Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Biden Delivers Speech On Democracy From D-Day Site; Trump Renews Flirtation With Political Revenge If Reelected. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired June 07, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: 21 years old, 80 years later, they would be 100 or even more right now.

And you're right, he pointed out that he's the first president to actually come to this D-Day moment, this anniversary of D-Day. And none of those rangers who were at Pointe du Hoc are still alive today. Very sad indeed. Christiane, how will the us allies view this speech by the President, and how do you think some of the adversaries potentially, let's say, China, Russia, other nations, how do you think they will view and understand what the President of the United States was saying today?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, I think first the allies will be incredibly grateful because he recommitted America, the only remaining superpower and the leader of the NATO alliance, to committing to protect that alliance and Europe. This is crucial. And it's an incredibly differentiating point between him and the way Donald Trump talks about NATO and the commitment to the alliance. So it's very differentiating.

Of course, allies are incredibly worried about what might happen on November 5th or whenever the election is. They're very concerned about what happens in terms of the survival of the alliance and the survival of Europe, frankly, when they're faced right now with a great threat to the survival of Europe in Putin's invasion of Ukraine. So I think that's on that part. And then on the other side, I would say that, you know, it was a very full throated speech.

It wasn't very long, but it was very, very, you know, strong in terms of its words and its commitments. And if anybody in Russia or China thinks that America is going to retreat, then President Biden said that that is not going to be the case, not on his watch.

And I also think that really important is the context, because, as you know, right now, there is a sort of anti-American alliance or axis of anti-Americanism, anti-Westernism that China, Russia, Iran, North Korea have been very successfully building. And they are really watching for moments of weaknesses, chinks in the armor, chinks in the commitment to continue chipping away at Americas and the Wests. You know, dominance is the right word to say. At the same time, America is being tested in other ways, not just by other militaries. But there are many, many parts of the world who don't necessarily buy America's narrative. Let's say the global south, which everybody talks about and lumps in one great big thing, the global south. But it's, half the world does not actually buy the western narrative over Russia and Ukraine and sees some hypocrisy in that. But nonetheless, these are the issues and challenges that I guess, history, you know, brings up. But the President, at least for now and as long as he remains in power, has quite clearly put his stake in the ground to defend democracy, which is how he started his presidency. His inauguration speech was all about that. His first trips abroad, you know, more than two years ago were all about that. And he's reiterating that.

But most importantly, it was directed to the American people as well, saying, I challenge you to think today that these Rangers who did what they did 80 years ago would allow us to do anything less in defense of our freedom and our democracy and our way of life. Wolf?

BLITZER: Yes, he said this. He said, I refuse to believe America's greatness is a thing of the past. And he said the Rangers would believe that as well if they were still alive today. Christiane Amanpour, we'll get back to you. Thank you very much.

I want to bring in our CNN political director David Chalian right now. What did you think from a political, domestic political standpoint, because Americans were watching, were listening, were entering the heat of the presidential campaign.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Of course. And that line stuck out to me as well, because he didn't mention Donald Trump by name. But that, you know, Donald Trump's slogan is make America great again. That line --

BLITZER: I refuse to believe America's greatness is a thing of the past.

CHALIAN: Is a complete rebuttal to what Donald Trump is selling. That's the contrast politically that he wanted on display with this speech and also the notion of putting country above self. One of the main Biden sort of political frames for this campaign season is making the case to the American people that, from his perspective, he believes Donald Trump is all about Donald Trump and himself, and that Joe Biden portrays himself as about the country.

And what he used as one of the clearest example is in American history of putting country, of putting democracy, of putting these larger fights above self as those young men did on those cliffs. That is also the political sort of contrast he wanted to set up with his opponent.

BLITZER: How politically important potentially was this speech by the President?

[11:04:58]

CHALIAN: Listen, I think this is part of a piece, Wolf. I mean, I think this notion of America's role in the world, of what Joe Biden has accomplished with unifying the west in the effort against Russia and in supporting Ukraine, even in a delayed manner, getting Republicans to go along with getting aid to Ukraine. This whole project of what formed as a world order following World War II and how critical that is in Joe Biden's mind to America's future is a through line of what he's going to sell to the American people throughout the next five months of this campaign. And this is a huge set piece of that.

Now, you and I know the American people vote on a whole host of issues, not just foreign policy or big thematics like democracy, the economy, immigration, all of this will be part of the equation. But this is a key central component to Biden's presidency and his ask for renewal of a four-year contract from the American people.

BLITZER: Very strong words indeed. Very powerful words coming right now at this moment. David, don't go too far away.

I want to bring in our senior White House correspondent Kayla Tausche. She's traveling with the President. She's on the scene over there at Pointe du Hoc. Kayla, what's the reaction there so far, at least, to what the President had to say?

