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New Day
Biden: "I Will Not Be Silent" About 2016 Race; Fareed Zakaria Examines "Long Road To Hell" In Iraq. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired October 26, 2015 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:30:01] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: The big political salvo that's going to come out of that hearing in my expectation is that she lied when she found out about Benghazi. She said it was one thing to her friends and family, another thing to the American people, fair criticism?
MARK PENN, FORMER ADVISER TO PRESIDENT CLINTON AND HILLARY CLINTON: We'll see what comes out. So far, what came out of this is that the Republicans had an 11-hour hearing and didn't get really to much. Some Republican columnists trying to make that the issue that they say she lied about this. I don't see it playing out that way right now.
I think right now, it's saying, they tested her. She's been tested in the debate. She was tested with an 11-hour hearing, she came through these tests. People are comfortable with her strength and leadership right now.
I think the Republicans are going to try. I think we have to see what kind of ads they will come up with and do an effective negative ad on this, but they haven't yet. I think the bottom line is the public is closing the book on these things.
CUOMO: What is the concern about Joe Biden going forward? He'll come out and endorse Hillary Clinton early on or you have to, if you are Hillary Clinton, find a way to court him immediately because of his gift of candor?
PENN: Well, look, I think both candidates are going to court Joe Biden. I think Joe Biden is going to do what he thinks is best for the Democratic Party. I don't see him being destructive. He's gone through why he made the decision he made. He didn't have enough time to run a credible campaign.
I think leading up to that everyone saw that Hillary strengthened her position. I think Biden is going to be constructive. I think he may hold out for a while because it gives him more influence in the process rather than come out early.
CUOMO: We all want what we can't have. A quick take here as we end this interview. Thank you for being on NEW DAY. We want to have you back. When you look at the Republican field, if Hillary Clinton becomes the nominee for the Democrats, who do you see as the biggest threat on that side?
PENN: Well, we don't know who the biggest threat is because a lot of the candidates have very low national recognition. I tend to think Rubio would be a strong candidate. I tend to think Trump would be a weak candidate.
Trump, as he likes to say is leading. I think he's got a 60 percent unfavorable, even among the Republican Party. I think he would make the Democrats day if he winds up being the Republican nominee.
CUOMO: So when he's saying I can't wait to run against Hillary, I couldn't lose to her, you are writing it off as huff and puff?
PENN: Well, any candidate can surprise you. I do believe that the American public is really in the long run not going to buy what Trump is selling. I think they will come back to the strength and experience of Hillary as the nominee.
I think either the Democratic nominee would wind up fare strongly against Trump, who I believe a third of the third of the Republican Party strongly. He's got a movement, but I don't see him as being a national majority candidate.
CUOMO: Very interesting, the name you did not mention Jeb Bush, being tactical or a state of his affairs. Mark Penn, thank you very much for joining us. We hope to have you back again on NEW DAY -- Mich.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Why is the former British minister apologizing for the Iraq war? It is one of the big questions tackled in a new CNN special report. Fareed Zakaria joins us next to talk about it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:37:30]
PEREIRA: We are following breaking news. A massive 7.5 earthquake rocks South Asia and hit northeast Afghanistan about 158 miles northeast of Kabul. It was felt hundreds of miles away in India and Pakistan.
The death toll is climbing. Reports now say as many as 29 people have been killed with dozens more injured. This comes nearly 10 years to the day that a powerful 7.6 earthquake killed 75,000 people in the same region.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: On to politics, as we speak, Donald Trump headlining a morning rally in New Hampshire. Once again, Trump going after Ben Carson, criticizing him for his super low energy levels. Over the weekend, Carson made controversial comments comparing abortion to slavery.
CUOMO: Five people killed, one still missing this morning after a whale watching boat sank off the coast of British Columbia. Twenty one people were injured, at least seven of them hospitalized. It's not clear what caused the ship to sink at this point. The boating company says it is cooperating with investigators and answers will hopefully come soon. CAMEROTA: Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair talking about the mistakes made in going to war with Iraq. But Blair says there's one thing he did not regret. Fareed Zakaria will be here with a preview of the CNN special report tonight. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:42:45]
CAMEROTA: Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair apologizing for mistakes he says were made in the Iraq war. There's one thing Blair says he does not regret. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": Given, however, that Saddam Hussein did not prove to have weapons of mass destruction, was the decision to enter Iraq and topple his regime a mistake?
TONY BLAIR, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: You know, when I'm asked this, I can say I apologize for the fact that the intelligence we received was wrong because even though he used chemical weapons against his own people, against others, the program, in the form we thought it was did not exist in the way we thought.
So, I can apologize for that. I can also apologize by the way some of the mistakes in planning and certainly our mistaken in our understanding of what would happen once you remove the regime. But, I find it hard to apologize for removing Saddam. I think even today, in 2015, it is better that he's not there than he is there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAMEROTA: His revelation comes in a new CNN special tonight. It's called "Long Road To Hell, America In Iraq." Fareed Zakaria hosts it and he joins us now. Fareed, great to have you here.
It's so interesting to hear Tony Blair talk about the mistakes and the regret that he has, but critics of the war and of his say he reaches a faulty conclusion that yes, Saddam Hussein was a bad guy, but he was contained in a way that ISIS was not. Does he talk about that?
ZAKARIA: He does. Another thing that he says, which is frankly I think even more newsworthy, I asked him, would he think it's fair to say that removing Saddam Hussein, invading Iraq, and toppling that regime created the fundamental cause for ISIS?
Because after all that was what produced the sort of insurgency that then became al Qaeda in Iraq and then became ISIS, and he said, you know, there are elements of truth to that analysis. I accept that.
He then goes on to say but let's take a look at notice. We remove the regime in Iraq and we ended up with chaos and terror. We removed the regime in Libya, but didn't put ground troops in and that produced chaos and terrorism. [07:45:07] And we didn't do anything in Syria and that has produced chaos and terrorism. So he's sort of implying that, you know, look, there are other sins as well, sins of omission and commission. So, I think that the connection to ISIS is one he's willing to make.
CAMEROTA: That's an interesting point. Did he get into the nitty- gritty in terms of Saddam's army was disbanded, then a disgruntled group of former commanders who many think did go on to lead ISIS?
ZAKARIA: Well, we didn't get in specifically with him on that because what I have is on the documentary tonight, I have the key people who made that decision in the Bush administration and what's fascinating is to listen to them now, you wouldn't know who made the decision.
There's, you know, one guy says the other guy did it. Bremmer says the guys in Washington did it. The guys in Washington say Bremmer did it. At the end of the day, no one is sure if Bush actually approved it. There's startling revelations there. There is a lot of finger- pointing going on.
CAMEROTA: That is interesting. You bring up President Bush. It's interesting to hear former Prime Minister Tony Blair talk about it because we haven't heard how President Bush feels about exactly what he regrets or mistakes.
ZAKARIA: Well, President Bush is not the type to regret. One thing I noticed in doing this documentary, it was hard to get senior members of the Bush administration. We have a few, but for the most part, they would rather just not talk about this.
CAMEROTA: So, where does that leave us with Tony Blair? What does he think should happen in Iraq and with ISIS?
ZAKARIA: I think Tony Blair believes that this is the kind of civilizational struggle going on. These Islamic terrorist forces were rising anyway. He says you dislodged the regime in Iraq and you got them. You didn't dislodge the regime in Syria and you got them.
He's very much still of the view that you have to go there and you have to take the battle to them. I think he would want more intervention in Syria. In some ways, on this matter and I'm qualified because he's generally speaking a progressive liberal. On this matter, he's basically a neoconservative.
CUOMO: That's so interesting. We've had him on the air and he's also talked about his project to combat radicalism, which I know that he thinks goes hand and glove with all of this.
