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Obama Visits Louisiana; Speaks with Press; Trump Calls for Special Prosecutor. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired August 23, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama's response to one of the country's worst natural disasters in recent history. In fact, let's listen in. Here's the president.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Another - another member of Congress here?

Well, to begin with, I just want to say thank you to the outstanding officials behind me who have been on the ground working 24/7 since this flood happened.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Tell me when everybody's -- everybody's all lined up. All -- we got another -- another member of Congress here.

Well, to begin with, I just want to say thank you to the outstanding officials behind me who have been on the ground working 24/7 since this flood happened.

It begins with outstanding leadership from the top, with Governor John Bel Edwards, and we very much appreciate all the outstanding work he's done. His better half, the first lady of Louisiana, I know has been by his side every step of the way and we are grateful for her. I know they've got their own cleaning up to do because the governor's mansion was flooded as well.

In addition, I want to acknowledge Senator Bill Cassidy, Senator David Vitter, Representative Gary Graves, Representative Cedric Richmond, the mayor of Baton Rouge, Kip Holden, and somebody who I can't brag enough about, one of the best hires I've made as president, the administrator of FEMA, Craig Fugate, who has done such an outstanding job not just in dealing with this particular incident, but has really rebuilt FEMA so that there's a change of culture.

And everybody knows that when a disaster happens, FEMA's going to be there on the ground cooperating with state and local officials rapidly and with attention to detail and keeping the families who have been affected uppermost in their minds. So we very much appreciate everything Craig's done. It's hard, by the way, for Craig to be here because he's a Florida Gator and he's been seeing a lot of LSU T- shirts as we've been passing by.

I just had a chance to see some of the damage from the historic floods here in Louisiana. I come here, first and foremost, to say that the prayers of the entire nation are with everybody who lost loved ones. We are heartbroken by the loss of life. There are also people who are still desperately trying to track down friends and family. We're going to keep on helping them every way that we can.

As I think anybody who can see just the streets, much less the inside of the homes here, people's lives have been upended by this flood. Local businesses have suffered some terrible damage. Families have, in some cases, lost homes. They have certainly lost possessions, priceless keepsakes.

I was just speaking to a young woman whose husband died shortly after the birth of her second child and she was talking about how her daughter was trying to gather all of the keepsakes that she had in her bedroom that reminded her of her father. And -- and that gives you some sense that this is not just about property damage, this is about people's roots.

You also have a situation where there are a lot of kids who are supposed to start a new school year, and they're going to need some special help and support for a while.

Sometimes when these kinds of things happen, it can seem a little bit too much to bear, but I want the people of Louisiana to know is that you're not alone on this. Even after the TV cameras leave, the whole country is going to continue to support you and help you until we get folks back in their homes and lives are rebuilt. And the reason I can say that with confidence is because that's what Americans do in times like this.

I saw it when I visited this place, Louisiana's (ph) when I came down here as a senator after Katrina. I saw it when I visited New Orleans for the 10th anniversary last year. I know how resilient the people of Louisiana are and I know that you will rebuild again, and what I've seen today proves it.

I want to thank all the first responders, the National Guard, all the good neighbors who were in a boat going around and making sure people were safe, showing extraordinary heroism, and in some cases, risking their own lives. Governor Edwards, the state of Louisiana, the city, the parish governments (ph), they've all stepped up under incredibly difficult circumstances.

You know, I just want to thank the people on this block. As I was walking down, one woman at the end, elderly, she was on her own. She had just lost her daughter. Yet a young man next door who was helping out his father but had also offered to help out that neighbor so that she could salvage as much as she could and start the process of rebuilding.

With respect to the federal response, over a week ago I directed the federal government to mobilize and do everything we could to help. FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate arrived here a week ago to help lead that effort. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson visited last week to make sure state and local officials are getting what they need.

To give you a sense of the magnitude of the situation here, more than 100,000 people have applied for federal assistance so far. As of today, federal support has reached $127 million. That's for help like temporary rental assistance, essential home repairs, and flood insurance payments.

FEMA is also working with Louisiana around the clock to help people who are displaced by floods find temporary housing. And any Louisiana family that needs help, you can find your nearest disaster recovery center by visiting FEMA.gov or calling 1-800-621-FEMA. I'm going to repeat that: FEMA.gov or 1-800-621-FEMA.

Now, federal assistance alone is not going to be enough to make people's lives whole again. So I'm asking every American to do what you can to help get families and local businesses back on their feet. If you want help -- if you want to help, Governor Edwards has put together some ways to start at volunteerlouisiana.gov. That's volunteerlouisiana.gov.

And the reason this is important is because even though federal money is moving out, volunteer help actually helps the state because it can offset some of its costs. Obviously, private donations are going to be extremely important as well.

We want to thank the Red Cross for everything they're doing, but there are a lot of private philanthropic organizations, churches, parishes, around the state and around the country who want to help as well. And that's how we're going to make sure that everybody is able to get back on their feet.

So, let me just remind folks, sometimes once the floodwaters pass, people's attention spans pass. This is not a one-off. This is not a photo op issue. This is how do you make sure that a month from now, three months from now, six months from now, people still are getting the help that they need. I need all Americans to stay focused on this. If you're watching this today, make sure that you find out how you can help. You can go to volunteerslouisiana.gov, or you can go to FEMA.gov. We'll tell you -- we'll direct you. You can go to WhiteHouse.gov, and we'll direct you how you can help.

All right? But we're going to need to stay on this because these are some good people down here. We're glad that the families I had a chance to meet are safe. But, you know, they've got a lot of work to do. And they shouldn't have to do it alone.

All right? Thank you very much, everybody. God bless you.

QUESTION: (inaudible)

[14:08:29] BALDWIN: All right, so the president there speaking just for a couple of minutes. Obviously saying Louisiana - oh, hang on, let's go back.

OBAMA: What you have is, you know, the Stafford Act provides a certain match. A lot of the homes have flood insurance, but a lot of homes don't. And what Craig Fugate is doing, what I instructed him to do from the start, is let's get money out as fast as we can because we know that there's going to be a certain amount of assistance that's going to be forthcoming.

So there's no point in waiting. We've got to make initial estimates when we start pushing stuff out. That helps us and helps the governor and all these officials here do their jobs. And then what we have to do is, as we fine-tune exactly what's needed, when we know, for example, how much permanent housing is going to have to be built; when we have a better sense of how much infrastructure has been damaged; what more we need to do in terms of mitigation strategies. That's when Congress, I think, may be called upon to do some more.

Now, the good news is is that you've got four members of Congress right here. And a number of them happen to be in the majority. So, I suspect that, you know, they -- they may be able to talk to the speaker and talk to Mitch McConnell. But in part because of the fine stewardship at FEMA and frankly, because we've been a little lucky so far, and I'm going to knock on some wood, in terms of the amount of money that's gone out this year, FEMA has enough money for now to cover the costs that can be absorbed.

The issue is going to be less what we need to do in terms of paying for the short-term. It's going to be the medium-term and the long- term rebuilding.

Congress should be in -- back in session right after Labor Day. By that time we'll probably have a better assessment.

And in the meantime, lawyers at FEMA will be examining what statutory flexibility we've got. And I know the governor's been right on top of making sure that Louisiana gets everything that it can get in order to help rebuild.

QUESTION: Mr. President, do you worry about that (inaudible) becoming politicized or the trip here becoming politicized?

OBAMA: No, I don't.

First of all, one of the benefits of being five months short of leaving here is I don't worry too much about politics.

The second thing I have seen historically, is that, you know, when disasters strike, that's probably one of the few times where Washington tends not to get political.

You know, I guarantee you, nobody on this block, none of those first responders -- nobody gives a hoot whether you're a Democrat or a Republican. What they care about is making sure they're getting the drywall out, the carpet out, there's not any mold building, they get some contractors in here and they start rebuilding as quick as possible.

That's what they care about. That's what I care about.

So, you know, we want to make sure that we do it right. We want to make sure that we do it systematically.

But the one thing I just want to repeat is how proud I am of FEMA, because if you think about the number of significant natural disasters that have occurred since my presidency began, you'd be hard pressed to find a local official anywhere in the country, including those in the other party, who wouldn't say that Craig Fugate and his team have been anything less than exemplary and professional.

And one of the things I did when I walked through each of these homes was ask, "Have you contacted FEMA? Have you filed?" And uniformly they said that they had been in touch with FEMA. They had acted professionally. Some of them had already been out here for inspections.

And I think that does indicate why it's important for us to take the federal government seriously, federal workers seriously.

There's a tendency sometimes for us to bash them and to think that they're these faceless bureaucrats. But when you get into trouble, you want somebody who knows what they're doing, who's on the ground, working with outstanding officials. And that's true whatever party.

And I could not be prouder of the work that FEMA's done.

That doesn't mean that there aren't going to still be folks who need more help, and that we're not going to have some constraints statutorily, and Congress isn't going to have to step up. But it does mean that the basic backbone, the basic infrastructure and architecture that we have in terms of disaster response I think has been high quality.

And I'm very proud of them for that. And I want to publicly acknowledge that at the moment.

All right? Thank you, guys.

[14:13:26] BALDWIN: Just wanted to make sure we caught the tail end of that. The president was answering just a couple of questions. But, you know, first and foremost, his message to Louisianans, and we're about to talk to two of them, the fact that you're not alone. You know, we have your back, the federal government, huge props to FEMA, Craig Fugate, he's been around a long time. He was on the ground last week, as was Jeh Johnson, you know, when those calls began to have the president come, they were there. The federal government was there on the ground. And so you have the gut-wrenching story of the tens of thousands of homes just gone.

And we'll continue to watch - sorry, say it again? OK. We're just taking photos. I'm just going to talk over these here as he's been meeting a number of young folks and folks who have been in Baton Rouge for a long, long time just essentially saying, we're with you.

Let me also add, though, the politics of all of this, as we'll get into in a moment. The president's one line that I jotted down - this is not a photo-op issue, right? A jab, perhaps, to Donald Trump himself who flew down there last week with his running mate and donated a 18-wheeler full of items for folks who needed them.

Two other notes before I bring in my reporter. In addition to visiting this flood-ravaged area of Louisiana, he also took time today to meet with families of those slain police officers from last month, the three who were killed, three were shot, and also Alton Sterling's family meeting with him as well.

So, that said, let me first bring in Nick Valencia. He is down there in Denham Springs, Louisiana, one of the hardest hit areas by these floods.

And, Nick, what is the sense you have from folks who you are talking to about the president coming to them today?

[14:15:08] NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a bit of a mixed reaction, Brooke. Some people don't want to touch politics at all. They just really don't want to talk about it. They'd rather focus on their homes, their personal possessions, trying to figure out what they do next and where they go. Others, however, have been a lot more vocal, including the local newspaper here, "The Advocate," which penned a blistering op-ed against the president saying that they didn't need another 2005 moment, what happened with George W. Bush after Katrina, the flyover the state of Louisiana, rather than an actual on the ground visit. And the criticism from some residents has been pretty vocal, saying too little, too late. The president should have cut his trip short. This, however, should be underscored that the governor here in Louisiana asked for some time before the president showed up so that he would not distract from the operations here on the ground.

By and large, though, we think people really would rather not focus on the politics here, at least from the residents we've spoken to. They're too busy cleaning up their homes. Just a block down here in Livingston Parish, perhaps the hardest hit area here of the nine parishes, you have tens of thousands of homes, Brooke, an estimated 60,000 homes, and I think that's on the low end. You'll probably see that estimate increase. And I know we've talked about this over the course of the last week, our CNN teams have been here, there's 13 people that have been killed by this flood. But when you talk to the first responders and those that are helping out the residents, that really does not speak to just how vast and wide the scope of the damage was here. You have nine parishes affected by this all together, and ten days - more than ten days removed from this major rain event that caused this catastrophic flooding, you just now have homes that are starting to dry out.

The next steps here, of course, are what happens to the school systems. In East Baton Rouge Parish, where the president is, those schools will return on September 6th. Here in Livingston Parish, where I am, just a few miles away, arguably the hardest hit out of all the nine parishes, there is still no estimate as far as when the kids will go back to school here.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: And the president brought that up, and to his point, the school kids, the teachers, they need help as well.

We'll stay on these pictures - VALENCIA: Yes.

BALDWIN: As you see the president shaking some hands - thank you, Nick Valencia - shaking some hands, you know, saying thank you to the first responders, to the National Guard, who have rushed in and who have been there really from the get-go.

