Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Clinton in "People"; Taliban Video of Bowe Bergdahl Release; New Video Show Moment Bergdahl Freed; Is President Obama Trustworthy?

Aired June 04, 2014 - 09:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: With less than a week left until her new book "Hard Choices" hits stores, Hillary Clinton is in the midst of a whirlwind publicity tour. Her next stop, well, she's on the cover of "People" magazine in which Clinton talks about everything from Bill's health to the question on everyone's minds, will she run for president? Let's bring in Kate Coyne, executive editor of "People" magazine.

Good morning, Kate.

KATE COYNE, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Hi. Good morning.

COSTELLO: We say, come on, she's going to run for president. I mean why are we all sitting here pretending to guess.

COYNE: Yes. You know, certainly a lot of the answers she gave to a lot of the questions in our article and, God, we asked her just about everything, sound like they're coming out of the voice of a future candidate.

COSTELLO: Yes, I think so. And she's really playing up the female card and -- right on your cover. The little -- there's a little headline that says, "we need to break the highest, hardest glass ceiling." In the article there's a quote from Hillary Clinton, "to have a woman president is something I would love to see happen, but I'll just have to make my own decision about what I think is right for me." But she really is trying to garner as many women as -- female support -- as much female support as she can, right?

COYNE: Well, obviously, yes. And I think it would be foolish not to. I mean this is perhaps the most powerful tool in her arsenal. I mean this is something that she has going for her over essentially any other candidate. I mean she will likely, if she decides to run, be the only female candidate doing so. And so clearly she wants to speak to that base.

COSTELLO: She also talked about becoming a grandmother, which was interesting. But the most interesting thing I think in your article is when she talked about Bill Clinton's health. Can you tell us what she said?

COYNE: Yes, you know, I think if you went back even five, six years ago and said that people would be worried that Bill Clinton is too thin, people would have laughed. But, obviously, these days, his appearance is radically different than it was a decade ago. And so she acknowledges the fact that people think that he's too thin and that they've noticed that he has a tremor in one of his hands. She is very dismissive of it. She said that he's had that tremor for years, that it's the result of a form of a pinched nerve. And that, yes, people think he's too thin but that he doesn't think so and that he's very happy with his energy level, with how he looks. So, you know, she's willing to confront those concerns and also very willing to dismiss them quickly.

COSTELLO: Everybody's sort of wondering, if she does run for president, how involved Bill Clinton will be in her campaign because it didn't go over so well the last time around.

COYNE: It didn't, but she also does not hesitate to say that she and Bill have an incredibly close relationship and an incredibly intellectual one as well. You know she mentions that just the other night they talked on the phone for 35 minutes straight just talking, talking, talking about their day. She's not going to downplay their bond. She is not going to minimize the tremendous influence they have on one another. This does not seem to be something that she's stepping away from in the slightest.

COSTELLO: As far as Chelsea Clinton's involvement is concerned, I know Chelsea Clinton is pregnant right now, but she certainly seems to be more and more involved in her parents', you know, political life.

COYNE: Somewhat, yes. I mean I think where Chelsea's concerned right now, Hillary's focus, at least to the extent of our article, is on the fact that Chelsea is about to produce Hillary's first grandchild. And even that, interestingly, I think some people, many people assume that the grandchild, the impending grandparenthood for Hillary and for Bill, would possibly have been a reason why she might consider not running. Instead, in this interview, the grandchild seems to be a very strong reason why Hillary is all the more considering a run. She talks very clearly about the fact that she's cognizant of the kind of future she wants for her grandchild, that she's very focused on what sort of world this grandchild will be brought up in, and that that's something that's weighing heavily on her.

COSTELLO: Yes, I couldn't help but notice you did ask about Hillary Clinton's hair. And I was sort of disappointed in that. Like, come on.

COYNE: You know, her hair has been talked about by so many people for so long. Hillary was the first person to say, she knows. She gets it. She understands that her hair has been talked about since the years of the scrunchies. You know, the scrunchie chronicles go way back with her. She's very sanguine about it now. And, actually, a consummate politician and professional. She managed to use her answer about her hair as also a subtle way of addressing her age. You know, people, obviously, have done the math and realize how old she will be if she is to take the White House. And in answering about her hair, she also managed to made reference to the fact that she is at an age where she doesn't have to care anymore what anybody says about her hair. She's earned that right to abandon that level of vanity. COSTELLO: I think that's probably wrong. I think that's probably wrong.

COYNE: Well - she - it's certainly a good ideal to have. I think we would all be happy to think that we could live a life in which we don't care what anybody says about our hair.

COSTELLO: I know. I want to live that life myself.

COYNE: It would be fun.

COSTELLO: It would. Kate Coyne, thank you so much for joining us this morning. I appreciate it.

COYNE: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the final moments of captivity for Bowe Bergdahl. A new Taliban tape shows the Army sergeant's handoff. We'll talk to two men who have years of experience covering the war on terror, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks for joining me this morning.

This extraordinary new video release on a Taliban website of the former captured Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, I want to show it to you right now. It's 17 minutes long. It shows the transfer of Bergdahl to American special forces following five years in captivity. This all took place on Saturday in eastern Afghanistan. A narrator's voice can be heard throughout the recording. The only translated message was for Bergdahl not to come back to Afghanistan. As you can see in this video, Bergdahl does not look healthy. He looks pale and he's shaky.

Let's talk about this with our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson, along with former CNN war correspondent Mike Boettcher, who's now a correspondent for ABC News. He also has a documentary out on American troops in Afghanistan. It's called "The Hornet's Nest" and it's now in select theaters.

Good morning, gentlemen.

MIKE BOETTCHER, FORMER CNN WAR CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

COSTELLO: So, I want to start with you, Nic. You've been across the globe covering the war on terror. You've met with the Taliban. You've been to Afghanistan. What stands out to you in this video?

ROBERTSON: Yes, this is not the pre 9/11 Taliban we're looking at here. Today's Taliban has a slick media operation. It should be no surprise to anyone that they released video of Bowe Bergdahl's handover. Totally they want to take as much advantage, political media advantage out of this as they can. They do this all the time. You know, a decade ago, their DVDs and CDs and videos would be available in markets in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Now they release this stuff just a couple of days after it happened, slickly produced. And the initiative they've taken, the media initiative, with this handover.

The other thing I guess, I was quite surprised how nimble Sergeant Bergdahl was getting onto that Black Hawk helicopter, that step up to get in. It's not a low step-up and he seemed to get up pretty nimbly. Maybe he had some help. But he seemed to be not as in bad, physical shape as perhaps we thought he might have been.

COSTELLO: Well, let's talk about that a little bit because he doesn't look all that healthy to me. He looks very, very thin. At times he was shaking. He was blinking his eyes abnormally at one point. And I don't know why that was. Maybe there was a lot of dust in the air. But I want to put up two pictures, one of Sergeant Bergdahl in 2009 and one taken from this videotape. And, Mike Boettcher, if you could look at that and gave us your thoughts on his condition.

BOETTCHER: He looked disoriented to me. If you look at his eyes, he's blinking. It's almost as if he's not used to daylight that much or there could have been dust out there. If you look at the location that was chosen, and there was a lot of dust blowing, that area - that particular area in far southeastern coast province, I know pretty well. And it's a transitional area where there are some treed and forested areas and arid, kind of desert-looking hills. They specifically, it looks like, chose an area that was open like that so that they could keep an eye on the Taliban placements around. So it's a fascinating, fascinating video. I've never seen anything like it.

COSTELLO: I know.

And just - you know, Nic Robertson, the Taliban holding up the white flag and on the video they say American forces were flustered, which they didn't look flustered to me. They were - I mean it's just strange to see.

ROBERTSON: Choreographed -- well-choreographed, Carol. I mean look at tit, two Taliban escort Sergeant Bergdahl forward. The cameraman is coming along with them, but he holds back and lets them go forward. Three special forces guys come forward. It's almost as if they sort of agreed the numbers of how this could be done. So very, very carefully choreographed.

And, of course, for Sergeant Bergdahl, seeing a Taliban camera there, he would know that this, prior to the helicopter coming in, that this was some kind of significant event. He -- there have been proof of life videos before where he's been taken out with a camera, told -- clearly told what to say and appeal to the camera. And this was different. He was sitting there waiting. So there must have been an awful lot of stress, as well as Mike says, that disorientation. Perhaps he'd been blindfolded shortly before the camera actually starts rolling on him. His eyes adjusting, as Mike says, to the light there.

So a lot of stress for him just because this is a different type of event that he hasn't experienced before. The cameras there, and at the back of anyone's mind in that situation is knowing what these people will do when they get a camera, and that is execute someone. And that also had to be in the back of his mind there, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, Mike, you were embedded with soldiers in Afghanistan. And there's so much controversy swirling around Bowe Bergdahl. Do you think seeing these pictures will change minds?

BOETTCHER: No, I don't and - look, in the field, and we talk about this in "The Hornet's Nest," that's kind of what it's about. It's about family. Family fights, family has feuds, family has problems. But when you're on a combat post out there in the middle of nowhere, whether it's in Patika (ph) or Coast (ph) province on the Pakistan border, all you have is the guy to the left of you and to the right of you. And if a guy walks off the base, he's still part of your family. You want to get him back. You know, that part, to me, is unquestioned.

It's what happened after that and intentions. And this debate's going to carry on. But at that moment, and during that search, yes, I don't think there's a soldier out there who would say, no, we want to leave a comrade behind. I think that - and I was there during the period when, you know, they were out there looking and -- in that particular area. And I didn't hear people griping about, you know, keeping an eye out looking for him, even though everyone was pretty sure he was across the border in Pakistan and north Waziristan.

Can I point out one other thing in that video as well, Carol?

COSTELLO: Sure. Sure.

BOETTCHER: You see, you know the Taliban comment on this you see the one Special Forces operator shaking hands with his -- with his left hand. You look at his right hand, palm is open. That is his shooting hand. More than likely -- they wear their weapons under their shirts. More than likely there were a lot of nerves out there. He wanted to be ready in case this was an ambush. So he shook with his left and I believe so he could have his right shooting hand free in case problems broke out.

And if you're in a helicopter on an air assault like that going in and there are people with RPGs around you that takes nerves of steel to fly into that knowing that they could bring down that helicopter in a flash.

COSTELLO: I know and you know it's funny. Because on that video the Taliban makes much of this left-handed handshake supposedly saying that the American troops were so flustered that they shook hands with the wrong hand. But I can certainly see your point, Mike. Mike Boettcher.

BOETTCHER: Yes it's -- thank you.

COSTELLO: Go ahead.

BOETTCHER: No it's -- going in to air assaults like that and knowing there are RPGs around, when you can actually see them in the open and that was the intent of having it in this barren area so you could see them in the open but man that took nerves.

COSTELLO: It did. Mike Boettcher and Nic Robertson, thanks so much.

The controversy surrounding Bergdahl's release is raising questions about trust, too, trust surrounding President Obama. We'll talk about that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The controversy surrounding Bowe Bergdahl's release is raising questions about trust and President Obama. Members of Congress outraged they were not notified of the swap in advance as is required by law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: We were never told that there would be an exchange of Sergeant Bergdahl for five Taliban.

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: It comes with some surprise and dismay that the transfers went ahead with no consultation totally not following the law.

REP. PETER KING (R), HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: For the President to decide that these five hottest of the hardcore should be put in effect released with ultimately going to the battlefield in return for Sergeant Bergdahl at this stage I think was just wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And it's not just lawmakers who have a trust issue with Mr. Obama. Voters apparently do too. At one point a Quinnipiac poll showed Mr. Obama was trusted by 63 percent of Americans. As of April of this year though, that trust level has shrunk to 48 percent.

So let's talk about that. Will Cain is a CNN political commentator and columnist for "The Blaze", John Avlon is a CNN political analyst and editor-in-chief of "The Daily Beast". Welcome to both of you.

WILL CAIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning. So John --

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning. John I'll start with you. How big of a trust problem does the President have?

AVLON: It's striking that he's fallen 20 points from his previous high which he was at really through the 2012 election. I mean 20- point drop in trustworthiness is significant. And I think it's the sum total of these NSA scandals you know questions about drone strikes and now this latest debate over Sergeant Bergdahl and members of Congress.

So I think this is showing an erosion of a what had been a really positive character tribute of this President.

COSTELLO: And Will there is a danger in not trusting, not having trust between Congress and the President and the voters and President. How so?

