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One U.S. Fatality in Hostage Rescue Operation; Clinton Faces Grilling Over Embassy Attack; Interview with Congressman Adam Schiff. Aired 9:00-9:30a ET

Aired October 22, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

[09:00:27] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

It is a busy morning of breaking news with two major stories unfolding right now. On Capitol Hill and Hillary Clinton just minutes away from testimony that promises to be terse and possibly combative. Of course she'll face the Republican-led investigation to that deadly attacks in Libya. What did she know, when did she know it.

On the left-hand side of your screen, you're looking at Hillary Clinton's home in Washington, D.C. You see a car waiting to take her to that room on your right, on Capitol Hill. That is the room where Hillary Clinton will be offering testimony today about exactly what went down in Benghazi on that terrible day four Americans were killed.

Up first, though, U.S. Special Operations was involved in a daring hostage rescue attempt in Iraq. The operation was an attempt to rescue Kurdish hostages. And officials say there was a U.S. fatality.

Let's bring in CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. The information still coming in very sketchy. But a short time ago a U.S. official directly familiar with the latest information told CNN there has been one U.S. military fatality in this hostage rescue mission overnight in Iraq. Apparently U.S. Special Operations Forces were ordered into this mission to rescue a number of Kurdish hostages.

We're told the estimate is that some 70 Kurdish hostages were rescued. The Kurds, of course, are in northern Iraq. This is a group that the U.S. has been -- the U.S. military especially has been working very closely with. I think it is safe to assume that there were some Kurdish elements there on the ground with the U.S. troops. They do work hand in hand. But this would be, to the best of our knowledge, the first U.S. combat fatality on the ground in the war against ISIS.

U.S. troops are not on the ground in combat under President Obama's orders. They have gone in a couple of times into Syria for hostage missions, for capturing high value targets. But this is not something that we have yet seen a U.S. service member potentially killed on the ground in this war against ISIS. More information will be unfolding here at the Pentagon in the coming hours -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Barbara Starr reporting live from the Pentagon this morning.

It is built as the final and definitive hearing into the Benghazi attacks and we are just minutes away from the start and the stakes are undeniably huge. The deaths of these four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, the future safety of other U.S. staffers working abroad and potentially the presidential hopes of the Hillary Clinton who faces up to eight hours of questioning today.

Among the House committee's focus, why did the U.S. diplomatic mission remained in Benghazi despite deteriorating security and U.S. intelligence warnings. Was Clinton, then the secretary of state, completely unaware of repeated request for more security? Many coming from the ambassador who would later die.

And what was Clinton's involvement when the Americans came under attack? And the U.S. military was not dispatched. Those answers are still out of reach. After three years, seven investigations, more than $4.5 million and thousands of e-mails scoured. But one committee member says expect new information today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARTHA ROBY (R), BENGHAZI SELECT COMMITTEE: Specifically, though, to your question is, what may we have learned? Well, I would say to you and everybody watching, stay tuned. Please watch the interview tomorrow with Secretary Clinton because I believe that you will see that there are documents that we will be able to ask her questions about for the first time. And that's very important to be able to fill in the gaps about the information that we currently do not have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: We're covering all of the angles. CNN's Manu Raju is outside the hearing, awaiting the first arrivals. And Brianna Keilar will walk us through the politics and passions of this morning's hearing.

But let's begin with you, Manu. Take it away.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's really buzzing here, Carol. We're in the House Longworth office building where we're anticipating this high-profile hearing. Well, it's going to be actually a very long hearing, there are 12 members of this committee is broken down seven Republicans, led by Chairman Trey Gowdy of South Carolina. Five Democrats. Each of whom are going to have about 10 minutes to speak and at least four rounds of questioning.

So this could go on for at least maybe up to eight hours. What Democrats are going to try to show that this committee is treading the same ground in an effort to try to undermine Hillary Clinton. You're going to hear a lot of efforts to defend Hillary through the course of this testimony. [09:05:04] Clinton herself, as I'm told, is going to try to make the

case about why the U.S. was in Libya, try to present a pretty sober case for the mission there as well as the efforts to try to protect those four Americans. And the Republicans are going to try to show that there is a reason why this select committee was created and that new information has turned up. They have been trying to declassify a bunch of documents from the State Department. And we believe they probably have some new documents that they are going to present today.

So we'll be watching that closely. Mike Pompeo of Kansas discussed some of that earlier today. Here is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE POMPEO (R), HOUSE SELECT BENGHAZI COMMITTEE: We have now received thousands and thousands of pages of documents about her actions, the actions of her staff, actions that took place all across the United States government. We've had the benefit of interviewing dozens of people. That none of those committees took the time or had the capacity to interview. So we have a great deal more information and a lot more fidelity about what happened so I think we'll be able to ask her questions that advance the story about how these four Americans were murdered on her watch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So we don't really know what is in those documents, Carol, which is one of the things we're going to have to watch, how Hillary responds to this. Does she get tripped up? Does she contradict her past testimony? Republicans have really kept that close to the vest. That's going to be one of the big tests for them going forward and it's going to be one of the big tests for Hillary. So we're anticipating a lot and what is really going to be a pretty exciting day here on Capitol Hill -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Manu Raju reporting live from Capitol Hill. And of course that image you see on your right that's Hillary Clinton's house in Washington, D.C. And there's the car waiting to take her to Capitol Hill and those hearings.