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the Biden administration officials who are here were very pleased with how the speech went down. Of course, it is an iconic setting, incredibly poignant. It's hard to imagine a more powerful backdrop than this. A few things stood out to me in the President's speech, specifically how he rewarded some familiar language that we've heard in speeches of the past to make it clear that this speech was about a domestic audience. He kept using the pronoun our.

He said that he wants to make sure that people know that the veterans or the Rangers who fought here, that they would want us to care for others in our country more than ourselves. He talked about the soul of our nation and the solemn vow to never let them down.

He's talked often about the need to stand up to dictators, to autocrats, to fascists. For the average American who might think that terms like that feel like they're ripped from a history textbook today, President Biden distilled it into its perhaps simplest term. He said that hateful ideologies are what the U.S. is standing up to. And that essentially casts an extremely wide net. It doesn't necessarily mean that is just Vladimir Putin on the doorstep of Europe or just the isolationist, populist, protectionist policies that he is combating in his opponent back at home.

So that was perhaps what was most interesting to me here. It's also notable that while Reagan's speech 40 years ago became most known for the line where he addressed the boys of Pointe du Hoc, he had 62 of those boys on hand in the audience to specifically reference during this speech. And today President Biden said the ghosts of Pointe du Hoc. That is, I think, what the Biden team wants this speech to become. They want it to be iconic. And if there's one thing where President Reagan's oratory skills certainly set a high bar, there's one thing that President Biden has in this moment that he did not, and that is high definition. It's not a grainy picture. It's not muted colors. When the President did a flyover in Marine One, there was music playing that sounded like a John Williams score. You can expect that the White House and the campaign are going to be able to use this imagery and cut it in a way that will continue speaking to the American people well beyond today. Wolf?

BLITZER: Good point. Kayla Tausche, at Pointe du Hoc for us, we'll get back to you.

I want to continue this discussion right now. Joining us now, CNN contributor Leah Wright Rigueur, CNN presidential historian Tim Naftali, our senior political analyst Ron Brownstein, and retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark, he's the former NATO supreme allied commander.

Ron, let me start with you. How would you rate this approximately 15 minutes speech by the President?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I mean, look, it was a solid, strong presidential speech. I'm not sure what will be as iconic as Reagan's speech. And, you know, it was most interesting in terms of our 2024 choice in the way that President Biden linked the struggle to preserve democracy around the world with the struggle to preserve democracy in the U.S. as we face something we have not really encountered before in American history, with the dominant faction in one of our parties not committed to the principles of constitutional democracy that we have, you know, that we have endured for over two centuries in this country.

So that is the case he is making. I think it is part of the case he has to make in November. There is an audience for that. There is also another group of voters that he needs to reach that finds all that a little abstract and needs to know more about his plans to make their economic life better. But in terms of kind of putting a stake in the ground and linking the international with the domestic struggle, I thought it was effective.

[11:10:02]

BLITZER: Very eventful. Tim, you're our presidential historian. Big picture, how important historically, how significant, potentially, is this speech by the President?

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, the very fact that it happened 40 years after another iconic moment at Pointe du Hoc, allows us to see the differences between 1984 and 2024. In 1984, Ronald Reagan was trying to reassert the moral character of the American commitment to the world. That was a time when some in our country were arguing that there was a moral equivalence between the Soviet Union and the United States. And so Ronald Reagan used that iconic place and the fact that he was standing in front of 62 heroes who had scaled Pointe du Hoc 40 years earlier to make a point about the fact that when the United States came to Europe, it came as -- Americans came as liberators, not as conquerors, thus contrasting the United States with what the Soviets had done in their empire. Ronald Reagan had a second objective in 1984, 1983 had been a very tense year in the Cold War. Indeed, it was known as the beginning of the Second Cold War. And in 1984, Ronald Reagan actually wanted to send a signal to the Soviets. We Americans don't want war. We fight them when we have to, but we don't want war. And Ronald Reagan made a point in the speech at Pointe du Hoc to talk about the 20 million Soviets who had died in World War II.

Forty years later, the president of the United States uses that same sacred ground to make a point about us and our character. This speech was a lot about character, the character of Americans at their best. He talked about the sole survivor of D-Day who was in front of him, and talked about the importance for that hero, of his band of brothers, of those that he was fighting for his country, of course, but he was also fighting for those around him and for those whom he had lost.

And the President made a very, very poignant point. We mustn't forget the fact that we are part of a community, that we should care about each other, that we should care about others more than ourselves, and that that is being American. Now, he didn't mention Donald Trump's name. He didn't have to. But it gave a sense that he is in some way framing the choice not between his character and Donald Trump's character, but between Donald Trump's character and the character of America at its best. And that character is personified, or was personified by those 225 Rangers who scaled Pointe du Hoc 80 years ago.

