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Soon: Biden Remarks On Trump's Threat to Democracy; Cindy McCain Speaks At Event Honoring Late Husband John; Biden Delivers Warning On Threats To Democracy; Biden Defends Milley After Trump Threatened Him. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired September 28, 2023 - 15:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I have my team of experts with me. And Scott, let me play some of what we've heard from Donald Trump when it comes to accepting the results of the next presidential election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will you commit to accepting the results of the election regardless of the outcome?

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If I think it's an honest election, I would be honored to.

They rigged the presidential election of 2020 and we're not going to allow them to rig the presidential election of 2024.

We will win bigger and better than ever before. They rigged the presidential election in 2020 and we're not going to allow them to rig the presidential election in 2024.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: It sure sounds like he's preparing to challenge the results if he doesn't win yet again.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. And the audience for the Biden speech today is that cohort of Republicans who just hate this. When they hear those soundbites, they don't want to relive the 2020 Election. They don't want to re-litigate this whole thing.

And for Biden, you don't have to win them all. You just have to win a handful of them to make a difference in a state that was as close as Arizona or Wisconsin or Georgia. And I suspect this is going to be a recurring theme, even though Republicans hated it when he did it in the midterm, there is some empirical evidence that it worked, that there's enough center-right Independents and soft Republican voters that are taken in by this.

Now, what has happened since then? Trump's been indicted several times.

TAPPER: Let's listen. Here is Cindy McCain, the widow of John McCain, the head of the world - the U.N. World Food Programme, introducing President Biden at this address. Let's listen in.

CINDY MCCAIN, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: I hear my grandsons. Good morning, everyone. I am so pleased to be here this morning to see not only all of you, but certainly the president who is here. Mr. President, Madam Governor, esteemed guests, welcome to what is the first step of many in the creation of an enduring, impactful and fitting legacy for my husband.

It has taken five long years since John's death to have the honor of standing here before you with the proud knowledge of what now stands before all of us, thanks to the work of so many people. This future library will provide the beating heart and soul to help further the causes John so dearly believed in, and will be the impetus to bring them back to where they belong, to the place that he loved so, Arizona.

The road ahead is just beginning, but we know where it will lead. John would have hated if we'd made this occasion just about him, but instead, he would have wanted to make it about what is most important, John's constant mantra of service to a cause greater than one's self- interest and this will be embodied here within this project.

From nurturing the flame of democracy, calling others to a cause of character-driven leadership, or championing the issues most important to Arizonans, his indomitable spirit will live on through the actions and the ideals that we will imbue here.

There is no more starkly manifest personification of these causes and how they bring us together than the fact that President Biden is here to get us underway. While John and he differed on many political issues through their respective careers, the great causes that brought them together and were most important to our nation are shared in this venture.

It is my true hope that it will also serve as a motivation to inspire a new generation to take on the mantle of public service and to fight for the worthy causes they believe in, just as John did. We would not be capable of this great undertaking without the efforts of countless friends and advocates. I cannot thank those who have brought us here today.

To name a few, of course, the McCain family, Gov. Ducey, Gov. Hobbs and, of course, President Biden.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

And we know that your faith and assistance are the foundation of the great work that lays ahead.

And now in true John McCain fashion, we have much to do. I'm going to introduce the President, but give me just a second to add a special note if I may.

[15:05:00]

I don't know that many of you even know this. I was a young woman teaching special education and I went to spring break - on spring break with my parents to Hawaii.

And while I was there, we were invited to this glorious reception held in - on behalf of a Senate delegation on their way to China. During the course of that event, there were two people that came over to me and said, you have got to meet this man in this room.

President Biden and Mrs. Biden introduced me to my husband and I am so grateful for that.

It is my sincere honor to introduce to you, President Joe Biden.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you, thank you. Please - please, sit down. Thank you.

I'm going to put a little bit more meat on that bone - that last one.

John and I used to travel together. When John got back from all the time in Vietnam in prison - when he was released, he decided he wanted to go back to stay in the military. And he was assigned to the United States Senate and to the military office there that travels with senators when they travel abroad. And John and I put in a couple hundred thousand miles together.

And on our way to - I think I was going to either China - I forget what the destination was - China, I think. And we stopped in Hawaii. And the Chief Naval - of Operations was there showing me around. They did an event for me.

And John kept looking at your mom. Oh, I'm serious. And he said, "My God, she's beautiful." I said - and I said, "Yes, she is, John." And I said, "Well, you to go up and say hi to her." He said, "No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not going to do that."

Well, as your mom come - I won't go into more detail, but I'll tell you: I insisted that they meet. And I take credit. I take credit for you guys.

And I just told your mom: John and I had something in common, we both married way above our station - way above our station.

Cindy - or I should call you Madam Ambassador - thank you for all you've done, all you do, you continue to do. Jack and Bridget, the entire McCain family, and to all those who love the McCain family.

Oh, I didn't see all up there. Whoa. Don't jump. Don't jump.

Well, I tell you what, it's an honor to be with you. It's a genuine honor.

Gov. Hobbs, you've done an incredible job. You've been a leader and defender of democracy. And you've always been available when I've called, and I hope I've been available when you called as well.

Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, in the end, John McCain thought about the beginning. Five years ago, as John was dying from brain cancer, John wrote a farewell letter to the nation that he said - that he served so well in both war and in peace.

His words tracked back centuries to America's founding and then toward a triumphant future. Here's what John wrote, and I quote, "We are citizens of the world - the world's greatest republic. A nation of ideals, not blood and soil. Americans never quit. They never hide from history. America makes history."

And John was right. Every other nation in the world has been founded on either a grouping by ethnicity, religion, background. We're the most unique nation in the world. We're founded on an idea - the only major nation in the world founded on an idea. An idea that we are all created equal, endowed by our - in the image of God, endowed by our Creator to be able to be treated equally throughout our lives.

We've never fully lived up to that idea, but we've never walked away from it. But there's danger we're walking too far away from it now, the way we talk in this country. Because a long line of patriots from - like John McCain kept it from ever becoming something other than what it is.

I often think about our friendship of 40 years.

[15:10:02]

The hammer-and-tong debates we'd have in the Senate. We'd argue - we were like two brothers. We'd argue like hell. I mean really go at one another. Then we'd go lunch together. No, not a joke. Or John would ride home with me. I mean, that - we traveled the world together.

And, by the way, when he found this magnificent woman and got married, I'm the guy that convinced him to run in Arizona as a Republican. Bless me, Father, for - no, but it's - you've got to admit, Cindy, I did. I talked to him, and I said, "John, you can do this job. My only worry is you'll do it too well."

But, look, running on opposite sides of the nation's highest office when he was running for president and I was on the vice presidential ticket - we still remained friends.

The conversations we had - he had with my son, Beau - the attorney general of the state of Delaware, a decorated major in the U.S. Army, was a guy who spent a year in Iraq - about serving in a war overseas, about the courage in battle against the same cancer that took John and my son.

Two weeks ago, I thought about John as I was standing in another part of the world - in Vietnam. I don't want to be - I - excuse me if I - it was an emotional trip.

I was there to usher in a 50-year arc of progress for the two countries, pushed by John and, I might add, another John - this is the former Secretary of State, John from Massachusetts, won the Silver Star as well.

Once at war, we are now choosing the highest possible partnership, made possible through John's leadership. I mean that sincerely. Think about it.

While in Hanoi, I visited a marker depicting where John - what John - where John had endured all the pain. Imprisoned five and a half years. Solitary confinement for two years. Given an opportunity - an opportunity to come home if he just said a couple things. He was beaten, bloodied, bones broken, isolated, tortured, left unable to raise his arms above his shoulders again.

As I stood there paying my respects, I thought about how much I missed my friend. And it's not hyperbole. I - from the bottom of my heart, I mean this.

I thought about something else as well. I thought about how much America missed John right now, how much America needed John's courage and foresight and vision. I thought about what John stood for, what he fought for, what he was willing to die for. I thought about what we owed John, what I owed him and what we owe each other - we owe each other as well - and Americans as well.

You see, John is one of those patriots who, when they die, their voices are never silent. They still speak to us. They tug at both our hearts and our conscience.

And they pose the most profound questions: Who are we? What do we stand for? What do we believe? What will we be?

For John, it was country first. Sounds like a movie, but it's real with John: honor, duty, decency, freedom, liberty, democracy.

And now, history has brought us to a new time of testing. Very few of us will ever be asked to endure what John McCain endured. But all of us are being asked right now: What will we do to maintain our democracy? Will we, as John wrote, never quit? Will we not hide from history, but make history? Will we put partisanship aside and put country first?

I say we must and we will. We will.

But it's not easy. It's not easy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When will you stand against corruption, Mr. President?

ALL: Booo ...

ALL: Sit down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) ask why you have yet to declare a climate emergency? Why have you yet to declare a climate emergency? Hundred of Arizonians have died.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sit down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hundreds of Arizonians have died because you won't ...

BIDEN: Why don't you wait at ...

(Crosstalk)

BIDEN: Well, hang on one second. Hang on a second. I'll be happy to meet with you after I speak, okay?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You promised no new drilling on fossil fuels. Why have you yet to declare a climate emergency? Not (inaudible) ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sit down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need your leadership. We need your leadership, Mr. President.