As we said over the last three years, there have been seven previous congressional investigations into Benghazi so what exactly is the committee hoping to achieve today? And what are the key questions lawmakers want answered?

And before I get to that, I want to mention all four names of those who died in Benghazi because I think it's important to remember them. Sean Smith who joined the State Department in 2002. Glen Dougherty who was part of a Tripoli reinforcement team that reached the CIA annex seven hours after the initial attack. Tyrone Woods, he's a former Navy SEAL, he was working as a security contractor at the CIA annex when the attack occurred. And of course Ambassador Chris Stevens who we've heard a lot about.

Let's bring in now CNN senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar.

According to a new polling, Brianna, the majority of Americans think the committee is doing this for political gain.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. The really interesting poll numbers out today, Carol. You hear from the Republican chairman of this committee, Trey Gowdy, and he says that he wants this to be the final and definitive accounting for Benghazi. You talk to Democrats, though, who back up Hillary Clinton and they say this is just a political hatchet job.

Well, what we see is that while Americans are split on whether they think the committee has gone too far, most of them, Democrats and Republicans, think that politics were at play.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They ended up becoming a partisan arm of the Republican National Committee.

KEILAR (voice-over): A new CNN/ORC poll reveals the public agrees with the Democratic frontrunner, 72 percent believe the investigation is being used for political gain.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: We put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping.

KEILAR: Two members of the GOP seemingly admitting to as much.

REP. RICHARD HANNA (R), NEW YORK: This may not be politically correct, but I think that there is a big part of this investigation that was designed to go after people.

KEILAR: But committee chair, Republican Trey Gowdy, strongly denies he's playing politics.

REP. TREY GOWDY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I have told my own Republican colleagues and friends, shut up talking about things that you don't know anything about.

CLINTON: Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they'd go kill some Americans?

KEILAR: That anger and frustration palpable in Hillary Clinton's last testimony before Congress more than two years ago.

CLINTON: What difference at this point does it make?

KEILAR: A moment likely still fresh in the minds of the Republican- led committee members.

REP. JEFF DUNCAN (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Madame Secretary, you let the consulate become a death trap.

KEILAR: Yet after three years of accusations, seven investigations, thousands of pages of e-mails, and hours of testimony, Republicans say they still have unanswered questions. On September 11th, 2012, Islamic extremists overran the U.S. consulate

in Benghazi, setting it ablaze and then storming a nearby CIA annex, killing U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens as well as an information officer and two former Navy SEALs.

But is Clinton ultimately to blame for the terror attack and deadly security lapse? That's what some Republicans say is still unknown.

CLINTON: With specific security requests they didn't come to me. I had no knowledge of them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: This committee that Hillary Clinton testifies before today, the House Select Committee on Benghazi, is responsible for uncovering that Clinton used a personal e-mail address solely.

[09:10:10] That that was the only e-mail address that she used while secretary of state and also leading to the fact that she had a personal server that was housing those e-mails. A personal server that was stationed at her house in New York, Carol. So we know the plan when you hear it from the chairman that Republicans are trying to stick to, you know, the issue of Benghazi and not the e-mails. But you never know. There is certainly very unpredictable things that happen in these hearings. And we'll be waiting to see how much focus there is on her e-mails and how much the focus is on the facts of what happened that day.

COSTELLO: Keeping an eye on Hillary Clinton's car there because they've started it up so she could be walking through that door at any moment.

A question for you, Brianna. How has Hillary Clinton been preparing for this day?

KEILAR: She has been down as we call it for a few days now, where she's taken time off of the campaign trail. She's been preparing with a legal team, with the legal team, with policy experts. She's been reviewing her testimony that she gave back in 2013.

She's spent hours getting ready for this and that really just -- is a testament to the fact that her campaign feels and her advisors feel that this is a moment where she can -- you know, certainly there is a possibility she could stumble. But this is a moment for her to sort of show her credentials as secretary of state and sort of make the case for why diplomas like we saw in Benghazi was important.

COSTELLO: All right, Brianna Keilar, reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

Coming up just after a break, a Democratic member of the committee and a strong critique of its focus joins us for a live interview. Adam Schiff is with me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [09:16:12] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, a political showdown brewing on Capitol Hill. In the next hour, lawmakers are expected to grill Hillary Clinton on the 2012 Benghazi attacks that killed four Americans.

While some Republicans have defended the committee's probe, critics argue the committee is intentionally trying to derail Clinton's run for the White House. It is important to point out, there have already been seven congressional investigations into the Benghazi.

Joining me now from Capitol Hill, a member of that committee and an outspoken critic, Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff.

Welcome, sir.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), CALIFORNIA: Thank you.

