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Who Is the Real Hillary Clinton; What's Going on in Republican, Democratic Presidential Front; One Yazidi Family Ripped Apart Following an ISIS Attack. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired April 13, 2015 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[13:33:16] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting from Washington.
She has lived her life in the public eye for the past 30-plus years but what's Hillary Clinton like offstage, away from the cameras? Right now, her campaign is focused on helping voters get to know Hillary Clinton, the person.
Gloria Borger spoke to those people who know her best.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLORIA BORGER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Unless you've been living on another planet for the last few decades, there's one political star that's been unavoidably present.
TERRY MCAULIFFE, (D), GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA: Not too many people with one name, Hillary. A few hours. Down on a few others. Everybody knows Hillary.
BORGER: Maybe not as well as close friend, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, but well enough to be on a first-name basis. As in, Hillary, the young Watergate committee lawyer. Hillary, first lady of Arkansas and first lady of the United States. Hillary, Senator from New York and presidential candidate. Hillary, secretary of state and presidential candidate.
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm running for president.
BORGER: It was a decision that surprised absolutely no one, least of all, old family friend and adviser, Paul Begala.
PAUL BEGALA, ADVISOR: It's not just I have to do this, make history, I have to be the big shot, play "hail to the chief" when I walk into a room.
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN, (D), CALIFORNIA: She doesn't need it but she wants it. She's put a lifetime into herself in a way in preparation for it. BORGER: It was clear, even back at Yale Law School in the '70s, when
she met this fellow.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I actually tried to talk Hillary into leaving me when we were in law school. God's truth.
You have more talent for public service than anybody in my generation that I have met. And I shouldn't stand in your way. You should do this. She looked at me and laughed and said, "Oh, Bill, I'll never run for office."
[13:35:16] BORGER: She was the original good wife, writing her own role.
HILLARY CLINTON: This health security card will represent a right of every citizen.
BORGER: Public defender in chief.
HILLARY CLINTON: Is this vast right wing conspiracy?
BORGER: Despite a brutal personal struggle.
(on camera): What did you learn about Hillary Clinton when you went through some of the tougher times?
MCAULIFFE: It was tough. This was about their family and she wanted to keep it about their family. When tough times come, she's able to deal with it, deal with it herself, and is able to continue to move on.
BORGER (voice-over): An essential skill, says Democrat Bill Daly, who has managed both a presidential candidate and White House.
BILL DALY, (D), FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: I don't know what they can say about her that hasn't been said about her in the past in a negative sense, so, you know, she's got a pretty strong shield around her.
BORGER: It's a shield that can keep the voters at arm's length, so that after all these years in the public eye, there's still something elusive about Hillary Clinton.
BEGALA: People who have never met either of them have a very clear sense of who Bill Clinton is. They love him, call him Bill. You think he would like to have barbecue with us. With Hillary there is a distance.
BORGER: This is very personal. The plan, to have the voters meet the real Hillary, the warm one --
(CROSSTALK)
BORGER: -- virtually, one on one.
BEGALA: Nobody, nobody I've ever seen better at that.
BORGER: So they can finally see the woman her friends describe.
MCAULIFFE: A lot of fun. Tremendous amount of fun. She's got a great belly laugh. She and I will sit out, you know, on vacation, talking policy. Might have a cocktail or two. She's a load of fun to be with.
FEINSTEIN: I think she's a very complete person, but I think the most important thing is what her experience has given her. You know, we have men who come here one or two years, get a few puff pieces and they go out and they run for president.
BORGER: That's a far cry from Hillary Clinton's long and sometimes controversial story.
HILLARY CLINTON: I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas.
BORGER (on camera): She comes with baggage. There are negative perceptions about the Clintons and paranoid too protected even arrogant that came up during the whole e-mail controversy. Will that matter?
DALY: I think the misconceptions, there are certain people that are -- that are fixing those, with those beliefs and they've been for 25 years. You're not going to change them. What you have to do is basically talk to the future about what you want to do with the country.
BORGER (voice-over): In 2008, Clinton ran on her resume.
HILLARY CLINTON: I will bring a lifetime of experience.
BORGER: And the campaign let the woman thing take a back seat.
BEGALA: I do think the last time she ran they tried very hard to keep it a secret but she is a girl.
BORGER (on camera): That she was a woman?
BEGALA: She's a woman.
BORGER: Do you think the tug of history is very strong?