[15:15:04]

BIDEN: Well, I tell you what, if you shush up, I'll meet with you immediately after this. Okay?

But democracy never is easy, as we just demonstrated. The cause is worth giving our all, for democracy makes all things possible.

Let me begin with the core principles. Democracy means rule of the people, not rule of monarchs, not rule of the monied, not rule of the mighty. Regardless of party, that means respecting free and fair elections; accepting the outcome, win or lose. It means you can't love your country only when you win.

Democracy means rejecting and repudiating political violence. Regardless of party, such violence is never, never, never acceptable in America. It's undemocratic, and it must never be normalized to advance political power.

And democracy means respecting the institutions that govern a free society. That means adhering to the timeless words of the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident." A mission statement embodied in our Constitution, our system of separation of powers and checks and balances.

Our Constitution - the bulwark to prevent the abuse of power to ensure "We the People" move forward together under the law, rather than believing the only way is one way or no way at all.

But our institutions and our democracy are not just of government. The institutions of democracy depend on the Constitution and our character - our character and the habits of our hearts and minds.

Institutions like the McCain Institute and the new McCain Library that will be built at Arizona State University with the funding from the American Rescue Plan, which I signed into law when I came to office. A library that's going to house John's archives, host dialogue and debate, inspire future leaders around the world, to serve tens of thousands underserved Arizonans as a reminder of our obligation to one another.

These principles of democracy are essential in a free society, but they have always been embattled.

Today, let's be clear. While we've made progress, democracy is still at risk. This is not hyperbole; it's a simple truth - a simple truth.

I've made the defense and protection and preservation of American democracy the central issue of my presidency. From the speech I made at Gettysburg, an Inaugural Address, to the anniversary of the June 6th insurrection or January 6th insurrection, to Independence Hall in Philadelphia - to the speech I made at Union Station in Washington, I've spoken about the danger of election denialism, political violence and the battle for the soul of America.

Today, in America, to honor an institution devoted to the defense of democracy, named in honor of a true patriot, I'm here to speak about another threat to our democracy that we all too often ignore: the threat to our political institutions, to our Constitution itself, and the very character of our nation.

Democracy is maintained by adhering to the Constitution and the march to perfecting our union, by protecting and expanding rights with each successive generation, including that little guy. He's going to talk about it.

That's okay. In my house, kids prevail. Okay?

This adherence isn't - this isn't optional. We can't be situational. We can't be only going there when it's good for yourself. It's constant and unyielding, even when it's easy and, most important, when it's hard.

For centuries, the American Constitution has been a model for the world, with other countries adopting "We the People" as their North Star as well. But as we know, we know how damaged our institutions of democracy - the judiciary, the legislature, the executive - have become - become in the eyes of the American people, even the world, from attacks from within the past few years.

I know virtually every major world leader. That's what I did when I was a senator, as vice president, and now. Everywhere I go in the world - I've met now with over a hundred heads of state of the nations of the world - everywhere I go, they look and they ask the question, "Is it going to be okay?"

[15:20:00]

Think about this: The first meeting I attended of the G7 - the seven wealthiest nations in the world - in Europe, the NATO meeting, I sat down - it was in February - no, January, after being elected - so, late January or early February and it was in England. And I sat down, and I said, "America is back." And Macron looked at me, and he said, "Mr. President, for how long? For how long?"

And then, the Chancellor of Germany said, "Mr. President, what would you think if you picked up the paper tomorrow - tomorrow, the London Times - and it said a thousand people broke down the doors of Parliament, marched, and killed two bobbies in order to overthrow an election of the new prime minister? What would you think then? What would America think?"

What would we think, the leading nation in the world, having gone through what we went through?

And many of you travel internationally. Many of you know people from around the world. I'd be surprised if you heard anything different than the concern about: Are we okay? Is the democracy going to be sustained?

And from that institutional damage, we see distrust and division among our own people.

I'm here to tell you: We lose these institutions of our government at our own peril. And I've always been clear: Democracy is not a partisan issue. It's an American issue.

I have come to honor the McCain Institute and Library because they are a home of a proud Republican who put his country first. Our commitment should be no less because democracy should unite all Americans, regardless of political affiliation.

And there is something dangerous happening in America now. There is an extremist movement that does not share the basic beliefs in our democracy: the MAGA Movement.

Not every Republican, not even a majority of Republicans, adhere to the MAGA extremist ideology. I know because I've been able to work with Republicans my whole career. But there is no question that today's Republican Party is driven and intimidated by MAGA Republican extremists. Their extreme agenda, if carried out, would fundamentally alter the institutions of American democracy as we know it.

My friends, they're not hiding their attacks. They're openly promoting them - attacking the free press as the enemy of the people, attacking the rule of law as an impediment, fomenting voter suppression and election subversion.

Did you ever think we'd be having debates in the year - stage of your careers where banning books - banning books and burying history?

Extremists in Congress - more determined to shut down the government, to burn the place down than to let the people's business be done.

Our U.S. military - and this in not hyperbole; I've said it for the last two years - is the strongest military in the history of the world. Not just the strongest in the world - in the history of the world. It's the most diverse, the most powerful in the history of the world. And it's being accused of being weak and "woke" by the opposition.

One guy in Alabama is holding up the promotion of every - hundreds of these officers.

Frankly, these extremists have no idea what the hell they're talking about. No, I'm serious. They're pushing a notion the defeated former president expressed when

he was in office and believes applies only to him. And this is a dangerous notion: This president is above the law, with no limits on power.

Trump says the Constitution gave him, quote, "the right to do whatever he wants as President," end of quote. I've never even heard a president say that in jest. Not guided by the Constitution or by common service and decency toward our fellow Americans but by vengeance and vindictiveness.

We see the headlines. Quote, "sweeping expansion of presidential power." Their goal to, quote, "alter the balance of power by increasing the President's authority over every part of the federal government," end of quote.

What do they intend to do once they erode the constitutional order of checks and balances and separation of powers? Limit the independence of federal agencies and put them under the thumb of a president? Give the President the power to refuse to spend money that Congress has appropriated if he doesn't like what it's being spent for? Not veto - he doesn't like what it's being spent for - it's there.

[15:25:01]

Get rid of longstanding protections for civil servants?

Remember what he did as he was leaving office: He imposed a new thing, the Civil Service - but then he imposed a new schedule. "Schedule F," it was called. These civil servants had to pledge loyalty to the President, not the Constitution. It did not require that they had any protections, and the President would be able to wholesale fire them if he wanted, because they had no Civil Service protection. One of the first things I got rid of when I became President.

Just consider these as actual quotes from MAGA - the MAGA movement. Quote, "I am your retribution." "Slitting throats" of civil servants, replacing them with extreme political cronies. MAGA extremists proclaim support for law enforcement only to say, "We" - quote, "We must destroy the FBI."

It's not one person. It's the controlling element of the House Republican Party.

Whitewash attacks of January 6th by calling the spearing and stomping of police a, quote, a "legitimate political discourse."

Did you ever think you'd hear leaders of political parties in the United States of America speak like that? Seizing power, concentrating power, attempting to abuse power, purging and packing key institutions, spewing conspiracy theories, spreading lies for profit and power to divide America in every way, inciting violence against those who risk their lives to keep America safe, weaponizing against the very soul of who we are as Americans.

This MAGA threat is the threat to the brick and mortar of our democratic institutions. But it's also a threat to the character of our nation and gives our - that gives our Constitution life, that binds us together as Americans in common cause.

None of this is surprising, though. They've tried to govern that way before. And thank God, they failed.

But they haven't given up. Just look at recent days: their accusations against - of treason - treason against the major news network because they don't like its coverage. I don't know what the hell I'd say about Fox if that becomes the rule.

But think about it. I'm joking, but think about it.

Tomorrow, I have the honor of overseeing the change of responsibilities of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States military from one genuine hero and patriot, Gen. Mark Milley, to another, Gen. CQ Brown - both - both defining leaders of our time.

And yet, here is what you hear from MAGA extremists about the retiring patriot general honoring his oath to the Constitution: quote, he's "a traitor," end of quote. "In times gone by, the punishment" - quote, "In times gone by, the punishment would've been death," end of quote.

This is the United States of America. This is the United States of America.

And although I don't believe even a majority of Republicans think that, the silence is deafening. The silence is deafening.

Hardly any Republican called out such heinous statements, just as they watch one MAGA senator outrageously - instead, blocking the promotions of hundreds of top military leaders and affecting not only those leaders but their families, their children.

MAGA extremists claim support of our troops, but they are harming military readiness, leadership, troop morale, freezing pay, freezing military families in limbo.

Just as they looked the other way when the defeated former president refused to pay respects at an American cemetery near Paris, referring to the American servicemen buried there - and I've been to this cemetery - as "suckers" and "losers," quotes.

I'm not making this up. I know we all tried not to remember it, but that's what he said. He called servicemen "suckers" and "losers."

Was John a sucker? Was my son, Beau, who lived next to a burn pit for a year, came home, and died - was he a sucker for volunteering to serve his country?

[15:30:07]