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GOP Debate; Iran Deal; MH-370 Conflicting Information. Aired 2- 2:30p ET

Aired August 07, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:07] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everyone, I'm Poppy Harlow, in for my friend Brooke Baldwin today.

And we begin with the most watched primary debate in history with 24 million viewers last night, you were likely one of them, and the 2016 candidates squaring off for the very first time. Needless to say, Donald Trump stole the show but he is still simmering and lashing out hours after top Republicans shared that crowded stage to lay out their plans for this country and exchanging blows with one another at points. The fireworks starting just 10 seconds in with not a word spoken, just a raise of Donald Trump's hand.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS HOST, DEBATE MODERATOR: Is there anyone on stage, and can I see hands, who is unwilling tonight to pledge your support to the eventual nominee of the Republican Party and pledge to not run an independent campaign against that person?

Mr. Trump.

MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS HOST, DEBATE MODERATOR: You call women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals. Your Twitter account -

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Only Rosie O'Donnell.

KELLEY: No, it wasn't.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to have to earn this. Maybe the barrier - the bar is even higher for me. That's fine.

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I don't know. I didn't get a phone call from Bill Clinton before I jumped in the race. Did any of you get a phone call from Bill Clinton? I didn't. Maybe it's because I hadn't given money to the foundation or donated to his wife's Senate campaign.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How is Hillary Clinton going to lecture me about living paycheck to paycheck?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: With Hillary Clinton, I said, be at my wedding, and she came to my wedding.

BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If Hillary is the candidate, which I doubt, that would be a dream come true.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When you're sitting in a subcommittee just blowing hot air about this, you can say things about that.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't trust President Obama with our records. I know you gave him a big hug. And if you want to give him a big hug again, go right ahead.

CHRISTIE: And, you know - you know, Senator Paul - Senator Paul, you know, the hugs that I remember are the hugs that I gave to the families who lost their people on September 11th.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Joining me now to talk about all of it, there's a lot to unpack from last night, Sara Murray, CNN's political reporter.

Look, we heard a lot from Donald Trump last night on stage and frankly we've heard a lot from him since, both on the news and on Twitter. What is he saying?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, you know, what's really interesting is, after last night's debate, Donald Trump's campaign put out a press release declaring himself the winner, but since then he's had a lot of complaints saying the questions were unfair. Let's take a look at what he had to say this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I thought the questions were unfair, but I, you know, I can live with it and it's probably you're number one in the polls and they ask you a little bit tougher questions. But I have to tell you, even the other candidates, they got off stage and they said to me, you know, it's amazing that those questions were so unfair. They all felt how unfair those questions were. But, you know what, I enjoyed the evening. I thought they were unfair, but that's OK. It was an amazing evening and I'm sure it was a great success.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Now, in addition to complaining about the unfair questions, Trump went directly after Megyn Kelly. He posting a tweet saying, "wow, Megyn Kelly really bombed tonight. People are going wild on Twitter. Funny to watch." Now, Poppy, I think the thing that we're all sort of wondering is, if Donald Trump had such a good debate and if he was a winner, why he is complaining about unfair questions and the moderators?

HARLOW: Right. Well, here's the thing, Sara, right? If you want to be the leader of the free world, is there any unfair questions?

MURRAY: I would venture to say there are - there are some topics that should be off limits, even if you want to be the leader of the free world. But I don't - when I'm looking at the debates, the questions that other candidates got, I don't think Donald Trump got hit harder than the others necessarily. When you look at the moderators, they held Scott Walker, Marco Rubio -

HARLOW: Right.

MURRAY: Jeb Bush, all to task for their records in their various states. I think the difference is, Donald Trump doesn't have a voting record. So when you're talking about him, his record is the comments he's made. It's the business deals he's done. And that's what they went after.

HARLOW: Yes. Absolutely. All right, Sara Murray reporting for us, a post-debate analysis.

