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First Republican Debates Tonight; Will Donald Trump Keep It Civil; Bush Try to Regain Footing During Debate; CNN to Air First Democratic Debate; Candidates Question Rivals in Pre-Debate Videos; Clinton Likely Target for GOP Debaters. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 06, 2015 - 13:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, I'm Brianna Keilar in for Wolf Blitzer. It is 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 7:00 p.m. in Toulouse, France and 9:00 p.m. on Reunion Island. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks so much for joining us.

Up first, will Donald Trump keep it civil? Can Jeb Bush recover from his recent stumbles? We'll find out tonight as the Republican hopefuls meet in the first debate of the primary campaign. The top 10 candidates face off in prime time. The other seven meet in an earlier forum.

CNN Political Director David Chalian joining us now from the debate site in Cleveland and Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger is here with me in Washington.

So, David, you're there. You're on scene. It's just hours ahead of all of this getting going. Donald Trump is promising to be very civil. That's what he says. But what do you think the chances are that he'll be able to keep that promise or do you think he's just really going to be unpredictable and we have no idea?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I think he's going to keep that promise, Brianna, right up until somebody takes him on. And the moment that happens, all bets are off. So, I do think he's trying to enter into this debate sort of staying above the fray, but he has said, very clearly, if somebody hits him, he's going to hit back harder. And we've seen evidence of that already on the campaign trail.

He is -- what is amazing, Brianna, is he is totally unpredictable. He is the wild card in this race which is not how you normally describe the guy that is the formidable front-runner at the first debate.

KEILAR: That's right. Normally, that would be the slow and steady guy. And, you know, David really has a point here, Gloria, because --

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.

KEILAR: -- I think it's Mike Tyson who said everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth, right?

BORGER: Right.

KEILAR: And then all bets are off.

BORGER: Well, we already know that Trump has a plan if he gets punched in the mouth which is --

KEILAR: With a counterpunch.

BORGER: -- he's going to punch you in the mouth. But I will say this, and I talked to a couple campaigns about this, they're not planning to go after Donald Trump tonight. They're not going to out- trump Trump. That would not work for them. The campaigns have some zingers that they intend to use if they -- if Donald Trump goes after them, but they probably would rather keep it in their back pocket and not use it unless they really have to do that.

KEILAR: Yes, and if they have to show some sort --

BORGER: Right.

KEILAR: -- of strength or something like that.

David, Jeb Bush, this is, obviously, a key time for him. He is number two to Donald Trump in the polls right now but considerably behind. How important is this for him?

CHALIAN: I think it's a pretty big moment for Jeb Bush. Listen, he wants to come in and be the adult in the room. This is how he's been acting out on the campaign trail. He's obviously -- this first debate, Brianna, comes just at a really rough week for Jeb Bush. He stumbled a little bit in trying to tell a joke Monday night at a forum in New Hampshire, then he stepped in it with that comment about women's health that Democrats seized upon.

And Jeb clearly has something to prove here. It's not that he has to prove his deserving a spot on the stage. I think what he has to prove here is that his heart is in this, that he can do this, that he's disciplined enough and skilled enough. And I think he just wants to leave the evening having assuaged any concerns that are starting to brew inside the Republican establishment.

BORGER: You know, I think the person who's probably going to be attacked, if any one of them is, obviously it's Hillary Clinton. But also Jeb is probably going to come in for a few attacks whether it's about his age or being part of a dynasty or being out of touch with the Republican Party.

And I agree with David. I think Jeb Bush has to show a passion that we haven't seen, and he also has to show that he just doesn't want to be the next CEO of the family business, right? He's got to -- he's got to figure out a way to say, yes, I'm a Bush, but I am my own man which is something, as you know, he has been struggling with for the last couple of months.

KEILAR: But -- yes, but how did he -- this is what I want to wonder -- what I wonder. If you have Donald Trump standing right next to Jeb Bush and Jeb Bush has this objective that he wants to come in and show that he's passionate, isn't it -- I mean, imagine, we're sitting here. BORGER: Right.