So that shows you two things. One, the difference in the campaigns 40 years apart, but also the difference in the challenge the country faces and the use by two presidents of a sacred moment in our history and of sacred ground to make the case to the American people about the importance of morality in our times.

BLITZER: Good point. General Clark, you're the former NATO supreme allied commander. You're our military expert right now on this panel. This is certainly hallowed ground as we all know. More than 70,000 allied troops died during the invasion of Normandy 80 years ago. How did you view the President's speech and did it strike the right tones amid this backdrop?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think it was a very, very powerful and even a brilliant speech, Wolf. Powerful in the sense of the setting, the evocation of the Rangers, you know, I was in the Pentagon as a colonel. I listened to Ronald Reagan's speech in 1984 about the boys at Pointe du Hoc. And I had around me a group of captains and majors, lieutenant, colonels working for me for the army chief of staff. And we had tears in our eyes when we heard Reagan talk about it.

Biden's speech will evoke very powerful, very strong support from the men and women in uniform in the United States. It is an evocation of Ronald Reagan. It's an evocation of what America's military stands for. As far as the allies are concerned, I think they should be very reassured by this. You know, the policy in confronting Putin is it's evolving. We're getting a little more forward. We're pushing on Putin a little bit more. The White House in recent days has authorized the Ukrainians to use American weapons to strike back against in Russian territory and to shoot down Russian aircraft over Russia that are threatening Ukraine.

These are significant moves. Putin can hear it now in the rhetoric, and he can see the response. So I think we're moving to tighten the noose on Mr. Putin and his aggression in Ukraine, step by step, carefully bringing the allies together. So I think it was a really powerful speech, just the right time, just the right moment. And obviously, he's got the mantle of Ronald Reagan behind him. So I think it has some enormous domestic impact as well.

[11:15:17]

BLITZER: Good point. Leah, you're a presidential historian as well. You teach at the Johns Hopkins University. There was certainly a lot of focus on Ronald Reagan's speech on that very spot 40 years ago during the 40th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. Do you think this speech by President Biden lived up to that legacy?

LEAH WRIGHT RIGUEUR, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think it had to live up to the legacy. And it's not just about is this kind of broader legacy of Ronald Reagan, but it's also, I think, a soft launch for the second stage of Joe Biden's presidential campaign. We know that the first stage of the campaign was the battle for the soul of America. But one of the things that the Biden administration has realized is that same argument is not hitting in the same way with American or global audiences.

So I think what we're seeing here now is a two-fold attack. One, this idea of democracy abroad and democracy at home, connecting this idea of the international and the creeping idea, hearkening back to this two ideas that Ronald Reagan talked about, but the idea of Russia, the power of Russia, the increasing aggression of Russia, but also hearkening to ideas of China, right? So just defining, these very different ideas of what our allied powers, what are axis powers, so, again, reassuring, I think, allied powers.

But also it is doing the work of reminding people at home that there is a connected community of what democracy means. One of the things that we know is that democracy within the United States, also globally, but democracy within the United States is in crisis as people, as the rest of the panel has already mentioned, Donald Trump didn't need to be mentioned because he was evoked in the ideas that Joe Biden talked about.

So this is an attempt, I think, not just to remind people about what does democracy mean, how democracy is something that has to be fought for, remade over and over again, but also to speak ideas of democracy that were incredibly popular on both sides of the aisle. So he's bringing up this legacy of Ronald Reagan, and I think it's an important launching part for the next phase of the campaign.

BLITZER: And we heard the president once again say that the young men who stormed Pointe du Hoc at these other areas in Normandy and helped turn the tide of the war, the mission matters more than their lives. They all believed that. And that's why the U.S. and the allies turned the tide of the war and eventually defeated Nazi Germany within a year after Normandy. We'll watch all of this together with all of you. To all of the panelists, thank you very much. We'll be right back with more news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:22:32]

BLITZER: Former President Donald Trump is kicking off a big weekend swing across the West Coast. Last night, held a rally in Phoenix where he once again suggested that he might enact revenge on his political enemies during a second term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, revenge does take time, I will say that.

DR. PHIL MCGRAW, TV HOST & AUTHOR, JUST INTERVIEWED TRUMP: It does.