Let's do a lot more of it now with our panel. Joining me to weigh in, Mercedes Schlapp, Republican strategist, Matt Lewis, conservative commentator and senior contributor to "The Daily Caller," and Ed Lee, Emory University debate director.

Guys, thank you for being here.

A lot of talk about Donald Trump. You have 24 million Americans watching. Just a huge, huge amount of interest here. If you're talking about Google searches, tweets and clicks, Donald Trump, again, getting so much attention. I want to go round robin here. Who won and who scares Hillary Clinton the most?

Mercedes, let me begin with you.

MERCEDES SCHLAPP, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I'd like to say Carly Fiorina won, although she wasn't on the stage at 9:00 p.m. I'd give Marco Rubio a second place. And then who lost? Clearly, I think Donald Trump and Rand - Senator Rand Paul.

[14:05:09] HARLOW: Why do you - why do you think, just to follow up on that very quickly - why do you think that - that Marco Rubio resonated so much in terms of - you know that moment when he said -

SCHLAPP: Sure.

HARLOW: You know, Hillary Clinton, if she wants to talk to me about living paycheck to paycheck, well, I grew up like that. Was that the moment?

SCHLAPP: Well, I've got to tell you, he was so strong at the beginning and it continued throughout. Yes, he made that connection with the viewers. He was able to tell not only the personal story but talk about his constituents and he was able to talk about what he would do with plans, with substance on the economic side, on the immigration side. I think he just gave the most solid answers while, at the same time, appearing to be empathetic and connecting to the voters.

HARLOW: Ed, to you. Do you think that Donald Trump missed an opportunity to grow his support broader than it already is? And I ask that because if you were a Trump supporter going into this, his comments about tone, we don't have time to focus on my tone or political correctness, that's not what Americans care about. If you're a Donald Trump supporter already, that's what you expected. But did his comments on women, for example, or how he responded specifically to Megyn Kelly, did that turn other potential supporters off?

ED LEE, EMORY UNIVERSITY DEBATE DIRECTOR: I definitely believe so. I think that he had an excellent opportunity to expand the base of support that he had by moving in the direction of demonstrating that he was actually could be presidential. He could talk about policy, he could engage in a conversation about the economy. He could engage in a conversation about the need for there to be a business person in the White House who understands the way in which the economy functions and can be a job creator and he failed. That most of his arguments were about being flash and they were ultimately hyperbole and very little substance. And I don't think that he will - I think that - I agree that he was probably the loser of the debate because he missed an opportunity there.

HARLOW: All right, to you, Matt, I want you to listen to something that John Kasich said, because he really - I think he caught a lot of people off guard who might not have been expecting as much from him. I want to you listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS, DEBATE MODERATOR: If you had a son or daughter who was gay or lesbian, how would you explain to them your opposition to same-sex marriage?

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The court has ruled and I said we'll accept it. And, guess what, I just went to a wedding of a friend of mine who happens to be gay. Because somebody doesn't think the way I do doesn't mean that I can't care about them or can't love them. So if one of my daughters happened to be that, of course I would love them and I would accept them because, you know what, that's what we're taught when we - when we have strong faith.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: He also, Matt, got a lot of credit for how he answered the question on Medicaid expansion in his state, saying, all right, you're right, it has cost us money, but here are the things we've done with it. Recidivism rates, for example, are down to 10 percent in our state and it's --- in one of the states where it has expanded the least in terms of more spending. Do you think the rest of the Republican Party learned something from him last night?

MATT LEWIS, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: Well, I don't know if they learned anything, but I think what we learned is that John Kasich is for real. I think that he exceeded expectations. Now, look, he - he was playing a home game last night. He's the governor of Ohio. He was in Ohio. He got a lot of applause. Maybe some of that is sort of the local boy feel. But I think he handled it very well. He's sort of a bleeding heart conservative and maybe there's still an element of the conservative base out there who likes the passionate conservative message. So, look, John Kasich barely made it into the debate. He was, you

know, sort of the last minute entry there, the number 10 guy who got in. But I think he's a winner. There's never like one winner in a big debate like this. I think he's definitely a winner last night.

