was there, often on his own time without any publicity or fanfare. And I know that Ash will be there for them now as secretary of defense.

We face no shortage of challenges to our national security. Our combat mission in Afghanistan ends this month and we have to transition to a new mission of advising and assisting Afghan forces and going after remnants of Al Qaida's core. We have to keep degrading and ultimately destroying ISIL in Iraq and Syria. We have to build counterterrorism partnerships and new platforms. We have to continue the fight against Ebola in West Africa. We have to continue to strengthen our alliances, including NATO, and continue rebalancing our defense posture in the Asia-Pacific.

Going forward, our armed forces are necessarily going to need to be leaner. But as commander in chief, I'm going to make sure that we have a military that is second to none, that continues to be the greatest fighting force in the history of the world. That means, though, we're going to have to bolster some new capabilities -- our cyber defenses, how we deal with our satellites and how we're adapting our military and investing in new capabilities to meet long-term threats.

We're going to have to work with Congress on a more responsible approach to defense spending, including the reforms we need to make the department more efficient. That's how we're going to preserve readiness. That's how we're going to keep faith with our forces and our families. It's how we're going to deliver world-class care to our wounded warriors.

And Ash is going to be critical to all these efforts. When we talked about this job, we talked about how we're going to have to make smart choices precisely because there's so many challenges out there. And we're going to have to squeeze every -- everything we have out of the resources we have in order to be as effective as possible. And I can't think of somebody who's more qualified to do that.

In his career, Ash has been confirmed by the Senate three times. If it were entirely up to my dear friend Carl Levin, who is sitting here, I suspect it would happen really quickly because -- because that's the kind of guy Carl is. And Carl, I know, has had a chance to work with Ash in the past. My hope is is that in the new Congress, we get similar speed and dispatch.

By the way, we will miss Carl Levin. I just wanted to mention that.

(APPLAUSE)

One last piece of critical information that may have tipped the scales in me wanting to promote Ash. Ash is a big Motown fan.

(LAUGHTER)

And one of his favorites is a classic by the Four Tops, "Reach Out, I'll Be There."

(LAUGHTER)

So, Ash, I am reaching out to you. You have been there for us, our troops, our families, our nation.

I also know that he's been there for his lovely wife, Stephanie, sometimes by Skype, because he's been traveling. But the sacrifices that Stephanie's been willing to make, you know, this is a team effort, as it is true for our military families. And so, we're very grateful to Stephanie.

She joined Ash on a lot of those Thanksgiving trips to see our troops and at the bedside of wounded warriors. She knows the sacrifices they're going through.

Stephanie, we thank you for your service.

We thank Will and Ava (ph), who couldn't be here, but we know that they couldn't be prouder of their dad.

And with that, I want to let, hopefully, our soon-to-be new secretary of defense say a few words.

(APPLAUSE)

ASHTON B. CARTER, NOMINATED TO BE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President.

And, Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, it's an honor and a privilege for me to be nominated for the position of secretary of defense.

General Scowcroft, my longtime mentor, thank you for being here.

And thanks to another longtime mentor, Bill Perry, who can't be here today.

And thanks to you, Chairman, and many other friends and colleagues, past and future, for coming out today.

I accepted the president's offer to be nominated for secretary of defense because of my regard for his leadership, I accepted it because of the seriousness of the strategic challenges we face, but also the bright opportunities that exist for America if we can come together to grab hold of them.

And I accepted the offer because of the deep respect and abiding love that Stephanie and I have for our men and women in uniform.

As we talked together in the past weeks, Mr. President, we discussed the challenges and the opportunities, and the need both to keep America safe and to make a better future for our children.

If confirmed in this job, I pledge to you my most candid strategic advice. And I pledge also that you will receive equally candid military advice.

And, finally, to the greatest fighting force the world has ever known, to you, I pledge to keep faith with you and to serve our nation with the same unflinching dedication that you demonstrate every day.