COSTELLO: The chairman of this Benghazi committee, Trey Gowdy says this will be the final time Hillary Clinton answers questions about what happened in Benghazi. Do you buy that?

SCHIFF: Well, I certainly hope so. After these seven other investigations, after her multiple appearances before Congress, I'm not sure how much there is left to be productively said.

I do think that we will see as a result of Representative McCarthy and Representative Hanna's comments an effort at least by the GOP today to go through the motions of focus on Benghazi. But the focus on this committee all along has really been on one person and that is Secretary Clinton. They have canceled all the other hearings this year apart from one we had in January.

They canceled on the defense director, on the director of the CIA, on the head of the joint chiefs. This is the only one they wanted and we have no idea where we're going after this. So, it's pretty hard to escape the conclusion that today is what this has all been about.

COSTELLO: I spoke with Sean Smith's mother yesterday. It was a very emotional interview. She says she has so many more questions answered. So there are questions to be answered today, right? Even if your mind.

SCHIFF: Look, I have great compassion for the parents and the husbands and wives, or the wives rather, the siblings of those that were lost. They are going through a terrible trauma still.

But in terms of the questions that remained to be answered, frankly after 17 months and $4.5 million, we have found no new information that contradicts any of the core conclusions of these seven or eight other investigations. So, there isn't that much there to be found.

You can always find things in the interest of the matter that will shed some new light. But nothing that alters our understanding of what took place. And I feel terrible frankly that these families were misled at the beginning of this investigation when the majority promised a nonpartisan investigation that would be centered on the facts. And instead what we've really had is a highly politicized investigation to go after the likely Democratic nominee for president.

COSTELLO: I heard what you just said, but your fellow committee members say there will be new information coming out in this hearing. Do you have any clue as to what that might be?

SCHIFF: Well, no. And this is I think a very interesting fact. You know, as the former prosecutor, you always have to be suspicious when somebody attributes the benchmarks of success in investigation by how many people they have interviewed and how many documents they have gathered rather than what those witnesses or documents say.

They haven't been able to point to anything that is really new. There may be some e-mails that we haven't had before. But the fact is when we looked at those new e-mails, they are no different in kind or character than the e-mails we have.

They will do their very best I think to make it seem new, to put a new dress on an old figure in terms of this investigation. But the fact of the matter is that the body of this investigation has been the same all along. And we haven't discovered anything new really for all of the time and expense and effort this committee has undertaken.

COSTELLO: All right. Congressman Adam Schiff, thank you for joining me.

[09:20:00] On the right-hand side of your screen, you're taking, actually, that's Hillary Clinton's house. You see the car there ready to take her to that committee hearing.

And let's go inside that committee hearing on Capitol Hill. You just caught a glimpse there of the Chairman Trey Gowdy talking to the leading Democrat, Elijah Cummings. The two men have many, many differences and it willing interesting to see if there are any fireworks between those two men. Of course, the hearing is set to start right around 10:00 a.m.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM: Donald Trump may be dominating the headlines, but it's another candidate who's making a move in the polls.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right. Let's go back to Capitol Hill. You see Bill Clinton coming out of the Clinton's home in Washington D.C. He comes out dressed very casually, carrying a bag. He put something into the car.

We believe we saw Hillary Clinton's right hand woman Huma Abedin get into the car and then it drove off.

[09:25:02] It's not clear if Bill and Hillary Clinton got into that car again and are on their way to Capitol Hill for, of course, Hillary Clinton to take a grilling over the Benghazi attacks.

Manu Raju is live on Capitol Hill. He's going to cover the hearing today. You can see Hillary Clinton coming out the door here. I'm seeing

these pictures for the first time along with you. So we'll just enjoy them together. There is Huma Abedin, who, of course, is Hillary Clinton's right hand woman. She'll also get into the car. And then Bill Clinton standing at the door. Perhaps he's going to wave bye- bye. I don't know.

Manu Raju, are you there?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: I am here.

COSTELLO: All right. As we watch these pictures, tell me what's going on on Capitol Hill?

RAJU: Well, we're, of course, waiting for her to come in. Hillary Clinton is going to be walking in right behind me. It's interesting to see Bill Clinton not getting in the car. We were not expecting him here to be in the audience, but we've been hearing he's also been helping her with the testimony given how high profile this is and in the amount of preparation she has been doing.

I think, what is also interesting in that picture was Huma Abedin, her right hand woman coming in the car with her. Ms. Abedin, of course, went behind closed doors and was grilled by this committee for several hours last week in a private setting, to really hear about what she knew about the government's response to that, to the 2012 Benghazi attack.

Now, we don't know what Ms. Abedin said, but it clearly went on long enough where Republicans believe they have some new information they can present. The question is going to be, how much new information they can show at this committee and whether or not Democrats will have more ammunition to contend this is a political witch hunt, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Manu Raju, reporting live from Capitol Hill, thanks so much.

Hillary Clinton on her way to Capitol Hill now.

And just ahead, our extensive live coverage begins. Hillary Clinton faces the Republican-led investigation into the deadly Benghazi attacks. Wolf Blitzer live after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)