HARLOW: Mercedes, what about you - your take on John Kasich and what he showed last night?

SCHLAPP: Well, I've got to tell you, I was in - I was at the arena during the debate and when his name was mentioned, obviously the crowd went wild. Ohio loves Governor John Kasich.

HARLOW: Sure. Home turf.

SCHLAPP: And I have to tell you, I mean, that - that teary - that home turf, that teary-eyed moment when he was talking about gay marriage, I really - I really think it reached the people. I mean I think that he was very genuine. And I do believe that he does resonate with that compassionate conservative message in talking about urban issues, talking about criminal justice reform. All these issues that if we do apply conservative principles to them, that actually we may be able to gain traction with some of these minority voters.

HARLOW: Ed, I want you to listen to part of what Jeb Bush said last night. Let's roll it and talk about it on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Mr. Trump's language is divisive. I want to win. I want one of these people here or the ones at 5:00 to be the next president of the United States. We're not going to win by doing what Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton do each and every day, dividing the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: That may be, Ed, one of his more passionate moments from last night. And here you have a candidate who has raised a record amount from his super PAC in the first, you know, beginning stages of this campaign, over $100 million. You've got someone who has a famous last name that may help him, may hurt him, and you've got someone who a lot of the establishment was betting on. Do you think that he convinced the establishment and that he convinced voters, yep, I've got this one, I can carry it all the way through?

[14:10:20] LEE: No. No. I would have some serious concerns about his performance last night if I was his supporters, whether voters or funders, that I felt like he felt at times a little bored. He felt a little unsure about himself. That, you are right, that that was his strongest moment, but his defense of the Bush dynasty, his discussions of Common Core, that there are various points in which he felt unsure of himself and weak. And I think that Kasich had an extremely strong performance and that he should be very concerned about the possibility that Kasich may be stealing away some of his thunder and moving up in the polls and becoming the establishment - potentially these establishment candidate. So he had a large margin of error coming in. I think that it is much smaller now, but he still will have an opportunity to get things corrected by September the 6th, the next debate.

HARLOW: We - we've got a long road ahead and even time before that next debate, which, by the way, will be right here on CNN.

To you, Matt Lewis, let's compare this Republican field as it stands now to 2012. Is it stronger?

LEWIS: Much stronger. This compare to - you know, I was worried about the clown car thing and I think if you compare this to 2012, last night's debate was a net plus for the Republican Party. I think they have to be very happy about how it went down. And you go just through the candidates. I mean last time we had Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain. Every single candidate is essentially an upgrade here. I mean this - these were - were pros who - you know, these were heavyweights basically going to battle and I think that they - it's a strong field and I think it bodes well for Republicans.

HARLOW: All right, Mercedes Schlapp, Matt Lewis, Ed Lee, thank you all. We'll talk a lot more about last night throughout the show. Appreciate it.

LEWIS: Thank you.

HARLOW: We do want to remind you, as I just said, CNN is hosting the next Republican presidential debate in this 2016 race only right here on CNN, live, the night of September the 16th.

Coming up next, with Republican candidates vowing to undue the nuclear deal with Iran, the White House is now losing support of a major player in their own party. Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer. Could the deal be in jeopardy? Late reaction from the White House coming in just moments ago. We'll have that.

Also this, who hacked the Pentagon? An e-mail system used by the Joint Chiefs of Staff., the latest target in a huge cyberattack. Why many say Russia is suspect number one.

Also, how thieves may have used gas in an air conditioning vent to pull off a brazen robbery in a very ritzy part of the south of France, robbing a Formula 1 racecar driver. That story ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:17:02] HARLOW: Just this afternoon, the White House press secretary responding to what Chuck Schumer has said about the Iran deal, saying it's not a surprise that a key ally of President Obama is going against the president on the nuclear deal with Iran. New York Senator Charles Schumer says he will not support the plan when it goes up for a vote next month. He is next in line to be the leader of the Senate. So very powerful in that party. He posted a 1,600 word statement on why he made this decision. Here's a portion of it I want to read for you.

