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Clinton Files For New Hampshire Primary; Obama And Netanyahu Hold Talks At White House; School President Resigns Over Racial Tensions; Mizzou President Steps Down; Two Americans Killed in Jordan; Interview with Sen. Lindsey Graham. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired November 09, 2015 - 13:00   ET

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

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- wouldn't you want to try to influence some votes in -- especially in --

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- the Senate so that you would have the plate set for yourself when you become president?

CLINTON: We have one president at a time, and it's a president I support very strongly.

(CROSSTALK)

CLINTON: Yes, Jeff (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- Clinton. Ben Carson has said in recent days that he has had more scrutiny on him than any other presidential candidate in some 20 years or 30 years. Since you have a bit of history and perspective on this since it's been the fourth time you've been in this office, A, would you like to welcome him into the race and the scrutiny, and, B, would you like to provide some historical context on the type of scrutiny that is on candidates. Do you think he's getting more than you did or your husband did?

CLINTON: Jeff, I don't want to answer either of those questions. I'm going to let him run his campaign, respond however he chooses to to whatever is going on on his side of the aisle. I'm going to stay focused on what I'm doing and what I stand for and what I fight for and make my case to the American people, starting with the caucuses and primaries, and then hopefully going on in the general election.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much, everybody. We've got to get going.

(CROSSTALK)

CLINTON: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) voters are talking about wanting a fresh start and a fresh voice in Washington, someone who can really work across the aisle to both parties. CLINTON: Right, right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As someone who has a fairly contentious relationship with a lot of Republicans by your own admission, I'm wondering why you are that -- how do you explain to voters that you are that fresh voice?

CLINTON: Well, because when I am in an official position, as I have been, both as secretary of state and a two-term elected senator from New York, as well as the work I did as first lady. I find a lot of common ground with Republicans.

Now, when I'm running for office, the very same Republicans who work with me and say very positive things about me in official positions. You know, they are in politics, so of course they're going to be much more critical.

But even as first lady, when we didn't get health care, I went to work, worked with Republicans and Democrats to pass the children's health insurance program. I worked to reform our adoption and foster care system with the lead Republican on the other side, Tom Delay. I worked many times across the aisle as a senator and got good results.

And as secretary of state, I was one of the people who helped to persuade Republicans to vote for the nuclear nonproliferation agreement with the Democrats to pass it with two-thirds vote in the Senate.

So, there's a long history. And we have an archive of quotes from Republicans about how they worked with me, and what they think of the job that I have done, which I am sure that you will see more of as the campaign goes on.

So, in a -- in a political context, of course there's going to be a back and forth. That goes with the territory. But I am very confident that I know how to find the common ground, because I've done it and I will do so again.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Secretary Clinton --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) minutes ago. He said on late night T.V. the other night, --

CLINTON: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- that if he could run for a third term, he would.

CLINTON: Yes, I think that's right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) can't have.

CLINTON: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How involved is he in your campaign and how much are we going to see him up here (INAUDIBLE) going forward? We haven't seen him much at all.

CLINTON: Well, he has been very busy. You know, his priorities, right now, primarily the Clinton Foundation. And, in fact, as we speak, he's in Latin America looking at the projects that the foundation supports for economic empowerment and improved health and clean energy.

So, he will certainly be involved. But he has a great commitment to doing what he can to make sure that what he started will continue to be successful. So, I predict you'll see him up here. I'm very much pleased that he did go to Iowa with me, and I know he'll be here in New Hampshire. I don't think I could keep him away. I think he really loves coming to New Hampshire, as some of you know.

And he's been a great help. He's been a great adviser and great, you know, supporter in what I have done and will continue to do so. And I look forward to having him, with all that he knows about getting the economy to work hard and get incomes rising again for people, when I'm president. I think it'll be a great -- a great benefit to my -- to my administration.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guys, one --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- that you disagree on virtually everything. Is that your experience? Do you disagree on virtually everything?

CLINTON: Oh, no, of course not. Look, I think we're in the political season, and people, you know, they say all sorts of things. But of course not. That's -- I mean, that would mean he doesn't agree with me on equal pay for equal work, he doesn't agree on paid family leave, he doesn't agree with me on, you know, making sure income rise, including raising the minimum wage. That's -- you know, that's obviously not the case.

[13:05:02] And so, I look forward to the debate on Saturday when -- you know, I think if you compare our debate, last time, with what you've seen on the Republican side, it's, you know, substantive. It's focused on the issues. We're putting forth our plans about what we want to do. There are differences among us. And the voters can, then, judge for themselves. And that's will happen again Saturday.

Thank you, all.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kathleen (ph) was going to follow up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, just speaking on the debate, even Governor O'Malley has recently started drawing sharper contrasts with you on immigration. Are you expecting more incoming fire in the second debate? And if so, how are you preparing for that?

CLINTON: Yes, I -- let's wait and find out and see what happens on Saturday. You know, I am not a political pundit. That's your job. I am getting up every day, doing my job to put forth what I believe, what I think will work for our country, what kind of president I intend to be and working hard to earn people's support. So, you know, the debate will speak for itself like the last one did. And we'll see how that plays out.

(CROSSTALK)

CLINTON: Wait a minute, this gentlemen, here we go. Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One thing you are is a loyal Democrat.

CLINTON: I am.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Bernie Sanders has been an independent. He's now a Democrat. He (INAUDIBLE) as a Democrat. What would you like Democrats out in New Hampshire to know, in terms of a difference between you and Mr. Sanders, when it comes to the party loyalty?

CLINTON: Well, I've been a Democrat for a very long time. And I also, as a Democrat, have not only worked on behalf of issues and causes that I believe in, but I've supported a lot of Democrats over the years. I've campaigned for them. I've raised money for them. I've encouraged them to run. And I will continue to do that.

As president, I have told a lot of the Democrats across the country that I want to help to rebuild the party from the grass root roots up, because we do have a lot of work to do in a number of states where Democrats no longer have any positions in the federal delegation. They don't have control of the statehouse or the legislature. And we see increasing, you know, partisanship and positions being taken by the other side that I don't think they're in the country's best interest.

So, I'm going to work hard to make sure that we have a clear set of plans about how we're going to persuade people who maybe haven't been voting Democratic lately to understand, you know, we're on your side. We're going to fight for you. And we're going to make a difference in your life and the lives of your kids. And that's my goal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can an independent -- can an independent be nominated as a Democrat?

CLINTON: Well, I'm a Democrat. And I just signed papers saying I'm a Democrat. And I think the other --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) Sanders.

CLINTON: Well, I know but he -- again, he has to speak for himself. You're not going to get me to, you know, talk about his taking any position that is a political position. I will put forth my position. If there's a contrast, there's a contrast. But, you know, I'm just proud to be a Democrat. And I'm proud that I've worked so hard for the Democratic Party over so many years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Secretary Clinton --

CLINTON: Thank you, all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, thank you, everyone, we appreciate it.

CLINTON: Thank you, thank you.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The Democratic presidential frontrunner, Hillary Clinton, making her case why she should be the Democratic presidential nominee. She just completed all the paperwork in New Hampshire, the first primary state. That election coming up in February. She wrapped up all the paperwork today. Now, she's moving on to campaign in New Hampshire. She'll be campaigning the first caucus state which is Iowa as well.

We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting from Washington.

The secretary -- former secretary of state also making it clear she doesn't want to get into a huge public fight right now with her number one challenger for the Democratic presidential nominee, the Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders who is a registered independent. But he's running for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Neither does she want to get into all the battles going on on the Republican side, she did say that if she were elected president, she would seek common ground with Republicans, she says, as she did as secretary state, earlier as a U.S. senator from New York, and earlier as the first lady of the United States. Much more on the political news, the race for the White House, coming up.

But there is other important news we're following right now. The significant --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- to talk about how the implementation of the Iran nuclear agreement is going. It's no secret that the prime minister and I have had a strong disagreement on this narrow issue. But we don't have a disagreement on the need to making sure that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon and we don't have a disagreement about the importance of us blunting these stabilizing activities that Iran may be taking place. And so, we're going to be looking to make sure that we find common ground there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: President Obama wrapping up a meeting over at the White House with the visiting Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. It's the first face-to-face encounter these two leaders have had in more than a year right now. The talks come at a time of heightened tensions in the region and fresh violence between Israelis and Palestinians. [13:10:07] Take a look at this very disturbing video. We want to warn you that it is disturbing. Take a look at this, a Palestinian woman is has pulled out a knife at an Israeli security checkpoint at the west bank. She was later shot and killed by Israeli guards. The prime minister spoke about the ongoing violence in Israel in the west bank. And he addressed the question of a possibility of an eventual two-state Israel and Palestine solution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL: We will never give up our hope for peace. And I remain committed to the vision of peace of two states for two peoples, a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state. I don't think that anyone should doubt Israel's determination to defend itself against terror and destruction. But neither should anyone doubt Israel's willingness to make peace with any of its neighbors that generally want to achieve peace with them. And I look forward to discussing with you practical ways in we can -- in which we can lower the tension, increase the stability and move towards peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let's bring in our Senior Washington Correspondent Joe Johns. He's over at the White House call -- covering these talks. Joe, so what else do we know? It looks like both the president and the prime minister, they're trying to stress the positive, even though they both acknowledge that Iran nuclear deal, they strongly disagree on that.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I think you're absolutely right, Wolf. And probably the first thing on the agenda there, at least for the public consumption, was the optics. A lot of that meeting occurred in private. There was no news conference afterwards. Bibi Netanyahu driving right down this driveway behind me and out of the White House complex.

But for the public and for the cameras, the notion was to focus on the things that unite the United States and Israel as opposed to the things that divide the United States and Israel. Security certainly being top concern, that is something articulated by the president of the United States there. Also saying that, as far as he is concerned, while there may be many disagreements between the two countries, one thing they don't agree on is the notion of stopping Iran from getting nuclear weapons.

So, after the last time Netanyahu was here in the United States, with that controversial appearance before the United States Congress, the big back and forth and disagreement between the administration and Israel over the issue of the Iran nuclear deal. Now, an attempt to, perhaps, bring about some healing between the two countries. And this isn't the only place in Washington where we expect to see Netanyahu doing some fence mending -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, good point. All right, thanks very much, Joe Johns, for that. And remember, when he was here the last time in the United States, the prime minister of Israel, when he was in Washington and he addressed that joint meeting of the U.S. Congress and pointedly was not invited to meet with the president at that time because of their very strong disagreement of that Iran nuclear deal which has been approved, as we all know.

All right. Joe, thanks very much.

Up next, there's other breaking news we're following here in the United States, including at the University of Missouri. After racial tensions, put the school and the president very much in the spotlight. We'll update you on the breaking news.

[13:13:33]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:17:36] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Now to our breaking story out of the University of Missouri. The school's president resigned today after nearly half of the university's football team threatened to boycott all future games outraged over a series of racial incidents on campus. Students complained that the president, Tim Wolfe, acted too slowly in addressing their concerns. Here's what he said just a little while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM WOLFE, FORMER PRES., UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI: I am resigning as president of the University of Missouri System. The motivation in making this decision comes from love. I love M.U., Columbia, where I grew up, and the state of Missouri. I have thought and prayed about this decision, and it's the right thing to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The university president's resignation comes after weeks of protests over a series of racially-charged incidents, including racial slurs hurled at black students and a swastika drawn on a dorm wall. During one protest, during the university's homecoming day parade, students blocked Tim Wolfe, the president's car when he wouldn't talk to them. The university was under a lot of pressure. If the football player, for example, were to have sat out this coming Saturday's game, it could have cost the university $1 million alone for that -- for that game.

Let's bring in Stephanie Shonekan, an associate professor at the University of Missouri. She's joining us now live from Columbia.

So what's your reaction, professor, to the president's resignation?

STEPHANIE SHONEKAN, ASSOC. PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI: I'm elated. I am thrilled that the students are heard. I think that this is one step in what will probably be a pretty long journey. But this is -- this is all -- this is all a good thing in the sense that it is signaling to our students that they -- that they -- that they mean a lot to us. That they're -- that they're -- that they're -- their thoughts and their -- their concerns are concerns to us as well. So this is all (INAUDIBLE).

BLITZER: How did things get so bad, professor?

SHONEKAN: You know, this is -- what we saw with the football team and what we've seen this semester is just -- not -- another few episodes in a long -- in a long line of events that happened over the last -- I've been here for about four and a half years and there has been tension in all of that time.

[13:20:17] I think with the football players, it just brought it to national attention, which is -- which is wonderful. But students have been -- have been passionate about this for a long time, and I think most recently the catalyst was last year when Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson, our students realized that what they've been feeling here is linked to -- to what happened just -- just down the road. And so they -- they started agitating for -- for change on campus.

I should mention, the agitation has all been very peaceful. It's been thoughtful and -- and well done by a group of leaders who have been very intentional in getting action done.

BLITZER: Professor, thanks very much for joining us. Good luck to everyone on the campus at the University of Missouri. Processor Stephanie Shonekan joining us. We'll stay on top of this story for our viewers. Appreciate it.

SHONEKAN: Thank you.

BLITZER: Also coming up, we have new details on a shooting at a training facility in Jordan that has left two Americans and one South African dead. I'll speak with U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham. He's a Republican presidential candidate, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. We'll talk about this and a whole lot more, including the apparent bombing of that Russian airline in Sanai.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:25:53] BLITZER: We're following other important news today, including out of Jordan where two Americans were shot and killed by a former Jordanian police officer at a police training facility just outside of the nation's capital of Amman. A South African was also kill and two Americans and four Jordanians wounded in the shooting. Jordan's news agency is reporting that the police officer had been fired from the facility. President Obama addressed the shooting at the White House just before he started his meeting with the prime minister of Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Before I get started, I just want to say a brief word about the Jordanian attack that we discovered earlier, the fact that someone dressed in military uniform carried out an attack at a training facility in which it appears that there may have been two or three U.S. citizens killed and a number of other individuals injured. Obviously, a full investigation is taking place. We take this very seriously and we'll be working closely with the Jordanians to determine exactly what happened.

But at this stage, I want to just let everyone know that this is something we're paying close attention to and at the point where the families have been notified, obviously, our deepest condolences will be going out to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The Americans who were killed were trainers at the facility. The shooter was killed by Jordanian security forces. We'll have much more on this story coming up.

But joining us now from Greenville, South Carolina, is Republican presidential candidate Lindsey Graham. He's the senator from South Carolina. He's a member of Senate Armed Services Committee.

Senator, thanks for joining us. What can you tell us about this very disturbing shooting, the killing of these two Americans, and a South African as well?

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I've been to the facility, I'm pretty sure, with the vice president. I think I've been there twice. It's a place where we and the international community train regional police forces.

But it's very disturbing. Here's what I guess I could say. ISIL's on the march. If they took this Egyptian airliner down, that's ominous because they have reached far outside of Syria and Iraq. A pretty complicated endeavor. I worry about the refugees coming into Jordan and a radicalization of Jordanian population putting the king of Jordan at risk if the war in Syria continues. So those are the big takeaways, Jordan's at risk from the civil war in Syria, Iran's on the march, ISIL is growing in strength. This is all not good.

BLITZER: As you know, the president's been meeting with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, over at the White House. Both of them putting a positive note despite their serious disagreement over that Iran nuclear deal. What needs to be done to really fix and strengthen this U.S.-Israel relationship?

GRAHAM: Well, I don't mind helping Israel with more military aid, but there's no way to protect Israel, the region and us unless you tear this deal up with Iran and start over. I think it's fatally flawed. Under this agreement, within 15 years, Iran gets a nuclear capability. Whether they cheat or not, they get $100 billion of new money. ICBM in eight years. So the bottom line is, I don't know how you keep the region intact unless you take this deal and change it dramatically. Until the ayatollah changes his ways, I wouldn't give him a dollar or a bullet.

BLITZER: What -- what can you tell us about the apparent bombing of that Russian airliner at Sharm el Sheikh, when it took off from Sharm el Sheikh in Sinai, 23 minutes into the flight, it was -- it was bombed by all indications right now. GRAHAM: Right.

BLITZER: How far are you willing to go in concluding, a, that it was, in fact, a bomb that had been placed on that plane killing 224 people, and, b, that it was either ISIS or an ISIS affiliate?

[13:29:50] GRAHAM: Well, it does matter. One, if it was a bomb, obviously some terrorist group planted the bomb somehow. But if it's ISIS in collaboration with a Sinai terrorist organization, that shows the ability to plan a sophisticated attack, to communicate outside of Syria and Iraq with another terrorist organization. It -- they have pledge allegiance to ISIL.