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Several Former Top Military Commanders Accuse Trump of "Chaotic Approach"; Police Bodycam Video of Tyreek Hill Incident; SpaceX Launches Historic All-Civilian Mission; Presidential Face-Off in Philadelphia. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired September 10, 2024 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:30:00]
REP. MIKE WALTZ (R-FL): Where I applaud President Trump is where he said, hey, deal's off. Taliban haven't lived up to six of the seven conditions.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: And I do want to ask you about this congressional gold medal ceremony that's occurring. It's going to happen before this presidential debate. Last month, I'm sure you saw this, the Trump campaign may have broken federal law by using Arlington National Cemetery for political purposes. That was when the former president was there to honor family members of those fallen soldiers at Abbey Gate. Are you concerned at all about the Trump campaign playing politics with Arlington National Cemetery?
WALTZ: You know, Jim, I was there. Those families had that ceremony completely set up with Arlington and then invited both President Trump and Kamala Harris, who was in Washington that day. She chose not to come. He chose to be there for them.
We were down there at Section 60. You could have heard a pin drop. By the way --
ACOSTA: But should they have been --
WALTZ: And I saw no conflagration, I've taken photos. My -- every time I visited --
ACOSTA: But should they --
WALTZ: We post them online.
ACOSTA: But should they have had Trump campaign staff coming over to Section 60 to take pictures and so on?
WALTZ: We were all taking pictures with our phones. All of us were taking -- the families were taking pictures, our relatives, his staff, me, all of us.
ACOSTA: But you shouldn't use Arlington --
WALTZ: Because I've never heard -- I have -- this is a made-up rule that you don't take photos in Section 60. Every veteran knows you do it. And by the way, if you're going to enforce --
ACOSTA: But you shouldn't use it as a campaign prop, right?
WALTZ: But if you're going to enforce this, then you don't selectively enforce it on President Trump. President Biden has done it. John McCain did it. Harris has done it in all kinds of federal cemeteries. But suddenly, we're going to selectively try to make a distinction between his official role as former president and whether he's in a campaign by some bureaucrat at Arlington National Cemetery.
ACOSTA: But if the cemetery personnel tell you these are the rules, shouldn't you follow them?
WALTZ: Well, if the rules are evenly applied, right? Have they been evenly applied? I mean, you also have precedent. Joe Biden just did a campaign ad hitting Trump in June from a military cemetery in Europe. Where was your outrage, the media's outrage, or anyone's outrage? He ran a campaign ad in June from a military cemetery hitting President Trump for, you know, the made-up suckers and losers comment. No one said a word --
ACOSTA: You think --
WALTZ: -- now they are. Not they are.
ACOSTA: Let me ask you about this. Trump also said that the presidential medal and freedom --
WALTZ: Well, in that regard. No, I mean, I believe that 26 people who are around President Trump --
ACOSTA: You don't believe John Kelly, the chief of staff --
WALTZ: Well, I believe the 26 -- I mean, you have 26 people versus one.
ACOSTA: General Milley made some -- said he made similar comments. Let me ask you about this. Trump also said that the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is awarded civilians as, quote, "much better than the Medal of Honor," which is awarded to a service members. Did you take issue with that?
WALTZ: Well, look, I think it was taken out of context in the sense he was saying this award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, you aren't literally have your limbs blown off or died for. And certainly, that's better than those who go through that kind of pain and anguish with the Medal of Honor. And I think the campaign's clarified that.
ACOSTA: You don't think that was a mistake on his part?
WALTZ: Well, I think they've clarified, you know, the context of which he said it and that you don't have to die or lose limbs to get this one as you do for the Medal of Honor.
ACOSTA: And I think we can all agree on that the sacrifices made by our service members should be honored. WALTZ: I hope we would agree that there should be accountability. Not a single person has been fired for the worst military debacle in the Afghanistan withdrawal in our history, I would argue. In our history. And when we have future attacks and Americans have to go back and clean up that mess, that it goes back to responsibility for the Biden administration.
ACOSTA: Yes.
WALTZ: When he says it's an outstanding success, that signals to the family and veterans that there's nothing to be learned here, and that's a real disservice.
ACOSTA: Well, we do need to learn more. Congressman Waltz, thanks very much for your time. We appreciate it.
WALTZ: Thanks.
ACOSTA: Let's bring in Congressman Jake Auchincloss. He's a Democrat from Massachusetts, a veteran of the Marine Corps who commanded forces in Afghanistan. Congressman Auchincloss, let's get your response to what Congressman Waltz was just saying about the Afghanistan withdrawal.
REP. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS (D-MA): Well, we're going to have to unwrap my friend from across the aisle from the pretzel he's put himself in trying to defend the indefensible. Donald Trump is a draft dodger who has attacked Gold Star families and POWs, who has called the war dead losers and suckers. This is an individual who does not understand national security, which is why his former vice president, former defense secretary, former national security adviser, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs have all said he should not be commander-in-chief.
And he owns the failure of -- he is the one who has a failed Afghanistan policy. He is the one. Because he was out negotiated by the Taliban in Doha. And if he were president right now, we would have tens of thousands of American troops fighting against the Taliban surge while we're trying to deal with Israel and Taiwan and Ukraine.
ACOSTA: And, Congressman, what about what Congressman Waltz saying that the president, the vice president, just have not done enough to meet with these family members? Should more be done there?
[10:35:00]
AUCHINCLOSS: I know that both President Biden and Vice President Harris have made overtures and efforts to honor the sacrifice of those 13 service members. And an important way that we honor their sacrifice as well as the more than 2,000 Americans who died in Afghanistan, in our longest war, is to ensure that we do not pursue kinetic operations in Afghanistan divorced from an end game.
There was a counter-terrorism mission in Afghanistan, that was accomplished. Osama bin Laden is dead. But then it morphed under four different presidents into a counterinsurgency operation in Afghanistan. That was really a nation building exercise. And Joe Biden was the first U.S. president to have the moral courage to tell the American people, we have to focus on strategic priorities elsewhere. We cannot construct an Afghan nation without the support of Afghan leadership in Kabul, and he deserves credit for that decision.
ACOSTA: And as you know, Congressman, there's a debate tonight between Former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. If Former President Trump goes after the vice president on the Afghanistan withdrawal and said, you were there, you were the vice president, how should she respond to that?
AUCHINCLOSS: That Joe Biden made the right decision to leave Afghanistan. And that when she becomes president, she will ensure that the counterterrorism mission is sustained, which is to say that the Taliban can provide no harbor to any terrorist outfit that has the intent and the capability to strike the U.S. homeland. She will absolutely neutralize any terrorist target in Afghanistan if necessary to keep the American people safe.
Contrast that with Donald Trump. Donald Trump would have tens of thousands of American troops right now fighting in Afghanistan. I want to be very clear about this, Jim. They're claiming that somehow, they would have had a couple of thousands of American troops in Bagram Air Force Base. No, that's not true.
The Taliban were coming one way or the other in 2021, and a U.S. president would have had to make the decision, do we pack up and say that the counterinsurgency mission cannot succeed absent political partnership, or do we surge more American troops and duke it out with the Taliban? Donald Trump would have surged American troops, and we'd be fighting in our third decade of a forever war, spending another trillion dollars.
ACOSTA: And, Congressman, I do want to ask you, you are a member of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. Let's play an interview -- a portion of this interview with the mother of the alleged Georgia school shooter. She says she tried to warn the school that something was wrong. Let's listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCEE GRAY, SUSPECT'S MOTHER: The counselor said, well, I want to let you know that earlier this morning, one of Colt's teachers had sent me an e-mail that said Colt had been making references to school shootings. Between my gut feelings, the text messages, and now this e- mail, you all need to go, like, run to the classroom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Congressman, I -- you know, I've talked to a number of folks connected to the Parkland Shooting since last week's school shooting in Georgia. People like Fred Guttenberg, the Olivers, David Hogg, all of them say Congress has just not done enough to prevent these mass shootings, particularly those at schools. What can be done in a divided Congress? Can anything be done?
AUCHINCLOSS: Well, J. D. Vance says that these school shootings, of which there have been almost two dozen this year alone, are a fact of life. They're not. They're a fact of policy. We can prevent them with common sense gun safety legislation. I'll point out one policy in particular, and that is to remove the immunity from liability that gun manufacturers have enjoyed since 2005. They're the only industry that cannot be sued for the misuse of their wares.
And just like the opioid manufacturers, they should have their day in court, and they should pay liability for marketing assault weapons and other weapons of war to troubled young men.
ACOSTA: All right. Congressman Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts, thanks very much for your time. We appreciate it.
AUCHINCLOSS: Good to be with you.
ACOSTA: All right. Coming up, moment by moment of the Tyreek Hill traffic stop, new body cam footage. We'll roll the tape after the break.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TYREEK HILL, MIAMI DOLPHINS WIDE RECEIVER: I'm getting arrested. I'm getting arrested, bro.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:40:00]
ACOSTA: We're getting new details about the controversial police encounter that left NFL superstar Tyreek Hill on the ground in handcuffs. Newly released police body cam video shows what led up to that shocking moment as police appear to argue with Hill over his car window being up before dragging him out of the car and to the ground. I want to show you the incident as it unfolded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TYREEK HILL, MIAMI DOLPHINS WIDE RECEIVER: Hey, don't knock on my window.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why don't you have your seatbelt on?
HILL: Don't knock on my window like that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why don't you have your seatbelt on?
HILL: Don't know on my window like that, no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like what?
HILL: Don't knock on my window like that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why you have it up?
HILL: Don't knock on my window like that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why you have it up? I have to knock to let you know I'm here.
HILL: Don't knock on my window.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That way you can lower it and talk to you.
HILL: I just need my ticket, bro, so I can go. I'm going to be late. Do what you got to do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep it down. Hey, keep your window down. Hey, keep your window down.
HILL: Don't tell me what --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep your window down or I'm going to get you out of the car. As a matter of fact, get out of the car. Get out of the car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to break that -- window.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of the car. Get out of the car right now. We're not playing this game. Get out, get out. Get out.
HILL: Hey, Drew, hey, Drew, I'm getting arrested, Drew. I'm getting arrested. I'm getting arrested, Drew. I'm getting out.
[10:45:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we tell you to do something, you do it. You understand? You understand? Not what you want, but what we tell you.
HILL: I just had surgery on my knee. I just had surgery on my knee, bro. I just had surgery on my knee, bro.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you have surgery on your ears when we told you to put your window down?
HILL: Bro, chill, bro, chill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Our Carlos Suarez is in Miami for his Carlos. Pretty unsettling stuff. What's the latest in this case?
CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, there is already an internal affairs investigation that is underway. And according to the Miami-Dade police director out here, one of the officers that you saw in that video right there that was involved in all of this has been placed on administrative duties until the investigation is complete.
Now, the Miami Dolphins, they were quick to applaud the department's decision to release the nearly two hours of body camera video that captured this encounter between Hill and officers near Hard Rock Stadium. Hill was about to turn into the players entrance at the stadium when he was pulled over for this traffic stop and detained.
Now, a second Dolphins player who happened to stop to see what was going on was also detained and later let go. Here now is Hill on how things could have ended differently for him if not for his celebrity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: The reality of it is, it's the truth. If I wasn't Tyreek Hill, worst-case scenario, we would have had a different article. You know, Tyreek Hill, you know, got shot in front of Hard Rock Stadium. It's crazy that, you know, I -- you know, me and my family had to go through this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SUAREZ: All right. So, one of the officers eventually recognized Hill. Now, a police union rep here in Miami, they defended the officer's actions in a statement, they said, quote, "Upon being stopped, Mr. Hill was not immediately cooperative." The statement goes on to say that once the situation was sorted out within a few minutes, Mr. Hill was issued to traffic citations and was free to leave. The Dolphins who pay off duty Miami-Dade police officers for security at Hard Rock Stadium while they are backing Hill, they've called on the police department to take action against the officers who engaged in what they called, quote, "despicable behavior." Jim.