FEINSTEIN: I think she knows she carries the cause and if a very qualified woman can hold that job, and perform well, that's a big thing.
BORGER: Do you think it will be harder for a woman to run for president even in 2016?
FEINSTEIN: I think it is harder and I think she knows it's harder. And women are tested in ways that men are not. And that's another discussion, but --
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: That report from our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, who is with us right now, along with our senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny. We'll talk more about Hillary Clinton's campaign strategy, the growing Republican field for president. Stay with us. We'll be right back.
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[13:42:15] BLITZER: The field for the Republican presidential nomination clearly growing. Florida Senator Marco Rubio told supporters he's running. He'll make a formal announcement in a few hours. We'll have live coverage during the 6:00 p.m. eastern hour in the "The Situation Room."
In the meantime, let's discuss what's going on in the Republican and Democratic front.
Joining us our senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny; and our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, with us as well.
Moments ago, Ted Cruz, who's also running for the Republican presidential nomination, speaking in North Carolina, really went after not only President Obama but Hillary Clinton. Let me play a little clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ, (R), TEXAS: President Obama and Secretary Clinton have had their chance. Their policies do not work. Leading from behind is a dismal failure. We need a new track. We need to get back to the principles that made America strong. We need to restore America's leadership in the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: I guess that's going to be a pretty robust theme among all of the Republican candidates. They're going to try maybe to avoid going after each other, but go after Hillary Clinton, who presumably is going to get the Democratic presidential nomination.
BORGER: She may not have serious primary opponents in her own party but she will have a lot on the Republican side. And what you saw Ted Cruz do is effectively try and turn Hillary into a third term of President Obama and what he calls his failed foreign policy. She's going to get a lot of that from Republicans. And generational, I thought, they've had their time, they failed, now it's time to move on to something else.
BLITZER: Is that a smart strategy on Ted Cruz's part?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I think it's a smart strategy. The field is so big, the Republican field so big, the best way to distinguish yourself is giving the sharpest argument against Hillary Clinton. That's what he's trying to do.
But you're right about the generational argument. He is a young man in his low 40s, as is Marco Rubio. This is a new generation here and they would, of course, like to make that argument. Of course, it doesn't work with Democrats. It's more about a general election argument. It actually helps in the primary for Hillary Clinton potentially if all these Republicans are piling on her, and they might come to her defense.
BLITZER: Marco Rubio will be the third Republican to announce in the past couple weeks. Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, all freshmen Senators. How does he distinguish himself, Marco Rubio?
BORGER: I think if you look at the polling Marco Rubio is in single digits, so he's not in the top tier. But I think he's kind of everybody's second choice. There is nothing hugely objectionable about him. People who say that they favor Jeb Bush might also consider Marco Rubio, and it goes down the line with others, including Rand Paul. So I think he sees himself as a bridge between those who -- the establishment Republicans and the Tea Party Republicans. He was elected as a Tea Party Republican just five years ago.
[13:45:19] BLITZER: Yeah.
And go ahead.
ZELENY: He -- also his compelling biography will propel him into the race. He's not like Barack Obama, but the closest to it on the Republican side. He has a biography that fits the time of this electorate to some degree. I think the national polls don't mean a ton for him right now. People still don't know him. Once they get to know him, you're right, there's not a lot objectionable about him. Can he raise the money and compete with the Florida giant, Jeb Bush.
BLITZER: What is the Hillary Clinton strategy now? Gloria, the excellent piece you did for us.
BORGER: Thank you.
BLITZER: The strategy now, basically to go on a listening tour for the next six or eight weeks, not do any major campaign rallies. What's up with that?
BORGER: Hillary Clinton is one of the only candidates who's already a celebrity. Everybody in the world knows who she is unless you've been living under a rock somewhere. So what Hillary Clinton has to do is reintroduce herself to people who think they know her and newer voters and do it in a different way. She can't behave as if she's entitled to this nomination. So she's got to go out and earn it, as they say. The campaign advisors had a background call with journalists and they said the same thing, she's got to earn it vote by vote, which means stopping and refilling your van and meeting voters at the gas station.
BLITZER: Driving from New York, a thousand miles or whatever to Iowa, that's --
(CROSSTALK)
ZELENY: I looked it up. 1086 miles. She's riding, of course. She's not driving. The Secret Service is driving. I think that is a good sort of trick up their sleeve at the beginning. Her agent insists it's her idea. We're all talking about it. I got an e-mail from an Iowa Democrat this morning who said if she would have flown here she could have talked to so many more. She'll get some attention across the way going through battleground states like Ohio. It's fine. But once she really gets into this campaign, it's going to be several weeks from now, in May, when she's giving her first big speech and her first big why she's running.
