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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Hillary Clinton Sees Post-Convention Bump in Polls; Trump Tries to Explain Russia-Ukraine Comment; Clinton Claims Vs. Email Facts; Clinton: FBI Director Said I was "Truthful"; Zika Travel Alert In The U.S.; Florida Identifies 14 Zika Cases By Mosquito Bite; Fallen Soldiers Fallout Grows. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired August 01, 2016 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[20:00:12] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And good evening, thanks for joining us. No shortage of breaking news tonight including Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton making big campaign appearances.
She still writing convention (inaudible) he is still embroiled in controversy over statements about one of the speakers of that convention, the father of a fallen soldier. He's getting heat for that, and for new remarks about sexual harassment.
She's taking fire for claims she's been making that doesn't fit the facts, and while today's headlines might note reflected in tonight's new CNN polling, plenty of headlines just like it already are.
CNN Chief National Correspondent John King is here to break it down all down by the numbers.
So does Secretary Clinton like Donald Trump, end up getting a post- convention bounce?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, yes, exclamation point, Anderson, 52 percent for Clinton, 43 percent for Trump. When you ask the head-to-head match up, that's a 7-point jump for Secretary Clinton, that's a healthy balance and let's look at this.
Most Americans, of course, will have more choices on their ballot come November, so 45 percent for Secretary Clinton and 37 percent for Trump. You see the libertarian Gary Johnson, a Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
So, a healthy 8-point lead there for Hillary Clinton when you run the four-way race, which will be on most Americans ballot. Why is this happening? Well, there's the two or the four way, because Hillary Clinton has moved up from the Democratic Convention among independent voters
In the four way race, 37percent for Clinton, 33 percent for Trump among Independents, a 4-point edge for Secretary.
Worth remembering, Anderson, on Election Day 2012, President Obama lost to Mitt Romney among Independents by 5 points and still won reelection. So this is a good number for Secretary Clinton. She can hold that among Independents, she'll be hard to beat on Election Day.
One more point her, most of the party pros tell you out of a political convention, which party is more unified? That's a key dynamic heading into the fall, advantage Clinton. 90 percent of Democrats today say they plan to vote for their nominee, only 78 percent of Republicans say they plan to vote for Trump as of today. So Donald Trump still has some consolidation work if you will, Anderson, within the family.
COOPER: So are there any particular issues that are behind the rise for Clinton? And also, any warning signs for the Clinton campaign?
KING: Let's take a deeper look at the personal qualities in our new poll. And this first one, right here, has the right experience to be president.
Now, we're in a changed environment. Some voters don't want experience but if Secretary Clinton can talk about doing the job, 67 percent to 31 percent think she has the right experience to be president. More Americans say they would be more proud of Hillary Clinton as their president than Donald Trump as their president.
More Americans say Hillary Clinton would do a better job uniting the country than Donald Trump.
The red flag, the only flashing light in this poll, Anderson, 34 percent of American say Hillary Clinton is honest and trustworthy. That's a bad number when you're trying to be the president of United States.
Her only benefit, Donald Trump's numbers are in the same boat. So neither candidate is very well trusteed, but overall, you have to say these numbers are very good for Hillary Clinton.
COOPER: This is obviously a national poll, what about the electoral map, any clues?
KING: Yeah. One of the things I'm fascinated by, we're look at more state by state polling in the weeks ahead. But if Donald Trump has to win the presidency, he probably has to win Pennsylvania. He definitely has to win Ohio. If he can't win Florida, he's probably going to have to pick up Michigan and Wisconsin.
So in our poll, we did ask, we did break it down by region. In the Midwest, Hillary Clinton has that big lead nationally. But in the Midwest, it still pretty tight, 39 percent for Clinton, 37 percent for Donald Trump. You see the third party candidates here.
Advantage but not as big advantage in the Midwest, a lot of white voters across here. These states are whiter, they're older. So you think that's Donald Trump's based of support.
Your level of education says a lot in this campaign about how you're going to vote. White college graduates, Secretary Clinton with a healthy 11-point over Donald Trump. But white non-college grads, look at the big advantage for Donald Trump. So again, national horse race (ph) support for Secretary Clinton. A lot of underlying that was good for Secretary Clinton. But if you look at these numbers here, Anderson, still suggest you have a competitive race, across the rust belt.
COOPER: All right, John King. John, thanks.
Hillary Clinton spoke tonight in Omaha, Nebraska. She was introduced tonight by billionaire Warren Buffett, who challenged Donald Trump to release his tax returns and promise to do the same, even though he, like Donald Trump, or at least he says, he's under audit.
Trump in the meantime, is speaking shortly tonight in Central Pennsylvania in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, where he's running late, but CNN's Jim Acosta is now. He joins us tonight.
Donald Trump took to Twitter today responding to Mr. Khan. Did he mention that controversy in his town hall earlier today?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, Anderson, he did not.
We're waiting to see what Donald Trump has to say at this rally in Pennsylvania. It's running about an hour late. But he avoided the subject entirely at an event, in Ohio, earlier today.
But he did talk about it briefly with a local news station earlier in the day saying he considers Captain Khan a hero but that he was, "viciously attacked by Kzhir Khan" and that he will always respond when that happens, so, Anderson in short, no apology from Donald Trump.