So, how are people who live there feeling about all of this? Let's talk to Jarvis DeBerry, a columnist for nola.com and "The Times- Picayune," and Rene Singleton, the coordinator for Together Baton Rouge, and a volunteer in the Louisiana flood zone. You live there in mid city in Baton Rouge. So, Rene, if I may, let me just begin with you. I mean you're leading this effort right now. Clean-up efforts for folks who have lost homes. We just heard from the president of the United States. How do you view his trip to your hometown?

RENE SINGLETON, TOGETHER BATON ROUGE: I'm definitely grateful for it. I think that he was inspirational and I know it was heart-felt. I think he was very, very sincere. I'm more grateful for the fact that he was immediate in his response to our governor and that he declared us the disaster area because that's what allowed federal funds to be - to be released to provide aid for people. I think that's a more salient point than anything else.

BALDWIN: And the criticism of the vacation, the photos of him playing golf were all - while all of you were cleaning up, although the governor - you know, Governor Edwards said, hang on, sir, wait a week. Your response to that?

SINGLETON: Well, that was - that's - that's the only thing that he could do is to respond to what our governor requested of him. That was the reasonable response. And you can certainly understand why the governor did that. And so Mr. Obama responded in - I think in the right way. And I'm sure that he coordinated the timing of his trip with our governor. There's nothing else to be done about that. That was reasonable.

BALDWIN: You say it's reasonable. Jarvis, to you. You're in New Orleans. I know it was 11 - what, 11 years ago this month when Katrina happened, when you lost your home. You actually sought refuge in Baton Rouge then. And as a columnist for "The Picayune," you've written about the president's visit and you wrote, "symbolism matters." What do you mean by that?

JARVIS DEBERRY, COLUMNIST, NOLA.COM/"TIMES-PICAYUNE": Well, I agree with your others guest that the federal response was a whole lot different than it was in 2005. And that that is the most important thing. The president said that Craig Fugate was his best hire during his term in office and I don't think that there is anybody who would actually disagree with that. I think Mr. Fugate and FEMA have both been outstanding, not just in this crisis, but throughout the president's tenure.

However, the point I was making in the column is that we, as Americans, have developed an expectation that when we are suffering, that our president will pay attention to us. And there is something that is slightly discomforting about the president being on vacation when people are suffering. And I say that acknowledging that everybody needs a break and the leader of the free world has a lot of issues and would need to take a break every now and then.

[14:20:18] But the president went on a fundraiser on August 15th, and he said that his wife gave him permission to do so because that was important. And it just contrasts the fact that he did not - or just highlights the fact that he did not come to Louisiana. And I would think most people would say that what was happening here was more important than a fundraiser.

BALDWIN: We are in the thick of, in addition to this, you know, horrible natural disaster in Baton Rouge, it's an election year. The president himself just said nobody gives a hoot if you are a Democrat or a Republican.

So, Rene, my question to you is, we saw Donald Trump and Mike Pence, his running mate, down there a couple of days ago, donated an 18- wheeler full of items. Do you give him credit for that?

SINGLETON: Certainly I would give him credit for that. I think everything that helps, does help and we're certainly grateful for it.

BALDWIN: Hillary Clinton has said that she will visit Louisiana, quote, "at a time when the presence of a political campaign will not disrupt the response." You know, I don't know if you've made up your mind, Rene, as far as who you're voting for, but would you like to see Hillary Clinton come down sooner rather than later?

SINGLETON: Well, I don't think that's the issue. I don't think sooner or later is the issue. I do think that what she brings would be the issue. And if there's - there's aid to be given and aid to be had by her visit, I would certainly welcome it. I think that it would be timely whenever it happens.

This is going to take a long time to affect, you know, a change for everybody. As you heard the president say, there were over 100,000 people who were affected. So I can't say that within the foreseeable future if she comes with aid, we would certainly be delighted and welcome it.

BALDWIN: And, Rene, I'd like to stay with you because, flooding aside, I know that, you know, the president, as I mentioned, is also meeting today with the family members of the slain police officers in baton rouge and also the relatives of Alton Sterling. And Together Baton Rouge, this group was around a long before this flood, you know, working to help heal racial disparity, wounds in Baton Rouge. What would you like the president to say or address with regard to those issues in your city?