(APPLAUSE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: So there it is, the president of the United States. You know, let's just listen in quickly. I know there's a reporter or two inside the Roosevelt Room. Let's see if they shout a question to the President. Stand by for one sec.

OBAMA: Hey, good to see you. Whose company are you keeping? Hey, good to see you.

Good to see you guys. All right. Happy holidays if I don't see you.

BLITZER: All right. Looks like nobody's going to shout a question to the President or the Vice President; heard a little small talk going on between the President and some of the guests who are there. There you see Ash Carter, the nominee to be defense secretary; a warm hug for Susan Rice, the National Security Advisor to the President.

Let's get some analysis of what we just saw, what we just heard. Jake Tapper, we've covered a lot of these kinds of events over the years. What did you think?

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think we just saw after the speeches two of the most telling moments about the Ashton Carter nomination. One: that very, very warm embrace that he had with the National Security Advisor, Dr. Susan Rice. As we were discussing before this event, Wolf clashes with Susan Rice, the national security advisor, disagreements have marked the three prior defense secretaries, Hagel and Gates and Panetta.

And now we see a very, very friendly hug that I think represents the kind of relationship he has with Susan Rice, with Denis McDonough, the White House chief of staff and others that will make this relationship perhaps work better than prior ones.

And then the other thing we heard is President Obama noting that in the crowd was Stephen Hadley, the former national security advisor for George W. Bush. President Obama making a wry remark about the kind of company that Hadley was keeping. Being in a roomful of Democrats I suppose is what he meant by that.

But I think that also reflects the fact that Ash Carter is the kind of individual, the kind of Democrat that has bipartisan relationships and will likely be confirmed. He has a lot of respect on both sides of the aisle -- Wolf.

BLITZER: He certainly does.

Barbara Starr, based on everything we know, he should be relatively easily confirmed even by this Republican majority, the new Republican majority in the United States Senate. But walk us through a little bit what you reported earlier because I think it would have been a little bit more pleasant, shall we say, if Chuck Hagel the outgoing defense secretary would have been there as the White House announced last night he would be there.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It would have certainly been a little more smooth, you know. In these transitions you like to see everybody gets along. It's all very reassuring, it's a warm fuzzy moment. Hagel was referred to, of course, by the President but he was not referred by Ash Carter.

Behind the scenes let me tell you, Ash Carter and Chuck Hagel are not the best of friends. They had difficult times when Carter was his deputy at the Pentagon. No love lost to know small extent between the two men. That said, I think it will pass very quickly.

I want to follow up on something Jake was saying. Carter is not particularly by any stretch a politician, a political animal in Washington. He's a strategic thinker, he's a technocrat. So they may be one of his advantages. He doesn't come with that political baggage. John McCain when he holds the confirmation hearing can beat up on the President's policies but he's not going to find an Ash Carter track record of political decision making that he can go after. So that may smooth the pass just a bit.

Call me skeptical about the Susan Rice hug. If you had the last three secretaries defense run into problems with the national security staff, with Susan Rice and the very so-called heavy-handed micromanagement from the White House I'm not sure Ash Carter is coming into anything much different. Maybe he'll be able to deal with it better. But it doesn't seem that there's going to be any real change on the White House side.

So the Ash Carter era at the Pentagon, I think the bottom line may be it may be less about Ash Carter. He probably will do just fine. It may be more about the White House. White House national security policy, what the President plans to do about everything from ISIS to defense spending. It's that implementation that Carter is going to have to deal with.

BLITZER: He's going to have a lot on his agenda these next two years.

Michelle Kosinski is our White House correspondent. Michelle, talk a little bit about some of the criticism that have been leveled at White House officials over the past three defense secretaries. There's been so much -- so called micromanagement of the Department of Defense by officials at the White House.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right. I mean that's been openly talked about at this point by former defense secretaries. The White House is aware of this criticism. They've been asked about it directly over the last couple of days because remember the press, CNN reported that Ash Carter was the nominee days ago. It's made kind of an uncomfortable position for the White House.

