Return to Transcripts main page

Wolf

CNN Polls: Clinton 3 for 3 in Debates; Breaking: U.S. Servicemember Killed In Iraq; Clinton, Trump Spar over Russia, ISIS; Iraq Leaders: Fight for Mosul Going Faster than Expected; Philippines President in China: "America Has Lost". Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired October 20, 2016 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00] SEN. BOB CASEY, (D), PENNSYLVANIA: It was a real contrast. Like every time she tries to focus on her plan to raise incomes for middle class families or focus on specific policy solutions for families, her opponent takes the debate another direction. I thought she did very well. We've got to make sure we maintain the focus because in our state for example, Pennsylvania, it will be closely fought until the very end. So we got to be ready for a tough finish.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: In late night's debate, Hillary Clinton was asked about those hacked transcripts of one of her paid speeches published now by WikiLeaks. Here's how she tried to explain her comment about open borders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS WALLACE, DEBATE MODERATOR: Is that your dream, open borders?

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, if you went on to read the rest of the sentence, I was talking about energy. You know, we trade more energy with our neighbors then we trade with the rest of the world combined. And I do want us to have an electric grid, an energy system that crosses borders. I think that would be great benefit to us.

But you are very clearly quoting from WikiLeaks. And what's really important about WikiLeaks is that the Russian government has engaged in espionage against Americans.

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That was a great pivot off the fact that she wants open borders, OK. How did we get on to Putin?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So are you concerned there will be yet more WikiLeaks documents that will be released, that will be published, revealing more damaging information about her, her positions, her top aides, before the election?

CASEY: No, I'm not, Wolf. For the very simple reason -- I guess there's two reasons. One is the American people know an awful lot about Hillary Clinton, where she stands on issues. They've examined her work for decades. That's one reason why people are not going to learn very much from these disclosures. The second reason is she's got a set of policy papers, the likes of which I have not ever seen by a presidential candidate. If you go to her website, Hillary for America, Hillary.com, more than 40 specific policy papers. I wish, I wish the Republican nominee had that commitment to try to get this policy right to focus on those families, keeping middle class.

BLITZER: On the important issue of abortion rights for women, Senator, Clinton accused Trump of using scare tactics when he said this. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you go with what Hillary is saying, in the ninth month, you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby. Now, you can say that that's OK, and Hillary can say that that's OK, but it's not OK with me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So you're a Democrat, you're anti-abortion, but what's your reaction to Trump's late-term abortion description?

CASEY: Well, it's like a lot of things he says. I don't think he's thought much about a lot of these issues when he comments on them.

Look, we have debates -- I should say issues in the debates where people have disagreements. But one thing that Hillary's done from the beginning of her time in government, especially in the Senate, and I think in this campaign, is she understands where we're stronger when we're working together. It doesn't mean we won't have disagreements, but she's always been someone who tries to focus on the common ground to move the agenda forward. And I think that's true of her as a candidate, and it's been demonstrated over and over again. I think it's also true in terms of what she said in the campaign most recently. She said, I want to be a president for all of the American people, whether you voted for her or not. I think that's the kind of president she'll be. In fact, you're not only running to be president of the United States, you've got to be the leader of the free world. You have to not only know what you're talking about, I think you have to project a sense of optimism and unity that the world expects an American president to project.

BLITZER: One final question because Trump keeps bringing up a supposed rigged election and he often refers to Philadelphia in your state. When you hear him make the assertions that there's a potential for rigged voting in Philadelphia, what's your reaction?

CASEY: First of all, Wolf, there's no evidence of it, so he's got no evidence, again, for yet another wild statement. No one believes that. I think it's -- I think there are a lot of Republicans out there who have run statewide in Pennsylvania and wish they got more votes in some of our cities. But they don't -- when they lose an election or when they don't get as many votes in the city, don't start making appeals -- or making the kind of statements and I think appeals to a kind of race-based politics that Donald Trump has. What he ought to do is campaign in Philadelphia, campaign in eastern and western and central and northeastern Pennsylvania, all across the state, and then accept results. Unfortunately, he can't commit to that, to accept results of the election. No candidate in history has gotten anywhere close to the line with that rhetoric. Once again, Donald Trump crossed a line that I think a lot of people are looking at now with bewilderment and also outrage because he's running for president of the United States. You're not supposed to conduct yourself that way as a presidential candidate.

[11:35:33] BLITZER: Senator Casey of Pennsylvania. That's a key state. Donald Trump is hoping to win that state. Hillary Clinton is trying to win as well. We'll watch Pennsylvania very closely. Thanks for joining us.