COOPER: Some Republican leaders have been weighing in as well on this. What have they been saying?
ACOSTA: That's right, Anderson. We should point in just the last couple of hours, Donald Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, was confronted by a woman at an event earlier today about this. She asked how Pence could tolerate Trump's behavior and the comments that he has made about Captain Khan and Kzhir Khan and the whole Khan family, Trump's reiterated the heat. And Donald Trump considered Captain Khan a hero.
[20:05:02] We should also point out, John McCain and House Speaker Paul Ryan, they've also weighed in to say that they support the Khan family.
It is worth knowing, very interesting development tonight, Anderson, that Paul Ryan, he is facing a primary challenge right now in his Jefferson, Wisconsin.
Trump twitted earlier this evening that he appreciates what that challenger. Paul Nehlen has been saying about Donald Trump out on the campaign trail, so make or mistake, that is a warning shot from Donald Trump on Twitter just tonight to the Speaker of the House.
Apparently, in regard to this issue of the contempt.
COOPER: All right. Jim Acosta. Jim, thanks very much.
Let's bring in our panel, Clinton Supporter and former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Trump Supporter and former Trump Campaign Manager Corey Lewandowski, Conservative Trump Critic Tara Setmayer also joining us tonight, and we're very happy to have them on the program for the first time.
CBS News, John Dickerson, anchor of "Face the Nation," author of the new book Whistlestop, my favorite stories presidential campaign history, out now with this as well. As Trump supporter John Jay LaValle and Bernard Wittman, Co-author of 52 Reasons to Vote Hillary, safe to say he's Clinton supporter.
John Dickerson, you've interviewed Donald Trump an awful lot of times. Had he -- is there something he could have done earlier on to just, I mean, other than his first initial interview to not make this, was become a multi-day problem?
JOHN DICKERSON, CBS ANCHOR, "FACE THE NATION": Well, he could have done what a lot of Republicans I've talked to know as the standard things in these instances, which is you honor the service, you honor the family and you move on, no matter what attack they made on you.
What was brought up to me is it was in his second sentence when he first asked about this. That he went right to asking questions about Mrs. Khan. So he put this on the table in his response. This is something the Clinton campaign is enjoying watching him have difficulty with this. but it was his decision to respond in this way, that's got him into position.
COOPER: And John, when you look at the polls that John King was looking, what jumps out at you?
DICKERSON: Well, first, this is the best possible time for Hillary Clinton, just come after four days of positive P.R.s. So we have to wait for about a week.
But that number with college educated, Republicans haven't lost college educated since we start pilling 1952. That means Hillary Clinton is reaching into the Republican coalition.
Now, Donald Trump is doing that by getting some Democrats in that blue collar vote that he's got. But the question is, if he loses those college educated voters, that's a big problem for him. Because he's got his base, the question is can he grow his base.
And right now, Hillary Clinton is taking out of his base and he's not doing things -- this controversy, some other things he said is not doing anything to helping with college educated voters.
COOPER: And, Corey Lewandowski, in all your time with Donald Trump, did he ever apologize for anything? Did he ever admit making mistakes? Because it seems to me, he just said, you know, I misspoke or tried to wrap this up immediately. He wouldn't continue to be, I mean, he's continuing to go on about this.
COREY LEWANDOWSKI, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, I think he's apologizing. This is Trump on many occasions. But as it relates to the political issues, Donald Trump is a person who when he takes a position, holds to that position.
COOPER: So you never heard him apologize and say he made a mistake.
LEWANDOWSKI: I think what you heard from Donald Trump is when he takes a position, he stands by that position because he thinks about what he says and he mean what he says.
COOPER: Do you really think he thinks about what he says?
LEWANDOWSKI: I do. And I think what the difference is politicians have gotten in this world of political correctness, what they want to say, what people want them to say as opposed to what they want to say.
What you find with Donald Trump is, he's willing to say things that other politician aren't willing to do, whether that is to rethink our participation in NATO, whether is to rethink our participation in a number of things.
COOPER: Or talking about why the widow, why the mother of a fallen hero doesn't speak? Do you think that's ...
LEWANDOWSKI: Well, I think in that particularly ...
COOPER: ... a thought-out position?
LEWANDOWSKI: No, I think in that particular instance what you find and what I have experienced with Donald Trump is that he's a counter puncher. All this has been through this campaign, so when Jeb Bush attacked him in the primaries or someone else attacked him in the primaries, he would wait ...
COOPER: He attacked a silent woman.
LEWANDOWSKI: Well, no. What happened was, he waited and he didn't participate in the Democratic Convention obviously. This family went and made statements that he took personally. And personal attack on Donald Trump thus way he felt those statements to be. And he has said that their son is a hero and remains a hero for his service to the country.
COOPER: He didn't say that initially, though. That's what he says afterwards.
LEWANDOWSKI: But he has said that there is a hero but making the ultimate sacrifice for the country, and no one will deny that. But what he thought and what I think he thought during that time was that, they questioned his patriotism, they questioned his commitment to the country by raising the Constitution if you never read that. And he took that as a personal attack on him, so that was his response.
