Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Trump, Clinton Clash on National Security and Foreign Policy; Dallas Morning News Endorses Hillary Clinton; Trump Wants ISIS Plan in 30 Days If Elected; Clinton, Trump Battle Political Scandals. Aired 9- 9:30a ET

Aired September 07, 2016 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:32] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hey. Have a great day. Thanks so much. NEWSROOM starts now.

And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton clash on national security. In the crosshairs, their credentials. Trump says Clinton is a failed foreign policy leader. And when it comes to defeating ISIS, Clinton says Trump's plan is no plan. All of these setting the scene as the candidates participate in a national security forum today and as Trump gears up for a military speech in Philadelphia tonight.

Let's get right to CNN's Sara Murray. She's live in Greenville, North Carolina. Good morning.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, Carol. Well, we're seeing a little bit of a game of one-upmanship on who is best prepared to be Commander-in-Chief. And today, Hillary Clinton is trying to get one over Donald Trump. She's releasing a list of 95 retired military leaders who are backing her candidacy. Meanwhile, Trump has been lobbing sharp attacks her way, attacks we expect him to keep up today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She never talks about policy.

MURRAY (voice-over): Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton clashing over who is ready to be Commander-in-Chief.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He has no clue about what he is talking about.

MURRAY (voice-over): Trump, unveiling endorsements from nearly 90 retired U.S. military leaders and revealing his plan to demand a plan to take down ISIS.

TRUMP: We're going to convene my top generals and give them a simple instruction. They will have 30 days to submit to the Oval Office a plan for soundly and quickly defeating ISIS.

CLINTON: He says he has a secret plan to defeat ISIS, but the secret is, he has no plan.

MURRAY (voice-over): As Clinton warns Trump will lead the U.S. back to war.

CLINTON: When it comes to fighting ISIS, he has been all over the map. You would have to literally map it out. He's talked about letting Syria become a free zone for ISIS. Look at the map, Donald. He's talked about sending in American ground troops. Not on my watch.

MURRAY (voice-over): The Democratic nominee capitalizing on Trump's own words about veterans in this new ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: John McCain, a war hero.

TRUMP: He's not a war hero.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's a war hero. Five and half years in the --

TRUMP: He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY (voice-over): As she touts her own military supporters.

CLINTON: They know they cannot count on Donald Trump. They view him as a danger and a risk.

MURRAY (voice-over): But Trump continues to argue Clinton is the risky one.

TRUMP: Hillary Clinton favors what has been called military adventurism, rushing to invade countries, displacing millions of families and then inviting the refugees into our country, creating power vacuums filled by terrorist groups like ISIS.

MURRAY (voice-over): As the two rivals trade barbs over who qualifies as friend or foe.

TRUMP: Hillary likes to play tough with Russia. Putin looks at her and he laughs, OK. Russia doesn't like ISIS any better than we do. Wouldn't it be nice if we actually got along with Russia and we could knock them out together? Wouldn't that be a good thing?

CLINTON: We're going to work with our allies, not insult them. We're going to stand up to our adversaries, not cozy up to them.

MURRAY (voice-over): Trump also taking aim at Clinton's private e- mail server highlighting the FBI's revelation that one of her aides destroyed old phones with a hammer.

TRUMP: Very shady activity.

MURRAY (voice-over): And seizing on Clinton's repeated claim in her FBI interview that there were some details she just couldn't recall.

TRUMP: If she really can't remember, she can't be President. She doesn't member any -- were you instructed on how to use? I can't remember.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MURRAY: Now, Carol, we are getting more details of what we expect Donald Trump to talk about in his speech today in Philadelphia. In addition to calling for an end to the defense sequester, he's expected to outline how he will pay for that but also talk about how he plans to bolster the military. That includes adding fighter jets, adding surface ships, adding submarines. And he is certainly going to keep turning the heat up on Hillary Clinton. He is referring to his view of foreign policy as diplomacy and not destruction when compared to Clinton's, and he is also going to call her e-mail habits reckless. Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Sara Murray, reporting live from Greenville, North Carolina this morning. So let's talk about this. With me now, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, CNN Military Analyst and former Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe, and Major General Sidney Shachnow, a 40-year army veteran and Holocaust survivor. He organized a letter of support from 88 military officials who have endorsed Donald Trump. Welcome to both of you.

[09:05:04] General Shachnow, I'd like to start with you. Donald Trump wants to burnish his foreign policy credentials, but the "Dallas Morning Newspaper," for the first time in more than 75 years, has endorsed a Democrat and that would be Hillary Clinton.

Here's partially why. The paper's editorial board writes as Barack Obama's first Secretary of State, she, Clinton, helped make tough calls on the Middle East and the complex struggle against radical Islamic terrorism. It is no accident that hundreds of Republican foreign policy hands back Clinton.

So, General Shachnow, this is a Texas newspaper. Texas is a very red state. In fact, Mr. Trump leads in that state right now. So why would the "Dallas Newspaper" write that about Mr. Trump this morning?

RETIRED MAJOR GENERAL SIDNEY SHACHNOW, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, it is a judgment call. It's (inaudible) endorsement. Those people are going to make up their own minds based on the information they've been exposed at. They have their own opinion. I think we've bombarded for the information for years, it seems like and most people are suffering from information overload.

COSTELLO: So there --

SHACHNOW: At some point, you're going to have to make that decision. Why they did theirs, I can't tell.

COSTELLO: OK. And, General Hertling, you heard what Mr. Trump said in Sara Murray's story. If he becomes President, he says he'll convene his top general. He'll give them 30 days to submit a plan to defeat ISIS. Last night, you called that sophomoric. Trump supporters say you had your chance, you know, because you were in the field of battle combating ISIS and you failed. So how do you respond to that? RETIRED LIEUTENANT GENERAL MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well,

I would respond by saying that this is a generational fight, Carol. And when you do the analysis, as I have done of Mr. Trump's comments about what he would do against ISIS -- and that's just one of multiple national security issues -- he has ranged from waterboarding to putting a ring of soldiers around them and bombing their oil fields to bombing their families to destroying their families, to saying that he knows better than all the generals do about what to do about ISIS, and now he is saying, but now I'm going to give them 30 days to give me a plan for ISIS.

So from an analysis standpoint, I'm trying to figure out where he actually stands, and he has not said what he is going to do. It's a good step to certainly get military advice from your generals, but that's not what he has said in the past.

And indicators that I've seen, by watching Mr. Trump over the last year or so, is that he is not really willing to take advice. He has said that on multiple occasions, that he knows better than everybody else. So is he saying this because he believes people want to hear it, or is he saying it because he is really going to try and get the best minds to think about what they do? You're right, I have been --

COSTELLO: So let's ask --

HERTLING: -- in ops with many others, you know.

COSTELLO: I want to ask General Shachnow about that right now, because you heard what General Hertling just said. Donald Trump has said that he is for torturing terrorists, right? He has said that he is for killing the family members of terrorists. And now, you heard Sara Murray just say that Mr. Trump is now for diplomacy. So which is it, General Shachnow?

SHACHNOW: Well, you can't -- in effect (ph), I think that we are now so politically correct. Rules of engagement are so strict, and since World War II, we have not had a victory. We come up with relationships and understandings, but it is nothing like a victory in World War II. So the whole request for a plan to defeat, I have to probably take issue with it because I don't think we can come up with it. We don't have the resources. And we're probably (ph) --

COSTELLO: General Shachnow, just so that the audience understands, so by being politically correct and we haven't won since World War II, does that mean you're for things like torture or killing terrorists' families, and is that what you talked to Mr. Trump about?

SHACHNOW: No, I'm not for torture, but I am for saying the way things are. If we cannot defeat somebody, then we should admit that up front and not follow-up on it as if it's an attainable goal.

COSTELLO: So, General Hertling, I don't know if you caught that because I'm kind of having difficulty hearing because the General is on Skype, but Mr. Trump has also said in the past that he has a plan but he has to keep it secret because he doesn't want the enemy to know. Is that possible? [09:10:14] HERTLING: I'm sure it is possible in his mind, but, again, if he has a plan and he is now asking his generals to submit a plan within 30 days, there seems to be an indicator that Mr. Trump will say things to various audiences to get their approval. And when you take them in combination or synchronize all the elements of the things he said, to me, Carol, it just doesn't make sense.

And to comment on what General Shachnow said, everyone that signed the letter for Mr. Trump are great citizens. They are noble patriots. They have worn the cloth of their country. But I'm concerned that many of them may, like General Shachnow, thinks that this is a World War II environment. It is not.

We are talking about a war among the people, where people or where the enemy is not wearing uniform, and there requirements for rules of engagements to maintain the safety of innocent civilians as terrorists go among them. That makes this kind of conflict more challenging, much more difficult, and why it is a generational conflict against an ideology, very different from World War II when you have forces meeting forces on the battlefield.

COSTELLO: So, General Shachnow, do you agree with that?

SHACHNOW: Yes, I do. And I would point out that, right now, our military is in pretty bad shape. We're cannibalizing parts to keep the aircraft flying. The Chief of Staff of the army has testified that the army is at risk for any kind of a major engagement. So, you know, we have to recognize our limitations.

COSTELLO: And he is right about that, General Hertling. Some of the military's equipment isn't in the best shape and does need to replace. I mean, and even in personnel, we're lacking in personnel especially in the Air Force. They can't find enough pilots to fly the drones.

HERTLING: Well, that -- we are certainly faced with many challenges in all areas of the military today, Carol. You know that. We've been reporting that. But that's partly due to what our Congress has done with the result of sequestration and the budget cuts that we've been undertaking. The President is not going to affect that as we've seen.

What you have to do is look at a military that is strong enough to face the requirements that are conflicting with us on the world stage. It is more than ISIS. There are other things that I think we're going to hear a lot about in the debates today or the Commanders-in-Chief forum. And we're going to see which candidate has the best approach to all of the problems, not just ISIS, and there are many more challenges on the world stage.

And the military has been under a great deal of stress because of 16 years of war and a reduction in budget. And all the service chiefs have said that. That's a different problem than what we're talking about in terms of defeating ISIS.

COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, Major General Sidney Shachnow, thanks to both of you for being with me this morning. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, donation drama. Donald Trump slamming Hillary Clinton for pay to play politics, but now he is taking heat for the very same thing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:17:49] COSTELLO: Donald Trump fends off new attacks about pay for play politics. Hillary Clinton now accusing Trump of essentially paying off and covering up a $25,000 donation he made to the Florida attorney general. At the same time, her office was considering a fraud investigation against Trump University.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The list goes on and on, the scams, the frauds, the questionable relationships. The business activities that have stiffed workers, refused to pay small businesses. So clearly, his tax returns tell a story that the American people deserve and need to know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: This isn't the first time Mr. Trump has come under fire for violating campaign finance laws. So, let's find out the scoop.

CNN senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny is here.

Good morning.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol.

I mean, Donald Trump has often railed against what he calls a rigged political system. This morning, a fresh reminder he has been part of the system for a long time. But it is that $25,000 donation from his foundation initially to the Florida attorney general in 2013 that is receiving fresh scrutiny, because it came just as her office was set to review allegations of fraud at Trump University.

Now, foundations, of course, are not allowed to make contributions, so he was slapped with a $2,500 fine by the IRS. He later wrote a check himself to Bondi. But it does offers a new reminder Trump has been giving to politicians for a long time and he's often been pretty blunt about what he may get out of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I've given to Hillary, I've given to everybody. Because that was my job. I got to give to them. Because when I want something, I get it. When I call, they kiss my ass, OK? It's true. They kiss my ass.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: That was Trump turning the Iowa caucuses, getting what he gets sometimes from these contributions. But back to the Florida case, he said he never discussed this case with the Florida attorney general, but has held fund-raisers for her and is a big supporter of his. She said her office was never planning to investigate per se, so the Clinton campaign is still seizing on this, Carol.

[09:20:00] Carol, it's an attempt to go back to offense here, but "The New York Times" is reporting a long list of examples fines Trump has received going back 30 years for evading limits on contributions or violating campaign laws. You can see there in front of us here.

So, Carol, I think an example of pay for play, perhaps did not just come from one side of the aisle here, but both.

COSTELLO: Just to clarify, this a complicated case. The attorney general's attorney in Florida was investigating Trump University for defrauding students, right? So, at some point, the Trump charitable donated $25,000 to Pam Bondi. She claims she didn't even know her office was investigated Trump U.

ZELENY: Exactly.

COSTELLO: And then four days later, the attorney general's office to do what, just drop the case?

ZELENY: She dropped the case. They weren't alone. There were actually a lot of attorneys general across the country that declined to investigate it. This was after the New York attorney general decided to investigate fraud cases.

