Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Clinton Emails in Focus at House Hearing; Trump: U.S. "Generals Reduced to Rubble." Obama: Trump Not Qualified to be President. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired September 08, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: --things when Donald Trump said last night that the intelligence briefers that he met with suggested that they believe that the negotiations over Iran were mishandled by the administration. She said that was irresponsible. That was reckless of Donald Trump. So this is a big reason why Hillary Clinton believes it's finally appropriate to come forward and have press conferences because she believes she can go on the offensive, particularly after things that -- Donald Trump said last night, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: So let's just take two steps back, Julian. Was it surprising that Hillary Clinton chose to talk to reporters on the morning after this - town hall on MSNBC and before she's off to North Carolina?

JULIAN ZELIZER, HISTORIAN AND PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: No, it's not. At this point, she's been under a lot of criticism from her staying away from the press. I think she's heard the criticism. And I think there's an effort now to show that she's open to that kind of communication. And I think many people thought that the forum was not handled well and that she got the kinds of questions and issues that Donald Trump didn't. And I think she wants to make her case, both about the substance of what he says but also about his confidence to be the leader of this country.

COSTELLO: And before we dig into substantive issues, Jeff, I just wanted to ask you about one thing because it did strike me that Hillary Clinton was trying to joke with reporters. She was trying to sound like she was buddies with some of those reporters. I found that interesting. I don't think that we have Jeff Zeleny's phone connection so - are you - oh, good.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I do have you, Carol, if you can hear me. Sure, at the end of that news conference, she definitely was being a little bit playful there with -- her press staff was trying to cut short the news conference. And Andrea Mitchell of NBC News had a question and that was the exchange you saw there with Secretary Clinton. But the question, in fact, was a very interesting and good one at elicited that response you saw there at the end. Carol, I think the big takeaway from this -- this is a brand-new moment in this campaign. She's not going to let a moment of time, a single word that Donald Trump says, go unanswered now. This is all about the judgment. And they do not -- the Clinton campaign does not want to allow him any latitude, any leeway to, you know, tell voters that he has -- but if you look at what she said, calling a Bipartisan National Security meeting tomorrow, saying that Ronald Reagan would be astonished at Donald Trump's comments about Vladimir Putin here. I think that -- this is a very presidential moment I guess for this campaign. She was very strong in her language, perhaps stronger than we've heard her ever before on Donald Trump.

COSTELLO: And what's interesting, Manu, you're on Capitol Hill to cover a hearing on Hillary Clinton's e-mails on the House Oversight Committee which is led by Republicans. Here's Hillary Clinton out at the airport talking about national security. And we haven't heard yet from Donald Trump yet this morning.

RAJU: Yes, that's right. And in that hearing, they're going to begin to hammer away on Hillary Clinton's e-mail use. Of course, we've seen house Republicans do this before, but this is the beginning of three hearings today, two next week by that House Oversight Committee to question her judgment. So, just as Jeff noted that Hillary Clinton is trying to show - that she has the judgment to be president, she does not want to give -- Donald Trump an inch. A lot of Donald Trump allies on Capitol Hill are trying to paint her as the one who is reckless by the way she handled her e-mails. And that's going to be a big focus on Capitol Hill going forward. We'll see how she deals with it after more revelations potentially come out because of these hearings, Carol.

COSTELLO: OK, so something else came up in Hillary Clinton's impromptu news conference. Although I suspect it was probably planned, right? But Reince Priebus, the RNC chair, tweeted this last night, after this town hall was over where both candidates were talking about national security. He tweeted "Hillary Clinton was angry and defensive the entire time. No smile and uncomfortable. Upset she was caught wrongly sending our secrets." So one of those reporters at that press gaggle there, at the Westchester Airport, asked Hillary Clinton about that. This is how she responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I'm going to let all of you ponder that last question. I think there will be a lot of Ph.D. thesis and popular journalism writing on that subject for years to come. I don't take my advice and I don't take anything seriously that comes from the RNC.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Mark, it was kind of a strange thing for Reince Priebus to tweet out that she didn't smile when these particular topics were being discussed last night.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Yes, no doubt. I mean, look at the Republicans, right now, are trying to fight a two-front war with Hillary Clinton. One, as we're seeing here on Capitol Hill today, is that they're saying that she is reckless and should not be Commander-in-Chief. At the same time, they're trying to hammer home this idea she's not very likable. However, the timing of that tweet, to your point, was really probably not the right time to do it given the gravity and the nature and the discussion of topics that they were discussing last night. Hillary Clinton herself has addressed the fact she is battling the idea of being

[10:05:16] honest and trustworthy. And at times, she can come off as very wooden and maybe not very warm. But, again, an ill-timed comment given the gravity of what was being discussed last night.