COOPER: Christine? CHRISTINE QUINN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Can I just say a couple
of things here? I mean, it's important to know, Mrs. Khan did not speak so Mr. Khan spoke. And then what Donald Trump did was, in my opinion, insinuate that her religion prevented her from speaking or her husband's kind of control of her prevented her from speaking. And, in my opinion, kind of insinuated that there was something maternally lacking, then none of those things are true.
As we saw her speak in tears, which she did not want to do, in tears she told America that she can't speak when there is a picture of her son in the room.
[20:10:06] She can't even enter some rooms with there a pictures of her son.
She didn't want to share any of those things with America. But she and her religion and her family and I can't, in God's name, understand why, it seems cruel to me, were attacked by Donald Trump.
COOPER: If this was a thought-out statement by Donald Trump, I mean, and he did, to Corey's point, have several days to think this out, he would have initially said of course, you know, their son is a hero, has sacrificed and everything I have done does not compare to that sacrifice just as anything I have done or anybody around here has done.
TARA SETMAYER, CONSERVATIVE TRUMP CRITIC: Right. But that's not what he did. And it's the initial reaction by Donald Trump that is so troubling. His initial reaction was to lash out in a very petulant, vindictive way. And to come out, he didn't just say, "Oh, their son is a hero and move forward."
He said, he actually had the audacity to compare their sacrifice and their son's sacrifice to what he's done as a businessman. That is beyond the pale. Donald Trump silver spooned draft dodger who brag went about bedding women while real men of courage were giving their lives serving this country in Vietnam.
And he brag about this and thought this was just wonderful and said that he was a brace they he talked about being he was a brave soldier, talking about his sexual exploits. And then, he goes out there and this is what he actually want people to believe that his sacrifice is somehow comparable, this kind of behavior and reaction by Donald Trump is the temperamentally unfit aspect of his character, that it's so troublesome and should be.
COOPER: John is a Trump supporter, I want you to response. Do you have any trouble with what Donald Trump said?
JOHN JAY LAVALLE, TRUMP SUPPORTER: he was attacked and his patriotism was questioned.
SETMAYER: Get over it. He needs to get over it. He's running for the president of the United States.
COOPER: Well, I know that his patriotism ... (Crosstalk)
LAVALLE: Here's an (inaudible) was brought to the state at the DNC. And, yes, his son is a hero. There's no question about that and Donald Trump ...
COOPER: I guess, my question is do you have any trouble with Donald Trump's initial reaction?
LAVALLE: No. Let's go to the core of the issue. It's the nation- building policy that put her son there.
COOPER: That's a talking point that you guys have not developed.
LAVALLE: Not just the talking point, it's reality.
COOPER: I'm asking you ...
SETMAYER: See, her child is dead.
COOPER: ... you have no problem with his initial reaction, not saying that this man was a hero. You have no problem with him going after the mother. That was fine with you.
LAVALLE: First of all, he is always go ...
(CROSSTALK)
LAVALLE: As a good American he's offended that he's patriotism is being attacked for no reason whatsoever.
COOPER: Again, my question is simple ...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, Anderson, can I ...
COOPER: Do you have a problem at all?
LAVALLE: No, I don't have a problem when someone's patriotism is attacked that they stand up for themselves.
BERNARD WHITMAN, AUTHOR, 50 REASON TO VOTE FOR HILLARY: Let's call it, let's say, a spade. He is a divisive, thin-skinned, megalomaniac who makes everything crisis about him. Look what he said immediately after Orlando, he went on TV and said expressing remorse in sympathy and empathy and compassion. He said, "See, I was right, it was about Muslim extremism", which, by the way, it was not. He did the same thing here, he took it personally. He lashed out. He's vindictive. It's disgraceful.
COOPER: We're going to take a quick break. We're going to have more with our panel coming up. Also, given the flag, Trump is taking from veterans Democrats and Republicans, a lot of different sides for his clash with the Khan family. We're going to dig deeper, the question of how far in his case is too far now that the primary is over. Can Donald Trump still say anything and not drive away voters?
Later, Hillary Clinton gives an answer on her e-mail problems. In fact, checkers gives it a complete thumbs down, four Pinocchio for Washington Post, that story and more when 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:15:00] COOPER: Welcome back. Donald Trump now on stage in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania, we'll listen in bring you any news he might make.
Meantime, to our latest CNN ORC polling has little for Donald to be happy about except for Hillary Clinton's ongoing difficulty moving her low numbers on trustworthiness. His problem just one in three voters believe he can unite the country rather than dividing it.
One reason perhaps, statements like the one we mentioned a moment ago, answering Mr. Khan's accusation that he, Trump, has sacrificed noting and no one for this country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think I made a lot of sacrifices. I worked very, very hard. I've created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs. Built great structures, I've done -- I've had tremendous success.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That was his statement to George Stephanopoulos there.
However, if that indeed is the case, it's actually something new. Donald has said a mouthful already and until now, he's not paid the price in the polls. Looks for the reasons why with panel but first CNN's Tom Foreman.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From the very start, Donald Trump has peppered his political message with dynamite, on Mexican immigrants.
TRUMP: They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists.