SINGLETON: Like, I don't - I don't want to comment on what he should say or what he should address, but I do think it is very, very important for our community to come together because whether the president comes or not, it's us, the adults, the citizens of Baton Rouge, who will have to affect the change. And it's going to have to happen with us, from within us. It will have to be our will working across the lines that typically divide us across racial lines, across economic and educational lines, across religious divides. We have got to - we have - what we have to destroy is the divide, and that's work for the citizen of Baton Rouge to do.

We've been passing out our Together Baton Rouge pins. I'm surprised that so many people want them because they have been symbolic since the very, very first misfortune that befell our community and that was the death of Mr. Sterling. And we have wanted to come together and we've been working to come together. And I really have to say again, that, to me, is the most important thing that we, the citizens and the leaders of Baton Rouge, do that work.

BALDWIN: OK. Just quickly, Jarvis, final - final thought from you?

DEBERRY: Oh, well, I just think, again, that it is a good thing that the president came today and I don't want to lose sight that he did come and focus all the attention on the fact of how long it took him to come. And I think one of the most important things that he said is that this is going to last for a long time. It takes people a very, very long time to recover from such an event as this. And I think he was making a plea preemptively for people not to claim fatigue, that we are tired of dealing with the people in Louisiana, because that's what the people in New Orleans felt that at a certain point of the calendar, people thought that they were just tired of dealing with us and tired of thinking about the problems that we were still facing.

BALDWIN: Felt forgotten and shouldn't feel that way. And I know they need the help very badly. Go to cnn.com/impact for ways you can help the folks in Baton Rouge. Jarvis DeBerry and Rene Singleton, thank you both so much. I appreciate both of your voices there.

DEBERRY: Thank you.

SINGLETON: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

BALDWIN: And coming up next here, the Clinton campaign under pressure as Donald Trump is calling for a special prosecutor to look into the Clinton Foundation and what he calls a pay-for-play enterprise.

Also, the line we keep hearing from Donald Trump, "what do you have to lose?" He continues to reach out both to African-American and Hispanic voters. We'll talk about how that message is being received.

[14:25:07] And just in to CNN, we're hearing that Russian hackers have hit major news organizations today, including "The New York Times," and others. That is ahead.

I'm Brooke Baldwin and this is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Just about the bottom of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Seventy-six days to go until Election Day and the Clinton campaign is

once again facing the drip, drip, drip, and the tough questions, about an issue that won't seem to go away. E-mails sent from a private server during her time as secretary of state. A federal judge has ordered some 15,000 documents from newly discovered e-mails and documents on Clinton's private server to be reviewed and released in October just a couple weeks shy of that election. Now her ties to the Clinton Foundation coming under increased scrutiny as Donald Trump is calling for the foundation to be shut down, return donations. Mr. Trump claiming Secretary Clinton is guilty of what he - he is referring to as pay-for-play, accusing her of granting favors while she was at State in exchange for donations to the Clinton Foundation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The amounts involved, the favors done and the significant number of times it was done require an expedited investigation by a special prosecutor, immediately, immediately, immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's go straight to Jeff Zeleny, our senior Washington correspondent. And we'll get to Trump's response here in just a second, but I want examples. I want you to be specific as far as what's in these e-mails and this access that apparently was granted.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Some access was granted, Brooke, and some access was not granted. We have examples of both in there. And we do have a look at a few of these e-mails that were released yesterday by Judicial Watch. This is the conservative watchdog group that has filed suit for all of these e-mails. So some of those e-mails were released. We believe they are contained in the amount that you said, some 15,000 documents. Some are e-mails. Some are not.

[14:29:42] But let's take a look at just a couple of these that really show you the inner workings of Washington and how it worked with the foundation and the Clinton State Department. Let's look at these e- mails. It's from Doug Band, who is a - a long-time adviser to President Clinton, an executive at the Clinton Foundation. He says, "CP of Bahrain," the crown prince of Bahrain, "in tomorrow to Friday asking to see her. Good friend of ours." He was sending this to Huma Abedin, the long-time aide to Hillary Clinton. She was her advisor at the State Department. She says, "I'm offering Bahrain, the crowed prince, 10 tomorrow for meeting with her HRC."