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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Vice President Pence Today Announcing That Turkey Will Pause Its Bloody Campaign In Northern Syria; Mitt Romney Rips Trump's Syria Strategy; Trump: Kurdish Allies Of The U.S. Are Not Angels; Warren's Campaign Says She's Reviewing Options For Funding Medicare For All; Trump To Host G7 Summit At His Florida Golf Resort. Aired 4:30-5p ET
Aired October 17, 2019 - 16:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:30:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Vice President Pence today announcing that Turkey will pause its bloody campaign in Northern Syria.
The Trump administration says the 120-hour long ceasefire will allow the U.S. to safely remove its Kurdish allies from Northern Syria, but Turkey claims those U.S. allies are actually terrorists and this is just a temporary pause until they get what they want.
CNN's Boris Sanchez reports at least one high profile Republican is already slamming President Trump's latest actions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): On his way to a rally in Dallas this afternoon, President Trump touting a newly brokered deal with Turkey to temporarily stop its deadly incursion into Northern Syria.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is an incredible outcome --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ (voice over): Which started after the President decided to pull U.S. troops out of an area controlled by the Kurds, a longtime American ally in the fight against ISIS.
Following an hour's long meeting with Turkish President Erdogan, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, spinning what critics have called a self-inflicted crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: President Trump sent us here to end the violence and achieve an immediate ceasefire. And thanks to the agreement that we negotiated today and the strong stand that President Trump took. In the preceding days, we've achieved that. Today's ceasefire is a credit to President Trump and to President
Erdogan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ (voice over): But that's not how Turkey sees it. The Foreign Minister almost immediately contradicting Pence and Trump saying the agreement is not a ceasefire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEVLUT CAVUSOGLU, TURKEY FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We will pause the operation for 120 hours in order for the terrorists to leave. We will only stop the operation if our conditions are met.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ (voice over): Under the agreement, Kurdish fighters will have five days to leave the safe zone along the border. The withdrawal already underway according Pence. In exchange, the White House will drop economic sanctions on Turkish officials -- both items exactly what Turkey wanted.
While Kurdish forces haven't yet responded to this agreement, Trump alleges --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: As a group, I want to thank the Kurds because they were incredibly happy with this solution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ (voice over): And today's pact, which Trump claimed --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: This outcome is something they've been trying to get for 10 years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ (voice over): Is actually extremely similar to a previous security mechanism agreement the U.S. reached with Turkey earlier this year. While the Kurds kept their side of the bargain, Turkey did not.
The immediate reaction from one of the Republicans who oppose Trump's decision --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): The announcement today is being portrayed as a victory. It is far from a victory.
(END VIDEOTAPE) SANCHEZ: Senator Mitt Romney, the first Republican to come out and
condemn this deal, Jake, adding that what the United States has done to the Kurds will leave a blood stain on U.S. history -- Jake.
TAPPER: All right, thank you so much. Let's chat over all of this. Susan, let me start with you. Here's something else that Senator Mitt Romney just said minutes ago on the Senate floor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: Are we so weak and so inept, diplomatically that Turkey forced the hand of the United States of America? Turkey?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Is that what happened? Did Turkey force the hands of the United States? I don't understand why President Trump did what he did.
SUSAN GLASSER, STAFF WRITER, THE NEW YORKER: Well, you don't understand why President Trump did what he did in the first place that it -- you know, this is a crisis of Trump's own making.
I mean, first of all, you've got to say it's remarkable to see Mitt Romney out there as the lone voice of conscience in the Republican Party these days. The John McCain-ification of Romney is nearly complete, except that, as we talked about before, he doesn't seem to have other Republicans following along in the way that McCain did at least some of the time.
But, you know, in terms of the geopolitics of this, it's a remarkable moment. Turkey is a NATO ally that's just launched an attack on an American ally that the President has acquiesced in and, you know, it really is a big brother like moment to both create a crisis, say there was a win-win and then also declare victory in fixing the thing you said yesterday wasn't even a crisis.
