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CNN Vets Claims by Candidates in First Debate; Interview with Congressman Hakeem Jeffries and Congressman Sean Duffy; Did First Debate Sway Voters Pick for President?. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired September 27, 2016 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:31:07] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Let's do a CNN reality check right now on Clinton and Trump's first debate. Clinton making a bold claim on jobs and also calling out Trump for flip-flopping on the war in Iraq.
John Berman joins us now with the fact.
Hi, John.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Alisyn. Let's get real, shall we? The night began with a discussion about jobs. Hillary Clinton wanted to talk about the economy. This is what she said about her and Donald Trump's jobs plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: People have looked at both of our plans have concluded that mine would create 10 million jobs and yours would lose us 3.5 million jobs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: So, that's a pretty black-and-white claim from Hillary Clinton there. She says her plan would create more jobs than Donald Trump. She's quoting from a report from Moody's Analytics. It does use the 10 million figure you heard her use.
But Moody's also says something else, which is that if nothing happens, if no one does anything, jobs would increase by about 7 million anyway, so most of the games would not actually be hers. And because Trump's plan uses a completely different timeline, his losses might not be so big either.
So, a verdict here is true but misleading.
Now, when it comes to fact checking and Donald Trump, the granddaddy of them all is the issue of his support for the Iraq war. This is what Hillary Clinton had to say about it last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: Donald supported the invasion of Iraq.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Wrong.
CLINTON: That is absolutely proved over and over again.
TRUMP: Wrong. Wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: So, Hillary Clinton's claim just to make it clear is that like her, Donald Trump supported the invasion of Iraq.
This is what he said before the war, which is what matters here. He told Howard Stern in an interview in September in 2002 that he would support the invasion. That's what he said when asked. He said, "Yeah, I guess so, I wish the first time it was done correctly." Then in March of 2003, again, as the invasion is about to begin -- actually, just after it began, he told Neil Cavuto of FOX, it looks like a tremendous success from a military standpoint.
Now, a little less than a week after that, he did tell "The Washington Post", the war is a mess. So he flip-flopped but only then. In August 2004, a year after the invasion, more than a year after the invasion, he asked "Esquire" magazine, "What's the purpose of this whole thing?" We'll also just draw your attention to the snazzy cover.
Our verdict here -- our verdict here is Hillary Clinton's claim that Donald Trump publicly supported the war before the invasion and just after the invasion, her claim is true, which means that Donald Trump's repeated assertion that he opposed the war is plain false.
Now, for all the reality checks, go to our website, which is CNN.com/realitycheck.
Chris?
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: You can add "oh, gee" to Trump's list of accomplishments because of that beautiful neck wear he had on the cover of "Esquire".
JB, thank you very much.
So, there were a lot of issues that came up last night, abroad but also here, of how to protect the homeland and specifically the idea of policing, two of the issues that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump fiercely debated last night. What did each say and how will those answers affect the rest of the race? We have supporters from Congress for each.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:38:12] CUOMO: Big issues on the table last night and the first time to you got to see the candidates toe to toe, competing on their plans -- national security, racial injustice. They had very different visions. Who did a better job of delivering their message? Let's ask our next
guests.
Congressman Hakeem Jeffries is a Democrat from New York who endorsed Hillary Clinton, and Congressman Sean Duffy is a Republican from Wisconsin who has endorsed Donald Trump.
Gentlemen, thank you for joining us this morning.
Let me tee up a piece of sound and then I'll get your comments. Here is Donald Trump bringing the game to Hillary Clinton about the plans to defeat ISIS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: She's telling us how to fight ISIS. Just go to her website. She tells you how to fight ISIS on her website. I don't think General Douglas MacArthur would like that too much.
LESTER HOLT, DEBATE MODERATOR: The next segment, we're continuing --
CLINTON: Well, at least I have a plan to fight ISIS.
HOLT: -- achieving prosperity --
TRUMP: No, no, you're telling the enemy everything you want to do.
CLINTON: No, we're not. No, we're not.
TRUMP: See, you're telling the enemy everything you want to do. No wonder you've been fighting -- no wonder you've been fighting ISIS your entire adult life.
CLINTON: That's a -- that's -- go to the -- please, fact checkers, get to work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: Well, clearly, Hillary Clinton has not been fighting ISIS her entire adult life.
Hakeem, let's start with you, Congressman. How do you think that played to Clinton's advantages, the idea of having a plan you put out versus operational security concerns that Trump is teeing up?
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D), NEW YORK: Well, she has a plan she's put out to the American people, which is a responsible thing to do as a presidential candidate. It's obvious she hasn't laid out the precise nature of everything she's going to do, but she's given us the broad outlines in terms of her dealing with the is issue.
Clearly, she said we need an intelligence surge, which is appropriate, in order to protect the homeland. We need to strengthen our relationship with our allies over in the Middle East in terms of working with the Arabs and the Kurds who can be forces for us on the ground. [06:40:01] She's indicated we're not going to send forces ourselves.
And Donald Trump has not said anything. It's not clear that he has any real understanding. The fact he would claim that she's been fighting ISIS her entire life when ISIS is a relatively recent phenomenon, speaks for itself.
CUOMO: But he did spin away from something he had been saying, Congressman Duffy, was -- is the idea of the secret plan that he had said he had. That seems to have become a little bit of an afterthought now. He wants to deal with just operational security. Is the secret plan gone from Donald Trump's tool box?
REP. SEAN DUFFY (R), WISCONSIN: Well, no, I think he obviously has a plan to defeat ISIS. But I think you have to look at first, and I'll come to Donald, but what Hillary was talking about was exactly what Barack Obama has been doing. Try to put someone else's boots on the ground, try to bomb them, and then have a Twitter war with them. In essence, that hasn't really worked.
I think Donald made a good point. Do you try to lay out your strategy of everything you will do and what box you'll fight in to the enemy in which you fight? That doesn't make a lot of sense. I think Trump was pretty good making that point.
You need a different strategy. I think he's willing to put some boots on the ground.
And I think he also made the good point that when Hillary Clinton was secretary of state and Barack Obama was new in office, ISIS didn't exist. They created a vacuum by the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Her failed Syria policy allowed the rise of ISIS and allowed it to grow and expand and inspire people all around the world.
In the last 7 1/2 years, that was the threat they created. Now Donald Trump is saying, I'm the one who will actually fix it.
CUOMO: On that point, Congressman Jeffries, Hillary Clinton took that head on last night, the idea of how ISIS was born. She said Trump is trying to conveniently forget two things. One, President Bush negotiated the withdrawal of troops. The Iraqi government was resistant to having U.S. troops on the ground at that time. And the idea that ISIS was actually born out of the prisons some years before that, not during President Obama's administration.
Do you think those points resonate with people?
JEFFRIES: Those points were very important. I mean, facts matter. The context by which ISIS was born, if you would have believed Donald Trump, this was all a creation of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Nothing could be further from the truth. The climate was created because of the failed war in Iraq that was inappropriate in terms of getting involved and then it was terribly prosecuted while we were there.
We negotiated an agreement to get the United States troops out. You then tied up the next administration in terms of what was possible, and you had individuals who were founders of ISIS who you had in custody in Iraq that you let go that helped to create this entire phenomenon.
CUOMO: Now, Donald Trump made two strong points last night on this area. One was about how we're securing ourselves abroad, which we're discussing now, but also here at home and the need for law and order. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Secretary Clinton doesn't want to use a couple of words, and that's law and order. And we need law and order. If we don't have it, we're not going to have a country.
We have a situation where we have our inner cities, African- Americans, Hispanics are living in hell because it's so dangerous. You walk down the street, you get shot.
Whether or not in a place like Chicago you do stop and frisk, which worked very well, Mayor Giuliani is here, worked very well in New York. It brought the crime rate way down. But you take the gun away from criminals that shouldn't be having it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: He's getting a lot of heat for this, Congressman Duffy. I want to hear from you what you think benefit of this, just for the audience. Chicago does have stop and frisk right now.
But why does Donald Trump believe that stop and frisk is the key to crime reduction in this country?
DUFFY: Well, I don't know he's saying it's the key, but it's a part of how you try to keep neighborhoods safe. And if you live in a neighborhood in the inner city that is not safe, that you have gun violence, you don't have a lot of opportunity, you don't have a new investment in your community. Those are all issues that I think he brought up that you have to talk about.
And you can't have safe neighborhoods. You can't have opportunity for investment unless you have law and order.
I think he made a good point that in these inner cities, they've had Democrat rule for decades on decades. I think he's saying, hey, maybe there's a different pathway forward that can offer more opportunity, better schools, more investment, and a safer neighborhood, but why are you going to try the same policy that Hillary Clinton is going to repackage in this new form of liberalism that you've tried for the last, you know, 50 years?
Let's try a different pathway forward. I think Hillary has offered no new ideas. When you look at education, the pathway out of inner city, or any tough neighborhood is a good education. She doesn't support charter schools that offer kids in failing schools an opportunity and a pathway out. It was good for Chelsea, and it's for Barack Obama's kids, charter schools or private schools, but it's not good enough for inner city schools?
Let's give them the same opportunity that other Americans have and other neighborhoods with a good education.
CUOMO: All right. Congressman Duffy, Congressman Jeffries, thank you for making the case for your respective candidates here on NEW DAY this morning, as always.
[06:45:03] Alisyn?
CAMEROTA: Chris, did either candidate do anything last night to sway voters who have not decided yet? Up next, we'll talk to a panel of voters and ask if last night's debate helped them make their choice.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I just left Detroit, and I just left Philadelphia, and I just -- you know, you've seen me, I've been all over the place. You decided to stay home, and that's OK.
CLINTON: I think Donald just criticized me for preparing for this debate. And, yes, I did. And you know what else I prepared for? I prepared to be president. And I think that's a good thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: What did voters think about last night's debate? What about undecided voters? Did last night clarify their thinking?
Here to discuss with us this morning is a panel of voters. Hillary Clinton supporter Daniel Forbes, I don't want to say who you all support. All right, I'll say it.
Donald Trump supporter Laire. Then, the undecided voters of Arlene Tieng, Nicholas Esposito, and Russell Banks.
OK, I did give it away.
Russel, good morning.
[06:50:01] RUSSELL BANKS, DECIDED T VOTE FOR CLINTON DURING THE DEBATE: Good morning.
CAMEROTA: You were undecided yesterday. Where are you this morning?
BANKS: I would have to say this morning I'm definitely on the Hillary train.
CAMEROTA: What happened last night that clarify your thinking?
BANKS: Last night, Hillary was poised. She responded well to the questions. She responded well to the candidates -- you know, the way in the past Donald has gotten under people's skin. You know, we saw it in the Republican debates. CAMEROTA: Yes, but you didn't think she took the bait?
BANKS: No, she didn't take the baits. She stuck to the facts. She was like dragnet. Just the facts, man.
CAMEROTA: Was there a particular moment where you said, she's got my vote?
BANKS: Yes, I would have to say when she began to discuss the fact that being a young black man, the things that have happened in the country with the shootings and things like that, have been troublesome. The fact that she was looking for a -- she was looking for a solution and to get together and talk.
I have great friends that are law enforcement, you know. And there are a lot of great law enforcement people, out there. So --
CAMEROTA: Got it.
Nicholas, you were undecided yesterday. How are you feeling this morning?
NICHOLAS ESPOSITO, UNDECIDED VOTER: For me, I was originally leaning toward voting for Trump, right? After the debate, I just -- it hurts me to say a lot that I'm leaning toward the other way.
CAMEROTA: Towards Hillary?
ESPOSITO: Towards Hillary. It's for a multitude of reasons.
First off is Trump -- just his verbiage, the way you're speaking, the redundancy of the words he would say. There was no substance to what he was saying. And some of his confidence made me very angry.
I was on this show before. I mentioned I was a college when he mentioned that he didn't pay any taxes -- well, I'm a college student. I worked three jobs. I had to pay taxes still. He makes hundreds -- what did he say, $640 million, $650 million. And on top of that, I have incredible interest rates on my college loans.
CAMEROTA: So, he said it made him smart he didn't pay taxes. You're a college student. You don't think that's smart.
ESPOSITO: I think that's unpatriotic.
CAMEROTA: Laire, you have always been a Trump supporter. Did last night change anything?
LAIRE, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: No, not at all. In fact, I thought he performed better than I thought he would the first 45 minutes or so.
I really like the way Lester Holt talked about Benghazi, the e-mails, the Clinton Foundation, and Libya. Oh, wait, he didn't. It was all about getting on Trump.
And so, that's, again, a reason why I support him because he's fighting so many different things just to get where he is, and he's tied with her.
CAMEROTA: I mean, Lester Holt said he was going to limit the debate to certain topics, that he had decided in terms of American prosperity and moving America forward. So, it's very likely those will come up at the next debates, but you think that was overlooked this time.
LAIRE: Absolutely.
CAMEROTA: Daniel, you were a Hillary Clinton supporter yesterday. Where are you today?
DANIEL FORBES, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: Definitely Hillary supporter. I thought she did a great job, was well prepared and nailed all the issues.
I worried, though, that Trump presented himself with, I thought, a real thin veneer of civility, which I don't think is really the guy. I think that in real life, he is -- he's rude, he's provocative, he's unpredictable. All the kinds of things that would make a very poor leader, I think.
CAMEROTA: Arlene, you were undecided yesterday. Where are you this morning?
ARLENE TIENG, UNDECIDED VOTER: I still feel undecided. I feel that last night we saw outrageous personalities, we saw mudslinging still. I still feel like I have concerns about trustworthiness and also rhetoric.
CAMEROTA: On both sides?
TIENG: On both sides. I feel like they rehashed some of the same issues from before. And in the future, I'd like to hear more about their plans. I still would like to gather more information before making a decision.
CAMEROTA: What's keeping you from, let's just go with Hillary. What's keeping you from supporting Hillary Clinton?
TIENG: I feel that they -- you know, last night Lester Holt didn't ask questions about the e-mails, Benghazi, the foundation. I wonder how a public servant for, you know, decades can become a multimillionaire. And I wonder if there was pay to play, like people have been talking about.
CAMEROTA: So, you would have liked to have gone into those in a deeper way. What's keeping you on the fence about Donald Trump?
TIENG: I feel that I also wonder why he hasn't disclosed his tax returns. I know he keeps saying, you know, he's still under audit.
I think his rhetoric can be harsh at times. You know, last night, he talked about different ethnic groups. So, in the future, you know, I want to hear what he thinks about immigration. I also want to hear about health care as well and the positions.
CAMEROTA: Russell, now that you're in the Hillary Clinton camp, are you strongly in it?
[06:55:01] Do you have passion? Will you be going to the voting booth with enthusiasm? Or are you like, eh, best of two possibles.
BANKS: Absolutely, I will be going full-fledged. I definitely believe, you know, first impression is a great impression. Her first impression going into these debates, the meaningful debates, was enough to push me. Enough to believe in that.
So I hope that, you know, it'll be historic. This is our second historic election that we have coming up where it's the possibility that now -- we just finished having the first black president. Now to go into the first woman president, you know? I believe she'll be able to unite and do some great things, you know?
CAMEROTA: On that note, panel, thank you very much. Great to get all of your impressions this morning. Thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.
Coming up on the show, we'll hear from both sides, and from DNC chair Donna Brazile, and Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway will both be here. How did they think their candidates did last night? We'll have much more debate coverage ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: You've been doing this for 30 years. Why are you just thinking about these solutions right now?
CLINTON: Donald, I know you live in your own reality, but that is not the fact.
TRUMP: I will release my tax returns when she releases her 33,000 e- mails that have been deleted.
CLINTON: I call it trumped up trickle down, because that's exactly what it would be.
TRUMP: Hillary has experience, but it's bad experience.
CLINTON: At least I have a plan to fight ISIS.
TRUMP: No, no, you are telling the enemy everything you want to do.
CLINTON: No, we're not.