COSTELLO: And we did look for that tweet again this morning from Reince Priebus and he did take that tweet down so perhaps he had second thoughts about it. I don't know. I haven't talked to him. It just appears that way to me at the moment. Julian, is this what we're going to expect going forward, there will be a press conference by Hillary Clinton, she'll answer questions by reporters, then fly off on her plane, and then maybe Donald Trump will respond in kind?

ZELIZER: Well, this will be part of the rhythm of the campaign. You know, the last few weeks, she's been relatively absent. And I think that's predictable. August is often a quiet month post conventions. I think you're going to see more of her. I think she's going to hit harder. And I think she is going to be more forthcoming in calling out issues involving gender when she sees them. That's what the tweet was about. That's the criticism about last night's forum. And she will raise that question. And we have to remember, Trump is doing not so well with Republican women. And I think that's another strategic issue that's going on in this campaign.

COSTELLO: And, Jeff --

RAJU: Carol -

COSTELLO: Go ahead.

RAJU: Carol, and also, these press conferences also a task of acknowledgement -- from the Clinton campaign that in the last few weeks have not gone particularly well for her. I mean, Donald Trump has narrowed the margin. Some of national polls we saw that, CNN, ORC poll this week, some battleground states as well, a realization that Trump has had a more disciplined campaign over the last weeks and maybe it's time for a bit of a shift in the campaign strategy and going on the offensive like this, is part of that effort, Carol.

COSTELLO: And Jeff, I did want to ask you this question, because when Hillary Clinton started her press conference, she started right away naming the Republican generals and secretaries of state that supported her in this campaign. She said she was going to talk with them. She immediately said that she was going to go hunt down the leader of ISIS just as Osama Bin Laden was going to be hunted down. Why did she choose to start that particular way?

ZELENY: Well, Carol, I think she chose to start that way because, I mean, she wants to be as specific as she can be here. And by, you know, continuing on this, you know, the themes of strength and judgment, that's what she is trying to convey. I mean, it is -- we've not had a situation like this before where, A. She is running for essentially, a third Democratic term here. B. I mean, she has - she's the only one who of course was in this situation room on the night of the Bin Laden discussion. By saying that about the leaders of ISIS, that she hopes at least it reminds voters of her strength on national security. And yes there are -- some people have questions about her judgment and other things. But she has indeed been in the room. So she is trying to make that distinction every time, every way she can, with Donald Trump. But I thought as she closed this news conference, so interesting, Carol, how she said "I love this country, I will do everything I can to make Donald Trump not get elected." She's trying to present this as more of a, for good of country rather than for Hillary Clinton. That of course is one of her challenges here. With some voters who frankly don't like her. She has to win some of them over. That's what she's trying to do here with these specific questions about national security and who has the better plan and judgment to be the next Commander-in-Chief, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Jeff Zeleny, Mark Preston, Manu Raju, Julian Zelizer, thanks to all of you. All right, if you're just joining us, well, you might have -- noticed, it's a wild morning in politics this morning. On Capitol Hill, a house hearing just kicking off and Republicans ready to rip into Hillary Clinton over her e-mails again. It's going on right now, there you see it. This after Democrats released a bombshell e-mail exchange between former Secretary of State, Colin Powell and Hillary Clinton. Also this morning, President Obama slamming Donald Trump as unqualified, hours after the GOP candidate ripped into the president's policies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think under the leadership of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the generals have been reduced to rubble. They have been reduced to a point where it's embarrassing for our country. You have a force of 30,000 or so people, nobody really knows, but probably 30,000 people, and I can just see the great, as an example, General George Patton, spinning in his grave.