KEILAR: If you're -- if I know that you've been calling me a loser and pathetic, --

BORGER: Right.

KEILAR: -- it is hard to not -- to not have that rub off on how I'm presenting myself.

BORGER: But that's where the presidential thing comes in. I think Donald Trump needs to look presidential and Jeb Bush needs to look more presidential.

KEILAR: They're going to out-presidential each other.

BORGER: Well, all of them are going to try and do that whatever that means, by the way. But I think that Jeb wants to portray himself as the adult in the room without being boring, without losing passion and without being just another Bush.

KEILAR: How do you -- David, if you are one of these candidates who is towards the end of the stage here, perhaps Kasich, say, how do you create a moment that takes you from being almost an asterisk in the polls or really just getting a little bit of support to have -- I guess, appealing to people, whether it's through your personality and also through specifics about your policies when you only have 60- second shots of this?

[13:05:18] CHALIAN: Well, John Kasich already scored one victory, right, Brianna, he's on the stage. This is --

KEILAR: That's right.

CHALIAN: -- his home state. He's the home state governor here. He is the late entrant into the race. It seems like it was a smart play for him to get in, get that attention from his announcement, creep up in the polls pretty quickly and able to catapult over Rick Perry onto the debate stage. So, I do think -- you know, and Christie, Chris Christie, the Governor of New Jersey, is at the other end of the stage. What you were just talking about with Gloria and, by the way, for the record, I've never heard Gloria call you a loser.

BORGER: She is not.

KEILAR: Nor has she called me pathetic.

BORGER: No.

KEILAR: She only says nice things.

CHALIAN: Yes. But what you were saying about the proximity to each other, I do think having these fiery characters, Chris Christie and John Kasich, with enough physical distance from that centered -- top tier at the center of the stage with Trump, Bush and Walker, that I do think creates a pretty interesting dynamic. It's not as uncomfortable to sort of go across the stage to make your attack if you want to.

BORGER: You know, it's also going to show you the discipline, I think, of some of these candidates because, you know, it wasn't too long ago we were all saying, oh, Chris Christie, he's the bully in the race, right? And now, all eyes are on Donald Trump. And if Trump were to attack Chris Christie or say something untoward, the question is whether Christie would have the discipline to kind of hold back on that or not. And, you know, in Christie's case, in particular, you know, I think -- I think it would take an awful lot of discipline. And we'll have to see how all of these candidates behave.

Again, the key word is presidential, right? You want to be on that -- behind the podium looking like you actually belong behind another podium at the White House.

KEILAR: It's so important. All right, Gloria, thank you --

CHALIAN: That's right.

KEILAR: -- so much.

And a reminder that CNN is going to be hosting the second Republican debate. That's on September the 16th. The candidates are going to gather at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California.

The Democrats are now setting their debate schedule. The first of their six debates will be right here on CNN. And CNN Senior Washington Correspondent Jeff Zeleny joining us now to talk about this. When and where for the first debate, Jeff?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hi, guys. It's going to be on October 13th in Las Vegas, Nevada. And, you know, Hillary Clinton, of course, will be center stage with the rest of the Democrats who are running, you know, Senator Bernie Sanders; former Maryland governor, Martin O'Malley; former Virginia senator, Jim Webb; Lincoln Chafee, the former governor and senator from Rhode Island. And we'll see if that's it.

There's still a question mark hanging over, will there be any other Democrats in the field? So, that is what we're looking for between now and October. But the first one, October 13th in Las Vegas, in Nevada. And, of course, it's one of the four early states.

KEILAR: We still have David Chalian in Cleveland, right, guys? All right, we don't. OK. So, I'll put this to you, Gloria. You look at that debate stage where you almost need more people on that debate stage. You want to recruit some people maybe to make it a little more feisty. Who knows, maybe it's still going to be feisty. But it's such a different situation, --

BORGER: Right.

KEILAR: -- the field and this is the most visual representation of how different it will be between the two sides.

BORGER: So, if you look at the debate stage tonight, of the Republicans, the big boy debate, it is big boys, all boys. The debate stage, the Democratic, will, of course, have Hillary Clinton. The question that we have no answer to is whether, in fact, Joe Biden would get in this race.

But I think in this -- in the -- in the Democratic debate, it would all be kind of all of them ganging up on Hillary Clinton. And some of them, like Martin O'Malley, already complaining why is the Democratic National Committee in charge of all of this, because we want to have more debates, because we want to get our name recognition up? And there is a skepticism that the DNC is really on Hillary's side.

ZELENY: Right. I mean, Governor O'Malley, his team came out fairly strongly this morning saying it's unfair to only have one debate in every early state. They want more debates. So, we'll see -- I don't think the DNC will change their mind at all, but we'll see if other groups are hosting forums and things. Of course, he is trying desperately to get out of the -- out of the basement here. He's at about one percent.

KEILAR: He's been squeezed, sort of, between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. Certainly a great effort for him.

Jeff Zeleny, Gloria Borger, thanks so much, guys.

BORGER: Sure.

KEILAR: Now I want to get the impressions from a debate veteran, one who has been in the spotlight of a Republican presidential debate, like the one that we will be seeing tonight. I'm talking about former Minnesota Congresswoman, Michele Bachmann. She ran for president last time in 2012, and she's joining me now from Minneapolis.

Congresswoman, thanks so much for joining us to talk about this. It's great to get your firsthand --

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Sure, Brianna.

KEILAR: -- insight on this. You know both sides of debate success and also debate stumbles, from almost really launching your campaign into contender status with one debate to making a comment about vaccines that you sort of paid for later. So, knowing how you really navigate this situation, what are these -- what are these candidates thinking as they go into tonight?

[13:10:25] BACHMANN: Well, every emotion in the book. But I think, most importantly, each one of the debates, this particular year, in itself is a political super bowl. There are very few debates, comparatively speaking. I was privileged to be in 15 presidential debates. Fifteen. We won't see that many this year on either the Republican or the Democrat side.

So, for the increased number of candidates that we have, each one will have to make their mark. And I believe what the American people are desperate for is a strong commander in chief.

And there is one issue that is in a league of its own and that's dealing with whether or not we will see Iran become the wealthiest terrorist state in the history of the world. And so, the question will be, how will the candidates deal with this issue of not only a nuclear Iran but an extremely wealthy nuclear Iran which has stated that they have the intention to act upon their ambitions, against both the United States and Israel and other parts of the world, and how will these candidates deal with this issue? Again, this is an issue in a league of its own. All issues are important, none more important than this. And will we see commanders-in-chief on the stage?

KEILAR: It certainly is the very pressing and timely foreign policy issue that I think we're going to be seeing tonight. But I also wonder -- let's talk about the personalities in this. One of your great successes was appearing very approachable, personable, and I wonder what you think about whether we might see some people stumble on some of that. Specifically, I'm thinking about how these candidates are going to react on the stage where Donald Trump is there. I imagine if you were debating against him, you might not be, say, too far away from the lane he's operating in compared to, say, a Jeb Bush. But as you look at these guys and they are trying to maybe not attack him but perhaps channel some of that support that he's getting, what do they do?

BACHMANN: Well, you know, there is no filter between the candidates and the person sitting at home or in a bar or somewhere watching these debates. There is no filter. And so, the candidate has the ability to be able to project their personality through the lens of the camera and into the hearts and the minds of the voters in the United States. And so, this is an unprecedented opportunity.

And that's why I say that each debate will be a particular super bowl, because there will be very precious few minutes. We're looking, perhaps, at 10 minutes per candidate, potentially, if it's even that many, that they'll have a chance to speak to the voter. And will they continue? Because the funding sources will begin to dry up very quickly for these candidates, depending upon their debate performance. And the debates is really the one forum where people do pay attention. They will turn in.

There will be a lot of attention tonight, just like when CNN hosts the debate. There will be a lot of attention on that night. And so, there is a lot of pressure to perform. And so, very quickly, candidates will be either propelled or stalled, and that means that donations and followers and polling numbers go along. So, there's a lot of pressure on each of these candidates tonight. But they do have to be authentic. They have to be sincere. And, as you said, they need to be approachable and a lot of that is just who you are. You can't cram for this. This is --

KEILAR: Yes.

BACHMANN: -- really your life. Who you are and your life is on display that night. And if you crammed, it's very obvious that you crammed for this. You've got to demonstrate -- and it's kind of like if you go back to kindergarten and did show and tell. That's what this will be. It's a political super bowl, but you've got to show what you know, show and tell, and you've got to do it all in a package. And, let's face it, there will be a magic moment for a few people, and that will propel them forward.

KEILAR: You really do crystallize it when you are showing it to be this very existential fight tonight. We will be watching along with you. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, thanks so much for being on with us. Appreciate it.

BACHMANN: Thanks, Brianna. It was great.

KEILAR: And coming up, the candidates on tonight's debate stage, they've actually been submitting questions to each other, like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[13:15:00] MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Supreme Court is not the supreme being, so do you believe that the recent ruling on same-sex marriage is the law of the land?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Well, some say they are stirring up drama before the debate even begins. We'll discuss that.

Plus, will Hillary Clinton be the invisible candidate in the room? The senior spokeswoman for the Clinton campaign joining me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Hillary Clinton won't be in the room at tonight's Republican debate, but she kind of will be because her name will certainly be in the air. Republican candidates are anxious to show that they can take on the Democratic front-runner. And Clinton has stepped up her attacks on the top Republican hopefuls.

Karen Finney is senior adviser and senior spokeswoman for Hillary for America, the Hillary Clinton campaign, and she's joining us now from New York.

One of our reporters, Karen, actually - I'm not sure if you saw this, but she referred to Hillary Clinton as the invisible candidate on the stage tonight.

[13:20:07] KAREN FINNEY, SENIOR SPOKESWOMAN, HILLARY FOR AMERICA: Yes.

KEILAR: How much of the Republican fire do you expect to be directed at her?

FINNEY: Well, look, I mean, they've made a lot of this campaign actually about directing fire at her. So I think we expect it, absolutely. But, you know, the thing is, it's so interesting, they're trying to make this race about her, and she's actually trying to make this race about ideas and the American people and sort of her ideas for the country. So if, you know, I think if they choose to make it about - a lot about attacking Hillary Clinton, I think they will be showing the American people they won't be talking about ideas and I think that will tell folks quite a bit about what their real motivations are. KEILAR: In fairness, Karen, Hillary Clinton has been lobbing attacks

at Scott Walker, at Marco Rubio, at Jeb Bush. She's in this almost general election fight, it seems like, against some of these Republican front-runners. There are a few of them. But I want to ask you as well about what's different from what we've seen in some of her rhetoric is this campaign ad that has started to run. It's a $2 million ad buy in Iowa and New Hampshire this week. Let's take a look at part of this ad where she talks about her mother, Dorothy Rodham.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When she needed a champion, someone was there. I think about all the Dorothys all over America who fight for their families, who never give up. That's why I'm doing this. That's why I've always done this, for all the Dorothys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: This is something we did not see eight years ago, Karen. This is very different. This is - this is a softer look. This is a very feminine ad, I would say. This is her really - her talking about her mother, which we didn't see her do eight years ago. We know that Hillary Clinton, right now, is struggling with what has been a dip in her favorability ratings. Is this part of that, trying to reintroduce people and trying to counter some - some of that dip in the polls we've seen?

FINNEY: You know, we had actually always planned to start doing ads about this time because it's a good time to - when people can actually see the ad and there's not a barrage of, you know, other ads on television. So we thought this was a good time to, you know, again, I mean, she's been talking about her mother, as you know, since she launched her campaign. So, again, sort of regrounding in these early states, you know, what's her motivation? Why is she doing this?

I think that's very important to voters. They want to know, are you going to fight for me? Are you going to fight for my families? And why are you doing this? And so we felt like this is a good time to, you know, go back to that story and remind people, hey, this is who Hillary Clinton is. These are some of the things that shaped her values, these experiences, and this is how you know she is going to be a fighter for you.

KEILAR: The FBI is now looking into the security of e-mails that Hillary Clinton, that her lawyers have preserved. They've turned them over to the State Department, but they also have them on hand and there is this look into this by the FBI.

FINNEY: Right.

KEILAR: This has been a stumbling block for her, her e-mails, the fact that she used her personal server while she was secretary of state. How is the campaign - we've seen this coincide with the dip in the polls. How is the campaign confronting this? Is there a plan to try to get past this or perhaps to explain this better? FINNEY: Well, look, let's be realistic here, OK. This is a politically

motivated sort of series of attacks that we've seen. And as you know, I mean, Chairman Gowdy and his committee, right, they've been dragging this out. They're now saying, you know, it will - they won't be done until sometime next year into the election year. So, you know, we don't necessarily - we're not necessarily expecting that it's going to end. We're prepared to, you know, fight that fight as long as we need to.

KEILAR: So are you - so, Karen, are you saying that there's - there are no valid questions? There are many - but there are valid questions about the e-mails.

FINNEY: Not - Brianna, you know - no. No, no, no. No, that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that we - part of what's going on here is a politically motivated series of attacks. I mean we finally got to the point where now - I mean Hillary had been saying since November that she was willing to come and testify. We finally have been able to set a date. She'll do that in October. I think that will be a very good thing for - she will - you know, she has said she will stay as long as they like and answer all of the questions.

And, look, we - but, Brianna, let's be honest here, OK, we've been answering questions. She - you asked her the questions. Lots of people have asked her questions. We put a whole slew of information, made it available on our website. So we'll continue to answer the questions. You may or may not like the answers.

But again, and I think part of what's important here about this is, remember, Hillary herself is the one who said, release the e-mails, let people see them so they can see what I was working on. And I think as - as we've now gone through two cycles of that, people have seen - gotten a little bit of a, you know, sense of her sense of humor, a little bit of her sense of how she works. So there are legitimate questions, but, you know, remember that this committee actually was supposed to be about the tragedy in Benghazi, not about - right? And we're so far away from that now. This was supposed to be about, how do we make sure it never happens again?

[13:25:28] And what I'd just say finally on the - on the FBI piece, you know, we knew about this last week when we had that, you know, took "The New York Times" a few times to get it right. It was kind of botched. They finally kind of did. So what's happening this - the news this week is really - you know, nothing's really changed from last week. We were, you know, going through that process. We'll, you know, obviously, cooperate with the process in, you know, in any way that we can. That's the way we've been proceeding throughout this process, frankly.

So, you know, we're ready for it. And we're - it's not going to stop us, though, from making sure that Hillary Clinton is able to get out there every day and, you know, talk to the American people about how she wants to - you know, how she will fight for them.

KEILAR: All right, Karen Finney, well I know that we understand Hillary Clinton will not be watching this debate tonight. FINNEY: Right.

KEILAR: But I'm sure that you will be and we really enjoy checking in with you afterwards to see what you think.

FINNEY: I can't wait.

KEILAR: All right. Karen Finney with the Hillary Clinton campaign, thanks so much.

FINNEY: Thanks.

KEILAR: And coming up, I'll be speaking with a Donald Trump supporter about an intriguing phone call between Trump and Bill Clinton. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)