TAPPER: And Joshua, one of the other things that is remarkable is the other day, President Trump was basically repeating Turkish propaganda saying that PKK which is a Kurdish militant group, but saying that they are more dangerous than ISIS, which nobody thinks.
JOSHUA JOHNSON, HOST, NPR's 1A: Nobody but President Erdogan. Remember, President Erdogan thinks that the PKK is a terrorist group that's trying to kind of like a hooligan.
TAPPER: Well, the U.S. thinks that they're a terrorist group, too. But nobody would say that they're more dangerous than ISIS.
JOHNSON: Well, right and we've made a differentiation between the Kurds who are doing what they're doing in Turkey and those in Syria who are helping us fight terror.
We should also be clear that as President Trump was speaking in Fort Worth before his event tonight in Dallas, Turkey's Foreign Minister was speaking at the same time, and he said this is not a ceasefire. A ceasefire only takes place between two legitimate sides. He called it a pause and said also that Turkey has killed more than 4,000 ISIS soldiers and said, quote, "You don't need a terror group to fight another terror group."
[16:35:10]
JOHNSON: So the opinion of the Turkish government has not changed and the fact also that the SDF General-in-Charge, Mazlum Abdi, the President, in his letter to President Erdogan said, let me send you this confidential letter from him. They're ready to make a deal. That means one of our allies in the fight against terror has had one of their correspondences from the President sent to President Erdogan of Turkey who considers them terrorists.
VIVIAN SALAMA, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, WALL STREET JOURNAL: And this has been the fascinating thing about President Trump's whole relationship with Erdogan dating back to when he took office is that he legitimately thinks that he has a rapport with him that he can basically sway his decisions.
Listen, before I covered the White House, I was the Iraq Bureau Chief. I covered Iraq and Syria. The number of times that Turkey has tried to attack the Kurds across the border is countless.
Anyone who watches that region knows that they were trying to do this. A number of officials thought that Turkey was bluffing, that they wouldn't do it, that President Trump somehow had some influence over his decisions. They were going to do it the second they saw an opening and they saw an opening two weeks ago when President Trump said he was going to essentially pull out our troops.
Still the President continues to entertain Erdogan and say, well, he wants to make a deal. He knows it's good for his country.
But at the end of the day, he refrains from criticizing Erdogan for the atrocities that have already happened. We have heard him criticize leaders in the U.K. with much harsher language than he is criticized Erdogan for what's happened in the last two weeks.
BILL KRISTOL, DIRECTOR, DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER: He has criticized "New York Times" and "The Washington Post."
TAPPER: And CNN reporters.
SALAMA: Exactly. Exactly.
KRISTOL: What is what is the actual one concrete result of -- as far as we can tell of Vice President Pence and Secretary of State Pompeo's visit to Turkey today? No sanctions. Even the most Trump supportive senators, right, and congressmen on the Republican side said, yes, we've got to do something about this. We've got to sanction Turkey.
Now, apparently the administration no longer -- is taking off the very mild sanctions they put on Monday, and they're not supporting sanctions on the Hill in return for nothing.
So I mean, it really is -- it's even more of an accommodation than one thought was possible.
TAPPER: It's pretty astounding, does the so-called ceasefire in Syria shift the balance of power yet again in the Middle East towards the Russians? We asked the man who oversaw the Osama bin Laden raid, Admiral William McRaven. He is out with a new op-ed in "The New York Times." That's next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: Our World Lead, President Trump praising a ceasefire deal between Turkey and the Kurds in the U.S. to allow for the withdrawal of Syrian Kurdish forces calling it a great day for civilization.
Turkey's Foreign Minister, not so sure. He said this is not a permanent ceasefire, nor is it an end to the hostilities. This all comes as Russia and Iran and Assad in Syria are all pushing to fill the power vacuum being left in Northern Syria after President Trump abruptly ordered all U.S. forces out of the area, largely surrendering American alliances and influence in parts of the Middle East.
