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Ted Cruz Announces Presidential Run; Netanyahu Issues Apology to Israeli Arabs; Ted Cruz Say He Would Repeal Obamacare; ISIS Recruiting in Afghanistan. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired March 23, 2015 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:31:46] WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting from Washington.
Here in the United States, today, Senator Ted Cruz became the first major name to officially announce a 2016 presidential run. After a Twitter announcement in the early morning, the Texas Republican grabbed the microphone at Virginia's Liberty University.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ, (R), TEXAS: And I believe God isn't done with America yet.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: I believe in you. I believe in the power of millions of courageous conservatives rising up to reignite the promise of America. And that is why today I am announcing that I'm running for president of the United States.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: All right. Let's get some perspective. Here is where Ted Cruz sits in the latest CNN/ORC poll. He's tied for eighth with the former Texas Governor Rick Perry, at only 4 percent, well behind the front runners right now, Jeb Bush and Scott Walker. But neither of them has officially declared.
Let's discuss what's going on with our CNN political director, David Chalian; our national political reporter, Peter Hamby.
First of all, David, the decision to announce at Liberty University, why there?
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, it's because of the evangelical wing of the party is the one that Ted Cruz is going to try to own. It's a crowded lane in the Republican nomination with Mike Huckabee and rick sanatorium. But he wanted to lay down the marker early saying this is going to be my base of support inside the Republican Party that's going to launch this campaign. Remember, some 40 percent of Iowan Republican caucus goers identify themselves as evangelical Christians. So that's why he was in Lynchburg today.
BLITZER: He was basically trying to get a step ahead of Rick Santorum or Mike Huckabee, who are also appealing to that evangelical group?
PETER HAMBY, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Yeah. And Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, Ben Carson. There are so many players in that space. And by trying to plant a flag early, he could sort of box them out a little bit, lay claim to it. I think it was smart. David and I were talking earlier in his office, and we were saying that, look, by going first, you know, he's guaranteeing perhaps -- other than Hillary Clinton and maybe Jeb Bush -- most of the buzz and media attention. We're going to see a cascade of announcements in the next six weeks, two months, and they're going to get less and less coverage.
BLITZER: All the major cable channels in the United States took his 20-minute speech live today. So he was getting a lot of publicity. Presumably, that's what he wants.
CHALIAN: Without a doubt. As Peter was saying, he also wanted to change the conversation a little bit. The conversation about the Republican nomination fight has really been about Jeb Bush and Scott Walker in the last several weeks. Not about Ted Cruz. He wanted to alter that. To do that, jump out early, be first and get all of the attention to be being first. And then, of course, there is the money demand. The second fundraising quarter begins April 1st. Ted Cruz, it's going to be a tough battle with Jeb Bush, Rick Perry, Scott Walker, others out there, Chris Christie, gobbling up money. He wanted his account open, willing, and accepting donations as quickly as possible.
HAMBY: He told the student to text him and they're going to get fund- raising solicitations.
It should be said he's making a play for the evangelical voters. But the influence of the white evangelical vote, in the general elections -- and we're talking about general elections. He made a call that if millions of evangelicals show up to vote, we can win again. But they've been showing up in strong numbers for many elections. They showed up and voted for Mitt Romney and he still lost. And that's because you have another part of the population that's getting bigger. You have Hispanic American Catholics, black Protestants, atheists and non-believers, and they're voting in bigger and bigger numbers as those segments of the population grow. He can say if we rally the troops we can win a general election but there's still a limitation there.
[13:35:48] CHALIAN: This is a fundamental conundrum about the Cruz candidacy because he launched today a campaign to win the Iowa caucuses first and try to win from there and win the nomination. But, Wolf, you've seen many of these nomination contests. The most successful candidates are able to launch at the starting gate with the same message they can raid all the way through to the November general election. Ted Cruz, with the appeal that Peter's putting out here and the way the demographics are going, has got that challenge. He's running right now just to sort of capture the base of the party to launch a candidacy for the nomination, less so about the ground swell from the country for the general election.
BLITZER: Peter, for our viewers who may not be familiar with Ted Cruz, he's 44 years old. He's a son of a Cuban immigrant to the United States. He was born in Canada. His mother is American. There's no questions of birtherism or anything like this.
(LAUGHTER)
He's a natural-born U.S. citizen, even though he was born in Canada. Nobody is raising that issue, as they did obviously with President Obama.
HAMBY: No.
BLITZER: Even though he was born in Hawaii. He wasn't born in Kenya.
HAMBY: Right. Some on the left tried to raise questions about that saying, aha, there's a double standard here with the Tea Party. We may not be a U.S. citizen because he was born in Calgary. He renounced his Canadian citizenship just last year.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: All right, guys, stand by. We have a lot more to discuss. Stand by.
We also have some breaking news we're following. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has now apologized. Stand by. We have details. We'll be right back.
