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Hala Gorani Tonight
Trump: ISIS Founder Comments Were "Sarcasm"; CNN Speaks To The President Of The International Red Cross; All-Around Win Earns Gymnast Biles Second Gold; British Girl Who Traveled To Syria Feared Dead; Cannes Mayor Links "Burkins" To Islamic Extremism; Bombings Target Tourist Resorts In Thailand; Fifty Republican National Security Experts Denounce Trump; Syrian Who Rescued Many, Killed In Aleppo; Elephant Day Shines Light On Endangered Species. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired August 12, 2016 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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[15:01:03] HANNAH VAUGHAN JONES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. Good evening. I'm Hannah Vaughan Jones standing in for Hala Gorani live from CNN London, and
this is THE WORLD RIGHT NOW.
Welcome. Your turn, Donald Trump. That's the message today from Hillary Clinton as she released her 2015 tax returns and challenged her Republican
rival to do just the same.
The documents show that she and her husband, the former President Bill Clinton, earned $10.6 million, much of that from speaking fees and paid an
effective tax rate of 30.6 percent. Clinton's campaign accuses Trump of hiding behind fake excuses for not releasing his own returns.
Trump is campaigning at this hour in Pennsylvania and hasn't mentioned his taxes yet. Earlier today, he repeated that he will not be releasing his
returns until an ongoing audit is finished.
Also today Trump now backing off from his highly inflammatory accusation that Clinton and President Barack Obama are the, quote, "founders of ISIS."
He says he was just being sarcastic.
Let's bring in CNN's political commentator, Van Jones, a former special adviser to President Obama. Van, good to talk to you again. It's the end
of a rocky week for both candidates, really.
Let's talk about Clinton's tax returns to start off with. Is this a good strategy for her to show this transparency while this e-mail scandal still
rumbles on for her?
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it definitely gives her an opportunity to maybe change the subject. One thing that is very, very
interesting about the tax returns is you see a high degree of willingness to pay taxes, to give to charity, et cetera.
I'm sure if you saw Donald Trump's tax returns, you would see not just zero on the taxes, I think also zero on the charities. Nobody can find any
example of Donald Trump writing a personal check to anybody significantly over the past ten to 15 years.
I think -- everybody says, oh, he's hiding something about Russia, he's hiding something about his tax returns. I think he's hiding the fact that
he's a cheapskate billionaire. Even with his own campaign he doesn't want to spend money.
What you have to admire about the Clintons is with their tax returns and the Clinton Foundation, they've been incredibly charitable and generous
people in the public eye.
JONES: We can't avoid talking about this ISIS and the claim by Trump earlier on that Clinton and Obama were somehow the founders of this. He's
now said he was being sarcastic and that that was apparently obvious to all of us. However, when talking to a conservative radio talk show host he was
given the opportunity to explain how sarcastic he was or to pull back, and he didn't. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last night you said the president was the founder of ISIS. I know what you meant, you meant he created the vacuum, he lost the
peace.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, I mean, he was the founder of ISIS. I do. I give him the most valuable player award. I give her
too, by the way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But he's not sympathetic to them. He hates them. He's trying to kill them.
TRUMP: I don't care. He was the founder.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Van, listening to that. He's in Pennsylvania at the moment and hasn't mentioned anything about the sarcastic comments that he made. How
damaging is this to his potential reputation as commander-in-chief?
VAN JONES: Well, he has no reputation to lose. Most of the military establishment and all of the people who know about the actual world we live
in are very skeptical about Donald Trump. Fifty Republican military experts came out and said that he's a danger and a threat.
[15:05:05]These are not people who like Hillary Clinton at all and they say so in the letter. But they're terrified of Donald Trump. But let's be
clear. He is crazy like a fox. What he's been able to do all week is say things that are absurd about the second amendment or the ISIS comment.
For the public, what we wind up doing is we have to repeat and show lies. He's saying about Hillary Clinton that she's going to abolish the secretary
amendment. That's a complete lie. You can't say it's a fabrication, it's a misstatement. It's a lie.
She's never said that. In fact she's so protective of gun rights in America that Obama in 2008 called her Annie Oakley. He says this lie, then
he says something outrageous. We have to repeat the lie to get to the outrage.
Same thing here. He's trying to associate in the public mind the idea that somehow Obama is responsible for ISIS. He says something inflammatory, we
talk about the word "founder," but we keep repeating his basic assertion. He's benefiting more than he's hurting myself by doing this stuff.