ACOSTA: Yes, it's hard to see, Carlos, how a traffic stop could end up like that, but it did. Carlos Suarez, thanks for following that. We appreciate it.
Coming up aiming to make history. All the first that the crew of the Polaris Dawn mission hopes to accomplish, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:50:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Ignition and launch.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And that is liftoff. That's SpaceX's historic Polaris Dawn mission taking flight earlier this morning from Kennedy Space Center. On board, an all four -- all-- civilian, I should say, four-person crew. They will attempt to make history with the first ever commercial spacewalk.
Kristin Fisher joins us now. Kristin, I mean, this is pretty remarkable in that -- I mean, I would have thought by now we would have had a spacewalk of that kind, but no, those have all been NASA. So, this is important.
KRITIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's one thing to go to space, it's another thing to do a spacewalk, to venture out from the safety of your spacecraft, go into the vacuum of space. That's why, as you say, only NASA astronauts, professional government astronauts have done it. This mission going to change all of that on day three. This is just day one.
And the big thing here is SpaceX testing out these brand-new spacesuits that they've developed in under two and a half years. To put that in context.
ACOSTA: They're spiffy looking.
FISHER: Aren't they cool?
ACOSTA: Yes, they're cool.
FISHER: Somebody was on air earlier saying they look like, like DJs.
ACOSTA: Yes.
FISHER: And they kind of do, with the gold helmet and the visor, Jim, actually --
ACOSTA: I like the visor.
FISHER: -- has a screen, like a display screen in it. So, it's very futuristic when you compare it to the spacesuits.
ACOSTA: Oh, that's cool. So, you put the screen down and you see like computer stuff and whatnot?
FISHER: Yes. You see stuff on your screen.
ACOSTA: That's cool.
FISHER: And so, you compare that to what NASA astronauts are using up at the International Space Station.
ACOSTA: Wow.
FISHER: And those spacesuits are 40 years old. They've been trying to get new ones for 20 years. So, why is this important? It's because a future generation, a future iteration of these spacesuits are the ones that SpaceX wants to use to someday land on Mars. And so, this mission is all about testing that spacesuit and actually doing a spacewalk on a Dragon capsule or outside of a Dragon. Nobody's ever done that before.
And the other thing we're going to see is the spacecraft open up. The whole spacecraft exposing the interior of the spacecraft and all four astronauts inside to the vacuum of space.
ACOSTA: So, there's a little -- I mean, there's some risk involved here.
FISHER: Huge risk. And the other piece that's really risky is they're going to be traveling into the radiation belt, farther than any humans have flown since the end of the Apollo program. ACOSTA: Amazing.
FISHER: So, a lot of risk, but for space reporters, this is -- these are the kinds of missions that we like to watch.
ACOSTA: This is cool, geeky stuff.
FISHER: It is cool. It's geeky. And you've got the space suits.
ACOSTA: I want one of those space suits. Can we get one of those in the studio? We'll work on that.
FISHER: Just wear a helmet.
ACOSTA: Then we'll get the helmet. Exactly. All right. With the computer stuff on it, as I call it, which is very technical. Kristin Fisher, thank you very much.
Coming up, a face-off in Philly. In just a few hours from now, Donald Trump -- more than a few hours, but it's coming soon. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will trade verbal jabs inside the National Constitution Center. What's going into the final preps? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:55:00]
ACOSTA: Good morning. You were live in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.
The country faces bitter divisions. And Donald Trump and Kamal Harris are about to face each other tonight. They will square off on this stage in Philadelphia. Maybe the most --
[11:00:00]