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[13:40:38] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
BLITZER: We're following the breaking news out of Israel right now. The Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has just issued a formal apology to Israel's Arab citizens.
Let's go to Elise Labott, our global affairs correspondent, joining us from Jerusalem right now.
He's issued a pretty dramatic apology for what he said on the eve of the election, right, Elise?
ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. Well, you know these comments have really reverberated, the comments that the prime minister made about trying to get the right wing voters to come out to prevent Arabs that are coming out in droves from unseating him, those comments really taken poorly, not only about the Israeli Arabs here in Israel but also around the world, and in particular the United States.
Today, Prime Minister Netanyahu met with the group of minority citizens and he just put on his Facebook page just moments ago, he said, "I know what I said a few days ago damaged Israel's Arabs. I had no intention of it. I'm sorry for that. I see myself as a prime minister of each and every one of you, all citizens of Israel without any distinction of religion, race and gender."
Now as you know, Wolf, the prime minister has tried to walk back those comments over the last several days, saying he wasn't talking about Arabs, in particular, but talking about a wider movement with money coming from the outside to unseat him. But Israel's Palestinians that have Israeli citizenship, 1.6 million, who did very well in this election, came out in droves. Actually, they did. Did very well in the election. The third-biggest block. Very hurt by those comments. And now the prime minister trying to soften that blow and trying to say that he is sorry -- Wolf?
BLITZER: As you know, over the weekend, the president, in an interview on the "Huffington Post," he was pretty critical of the prime minister for those remarks, saying it represented not the best of Israel's tradition. I assume, when the prime minister of Israel hears the president of the United States criticizing him sharply for the comments on the eve of the election that Arab citizens of Israel were coming out in droves, that must have had a serious impact on the prime minister.
LABOTT: Well, it did. And you know, Israeli officials have been saying that they felt they were trying to clarify those remarks, saying, listen, we're not against a two-state solution in theory, but right now, with all to have chaos in the region, the Islamic extremism engulfing the Middle East, with the fact that the Palestinians are taking unilateral moves on their own at the United Nations and the international criminal court, they also cited the unity government between President Abbas' Fasa Party (ph) and Hamas as all evidence that this is not the time. But Israeli officials say they do want to work with the White House on a two-state solution.
But I also might add, Wolf, Israeli officials are also saying that that think the White House may be hyping this spat and his comments over Israel's Arab citizen to deflect what they call is a bad deal shaping up in Switzerland, a bad nuclear deal with Iran. And they feel this is an effort by the United States to deflect attention away from what they call a very bad deal for not only Israel but the world -- Wolf?
[13:44:06] BLITZER: Once again, the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, formally apologizing saying,, "I know what I said a few days ago damaged Israel's Arabs, I had no intention of it. I'm sorry for that."
All right, Elise, we'll get reaction from Israel's Arab citizens and from the officials here in Washington. Much more on this story coming up here on CNN.
Elise Labott joining us from Jerusalem.
When we come back, we'll return to our discussion of Senator Ted Cruz. He has just become the first Republican presidential candidate of the race for the White House, pledging to what he says will be the restoration of the American dream. His big initiative, he says, will be to repeal Obamacare.
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BLITZER: Let's get back to our developing political news here in the United States, the announcement for the Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz that he's now entered, yes, officially entered, the 2016 race for the White House.
Our senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, is joining us now from Lynchburg, Virginia over at Liberty University. Also back with us our CNN political director, David Chalian; and our national political reporter, Peter Hamby.
Jeff, how did it go over there at Liberty University? I listened to the whole speech. It was about a half-hour. He told the story of his life, told the story of why he wanted to be president. Much of it was devoted to a tough attack on the president of the United States.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: No question. That was the central point of this. It was part biography but then it quickly moved into ideology and he went hard against President Obama. But there was also perhaps, more interestingly a few subtle attacks at Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, who is the Republican establishment candidate in race. That's what this was all about, Wolf. He was here on the campus of Liberty University to say that he is offering a different type of Republican presidential candidacy, an evangelical candidacy, that he will go against the establishment. He was offering an alternative. We'll see if these Republican voters accept it.
BLITZER: How was he received?
ZELENY: I thought he seemed good in his speech, Wolf. He seemed very -- he gives a good speech. His oratory is very good. And in fact, sitting in that rally of some 10,000 students, who were required to attend, it reminded you of an early Barack Obama campaign rally some eight years ago. Of course, many, many differences between their candidacies. But he certainly gives a good speech. His toughest part starts now though, showing he's a serious conservative, someone who can govern instead of just stir thing up.
[13:50:14] BLITZER: David Chalian, he's a very intelligent guy. Went to law school. As of all of the students who went the Harvard Law School. Alan Dershowitz was a professor of law at Harvard Law School, and he says, of all the students who went to Harvard Law School, his students, he may be among the top-5 most brilliant Harvard law students. That's quite a compliment.
