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Interview with Sen. Rand Paul; Donald Trump Speech on Iran Nuclear Deal; Jeb Bush Speech on Taxes. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired September 09, 2015 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:] SEN. TED CRUZ, (R), TEXAS & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- American soldiers who were murdered in Iraq with Iranian IEDs that came from General Soleimani? This deal lifts sanctions on General Soleimani.

(BOOING)

CRUZ: Tell me if you're a Democratic Senator how you look at a man in the eyes and say, "I voted to lift sanctions on the man who murdered your son when he was defending this nation."

(CHEERING)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: All right, we're going to continue to monitor Senator Ted Cruz in his speech against the Iran nuclear deal.

We're also standing by for Donald Trump. He's speaking that the rally as well.

Joining us right now is the Kentucky Senator and Republican presidential candidate, Rand Paul.

Let me get your quick reaction to what's going on, on Capitol Hill. Are you planning on attending this rally, first of all, Senator?

SEN. RAND PAUL, (R), KENTUCKY & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, I won't be there. But I do oppose the Iranian agreement but I don't oppose it because I oppose negotiations. And I don't oppose it because I wish the negotiations to fail. I oppose it simply because I don't think there's enough leverage to enforce compliance with Iran. So -- but I don't wish the negotiations to fail and I think there is a difference. I do want there to be a peaceful resolution here, I just don't think the final agreement had enough leverage to enforce compliance.

BLITZER: Do you believe the administration has handed over all related documents and material to you and other members of the Senate and house in order to be fully transparent about what this deal includes?

PAUL: No. I think there's a side agreement that was signed between the international atomic energy agency and with Iran that we haven't been allowed to see and I think this is in defiance of the structure that was set up by the Corker bill. The Corker bill said that the administration would turn over all agreements and I don't think that President Obama has been forth coming with all of the agreements so I really think at this point there should be some consideration of simply going into executive commission, executive committee for the Senate and considering this is a treaty and voting on it as a treaty, and that's what I would propose.

BLITZER: Well, I think the administration will oppose that.

Let's talk about other issues while I have you, Senator.

Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk in your home state, is out of jail. She had been in contempt of court for refusing to sign those marriage licenses for same-sex couples. Do you think she should be back on the job doing her job if she continues to refuse to honor what the United States Supreme Court ruled -- interpreted the constitution as saying a few months ago that everyone in the United States, men and women, homosexual, let heterosexuals, they have a right to get married?

PAUL: Well, the Supreme Court said that but there is the Religious Freedom Restoration Act that that passed in 2013 in Kentucky. I don't think they're necessarily contradictory. What the religious freedom act says is that an elected official doesn't have to do something contrary to their religious beliefs if there can be found an accommodation around that. I think Ms. Davis has offered that and that would be to stamp the licenses either by a notary or to have Rowan County on them and she would file them as she does any other contract. It's as if she's giving specific approval to a religious objection. So I thought there was an in between, between continuing to issue contracts -- -- and I think adults have the right to have a contract -- but there's a place for people who have a religious objection not to have to sign something and give their stamp of approval to something they disapprove of.

BLITZER: We'll see if that can be finessed in Kentucky, your home state. Let's talk about taxes. You've unveiled your own major tax plan. Jeb

Bush unveiling a tax plan that would, in effect, raise taxes for hedge fund managers -- basically that's what Donald Trump wants to do as well -- lowering individual and corporate tax rates as at the same time. What's your reaction? I don't know if you had a chance to review Jeb Bush's tax proposals. Compare and contrast his with yours.

PAUL: I think the main construct my tax proposal would make government smaller. The Bush proposal would keep government the same size, it would mandate new taxes that are not mandatory on companies to bring their money home and I think overall you wouldn't see a dramatic change in government. My tax proposal makes government dramatically smaller. I get rid of all 70,000 pages of the tax code, gets rid of the IRS, and allows people to file their tax return on one page. 14.5 percent for everybody. So mine is a simple plan but mine makes government smaller, I'm afraid Jeb Bush's plan would continue government at about the same size.

BLITZER: Senator Paul, thanks very much for joining us. I know you have to run.

PAUL: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Senator Rand Paul is a Republican presidential candidate.

Jeb Bush talking about his tax proposals right now. We'll hear what he has to say after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:37:57] BLITZER: Donald Trump getting ready to speak right now at this anti-Iran nuclear --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: We can talk about the fact that we have four wonderful people over there and, frankly, they're never going to come back with this group. And I will say this, if I win the presidency, I guarantee you that those four prisoners are back in our country before I ever take office. I guarantee that.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: They will be back before I ever take office because they know that's what has to happen. They know it. And if they don't know it, I'm telling them right now.

(CHEERING)

[13:39:41] TRUMP: So I have a story that just came out an hour ago and as President Obama calls him very routinely, he calls him the supreme leader. Our president is calling the person who is really the boss in Iran "supreme leader." And I look at people shaking their heads, i can't believe it. But it just came out a little while ago he said, "Israel will not exist in 25 years." Think of that. He just said this. He also said very strongly, very, very strongly, that is that this is the end of our deals with the United States, we want nothing more to do with them, we're not going to do anything right here, we made the deal, it's a phenomenal deal, we're not going to deal with the United States anymore. And that's what he just said. And this was a very short period of time ago.

So they rip us off, they take our money, they make us look like fools and now they're become to being who they really are. They don't want Israel to survive. They won't let Israel survive. With incompetent leadership like we have right now, Israel will not survive. And then when it's all done or they think it's all done they come out with these unbelievable nasty statements that Israel won't be around in 25 the years. And that we have no dealings and that we will have no further deals with the United States.

Now the people that we were negotiating with and were working on the sanctions with, including and as an example, Russia, who's selling tremendous missiles to Iran, you know that, ballistic missiles being sold, all of these countries, all of these countries are going to do business with Iran. They're going to make lots of money and lots of other things with Iran. And we're going to do and we're going to get nothing. Nothing. We are led by very, very stupid people.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Very, very stupid people.

We cannot let it continue. We are a country that owes $19 trillion. We lose everywhere. We lose militarily. We can't beat ISIS. Give me a break. We can't beat anybody. Our vets are being treated horribly. It will change. We will have so much winning, if I get elected, that you may get bored with winning.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: Believe me. I agree, you'll never get bored with winning. We never get bored.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: We are going to turn this country around. We are going to start winning big league on trade, militarily. We're going to build up our military. We're going to have such a strong military that nobody, nobody is going to mess with us. We won't have to use it.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: I really, really appreciate this tremendous crowd. We are going to make America great again.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.

BLITZER: So there you heard Donald Trump mincing no words at all. He hates this proposed nuclear deal with Iran. He made that abundantly clear.

Ana Navarro, Donna Brazile they are here with me. Let's get some reaction.

He said, "These are stupid people," referring, presumably, to the president of the United States, the secretary of state of the United States, those who negotiated this deal with Iran. He says the United States gets nothing, Iran gets everything. Those are his words. You heard that.

DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, unfortunately, I'm sure that Mr. Trump has not had an opportunity to read the deal. He has probably not had an opportunity to really digest how complicated it was to get the p5+1 nations together to even make these steps. Look, this has tough enforcement agreements. We know that we can not trust Iranians. No one is sleeping on this. This is a sensible approach. It's not perfect. But I don't believe Donald Trump is ready. What you heard just now is what I call the litany of insults that Donald Trump likes to -- the sound bites so to speak rather than getting into the deep substance of what this agreement will or will not.

BLITZER: Donna, he is resonating with Republicans out there if you look at the polls right now. I know you support Jeb Bush, Ana, but if you look at the national

Republican polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida, your home state, he's number one in all those polls.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: He is. I think part of it is the entertainment factor. I think part is the fact that he is so politically incorrect and a lot of it is that people are tired of politics as usual and politicians as usual. They see him as an outsider, they see him as a businessman who's had success and they think let's give this a shot. Will this carry through the fall? It's yet to see. I think what we just saw is a typical Donald Trump speech -- light on detail, big on insults.

BLITZER: If he gets the Republican nomination, the presidential nomination, Donna, how worried should Democrats be that he would be their challenging going into the presidential year next year?

BRAZILE: Well, you know, Donald Trump, for all of the hoopla and all of the other media attention, look, he's insulted Latinos, he's insulted minorities, he's insulted women. He's attacked women. Donald Trump, if he wins the Republican nomination, I think it will destroy the Republican brand as we know it for the future. In terms of the Democrats, it will be a robust election because the parties are evenly divided. I think we'll win that contest against Donald Trump.

[13:45:28] NAVARRO: The interesting thing, though, every time he insults X, Y, or Z, fill in the blank, his numbers go up. It tells you, I think, that people are tired of walking on egg shells when it comes to political correctness and speech police. (CROSSTALK)

BRAZILE: Is it politically correct to insult John McCain? Is it correct to go after an anchor woman for doing her job?

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: Listen, you're preaching --

(CROSSTALK)

BRAZILE: He may be winning in the polls now because insult cans maybe get you to 30 percent, 33 percent --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: I don't know if you know this, Donna, but Ana is no big fan of Donald Trump.

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: You're preaching to the choir.

BRAZILE: By the way, we're fully awake while we have this discussion.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: One week from today, the second Republican presidential debate at the Reagan Library.

NAVARRO: We'll be there. I'll be there.

BLITZER: One week from today on CNN --

NAVARRO: Donald Trump wants us to pay him to be there.

BLITZER: -- at 6:00 p.m., and 8:00 p.m. eastern. We'll have live coverage.

BRAZILE: I'm watching it.

BLITZER: Tomorrow, by the way, is a major day on CNN as well. Donald Trump will be a guest on "New Day" during the 7:00 a.m. eastern hour. Jeb Bush will be a guest on "The Lead" with Jake Tapper during the 4:00 p.m. eastern hour. Make sure to catch both tomorrow, here on CNN.

By the way, tomorrow night on "A.C. 360," we will release the names of those who are in the debates, the initial debate that starts at 6:00 p.m. eastern, and the major prime-time debate that starts at 8:00 p.m. eastern. Tomorrow night, 8:00 p.m. eastern, the final list will be released.

Much more news right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:51:11] BLITZER: Republican presidential candidate, Jeb Bush, is in North Carolina speaking about his tax proposals. He's taking questions from people there. Let's listen in.

(APPLAUSE)

JEB BUSH, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: As they say --

(APPLAUSE)

BUSH: They may have this expression here in North Carolina, and in north Florida, they have a pretty good expression that describes it, which is we need to let the big dog eat. We need to --

(APPLAUSE)

BUSH: We need to focus on creating a fair environment and then let people pursue their dreams as they see fit and not have to go to Washington, D.C. Shifting power away from Washington will create a more dynamic innovative America.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So another question, manufacturing businesses like ours here in North Carolina have a difficult time competing with foreign companies and countries like China because of the low wages they pay their employees. What does your plan and proposal do to make us more competitive and bring more manufacturing jobs back to America?

BUSH: Well, think about what the difference between a 35 percent tax rate and a 20 percent tax rate is. It's the difference between not hiring somebody effectively -- it's a -- effectively by having a 35 percent tax rate, it's a tax on wages. It's a tax on -- on people's aspirations. It's a tax on job creation. If you lower the rates and then reward investing in plants and equipment, you're going to become competitive when you add to that the need for regulatory reform, the need to make sure that the trade practices are fair, the need to embrace the energy revolution. We can create lower costs with higher productivity. The tax code is the first step in this. It's not the only one, but if we're creating a tax code, like the one I'm proposing, I can guarantee you that we'll be competitive.

You read almost every week there's another story of a smaller foreign business buying a larger U.S. business and locating in a place where the domicile has got a lower tax. The net effect of that is jobs go overseas, of course, and corporate taxes aren't collected here. By eliminating the worldwide taxation system -- we're the only major country to have it -- to move to, in effect, a territorial tax system will also allow us to be significantly competitive. China has a 25 percent corporate tax rate. They have rising costs. They have real challenges in this country. The new American century can be ours if we fix these things. The notion that somehow we have to surrender economic competitiveness to countries like China, I reject out of hand. We still have the most dynamic country in the world. The animal spirits still exist inside of Americans. We've just got to unclog the system of entrepreneurial capitalism by reforming how Washington, D.C., works. And I know how to do this because I did it as governor of the state of Florida.

(APPLAUSE)

BLITZER: All right. You get a little flavor of what's going on there in Garner, North Carolina.

Want to bring back Donna Brazile and Ana Navarro.

Donna, he is he making good points on how to reform the tax system?

BRAZILE: It sounds a lot like Mitt Romney's tax proposal where he wanted to lower the top rate down to 2 percent. He did not outline how we'll cut deficit and how we'll make up for the loss of revenue

BLITZER: You heard Rand Paul when I interviewed him earlier this hour saying, in effect, what he's doing is keeping the tax revenue the same. Big government will be the same with Jeb Bush. Under Rand Paul and his tax proposal, government will shrink.

NAVARRO: I think that's a hard acquisition to make against Jeb Bush because he had eight years as governor of Florida to show as proof that what he did was cut spending, cut the size of government. I can tell you he was not the most popular governor for a lot of government employees precisely because of that. [13:55:18] BLITZER: Were you surprised last night, on Stephen

Colbert, he disagreed with his brother, the former president of the United States, saying that George W. Bush allowed the government simply to remain huge?

NAVARRO: Yeah. I mean, he has said that many times, that he disagreed with his brother, that his brother was not able to control Republican spending and government spending when he was president.

(CROSSTALK)

BRAZILE: And he also had the same tax cut that his brother had back in 2001, across-the-board tax cuts. George Bush said it would be $1.1 billion, and it ended up being trillions of dollars.

(CROSSTALK)

BRAZILE: So there's a lot of holes.

NAVARRO: There's things in this plan you should like.

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: -- good for you and me.

BRAZILE: I like the earned income tax credit for the working poor.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: -- specific proposals these candidates are coming up with and we'll continue to watch it.

Guys, thanks very much.

That's it for me. The news continues next on CNN right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)