FOREMAN: On Senator John McCain.
TRUMP: He's a war hero but he was captured. I like the people that weren't captured, OK, I hate to tell you.
FOREMAN: On women, in general and the debate host in particular.
TRUMO: You see, there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her, wherever.
FOREMAN: Everytime, hundreds have predicted a backlashed would bring Trump crashing down and everytime they've been wrong. Happened in December, Trump took aim at Muslims.
TRUMP: Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.
FOREMAN: And his poll number did not change. Then in February, he spoke up on how the U.S. fights ISIS.
TRUMP: I would bring back water boarding and I'd bring back a hell of a lot worst than water boarding.
FOREMAN: The polls did not budge. In May, he went after the father of his opponent Ted Cruz with a bizarre claim.
TRUMP: His father was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to Oswald being, you know, shot.
FOREMAN: And Trump's polls still stood firm.
Sure, Trump's support has gone up and down and he's unfavorability rating like Hillary Clinton is unusually high for a major party candidate. But his supporters have shown fierce loyalty and the polls suggest what others see as outrageous, they see as courageous, plain spoken truth.
So he tweets a picture of his opponent with what looks like a Star of David and his critics go wild. But Trump seems who have figured out the reaction to all of this long ago.
TRUMP: I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters, okay?
FOREMAN: And that statement did not hurt him in the polls either. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COOPER: I guess the question tonight, if that immunity from consequences in any way changing. As Jim Acosta reporting earlier, Trump running mate Mike Pence was confronted over Trump's back and forth by the Khan family by woman who says her son serves in the air force.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Time and time again, Trump has disrespected our nation and armed forces and veterans, and his disrespect for Mr. Khan and his family is just an example of that.
[20:20:01] Will there ever be a point in time when you're able to look at Trump in the eye him "enough is enough"?
You have a son in the military. How do you tolerate his disrespect?
GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Well, I thank you for the question. It's all right. It's all right.
Folks, that's what freedom looks like and that's what freedom sounds like, OK? It is.
Let me just say, first, I want to honor your son's service to the country and your family's service to the country, I surely do, yes. Having spent time with our nominee, I have never been around someone more devoted to the armed forces of this country, more devoted to the families of our soldiers, sailors, air man marine and (inaudible) and no one more devoted to the veterans in this country.
Donald Trump supports our soldiers and supports our veterans like no other leader in my lifetime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And back with panel. John, I mean, you've interviewed Trump a number of times. Is there any reason to believe that this time is different? That this statement, this battle with the Khan family he's been having now for days and getting a lot of attention for is going to make any difference?
DICKERSON: Well, a lot of the previous examples took place in the Republican primary context. So we have different electorate now, two things I would look for, if there's going to be anything different.
The question here is impulsiveness. The Trump campaign will tell you that the bar for him to across is whether people think they can hand the presidency over to him, if he can occupy the office and people won't think that's too big of a risk.
If impulsiveness looks like something that he can't restrain, no matter what. Even in the situation, we have gold star family, yet he's counter puncher, but the situation here calls for restraint, so does being president.
If people believe that he is -- that he cannot constrain his impulses, they're not going to want to give him the office.
And you see, the Clinton campaign playing on this, again and again when Hillary Clinton said anybody you can bait in a tweet is not someone you want to give the nuclear codes to. Michelle Obama, mentioned nuclear codes, they're obviously driving right at this.
The other thing that could hurt him is Republicans, who are even on board, there are 98 days till the election, their electoral hopes and dreams are tied to Donald Trump. The riskier he continues to be the closer he get to Election Day, the harder it is to get out from under him and the more chances that he may survive.
There could be irrevocable damage to the party -- to them and they think he is just too chaotic. When he picked Mike Pence, people keep telling the Republican activists, it helps stabilize the campaign, because what they were worried about is volatility. This fight with the Khans is more volatility and a predictor of even more. COOPER: Corey, is he doing enough to reach out to new voters? I mean, he's got the voters and they're incredibly loyal, perhaps more loyal than we've seen certainly for anybody else in the primary season but is he doing enough to reach out to those independence?
LEWANDOWSKI: Yeah. I think what you find with Donald Trump is, if you look at the primary process which we've been through 16 candidates in the race, 14 million votes, highest of any Republican candidate who has ever run for office in any time in the history of our country in a primary season.
He's bringing new people into the party. The Republican Party is expanding. The Democrats in their primary are losing people. If you look at Hillary Clinton's votes totals from where they were eight years ago against Barack Obama, her numbers are down 27 percent in California from where they were eight years ago.
People are reenergized. The American working class who has not had a race in 20 years, who is making less money today than they were 20 years ago in real dollars, is fed up with a broken Washington, Republicans and Democrats alike, have not fix the system and they want some someone who is going to fundamentally change Washington and that's why they're reengaged in the electoral process.
QUINN: So, look, I just want to take a step back for a second. You know, the segment before kind of talked about what he could get away with, what's he's gotten away with and can he continue to get away with it. That's a different question than what's right, and what is the appropriate American way to tell the truth and most importantly, to treat a gold star family.
Now, let's -- and for Donald Trump, this all seems about who first, who second -- who hit first, who hit second, who hit third, who hit fourth, which is no way to sit in a room if you're negotiating international affairs.