Quote, "I believe Iran will not change and under this agreement it will be able to achieve its dual goals of eliminating sanctions while ultimately retaining its nuclear and nonnuclear power." Schumer's opposition comes on the heels of President Obama's criticism of Republicans for trying to kill the deal. The president comparing them to Iranian hard liners. Standing by those remarks in an interview he gave exclusively to CNN's Fareed Zakaria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST, CNN'S "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": In your speech at American University, you made a comparison. You said that Iran's hardliners were making common cause with Republicans. It's come under a lot of criticism. Mitch McConnell says even Democrats who oppose the deal should be insulted.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What I said is absolutely true factually. The true of the matter is, inside of Iran, the people most opposed to the deal are the Revolutionary Guard, the Quds force, hardliners who is implacably opposed to any cooperation with the international community. The reason that Mitch McConnell and the rest of the folks in his caucus who oppose this jumped out and opposed it before they even read it, before it was even posted, is reflective of an ideological commitment not to get a deal done.

ZAKARIA: You know -

OBAMA: And in that sense, they do have a lot in common with hardliners who are much more satisfied with the status quo.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Our chief national correspondent Jim Sciutto with me now.

Look, you have read what Senator Schumer wrote about this. His opposition to the deal. Look, he called the president's work tremendous. He gave him tremendous credit. But ultimately he said he did not agree with it. When you hear something like this from Chuck Schumer, are other nation who signed on to the deal reacting?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they - they are worried about the politics here. I was meeting with a British official earlier this week. They're doing their own headcount on The Hill because the British, they're part of the P5+1. They've been negotiating for these last two years and they've come out in support. So they're aware that what happens in Congress could sink the deal.

You know, it's interesting, Poppy, listening to the president there on that point about comparing the opposition here to the opposition in Iran, he is right factually that there's opposition in both countries, but the difference is, the Quds force, the Iran hardliners, they opposed the deal because they may very well want to keep the capability for a nuclear weapon, right?

HARLOW: Right.

SCIUTTO: Whereas the folks on this end - and Chuck Schumer's a thoughtful guy, he went through it - HARLOW: Yes.

SCIUTTO: He wants the opposite. And I think the difficult territory for the president here is, you know, he was in effect saying, if you're against the deal that I negotiated, then you want war. When the fact is, when you hear from the Schumers and others, they

say, listen, I don't want war, but I've taken a look at this deal and I don't think it guarantees our national security interests. You know that's - you know, it's one thing when you're directing - it's easier to make that charge against the other party. It's a bit harder when you're making it against your own party here and that's - that's the real problem.

[14:20:27] HARLOW: Right. So I want to read you more of what Chuck Schumer wrote in this - this long explanation as to why he's opposing it. Quote, "even when we detect radio activity at a site where Iran is illicitly advancing its bomb-making capability, the 24-day delay would hinder our ability to determine precisely what was being done at that site."

I think for a lot of people who did not read the entire agreement ahead of the vote, that resonates with them. That makes sense. How do supporters of the deal counter that?

SCIUTTO: Well, here's the thing, it's a weak point for the administration here because they did use the language early on in these negations, anytime, anywhere inspections. A 24-day delay -

HARLOW: Right.

SCIUTTO: Is not anytime, anywhere.

HARLOW: No.

SCIUTTO: The response you'll get from the administration is, and the president said this in his speech at AU, and I've heard this from intelligent officials as well is, listen, you know, radioactive materials last a long time. The half-life of uranium, for instance, is 4.5 billion years, right? So it's - you can't just sort of dig a hole. There are detectors that can - that can find this material even if the Iranians - even if you wait 24 days and even if the Iranians try to cover it up. That's the U.S. position saying we're good enough to detect it. The IAEA is a good enough detective. So even if the Iranians try to cheat, trust us, we've got the capabilities. That's what they're saying there.