JONES: Van, you're obviously in the Clinton camp, we hear that in what you're saying. But there is this accusation of media bias that's
continuously coming from Donald Trump and his campaign team. Hillary Clinton has had a bad week, hasn't she? I mean, her whole economic policy
was kind of like pushed to one side over this e-mail controversy, and it's not going away.
VAN JONES: Sure. Listen -- yes, I'm a Democrat. I'm very tough on Trump for his sloppy words and I think it's fair to be tough on Hillary Clinton
for some of her sloppy deeds. I think that even from an optics point of view, having her own server just doesn't look right.
Some of her friends sending e-mails saying, hey, can I get this guy a job, it doesn't look right. This stuff is sloppy. It's not criminal. It's
been investigated. She hasn't been charged with anything.
The foundation has been given -- by the way, the Clinton Foundation has been given the top rating by the toughest raters over and over and over
again for global charities.
So yes, she's got this controversy, it's like gum stuck to the bottom of her shoe. You're going to have that through the next 88 days. But nothing
that Hillary Clinton has done or said is as disturbing to me -- you pick anything that Trump has done for the past several days.
JONES: OK, we'll wait and see if he actually does release his tax returns as well. Van Jones, great to talk to you, thank you.
VAN JONES: Thank you.
We turn now attention to Syria's grinding civil war. There's fresh horror in besieged area of Aleppo where death stalk every street and haunts every
family. The endless carnage is in Syria's largest city, a particularly nasty gas attack.
Doctors tell CNN that breathing chlorine gas took the lives of these two children and their mother. Dozens of other people were wounded.
Authorities say helicopters dropped the deadly agent in a barrel bomb.
Well, incredibly, there are some who marched towards danger like that doing all they can to try and save others. This Syrian volunteer who famously
pulled a ten-day-old baby from a bombed out home in Aleppo two years ago is reported to have been killed in an air strike while on another rescue
mission in the city. He was a member of the so-called white helmets group. They say he was married and had a 3-year-old daughter.
Calls for help in Aleppo are growing louder and more desperate. Among those voices, the International Committee of the Red Cross. I spoke to the
organization's president, Peter Maurer, and I began by asking him about the difficulties of working in and around the city.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETER MAURER, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS: Not everything is possible each and every day. And reaching some parts of
Aleppo, other parts of Syria, is increasingly difficult. There is unimaginable pain for the civilian population, fear about the bombing, the
shelling, and the displacements taking place since the humanitarian space is increasingly narrow.
It's increasingly difficult to operate. We need a cessation of hostilities, at least a temporary cessation in order to do more and we are
ready to do so.
JONES: By making this public appeal now, what is it that you want the most? Is it public outrage? Is it money? Is it political interference?
What do you want the most?
MAURER: First and foremost we need another type of cooperation of all parties on the ground to respect humanitarian organizations, to respect
international law, not to target civilians, to open corridors, to open access for humanitarian actors to the civilian population trapped in many
neighborhoods of homes and other parts of Syria.
[15:10:00]So we first and foremost need better cooperation by all those parties to the conflict which have been engaged in warfare, better respect
for law, and more facilities for humanitarian actors to reach the population.
JONES: Three hours has been suggested as a suitable gap, a window of opportunity. Is that enough time, do you think, or is it just a futile
amount of time?
MAURER: It's a good start and the problem is not three hours. The problem is whether these three hours will be respected by all sides and offer
sufficient safety and assurances to the civilian populations and the humanitarian actors to be able to resupply and do work.
We hope it will be more and daily three hours so that we can increasingly have a less intensified warfare than the one we have seen over the last
couple of weeks which has left thousands displaced and hundreds and thousands of people dead in the city of Aleppo.
JONES: As far as this compares to other wars, civil wars and other crises, where does it stack up, what we're seeing in Syria now?
MAURER: It's urban warfare at its worst because it's urban warfare, it's touching more civilian infrastructures. Cities are more vulnerable than
maybe rural areas are. Therefore this is certainly from what the ICRC has seen in terms of urban warfare one of the worst situations.
JONES: More hospitals, more doctors and patients becoming military targets, is that modern warfare nowadays?
MAURER: Contrary to what principles and laws for see, that these would be facilities most protected, these have been facilities in the midst of
conflict. This is having a major impact on the health system overall, not only in Syria but in the region as a whole.
JONES: Where do you think the blame now lies? Where does the burden of responsibility fall for what we're seeing in Aleppo and elsewhere in Syria?