But let's start here. One, Donald Trump supported the Iraq War before he switched his position and he came against it. So to say if he had been president Captain Khan would be alive, which would be a blessing, is the facts don't bear that out and his vice presidential choice also supported the war.
Two, Mr. Khan went up there and spoke. Mrs. Khan said nothing. Why did they speak? Because Donald Trump put out a proposal to ban Muslims, and all you say to them, if you're a person with half a soul is thank you. Why can't he say that and then shut his mouth?
COOPER: This is days after Hillary Clinton said something which is just factually not true in an interview.
[20:25:03] Donald Trump could have spent the last several days focusing on that, and instead he's in these tangential battles which, I mean, for his own -- if you're on Trump side (ph), doesn't it distract attention from what Hillary Clinton said, which we're going to cover tonight, that a lot of people haven't paid attention. LAVALLE: Of course, it does to the extent the she says a lot of things that aren't true. But this was a premeditated speech. You know, constantly -- yes, we do appreciate the sacrifices of her son. He is an American hero. But this is a premeditated speech done for political purposes. He put himself in front of America, questioned Donald Trump's patriotism for what reason?
SETMAYER: He didn't do that. That is not true.
LAVALLE: That is exactly what happened.
SETMAYER: No, he asked him -- I watched it.
LAVALLE: Watch it again.
SETMAYER: I watched it and actually, it brought me to tears because I thought to myself here is a perfect example of what this country stands for. This is an immigrant family that has a hero son, that's assimilated to this country who is actually speaking their minds, which they're allowed to do in America still, and saying, "You know what, Mr. Trump, have you actually read this Constitution because some of the things that Donald Trump says are awfully suspect of the Constitution."
I've never heard Donald Trump talk about liberty and freedom and the constitution. As a matter of fact, he thinks there 12 articles in the constitution.
This is something -- it was perfectly valid for the Kahn family after Donald Trump proposed a ban on all Muslims for them to say look at us, what are you doing and we represent what America should be. There is nothing wrong with that.
And if Donald Trump can't handle that, then Mr. big-bad-billionaire- bully from New York, then he needs to audition for another job other than president of the United States.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: We got to take another break, a lot more to talk about with the panel ahead including Donald Trump's remarks about Russia, Vladimir Putin and Ukraine and the question raises about his knowledge of foreign affairs.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:30:53] COOPER: We've been talking in part tonight about what Donald Trump, whether you support him or not, knows and does not know about the world. Tonight, remarks he made this weekend are raising questions on the foreign relations front. Here's what he told ABC's George Stephanopoulos when asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: He's not going into Ukraine, OK, just so you understand. He's not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down. You can put it down. You can take in any ...
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC HOST, "THIS WEEK": Well, he's already there, isn't he?
TRUMP: OK. Well, he's there in a certain way, but I'm not there. You have Obama there. And frankly, that whole part of the world is a mess under Obama ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Russia, of course, annex Crimea in 2014, which is part of Ukraine. Trump's critics jump on to his remarks saying the gap revealed his foreign policy ignorance. And Trump spent today trying to explain, tweeting, when I said in an interview that Putin is "not going into Ukraine, you can mark it down," I'm saying if I am president, already in Crimea and then this. So with all of the Obama tough talk on Russia and the Ukraine, they have already taken Crimea and continue to push. That's what I said.
Here he is campaigning in Ohio.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: So when I said, believe me, Russia's not going into Ukraine, all right? They're not going into Ukraine. The person said, but they're already in Ukraine. I said, yeah, well that was two years ago. That's -- I mean, do you want to go back? Do you want to have World War III to get it back? That was during Obama's watch.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: As you saw, not exactly what he said. At this unfolding at a key junction of the election, both nominees will soon start receiving intelligence briefings back with the panel. I mean, John, it is an open question of how much briefing Donald Trump is getting on world events, whether in relation to the upcoming debate or just in -- I'm not talking about intelligence briefings, so just from his own people.
DICKERSON: And how much a level of curiosity he has. I think that's what when you talk to both Republicans and Democrats who've been in administrations. They say that a president's mind has to be active with the issues that they're dealing with because here's what happens. You bring a president option A and option B and they can choose or maybe a great decision-maker can choose between A and B. But they don't even know that there's a C.
And if the decisions are bad that are brought to a president, no matter how strong the skill that that president has in decision making, they're going to miss the important outside options. And if their brain is alive and curious, they can push their -- the people who are bringing them that options and maybe find the -- not fall into group think which is two problems. One, group think or when somebody crosses the threshold into the Oval Office, they say, yes sir, you know, your tie looks great today, sir, and here's what you want to hear. And those are the -- some of the dangerous that happened with the president in the Oval Office. And so, you want a president with alive enough mind that he's going to push his briefers and what this -- what this -- remember it's not the first time with Mr. Trump. So the worry with the people that I've talked to are who've been engaged with these issues is that he's not really -- that's he's interested in other stuff.
COOPER: And John, why would Donald ...
QUINN: But didn't he read the newspaper?
