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Hala Gorani Tonight
Trump Outlines Plan To Fight Islamic Terror; Opponents Say Burkini Ban Discriminates Against Muslims. Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired August 15, 2016 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(SIMULCAST OF TRUMP SPEECH AND CNN DOMESTIC ANALYSIS)
[15:34:36]
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: We are going to break away here but continue to follow this important story, and that is Donald Trump`s address
on foreign policy and defeating ISIS. Donald Trump is saying it is time for the United States to chart a new course in the war against what he
calls radical Islam.
A recap of his major speech that wrapped up just minutes ago. Now the Republican presidential nominee laid out his plans for fighting ISIS and
other terrorist groups as well as protecting the United States from attack.
[15:35:03]He is calling for a new immigration policy to keep out anyone who poses a threat to America, he says, or its values.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We should only admit into this country those who share our values and respect our people. In the cold
war, we had an ideological screening test. The time is overdue to develop a new screening test for the threats we face today. I call it extreme
vetting. I call it extreme, extreme vetting. Our country has enough problems. We don`t need more and these are problems like we`ve never had
before.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: A couple of other major points from his speech. Trump says the era of nation building will be brought to a swift and decisive end and he
proposed redefining U.S. allies as countries who share the goal of defeating radical Islamic terror.
Let`s hear now from the Trump campaign, former U.S. Congressman Jack Kingston is a senior Trump adviser. We`re also joined by CNN military
analyst, Cedric Leighton. He is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, who says he`s neither a Donald Trump nor a Hillary Clinton supporter and formerly
with the NSA.
Thanks to both of you for joining us. Jack Kingston first, I want to ask you what exactly is an ideological test? Practically, how would it work?
JACK KINGSTON, SENIOR ADVISER, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: As I understood what Mr. Trump is saying is that there are countries that do not have adequate
screening processes and we want to tighten up on that. I think his whole speech was about leadership and initiative and ownership.
And you do not have that in the current administration. And what we have now is Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama`s plan in action. What Donald
Trump called for today was a new vision and he`s saying we`re going to reinvigorate our efforts to find out what`s going on, on the ground.
We`re going to work with our allies. He called on NATO, as you know, several months ago to address terrorism. NATO at that time was not doing
that. NATO is now doing it, but he called on, let`s work with NATO. He also --
GORANI: But I should say, Mr. Kingston, in fact, he called on NATO a few months ago, but their anti-terrorism defense program dates back to April
2015. That`s not factually correct.
(CROSSTALK)
KINGSTON: He said they don`t address terrorism and now they have. That`s what he said. And I think the idea of NATO taking on terrorism is a good
thing and that`s what he restated today.
GORANI: OK. But his timeline was not accurate, because he said a few months ago, and in fact this program dates back to April 2015. But I want
to go to Cedric Leighton. What did you make of these proposals? You`re an ex-Air Force colonel. You`ve dealt with these issues firsthand on the
ground. What did you make of the proposals that you heard today from Mr. Trump?
CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Hala, I think the main proposals are certainly interesting and it`s a much more coherent
presentation of policies than he`s had before. However, when you look at some of the things that he`s talking about, such as the increased use of
human intelligence to capture terrorists, there are actually programs going on right now that actually do that.
He also mentioned cyber-warfare, and that is a key component to this. The key thing here though is that cyber-warfare has been a component that has
been used not only by cyber-command but also at the direction of the administration against ISIS.
So there are certain things that he`s talking about, I think it`s more a question of emphasis than anything else. But many of the issues that he
discusses are things that are being done by the current administration to one degree or another, but with a different emphasis from a Trump
administration, I think he hopes at least there will be different results.
GORANI: But one of the things also that he mentions is essentially taking down or quote, "viciously taking down" radical Islam support networks
inside the United States. What do you make of that type of terminology? What do you make just generally speaking of the internal strategy against
any ISIS sympathizers in the U.S.?
LEIGHTON: I think that when you look at the internal strategy, of course there`s some constitutional questions that come up in a case like that.
Viciously taking down, I don`t know exactly what that means.
I can assume that he means very forcefully taking down the various terror cells that are out there and making sure you preempt a terrorist attack. I
think he`s looking at the doctrine of preemption as being part of what he`s trying to do.
It is obviously something that any law enforcement agency would want to do, would want to be able to achieve, and one can certainly go in that
direction, and the intelligence community can and should go in that direction here in the United States.
[15:40:07]GORANI: Jack Kingston, let me ask you about spending or tightening travel visa -- the issuing of visas from countries that have
either had terrorist activity or support terrorist groups. But that could include countries like France that have suffered three major terrorist
attacks in the last year and a half, Belgium, for instance. Would there be support, do you think, for suspending visas for French and Belgian
citizens?
KINGSTON: Well, actually what he said was in countries where there aren`t adequate controls and I don`t believe Belgium and France would fall into
that category. So what he`s talking about is if it`s from a country where we have no idea who is coming in, we should take a better looked at it.
And remember, this stuff may be going on now at some level, just as if you`ve got a losing football team, the coach for that moment is passing and
kicking and doing all these things. The defense of the Clinton campaign is saying, we`re already doing that.
You know what, you`re not doing it well. That`s what Donald Trump is saying today. We want to show leadership, we want to have commitment, and
he`s willing to give ownership to it. Hillary Clinton --
GORANI: But he didn`t mention --
KINGSTON: -- voted for the war. Barack Obama sustained it. Donald Trump was against it the whole time.
GORANI: His running mate voted for the war as well, and he picked him as his running mate.
KINGSTON: Donald Trump was consistently against the war. Hillary Clinton supported the war. ISIS --
GORANI: And that`s actually not correct either. In 2002, when asked whether he supports the Iraq war, he said "Yes, I guess so." So that`s
also not correct.
KINGSTON: Well, I would say this. He has consistently said he`s against it.
GORANI: Not in 2002.
KINGSTON: He said it many times to CNN on the Wolf Blitzer show, Wolf has the tapes where he interviewed him in 2007 on that. Here`s what we have.
We have Syria in turmoil. We have ISIS now in 18 different countries. We have Libya in shambles. We have Iraq, which is decimated, all under Barack
Obama and Hillary Clinton.
What Donald Trump is saying, if you want another term of that, if you want the same old thing, then you need to vote for Hillary Clinton. But if you
want a change in direction, he wants to change things.
And I think frankly, rather than pick and choose little bits and pieces of the speech, the best thing to do is to say, you know what, this is a plan.
Look what we have now under the Clinton/Obama regime. And should we change directions or should we maintain what we`ve got? And I think --
GORANI: I just wanted to get Cedric Leighton`s thoughts on what you`re saying, Jack Kingston, about essentially the overall spirit of the speech.
What did you find in there that was different from what the current administration is doing and what did you find in there perhaps that you
think was -- could be an effective way of combatting ISIS?
LEIGHTON: I think it was short on the details in terms of the clear, effective way of combating ISIS. At least there`s no real difference from
what the administration is currently doing to what we have in a Trump administration at least according to this speech.
One of the big things I think that the Trump administration or the Trump campaign has to be very careful about is the possibility that ISIS
strongholds may fall before the election.
So for example, you see what has happened in Manbij in Syria. You see what is going on in the run up to Mosul and to the possible taking over of
Mosul. If those strongholds are actually taken before the election, which I think is the Obama administration`s goal, then you would have a very
serious dilemma within the Trump campaign that they have would to work through.
How is success defined? Is that enough of a victory? Could they make the case potentially that it is not a sufficient victory if it does happen,
that this ideology still needs to be stamped out, rooted out, and that may be the direction that they take if that happens.
But there are certain aspects of what he said in the speech that clearly point to a difference in emphasis and a possible reinvigoration of the
fight against ISIS and if he has the opportunity to do that, we may see a degree of emphasis that is a little bit different from what we currently
see at the moment.
GORANI: Jack Kingston, last one to you. The timing of this address was interesting, because as Cedric Leighton mentioned, on the battlefield, for
a change actually, there have been significant gains on ISIS in Syria. The Peshmerga are close to Mosul. There`s been a success in Sirt in Libya. Is
there an acknowledgement in the Trump camp that some of this strategy is actually working now?
[15:45:00]KINGSTON: You know, one of the natures of this war, and I was on the Armed Services Committee for Appropriations. We`ve heard this sort of
testimony over and over again and as we know now that some of those intelligence reports were actually cooked, that decisions were made and
reports were based upon.
But the reality is whatever gains you have today in the war will seem to disappear in a month from now. Remember, Hillary Clinton stood by silently
when Barack Obama called ISIS JV. In her own words, words count.
That was a significant worldwide national statement or international statement that ISIS a JV force. And I think that led to the problem that
we`re having today. The reality is if you want to change, you have to go with Donald Trump. If you want to continue with the same hodgepodge of
policies, Hillary Clinton.