MAURER: Well, I'm not going to distribute burdens of responsibilities. We have seen mutual allegations and calls from one side to other sides. I
think we have seen violations of international law, insufficient cooperation with humanitarian actors, going on for five years. We really
need all sides to sit together, to open humanitarian spaces. So failures and faults are on all sides and we need a change of behavior on all sides.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: We want to bring you the perspective of what it's like on the ground in Aleppo as well from a doctor who has had to make life and death
decisions there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID NOTT, WORKED AS A SURGEON IN ALEPPO: If you've got somebody that requires 20 units of blood, then you haven't got 20 units of blood to give
that patient. You've got to ration the blood for the last ten patients that you have so you have to let that patient die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: And he's done that in hospitals that are being targeted. That full interview a little later on in the show.
To the Olympics now, where records keep on tumbling. Sporting legends are being made and others reaffirmed. Simone Manuel became the first African-
American woman to win gold in an individual swimming event for the United States. In an incredible race, she tied for gold with Canadian Penny
Alexiac (ph).
Meanwhile, it was a momentous day for Fiji. They won their first ever Olympic gold medal beating Great Britain in the rugby seven finals. You
can see by these scenes how much it meant to the people of that pacific nation.
Let's go live to Copacabana Beach in Rio. Don Riddell is there for us. Let's talk about Simone Biles, this tiny powerhouse from the United States,
now the greatest gymnast of all time.
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORTS: Yes, she's just amazing. She's been the world champion for the last three years, at the age of 16, 17, 18, and now
at the age of 19 she is the Olympic champion in the individual all-round. She's helped Team USA to their team all-round goal. She's not done.
She could conceivably leave here with five gold medals. She's so exciting to watch. She won the event last night by a massive margin of more than
two points.
And I think she and her teammates have just been reflecting on that over the last 24 hours as she tries to come to terms with what she had achieved
here. And you'll see when you hear from her in just a moment that she still just trying to be herself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SIMONE BILES, U.S. OLYMPIC GYMNAST: I'm just Simone Biles. I would like to be remembered as someone who never gave up and that just put in 100
percent for everything I did.
[15:15:05]And not only did I just go out there and have fun and represent my country, I really enjoyed doing what I do. It's very rewarding to see
everyone congratulate me and everyone that believed in me, I can't thank them enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: Yes, so much excitement around Simone Biles. She was asked if she's their next Michael Phelps or the next Usain Bolt, she said, no, I'm
the first Simone Biles.
JONES: Absolutely. The track and field also underway today and a massive record already.
RIDDELL: Yes, Almaz Ayana, the Ethiopian 10,000 meter runner absolutely destroyed the world record in the first gold medal that was given out in
the track and field earlier on this Friday, beating the previous record by 13 seconds.
This is really exciting because they're saying this could be a fast track and I think that's evidenced by her time. When you look at the first seven
finishers in this event, all of them set either world records, national records, or personal best. An incredible race to watch. It bodes well for
how much excitement we'll be seeing on the track over the next week.
JONES: And back to the pool where we've seen so much of the excitement so far, and the greatest Olympian of all time hoping to cement his place in
the history books once again.
RIDDELL: Yes, if you're a fan of Michael Phelps, make sure you're watching for the next couple of nights because it's all going to be over soon.
Tonight he's going in the 100-meter butterfly, his penultimate Olympic race, his final individual race.
He's up against his rival from South Africa, Chad Le Clos. Of course, Le Clos not performing too well in the 200 meter butterfly coming in fourth so
he said he was nervous and he's hoping to be improved this evening and give Phelps a bit of a run for his money.
But Phelps has just owned these Olympics as he has so many before. He's already won four gold medals. He's up to 22 gold in total now. He wants
to keep going and the way he's been performing so far, I don't see why he won't keep going in that kind of rich form.
Not the only American star in the pool, Katie Ledecky is also going to be racing in her signature event, the 800-meter freestyle. She won that event
in London four years ago. She's already won three golds and a silver here. And like so many Americans, having a great Olympics.
JONES: Great to stuff. Good to talk to you as always. Don Riddell live for us there in Rio, thank you.
Now still to come tonight, you could get slapped with a fine now for wearing this on the beach in Cannes in France. The city's mayor says the
Burkini represents the uniform of extremist Islam. All that and much more when THE WORLD RIGHT NOW continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:20:00]
JONES: Welcome back to the program. Now we turn to the devastating consequences of terror recruitment. Relatives of the British school girl,
Kadiza Sultana (ph) say she has been killed in Raqqah.
She flew to Istanbul with two of her friends in February of last year. She is thought to have crossed the border of Syria within days apparently to
join ISIS.
A family attorney says they received information of her death a few weeks ago. ITV's Robert Kashu (ph) has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERT KASHU, ITV REPORTER (voice-over): It's 18 months since they left, first to Turkey, then Syria. Three heartbroken families were left behind.
ITV News has followed their stories. We traveled to Istanbul to trace the girls' route.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't really recognize my sister in the video we saw because this is not her.
KASHU: But ever since, they've been trying to get them back to London. Tonight, we reveal how one of the girls wanted to return and her family's
extraordinary attempts to orchestrate it after making contact from their east London home.
HALMA KHANOM, KALIZA SUDANA'S SISTER: Things have changed in her, the way she used to communicate with me, the way she used to talk about things has
totally changed. She's scared of being there.
KASHU: Her sister is Kadiza Sultana who was 16 years old when she left.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And she told me that she got a job.
KASHU: This is the start of a chain of events, of emotional exchanges that will end in tragedy. Kadiza told them the man she married in Syria has
been killed and she wants to come back. From Raqqah, she's arranged a conversation with her sister.
KADIZA SULTANA (via telephone): I hadn't have a good feeling. I feel scared.
KHANOM: You feel scared? Why do you feel scared?
SULTANO: If something goes wrong, that's it.
KHANOM: I know what you mean. I understand what you mean. It is -- you know, from where you are, I can understand that you're feeling like that.
But the only thing I would say to you is just trust us.
SULTANA: The borders are closed right now. I'm not going through PKK territory.
KASHU: They wanted to leave in the back of a cab to get to a safe house, but first they have to establish her current location.
KHANOM: It's a square park, right? You know, the a-l, and b-I-a-k. How confident are you feeling in terms of going in a cab?
SULTANA: Zero. Where is mom?
KHANOM: Mom is home.
SULTANA: I want to speak to her.
KHANOM: You can call anyone at mom's. She sounds very terrified. She did get very emotional there as well. I really feel helpless, really, what can
I do? It's really hard. I don't think she's ever made a choice by herself, has she?
That was the first one, and a very great one. But she's actually never made a choice by herself. I look forward for the next call. That's what
keeps me going. She'll contact me and we'll see.
KASHU: But there wouldn't be many more conversations like this. The family received a call to say Kadiza had been killed in an air strike.
This can't be verified but the calls home have now stopped. Today their former lawyer said there should be lessons for anyone trying to travel to
Syria.
TASNIRME AKUNJEE, SULTANA FAMILY LAWYER: It's unfortunate that this situation has arisen, and one would hope that the only benefit out of this
is, as a tombstone and a testament to others, these are the risks actually involved in going to a war zone, to dissuade people from making that
choice.
KASHU: Kadiza didn't travel alone and we don't know the intentions or the fate of the other girls she traveled to Syria with.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: A Muslim group is challenging a new law in Cannes in France that bans women from wearing full body swimsuits on the beach.
[15:25:05]The city's mayor claims that beach wear that reveals religious ties could just stir public order.
As Michael Holmes joins me now with more details on this from Paris. Michael, what's the point of this ban? What is message that the French
authorities are trying to send out here?
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not a message being well-received by many people in the community. Some are in favor but a lot of people are
not. This is basically a municipal law, a local ordinance that's meant to be in effect only until the end of the month, causing quite a stir.
Essentially it says beachwear, and I'll quote here, "Ostentatiously displays religious affiliation at a time when France and places of worship
or the target terrorist attacks is liable to create risks of disrupting public order," that's the wording.
The law does make mention of safety issues that full body clothing could make swimming unsafe. But the religious connection couldn't be more clear
to the critics.
As the controversy grew today, the mayor of Cannes, he doubled down by saying to local media, I'm quoting here again, he says, I'm banning a
symbol of Islamic extremism.
Bear in mind we're talking about basically a full body swim suit with the face showing. It's making news now because a local Muslim association is
challenging it in court, demanding for the law to be revoked for reasons of discrimination.
That complaint was lodged on Friday. When the court rules, we don't know. Monday is a public holiday. It might not be until well into next week. So
far no comment from the prime minister's office -- Hannah.
JONES: Not the first time there's been controversy within France about Muslim clothing.
HOLMES: Yes, far from it, far from the first. There have been laws outing law Islamic veils covering the face and head scarves in schools have been
banned since 2004, a secular ban on any kind of religious distinction, Muslim, Christian or other religions, but that was controversial as well.
Now this all comes at a time of obvious nervousness and fear over terror. The nice attacks were a few kilometers from the beaches now being impacted
by this new law.
Muslim groups say that these laws, rather than avoid conflict like the local authorities say, they add to divisions in French society between
Muslims and non-Muslims and in fact can feed the ISIS narrative of it's them and us -- Hannah.
JONES: Michael, always good to talk to you. Michael Holmes there live for us in Paris, thank you.
Still to come on THE WORLD RIGHT NOW, the Republican rift in Donald Trump's presidential campaign. We'll speak to a vocal critic, former U.S. defense
secretary, William Cohen.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:31:03] JONES: Welcome back. You're watching THE WORLD RIGHT NOW with me Hannah Vaughan Jones.
Our main stories, the U.S. Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton has released her 2015 tax returns and is now challenging rival Donald Trump
to do the same. The documents showed that she and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, earned $10.6 million and paid an effective tax rate
of 30.6 percent.
The track and field events are under way at the Olympics and already there is a world record. Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana won the women's 10,000 meter
finals smashing the previous record by 14 seconds. That record have stood for 23 years.
Turkish media say an arrest warrant has been issued for a former international football star during the investigation of last month's failed
coup. Prosecutors accused Hakan Sukur of being a member of the group run by the U.S.-based Muslim leader, Fethullah Gulen.
In Thailand, four people have been killed in a wave of bomb attacks. Authorities say all four were Thai nationals. More than 30 other people
have been injured. Ten of them foreigners. Police say the terror attacks have no links to international terrorism.
Our Ivan Watson reports now from the resort town of Hua Hin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A busy (inaudible) street in a popular tourist resort transformed into a crime
scene Thursday night after a deadly bomb blast. The bomb just one of a series of explosions that erupted cross five provinces in Thailand over the
course of 24 hours.
The targets mostly major tourist destinations popular with locals and foreigners alike. The coastal resort city of Hua Hin sustained the most
casualties after two explosions Thursday evening followed by another twin bombing Friday morning.
Two explosions also hit a popular holiday spot, Phuket. One at the Dolphin Park on the beach and another at Bangla (ph) Street. Another two bombs hit
(inaudible) city, which is a transit point for tourists going to (inaudible) and the other islands that Thailand is famous for.
Thai police say the attacks don't appear related to international terrorism.
PIYAPAN PINGMUANG, DEPUTY POLICE SPOKESMAN: What we know for sure is that the incident did not link directly with any class of terrorism. The local
sabotage by which we are trying to identify those suspects who are behind the scenes. So it's still too soon to jump to any conclusion.
WATSON: Authorities tightened security across Thailand but many tourists are clearly rattled. CNN spoke to one foreign witness of Thursday night's
attack. Shane Brett has been to this city six times already, but says this may be his last trip.
SHANE BRETT, WITNESSED BOMBING: I love it here, beautiful scenery, a lot of foreigners that just want a nice quiet vacation. But after this visit,
and I've heard about other bombings in other areas of Thailand, it's very unsettling. I might be looking at other places in Southeast Asia to
vacation.
WATSON: If others feel the same way, it could seriously hurt Thailand's economy, which depends heavily on tourism. Ivan Watson, CNN, Hua Hin,
Thailand.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: We'll return to the race for the White House. And something important happened at the Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania earlier on,
even before the Republican presidential nominee took the stage.
He was introduced by Reince Priebus, the Republican Party chairman. Trump's candidacy has split his party almost from day one when some
prominent Republicans saying they could never vote for him. Today, though, we saw a strong show of unity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REINCE PRIEBUS, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Don't believe the garbage you read. Let me tell you something. Donald Trump, the Republican
Party, all of you, we're going to put him in the White House and save this country together.
We just had a great poll that came out, I don't know if you saw "The L.A. Times" poll, it showed a tied election, in spite of the biased media. This
man is going to win. He's going to save our country. He's going to put us back to work again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: You may remember that just a few days ago, 50 Republican national security experts wrote a letter denouncing Mr. Trump in very stark terms.
They called him dangerous and warned he would be the most reckless president in American history.
The former American secretary of defense, William Cohen, was a strong critic of Donald Trump even before others jumped in. He joins me now live
from Washington.
[15:35:07]Welcome to you, sir. Thank you so much for joining us on the program.
WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Good to be with you.
JONES: The RNC chair denies that there's any rift. He says all is well in the Republican Party. Is it?
COHEN: I don't think so and I think that there's a reason for that. Many of the people that I know are deeply concerned about Mr. Trump's statements
and words count in politics and in life, words really matter.
There was a famous jurist who once said that words above the skin that we give to our naked thoughts. It's the thoughts that worry me and a number
of people that I know namely what Mr. Trump says and what the impact would be not only domestically but from my perspective, internationally.
His comments about degrading the importance of NATO, of calling into question whether or not we would come to the rescue of any treaty partner
of ours, his demeaning of John McCain's -- Senator John McCain's sacrifice, the parents, gold star parents most recently.
Those are all things that should deeply trouble many Americans and I think they do.
JONES: He's back-pedaling somewhat on these sarcastic, allegedly sarcastic comments he's made about ISIS and linking ISIS to President Obama somehow.
Is this sort of rhetoric which is causing some Republicans to call him potentially dangerous, how dangerous is he? Is he dangerous to the
Republican Party, or to the American people, or to America's standing in the world?
COHEN: Well, it's difficult to try to really discover what his intentions are. But I think we have to stop trying to associate him with being the
Delphic oracle and looking to interpret his ambiguous statements.
I think these are distractions. Whether they are off-the-cuff comments or deliberate distractions, they are distracting us from the big issues.
For example, what would be Mr. Trump's policy in dealing with Russia and Turkey in terms of their new budding friendship as such? What would he do
different in terms of what is being done now in fighting ISIS?
What are his recommendations in coming to grips with international terrorism? So there are a lot of policy decisions which need to be
addressed.
And yet here we are, having our attention diverted, talking about what did he mean, did he really mean that we should take physical action, violent
action against Secretary Clinton under the Second Amendment?
Well, he said that was a misconstruction. Did he really mean that President Obama is a supporter of ISIS or a founder of ISIS? I think these
are all distractions.
And we ought not to keep focusing upon them but rather say, Mr. Trump, let's talk about policy, what is your recommendation as far as how we make
NATO more effective?
What is your recommendation in terms of getting President Putin to get out of Crimea? What do you think about the Minsk agreement that President
Putin signed with the west?
These are issues that need to be discussed. We're not. We're talking about what did he intend? What was the language that we used? We're being
pulled on rather trivial pursuits instead of the real substantive issues that are important to the American people and to the world.
JONES: Interesting that you mention NATO. Of course, in your time as a defense secretary you've had huge dealings with that organization. What do
you make of Trump's seeming pivot away from NATO and towards Russia? I mean, the Clinton campaign have been very, very vocal about this and how
dangerous it is. Are you concerned about that in particular?
COHEN: I am indeed. NATO is one of the most successful military political institutions that we've ever had. It is responsible for helping to
maintain security and stability, not only in Europe but also in contributing to the effort in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere.
So to simply say perhaps the time has come to revise NATO or to limit the capabilities, limit the participation of some of the members who are behind
in their dues, so to speak, that's undermining the stability in my judgment of European security as well as American security.
And it's something that's kind of an offhanded remark and that's why it's very important that anyone running for the highest office in the land needs
to take care with the words that he or she uses. And that's fundamental element with me.
JONES: So effectively are you saying that he's not fit to be president? Is he qualified to be commander-in-chief?
COHEN: I think that we have to judge him based upon the words that he uses and how he conducts himself. For me, the most important three
characteristics would be information, knowledge, and wisdom.
[15:40:11]I don't think he's demonstrated an interest in gaining information and certainly not knowledge on complex issues. And frankly, I
think he would not serve our country well or be suitable for the office based on what he has said and how he's conducted himself to date.
JONES: I want to ask you as well about this growing rift, seemingly, within your party, the Republican Party. Some speculation now that party
funding, GOP funding could now be moved away from Donald Trump and his campaign and put into congressional races. Reince Priebus has sort of
back-pedaled slightly on that, but do you think we could see this rift in funding within the party?
COHEN: I think those who are running for office today are very nervous, Republicans are very nervous that they will be pulled down by the kind of
divisions that have been exacerbated during this presidential campaign. So we'll have to wait and see.
The big donors have stayed away from Mr. Trump and by the way, we have to remember that he said he was going to fund his own campaign. So perhaps
he's doing that.
But in essence, I think the Republican Party is going to be faced with those key areas, key states that look like they may lose their seats, these
candidates. I think the party will have to divert much more attention and resources to those senators.
JONES: You served obviously as defense secretary but under Bill Clinton's administration. Would you support Hillary Clinton in November?
COHEN: Well, I may. I'm not entirely happy with Secretary Clinton's positions on a number of issues and I reserve that the judgment. But
certainly I could not bring myself to support Donald Trump.
JONES: William Cohen, it's a pleasure to speak to you. Thank you very much for your time on THE WORLD RIGHT NOW.
COHEN: Thank you.
JONES: Now a new revelation in the e-mail scandal dogs Hillary Clinton. The latest leak shows a direct connection between top Clinton aide, Cheryl
Mills, and the Clinton Foundation. The problem was Mills' involvement with the foundation came as she was employed by the State Department. Drew
Griffin explains the issues.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A source close to the situation confirms to CNN Mills was interviewing two
potential candidates to lead the Clinton Foundation. Mills would interview top level executives at Walmart and the drug company, Pfizer.
Both companies, huge donors to the Clinton Foundation, and both have worked with the Clinton Global Initiative. Was Mills' role in violation of
government ethics rules? Did she have permission from the U.S. Department of State?
Did state even know the trip was taking place? CNN has asked the U.S. State Department all of these questions. This was the response.
"Federal employees are permitted to engage in outside personal activities within the scope of the federal ethics rules," a state spokesperson tells
CNN.
"All federal employees are subject to federal ethics laws and regulations, including rules pertaining to conflicts of interest."
The secrecy about the New York trip, the dual roles played by trusted assistants, the mixing of business between state, Clinton Foundation, and
its donors, all play into a central theme of Donald Trump's campaign, that politicians like the Clintons use government to benefit themselves.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: These are crooked people. They've been crooked from the beginning. You look at that foundation, it's
pure theft and pure crookedness.
GRIFFIN: Cheryl Mills' attorney says her client was simply doing volunteer work for a charitable foundation. She was not paid. Clinton campaign
spokesman, Ryan Fallon, sent this statement.
"Cheryl volunteered her personal time to a charitable organization as she has to other charities. Cheryl paid for her travel to New York City
personally and it was critical clear to all involved that this had nothing to do with her official duties. The idea that this poses a conflict of
interest is absurd."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: You're watching THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. A man credited with saving many lives loses his own in Aleppo, Syria. Remembering him, next.
Plus few supplies and often targeted medics in Aleppo are often forced to make impossible decisions about who to save. I'm joined by one doctor who
has worked there, coming up after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:46:44]
JONES: Welcome back. More tragic news now from the besieged city of Aleppo. This time focused on the "White Helmets," the brave people who
rush in after a bombing to try to rescue victims from the rubble. A Syrian volunteer known for saving a newborn baby from a bombed out home two years
ago has been killed in an airstrike.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONES (voice-over): Khaled Omar is a name you may not recognize, but the many people whose lives he helped save are unlikely to forget it because
Khaled Omar was a volunteer rescuer in Syria. Now there's word that he was killed in an airstrike in Aleppo.
Omar was perhaps best known for the dramatic rescue of a small child. Bombs destroyed this Syrian apartment building and he, along with other
members of his volunteer rescue group, the White Helmets, dug for hours to pull the child free.
The video of the rescue went viral and shone a light on groups like the White Helmets, volunteers who run towards the wreckage of war as others run
away from it. There are about 2,600 members of the White Helmets. CNN's Sanjay Gupta met some of them last year.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There was no 911 system. There was no ambulance that would show up. No power in a lot of places.
So when violence would occur, when a bomb would get dropped, for example, there literally was no one to call. These guys said we want to take care
of our own.
JONES: And it's a dangerous job. They often become targets.
GUPTA: Essentially a barrel bomb would drop into an area, and these guys, again, would come in to help and literally the chopper drops of another one
after all the first rescuers show up. That's sort of mind-numbing to think about the degree of evil involved in that.
JONES: The White Helmets are memorialized on Twitter showing glimpses into the heroic acts that defined him, calling him hero to the young and hero to
the old.
GUPTA: The cities are oftentimes getting decimated. They get decimated by losing basic services. You have two choices. One of them is to leave.
JONES: Khaled Omar stayed to help when there was no one else to call. He leaves behind a wife and 3-year-old daughter, and also a legacy that's a
glimmer of light against the darkness of war.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: Well, even with the heroic word of Khaled Omar and others like him pulling victims from the rubble, there is no sense of safety once they are
rescued and almost complete lack of supplies at hospitals means doctors are often faced with impossible choices.
A little while ago, I was joined by Dr. David Nott, who has been faced with some himself. He began by telling me about some surgeons he's trained
there and still talks to.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID NOTT, WORKED AS A SURGEON IN ALEPPO: I've been in contact with them. I left Aleppo in October 2014. But since that time I've been in constant
contact with him on various social media, WhatsApp. I know exactly what's going on. I know exactly what cases they're dealing with.
Because I taught them all how to operate back in 2013 and '14 and have a very strong family-type relationship with them. We're constantly talking
to each other all the time.
[15:50:11]They're not going to go. They're going to stay there until the bitter end.
JONES: What is a typical operating theater like when the equipment that is available in Aleppo right now?
NOTT: Well, of course since about a month or so now, the siege has started and things can't get in. And we used to lose a lot of surgical items like
swabs, lots of gowns, lots of surgical equipment, which we need, chest drains, chest tubes and so on.
The problem is you can't get access to that sort of equipment. You can't do as much as you possibly can. Not only that, they're receiving, I know
for a fact, mass casualties, not just one or two cases every hour or so, but they're receiving 20 casualties at a go.
They're receiving the intensity of the airstrikes at the moment, it's so intense that they're having to deal with lots of fragmentation wounds in
children and families.
JONES: When it comes to who to treat, the letter from the doctors, they specifically said they're having to make that decision, which child to
treat, which patient to look at first. Have you personally had to confront that decision as well?
NOTT: Yes, all the time. In fact when I was there in 2014, it was as bad in 2014 as it is today, although the intensity of the air strikes is
significantly worse today than it was in 2014. We used to have mass casualties coming in, and he with also were running out of equipment.
So it's very difficult to make the decision exactly who to operate on. If you've got somebody that requires 20 units of blood, and you haven't got 20
units of blood to give that patient, you've got to rationalize the blood for the last ten patients that you have. So you have to let that patient
die.
JONES: From your experience and from what we're seeing today, there's been a lot of talk about hospitals being targeted deliberately, as military
targets, now doctors are being targeted. Is that a recurring theme now and the 15 doctors in particular in Aleppo that we know that wherever they are
treating their patients, they are in the firing line as well?
NOTT: Absolutely. I mean, the most dangerous place to be in Aleppo at the moment is to be in a hospital. Everybody knows that and so the doctors are
all targeted. The hospitals are all targeted.
I worked in one of the hospitals in 2014, and I understand from the chairman of the union of Syrian NGOs that in fact the hospital I worked in
has been targeted, and 70 percent of the hospital has now been completely destroyed. And that hospital was underground. It must have been targeted
by a high explosion to cause that damage.
JONES: What has to happen to see a change in course just from the -- to avoid a continuation of the last five years?
NOTT: Well, now is really a crucial time really because if we don't do something now, the situation will get catastrophically worse. It's
absolutely right that the doctors should have written to President Obama.
And now is his chance, as he's leaving office, to finally do something. I think what he should do, plus all the prime ministers of Europe, they
should all get together and all go and see President Putin, sit around the table and sort this problem out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: Dr. David Nott speaking to me a little earlier.
This is THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. Do stay with us for a close look at Botswana's elephant population on this, World Elephant Day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:55:09]
JONES: Hello. Welcome back. Today is World Elephant Day. While the majestic animals are often highlights of the African landscape, they are
still constantly under threat. Our David McKenzie has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm on the banks of a river in Botswana. This gorgeous elephant herd is right behind me, coming
to drink. Today is Elephant Day, and across the world we're celebrating this great, iconic African species. What is so special about elephants?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: David, elephants mean so much to so many people around the world. Ecologically they're keystone species. Economically, they
support the tourism industry in Africa, and culturally, they're Africa's proudest symbols.
MCKENZIE: And elephants in the continent are in strongholds like here in Botswana, but they are threatened as well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unfortunately they are. The immediate threat is the ivory poaching crisis. The long term threat is loss of habitat. Gradually
humans are taking over habitats which used to belong to elephants. If we can't conserve the iconic African elephant, what is the future for the rest
of Africa's wildlife?
MCKENZIE: Researchers believe that if we don't act soon, beautiful scenes will be something that the next generation will never see, and you could
see localized extinctions in parts of Africa. David McKenzie, CNN, Botswana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: We've just had a first glimpse of the trailer for the next "Star Wars" film. It's called "Rogue One." and it looks like Darth Vader is
back. Right at the end of this two-minute trailer. This is what you get, but blink and you might miss it.
(VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Yep, that's it. That's all you're going to get, one deep breath from the evil one. The film is due out in December.
Thank you so much for your time all week. Thank you for watching THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