REPORTER: Last night, sir, Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin has been more of a leader than you and then he said you have reduced American generals to rubble. Do you care to defend your legacy?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Do I care to defend - OK. OK. Respond.

[10:10:16] Got it. As far as Mr. Trump, I think I've already offered my opinion. I don't think the guy's qualified to be president of the United States. And every time he speaks, that opinion is confirmed. And I think the most important thing for the public and the press is to just listen to what he says and follow-up and ask questions about what it appears to be either contradictory or uninformed or outright wacky ideas. There is this process that seems to take place over the course of the election season where somehow behavior that in normal times we would consider completely unacceptable and outrageous becomes normalized. And people start thinking that we should be grading on a curve. But I can tell you from the interactions that I've had over the last eight or nine days with foreign leaders that this is serious business. You actually have to know what you're talking about. And you actually have to -- have done your homework. And when you speak, it should actually reflect thought-out policy that you can implement. And I have confidence that if, in fact, people just listen to what he has to say and look at his track record or lack thereof that they'll make a good decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Joining me now to talk about this and more, Jason Beardsley, an Iraq war veteran who served in the U.S. Army Special Operations Forces. Raymond Curtis, also an Iraq war veteran. And Scott Mann, a former Green Beret in the Army Special Forces and author of "Game Changers: Going Local to Defeat Violent Extremists." Welcome to all of you. -- Thank you so much for being here. There's a lot happening this morning, so let's get right to it. I want to take you back to last night and the national security forum. Donald Trump said our generals have been reduced to rubble. He offered no plan at all. He says -- he is keeping his plan secret. Listen. All right, so we don't have that and I apologize. But Donald Trump says he's not going to release his plan as of yet because he's keeping it secret. Scott, your thoughts on that?

LT. COL. SCOTT MANN (RET), FORMER U.S. ARMY SPECIAL FORCES AND AUTHOR OF "GAME CHANGERS: GOING LOCAL TO DEFEAT VIOLENT EXTREMISTS": Well, obviously, we're going to have to reveal the strategy at some point here. And I understand operational security, but I do think it needs -- we do need to start talking about what his approach is going to be. But I will say this, as far as calling out, you know, flag officers on where we are in this war, you know, I don't have a problem with it, I'll be honest with you. I'm very a political in how I see this. We've been at this war for 15 years. My son was 3 when the towers fell. He's now going to become an army officer. So, you know, even in my book "Game Changers," I'm pretty hard on the senior officers that have led this fight. It may be time for a change. Because frankly, both administrations have not measured up and I don't think their flag officers have either.

COSTELLO: So, Jason, is it even possible for Donald Trump -- to fire his generals or fire the generals that are in place now and replace them all with his handpicked generals?

JASON BEARDSLEY, FORMER U.S. ARMY SPECIAL OPERATIONS: Oh, sure, Carol thanks for the question and the invite. But -- every administration goes through a process where the, you know, senior officers either matriculate or if they have policy disagreements with the administration, -- find other places. But I would agree with Scott Mann's assessment. One, we're going to want to see an approach here pretty soon. But to lay out a detailed plan for the -- you know, for the defeat of ISIS, that's a pretty big topic, that's going to take some time and frankly, it's going to take generals that any president is going to have to trust and then again promote and matriculate up. And along with that, I would also say as Scott Mann did, we have been at war for 15 years now. So when you talk about reducing generals to rubble, I think we all get a sense of the wisdom or the judgment that our current leadership and even previous leadership has shown. We haven't been able to conclude this war with any positive result. I think that's what he means. I think we're looking for great leadership. And it has to come from - this type of a place, starting with great generals.

COSTELLO: So Hillary Clinton just -- held a press conference at the Westchester Airport. And she added to what she outlined last night as far as defeating ISIS. And I'd like you to listen to what she said. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: We should make it a top priority to hunt down the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and bring him to justice, just as we did with

[10:15:16] Osama Bin Laden, as with that operation, getting al- Baghdadi will require a focused effort driven at the highest levels. That I believe it will send a resounding message that nobody directs or inspires attacks against the United States and gets away with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, Raymond, your thoughts on that?