COOPER: Why would Donald Trump as a candidate say in that speech and then I said, well, you want to go back two years? Because that's -- that's not what he said. And so, why would he in a speech say here's what I said, when in fact, that's not what he said. What he said was, well, he's there in a way, which I don't really know what that means.
LAVALLE: Donald Trump has repeatedly said that we are being pushed around under Barrack Obama and it's true. And he's pointed out example after example of how our reputation throughout this world has been damaged by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and you know.
COOPER: Again, in all fairness, you'd just given me talking points as opposed to just ...
LAVALE: Yeah, but he's giving a historical answer to a question. And he's talking about how the United States is being pushed around, how this country is ...
COOPER: Do you believe he knew that Vladimir Putin had moved into Crimea?
LAVALE: Yes.
COOPER: Bernard ...
WHITMAN: So, Anderson, how much does Donald Trump love Vladimir Putin? Let me count the ways. He has lavished extraordinary praise on one of the most brutal dictators that we have today. This is a man who subjugates his own people, who discriminates against populations, who has completely quashed a similar to the free press who is probably one of the most ...
COOPER: Right. We know all that. I mean, but ...
QUINN: Let me just say, I mean, John, I think you were exceedingly kind in just have been like in your description of briefings and his lack of curiosity.
[20:35:01] Didn't he read the papers? Didn't he watch the news when ...
COOPER: But we know he watches the news.
(CROSSTALK) QUINN: But how did he miss this? Then how did he miss this?
(CROSSTALK)
QUINN: But he clearly did not know.
COOPER: Well, do you think he misspoke, Corey? What do you say?
QUINN: He didn't know.
LEWANDOWSKI: I don't think he misspoke. I think what you have with Donald Trump is you have someone who is extremely curious about world affairs, who asks questions all the time, who has as an international business individual has done business across the world.
COOPER: Does he get brief -- I mean, the times -- it seemed to me like his campaign group when you were there is pretty small. It didn't seem like there's a lot of people like handing him briefing bookings. And maybe I'm wrong ...
LEWANDOWSKI: No, that's not true. So, look, I mean, you've seen General Flynn who's been on your show, you've seen Admiral Kubic who's been on your show talking, they brief, you know, Mr. Trump on numerous occasions. You've seen Senator Sessions ...
COOPER: But is he reading every day briefing booklets about?
LEWANDOWSKI: They have a substantial and very diverse foreign policy teams, people from Heritage Foundation who ...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: For a guy who supposedly reading a lot, I mean, he tweets about watching T.V. all the time. It seems like he's watching T.V. all the time.
(CROSSTALK)
LEWANDOWSKI: But the way Mr. Trump learns is he's -- he's a person who has conversations. That's what he does. So he gets on the phone, he has a conversation with Senator Sessions ...
COOPER: So he's not a briefing booklet kind of guy.
LEWANDOWSKI: Look, he's not going to -- to read a 200-page document when he can get on the phone and called the right admiral or right general or the person who serve in (inaudible) on services committee or the Foreign Relations Committee is a better use of his time to get it from the experts who ...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Michelle Obama was saying about President Obama that he spends every night, and again, whether you like Obama or not, he spends every night, until 2:00 a.m. reading huge briefing books. SETMAYER: Sure. Listen, one of the criticisms that we've said about Donald Trump is that he's willfully ignorant about this thing and he play it as game. It's like a parlor game here.
QUINN: Yes.
SETMAYER: So during this interview where he acted like he didn't know what was going on in Crimea that is absolutely disingenuous, CNN actually wrote -- ran a package not too long ago where he gave a speech a couple years ago where he talked about Putin going into Crimea and praised him for doing it and said that it was smart for him to go there because that's where all the money is. So, again, here he is praising a dictator who is our enemy. He knows it when it's convenient for him.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: But John, I mean, a lot of different presidents have different styles. And Ronald Reagan was, you know, criticized for not being sort of down in the weeds. Jimmy Carter was often criticized for being too much in the weeds.
DICKERSON: Right, well, and so let's take the opposite case. So, the best defense of Donald Trump is he speaks in a kind of short hand and his short hand is always, nobody's going to get past me in anything and that his instinct in that interview was to say, he's not going anywhere, weak Obama, I'm strong ...
COOPER: Right.
DICKERSON: ... Putin's not going anywhere. So that this was -- he just shoved a bunch of words together and there was a -- something was lost in translation.
But to your point, the question is when you're being briefed, if you're always -- if strength is always your answers then, strength is not always the answer to every question. So the question is where as a president, as a candidate does Hillary Clinton, does Donald Trump show their instinct for something that's the opposite of what their main instinct is? When did he show restraint and when did he show laying back as a smart strategic?
COOPER: OK. We've got to take another break. John Dickerson, thank you. I know you got to go. I appreciate you being here. Everyone else is going to stay with us.
Coming up next, we're going to focus on Hillary Clinton. She's also getting slammed tonight in her case for claiming FBI Director James Comey said she was truthful about her e-mails. See why "The Washington Post" fact-checker gave her four Pinocchio's for that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:42:17] COOPER: Hillary Clinton is taking new heat tonight over remarks defending her claims about her use of her personal e-mail server when she was secretary of state. We all heard her say publicly that she never sent or received classified material in her private server. On "Fox News Sunday", she was asked to square those claims with the FBI Director what he had said. Here's the exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS HOST, "FOX NEWS SUNDAY": After a long investigation, FBI Director James Comey said none of those things that you told the American public were true?