Joining me now to discuss is retired Navy Admiral William McRaven. He served as the Head of U.S. Special Operations Command and oversaw the 2011 bin Laden raid. He also just released a scathing "New York Times" op-ed titled, "Our Republic is Under Attack from the President."
Admiral, thanks so much for joining us. Let me let me first of all, ask you, our Republic is under attack from the President, how?
ADMIRAL WILLIAM MCRAVEN (RET), FORMER HEAD OF U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND: You know, I made two points in the op-ed, Jake. First was that, you know, if you want to destroy an organization, any organization, you destroy it from within, you destroy it from without, and then what you do is you convince everybody that you're doing the right thing.
So when you take a look at what the President has done, he is undermining the Intelligence Community, the law enforcement community, the Department of Justice, the State Department.
He has called the press the enemy of the American people, and I will tell you, I fought a lot of America's enemies, the press is not the enemy of the American people. Then you take a look at undermining us from without. He has obviously left our allies, the Kurds on the battlefield. We feel like we have betrayed them.
He has undermined our NATO allies. He has taken us out of the JCPOA and the TPP. And really, the international community has lost faith in America.
And then throughout the course of all of this, he has convinced us that he is doing it for all the right reasons. And I think that is really what is troubling.
But if I can, the other part of the op-ed that I think is equally important is that I think Trump forgets that we are a nation of values, that we are not just transactional. He is a transactional President. He believes that it's only good if it is good for us, but he forgets that we're the same nation that fought Nazism and fascism and imperialism and communism and terrorism.
And we did that not because it was just good for us, but because it was the right thing to do, and the men and women in the military and the Intelligence Community and the law enforcement community, those people, those Americans believe that these values are important.
I don't believe the President fully understands that.
TAPPER: And you right, quote, "If our promises are meaningless, how will our allies ever trust us? If we can't have faith in our nation's principles, why would the men and women of this nation join the military? And if they don't join, who will protect us? If we are not the champions of the good and the right, then who will follow us? And if no one follows us -- where will the world end up?"
You really see it in that stark view? You really see it as the United States is basically under President Trump in your view, amoral, not necessarily immoral, but amoral and that could really have a devastating effect on the world.
MCRAVEN: Yes, as I've said a number of times before, Jake, I've had the privilege and the honor of working for a lot of Presidents, and I didn't always agree with them, but I always believed that they were men of principle. They were trying to do what was right by the country.
They didn't always get it right, but they were trying to do what was right. I don't see that in this President. And my point and again, I will never speak for everybody in the military. That's not my intent.
[16:45:09]
The individuals can speak for themselves. But I will tell you that I know what motivated me and I can offer what motivated a lot of the people that work for me.
It's the fact that we thought we were doing the right thing. That we believed in these values. We believed in the Constitution. We believed that we were a nation of laws. We believed in the First Amendment. We believed in universal rights. We believed that we were the good guys.
And if we're no longer the good guys, it's going to be very difficult to inspire people to join any -- the Intelligence Community, the military, any part of the federal government where those values are so critical to doing your job and to sacrificing for this country.
TAPPER: Admiral, yesterday, President Trump described the Kurds as people who were not angels. Take a listen to President Trump this afternoon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to thank the Kurds because they were incredibly happy with this solution. This is a solution that really -- well it saved their lives, frankly. If we didn't go this unconventional tough-love approach, you could have never gotten it done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Based on what the Kurds have said publicly, it does not actually sound like they are incredibly happy.
MCRAVEN: Yes. My guess is that they are not happy, Jake. And while I'm glad we have this ceasefire, this does not absolve the President from the egregious decision he made to begin with. And if part of his strategy was to allow the Turks to go to war with the Kurds so that they could kill over 100 Kurds and displace hundreds of thousands, that frankly was not a very good strategy and I don't think anybody truly believes that.
TAPPER: Admiral William McRaven, thank you so much. We really appreciate your time. And thank you as always for your service to this country.