CHALIAN: It is, indeed. Nobody has ever questioned his intellect. But I don't know that that's won him a ton of friends in the United States Senate. He has that reputation of not being there to sort of go along, get along. It's why John McCain called him part of the wacko-bird caucus of the party. When you're there fighting and leading a government shutdown against the will of the sort of establishment wing of your party, you're not going to win a lot of invitations to lunch.
HAMBY: Yes. At CPAC, a few weeks ago, he called himself the uber of politics. That's what he wants on be. He wants to disrupt the Republican Party. But this is a suspicious bet that he's placing, that he can win the Republican nomination just based on conservatives. That hasn't happened since 1964. That happened at the convention. The way we nominate presidents now is very different. If Ted Cruz, at some point, gets to a frontrunner position, you can be certain that someone from the Chamber of Commerce, weighing in on the Republican Party, will try to knock him out of the race, form a super PAC or something like that.
BLITZER: All right --
(CROSSTALK)
HAMBY: They do not like him.
BLITZER: We'll have a lot more throughout the day and, of course, later on in "The Situation Room" as well.
Thanks, guys, very much.
Still ahead, we're going live to Kabul, Afghanistan for a CNN exclusive. How ISIS is offering cash to Afghanis who are willing to go join the fight.
And we're also waiting for a live news conference out of Virginia on a story that sparked so much controversy that revolves around a "Rolling Stone" magazine article that detailed one woman's claim of a brutal rape at a university frat party. A number of discrepancies were revealed in the reporting. At the top of the hour, police expected to announce the results of their investigation. Stay tuned to CNN for that.
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[13:56:00] BLITZER: Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, is here in Washington for his first official visit since taking office in January. He's already met with Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Ash Carter. Under this new leadership, Afghanistan has signed a new security agreement with the United States and President Ghani has also said he's open to keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan beyond the current deadline of January, 2017. Let's see if that happens.
ISIS attempts to recruit fighter in Europe and North Africa have been making headline, but now the extremist group is moving even further away from its base by recruiting in Afghanistan.
Our senior international correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh, has this exclusive look at how they're doing it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Where there has long been faith and war, in Afghanistan's serene hills a new and modern playing has now come.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WALSH: You're seeing rare pictures filmed by our cameraman of what we are told is an ISIS recruitment session in Afghanistan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WALSH: "Brothers, I'm here to tell you," the recruiter says, "about the Mujahadeen in Syria."
(GUNFIRE)
PATON WALSH: After a decade of war, the Taliban is strong but fractured and the U.S. is leaving.
(GUNFIRE)
WALSH: The U.N. warns ISIS is getting a foothold in Afghanistan, and this may be how. This Afghan says he's come back from fighting in northern Syria and is one of five recruiters. His pitch is simple, come fight true jihad for al Baghdadi for a $500 wage. Some listeners are driven.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WALSH: "My aim is to fight infidels," one says, "in Syria or if they ask me to, in Afghanistan, I will."
Others aren't sure and just poor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WALSH: "I definitely need the money but will stay here and hope peace comes," one adds.
There is a bit of theater here. ISIS application forms for them to complete on camera. But also a clear message to angry young Afghans disillusioned with the Taliban's wars --
(GUNFIRE)
WALSH: -- there's now an even more ruthless choice you can make, ISIS.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Nick Paton Walsh is joining us live from Kabul in Afghanistan.
Nick, does ISIS have any specific broad appeal to Afghanis?
WALSH: I think if you look at the Taliban's condition right now, they're potentially going to, some of them, talk peace maybe with the Afghan government and also advancing in some areas militarily, too. That may lead some of their younger, more radical elements frustrated, disenfranchised, some say, disgruntled with where the Taliban are,, and that potentially might mean that ISIS ideology is attractive to those. That's what I think has U.S. and U.N. officials are most concerned. The U.N. chief envoy saying they weren't so much worried about ISIS military capability or territory here, but more they could become a flag pole for those who get disgruntled where the Taliban has been fighting a war now for decades -- Wolf?
BLITZER: What is it like in Kabul now? You're back there on the scene, because the new Afghani president is here in Washington and presumably asking the U.S. to keep troop there beyond the expected scheduled deadline.
WALSH: It's tense, it's fair to say. There have been an enormous amount of helicopters in the sky over the capitol. Streets, at times, feel much emptier as I recall them years ago. There's a sense of fear amongst many that the government really hasn't finished being formed. There is no minister of defense now, of example. Is the Taliban military here? That seems to be the case. It doesn't look like Afghan security forces, the key bedrock of NATO's exit plan, are doing so well. They seem to be losing tens of thousands according to Pentagon figures in the past year. A lot weighing on the minds of those living in Kabul now -- Wolf?
[13:59:51] BLITZER: All right. Be careful over there. Nick Paton Walsh, on the scene for us, as he always is. Thanks very much.
That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching. I'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room".
"NEWSROOM" with Brooke Baldwin starts right now.