But you have a senator here - I mean Chuck Schumer's had a lot of classified briefings on U.S. capabilities. He's not convinced. You know, it's clear that a reasonable person could look at this deal, even a member of the president's own party -

HARLOW: Right.

SCIUTTO: And not come to the same conclusion.

HARLOW: So I'm interested in what you think this does politically when you have someone so high ranking, very well respected, tap into this, as you said, numerous classified briefings on national security who says, look, I thought about it. He doesn't criticize the president in this statement. He says, I gave him tremendous credit for his work on this issue. But says, here's why I don't agree with it and he goes through it step by step. What does that do for other Democrats who might be on the fence? Does that give them what they need to publicly oppose it?

SCIUTTO: It may for some. We had another Democrat, Brad Sherman of California, House Foreign Affairs Committee, just come out against it today. You know, there's a school of thought politically that Chuck Schumer, he wants to be the Democratic leader, the majority leader in the Senate, that he wouldn't have come out against this unless he believed that the president had enough votes to not override the veto. In other words, if he's come out against it but he knows that the president's not going to get voted over on this. There's that school of thought.

But, you know, there is a risk, Poppy, for the president that, he's a powerful Democrat. That others may follow his lead. They may give him cover. That's a risk.

HARLOW: Right. Right.

SCIUTTO: And, you know, while the White House is convinced they have the votes now, you know, those things can change. You know, no one is guaranteeing anything at this point.

HARLOW: Nothing is guaranteed, right, especially in Washington on such a -

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: Such a divisive issue. Jim Sciutto, thank you very much.

SCIUTTO: Thank you.

HARLOW: Coming up also, you're going to want to watch Fareed's entire interview with the president, that exclusive sit down. It is on "Fareed Zakaria GPS" this Sunday morning at 10:00 Eastern only right here on CNN.

Coming up next, confusion over a piece of plane found in the Indian Ocean has victims' families of MH-370 furious. We will take you live to Toulouse, France, that is where the investigation is taking place right now.

Also, Donald Trump lashing out after last night's debate, retweeting someone who called Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly a bimbo. Megyn Kelly, the lawyer, calling her that, and Trump retweeting it, after she questioned him about his offensive comments towards women. Does Donald Trump have a women problem? We'll talk about it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:28:20] HARLOW: In the searches for Malaysia Airline Flights MH- 370, a source close to the investigation now telling CNN officials have not received any other relevant objects related to the missing passenger jet besides that big part of a wing and also a suitcase possibly connected. French officials stepped up their search efforts today around Reunion Island, this after Malaysian investigators insist they have found more debris, including a seat cushion.

Meanwhile, it has been an anguishing period for the family members of those missing passengers. Loved ones gathering yesterday, last night outside a Malaysia Airlines office after contradicting statements about the piece of debris that washed on shore.

Saima Mohsin is outside that lab right near Toulouse, France. It is where the flaperon part of the - the plane was taken. Saima, I know that they've started looking into this, but what is the latest on the investigation? What they have they been able to say or frankly not say definitively?

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hi, Poppy.

There's been no word from the French authorities. They've remained tight lipped, repeatedly saying "no comment" other than when we repeatedly asked the same question about wanting more details from them and then they said, yes, we haven't received that new debris here yet.

So, yes, investigations are continuing over the last few days. We've seen the investigators wondering around the complex, moving from lab to lab to test the flaperon. Now, of course, that new debris that you mention that's being picked up, the Malaysian transport minister speaking to CNN, saying that he is confident in the Malaysian experts working on Reunion Island who picked up that debris which, he says, he's confident is from an aircraft but not yet, of course, tested to be from MH-370.

[14:30:01] HARLOW: Right.

MOHSIN: It's debris, Poppy, like window panes, aluminum foil, and seat cushions. We're waiting for that to be sent from Reunion to here.

Poppy.