CASEY: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Coming up, we've got breaking news coming out of Iraq. We'll have the details after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:40:08] BLITZER: We have breaking news on a U.S. servicemember killed in action in northern Iraq.

Let's go to our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr.

Barbara, what have you learned?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the official announcement will come within minutes but CNN has learned a U.S. servicemember was killed earlier today in action in northern Iraq, the first U.S. combat death since these operations to retake Mosul began. To be clear, we do not know if this person was directly involved in the Mosul operations. But we are told it was the result of an IED attack, a long-standing ISIS tactic. The servicemember was seriously wounded, medevaced off the battlefield, and succumbed to those wounds. More information is expected shortly. The Pentagon will release, under policy, the name of the person killed in action 24 hours after the family notification has happened. The family has been notified. Defense Secretary Ash Carter is being notified.

This is, in fact, though, the first combat death since the operations in northern Iraq began. The third -- pardon me -- the fourth combat death in Iraq since operations against ISIS began back in 2014. Northern Iraq is treacherous right now. ISIS has laid most of the ground around Mosul with IEDs, booby traps and bombs. Very difficult going, very tough news for yet another U.S. military family -- Wolf?

BLITZER: We know, Barbara, there are 5,000 U.S. troops in Iraq right now. A few hundred, together with the Iraqi forces, the Kurdish forces moving on Mosul, is that right? STARR: That's right, Wolf. There are about 100 to 200 U.S.

Forces, many Special Operations force, out in the field in northern Iraq. They're working as advisers to the personal advisors to the Iraqi and Peshmerga Kurdish forces moving on Mosul, so they are out there in the field to a very large extent. The rules of engagement require them to stay as far back from the front line of combat as they can. But situations like this just underscore, in northern Iraq, where they're involved in directly assaulting Mosul or not, again, it is just treacherous what ISIS has put out there in terms of its ability to launch bombs, IEDs, booby traps, kill Iraqi forces, and now perhaps having killed an American servicemember there as well -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Barbara, we'll get more information and share it with our viewers. Barbara Starr, at the Pentagon, thanks very much.

One topic of last night's presidential debate here in the United States was international relations and hot spots. That includes the battle against ISIS, the humanitarian crisis in Syria and, of course, U.S. relations with Russia.

Here with us to discuss the topics, what we heard in that final presidential debate, our global affairs correspondent, Elise Labott.

Elise, I want to start with what Donald Trump called the great migration of refugees coming to the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She's taking in tens of thousands of Syrian refugees who probably, in many cases -- not probably, who are definitely --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: -- in many cases, ISIS aligned. And we now have them in our country. And wait until you see -- this is going to be the great Trojan horse. Wait until you see what happens in the coming years.

Lots of luck, Hillary. Thanks a lot for doing a great job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, Elise, how many refugees from Syria are coming to the United States right now and how many does Hillary Clinton want to come to the United States, and what about the vetting process?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is true what Donald Trump said, that the U.S. has taken in about 12,500 refugees from the end of the fiscal year, which ended last month. Hillary Clinton wants to take in 65,000 Syrian refugees. That is, as Donald Trump said, a 550 percent increase.

But Wolf, these Syrian refugees, and refugees in general, face some of the strictest vetting that the United States has for travelers to the United States. There are very strict background checks, biometrics, identity checks, counterterrorism checks. And that vetting process can take up to two years. There's no evidence that there are any members of ISIS here in the United States. And so I think those claims are a little bit inflated.

But it certainly is true that there are thousands of refugees. But even so, those Syrian refugees, in addition to those strict vetting, have even more vetting than regular refugees, very strict.

BLITZER: Refugees coming from other countries.

They also strongly disagreed on the allegation that Russia's involved in cyberattacks against the United States. Hillary Clinton cited what she called 17 intelligence agencies, military and civilian, here in the United States who believe, concluded that Russia's doing it. Trump said our country has no idea. Who's right?

LABOTT: Well, it is true that 17 intelligence agencies -- these are the intelligence agencies that would be working for Donald Trump and reporting to him if he were president -- have said with reasonable confidence that Russia was behind those attacks. And they also went further to say they have confidence this was directed by senior levels of the government.

Now if you look at the debate --

(CROSSTALK)

[13:45:21] BLITZER: She said Putin, Hillary Clinton, Putin.

LABOTT: Well, the intelligence agencies have said senior levels of the government. A lot of people who follow Russia know Putin calls a lot of the shots specifically on foreign policy. But if you look last night at that debate, it wasn't Vladimir Putin kind of the third presence in the room as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton tried to talk about who would be a better commander-in-chief in terms of fighting Russian aggression around the world. Even as that debate was going on, you had Russia moving one of the biggest deployments it's had since the Cold War to Syria to try end the war in the lead up to the U.S. election. So certainly Russia is going to be a very big challenge for the next president.