But when asked about this micromanagement, it was surprising to hear them say yesterday. First of all, they didn't deny the micromanagement. They said that's something that has been with other administrations as well. It's not unique to this administration.

And when asked, well, could Carter be assured coming in that he's not going to face that kind of micromanagement that's been alleged coming from the White House and the Press Secretary responded well one thing that he's going to be very clear of coming in is who's at the top of the chain of command and who's the commander-in-chief, that the President is the commander-in-chief seeming to put down any notion that he's going to be able to go out on a limb.

You heard Carter just say I'm going to give you that candid military advice. He's known as somebody who's very assertive, an independent thinker. Some have even called him arrogant in all this analysis of his nomination over the last couple days. But the White House seems to be making it very clear right now the President is the commander- in-chief, they have this relationship and that's the way it's going to be -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And we'll see how smooth that relationship turns out to be. We'll see how quickly the confirmation process goes forward. And very quickly, Jake, what's your analysis right now? Relatively smooth confirmation process -- right?

TAPPER: I think that's right. I think that as Barbara and others have noted there will be a lot of criticism of policies taken by the Obama administration but Ash Carter has not been implementing those policies in the last year. He was deputy defense secretary mainly in charge of procuring weapons and running the day to day operation of the Pentagon so I don't think he will be criticized too severely.

There are some things that he has written in the past about reforming the CIA before in fact it was reformed. About taking out North Korea's nuclear weapons, that will be discussed and analyzed and criticized but I think absolutely Ash Carter as of right now from what I'm hearing from Senate Republicans both on the record and in background he should be confirmed. I think no problem.

BLITZER: Yes. I suspect you are right; Barbara is right as well.

Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, retired, our CNN military analyst. Walk us through a little bit -- the apparent and Barbara was mentioning this -- apparent split that's emerging between the civilian leadership of the Obama administration and the military commanders when it comes to how far the U.S. needs to go in trying to destroy ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I think the first thing Barbara mentioned, Wolf, was the fact that many of the senior military commanders are stepping up and voicing their opposition to the sequestration and how it's being worked. Again, you go back to General Dempsey's testimony to Congress several weeks ago, almost two months ago, he said hey, we've got to be careful in terms of our strategic ends matching our resource methods and I think all the service chiefs from what I've seen and what I've talked to my friends about are all increasingly voicing their concerns about their budget and going into sequestration and having more missions than they anticipated.

So that's a big deal. I think from the standpoint of the fight against ISIL, Daesh in both Syria and Iraq, I think, you know, they are -- the service chiefs are voicing their concerns to General Dempsey and he's making it known to the President and the Secretary of Defense. It's a continual re-evaluation of the strategy and that's critically important.

The point that hit me with the most recent presentation was Mr. Carter, as a soldier, you can tell not only what they're saying but how they're saying it. And Mr. Carter's emotional quotient in that acceptance spoke volumes to me and also the way he turned to not only the President and said "you have my candor" but then he turned to General Dempsey and said "You also have my support for the soldiers." Those two things are critically important, Wolf.

BLITZER: He will have a huge, huge mission over these next two years if in fact as we all expect he is confirmed, the nomination is confirmed by the United States Senate. Those hearings will take place in the earliest in January. Could take place in February. But they'll try to move expeditiously, I'm sure.

General Hertling, thanks very much. Barbara Starr, Jake Tapper, Michelle Kosinski, thanks to all of you

I'll be back 1:00 p.m. Eastern later today in the "SITUATION ROOM".

NEWSROOM with Carol Costello will continue our coverage right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Today New York City rolls out its pilot program for about 60 officers to be equipped with body cameras. The push for these cameras are part of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's strategy to crack down on low level crime like selling untaxed cigarettes.

Skeptics say cameras won't make a difference though and the mayor is getting blasted for his comments yesterday, causing some to question whether he's fueling a racial divide.