So there was discussion in the Florida attorney general's office into this, they decided not to, and her office says it was by lower level aides inside the office, but she is in control of what the office does. But again, the reason it came to light it, was a check initially sent to the foundation, charitable foundation, which is a no-no. You cannot give money to politicians.

COSTELLO: He was fined for that, right?

ZELENY: In fact, indeed, $2,500.

COSTELLO: So, there was wrongdoing found out and his foundation paid a fine.

ZELENY: That's correct.

COSTELLO: OK. Jeff Zeleny, thanks for making it clear to our audience.

ZELENY: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: I appreciate that.

So, let's talk about this. I'm joined by CNN politics executive editor Mark Preston, and CNN political analyst and national political reporter for "The New York Times," Alex Burns. So, Mark, you heard what Mr. Trump said in that sound bite that we

played. Sure, I gave money to politicians all the time, so that I could get what I want. He also said there is a difference from being a payer versus player.

In other words, it is OK to pay for favors, but it is not okay to be the politician receiving the money, because politicians should be held to a higher standard. Is that logical in your mind?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Well, it is interesting, going back about 18 months, and Donald Trump really made this a point during the Republican primary. When he was on the debate stage with others, listen, I could buy you, or you were seeking a donation from me. You know, you need my money. This is what I did to try to do. I am a businessman, I am a businessman. That seemed to resonate during the primary.

You fast forward, we talked yesterday about the CNN/ORC poll which had amazing and good findings for Donald Trump. One of those, who is more honest and trustworthy, and right now, Donald Trump, if you look at registered voters across the country, he has a 15 point advantage over Hillary Clinton. And this is driving Democrats crazy, because they say that Donald Trump will say whatever he wants to say one day change his mind the next day and they don't understand why voters are not understanding that.

COSTELLO: Well, here is one reason why voters might not be understanding that, Alex, Donald Trump came out and said during the primary, look, I know the system is rigged. I played the system. Like, I took advantage of it.

So, you could say that Donald Trump has told the truth about his alleged wrongdoings.

ALEX BURNS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think when people say in polls that they consider Trump the more honest candidate, they mean that he is the blunter, less filtered candidate, right, that he says what's on his mind, regardless whether it is politically expedient.

But, Carol, I think you're now seeing the real tension between Trump and the primary and Trump in the general election, it is all well and good when you're trying to prove that you're savvy outsider who can work your way around Washington. To make those kinds boasts about politicians sucking up to you.

But look, now you're actually, during the primary, he was only able to come up with one instance of a politician doing something for him based on his contributions, and that was Hillary Clinton going to his wedding, which is not exactly, you know, the kind of favor that you typically imagine people paying a politicians for. Him coming under eater scrutiny, now that we're in general election, now that Hillary Clinton is fully engaged as a general election opponent, there are more questions to answer about this relationship with the Florida attorney general.

COSTELLO: But here's a thing, and Larry Sabato said this yesterday. He said politicians are held to a higher standard because they use taxpayer money, they are they are beholden to the people in a way that business people are not?

PRESTON: Right. And there's a level of corruption that I think that the voters here are extremely frustrated. If we look over the past five to ten years, we've seen several U.S. congressmen go to jail for participating in taking bribes or pay to play instances.

However, Donald Trump is running for president of the United States now. And as Alex said he'll come under more scrutiny for not only this, but other past practices in what he has tried to do to get things done. So, at this point in the campaign, he seems to have an edge over Hillary Clinton when it comes to being honest and trustworthy, but that could change very quickly. I think we'll see when we come up on the first debate later this month, this will be hashed out on the debate stage.

COSTELLO: Well, here's the other way to look at it, Alex. What guarantee do voters have that Donald Trump won't run the government just like he has run his businesses?

BURNS: Well, in some ways, that's the typical argument that a businessman running for president or any public office would make -- let's run the state of New York like a business, let's run the city of New York like a business, and it is a little tricky for Trump to make that argument, because Democrats have been happy so far, his opponents in the Republican Party so far, look how this man runs his business. Do you want your government working like that?

Again, this is just an instance where Trump is going to need to be a lot more specific about his practices in the private sector and how they would carry over into a potential Trump White House.

COSTELLO: All right, I have to leave it there.

Mark Preston, Alex Burns, thank you to both of you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM: Donald Trump may not be talking about his birther attacks, but do you think he's going to apologize for his birther attacks on President Obama? Ben Carson says he should. We'll talk about that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)