RAYMOND CURTIS, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: Well, I mean, I think that we heard from Hillary Clinton that statement, something that we didn't hear out of Donald Trump last night. When you hear him -- you have veterans asking direct questions of, how do you plan on dealing with ISIS? Of course, every American, especially those of us that fought in war, want to know how we're going to move forward to come back terrorism and, you know, outside of the United States. And Donald Trump has no plan. He demonstrated that last night. That he has -- he's completely ignorant of this process. He's completely ignorant of foreign policy. You know, we heard him make the statement that he wants to come up with a plan in 30 days. Well, he doesn't. He wants to gather a bunch of generals and replace the current ones that he said are rubble, as he was complimenting Putin, might I add. But he doesn't know what he's doing. He has no plan.-

COSTELLO: Jason, I do want to center on Putin, because Mr. Trump intimated that Vladimir Putin was a better leader than President Obama but Vladimir Putin is a communist, there's no free press in Russia, there's no government protest allowed in Russia. These are the things that you guys fight for, for Americans to have. So why continue to bring up Vladimir Putin?

BEARDSLEY: Yes, I think, Carol this is the - you know America is the greatest country in the world. You're right, we fight for the Republic of America and the principles and the ideals. That's why I went into service. Bringing him up, you know, I think when he talks about leadership, and I don't want to pretend to know what Donald Trump thinks. I think he's referencing a comparative analysis. When you look at the comparison, you know, we've had marines chased out of our Embassy in Yemen. We lost our embassy in Libya. We've had sailors that have been on their knees in front of Iranians and held hostage there. Where we've given over in this - you know, in this sort of pay for hostage kind of a scam, so when we're talking about leadership and we talk about Americans, like in Benghazi, where we have an ambassador who's dragged through the streets and killed. I think that's what he's talking about. It's comparison of defending our troops and making a strong foreign policy sort of statement. And stating specifically what we intend to do. And we haven't seen that for years. I think that's what veterans are looking for. We want to hear -- what the president, what the leadership intends to do to, one, defend our own troops and not risk American lives in harm's way because of an ambiguous policy.-

COSTELLO: And Scott -- I totally understand that, Jason. But Scott isn't that easier -- in an authoritarian society when you don't have to answer to the American people, as in the voters, who have all different kinds of ideas of how they want a war or if they want a war to be fought overseas?

MANN: Well, I think that, you know, I certainly would not condone invoking Putin as a better leader than any Commander-in-Chief. But please understand, as a former soldier, I come at this very apolitically. I believe that regardless of party, you know, a candidate has an obligation not to put the sitting president at risk with, you know, with the comparison to a foreign leader who I frankly view as an enemy of the state. That's not a political statement. I just think that's being a good American leader. Which to me the leadership issue is really what's at odds here with veterans - you know, I think both candidates frankly they need to really check themselves out. Whether that's Hillary with the Benghazi issue and the server issue or you know -- or Donald Trump with incidents like this. I think veterans and active duty warriors in particular. Let's not forget what we're asking them and their families to do. 15 years into this fight. Retaking ground in Iraq that we bled for. We keep sending them into the fray. I'd love to see some warriors with a fraction -- or some leadership with a fraction of the courage and tenacity of the men and women that keep getting sent over there. Right now, I'd like to see candidates exhibiting that. And I'm not seeing it in either one of them.

COSTELLO: All right, I have to leave it there, Scott Mann, Jason Beardsley and Raymond Curtis. Thanks all of you for your service and thanks for being with me this morning. So to cover the "Newsroom," squaring off before a tough audience, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, on the hot seat as some of the nation's vets, fire off burning questions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:20:16]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump tried to convince the American people last night that they are the best person to lead this country. But did either of them make any real strides forward? And what does this mean for the next 60 days leading up to the election? -- So let's look at the big picture and talk about that with historian and professor at Princeton University Julian Seltzer and CNN politics executive editor Mark Preston. Welcome to both of you. -- All right, so Hillary Clinton last night said that she would never, ever send ground troops into Iraq ever again. This morning she held this impromptu press conference. And CNN's Jeff Zeleny asked her if she really meant that, if she could really keep that promise. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: First of all, I've said that before. I've said it numerous occasions. I believe it. I think putting a big contingent of American ground troops on the ground in Iraq and Syria would not be in the best interest of the fight against ISIS and other terrorist groups. In fact, I think it would fulfill one of their dearest wishes, which is to drag the United States back into a ground war in that region.

