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Interview with Hillary Clinton; Pope Francis to Visit Cuba, U.S. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired September 18, 2015 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:41] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was the real target of many of the GOP candidates at Wednesday night's CNN presidential GOP debate. She was criticized on a range of issues, from her support of Planned Parenthood to the private use of private e-mail servers. And during the debate, Carly Fiorina said, "If you want to stump a Democrat, ask them to name an accomplishment of Mrs. Clinton." Hillary Clinton joined me in "The Situation Room," and I asked her this question: What was your number- one accomplishment as secretary of state?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: You know, Wolf, I, didn't see all of their debate, but I saw enough to know that this is the usual back and forth political attacks, and the kinds of the things that you would say when you are on a debate stage and you don't have much else to say. I didn't hear anything from any of them about how to make college more affordable and get the student debt down or get equal pay for equal pay for women, and what they are going to do to make sure that we deal with the challenges of raising incomes for hardworking people. So I don't really pay a lot of attention to this kind of the rhetoric that heats up the debate stage. They are all trying to vie for more attention from, obviously, the Republican Party, and I'm going to let them decide how best to do it.

But if anybody is interested, there is a long list about what I have done, and I am very proud of it, and you can read my book "Hard Choices," about how I negotiated a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, and how I put together the coalition that led to international sanctions against Iran, and you can read about what I did when I was first lady to get the children's health insurance program or as a Senator working across the aisle on issues like getting better health care for the veterans.

And you know, this is the silly season. I am looking forward to eventually debating on that stage whoever they finally nominate once they get around to doing that.

BLITZER: So listen to what Carly Fiorina said, Madam Secretary, about videos about Planned Parenthood, an organization that you support.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLY FIORINA, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER CEO, HEWLETT- PACKARD: I dare Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to watch these tapes, watch a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, it's the legs kicking, while someone says, "We have to keep it alive to harvest its brain." This is about the character of our nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: All right. Planned Parenthood says that video does not -- Madam Secretary, hold on. Let me explain. Planned Parenthood says it doesn't depict an aborted fetus, but it is a miscarriage. And first of all, have you seen the very, very controversial videos?

CLINTON: Well, Wolf, let's break down what is happening here, because I think it is important, and I know that there is a move on by some of the Republicans in the Congress to actually shutdown the United States government over their demand that we no longer give federal funding to Planned Parenthood to perform the necessary health services that they do for millions of women. So let's puts aside for a moment here that there is no debate, and there should be no, absolutely no argument that Planned Parenthood does cancer screenings and helps to provide family planning and contraceptive advice and works to provide some of the most difficult kinds of counseling when it comes to giving an HIV test, for example. And what this is about is the fact that some of the Planned Parenthood facilities perform abortions, which is legal under the laws of the United States. I understand that the Republican Party and in particular the candidates that we heard from last night wish that were not the case, and wish that abortion were illegal, and they could turn the clock back. And so I think that we ought to be very clear that Planned Parenthood has served to provide health care, necessary health care for millions of women. And I think that it deserves not only our support, but the continuing funding from the federal government so that these women and girls who are seeking the kinds of services that are provided will be able to achieve that.

BLITZER: All right. Have you -- are you confident that Planned Parenthood, Madam Secretary, or any of the affiliated groups, if you, will have not violated any federal laws?

[13:35:14] CLINTON: Well, Wolf, let me tell you what I know, and that is there is a willingness on the part of Planned Parenthood to answer questions, and they have been doing so. Some people may not want to hear the answers, but they have certainly put the answers out there into the public arena. And if the issue, the core issue that some on the stage last night or some in the Congress are trying to promote or trying to raise questions about has to do with the kind of research that is done legally in the United States, then that is an issue that goes far beyond any Planned Parenthood example. So I think it is important to sort out that there is a lot of emotion and a lot of accusations that are being hurled about, but it is important to sort out, and try to actually figure out what is going on. If it is the services that they are trying to shutdown like providing family planning or the breast cancer screenings, that is wrong, and women deserve to be given support to get those services provided. If they want to shutdown the legal provision of abortion services, then they have a bigger problem, because, obviously, they, Planned Parenthood, does not use federal dollars to do that. And if they are more focused on the research that is going on, then that is a set of issues that is certainly is not only about Planned Parenthood. So I would hope that the Republicans and particularly the Republicans in the House, led by Speaker Boehner, would not put our country and our economy in peril pursuing some kind of emotional, politically charged partisan attack on Planned Parenthood to shut down the government.

BLITZER: All right.

CLINTON: I think that is a very, very unfortunate decision.

BLITZER: All right. Let's talk about another source of criticism that you received last night, and this one from Governor Chris Christie, who said at the debate that you can't tell the American people the truth about the e-mail, and the controversy. And he said that you should be prosecuted about having a server in the basement --

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: -- he says, with national security secrets running through it. And he says Russians, Chinese, even an 18-year-old could be hacked into the server. Do you think it is possible they could have hacked into the server?

CLINTON: This is no evidence of that. And again, this is overheated rhetoric and baseless charges to somehow gain a footing in the debate and in the P.R. primary, and it is not going to deserve any comment.

BLITZER: It took you a long time to say you are sorry about what happened, the mistakes you made in organizing that server, to begin with. Why did it take so long?

CLINTON: Well, you know, I was trying to explain what has happened and obviously, it was clear that I should have used two different e- mail accounts, and I have said that was a mistake, I'm sorry, and I have taken responsibility. But I have also for more than a year now been asking to testify before the congressional committee that is investigating the situation in Benghazi, and they would not let me appear. Finally, and I'm very happy about this, I will be appearing in the end of October, and I'll be looking forward to answering all of the questions. And I'm trying to be as transparent as possible, and that is why people are reading the contents of the e-mails released, and that is why I have turned over the server, and that is why I will testify.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And we will have more of my exclusive interview with Hillary Clinton and talk about the campaign and how she is trailing Bernie Sanders in some of these early states, and whether she supports the Democrat's calls for more debate debates. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:43:33] BLITZER: Before the break, we heard the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton respond to charges from her Republican presidential rivals. In my exclusive interview with her on "The Situation Room," with her last night, I also asked her about the campaign and her standings in the polls.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: You have dismissed Donald Trump's campaign as entertainment, and suggested that it is not really serious. But the top Republican candidate, Donald Trump, for that matter, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina, they're all political outsiders. And your main Democratic opponent, Bernie Sanders, as well, he is running ahead of you in the Democratic Party, for example, and he's running as an outsider as well. So how do you deal with that? What is Bernie Sanders, for example, ahead of you in these polls in New Hampshire and Iowa right now?

CLINTON: Well, I have said for a long time that the polls will go up and down, and I'm comfortable and confident about the strategy. I feel that the campaign in Iowa and New Hampshire and the early states, and now moving to the states that come after, are really coming together well. I am excited by the level and the intensity of the support that I have. I always thought that it would be a competitive election. I am looking forward to it. This is an important job and the most important job not only in our country, but in the world. People have to fight hard and make the case and earn the votes of the American voters.

BLITZER: You sat next to Joe Biden when you were the secretary of state for four years, and he has been the vice president of the United States for almost seven years, and a heartbeat away from the presidency. If he decides to run, will you be able to tell the American people that you are more qualified to be president than he is?

[13:45:16] CLINTON: Well, Wolf, I'm not going the comment on the hypothetical, and I'm certainly not going to be commenting on my good friend and former colleague, because he has to make up his own mind about what is best for his family and his choice. But I will tell the people that my set of experiences and my vision for the future and the vision for America and what it should be and what I have told the voters I will do, from everything of making college affordable to paying down the student debt to tackling climate change by making us the clean energy super power, and to dealing with substance abuse and addiction, like I did here in New Hampshire today, I have a comprehensive agenda that I believe addresses the varied issues that Americans are talking to me about. And I know that having been around the presidency both as the first lady and in the '90s and then as a member of President Obama's cabinet working with other presidents as a Senator, and even in private life, I feel very confident that I'm the right person at the right time to lead our country to deal with the growing issues around incomes that are not raising enough money for people to feel they have a better future, about the kinds of jobs that we need more of, and about how more workers get to share in the productivity by sharing the profits of what they helped to produce. I am the one out there talking specifically about what I would do, because I want to run a campaign that lays out my agenda, because when I get elected, I am going to be working on it immediately. BLITZER: I know that your time is limited, and a quick question here.

Are you ready to tell the Democrats and, indeed, the American public today, that you are ready to accept more Democratic presidential debates than are already scheduled, because you are under pressure to do so?

CLINTON: Well, Wolf, I have said from the beginning, I am looking forward to debating in the debate next month, and now just a month away, and I will certainly show up anywhere the Democratic National Committee tells us to show up, because I want us to have a good exchange of ideas and to make sure that Democratic voters are first, and then the general voters to follow, and see exactly what we stand for and what our positions are. And so, you know, I am ready and willing, no matter what they decide, to show up and be there.

BLITZER: Are you ready to ask the DNC to authorize more Democratic presidential debates?

CLINTON: That is up to them. They made the decision, but I have made it clear, if they want to do more, I am happy to do them.

BLITZER: With the DNC, and if you want more, I am sure that Debbie Wassermann Schultz, the chair of the DNC, would go ahead.

And let me ask you one more question before you go. You have praised your president as a great president. Let me ask you this, would you be a better president than Bill Clinton was as president of the United States?

CLINTON: Oh, Wolf.

(LAUGHTER)

That is one of the questions that I cannot and I will not answer. I will say this, if you look at the last 35 years, and actually, going back further, I think that it is pretty indisputable that having a Democrat in the White House is good for the economy and better for the economy than the alternative and I think that my husband understood that and produced. And President Obama inherited a big and dangerous mess and he has been able to get us out of the ditch. So I am not running for the my husband's third term or President Obama's third term but for my first term, but I believe that both of them understood what it would take to try to clean up the messes they inherited from the Republican predecessors and begin to get the economy and the country working again for everybody, and that is the exactly kind of president I will be as well.

BLITZER: Madam Secretary, thank you so much for joining us. And good luck out there on the campaign trail. We will look forward to covering you and, obviously, all of the Democratic presidential debates as well. Thank you for joining us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Mark your calendars. In three weeks, CNN and Facebook will host the first Democratic debate, Tuesday, October 13th, in Las Vegas. We will take a quick break. More news right after this.

[11:54:15] BLITZER: On the eve of Pope Francis's trip to Cuba, the White House announced sweeping changes to the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba. It will allow American companies to establish a business presence in Cuba. The measures will make it easier for cruise lines and other vessels to travel there. It will enhance the free flow of information by expanding in Cuba. The changes will go into effect on Monday.

The pope played a pivotal role in the reconciliation between the United States and Cuba. It's one of the reasons which makes the trip to Cuba and the United States historic.

The pope leaves Rome for Havana tomorrow and will spend four days doing everything from celebrating mass to an expected meeting with the former Cuban leader, Fidel Castro. From Cuba, the pope will fly to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Among his stops, he will meet with President Obama. On Wednesday, he will deliver a speech before a joint meeting of the United States Congress. From D.C., he will travel to New York City. On his itinerary there, the General Assembly, a multi-religious service at the 9/11 site and a mass at Madison Square Garden. And then to Philadelphia. His visit will include a trip to Independence Hall and a correctional facility.

[13:55:32] With a packed schedule it's no wonder he tweeted, quote, "I ask you to join me in praying for my trip to Cuba and the United States. I need your prayers."

CNN will have special coverage of the pope's visit all weekend and throughout next week.

Also be sure to watch Tuesday night for CNN's special report, "The People's Pope." That's at 9:00 p.m. eastern and Pacific.

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

For our international viewers, "Amanpour" is next.

For our viewers in North America, "Newsroom" with Brooke Baldwin starts after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)