CAIN: Well, you know, I guess there is a danger because you elect these guys based upon the promises they make and when they so blatantly break them, not just break promises -- President Obama's lies by the way have extended across every flavor from broken promises like closing Guantanamo Bay or pulling troops out of Iraq being his first mission or having shovel-ready projects but also as John mentioned the scandals have exposed some untruths that are just been hard to digest. The NSA, the IRS, the VA, have all been scandals that he's been made aware of through the news -- that's just implausible.

So finally and John forgot Politifact lie of the year if you like your healthcare plan, you can keep it. That's when we saw the massive --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Ok I'll buy those. But the Guantanamo Bay one and the what other one that he cite the shovel ready projects. Come on he's been blocked by getting anything done on those projects.

CAIN: Well they are empty promises. But you're right the boldfaced lies the ones that are clearly untrue have when you have seen his decline goes so precipitously down. And this Bergdahl thing it shows it's not partisan. That's Dianne Feinstein you're listening to. That's Democrat --

COSTELLO: Well I would argue -- I would argue with you because it's becoming partisan because Republican strategists according to "The New York Times" have set up some of these -- these men from Sergeant Bergdahl's unit to go on television and say certain things.

So in that sense John, isn't it politicized now?

AVLON: Every debate about the President is politicized. And there are issues about his presidential management style. This isn't the LBJ type figure who has strong relationship with Congress and leverages them. But I do take issue with my friend Will the use of the word "lie". I think you know the NSA scandals have eroded trust in the President but that is a complex issue about a bureaucracy that run amuck and about technology outpacing laws.

You know I do think it's important to put this in perspective. George W. Bush was at 40 percent -- only 40 percent of folks that thought he was trustworthy at this point and it dipped even lower. Bill Clinton -- so I think throwing the word "lie" around like it's you know Tourettes with regards to this President is ridiculous.

CAIN: Now look, look I don't used that word to be inflammatory. When I talk about the NSA I'm talking about the idea, the sales point that he learned about it through the news just like all the other scandals. The VA, IRS, I think words have meaning. And when you tell an untruth, it's a lie. We might as well call it what it is. I will say this. Because I truly think this is a nonpartisan argument and I think Democrats speaking out illustrate this. Politicians as a profession are liars. Politicians as a profession tell us untruths. The question is really is not whether or not President Obama is untrustworthy, the question is whether or not he is less untrustworthy than other politicians. That Carol we're going to have to get 538 data in here to parse that out. President Obama clearly tells lies.

AVLON: Hey Will -- let me make a wild guess --

COSTELLO: John last word.

AVLON: -- that Congress is viewed as a lot less trustworthy than the President.

COSTELLO: Oh yes.

CAIN: That only serves to illustrate my point. Welcome to your politicians.

COSTELLO: Will Cain, John Avlon thanks so much.

Ahead in the next hour of NEWSROOM, a creepy ghoulish Internet figure and the focus of a horrific stabbing in Wisconsin. We'll talk about the blurring line between fantasy and reality when it comes to our kids in the next hour of NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking some "Top Stories" for you at 58 minutes past, Hall of Fame Quarterback Dan Marino is scrambling following reports he was one of 15 former players bringing a concussion lawsuit against the NFL. Well Marino is now withdrawing from the suit saying he didn't realized his name would be attached to it. Marino said it was in the last year he authorized a claim to be filed and if he needed future medical coverage for possible effects of head trauma.

Hear that? Could this sound from underwater listening devices be related to the crash of Flight 370? Researchers at an Australian University released this audio clip after weeks of analyzing this low frequency sound.

The researchers say it could be linked to the plane or it could just be a natural event. The sound is believed to be in an area thousands of miles from the current search area for the plane.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my gosh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Oh my gosh is right. Check out this backyard video from Nebraska where it looks like a flurry of golf balls hitting the ground. That's actually hail and much of it is bigger than golf balls. More like baseball sized hails. Car buyers looking for a deal will be lining up at this Omaha area dealership though. Hail damage 4,300 vehicles -- Huge dents, shattered windshields, flooded interiors. The hailstorms were part of a rather severe weather that pounded several Midwestern states. 11 possible tornadoes sighted. That severe weather is moving east today.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.