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Chris, that's not what I heard Director Comey say. And I thank you for giving me the opportunity to, in my view, clarify. Director Comey said that my answers were truthful and what I've said is consistent with what I have told the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Director Comey testified before Congress that some of Clinton's e-mails were in fact classified. While he said there was no evidence that she had lie to the FBI. He said he wasn't qualified to say whether she lied to the American public.
Our new CNN ORC poll shows that trust remains, obviously, significant problem for the Clinton campaign after both conventions.
Now, in 99 days until the election, the percentage of voters who see her as honest hasn't budged, it's still at 34 percent.
Back with the panel, joining us now, "New York Times" political correspondent, Patrick Healy.
Patrick, I mean, this answer at the very least, I mean, it's just not true what she is saying, I mean, the "Washington Post" says four Pinocchio's.
PATRICK HEALY, "NEW YORK TIMES" POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, it's ...
COOPER: She's selectively picking comments.
HEALY: Right. I mean, she is sort of that her lawyerly best or worst depending on what you think of lawyers. I mean, she is cherry picking the facts and sort of going to, you know, parts of the testimony by Comey and taking what she likes.
Now, on the one had, this is very typical of politicians been after the Iraq war and the invasion, you had months and months of Bush Administration officials who weren't willing to talk directly about whether WMD, you know, was in Iraq.
I mean, here in this case, you have Director Comey who gave hours and hours of testimony on Capitol Hill, there are a lot of yeses and nos and double negatives, you know, as answers. And Secretary Clinton is going in sort of taking the answers that kind of work for her and trusting that a lot of people aren't going to be able to really make heads or tails of this. They want to stop the conversation about this.
COOPER: Bernard, it's truly placed in the hands of all those people who say Hillary Clinton is just untrustworthy. They just don't believe. They believe she lies.
WHITMAN: I think the most important thing that Hillary Clinton has said from the very beginning was this was a mistake. If I knew now what I knew then ...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: ... said that for a woman who pick the words very carefully. It seems odd that she's picking what she's responding to about what Comey said.
WHITMAN: I think what she's responding to is the fact that she honestly does not believe and has never had any cause to believe that e-mails that she sent were classified.
Those e-mails were generally classified after the fact and she actually, I think believes in her heart, that she did not -- she made a mistake, but she did not do anything that was illegal or wrong.
COOPER: John?
[20:45:08] LAVALLE: No, she's been patently dishonest all along her entire career and she's trying to spin it. She will continue trying to spin and pivot all throughout this election. And t hat is going to haunt her throughout this. People do not find her to be honest. She is not honest. She has proven it time and time again.
HEALY: But this isn't about being patently dishonest, this is about keeping the focus entirely on Donald Trump. But not want you to say anything that creates ...
COOPER: Well, that's why he's saying that ...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: You know, Christine, she also seemed to kind of in the interview passing the blame on to her staff saying in part, "I relied on and had every reason to rely on the judgment of the professionals with whom I worked." I mean, is that a valid explanation?
QUINN: You know, I think she's fair to say. I looked at the tech people, they gave me advice but be clear, in every other interviews, and I haven't seen all of these ones, and maybe in this one she does take responsibility. She's not a, you know, the buck doesn't stop with me kind of a person.
I think what's important to note of Director Comey's testifying before Congress was the statements he made clearly, that any of the e-mails that were sent to her that may have been classified were not marked in that way, there was no way she could have known it. So for her to say she never received or sent was true when he was asked, where they identifiable? He said no.
COOPER: Tara.
(CROSSTALK)
SETMAYER: You know, some of the special access program e-mails that she received were clearly classified with the satellite information and things like that. And also the statute says that it doesn't have -- you don't have to have intent, it's about negligence. And -- but he said she was reckless with it.
So, you know, it's difficult for people to sit here and say that Hilary Clinton was honest about this. She said for months that she never sent or received, never sent or received and that was clearly untrue. It was also clearly untrue that she handed over all her e- mails which she didn't do. Director Comey said that there were thousands of work-related e-mails that they recovered. So, it's a problem, she lied. The bottom line ...
(CROSSTALK)
LEWANDOWSKI: But here's the thing Hillary Clinton had the opportunity to get in front of this and she chose not to. She just sit-down interview with Chris Wallace and she did the Bill Clinton thing, "What is is," right? This is what it comes down to, right? You're trying to parse words, the bottom line was she knew what she did was wrong, it was probably, if not definitely illegal.
The FBI Director said that there was not intent here but intent is not part of the statute to charge someone. He said that he would recommend not prosecuting. His job is not to prosecute or not to prosecute, his job as the FBI director is to present the evidence to a professional to decide if they're going to prosecute. She probably should have been prosecuted ...
QUINN: I think ...
HEALY: The question because at what point is Hillary Clinton going to take on the trustworthy issue? I mean, this would have been a chance for her to at least have said -- given an answer to pass the sort of the smell test for a lot of people, but instead she's -- she really is sort of hunkering down at this point. And ...
