Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Clinton: "No, Donald, You Don't" Know More About ISIS Than Generals"; Police Officer Killed in San Diego Shooing; Chelsea Clinton Introduces Her Mother At Convention. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 29, 2016 - 06:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[06:31:57] HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I've laid out my strategy for defeating ISIS. It won't be easy or quick, but make no mistake: we will prevail.

Now, Donald Trump -- Donald Trump said and this is a quote, "I know more about ISIS than the generals do." No, Donald, you don't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton making this race, if she can, about competence, about performance over personality. The speech she gave last night probably the biggest of her career.

A major theme was who is more prepared to take on the fight against terror?

Let's ask retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, CNN military analyst and former commanding general for Europe and the Seventh Army.

General, as you know, always like to rely on you for your wisdom. We need it very much today. Let's start off today with a very powerful image before we get into the competency and Xs and Os of war.

The Muslim parents, nobody cherishes the memory of fallen troops more than you. We know, as you've said before, you have a box of names on your desk that you use to remember all the men and women who fell during your command. What did you take from their pain last night and their message to Donald Trump about who they are as Muslim-Americans?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It was one of the most powerful moments I had seen over the last two conventions, Chris. Extremely powerful. Mr. Khan and his wife spoke from the heart. They spoke about sacrifice. They spoke about their son's ultimate sacrifice and reminding people of the reasons we do things.

When we join the military, we vow to take an oath to support and defend the Constitution. You have to understand what that Constitution is all about and what you're sacrificing for when you sign up. They reminded people about that. CUOMO: You know, we often talk about identifying the enemy, a big and

strong talking point for the GOP is the Democrats don't like to name the enemy for what it is. This man and woman last night, these parents confused that notion for the voter because, well, who is the enemy? Is it Muslims? You then see, and as you know, so many Muslims fight for this country, die fighting for this country.

What do you say to people when they say, General, you know they're the enemy, you know there's a problem with Islam? You know that the Democrats are just trying to PC. What do you say to them?

HERTLING: I say they're incorrect. It is a very small element of Islamic extremism, Chris. We all know that. Very small. They do not represent the Muslim religion, the Muslim faith as a whole.

And we have repeatedly talked about this, and many other people have made this a major issue of the campaign. But as was mentioned by several people last night, not by Mrs. Clinton alone, but several people, we are a blended nation.

[06:35:06] And our diversity sometimes contribute to our extreme strength.

And seeing these people talk about who the enemy really is and what their son represented as he faithfully served the country and in fact paid the ultimate sacrifice, was extremely powerful. Another powerful moment was the full-throated response by John Allen. My friend, John Allen --

CUOMO: Yes, with 37 veterans behind him.

HERTLING: Yes, with the veterans behind him. And one of those veterans in a turban and a beard, who is a very good friend of mine, who received special dispensation to join the army without sacrificing elements of his faith. So, that's the kind of people we are.

We are diverse and we blend together to build a much stronger whole.

CUOMO: Now, there were two other points made. You have whose reality is right, and then you have what's the right stuff to be commander in chief? The first one is a practicality. The GOP says, look at the world. ISIS is all over the place. They're attacking everywhere they want, whenever they want, and the reason they are is because the Obama administration got it wrong and is too soft and Hillary Clinton was there for it and is responsible.

Can you reject that view?

HERTLING: I can't. And truthfully, Chris, one of the reasons I admire what you do so much is because you keep bringing it back to leadership. Leadership is all about attributes and competencies. When you're a very good leader, you have empathy and humility. You understand that you can't solve complex problems on your own.

I think that's the dichotomy between the two candidates right now. One understands that they have to take a whole lot of input from a whole lot of people to solve very complex and complicated problems. The other one thinks they can solve it all by themselves. That's challenging.

So, yes, you know, there have been some mistakes made by the Obama administration. There has been some character issues with Mrs. Clinton. But all of those things together show that we're trying to get it right. It's very challenging. And, in fact, in these kind of complicated problems, there are no perfect 100 percent easy answers. You have to rely on a lot of people.

CUOMO: As a general, do you feel with complete conviction that Hillary Clinton would be the better commander in chief, and do you really have concerns about the danger of Donald Trump as the danger of commander in chief?

HERTLING: I do, and I've said that many times before, that I do have very many concerns about his lack of an intellect to solve the very complicated problems.

I also believe that between the two of them, Mrs. Clinton has the greater amount of intellect and ability to deal with competence with the world's problems, not only internationally but domestically. She understands it. But more importantly, I think more than anybody else, she realizes that in order to solve these problems, you have to form a team of the brightest minds.

