Return to Transcripts main page

Wolf

Trump's ISIS Plan; Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden Speak Live from Scranton, Pennsylvania. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 15, 2016 - 13:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:00:23] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Brianna Keilar in for Wolf Blitzer. It is 1:00 p.m. here in Washington. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thank you so much for joining us.

Up first, two major events unfolding in the presidential race. Donald Trump outlines his plan to combat ISIS and radical Islam during a speech in Youngstown, Ohio. And then, you have Hillary Clinton campaigning with Vice President Joe Biden in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Trump will try to get back on message after stirring up controversy after controversy last week. His speech is set to start in less than an hour and we expect to hear from Hillary Clinton any minute now. She will be reaching out to blue-collar voters.

CNN's Senior Washington Correspondent Joe Johns is in Scranton, where Clinton is about to take the stage. CNN Political Reporter Sara Murray is covering Trump's speech in Youngtown.

I do want to go first to Joe, because this is Hillary Clinton's first campaign appearance with the vice president. Joe, I know she was supposed to appear to him -- appear with him and it got rescheduled. So, give us a preview of, really, this big appearance.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Right. Yes, it got rescheduled because of that shooting of a number of police officers in Dallas. But Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden expected to appear together.

I think the first thing we have to say is she is likely and expected to pre-rebut, if you will, the speech of Donald Trump in Youngtown, Ohio talking about what he would do with ISIS if he were elected president. And then, a laundry list of other things, some of which we certainly have heard before but will be very interesting to see Hillary Clinton on the stage with Joe Biden.

Among those things, we do expect Hillary Clinton to hit, once again, against Donald Trump on his issue of not releasing his tax returns. This is a theme they started out on last week, and they think it's very effective for them. They're expected to continue with that today. There's also, we expect, a larger attack on foreign policy. They did today put out a Web ad hitting Donald Trump on his foreign policy acumen, or lack thereof. And the one thing you can say about Joe Biden, when he's talked before about Donald Trump, it's been about things like the wall and all the other issues relating to foreign policy that have been a big deal, if you will.

And it sounds like we have them walking into the room right now.

KEILAR: All right, and we are going to chat a little more as they approach the podium. But this is -- these are live pictures coming to us from Scranton, Pennsylvania. And you see the vice president there with former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. And, Joe, Joe Biden is someone who really is seen as -- you know, he's kind of the everyday guy kind of candidate. This is exactly the kind of voter that Hillary Clinton's trying to reach out to.

JOHNS: That's absolutely right. She's had so much trouble in exit polls with working class white voters and that's what Scranton, Pennsylvania represents. As you know, this is where Joe Biden grew up, as well Hillary Clinton has some ties to this area, too. Her father, Hugh Rodham, grew up in this area, buried here. Hillary Clinton summered in the Scranton area for some time.

So, you can expect them to talk about their history with this area and a continued attempt to appeal to those working-class white voters which, by the way, Donald Trump is pushing very hard to get.

Bottom line right now, polls show Hillary Clinton is up by a pretty healthy margin in Pennsylvania. But those voters, that demographic, still a concern -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, and Hillary Clinton speaking now in Scranton. Let's listen in as she appears with the vice president.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Hello.

(APPLAUSE)

Wow. Hello, everyone.

AUDIENCE: Hillary! Hillary!

CLINTON: Thank you. Thank you all so much.

[13:05:03] It is so great to be back in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

(APPLAUSE)

I can't tell you how important this is.

We both have a lot of memories of Scranton and Lake Winola. That's right.

(APPLAUSE) And it is such a nostalgic trip for me because my brothers are here. We came to Lake Winola every summer of my life and loved every minute of it.

(APPLAUSE)

And there are a lot of people in this crowd who our family has known or Joe's family has known over the years and we are grateful to each and every one of you. It's also wonderful to be here in Scranton with Senator Bob Casey.

(APPLAUSE)

And your congressman, Matt Cartwright.

(APPLAUSE)

And your amazing Lackawanna County recorder of deeds, Evie Rafalki McNulty.

(APPLAUSE)

And we sure miss that husband of yours. We're thinking about you and sending you our best wishes.

We're also here with Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, too.

(APPLAUSE)

And of course, as I said, I'm here with the one, the only Vice President Joe Biden.

(APPLAUSE)

You know, Joe grew up over on North Washington Avenue.

(APPLAUSE)

No matter how far he travels, he never forgets where he's from. I have seen him in a lot of settings; in the spotlight as vice president and senator, in quiet moments with constituents and in the Situation Room, helping to make decisions that affect our lives and security.

And wherever he goes, he's always the same guy; a fighter for everyone, a champion for towns like Scranton and above all, a fighter for families.

(APPLAUSE)

AUDIENCE: Joe! Joe! Joe!

CLINTON: And you know, I think he'd be the first to say that he cares about your families because of his family.

Joe senior and Catherine taught Joe that all people deserve to be treated with dignity. When you see someone fall, you help them back up because we are all in this together. That is the Biden Way.

(APPLAUSE)

We have seen how he fights for working families because he passionately believes in the basic bargain that makes America great, that our economy should work for everyone not just those at the top.

(APPLAUSE)

He stands up against injustice. He has led the fight to end violence against women and girls.

(APPLAUSE)

And he stands up for people's lives and health, including the project he's now leader on behalf of President Obama: The Cancer Moonshot to fund breakthroughs and save lives.

(APPLAUSE)

As many of you know, his wonderful son Beau, a great father, a great public servant, a great human being; passed away last year so this is personal to Joe Biden. He knows it's personal to a lot of families, that's why he's fighting so hard to make a difference.

And if I'm elected this fall, I'm going to ask Joe to continue the important work he's begun to help us fight and defeat cancer.

(APPLAUSE)

[13:10:04] So as someone who has worked with Joe for years, first in the Senate then as a member of the Obama-Biden cabinet, I can attest to that passion for standing up for people, trying to make lives better. It's what pushes him to work as hard as he can every second of every day for all of us.

And Joe and his wonderful wife Jill have raised their children and grandchildren with those same values. So Joe I hope you know how much not just Scranton but America loves you and your family.

So it means a great deal to have him by my side. You know when Joe and I were deciding where to have our first campaign rally, there really was only one answer. Scranton isn't just Joe's hometown; it's my dad's hometown too. While the Biden's were on North Washington Avenue, my family, the Rodham's were a few blocks away on Diamond Avenue.

I was christened at the Methodist Church on Court Street. My grandfather went to work at the Scranton Lace Mill starting as a teenager. It wasn't easy work. But you know what I learned? That business treated its workers right. Believe it or not the Scranton Lace Company all those years ago actually offered a profit sharing plan and health benefits at the beginning of the 20th century. They understood something that a lot of folks have forgotten.

They understood that their workers were responsible for much of the businesses success, so it was only fair that they shared in that success and that their families benefited too. And because of that job my grandfather could give my father a better life. My father was able to go to college, went to Penn State where he played football.

Then after he got out of Penn State it was 1935, right in the depths of the Depression and he was looking for a job. He heard a friend of his knew somebody who heard that somebody was hiring in Chicago so he literally hopped a freight train from Scranton to Chicago -- I don't recommend that anymore -- where he got a job as a salesman.

He went into the Navy during World War II and when he got out he started a small business in Chicago where I grew up. And just like his father before him, my dad was determined to give us even greater opportunities than he had. And to me that is the American Dream. No matter where life takes me, I always remember I am the granddaughter of a factory worker and the daughter of a small business owner and I am so proud of it.

And you know the story of the Rodhams and the Bidens isn't unique. What's unique is the country where those stories were written. No matter what Donald Trump says America is great and the American Dream is big enough for everyone to share in its promise.

But that doesn't mean we can take it for granted and just wait until it happens to us. We have a lot of work to do. Here in Scranton you know that. President Obama and Vice President Biden pulled us back from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and put our economy back on a stronger footing.

I personally don't think they get enough credit for that. Under their leadership we've created 15 million new private sector jobs, 20 million people now have health care and the auto industry just had its best year ever.

So I think the job of the next president is to build on that but to take on the deeper challenges that emerged long before the crisis and have persisted through our recovery.

[13:15:02] Inequality is too high. Wages are too low. It is still too hard for too many to get ahead.

So my top priority is create an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top which is why I've set five ambitious goals to get us there. First, we are going to make the biggest investment in new, good-paying jobs since World War II.

(APPLAUSE)

Second, we're going to make college debt-free for all and help millions of people struggling with existing student debt.

(APPLAUSE)

Third, we're going to crack down on companies that shift jobs and profits overseas.

(APPLAUSE)

And we're going to reward companies that share profits with their employees like the Scranton Lace Company did almost a century ago.

(APPLAUSE)

Fourth, fourth...

AUDIENCE: Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!

CLINTON: Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

Fourth, we're going to make sure that Wall Street Corporation and the super rich finally pay their fair share of taxes.

(APPLAUSE)

And fifth, we're going to respond to the way American families actually live and work today, by making child-care affordable because in today's economy, there is often no parent or grandparent staying home with the kids.

And we're going to fight for paid family leave because sometimes you need to take care of your child or your spouse or sick parent, and you should not lose your job for taking care of the loved ones.

(APPLAUSE) Now, you know, whenever I mentioned these issues, you know, Donald Trump always said that I'm playing the woman's card. Well, you know what I say, if that's playing the woman's card then deal me in!

(APPLAUSE)

I really believe that together this plan will go a long way toward building a stronger, fairer economy where everyone can contribute to its growth. Everyone can share in its rewards.

Now, by contrast, what's Trump's plan? Well, he laid it out last week. And I'll admit, even before he did I didn't think it was going to be good for working Americans, but it turned out to be worse than I ever imagined.

(LAUGHTER)

I know some of you may have friends up here in North Eastern Pennsylvania who are thinking about voting for Trump, you know.

(AUDIENCE BOOS)

I know, I know. Friends should not let friends vote for Trump.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE) But, just in care you can have a conversation, explain that Donald Trump would give trillions -- that's trillions with a "T" -- in tax cuts to big corporations, millionaires and Wall Street money managers. That would explode the national debt.

(AUDIENCE BOOS)

And it would lead to massive cuts in things like education and healthcare. He's even called for a new tax loophole; let's call it the Trump loophole because it would allow Trump to pay less than half the current tax rate on income for many of his companies, a pretty sweet deal.

He would end up paying a rate lower than millions of middle-class families. Now, that is assuming he pays any taxes at all because we really don't know because we haven't seen his tax return.

(APPLAUSE)

But we do know just by looking at the data, we know that the 400 richest taxpayers in America would get an average tax cut of more than $15 million a year from the Trump loophole.

And then of course there's the estate tax that Trump wants to eliminate all together. Now, if you believe that he's as wealthy as he claims that would save the Trump family $4 billion.

But it would do nothing for 99.8 percent of all the other Americans in our country. So yes, $4 billion tax cut for Trump, 99.8 percent of Americans get nothing.

Think of what we could do with those $4 billion. We could pay for more than 47,000 veterans to get a four-year college degree.

(APPLAUSE)

We could provide a year -- years worth of healthcare to nearly 3 million kids.

[13:20:03] Or we could fund a years worth of Federal assistance to state and law -- local law enforcement. So there are a lot of better ways to spend the money.

CLINTON: And there's one more part of Trump's plan that I want to mention, he's now saying he wants to help people pay for child care by excluding those payments from taxation. Well again, guess who that will help the most, it will help rich people, who will get 30 to 40 cents on the dollar to pay for their nannies.

Hardworking families who can't afford childcare in the first place well get little to no real help. That's why his child-care plan has been panned by experts across the political spectrum left, right, and center. Because remember right now, child-care costs as much as in state college tuition in most of the country.

So we need real solutions that will work for working people not just the well off and to prove that he really cares about this issue, Trump made a point about talking about how his businesses offer on- site child care to workers. Well, that kind of perked (ph) me up.

(LAUGHTER)

Because if he really did that it would be a big deal, I wish more companies would provide on-site child-care. That would be a huge benefit for employees, but like so much of what he says is not true. It turns out some of his resorts, hotels, and clubs offer child care- services but for guests not employees. Just saying. If you stay at a Trump hotel you could enroll your kid in something called Trump kids.

(LAUGHTER)

They will get special childrens room service, childrens spa service even a nanny for a fee but if you work for his business, if you clean the rooms, water the lawns, carry peoples bags, you get nothing. I'm not even sure Trump knows that providing a Trump kids program for paying customers is not the same thing as providing real child care for your workers.

Just like his tax breaks for billionaires aren't the same as a real plan to help America's working families. You know, Vice President Biden has a saying I love, "don't tell me what you value, show me your budget and I'll tell you what you value".

(APPLAUSE)

No, it's pretty clear Donald Trump wants to give trillions of tax breaks to people like himself not invest in our veterans, our kids, our police officers, our teachers and anyone who really provides services and we have real serious challenges in America. We need serious leadership, this is not a reality T.V. show, it's as real as it gets.

Look at what's happening in Milwaukee right now, we've got urgent work to do to rebuild trust between police and communities ad get back to the fundamental principle -- everyone should have respect for the law and be respected by the law.

(APPLAUSE)

So on all these important challenges, you have to ask yourself, is Trump up to the job?

He's giving a speech -- he's giving a speech about ISIS today, now I've laid out my strategy for defeating ISIS over many months. We will strike their sanctuaries from the air and support local forces taking them out on the ground. Under President Obama and Vice President Biden we are making progress, we will surge our intelligence so we detect and prevent attacks before they happen.

We will disrupt their efforts online to reach and radicalize young people in our country. It won't be easy or quick but make no mistake, we will prevail. There is no doubt in my mind.

(APPLAUSE)

CROWD: USA! USA! USA!

CLINTON: And once again, in comparison, Donald's been all over the place on ISIS. He talked about letting Syria become a free-zone for ISIS, a major country in the Middle East that could launch attacks against us and others. He's talked about sending ground troops, American ground troops -- well, that is off the table as far as I am concerned.

[13:25:06] CLINTON: So we'll wait and see what he says today. But sometimes he says he won't tell anyone what he'll do because he wants to keep his plan quote "secret." And then it turns out the secret is he has no plan.

(LAUGHTER)

And that was very clear when he said, "I know more about ISIS than the generals." No Donald, you don't.

And on top of that he says more countries should have nuclear weapons, including in the Middle East. He talks about walking away from our European allies. He has the temerity to say that the United States military is a disaster.

Well, I wish he'd spent as much time as Joe and I have meeting the brave young men and women who serve in the military. Meeting their families. Meeting with Gold Star families. Those are not the words of someone who respects our military and the sacrifice that our young men and women make every single day.

(APPLAUSE)

I said in Philadelphia that a man you can bait with a Tweet is not a man you can trust with nuclear weapons. It's also not a man you can trust to run our economy, help heal our cities, or be a role model for our children. There is no doubt Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit and totally unqualified to be President of the United States and Commander-In-Chief.

(APPLAUSE)

So my friends, America deserves a president who can get the job done, bring our country together not tear it apart, deliver real results for hardworking Americans. And we can't win this election without you. That's why I'm asking you to join right now. Take out your phone and text "JOIN-247246." Or go to HillaryClinton.com.

We are hiring organizers right here in Pennsylvania and across the country. We are going to run a vigorous campaign across Pennsylvania. We're going to keep building the future that you and your families deserve, and I am so sure we can do this, especially with this man fighting alongside us just like he always has.

So Scranton, please let's give it up for the Vice-President of the United States, Joe Biden. (APPLAUSE) JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hello folks. It's good to be home. Folks, let me tell you what Scranton does deserve. Well, thank you.

Scranton deserves what it's always deserved because it is made up of so many people with grit and courage - I mean this sincerely, from the bottom of my heart - with grit, courage, determination -- who never, ever give up. They deserve someone who not only understands them, they deserve someone who's with them. And they deserve someone who's made of the same stuff.

That's Hillary Clinton. That's who she is.

(APPLAUSE)

It's good to be home. With so many friends as I look around. As a matter of fact one of the people in the reception line said, "My aunt owns your house."

(LAUGHTER)

Tell her I'm coming. I'm coming home. I was there when I was running and up in the bedroom -- written on the wall still is, "Joe Biden slept here." And then it said, "lived here." I'm glad they added the "lived here" part.

You know I'm often asked why we moved from Greenridge to Claymont, Delaware and then Wilmington.

Claymont's a suburb of Wilmington, Delaware. And it's because of Bob Casey.

[13:30:04] No, look - the Caseys lived five blocks from us, just around the corner from St. Clair's.(ph) And I am midway between Bobby's dad and Bobby.