MCRAVEN: Thanks, Jake.
TAPPER Senator Elizabeth Warren does not have a plan for one big thing. And her campaign is now admitting is now admitting it. That's next.
[16:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: Our "2020 LEAD" today. On the heels of this week's CNN-New York Times Democratic Debate, Senator Elizabeth Warren is acknowledging as of right now she is not being clear on how she will pay for Medicare for All. Her campaign now says that they are reviewing revenue options.
This after her Democratic rivals called her out for failing to explain how she would pay for the system bound to have a hefty price tag.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: At least Bernie's being honest here and saying how he's going to pay for this and that taxes are going to go up. And I'm sorry, Elizabeth, but you have not said that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: As CNN's M.J. Lee now reports, the attacks from Democrats have not stopped.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm with Bernie on Medicare for All.
M.J. LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Elizabeth Warren says her health care plan is Bernie Sanders' is plan Medicare for All. But unlike Sanders, Warren hasn't said if taxes would go up under that proposal. Her campaign insisting that Warren is still figuring out some key details, including how to pay for the sweeping plan.
The Warren campaign telling CNN she's reviewing the revenue options suggested by the 2016 Bernie campaign along with other revenue options, but she will only support pay-fors that meet the principles she has laid out in multiple debates. On the trail, Warren has said Medicare for All is a work in progress.
WARREN: Right now, what we've got a Medicare for All is a framework and it doesn't have the details. Costs will go down for hard-working middle-class families.
LEE: At the CNN-New York Times Democratic presidential debates, Tuesday, Warren taking heat from her rivals, as she repeatedly refused to say whether taxes would go up under Medicare for All.
MARC LACEY, NATIONAL EDITOR, NEW YORK TIMES: Will you raise taxes on the middle class for pay -- to pay for it? Yes or no.
WARREN: So I have made clear what my principles are here, and that is costs will go up for the wealthy and for big corporations, and for hard-working middle-class families costs will go down.
PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We heard it tonight, a yes or no question that didn't get a yes or no answer.
KLOBUCHAR: The difference between a plan and a pipe dream is something that you can actually get done.
LEE: Sanders defending his signature plan and acknowledging that some taxes will go up.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But I do think it is appropriate to acknowledge that taxes will go up. They're going to go up significantly for the wealthy. And for virtually everybody, the tax increase they pay will be substantially less, substantially less than what they were paying for premiums and out of pocket expenses.
LEE: After the debate, Joe Biden even questioning Warren's credibility.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She's going to have to tell the truth, or the question we raised about whether or not she's going to be candid and honest with the American people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEE: Now, the Warren campaign says that it still doesn't know exactly how much Medicare for All will cost. And the campaign is also not commenting on whether Senator Warren could ultimately put out her own proposal on how to pay for the plan. Jake? TAPPER: All right, MJ Lee, thank you so much. As President Trump claims to care about corruption in Ukraine and Puerto Rico, the White House is announcing a major world summit will take place at a resort with a familiar name on the side. Stay with us.
[16:55:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: The White House just announced that the U.S. will be hosting the 2020 G7 summit of world leaders at Trump's golf property in Doral, Florida, raising obvious questions of conflicts of interest, which prompted this response from Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICK MULVANEY, ACTING CHIEF OF STAFF, WHITE HOUSE: He's not making any money off of this just like he's not making money from working here. And if you think it's going to help his brand, that's great, but I would suggest that he probably doesn't need much help promoting his brand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Susan?
SUSAN GLASSER, STAFF WRITER, THE NEW YORKER: Even in a presidency full of grifting, Jake, this has got to be one of the biggest scripts of all. I mean, in here in Washington, we often talk about the appearance of a conflict of interest or the appearance of impropriety. This is just a conflict of interest.
If it was any other official in the government, there would be a massive investigation underway of this kind of conflict of interest. It's extraordinary.
TAPPER: And I don't know how he can claim that the President is not going to profit from it. Everyone stick around. Thank you so much.
