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New Day

Iran Frees 10 Detained Navy Sailors; Obama Delivers Final State of the Union Address; Clinton Weighs in on Campaign, Current Events. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired January 13, 2016 - 06:00   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.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone.

[05:58:19] Welcome the your NEW DAY. Chris is in Washington for us this morning. Michaela and I are here in New York. And we do begin with breaking news for you.

Iran announcing in just the past hour that it has released ten American Navy sailors. They were detained after their patrol boats wandered into Iranian waters. Iran accusing the U.S. of, quote, "trespassing," and they are demanding an apology.

The standoff with Iran coming just days before the landmark nuclear deal was to go through. So now what?

Let's get to CNN's Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, with all the breaking details.

What do we know, Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

The U.S. Navy now confirming that all ten sailors are back ashore with the U.S. Navy after being released by Iran a short time ago.

How that transfer happened is very interesting. According to U.S. military sources, the sailors came out in open waters in the Persian Gulf on board their two small boats that had been seized by the Iranians. One of those boats believed to have been disabled; not clear how they were back all under their own power.

But those two small Navy boats with the ten sailors coming out with an Iranian naval escort into international waters in the Persian Gulf to an arranged transfer point.

They were picked up by a Navy cruiser there, the USS Anzio, and now taken ashore. They have been given initial medical checks. All are reported to be fine. No harm coming to them, according to the U.S. Navy during their brief detention.

Now, the work begins. How did this happen? What happened to these boats? What happened to these sailors? It all begins with how did they wander into Iranian waters? Was one of the Navy boats actually disabled? How were they treated by the Iranians?

We are seeing a photo distributed by Iranian media of those sailors while they were being held. And you see some American troops there with very concerned looks on their faces, obviously, during this period of time; not at all sure what was happening to them. But now, back ashore with the U.S. Navy, and the investigation into all of this begins -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, Barbara.

Thanks so much for all those breaking details. Here to discuss everything is our CNN military analyst and former commanding general for Europe and 7th Army, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling.

General, thanks so much for being here.

So we just heard the nuts and bolts from Barbara of how they were released. But give us the back story. What do you think happened here?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: That's a great question, Alisyn. And good morning to you.

You know, when I first saw the news last night before the State of the Union, it was curious. This is one of those things that makes a commander's gut churn a little bit, saying what the heck is going on?

You know, the combination of excuses of, hey, they ran out of gas. Don't believe that. Technical problems, probably. But you know, if one boat has it, the other boat can tow it out. But they did drift, certainly, into Iranian waters. And that's a violation of the international security agreement.

So understandably, they were taken in by the Iranian force. What happened? You know, now the issue is, it was a GPS issue. Yes, I'm not sure I believe that.

But these RCVs are pretty fast boats. They're good boats. And this is just very unfortunate timing.

CAMEROTA: Indeed. Very tense timing.

So we don't know exactly why our U.S. soldiers [SIC] were in these Iranian waters, but we do know about the timing. And this is just days before the Iranian nuclear deal is set to go through. So is that why you think that they were released posthaste?

HERTLING: Maybe. I don't want to put it completely on that. The thing I'd say, what you have is a carrier task group -- carrier task group there, the Harry Truman carrier group. You also have the Charles de Gaulle, the French carrier there. So there's a lot of boats in that water. And they're doing an exercise right now as part of naval command, as part of Central Command.

Why they were released quickly, I'm not sure. I think there potentially is a new age coming about with Iran. This is going to improve military-military relationships. In the past, as you know, the British were held for -- for almost two weeks a few years ago in the same kind of circumstances.

So yes, I certainly think that they were released quickly because of the ongoing Iran deal. They probably would have been kept a few more days. But I also think the actions of Secretary Carter and Secretary Kerry, who were together when they got the news that this happened, of calling the Iranian counterparts, helped significantly.

CAMEROTA: The president didn't mention this during the State of the Union address. Can we assume that's because negotiations were under way and things were happening, and he didn't want to reveal them?

HERTLING: Yes, again, partly. I heard a lot of the pundits talking about this last night, that he should have talked about it. I disagree completely.

This was not at the level of the president. The secretary of state had already talked to his counterpart, had gotten confirmation that they would be released in the morning. They were.

Truthfully, I was a little surprised that they gave up the boats with them. I thought the sailors would be released. And I knew they would be released early this morning because of several factors. But I actually thought the Iranians might keep the boats. They didn't. They escorted them out.

And again, when you're in a situation in the Navy when you're in -- you're a distressed mariner and another force picks you up, it is international law to be treated well and to be returned and released after they find out the reasons for that distress.

The Iranians did that, much to their credit. It could be part of the Iranian deal. It could be because of new engagements, the fact that we've been talking with the Iranians for the last year plus. All of those things could have certainly contributed.

CAMEROTA: Look, it's nice to be able to rely on international law, particularly in this time of no rules and knowing that, you know, warfare has changed so much. And this had the potential for going in a very different direction.

HERTLING: Yes, it certainly did. The big thing I was concerned about was there's the issues of what the government of Iran will say and the more moderates and what the IRGC, the Quds Force, the Navy force would do.

Sometimes they don't pay attention to their own moderate government. Farsi Island, where the sailors were, is also a Navy base for the IRGC. So, you know, that was also a concern of mine: would the IRGC pay attention to their own government and release these sailors? They did, much to their credit.

Yes, this is an interesting time. We don't need any more churning in the Middle East. We have so much of it already. It was a good thing that they were released, and God bless those sailors.

[06:05:05] CAMEROTA: There you go. General Mark Hertling, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.

So Chris is in Washington, where of course, he's been following the State of the Union. The president was probably not expecting this breaking news, Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, he wasn't. But as the general said there, this was not something that raised itself to the level of the presidency. The secretary of state had made that clear early on.

And the question that you suggest, that this could have gone the wrong way. We have to look at why. The more we learn about the facts make it clear this was not a case of Iranian aggression, although we may have seen plenty of that in the past.

And yet, there were so many here who were ready to make this an act of defiance by Iran and another signature of Obama's weakness. So it really was a window into the political climate that we're observing very acutely this morning, as we are at the U.S. Capitol.

Last night we watched the president's motorcade pass us in the street. And I thought about how much has happened since the president took office, and that sense of perspective was certainly his main point last night in his final State of the Union address.

And he does seem to be ending his journey somewhat where he began, giving a message directly to the American people, that the politics of opposition, that the rancor, as he said, was too much and that we have to come together for the future to be bright.

CNN's Michelle Kosinski live at the White House with highlights. And feel free to tell me if I'm wrong. But it did seem that he had a definite message, even if his audience in that room wasn't so open to it.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. It was interesting to hear the White House talk about how the president really wanted to focus on the future and the positives, but the negative of politics really played heavily into this.

And by the way, this was absolutely a traditional speech. If you remember last year, the tone was very defiant and emotional, talking about turning a page in American values. But I think naturally, this one was going to be more political. I mean, next year, there is going to be a new president standing there.

And he had some pretty sharp barbs for certain unnamed Republican candidates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president of the United States.

KOSINSKI (voice-over): Entering the Capitol for his final State of the Union address, President Obama was met with such energy it took a good five minutes to get started.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let's bring this to order. For this final one, I'm going to try to make it a little shorter. I know some of you are anxious to get back to Iowa. I've been there.

KOSINSKI: He acknowledged the difficulties he's faced.

OBAMA: We won't agree on health care anytime soon. But -- the applause back there.

KOSINSKI: But wasted no time in repeatedly, sharply digging Republican candidates for their criticism.

OBAMA: Anyone claiming that America's economy is in decline is peddling fiction. Well, so is all the rhetoric you hear about our enemies getting stronger and America getting weaker. And our answer needs to be more than tough talk or calls to carpet bomb civilians. That may work as a TV sound bite, but it doesn't pass muster on the world stage.

And we need to reject any politics, any politics, that targets people because of race or religion.

KOSINSKI: A sentiment that interestingly was echoed in the Republican rebuttal by South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.

GOV. NIKKI HALEY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. We must resist that temptation.

KOSINSKI: Donald Trump tweeted that the president's speech was "boring, slow, lethargic."

Senator Ted Cruz didn't attend it but said this.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will apologize to nobody for my commitment to kill the terrorists.

KOSINSKI: One of President Obama's goals here was optimism, which lately, the White House uses to try to build a contrast with how they see the Republican field.

OBAMA: Sixty years ago, when the Russians beat us into space, we didn't deny Sputnik was up there. We didn't argue about the science or shrink our research and development budget. We built a space program almost overnight; and 12 years later, we were walking on the moon.

That spirit of discovery is in our DNA. Let's make America the country that cures cancer once and for all.

KOSINSKI: That statement brought both sides of the aisle to its feet. And, in a room filled with guests as diverse as a Syrian refugee, nuns suing the administration over Obamacare, American Muslims and Kim Davis, the president conceding that the politics remains a barrier.

OBAMA: It's one of the few regrets of my presidency, that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better.

KOSINSKI: Calling on individual Americans to set aside cynicism and vote.

OBAMA: Because I believe in you, the American people. And that's why I stand here as confident as I have ever been that the state of our union is strong. Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[06:10:08] KOSINSKI: The attitude of the administration is, OK, that's over. Let's get back to work.

The president's going to be traveling today. Members of his cabinet plan to travel to keep on pushing for some of those plans that he laid out last night, Chris.

CUOMO: Michelle, thank you very much for taking us inside the details of the speech. But really, this was about the feel. This was about the mood in the country.

Let's discuss what the message was and why from the president, how it's being received. Matt Lewis, senior contributor to "The Daily Caller" and a conservative commentator; and Manu Raju, CNN senior political reporter.

You were in the room, my brother, when the president got up there. The Republicans were quickly joking on social media, "Another broken promise. He said he'd keep it shorter, and he didn't." But the time that he used, how was it spent, how was it received?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, the president tried to lay out a much different vision than we're hearing on the campaign trail. He tried to speak in that more broad thematic approach, rather than laying out this laundry list of proposals.

But the way he was received by the Republicans on Capitol Hill is they dismissed it before they even came into office and Democrats, too, to some extent, they've heard a lot of these same promises before.

I talked to a lot of Democrats when they were leaving the chamber. And they said, "Look, the president could have done a -- made a more forcible argument on the economy earlier in his presidency." There were a lot of positive things for him to talk about. They wish he did that running into the midterm elections last year. Those are the types of tones and the optimistic tone that he could have stressed earlier on in his presidency.

CUOMO: There is an unspoken rule at the State of the Union that praise by the out party for the president is seen as perfidy. I thought that that was exaggerated last night, even though many of the things he said were ecumenical, were nonpartisan. Did you?

RAJU: You didn't really hear much praise coming out from the Republican side of the aisle. Even -- you know, there were only a handful of times where both sides actually jumped up and gave him applause, things you could -- you have to applaud for. Like, you know, when the president said we're going to need to be the country that cures cancer.

CUOMO: Who's not going to stand up for that?

RAJU: Cut regulations. Those are things that they really jumped up...

CUOMO: Corporate regulations.

RAJU: Corporate regulations.

But one thing that was interesting, too, was when the president said that partisan rancor has intensified in his presidency, almost acknowledging that was a failure in his presidency.

CUOMO: Yes. He said I'm not Lincoln; I'm not Roosevelt. I could have done better. That puts himself in august company.

CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: Yes.

CUOMO: But it was a big admission for someone in this climate to say anything negative about themselves.

LEWIS: It was a very big admission, and frankly, this is one of the reasons he got elected, I think, is to change Washington, to bring more civility to Washington, hope and change. And actually, I think he's contributed to the acrimony that we've had over the last eight years.

CUOMO: How much?

LEWIS: A lot.

CUOMO: As a conservative, what do you think the ratio is of politics of opposition as kind of a passive aggression by Republicans, versus his own stoking of that fire?

LEWIS: I think it's at least 50/50. He preaches civility, and then he mocks Republicans almost simultaneously.

And look, I think Republicans obviously have contributed to this problem, as well. But when you're the president, and you run on sort of a platform of being a change agent, you have to deliver. He failed to deliver on this really big thing, which was to heal America.

CUOMO: Except that when we look at polls, right, very often whom do you blame? The president does not get 50/50. Usually, it's seen that he's being somewhat victimized. But that's neither here nor there, because now we're in an election year. Right. And that is ultimately his job. Now, how was it received last night? Because he was talking

directly to you last night. Even his message of how to break through the rancor, he was saying, is on you. Forget about the people in this room.

We have polls of will these policies move us in the right direction? This is unusual for President Obama. This is called approval of what he said. This is in rare supply. Let me ask you something now.

LEWIS: Yes.

CUOMO: Let's assume that this is a little bit of a resonance that the people are still open to an optimism about the future. Was there any part of you last night that looked at that setting, that looked at that man and his command, whether or not you like what he said, and was like, who do we have who I can see comfortably in that position, who's at the top of our polls right now? Because there was a lot of it on social media last night.

"I can't see Trump in that position. I can't see Cruz in that position. I can't see Rubio in that position." Do you own that suspicion, as well?

LEWIS: Well, look, I think that when you have that setting, the president addressing, you know, a joint session of Congress, an august setting. You need somebody who can rise to the occasion. I certainly think that a President Marco Rubio could do it. I even think Senator Ted Cruz could rise to the occasion.

You know, there's something about being thrust into the presidency and accepting the responsibility that comes with it.

CUOMO: He, too, was a freshman senator once.

LEWIS: There you go; who ran for president 15 minutes after being in the Senate. So I think that you grow into the job, the responsibility that comes along with it.

CUOMO: Right, because I'm not owning -- I'm not the author of this criticism or this skepticism or concern. There was a lot of this around online last night and in this place, as well.

RAJU: Absolutely. You're seeing Paul Ryan, the new House speaker, really trying to present somewhat of a different face to the Republican Party than what we've been seeing on the campaign trail, talking about things like dealing with poverty, going into low-income neighborhoods, things that he wished he did when he was the Republican vice-presidential nominee in 2012.

[06:15:13] And largely it's an effort to set the agenda away from the Donald Trumps, away from the people on the campaign trail. How much success he'll have, though, that's another question, Chris.

CUOMO: The speaker is always in a tough position during that speech. RAJU: Yes.

CUOMO: You're on camera the whole time. It's tough to focus. Everybody's reading your emotions. Again, praise is perfidy. And yet, online last night, it was like the smirk. I'm surprised it didn't get its own Twitter account. Maybe it did. Is that fair criticism of Ryan?

LEWIS: Well, look, everything is fair.

CUOMO: No, not everything is fair. We only say that, because we're the ones doing the criticizing.

LEWIS: I would not want to be -- I would not want to be Paul Ryan in that position, where you're on camera the whole time, but you're not -- you're not speaking. And people are going to be sort of judging facial expressions you make, if you sigh. I mean, those sort of things.

But look, I think you're absolutely right. Paul Ryan is, right now, the de facto leader of what I would call the thoughtful, responsible wing of the conservative movement and the Republican Party. And he tapped Nikki Haley to give the response.

CUOMO: And what did you think of her response? Because she's getting some pushback also for going after her own.

LEWIS: I thought she did very well. But the pushback is evidence of the fact that she embodies a brand of conservatism that is, I would say, more diverse, more thoughtful and a governing wing of the Republican Party, a stark contrast to the Donald Trump wing of the Republican Party.

And I think this is the schism that's taking place right now. The fight for the heart and soul of the Republican Party could be summed up in the contrast between Donald Trump on one hand, and Paul Ryan and Nikki Haley on the other.

RAJU: And there's no doubt what she was doing. I mean, this was a carefully calibrated critique of Donald Trump and that kind of rhetoric that we're seeing on the campaign trail.

CUOMO: She is a sitting governor. She has her own mind...

RAJU: She's not -- she does have heart.

CUOMO: ... and heart. She did show those remarks to the leadership.

RAJU: And she was chosen by Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan to give that speech for that particular reason, because it's a very interesting divide within the party.

CUOMO: Manu, Matt, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

We have a packed show. You're going to hear not just from those who were there but from those who were there in the position of leadership listening to this message. Hillary Clinton you're going to hear from on the show today. Excellent interview with Alisyn. Jeb Bush. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who delivered the GOP response to the State of the Union. You're going to hear what that message was. We also have House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

So Alisyn, we're going to hear from all the big shots this morning and get the take on where the country is right now.

CAMEROTA: That is a good show. Michaela and I are going to stick around for it.

Thanks, Chris. We'll be back with you shortly.

The race, of course, for the Democratic nomination tighter than ever. Is Hillary Clinton nervous about Bernie Sanders overtaking her in the most recent polls? I asked her in my one-on-one interview. That's with Hillary Clinton, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:21:45] CAMEROTA: The latest polls shows Democratic president candidate Hillary Clinton, once considered inevitable, now struggling in the early voting states. Her main challenger, Bernie Sanders, leading this morning in Iowa and New Hampshire.

I sat down with the former secretary in Iowa to find out how she is dealing with this challenge.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much for sitting down with us here in Iowa.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: So we're in Ames, Iowa.

CLINTON: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Where the temperature as we speak is 1 degree.

CLINTON: Mm-hmm.

CAMEROTA: And I know that you have been going to countless campaign events here, and I'm wondering when you get up in the morning in Iowa, if there are ever times that you question your life choices.

CLINTON: Actually, no. You know, I grew up in Chicago. I'm used to cold weather. It doesn't bother me. In fact, I'm somewhat reassured that there is a real winter, that we're actually seeing snow and lower temperatures.

But I get up every day, whether I'm in Iowa, New Hampshire, wherever I am in the country; and I really look forward to the day, because I find the opportunity to go out and listen to people, hear their stories, give them my views about what I think the next president should do. Very energizing and very invigorating all the time.

CAMEROTA: So let's talk about the tightening race between you and Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders was speaking to reporters on Monday night here in Iowa, and he said that your campaign is in, quote, "serious trouble." Is that how you feel?

CLINTON: Not at all. In fact, I have always known that, if you're going to run to be president, particularly in the Democratic Party, it's a long, hard, challenging road.

And so I've been in these elections before. They always tighten up as people begin to make up their minds, as they look at the candidates, totally predictable.

I feel really, really good about the campaign organization that I have. A caucus is different from a primary. It takes a lot of intensive work to convince people to come out on a cold Monday night, spend a couple of hours in order to stand up for your candidate.

But I'm asking Iowans. If they'll stand up for me on caucus night, I will be standing up for them all through my presidency.

CAMEROTA: There is a new Quinnipiac poll in which Bernie Sanders is now beating you in Iowa. It is 49 percent to 44 percent. It's the first time that this has happened, that he's been beating you in Iowa, since September. We're 20 days out. Does he have more momentum than you?

CLINTON: Well, the funny thing, Alisyn, is after that poll came out, about an hour (AUDIO GAP), poll where I was leading him by the same margin, about six points up.

I don't pay any attention to this. I don't feel that it's a good reflection about who will actually come out on caucus night. I can only tell you that the energy, the enthusiasm, the excitement of my volunteers, my organizers, the voters who come who sign up on commit to caucus cards is just building.

That's my experience. So I'll let people poll and try to figure out who's going to actually show up. I'm looking at people who are showing up, making up their minds and trying to, you know, convince them to come out and caucus for them.

[06:25:03] CAMEROTA: Why don't you feel that the polls are a good reflection of what's going to happen in the caucus?

CLINTON: Because they're so unpredictable. And it's gotten increasingly difficult to poll. And I think you would have to add a degree of difficulty to polling for a caucus.

So that's been my experience. I've watched this a long time. I've had a prior election where I campaigned in Iowa. So I just put that aside. I'll let pundits and others worry about who's up and who's down.

I just get up every day, like we were saying, going out there, making my case, drawing the contrast. Because I have the highest regard for my two opponents, but there are real differences. And we need a spirited debate. Because after the first of the year, a lot more people start paying attention. And now I know it's, you know, the make or break time. People make up their minds.

CAMEROTA: Bernie Sanders is also winning in New Hampshire, not surprising. He's from the neighboring state. Have you considered what would happen if he wins in Iowa and New Hampshire, what your plan is?

CLINTON: I don't think about that. I'm going to do everything I can to win as big a margin as possible in the caucus and then go to the primary.

But this is a national campaign. We have been organizing in South Carolina and Nevada, a lot of the March 1 states, the March 15 states. Remember, I campaigned all the way into June last time.

And I have always thought that, given the unpredictability and the changes in people's concerns going into this election, that we wouldn't know exactly how the outcome would be for, you know, a couple of cycles of these primaries and caucuses.

So I'm going to do my best to convince more Iowans to come out and caucus for me. And even though as you say, Senator Sanders is a neighbor and a neighbor's never lost in New Hampshire, I'm going to take that challenge on and do the best I can to get people in New Hampshire to support me, as well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: OK. So we'll break down everything that she said with analysts on both sides during the show.

Plus, we will have much more of my wide-ranging interview with Hillary Clinton in our 7 a.m. hour. We will get her take on Vice President Joe Biden's praise of Bernie Sanders. About that.

PEREIRA: Fantastic conversation. We're looking forward to the rest of it.

You know what's happening?

CAMEROTA: What's happening?

PEREIRA: Powerball fever.

CAMEROTA: Are we in it?

PEREIRA: It's gripping the nation, Alisyn. You might have missed this, because you were in a very important conversation.

People are crossing state lines to get their tickets, their chance at more than a billion dollars. We're going to take a live look across the nation, coming up next.

CAMEROTA: Do we have tickets?

PEREIRA: We do.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)