TRUMP: And sometimes revenge can be justified, Phil, I have to be honest. Sometimes it can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: It's a familiar warning from the former president earlier in the week when reacting to his criminal conviction. He teased what may be in store for those who oppose him. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It's a very terrible thing. It's a terrible precedent for our country. Does that mean the next president does it to them? That's really the question. It's a terrible, terrible path that they're leading us to, and it's very possible that it's going to have to happen to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, let's discuss with our CNN political commentator Shermichael Singleton and former special assistant to President Biden, Meghan Hays. Shermichael, Trump is talking about revenge while President Biden is honoring the greatest generation during the 80th anniversary of Normandy. It's really a split screen, very different points.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, it is an obvious contrast, Wolf. And as they say, revenge is bittersweet. But I think one way to get revenge is to showcase one's success and their ability to govern effectively. The former president is making the case that he can do better on the economy, better on the immigration, allow those things to be your revenge. We know right now that China, one of our greatest adversaries, is really attempting to usurp the United States, lead around the world, attempt to showcase that the U.S. is still that beacon of hope for other democracies, particularly young democracies that are still trying to figure out their way. So I would advise the former president change the rhetoric to say revenge will be success.

BLITZER: What do you think?

MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: I mean, I think the contrast here could not be more stark. And today he's honoring people. He's saying to preserve our democracy, we have to think past ourselves and think for the greater good, something that the former president can't seem to do. He just continues to talk about how the election was stolen from him. Everyone's out to get him and he's going to go and be revengeful. It's just the retribution rhetoric I just think is really divisive. And I don't actually think that it's going to resonate with voters in November.

BLITZER: It is one thing to talk, from Trump's perspective, to talk about revenge or getting even with his political enemies. It's one thing to do that. It's another thing to talk about the substantive economic issues, national security issues facing the United States. He seems to want to talk more about revenge, though.

[11:25:06]

SINGLETON: Wolf, people want to know, what are you going to do to make their lives better. I think there is a legitimate case to make to the American people that, hey, you know, President Biden is a nice guy, but maybe he hasn't handled things as great as we would have liked. Maybe we need to go in a new direction. People are yearning for that. And I think it is one area where you look at all the available data that the former president does lead on the economy, on immigration, on foreign policy, even some issues of infrastructure, people are saying, hey, we think Trump may be able to do a better job leading the country forward, talk about those issues.

HAYS: But don't you think he should have a conversation then on the issues and not what's affected him personally and talk about, yes, and talk about revision. It just is a weird contrast that he just continually talks about himself and not what he can do to make Americans lives better.

BLITZER: What do you think of President Biden's speech?

SINGLETON: Well, I thought it was a great speech, Wolf. I mean, right now we're facing some uncertainties internationally with Russia, China in particular, Russia and Ukraine, China and Taiwan. A lot of military experts and analysts are wondering what posturing China will do and if they'll actually enact some of those posturing. What does that mean for the United States? And so I think right now we're seeing a Democratic recession across the globe. And so to see President Biden speak to the past but also speak to the challenges ahead I think was really important.

BLITZER: I thought it was significant that what we heard 40 years ago from Ronald Reagan was very similar to what we heard from President Biden today.

HAYS: Yes, absolutely. And I think that, you know, the President continually meets the moment on these big speeches that he gives. I've traveled with him on dozens of these foreign trips, and he always meets the moment on these speeches. He totally encapsulated the moment of the democracy is bigger than just us. And I think that was conveyed. I do think that it's interesting that we're, you know, we're still kind of saying the same thing 40 years later, but history repeats itself. So here we are.

BLITZER: And he made it clear that he believes this is President Biden, that the U.S. has a direct obligation to help Ukraine right now when it's clear that former President Trump is moving away from that much more isolationist policy.

SINGLETON: Yes. So this is an interesting dichotomy here, Wolf. I do agree with President Biden that we do have an obligation to help Ukraine. Again, I mentioned democracy, recession. We're seeing the number of democracies globally declined. That's a very serious problem as a lot of societies are leading more towards nationalism and populism, in part because you have a lot of people in many of the western countries, including the United States, who feel that aid is going to other places and not really addressing their plight. We have to be able to figure out a way to address the plight of those who are struggling while still maintaining our mandate internationally.

HAYS: I just think that yesterday, that moment with the veteran and Zelenskyy was perfectly encapsulated where he was like, thank you, sir. And Zelenskyy turned to him and said, thank you for saving Europe. I just think that really encapsulates what our older generation really feels about democracy and feels, to your point, of, like, what they're saying and how important investing and helping other countries is.

SINGLETON: Yes.

BLITZER: And Trump and his supporters keep saying we have to make America great again. The President, pointedly, without mentioning Trump by name, said in his speech, I refuse to believe America's greatness is a thing of the past. I thought that was significant as well. Guys, thank you very, very much. Michael Singleton, Meghan Hays.

[11:30:14]

Still ahead this hour, Hunter Biden's defense team is hoping to overcome some damning testimony from his former girlfriend in that illegal firearm trial. We could see his daughter Naomi take the stand. We'll have a live report coming up from the Delaware Courthouse. Stay with us. You're in the CNN Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)