BORGER: They didn't like her much last time around in Iowa, so she's got to figure out a way to kind of get back into their good graces.
BLITZER: We'll be covering it every step of the way. All of us. We will be busy. We love covering politics. That will be good.
All right, guys, thanks very much.
BLITZER: Another story we're following, a very different story. Despite a dramatic rescue of some Yazidis, a key minority in Iraq, many face capture by ISIS. Up next, we have a story of one family ripped apart following an ISIS attack. Our own Arwa Damon is standing by.
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[13:51:31] BLITZER: CNN's Ivan Watson was there when Yazidi villagers were rescued from an Iraqi mountaintop as ISIS fighters closed in on their village last year, but not all of them made it to safety.
CNN's Arwa Damon spoke with one family who has the harrowing story of what happened when ISIS seized their village.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A suffocating fear has chased most of these Yazidi refugees into Iraqi Kurdistan. Fear, not for themselves, but their loved ones still captive with ISIS.
Those we spoke to asked that we conceal their identities.
Mahmoud was not home when ISIS arrived in Sinjar last August. The fighters took his wife, three children, the youngest just a month old at the time, and his parents.
"They forced us at gunpoint into big trailer trucks," Halam (ph) recalls. "They wrote everyone's name down and asked who wants to work as a farmer, cleaner, or herder."
The family chose to herd goats. They were taken to a village whose residents had fled and put to work.
"At the start, there were a lot of tears and fear, but then we got used to it," Halam (ph) says.
Two men who tried to escape were beaten and dragged to death behind a car. The village was their prison.
For two months, Mahmoud did not know if his family was dead or alive. Then Halam (ph) found a cell phone left in the House and called him.
She said, "We are alive, but we are prisoners."
One day ISIS fighters appeared and took her in-laws.
"We didn't know where they were taking them," she tells us. "We thought we would be next, so we decided this is it. We survive or we don't."
She fled with her children, part of a group of 31, under cover of darkness. Walking, they could only hope, towards freedom.
"When the sun started to come up, I thought, that's it, we're going to get caught, and what am I going to do with the kids," she remembers asking herself. "I can't carry all three of them and run."
Luckily, she never had to. The couple can't find the words to describe the moment they were reunited. But the fate of Mahmoud's parents remained unknown. Two days later, that question was answered.
(SHOUTING)
DAMON: ISIS released 217 Yazidis, many of them elderly. Exactly why, they don't know. ISIS moved them around for six terrifying days before setting them free. Among them were Mahmoud's parents.
"We didn't know if they were going to slaughter us or what they were going to do with us," his father says.
"Of course, I was so happy. I couldn't believe that I was in the home of the enemy facing death and then got away," his mother adds.
Halam (ph) own parents are held by ISIS. She cannot escape the haunting memories of all she witnessed and went through.
(on camera): Halam (ph) was saying the hardest moment for her in all of this was when the ISIS fighters began taking away the little girls, the young women, to be used as sex slaves, and they would, at times, tear these girls away from their mothers, dragging them off by their hair as they were screaming and shouting.
[13:55:00] (voice-over): She was spared.
"I would hide or I would stay dirty, and I was breast-feeding," she says.
That is what ultimately saved her. We're told that ISIS slavery rules prohibit the use of women who are breast-feeding for sex. The thought of those that are, is what torments her most.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Shadi (ph) Refuge Camp, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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[14:04:03] BLITZER: It may be hard to believe, but Pope Francis and reality star, Kim Kardashian, are now embroiled in the same debate, causing outrage in Turkey. During a mass on Sunday, the pope used the word "genocide" to describe the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I. Turkey has always denied it was genocide. The pope's comments led the country to summon its ambassador home from the Vatican for so-called consultations. Armenia, in the meantime, has been commemorating the 100-year anniversary of the killings. That anniversary recently brought Kim Kardashian to the country. Because of her Armenian descent, Kardashian has been a long-time advocate for Armenian genocide awareness.
By the way, just before his election in 2008, President Obama also referred to Armenian killings as genocide. He said then, as a candidate, "America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian genocide." And he added, "I intend to be that president." But he hasn't used that word genocide out of an apparent deference for Turkey, a NATO ally.
That's it for me. The news continues next on CNN.