[10:25:16] However, I've been very clear, and I said this again last night, I support the air campaign, I support Special Forces, I support enablers, I support surveillance, intelligence and reconnaissance. I will absolutely be prepared to do whatever is necessary to support the Arab and Kurdish fighters on the ground to take out as much of the infrastructure of ISIS from the air to go after Baghdadi, as I said today. With a very focused commitment to taking him off the battlefield. I think the approach I've outlined intensifies what we are doing. But also recognizes that there is no, -- in my opinion, path forward to ground troops that would be in our interest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right, so Mark Preston, big picture here. You know, she says this. The American people listen to it. Do they think, you know what, I know exactly what her plan is to defeat ISIS?

PRESTON: Well, a couple of things. One is it's going to be very difficult right now to decide who really won or lost last night as most Americans didn't see that forum but they will see it over the next 24 hours. Couple of things, one is Hillary Clinton provided details where Donald Trump did not provide details. Donald Trump talked in large platitudes. Hillary Clinton was more detailed and we just saw that in her answer right there as well. What's striking from this morning, which is really just a continuation of last night, is that Hillary Clinton was making a play for Republicans very hard today. She brought up Ronald Reagan, invoked his name and said what would Ronald Reagan say had he heard Donald Trump disparage the American president and praise the Russian president? At the same time calling it to question, some would say criticizing, the U.S. generals who have been exercising this war against ISIS. So this is going to play out over the next couple of days right now, Carol. But it was details from Clinton -- or at least more details and not so many details from Donald Trump.

COSTELLO: OK. So let's settle down on Donald Trump now, Julian. He said that American generals have been reduced to rubble. He said he would consider replacing all of them and firing our existing generals, although I don't know if that's exactly possible. He also brought up his opposition to the Iraq war. He said he's always opposed the Iraq war. And of course, we all know that that's not true. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I think under the leadership of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the generals have been reduced to rubble. They have been reduced to a point where it's embarrassing for our country. You have a force of 30,000 or so people. Nobody really knows, but probably 30,000 people. And I can just see the great -- as an example, General George Patton spinning in his grave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So -- Julian, big picture, do Americans believe it's as bad as all that? Is he striking a chord? And are Americans now sitting back with, wow, it really is bad? And Donald Trump has this plan to make it all better?

ZELIZER: Well, those are two separate issues. He probably does strike a chord that people are fearful of ISIS and worried about how we will contain ISIS and ultimately destroy ISIS. But I don't think the solutions thus far are going to be very satisfactory to the general electorate. And that's where he's had trouble and that's where he has to do better. He says things that aren't exactly true with his own record. And he also talks about things presidents don't do. And so I think that's where Hillary Clinton's hawkishness is re- emerging. And she is basically saying I will continue with the overall strategy that we have been pursuing under Obama and even under presidents before Obama to contain threats like terrorism in rogue states.

COSTELLO: It will be interesting, you know, they were not on stage together last night, Mark, it will be interesting to see how the dynamic will be when they talk about things like defeating ISIS.

PRESTON: Yes - No, look, -- in not only - their words, but watch their body language. That is what's going to be the most fascinating thing, I think for me, coming out of this debate is, how do they react to one another's criticism? When they do criticize, is it backed in fact or is it just backed in vitriol and anger. And really -- how do they react under that pressure. So to that point, when we do have this debate, and what will be very interesting, it will be 90 minutes, no commercial breaks. So there will be no time for them to get a breather, to try to collect their thoughts. They're going to be under the hot spotlight for 90 straight minutes. That's a lot of pressure.

COSTELLO: That's absolutely - I'm just reading the latest statement from the Trump camp because as you know Hillary Clinton gave this press conference this morning right where she called Donald Trump unqualified to be president. President Obama was overseas. He also called Donald Trump unqualified to be president.