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Jailed Kentucky Clerk to be Freed; Should U.S. Do more to Help Refugees; E-mail to be Named to Deal with Clinton E-mail Investigation; Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz Shows Support for Kim Davis. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired September 08, 2015 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Joey Jackson is one of our HLN legal analysts, joining us right now.

Have you had a chance, Joey, to read this judges order? And if you have, what do you make of them?

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Here's what I make, Wolf. The reality is this, we're a society that engages in two principles and no matter if you're Democrat or Republican, no matter who you are, where you stand, the color you are, society only works if number one we accept that no individual is above an office they hold and in holding an office you swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America, the individual state where you're from any other ordnances or directives that are there. That's the first principle.

Number two, we only work as a society if we have uniformity in the principles of government and law. We each have individual decision s everyone is to be respected but we're not talking about someone in their individual capacity, we're talking about someone who's presiding in an office. That office has a directive and that directive comes from the Supreme Court of the United States which is the highest court there can be. In light of that you do as you need to do otherwise, you suffer the consequence and that's the essence.

BLITZER: Her supporters are standing outside. You see those police officers outside the door. We anticipate she will be walking through the door shortly. She's been ordered freed, at least for now, by this local judge who says she can go free, provided she doesn't interfere with the issuing of marriage licenses for same-sex couples.

Let's take another quick break, watch what's going on right after this.

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[13:35:55]BLITZER: Once again, we're following the breaking news out of Kentucky. The county clerk who refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses was jailed for contempt of court. She's about to be released. She'll be walking through the doors there soon. You see her supporters there have gathered to hear from two Republican presidential candidates, Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee. Both are expressing their support for Kim Davis, this 49-year-old clerk who refused to issue these same-sex marriage licenses -- the judge in this particular case, Judge David Bunning -- was sent jail for contempt of court and says the county is issuing same-sex marriage certificates. As a result, she can. She can refuse to obey and not to interfere directly or indirectly in issues marriage certificates. We'll see what happens. We'll see if she says anything as she walks about that door. We'll see what Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee have to say as well.

But let's get to other major news we're following today. The crush of refugees in Europe, a huge humanitarian crisis of epic proportions. Words almost don't do justice because the pictures are so powerful.

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BLITZER: Hundreds of migrants broke free on the Hungary/Serbia border. Police chased them. This refugee crisis in Europe has many people wondering if the United States is doing enough to help resolve the situation.

Let's talk about this and more with State Department spokesman, John Kirby.

John, thanks very much for joining us.

I want to begin with the White House statement on the Syrian refugee crisis and I'll read it to our viewers: "The administration actively considering a range of approaches to be more responsive to the global refugee crisis, including with regard to the refugee resettlement, we are also in regular contact with countries in the Middle East and Europe who have been greatly impacted by the increased refugee flow."

So where does the U.S. stand on what's going on? How many refugees do you anticipate the U.S. is getting ready to take in?

JOHN KIRBY, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: Well, we don't have an exact number to give you today, Wolf, but I can tell you that we are certainly looking at a range of options and I think it's reasonable to expect that resettlement here in the United States is one of those options we're looking at and, again, how many that will be over what period of time I don't think those kinds of decisions have been made yet as we brought in about 1500 since the beginning of this conflict, 1300 of those just since January of this year. It's something we're constantly looking at. I would remind you that the United States remains the largest donor to this crisis with over $4 billion to deal with in the region.

BLITZER: Because this crisis has been going on for four years now. 300,000 people have died in the civil war in Syria. And there have been several million people displaced internally and externally. The pictures in Europe, they're so dramatic, it will put pressure on the U.S. to accept more of these refugees.

KIRBY: Well, again, we'll look at all options here and resettlement is one of those things. I would also tell you Secretary Kerry at the State Department were very much focused only this. The secretary spoke on the morning staff meeting about this very issue wanting ideas, fresh thinking here at the State Department. He stood up a working group to go after this problem and come up with options he can pursue. He spoke his German counterpart about this issue, thanked them for the leadership they're showing. We're grateful to the E.U. and we're grateful for individual nations like Germany who are trying to deal with the influx of refugees.

[13:40:13] BLITZER: You refer to them as refugees not migrants because there's been some debate as to whether they're migrants or refugees. The U.S. government says these are refugees.

KIRBY: Well, we're using refugees because typically you're talking about somebody fleeing from fear, fleeing out of fear, fleeing from conflict. That's what we're seeing largely with this. It doesn't mean some of them may not seek permanent resettlement somewhere but in terms of this particular crisis the civil war in Syria, these are refugees from that conflict. And it's not just Syria, as you noted, Wolf, and you've reported, they're seeing many people coming out of other nations in the region to include escaping the conflict.

BLITZER: I spoke with Republican Peter King of New York, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee. He suggested that there is some fear that some of these refugees may be posing as refugees but might be al Qaeda or ISIS terrorists trying to sneak into Europe or the United States. What do you make of that?

KIRBY: Well, certainly that's a possibility. You can't dismiss that out of hand. But it's pretty clear the great many of these people are innocent victims of Bashar al Assad's brutality and cruelty to his own people and they're trying to do what they can to protect their children and protect their families. That's what's really going on here. But certainly, look, you can't dismiss out of hand the possibility that there could be some nefarious characters mixed in with them. One of the reasons that we're so careful with resettlement in the United States is when we're looking at people that are coming from that part of the world we have to vet them before we can allow them to resettle her here. If you look at the images that that are so heartbreaking, it's clear these people are innocent moms, dads, brother, sisters, grandparents trying to escape brutality.

BLITZER: I want to get back to the refugee crisis that is exploding, but I want to get other questions in before you have to run. The "New York Times" now reporting a second review found top-secret classified information that Hillary Clinton received while she was secretary of state on her private e-mail server. Is that the State Department view as well?

KIRBY: Well, we -- our view has not changed on these particular e- mails. We don't believe that classification is warranted. We're working through our analysis of that and we intend to present that to the intelligence community in the coming days to bolster our argument. But, look, this is an interagency discussion, it's good and healthy we have these discussions, we won't always agree but it's important we continue to talk. BLITZER: Elise Labott, our world affairs correspondent, is reporting

Secretary Kerry is about to name what's being described as an e-mail czar to deal with this whole issue of Hillary Clinton's controversial e-mails. Is that right?

KIRBY: Well, I'll have more to say about this at my 2:00 press conference, Wolf, but I can safely say that Secretary Kerry is making sure we are as efficient as we can be in terms of recording, making a record of our work in foreign policy and disclosing as we can through the Freedom of Information Act process the kind of records we need to produce, including these e-mails we've gotten from former Secretary Clinton. So there's work to be done. The State Department is pushing through as hard as we can and I think it's safe to say Secretary Kerry believes there is more work to be done, more improvements to be made and I'll have more to say about that in a few minutes.

BLITZER: We'll watch that.

One final question, Scott Darden, an American who is now being held by Houthi rebels in Yemen -- apparently two other American citizens are being detained by the rebels in Yemen as well -- what can you tell us about their faith?

KIRBY: Well, Wolf, I can't comment much on this at all. I've seen the press report but I'm not able to go into detail.

BLITZER: We'll watch your State Department briefing at the top of the hour.

John Kirby, thanks very much for joining us.

KIRBY: My pleasure, Wolf.

BLITZER: We'll stay on top of other breaking news we're following right now. Kim Davis, the 49-year-old clerk in Kentucky who refused to issue same-sex marriage certificates, she's about to be released from jail. We'll stay on top of this story as well. We'll be right back.

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[13:48:512] BLITZER: Once again, we're following breaking news out of Kentucky. Kim Davis, the county clerk who refused to issue same- sex marriage certificates, and she was jailed in contempt of court for refusing to do so even after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage all over the United States, she's now being released. About to be released from jail after a judge ruled her deputy, five of the six deputies she had, are issuing those certificates and, as a result, there's no need any longer for her to be in jail since same-sex couples are allowed to get those marriage certificates now in that county in Kentucky. The judge also warning, though, if she interferes in any way, now that she is going to go back presumably to her job directly or indirectly, with the efforts of her deputy clerks to issue marriage licenses to all legal eligible couples she could be held in contempt.

Martin Savidge is on the scene.

Martin, I know Mike Huckabee, a Republican presidential candidate, is there with you today to show their solidarity with Kim Davis. He just walked into that facility there, right?

[13:50:03] MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's correct. And, in fact, about the same time he was walking in, I sent a text message to Kim Davis' attorney and said, when is she coming back? He answered back with one word, "Soon." So political drama that could be playing out here as Mike Huckabee goes inside for what was supposed to be just a meeting. She's anticipating to be set free as a result of the judge's order. Most importantly, what will she say when she comes out? Because her actions pretty much dictate whether she'll be making this a relatively short, free time that she's away from jail -- Wolf?

BLITZER: This judge was very firm in his written order. He says she shall not interfere in any way once she presumably goes back to her job.

Ted Cruz, the Republican Senator from Texas, another Republican presidential candidate, is there as well showing solidarity with her. Have you seen him?

SAVIDGE: No. But this town never sees one presidential candidate, and now in a span of a couple of hours, they are seeing two of them. The town is being stretched in terms of safety and security forces. They have 11 police officers normally. So trying to assure the safety and now deal with a very evolving situation on the ground, the mayor says, you like your community to be known but not necessarily for these reasons. They are doing their best to deal with the situation -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Martin Savidge, let us know when we see Kim Davis, Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz.

We'll, of course, have continuing coverage.

Joey Jackson and Paul Callan are there as well, our legal analysts.

Joey, some of her supporters have compared her to Martin Luther King. When you hear that, what do you think about her legal arguments?

JACKSON: Well, I think certainly people are entitled to their own views and I think the country is founded upon us being different and there is joy to be found in diversity. However, when you're an office holder and promise to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America and don't do so, in essence, I think the legal argument would be made that you're imposing your views on some one else in that you're not issuing licenses that you're demanded to issue and that the law requires you to issue. I think the argument will ultimately be that you have a right to whatever beliefs you have, you just can't impose it upon citizens and, therefore, if you want to have the religious beliefs and are against it, you'll have to step aside from the office that you're holding upon the public that voted for to you serve. BLITZER: Presumably, she'll be going back to her job and she's got to

make a decision. Does she order her clerks to stop issuing the same- sex marriage certificates or does she resign from -- she was a Democrat. She was democratically elected to the clerk position.

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. And through her attorney she's made strong public opinions previously that she is not going to permit marriage certificates to be issued by her office that permit same-sex marriage. So I thought the thing that was very interesting was that I haven't heard that she was called into court and said to the judge that she would no longer obstruct the issuance of marriage licenses for gay couples. I was looking at the actual statute in Kentucky and it's kind of interesting, the law in Kentucky is that a man and a woman have to sign an application for a marriage certificate. The law in Kentucky also explicitly bans same-sex marriage. By the way, it also bans first cousins marrying each other in Kentucky. Here we've had the Supreme Court from it is ruling overruling Kentucky law on this and presumably she's supposed to comply with the law of the land.

BLITZER: Paul, when you hear some of her supporters arguing this was a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court is not supposed to make the law, they are supposed to interpret the laws and this was inappropriate, what do you say to that?

CALLAN: Well, what I would say to them is Article VI of the United States Constitution defines federal supremacy and the concept that federal law takes precedence over conflicting state law. And this doctrine has been established for hundreds of years in the United States, over 100 years. We integrated school systems throughout the south. A lot of people were trying to block that. Governor Wallace stood on the school steps to block admission. And you know what happened? Federal judges aggressively came in and issued orders, held people in contempt, and the U.S. Constitution was enforced, and it's going to happen in Kentucky as well.

[13:55:18] BLITZER: All right. So once again, we'll see where this story moves, next, as she's about to be released. You heard Martin Savidge said her attorneys say she'll be walking out that door soon. That's the word they used in texting Martin. We'll see what she says anything, what she does when she's released if she honors this demand, this order -- this order -- by the way, this is video that we saw of Mike Huckabee walking into that jail. He earlier made a commitment to show solidarity with Kim Davis. You see him going in there. Let's see if he walks out together with her in the coming minutes. We'll stay on top of this story.

That's it for me. I'll be back at 5:00 p.m. Eastern in "The Situation Room."

The news continues next right after a quick break.

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