Patrick Lynch, who is president of the Patrolman's Benevolent Association says the mayor threw his own police force under the bus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK LYNCH, PATROLMAN'S BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION: What police officers felt yesterday after that press conference is that they were thrown under the bus. That they were out there doing a difficult job in the middle of the night protecting the rights of those to protest, protecting our sons and daughters and the mayor was behind microphones like this throwing them under the bus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Let's talk with former mayor and Houston police chief Lee Brown. He also served as New York City police commissioner. Welcome, sir.

LEE BROWN, FORMER HOUSTON MAYOR AND POLICE CHIEF: Thank you. It's good to be with you.

COSTELLO: It's nice to have you here. Did Mayor de Blasio paint his own police force as racist?

BROWN: You have difference of opinions on that. He talks about how he feels about the status of race relations in the police in this country and those are his feelings.

COSTELLO: Did he throw his police force under the bus, though, as the union guy said?

BROWN: I wouldn't reach that conclusion. He spoke his opinion and that doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't support his police force.

COSTELLO: In your opinion, do you think what happened to Eric Garner had anything do with race?

BROWN: It's hard to tell. But let me make a point I think is more critical to anything else I can share with you today. There is a philosophy or a concept of policing that I think would prevent many of these situations such as we see in Ferguson and Staten Island from occurring. And that is the concept of community policing. It's a concept, a philosophy that I pioneered when I was here in Houston, took it with me to New York.

Just as a quick background, I came to Houston in '82, Houston had a very troubled police department. Race relations were bad, there were accusations of brutality. We were able to change that when I left in 1990. It was one of the most respected police departments in the country due to the implementation of the concept of community policing.

When I went to New York I implemented the same concept. That was a time in 1990 when at the peak of the crack epidemic crime was at an all time high and after one year crime went down in every category. So I think it works. But the concept is not a program. It's a system where you have to change all the systems of the police department.

You have to ask the question, who do you want to be a police officer in your jurisdiction? I suggest you recruit in the spirit of service and not adventure. How do you train them? You want to train them not just enforcement with the law but also how do you work in the community? How do you get along with different diverse groups? How do you understand cultural diversity without putting any value judgment on them as being different than ours? Look at how do you promote police officers. The criteria for promotion, reward -- the point being you have to change all the systems that support the police agency.

COSTELLO: Do you think that the New York City police department has lost some of that?

BROWN: Well, it's improving. Commissioner Bratton has indicated he's going to change all the training but that's just one step. Again, your police department must reflect the ethic composition of your city. You have to look at what do you reward police officers for? It must be for the absence of crime, solving problems in the community, getting along with people, not just the crime rate. All those things are important and critical to the implementation of community policing.

COSTELLO: I talked to a former detective from the NYPD and he told me that he thought the take down of Eric Garner was conducted properly by the police officer in question. He said "When a police officer looks at you and says I'm going to place you under arrest, you obey, you don't question and if you do question you can expect bad things to happen." Is that how it is?

BROWN: I don't know what he means by "bad things to happen." Police officers are responsible for making an arrest. But I would say that if we had community policing in operation there, the police officers would have been assigned to that area on a permanent basis. They would have been responsible for getting to know the people. Know the ones on the streets in a regular basis. Establish a relationship with them and chances are the confrontation would not have taken place.

The same thing is true in Ferguson. I sincerely believe if they had been operating under the concept of community policing, the officers would know Mr. Brown, they could talk to them, pull up and say "Mike, get off the street" and that would probably have been the end of it. But you have to have police officers assigned to an area on a permanent basis. Charge them with getting to know the people, working with the people to solve problems, prevent crime, arrest those who do commit crime and improve the quality of life in neighborhoods by solving neighborhood problems. That's the essence of community policing.

COSTELLO: I understand. I wish I had more time but we had to take that White House event live. Thank you for sticking around for me. I appreciate it, Chief Brown.

BROWN: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Please come back.

Thank you for joining me today, I'm Carol Costello.

"@THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND MICHAELA" after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)