I keep getting the impression that Mr. Trump believes he has all the answers. So, whereas there certainly is a dichotomy between the two candidates, I do believe he is very dangerous to our country, as many other military people have said, and she is probably the smartest choice right now given the challenges we face and her experience on the world stage and her ability to bring people together as opposed to be divisive.

CUOMO: General Mark Hertling, thank you for being on NEW DAY as always. Appreciate it.

HERTLING: Thank you, Chris.

CUOMO: All right.

Alisyn?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Chris, we're following some breaking news right now. A neighborhood is on lockdown, and there's a manhunt under way after these two San Diego police officers were shot. So, we have all the breaking details for you, next on NEW DAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:42:41] CAMEROTA: We do have breaking news right now out of southern California. A police officer is shot during a traffic stop. This was in San Diego.

We've just learned this police officer has died. A second officer who was shot is in surgery. One suspect we're told is in custody, but authorities are telling people to stay inside their homes as they search for other possible suspects. We'll bring you more details as soon as we have them.

CUOMO: Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Loretta Lynch are joining Louisiana's governor and hundreds of others to honor three Baton Rouge police officers who were killed in the line of duty in an ambush attack. Biden reassuring the widows of Matthew Gerald, Montrell Jackson, and Brad Garafola, they will heal one day, he told them.

CAMEROTA: Federal officials are calling on two counties in South Florida to suspend blood donations because of the Zika virus. Four patients in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties maybe the first to contract the Zika virus from mosquitoes on the U.S. mainland. Neighboring counties also being urged by the Food and Drug Administration to stop collecting blood until all donations can be properly screened for Zika.

Well, families dealing with medical issues for newborns have enough to worry about without the added stress of paying for parking at the hospital, which believe it or not can cost thousands of dollars.

So, this week's CNN Heroes is taking steps to remove that headache.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARRIE MEGHIE, CNN HERO: These babies are in the NICU for not days but months at a time. When you child's going to be in the hospital for a long-term stay, you think about all the medical expenses or, you know, things of that nature. But when you end up with the reality that this parking is going to cost you, you know, so much money, it's just not something that people expect. It's definitely, you know, significant burden on families, and there are a lot of babies who are alone a lot of the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: To see how Carrie Meghie is helping families spend more time with their babies, you can go to CNNheroes.com. And while you're there, nominate someone you think should be our 2016 CNN Hero.

I had two little twins in the NICU for 32 days. I can totally relate. Seeing those little pictures of them in their little isolette brings back what a vulnerable time that was. But they do get better.

CUOMO: That's the hope, right.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely.

[06:45:00] CUOMO: All right. So speaking about hope, that was a big theme in the convention last night. But there was something else going on, the role of family. Chelsea Clinton may become the first daughter again. Last night, she was the opening act, introducing her mother at the Democratic nomination, the national convention.

So, we talked so much about how Ivanka Trump did. How did Chelsea stand up? Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Chelsea Clinton introduced her mother at the Democratic National Convention last night, delivering a personal speech painting Hillary Clinton as a fighter and an inspiration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHELSEA CLINTON, HILLARY CLINTON'S DAUGHTER: People ask me all the time, how does she do it? How does she keep going amid the sound and the fury of politics?

Here's how: it's because she never, ever forgets who she's fighting for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So, how did she do? Let's discuss it with former "People" magazine editor Larry Hackett, and editor in chief of "Glamour" magazine, Cindi Leive.

Great to have both of you here.

LARRY HACKETT, FORMER EDITOR, PEOPLE MAGAZINE: Good to be here.

CINDI LEIVE, GLAMOUR MAGAZINE: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: How was her performance, Larry?

[06:50:00] HACKETT: I thought it was terrific. I thought that never, ever tick she used about four or five times in the speech was very good. She -- we were talking earlier on, it was very detailed. As magazine editors, you like details. So, the triceratops, and the "Goodnight Moon", the wrinkle in time, was all the kind of things you're looking for, the kind of things that people said was not in Ivanka's speech regarding Donald Trump.

So, I thought that in transitioning from the kind of mom to public policy was all very, vyer good. It was short. It was sweet. I thought she really hit it out of the park.

CAMEROTA: That's interesting. Those details lend the authenticity.

HACKETT: Yes.

LEIVE: Absolutely. Don't listen to those stories and feel they didn't take place. I mean, you can see that family having real discussions around the dinner table. I think that's the purpose of telling stories like that. It's interesting. I think every working mom who listened to it was feeling for Chelsea, that here she is giving the most important speech of her life 5 1/2 weeks post-partum, when most of us are really just struggling to get out of our pajamas.