ZAKARIA: Yes. I think he thinks that you have to fight them with weapons, with bullets and bombs. But you also have to fight the ideas. It really has become one of his life missions after all this.
What's interesting is he's able to reflect on his term in office and reflect on some of the things that may have gone wrong. It's one of the things that rarely happen in politics. I have always been struck by in American politics. No one can admit they made a mistake. CAMEROTA: It's a bad word.
ZAKARIA: We wouldn't let them. The media is partly to blame. In any other walk in life, in business, you make mistakes and learn from them. In politics, every decision you made always has to be right. That is the way the Bush administration seems to be approaching the Iraq war.
CAMEROTA: That makes this so interesting to watch him talk about his mistakes. Fareed, thank you. Tune in tonight for Fareed's special report "Long Road To Hell: America In Iraq." This is at 9 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN -- Michaela.
PEREIRA: You know, Alisyn, running one marathon is quite an achievement, but CNN correspondent, Tom Foreman is doing five in five days. Two down, three to go. He's going to join us live between rub downs.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:52:52]
PEREIRA: Let me ask you a question right quick. Do you have what it takes to run a marathon? How about running five in five days? CNN's Tom Foreman says he's up for the challenge. He's done two, has three to go.
Tom is also the author of the book "My Gear Of Running Dangerously, A Dad, Daughter And A Ridiculous Plan." He joins us now via Skype from Baltimore.
Tom, I have all sorts of questions about how many pairs of shoes you've gone through, what on earth are you thinking and how is the body feeling, but let's find out what motivated you to do this. We should point out that all of that running started in 2011. You're now going to do five in five days.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. What started is what starts so many things. I was a runner in my 20s, did marathons. I thought it was all behind me. My older daughter, Ronnie, asked me if I would help her train for a marathon.
She's starting her first year in college and wants to be an astronaut. It means a lot of work. I said, a daughter asks your dad, and you say yes. It went from there.
PEREIRA: Tom, I'll point out the obvious. You are not 20 anymore. Running five in five days for a 20-year-old is one thing, but for somebody of our advanced age is another. How are you feeling?
FOREMAN: A lot more advanced than you are. I don't know if I can do this. At the moment, I feel pretty good. Marine corps was a good run. The run before was good. This morning it was hard to get out of bed, and it's chilly. I've done a half mile for today so -- 25.5 more to go.
PEREIRA: Aren't you running 26.2 today?
FOREMAN: Yes. We'll be running here in Baltimore, then Wilmington then Philadelphia. Then I'll run the New York City marathon.
PEREIRA: You're crazy.
FOREMAN: You should rest before marathons.
PEREIRA: That's what -- I've been told you should rest. What is the thing you want people to take away from both your book and what you're doing here?
FOREMAN: One of the real reasons I'm doing this I'm also running for the Med Foundation, which promotes people to have a healthy balanced lifestyle.
[07:55:11] That's part of what this big run is about. Making sure everybody out there realizes, it's not beyond you, whatever age you are, to go out and take on pretty big challenges and feel a whole lot better for doing it.
PEREIRA: Doing it with a selfie stick, too, in Baltimore, Tom Foreman, you might be my new hero. Go get them, man. Don't forget to stretch afterwards. Chris, that's incredible. We have real characters at CNN. This guy may take the cake.
CUOMO: Well, first of all, it's kind of annoying because he's so smart and such a great journalist, and he is in better shape, and shooting himself while he's talking right now. I mean, just when I --
PEREIRA: And laughing and enjoying himself not even out of breath.
CUOMO: Probably wind up swimming across while holding the selfie stick out safely the entire time. That's why he's so special to us here at the CNN family. Keep on going, my brother.
We're covering a lot of news this morning. The big headline is that there has been a deadly and powerful quake hitting Afghanistan. Felt for hundreds of miles across three countries. We have the latest on the damage and rescue efforts coming up. Stay with us.
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