BLITZER: Hillary went one step further saying Putin wants Trump elected because he can be, according to Hillary Clinton, Putin's puppet.

LABOTT: That's right. He called her his puppet, too.

BLITZER: Thank you very much, Elise, for that.

Coming up, the circle tightens around Mosul right now. Promising news about the operation to retake the city after more than two years of brutal ISIS rule. We'll go there live and talk to our people on the ground. That's coming up next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the

front line. And being this close to the fighting, one can't help but to think, but to wonder, about the fate of the civilians who potentially might be trapped inside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:50:30] BLITZER: Iraqi-led forces have run into the fiercest resistance yet in their bid to retake Mosul, the second-largest city, from ISIS.

Our senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon, was embedded with Iraqi military forces and witnessed the fighting firsthand.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAMON: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED IRAQI MILITARY MEMBER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(GUNFIRE)

DAMON: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED IRAQI MILITARY MEMBER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Arwa is joining us from a much safer location not too far away from Mosul in Irbil, Iraq.

So, Arwa, what's the latest on the battlefield.

DAMON: As you saw in that clip there, we were taking cover behind the Humvees as best we could as the counterterrorism Special Forces were pushing forward towards what was a Christian enclave, a small town. They advanced early in the morning from three different directions, coming across what are now fairly common ISIS tactics, truck bombs, suicide car bombs, as well as mortar fire. Responding in force. They did, according to the brigade's commanding general, manage to recapture the vast majority of the town itself although they said they were still facing pockets of resistance.

And, Wolf, the Iraqi government is saying that throughout the various different front lines, although, yes, they are getting into some pretty heavy clashes, forces are moving much faster than anticipated. But one must also bear in mind that the terrain out there is fairly open and a lot of these villages don't have a civilian population left in them, so that makes calling in an air strike a lot easier if one doesn't need to worry about civilian deaths.

Of course, when they actually reach the city of Mosul, those tactics are going to more difficult to employ. Some of the heavy armor they have they won't be able to maneuver through the streets and calling in air power, especially coalition air power, will prove to be trickier, especially given there are upwards of one million people still believed to be inside Mosul -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Be careful over there.

Arwa Damon, on the battlefield for us. Thanks very, very much.

Coming up, Duterte's dig. The president of the Philippines declares he's breaking up with the United States to align with China. His message, America has lost. So how's the U.S. responding? We'll have our report. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:57:09] BLITZER: The Philippines have been tied to the United States for more than a hundred years, first as a U.S. territory, then as an independent state and close U.S. ally. Now it appears that relationship may be coming to an end. The Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, told a business forum in China today, and I'm quoting him now, "America has lost," as he announced his country's, quote, "separation" from the U.S. both militarily and economically.

CNN correspondent, Matt Rivers, is joining us live from Beijing.

Matt, tell us what's going here because this is getting ugly.

MATT RIVERS, CNN ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR: Absolutely. President Duterte made these comments during a state visit to China that is actually still ongoing. This visit certainly meant to inspire warming relations between the Philippines and China. It's very interesting that these comments, these negative comments about the U.S. come during his trip to China. Certainly not the first time President Duterte has spoken negatively about the U.S., but this takes it a step further than what we've heard in the past. Let's show you what he had to say at a business forum a few hours ago here in Beijing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RODRIGO DUTERTE, PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT: In this venue, your honors, I announce my separation the United States.

(APPLAUSE)

DUTERTE: Both in military, not maybe social, but economics also.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: And so if you take President Duterte's comments at face value and you believe he can follow through with it, then separation means two things. One, it means the treaty that has existed, the defense treaty that has existed between the U.S. and Philippines for decades would be thrown out the window. Subsequently, the U.S. does has a small military presence in the Philippines, a couple of dozens troops on a rotating basis and military equipment there. The two countries have conducted joint naval patrols. That military presence then goes away.

And, Wolf, as you know, the south China sea, such a tense spot right now, geopolitically speaking, and if that relationship with the Philippines goes away, it gives the U.S. that much less leverage as it tries to push back against Chinese expansion in the region.

BLITZER: And it's become very personal for President Duterte. He has said some awful, awful things about President Obama, and that has been a source of great anger, frustration here in Washington as well. Let's see what happens.

Matt Rivers reporting from Beijing. We're following this story closely. That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching. I'll be back

5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room."

For our international viewers, "Amanpour" is coming up next.

For our viewers in North America, NEWSROOM with Brooke Baldwin starts right now.

[14:00:13] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, there. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN.