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U.S. Political Climate; Trump Foreign Policy Speech; First in U.S. Olympic History. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired August 16, 2016 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:30:16] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: When Trump calls Clinton the devil or says the system is rigged or that Barack Hussein Obama founded ISIS, most people either laugh it off or see it as more of the same from a political wildcard. But not Yuval Rabin. He is the son of Yitzhak Rabin, the famed prime minister of Israel and the Nobel Prize winner. Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995 by an Israeli law student and now the son of Yitzhak is speaking out, saying that his father was killed in a political climate similar to what he sees in the U.S. today. Yuval Rabin joins us now.

Thank you for joining us from Tel Aviv. I know that the memory of your father and how he was killed is not something you like to revisit, but you think it matters, that you thought that what we heard from Thomas Freedman, who wrote an editorial about what happened with your father and the political climate of hate that went from toxic to deadly may be reflected in what Trump is doing today. How so?

YUVAL RABIN, SON OF YITZHAK RABIN: First of all, good morning and thank you for inviting me.

I wrote a very personal op-ed and - to reflect my sense, living about a third of my life, over 20 years, with the sense of a lost opportunity. With a sense that I saw there, I saw what's happening and failed to take action. And I think I'm expressing the view of many Israelis that felt very similarly in - in the aftermath of my father's assassination.

I saw the progression of things through the years' campaign, the latest campaign, and saw the analogies and eventually I felt that I can stay - I cannot stay silent any longer and want to raise the flag and the warning light that things - you know, where do things ending in a situation like this. The atmosphere is toxic, as you mentioned, and I think that it was my responsibility to sound the bell, ring the bell, to at least bring the discussion to the - or to raise the discussion, like others did and to show the analogies.

CUOMO: And what is that discussion, Yuval? What do you want people to see in the words of Donald Trump? Those who see it as just hot headed political talk and the nature of a campaign. What do you see that's worse than that?

RABIN: So I want to make things very clear. I think the debate is very legitimate. It can be fierce. It can be tough. There's no question that the election season brings up a debate and - about (ph) expressions are being made. But I think - as I'd like to say, you know, words do kill and the politicians have to exercise restraint and know where the line must not be crossed. And especially when you have, and I think this is quite a similar situation, where you have a divided nation. Where you have people feeling that, you know, the one side is totally wrong and the others feel the other side is very wrong. This contentious times and had - require the restraint of the politicians in order not to result to incitement and personal denigrations.

And I will stick to our example. When we saw this - and it wasn't just a matter of days or weeks, it was an ongoing campaign where my father was depicted as a murderer, as a Nazi, as a - many other despicable ways that eventually led an intelligent, capable, motivate - ideologically motivated person to take an action. And he felt that he had all the legitimacy in the world to do the action that he did. So I think that by raising this parallel, I think it's my obligation, or at least to myself, to bring it up to the public discussion, that some restraint has been exercised.

CUOMO: So what do you want the GOP - what do you think that - what do you think that members of Trump's party, Republicans, members of the GOP, should be saying after his remarks about the president being the founder of ISIS?

[08:35:11] RABIN: I think the - first of all, they definitely have to denounce it and speak out. I think that this is the time to speak out. I think the politicians have to stick to the - to policy and to the real facts on the ground and not make the political electoral considerations their foremost priority. I think that the stability and the safety and the security of the American nation comes before everything else. America has known political assassinations, and quite a few of them, and I think that the - it's only natural that people should be along when unfounded, unreasonable allegations are being made to try to bring them to shutdown (ph).

CUOMO: Well, Yuval Rabin, your father's assassination was a terrible loss to Israel and to peace in general. That was certainly the feeling at the time and today in America. We know that you're in politics as well now. You're pushing for a two-state solution. Good luck to you and thank you for offering your perspective on our show.

RABIN: Thank you.

CUOMO: Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So, what do Republicans think of Donald Trump's foreign policy speech yesterday? We have two to discuss this and debate it, coming up.

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[08:40:35] CAMEROTA: All right, we've talked a lot about Donald Trump's foreign policy speech. So what do Republican pundits think about his policy on ISIS? And how about his effect on other GOP candidates this year? Let's bring in CNN political commentator and talk radio host for KABC

John Phillips, and former communications director for Jeb Bush's presidential campaign and communications adviser for Our Principles PAC, Tim Miller.

Gentlemen, great to see you.

Tim, I want to start with you.

JOHN PHILLIPS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: Because you said that you felt, listening to Donald Trump's speech, that it was out of step with where Republicans should be on foreign policy. How so?

TIM MILLER, FMR. COMM. DIR., JEB BUSH PRES. CAMPAIGN: Well - correct. I actually think it's out of step with what has been the bipartisan consensus since World War II, which is that America needs to stand up for our values, freedom and democracy in the world, against threats and not base our foreign policy based on some sort of mercenary ideology, which is what Trump wants to do -

CAMEROTA: But, wait, he -

MILLER: Which goes back to like the 1700.

CAMEROTA: Well, hold on here.

MILLER: You pay us and we defend you.

CAMEROTA: Well, no, no, hold on a second. He's saying that anybody coming in, he would actually give that ideological test that you're talking about to people to make sure that they adhere to the U.S. Constitution.

MILLER: You're talking about the immigration part of this, which I can get to in a second. But I was talking to the fight against the global war on terror. Basically what Trump is saying is, if Russia and if Assad want to fight ISIS, they're our allies. That's not how this has worked historically for the United States and that's extremely dangerous for us to get in league with some of the world's worst people in - just in order to fight ISIS. And I think that frankly he's one of the most dangerous foreign policy nominees of either party in the last half century. And we can get to the immigration thing in a second.

CAMEROTA: OK, hold that thought.

John, you support Trump. What did you think of the speech?

PHILLIPS: Well, he was on message, which is good, because last week was supposed to be about the economy. He gave his big speech in Detroit. And then immediately got caught up in conflicts with CNN, conflicts with John McCain, with Paul Ryan, with alleging that Barack Obama was the one that started ISIS, and then we stopped talking about his economic speech. He was on message. He was on point. If he can stay on point and he can

beat the drum on this, this week, then I think it will be a good week for him. People don't feel safe in this country in regard to terrorism. And saying that we need a better vetting system, particularly in light of what we learned today in "The Washington Examiner," which is that the United States is taking in more Syrian refugees than the European Union combined, is something that resonates with voters.

MILLER: That's not true.

CAMEROTA: Those numbers don't jibe, John. I mean they - we've talked about how many that they were going to take in this year, something like up to 10,000 was -

MILLER: Yes, I don't remember the exact number of the refugees we're taking in, but it's extremely small compared to what the European Union is taking in. And, look, here's the thing on his ideological test. And I am, and I think most Republicans are for making sure we know who comes into this country. That's not an extreme point of view.

But here's what's - the problem is. Is Donald Trump is ruining this for Republicans who want to do this in a credible way going forward. With the things like floating his Muslim ban and not ever clearly coming out and saying, I'm getting rid of it. You know, it's always, I'm upgrading it or I'm changing it a little bit. I don't think that any Americans want a Donald Trump SS in charge of who's coming into this country and looking through people's backgrounds. There's a better way to do it. Trump has shown that he is not going to do it in a fair minded way or that he's, you know, the kind of person that we'd entrust with this.

CAMEROTA: John, let's talk about Donald Trump's effect on down ballot candidates, as they're called, people who are running for Congress this year, because there this open letter that CNN has received a copy of. It's a draft letter being sent to the RNC, and I'll just read a little excerpt from it. It says, "only the immediate shift of all available RNC resources to vulnerable Senate and House races will prevent the GOP from drowning when a Trump emblazoned anchor around its neck."

Do you worry, as much as these 111 former Republican senators and Congress people and RNC staffers, that Donald Trump's effect will be a bad one on the down ballot?

PHILLIPS: Well, look, I think a lot of these candidates for the U.S. Senate in these swing states, where they're up for election, are going to run ahead of Donald Trump. That's no surprise. That's no joke. What Donald Trump - Trump has to do is stabilize his numbers. He's had a horrific three weeks. Polls, of course, are snapshots in time. So all the polls right now are going to be horrific for Donald Trump. So if he can stabilize those numbers, if he can stay on message, and he can get back up to the mid-40s or even the low 40s, I think a lot of these candidates will do just fine.