CAMEROTA: I didn't bother trying to get out of them, actually.

LEIVE: Exactly. It's too high a bar.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

LEIVE: But I think the other interesting thing about this speech, just from a speech-giving perspective, is that she didn't shout. She was one of the few people in both conventions who was just speaking in sort of a normal person tone of voice. There was something sort of soothing about that.

CAMEROTA: Yes, and the crowd seemed to quiet down for her. So she didn't have to shout in the way that some other people did. But it was a different delivery. Her delivery was more subdued, you could say lower energy than some of the other people.

HACKETT: You could, but, you know, the criticism of Hillary Clinton has always been, who is that, what is she like, who is she? That speech set out to do that. I mean, again, the level of detail from the very beginning, to the table, backing things up with facts.

It was all just very, very -- to paint a vivid picture of a real person, a real mother, who married -- raising a child with public policy. That's what people crave. That's why they were quiet. They wanted these details. They want to drink this stuff in. She delivered that.

CAMEROTA: It is hard not to compare her to Ivanka, but they're very similar. When you look at both these are real stark similarities. They both have newborns.

So, they both have newborns, they both pulled it together to be part of this incredible moment for their families. They both have these very high-profile dads. They both married Jewish men. They both -- were friends. They have an interesting life, both of these young women.

So what did you think when you compare and contrast their performances?

LEIVE: Well, I think generationally, of course, they are the same. They speak to that young millennial woman who's working and who admires both of them probably for different things. Chelsea is working in the nonprofit space. Ivanka is an entrepreneur. They both very much have their own lives.

I think probably something that young women admire about both of them is they both do seem to be genuinely close to their parents. Of course, that's an asset that both teams can use as they try to court the young female vote, which is so important in this election.

CAMEROTA: And they both were tasked with humanizing their parents, who are presidential candidates, that not all of us know. So, let's listen to that moment when Chelsea talked about the personal aspect of her mom. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHELSEA CLINTON: Every day that I spend as Charlotte and Aidan's mother, I think about my own mother. My wonderful, thoughtful, hilarious mother.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

My earliest memory is my mom picking me up after I'd fallen down, giving me a big hug, and reading me "Goodnight Moon." from that moment to this one, every single memory I have of my mom is that regardless of what was happening in her life, she was always, always there for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So, Larry, she says regardless of what was happening in Hillary Clinton's life, she was always there for me. She talked about "Goodnight Moon", she also said, my thoughtful, hilarious mother. Not many people think of Hillary Clinton as hilarious.

HACKETT: Right. I actually wrote that down last night. They were trying to contrast that. I mean, I think her job was to fuse the public and the private, or the private and the public. I think that's why you had that level of detail there.

You know, the idea is that, who is this woman? We've known her for 25 years. It's always been in the public realm. That was kind of job one. That's why you heard details like hilarious and "Goodnight Moon" and "Chugga Chugga Choo Choo" in the first two minutes. We'll see how sales of "Chugga Chugga Choo Choo" do.

LEIVE: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

HACKETT: But I think that was her job and she did a great job at it.

LEIVE: Yes, I think it's also interesting to note the themes of motherhood that went throughout this speech. Sort of one of the unspoken characters in last night's event was Chelsea's grandmother, Hillary's mother, who both women talked about in their speeches. I thought one of the most touching and effective lines in Chelsea's remarks last night was at the end when she said to her mother, "Grandma would have been so proud of you."

[06:55:01] I think there's probably not a person who doesn't connect with that in some way. But I think fundamentally under that, there is an election message there that this is about the future of our children. That's quite intentional.

HACKETT: It is. And before that, of course, was the general and people like that. You had that overlapping of the public policy and the private. It really teed up the speech.

CAMEROTA: Yes, and I mean in terms of themes for presidential candidates, you don't often hear motherhood. We're in a new era.

HACKETT: You'll hear it again.

CAMEROTA: Yes. I bet you will.

Cindi, Larry, thanks so much. Great talking with both of you.

LEIVE: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Hillary Clinton gave arguably the most important and historic speech of her life. Did she deliver? We break it down next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(AUDIENCE CHANTING)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I accept your nomination for president of the United States.

CHELSEA CLINTON, DAUGHTER OF HILLARY CLINTON: My mother will make us proud as our next president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the moment!

KHIZR KHAN, FATHER OF DECEASED MUSLIM U.S. SOLDIER: Donald Trump, you have sacrificed nothing!

HILLARY CLINTON: A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.

KHAN: Donald Trump, have you even read the United States Constitution?

HILLARY CLINTON: When there are no ceilings, the sky's the limit.

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY.