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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

President Obama Pushes for TPP; Donald Trump Speaks in Virginia; Gold Star Families Calling Trump's Attacks on the Khans "Offensive". Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired August 02, 2016 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00] JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: But how the President went after and said to Hillary Clinton being politically unrealistic when it comes to the TPP. But he does, he says he's serious, had (inaudible) our Congress is really not amendable to this because there's -- there are so many senators and over the Congress who were just, this isn't political viable for them.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Strong words.

Well, one other issue that did come up in response to a question, the President said the FBI is continuing to investigate who is responsible for the hacking of those computers at the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and of the Hillary Clinton campaign to a certain degree as well of the allegation that it's Russia. The President said it's too early in this process but he did say, if we see that a state actor was maliciously hacking these computers, these e-mails, he says then the U.S. will take what he called impose proportional penalties.

So he was being diplomatic on that front.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Yeah, he was and he can't say too much at this point. But, yeah, I mean, I think this was a story last week in many ways because you had Donald Trump come out and essentially talk to Russia and say if they had any information on this. But yeah, I mean, he's being diplomatic. And I think the President always sort of reminds voters and viewers what presidents are supposed to behave like.

KUCINICH: I was about to say that, yeah.

HENDERSON: And it's sort of an implicit critique of Donald Trump when he's up there talking in a diplomatic way.

KUCINICH: Yes.

BLITZER: All right, there's a lot more going on. An important news conference by the President of the United States with the visiting prime minister, Prime Minister Lee of Singapore, while the President was speaking, Donald Trump was stirring things up in a rally in Virginia, not far from Washington. And he just said and I'm quoting him now, "I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier." You're going to find out why he said that and a whole lot more. Stay with us.

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ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back to LEGAL VIEW. I'm Ana Cabrera in today for Ashleigh Banfield. Thank you so much for joining me.

Donald Trump just finished speaking in Ashburn, Virginia, as we've been talking about the President's news conference just happening at the same time and he took shots at Hillary Clinton. He talked about also being given a Purple Heart. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Something very nice just happened to me. A man came up to me and he handed me his Purple Heart. Now, I said to him, is that like the real one, or is that a copy? And he said, that's my real Purple Heart. I have such confidence in you. And I said, man, that's like big stuff. I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier. But I tell you, it was such an honor and maybe I can bring him up on the stage, Lieutenant Colonel Louis Dorfman. I just have him.

CROWD: USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

TRUMP: So, I said, Lt. Col., would you like to say something? He goes, "No, sir, I'd like you to just keep saying what you've been saying." Amazing. What an honor. What an honor. That was great.

So, thank you all for being here. We're going to have a little fun this morning. And we're going to be back in Virginia a lot. We have to win Virginia. We have to win Virginia.

You know, I have a club in Virginia. Do you all know my club, Trump National? And if we could do to the United States what I did to that, boy, would we have a country that'd be nothing like it anywhere ever in history. But, you know, I took over a club, what, 10 years ago, and it was on the Potomac River. And it's right next door. In fact, I wish we did this out at the golf club, to be honest with you, right on the Potomac. Maybe we'll do that. The next one, let's do it on the Potomac. I don't know (inaudible), right?

We'll do it outside on the Potomac by the American flag. You know, I have tremendous acreage there. We have like almost 800 acres and it's got two clubs, two courses. We have the PGA coming next year for a big, big, big tournament and it's the best there is in the tri-state. It's one of the best golf courses in the country. And it's been a tremendous success.

When I took it over it was great acreage, but it was not so great, right? And we blew it up and built new and it was -- it's been a fantastic success. And it's in Loudoun County. And therefore, I can't imagine that the people of Loudoun are going to be voting for crooked Hillary Clinton. She doesn't do anything. Because I've ... CROWD: Lock her up! Lock her up!

TRUMP: So, did you see over the weekend, FOX, Chris Wallace where she lied, where she said the FBI director said like everything was just perfect. It wasn't exactly -- I mean, she lied. She, pure and simple -- she only knows to lie. She really does only knows to lie. But she lied and it's a big story. It's become a big story. And that's amazing. It's amazing that they cover it because the press is so totally dishonest, OK. So totally dishonest.

And there is nothing like it. I've never seen dishonesty like that. And they're pushing her like crazy because it's establishment stuff and we have to make change. You know, she is now calling herself an agent of change. She's been doing this for 30 years.

[12:39:54] You know, numbers just came out for her where she raised like $50 million or $60 million and 20 people gave it. I think it was -- let's say 20 people gave her $60 million in her fund, $60 million from 20 people, I'm going to get a list of those 20 people. Oh, those 20 people, I want to find out who they are, I want to find out how many I know. I want to find out how many I know. But I'll tell you what, 20 people gave her $60 million and that's what I've been saying, folks. I know the game better than anybody and the game is played that way. They own her. They own her. They will do whatever is good for them.

If they have a company that wants to move plants into Mexico, she's going to say -- first, she'll say that's no good and then she'll say, oh, I see, they helped me. I have to let them do it because her handlers, that's what they are as handlers, I mean, they write her speeches. They write everything. She doesn't give a talk like this with no teleprompters. She gets up and she has teleprompters. She gets on the stage for 20 minutes, she reads something and she leaves. She goes back home and goes to sleep, OK. It's what she does. She reads it, she goes home, she goes to sleep. And that's OK. I'm not knocking it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: So, let's talk more about the rally and some new poll numbers. CNN's Phil Mattingly and CNN National Correspondent Jason Carroll are both with me.

Now Jason, let me start with you, you were there at that Trump rally. What more did he say?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a couple of things. I think that Trump hit some points that many who have been critical of him in the past will be happy about. He stuck to criticizing Hillary Clinton. You heard it there, saying that she's weak on trade, weak on the economy, weak in terms of terrorism. He talks about those GDP reports that came out basically not showing good news for this current administration in terms of growth.

These are the types of things that those who have been critical of Trump in the past want him to keep doing. Now, where critics say he fall short, you saw the example there where he talked about that Purple Heart recipient. Did he describe that in the most eloquent way that he could have? I think some people would say no. You can judge for yourselves on that.

Let me just briefly tell you another quick story that I think really speaks to what is going on here. At one point there was a baby that was crying here in the audience, and he said, oh love babies, they're beautiful, let him keep crying, he kept talking. And then at another point he said, OK enough with the baby, I'm done with the baby.

I mean, I'm paraphrasing but the crowd laughed. They enjoyed it. Was it a bit off-color? Yes, but this is what people like about this man. They like the fact that he's plain spoken, not politically correct. When it comes to speaking and talking about Hillary Clinton, I also noticed that he did at one point again say that Bernie Sanders sold his soul to the devil by endorsing her. He did not specifically call Hillary Clinton the devil like we saw him do last night.

So, a few hits, a few misses. But in general,I think that most people who were watching this within the GOP are going to like what they heard here a little earlier, it's having Clinton -- having Trump stick to the issue of what he -- where he feels Hillary Clinton is weak and speaking directly to her in terms of where she is weak, staying away from some of those other personal attacks that we saw in previous days. Ana?

CABRERA: Jason Carroll reporting there in Virginia. Sounds like Trump is definitely trying to turn the corner away from the Khan family controversy.

Phil, I want to bring in more information now to the conversation and talk about the latest polling. We've seen Clinton now take the lead in the general election 52 to 43 percent is the advantage, nine point lead. A significant bounce. She's also gained a lot of ground on several of the key issues.

Anything good in these new polls for Donald Trump?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, look, there's no question Hillary Clinton's trend line is certainly positive, trending positive in the wake of the Democratic National Convention. It's worth noting, this is a bounce and bounces tend to happen. Donald Trump got his own bounce in the wake of the Republican National Convention.

But looking at some of the crucial areas, actually digging into the numbers of the CNNRC poll, it's a worthwhile process. Look at the key issues that Donald Trump considers kind of strong points for his candidacy. We'll start with the economy. Hillary Clinton now taking a two-point lead in the economy post-democratic National Convention, she's at 50, Donald Trump at 48. This is an area where Donald Trump feels like he can make a lot of ground up.

And you go kind of go back to what Jason was saying, Ana, where Republicans want him to talk about economic issues. This is an area where they feel like he has a lot of strength. He lost a lot of ground during that week in Philadelphia. Now you move on to another area where Donald Trump has made very clear not only does he believe he's strong on this issue, he believes this is the issue that could propel him to the White House, that's terrorism.

In the wake of the Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton tied 48 apiece with Donald Trump when it comes to terrorism. That's again a big jump of six points for Hillary Clinton and a drop of five points for Donald Trump. Again, bounces happen, Ana, but this is real movement going forward.

[12:44:58] But the biggest and I think the most notable thing as we've watched some of the controversies not necessarily specific to the convention but on policy in general that you've heard Donald Trump talking about over the course ever the last week.

Foreign policy, an area where Hillary Clinton, based on her experience, based on her time as secretary of state has always kind of held a bit of a lead, that lead now growing in a very big way.

Clinton at 59 percent in the latest polling, Donald Trump all the way down at 36 percent. That's a significant nine-point increase for Clinton, nine-point drop for Donald Trump in the wake of the convention. And Ana, that's before a lot of comments we've heard on Russia in the course of the last 72 to 90 hours or so.

So you know that this is an area where Donald Trump feels like he needs to make up ground and at least as it stands right now, Hillary Clinton in a very good position in the wake of that convention, Ana.

CABRERA: And yet there is still time, 98 days and counting until Election Day. Phil Mattingly, thanks for breaking it down for us.

Now, offensive, anti-American Gold Star families are using these types of words speaking out against Donald Trump over his feud with Mr. and Mrs. Khan.

Still ahead here, we are going to speak with a Gold Star mother, her son was killed while serving in Iraq. Her message for Donald Trump today. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:50:31] CABRERA: Today the Trump campaign is facing new criticism over the candidate's feud with the family of a fallen service man of course, Captain Khan. Now, in a letter a group of Gold Star families demands an apology from Trump. Writing, "When you question a mother's pain, by implying that her religion, not her grief, kept her from addressing an arena of people, you are attacking us. When you say your job building buildings is akin to our sacrifice, you are attacking our sacrifice. You are not just attacking us, you are cheapening the sacrifice made by those we lost".

Now, one of the Gold Star family members who signed that letter is joining me now. Nadia McCaffrey's son, Sergeant Patrick Ryan McCaffrey, Sr. joined the National Guard the day after the 911 attack. He died in Iraq in June of 2004. And Nadia McCaffrey is with us now she is the director of veterans' advocacy for Homefront Rising, Nadia thank you for joining us, we're so sorry for your loss and we really appreciate the service and sacrifice of your family.

Tell us why you felt it was important to sign that letter?

NADIA MCCAFFREY, GOLD STAR MOTHER: Karen called me and read the letter to me and asked if I was willing to sign the letter if I've read to it and so on. I thought about it briefly and if I am here today obviously I agreed.

I think the ways to express ourselves besides being mean and being destructive on remark that really are misplaced and not politically correct at all. I mean, if we have gone through all the suffering and the pain of losing a son in my case I had only -- one only child, one only child and that was Patrick.

This pain never goes away. I don't have to say that. And how could people can judge a mother, it's not about the religion, the color, or the culture that you judge a person who is a Gold Star mother. You just don't do that. The pain is the same. The patriotism is the same. We care obviously.

CABRERA: I can hear that you are hurt. Was it the comments that Donald Trump made that sharpened your pain?

MCCAFFREY: It was quite irritating and out of place. Of course, it hurts because we have to go through -- we shouldn't defend ourselves. We shouldn't have to be here saying that this is wrong. We know the difference between right and wrong. So, now, this is completely out of place and should not have been said.

CABRERA: We just showed a clip of a man giving Donald Trump his Purple Heart at a campaign event today and Donald Trump commenting on receiving that Purple Heart, even though he didn't serve in the military himself. We know he had military deferments as a student. But clearly his recent comments involving the Khan family have not offended all military families. What's your reaction to Trump being given this man's Purple Heart?

MCCAFFREY: Well, people have the freedom of speech and the freedom of action. So whoever give that Purple Heart to Mr. Trump is, you know, it's his decision not mine. To me, a Purple Heart is sacred for what it represents and should not been given to anyone who didn't deserve one.

CABRERA: Did Donald Trump react in a way that you found appropriate?

MCCAFFREY: Donald Trump has the way of reacting because he really doesn't answer things that was very light, yes. And not recognizing how deep this gift really is to the veteran who gave him that. But again, it's the veteran's decision.

CABRERA: Nadia, before we go, tell us about your son Patrick. [12:54:59] MCCAFFREY: With pleasure. My son was again my only child.

He was 34 years old when he was shot and killed in an ambush in Balad, Iraq. He actually saved three lives that day and he enlisted just after 9/11.

He was managing a small corporation in Palo Alto, was very successful and amazing, he was going with the company, so, you know, actually he was just nominated general manager of the company. So he dropped everything when he saw 9/11. He had to do something. He had to do something.

And the best thing he thought of doing then was to enlist with the National Guards. But at the time he was not at all certain that he would be deployed because, as you know, the guards will not deploy to war. Patrick was actually the first National Guard to be killed from his unit since World War II.

CABRERA: I am so sorry to hear that. My heart is heavy, and I feel your pain as a mother myself. I cannot imagine a loss of a child. But he gave his life for all of us, our country, and we thank him for that and you as well. Nadia McCaffrey, we really appreciate you being here. Thank you.

MCCAFFREY: Thank you.

CABRERA: And thank you for watching LEGAL VIEW. Wolf starts right after a quick break.

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