[08:45:02] MILLER: My point of view is different from John's on this. Look, I think that this race is over. The presidential race is over. And, you know, he's losing Virginia by double digits. Colorado by double digits. Pennsylvania by double digits. There's no path back to winning. And what the Republicans need to do, I agree with this letter, is reassess, send all the money to turn out for Senate and House states, and the Senate and House candidates can start to carry a message that says, you don't like Hillary Clinton, you don't trust Hillary Clinton, and we need to have a check on her in the White House over the next four years and that's why Republicans who don't like Donald Trump need to come out and vote for me.

CAMEROTA: Gees, Tim, you're awfully grim for 80 days out. I mean can't somebody turn it around?

MILLER: No, of course he can.

CAMEROTA: Yes. I mean let me put up the numbers right now. In terms of battleground states, I'll show you where it is in terms of battleground states. Clinton, you're right, is leading in some of these significant states. She's up three in Florida -

MILLER: All.

CAMEROTA: In all - up three in Florida, two in Ohio, four points in North Carolina, eight points in New Hampshire, 10 points, as you said, in Virginia, 11 points in Colorado. We're not even mentioning Pennsylvania there. But, you know what, there's still - it's only August, Tim.

MILLER: Go put that map back up. Let's stop this. Trump could win all of those states that you guys just put up and still not be the president. He could win all of them and still not win.

CAMEROTA: Because (INAUDIBLE).

MILLER: He then would have to win - he then would have to win Iowa or Nevada as well. He's down by 11 in Colorado and 10 in Virginia.

CAMEROTA: So here's -

MILLER: This race is a blowout right now and Donald Trump, Hispanics hate him, college educated women hate him, African-Americans hate him. Who's he going to come back with? There aren't a lot of magical, blue collar white people out there just waiting to - waiting to vote.

CAMEROTA: John, can you give Tim a dose of optimism for Donald Trump?

PHILLIPS: OK. I don't know if I can give him optimism. You can give him a cocktail. Maybe that will settle him down here. But if you look at those numbers, so many of those are in the margin of error. Donald Trump can turn this around. He's had a horrible three weeks. Hillary Clinton, by the way, had a horrible three weeks, it's just that nobody knows about it because Donald Trump's three weeks were worse than hers. There are still e-mails that are out there that WikiLeaks say that they're going to dump on the press -

CAMEROTA: Yes. PHILLIPS: And that are going to be damaging to Hillary Clinton. Who knows what's going to happen at this point in time. This race could go any number of ways.

CAMEROTA: All right, very - very good, little finishing note there in terms of optimism, John, but the bloody mary will be waiting for you in the green room, Tim.

MILLER: Perfect.

CAMEROTA: All right, John Phillips, Tim, thank you very much.

Let's get over to Chris.

CUOMO: All right, so let's get to the good news again. She's an Olympic athlete who just made history. And that was before Ibtihaj Muhammad won a bronze medal for Team USA. She has an inspiring story, next.

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[08:51:08] CUOMO: Faithless and fearless, these are words used to describe Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first American athlete to wear a hijab while competing in the Olympics. Now Muhammad is a global phenomenon because she's a winner. She won the bronze in the women's team saber. She joins us now live in Rio.

Congratulations, medal-winning champ. Let's talk about the Olympic moment first, then we'll talk about why it may matter even more to you. Did you know that you had a shot at winning a medal when you came into it and when did you know that you were actually going to win one?

IBTIHAJ MUHAMMAD, OLYMPIC BRONZE MEDALIST: You know, first of all, thank you so much. This has been an amazing experience. Honestly, it still doesn't feel real. But, you know, we've - Team USA went into our match as underdogs. You know, we haven't medaled this entire Olympic qualification. Winning five world medals at the last five world championships, we went a whole year without winning a medal at a world cup. So I know that no one expected us to go home with a medal on this trip, and it was just a phenomenal experience for us to band together as teammates, to believe in ourselves, to be positive throughout the day.

And that moment when I realized that we won, it's just like - I think I jumped so high into the air. It was just like - I mean the best feeling. The best feeling.

CUOMO: Well, good for you. Congratulations. Thank you for representing the country well.

And, of course, there's an added layer of significance. Even though one of your teammates in that picture had really wild blue hair, it's what's on your head that has made the news.

MUHAMMAD: Yes. Why was wearing the hijab, you know, something that was not going to be a condition for you one way or the other? You were not going to do it if you didn't get to wear your hijab. And what did you want this statement to be?

MUHAMMAD: Well, you know, as a Muslim youth growing up, my participants wanted to find me sport for me to play where I could be fully covered, where I could pursue my desire to participate in sports, but I could also, you know, adhere to the tenants of my faith. When I found fencing, I immediately just - almost found myself. And one of the amazing things about, you know, living in the United States and being American is that, you know, regardless of your faith, your ethnicity, we can, you know, achieve our dreams and we can, you know, participate at sport at this level. And it's just been an amazing experience for me.

CUOMO: So, I know fencing. I have a wife who was a champ. My daughter does it. It's very empowering. And you are now taking that discussion to another level because for many critics when they talk about the hijab, they say well that's a symbol of extremism. And you're an American and you should dress like an American and be an American first. You dealt with race, you dealt with religion getting into a sport that was largely white, especially where you were in New Jersey. How do you deal with these added elements? What do you say to those critics?

MUHAMMAD: You know, it hasn't been the easiest journey, but I wouldn't trade any of my experiences. They've all made me stronger. And what I - what I love about, you know, my experience here, as a minority member of Team USA, is that I'm able to encourage other youth to pursue their dreams, to not let other people dictate, you know, their journey for them. I think that, you know, Simone Biles, you know, Simone in the pool even, we provide a different image than what people are used to seeing and we challenge the norm. We're showing minority youth out there, we're showing Americans that this is one of the beautiful things about our country. And hopefully we're inspiring generations to come to pursue their desire, even though they may be different.

CUOMO: What do you want people to know about what it is to be American? You represent that as well, especially during a political climate here right now where being Muslim is under the microscope in the American presidential race.

[08:55:08] MUHAMMAD: You know, I want people to know that Muslims come in all shapes and sizes, you know, and we do various things that we're productive members of society. And, you know, we - we're even present here on - on the United States Olympic team. This dream of mine wouldn't have been able to come to fruition were it not for, you know, the support system that I have, not just in my town, but also, you know, from my friends and family. And it's just been a beautiful experience. This is the America that I know and I love. The America that is inclusive, that is accepting and that encompasses people from all walks of life.

CUOMO: You tweeted, "Muslim black girl, these are not limitations." You're presenting a whole package there for people.

MUHAMMAD: You know, this is - this is who I am. You know, I embrace, you know, I embrace every single facet of my life. I embrace who I am and I love who I am. And I want, you know - I want - I want youth out there to believe in themselves. I want them to love themselves. I want them to be accepting of themselves and not allow other people's misconceptions, you know, and allow stereotypes to dictate their lives for them. You know, I want them to believe in themselves and believe that they can also achieve, you know, a dream of, you know, becoming an Olympian. This is - I don't think that the stories that we're seeing of these Olympic games are really that out of the norm in a sense that anyone can have - can have this moment. Anyone can be holding this medal. I truly believe that. It literally just comes with hard work and perseverance. Anyone can have what I have.

CUOMO: Anybody can, but very few will. And you are among them. So you're going to have to add that to your description of self, Olympian and medal winner.

MUHAMMAD: Yes.

CUOMO: It's great to have you with us. Congratulations.

MUHAMMAD: Yes.

CUOMO: Enjoy the rest of your time down there in Rio.

MUHAMMAD: Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Go Team USA.

CUOMO: Yes!

All right, there's a lot of news this morning. Let's get you to the "Newsroom" with Carol Costello right after this break.

USA.

CAMEROTA: She's fantastic. What an inspiration.

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