COOPER: It also would have been an opportunity for Donald Trump.
SETMAYER: Yes.
COOPER: Had he not kind of gone down the rabbit hole to focus attention and, yet again it seems like a squandered opportunity ...
(CROSSTALK)
HEALY: He was in day three, you know, that kind of (inaudible) and he was sort of lost and this would have been a clean hit for him to have taken.
(CROSSTALK)
LEWANDOWSKI: A far greater question is what is the biggest threat to national security? Clinton's e-mails or the fact that Donald Trump is inciting foreign military intelligence, Russian intelligence, to hack her e-mails to get more information?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's a ridiculous statement. This is the democrat...
LAVALLE: That's exactly what happened. She commits a crime, she washes out 33,000 e-mails knowing full well they're going to be looking for it. She doesn't get charged with a crime.
COOPER: The bottom line though is we have two candidates who are pretty close in terms of whether registered voters find them honest and trustworthy.
HEALY: Right. I mean that CNN poll says it all. And the reality is who's able to sort of control the narrative to reinforce the untrustworthy side? And at this point, Hillary Clinton's campaign is running, you know, at a pretty smart, on-message campaign. They're not being distracted by, you know, what Chris Wallace is pushing her on and Donald Trump is just having this day after day ...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: We got to take -- I'm sorry, we've going to take a break. We're simply out of time. We're going to get much more of our panel coming up.
And now, a special program, note this Wednesday night at 9:00 Eastern, don't miss our second town hall with libertarian presidential nominee former New York -- or excuse me, New Mexico Governor, Gary Johnson and his running mate former Massachusetts Governor William Weld, that's Wednesday at 9:00 right after "360", I'll be hosting that.
Up next tonight, a Zika travel warning in the United States where the CDC is telling pregnant women to stay away from because mosquitoes there have now spread the virus to at least 14 people. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:53:10] COOPER: Tonight, pregnant women and those attempting to get pregnant are being urged to stay away from a Miami neighborhood stricken by the Zika virus. It is the first time the Centers for Disease Control has warned against travel within the continental U.S. because of Zika and here's why.
Health officials have found 10 new cases of Zika in South Florida spread by local mosquitoes bringing the total to 14. Experts have long warned locally transmitted Zika would likely come to the U.S. And that day, well, it's seems to have arrived.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now with more. So, there's warning from the CDC, how significant is it?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's pretty significant, Anderson. I mean, as you just mentioned, it's the first time something like this has ever happened. We've checked with the folks at the CDC about that, this notion of warning a particular population of people not to go to a specific American town, that's never happened before. So, in and of itself, that's significant. And of course, it's pregnant women in particular because this virus is so associated with these birth defects. So, they're saying pregnant women, women who are thinking about getting pregnant, they should just not travel to this particular area.
It's about a one-by-one mile sort of square area right now. My guess is that area is going to grow. We've known that Zika virus was going to arrive in the United States. We've known it was going to start spreading locally, that is by mosquitoes.
And so, it's probably that area is going to grow. I don't think it's going to grow quickly or widely, but it's going to grow more than what it is right now.
COOPER: What is the CDC suggest that women do who are worried about being infected?
GUPTA: Well, they've put an area on it, of course, this area around Miami, again, that one mile square area, and also a date on it. So, they're saying if you've been to this area since June 15th, on June 15th or after June 15th, if you are pregnant, you should go get tested.
[20:55:01] That is really the advice. You should get tested.
There are blood tests now, there are also urine tests to try and figure out if you've been infected, if you've been exposed to the virus.
If you are someone -- and this is frightening, I mean certainly, for women who are pregnant, but if they have been tested positive, they are going to get -- then get a series of ultrasounds probably to help monitor the progress of the baby.
If by no means is certain that if you've developed the Zika infection while pregnant that these birth defects are going to result but there is the possibility about a 1 to 10 percent possibility. So the obstetrician has to be aware of this and monitor the baby's progress.
COOPER: And why the focus on this small area in Florida? I mean I assume that's where all the cases are from but do these mosquitoes not travel over a wide area?
GUPTA: Yeah, that's exactly right. It's really -- it's kind of fascinating, Anderson. The mosquito is known as the Aedes aegypti and it's just the female mosquito that's of concern here, they're the ones that bite humans. What we know about that mosquito is they really don't travel more than 150 meters on average.
So the CDC in fact could pinpoint this to an even smaller area, about 150 meter radius area. But that's obviously so small that's why they sort of expanded it to this one mile square area to make sure they're not missing anything.
But these mosquitoes don't travel very far, just like you said, so that's part of the reason they can pinpoint this. Having said that, South Florida, South Texas, Louisiana, areas that approximate the climate of where I am now here in Brazil, those are areas that are going to be most at risk and we're likely to see local spread of Zika in those areas as well.
COOPER: Yeah, the area in Florida, by the way, is an area called Wynwood. Sanjay, thanks. We're going to obviously continue to follow this.
Coming up in the next hour of "360", will Donald Trump address the controversy that's only grown over the last three days over his remarks about the parents of a fallen American soldiers talking tonight? We'll be right back.
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