GORANI: All right, Jack Kingston, senior adviser to the Trump campaign, former House Republican, thanks very much. So much more to talk about. We
hope to have you on again soon. Cedric Leighton as well, our CNN military analyst joining us on CNN as well to discuss the Trump speech. Thanks to
both of you. We will be right back after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: There is a new front line in France`s battle against the burkini. A third French mayor has banned the full body swim suit. It comes after a
violent brawl between Muslim families and non-Muslim Corsicans on the resort island of Corsica.
Riot police had to break up the fight Saturday night. Four people, including a pregnant woman, were injured. The tension did not dissipate.
This was the scene the next day. Hundreds of protesters marched to a housing estate home to several North African families. Police refused the
crowd access. They didn`t want any trouble.
Let`s discuss this situation in Corsica and the larger burkini ban with my next guest. Marwan Muhammad is the executive director of the Collective
Against Islamophobia in France. He joins me now from our Paris bureau. Thanks for joining us.
So in Corsica, a local mayor has said we need to ban the burkini because here is the problem, if a woman wears one, it ignites passions. It puts
everyone at risk. We do not need this particular bathing suit on public beaches in Corsica. Why do you oppose that?
MARWAN MUHAMMAD, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COLLECTIVE AGAINST ISLAMOPHOBIA IN FRANCE: This statement is so typical of how crazy French politics have
gone so far. We are making a direct junction between Muslim women enjoying the beach and a direct threat to the normal French citizen.
This is typical of what`s going on in the country at the moment. The problem is not for Muslim women going to the beach. The problem is when
these women are going to do beach and enjoying their rights as free citizens that we have groups of racists targeting them and stigmatizing
them because they have nothing else to do for the country.
[15:50:06]Now you have France with unemployment rocketing. You have terrorist threats at the moment in the country. You have massive problems
with the educational system, and the only thing politicians find to do is chase Muslim women from the beach. They don`t have a sense of priorities.
GORANI: It`s not Muslim women they`re chasing from the beach, let`s be clear. It`s women who wear burkinis. This is a very new outfit. What`s
wrong with saying France`s secular way of life and the way people normally enjoy public beaches in a place like Cannes should be kept the way it is?
What is wrong with saying that?
MUHAMMAD: Yes, so there is a very precise point that you`ve mentioned, the motion of burkini. This word has no legal meaning in France. Burkini has
no legal definition. There is no difference between what they call a burkini and a diving suit.
In practice what you find is the municipalities and the cities passing these illegal legislations are targeting Muslim women at large. On paper,
they say that only the burkini is targeted, but in practice police officers are going and harassing any women covering themselves with a head scarf,
for example. So we are challenging this --
GORANI: Let me tell you about Cannes. It`s a city I know very well. Muslim women with head scarves are not being targeted, they`re not being
harassed. They constitute a huge portion of the people spending a lot of money in a city like Cannes. It`s specifically the burkini, is it not?
MUHAMMAD: See, precisely you are touching to a point. Muslim women coming to Cannes for tourism. So indeed, the French government is giving a free
pass to anyone coming from the Middle East or from the U.S. or from any country outside.
But the local Muslims, the ones you do not see when you come for tourism in France, these are the ones that are stigmatized by these measures. The
government and the local municipalities, they know exactly what they are doing.
They are failing on the political front at every single level. Because they have no clue what they should or should not do, they occupy the
current space in the media by creating issues targeting Muslims.
Banning Muslim women from renting a swimming pool, banning Muslim families from having a holiday camp, banning Muslim women from head scarves on the
beach, because they are failing.
GORANI: What is this Collective Against Islamaphobia in France trying to do now? You`re going to go to the highest court in France to try to get
these local city ordinances overturned, is that correct? Because a high court in Nice upheld the ban.
MUHAMMAD: Yes. So we`re basically trying to shift the discussion from a political area into a legal and analytical area because we think this plan
is problematic on two fronts. Number one, it`s restricting fundamental freedoms. Second, it is discriminatory because it targets Muslim women
specifically.
Now we want to bring the discussion to a more rational area and we want to say that we are facing an historic moment in France. If we are to be the
country of human rights, we need to live up to these principles and not fail in front of threats such as Daesh.
Now, our collective are bearing thousands of people in the last four or five days. We have received 4,000 new memberships to our organization,
showing that the French population at large is not falling into these political trap and uniting and telling politicians, when we are failing on
the fronts of security, this is your responsibility, not the responsibility of Muslims.
GORANI: All right, Marwan Muhammad, the executive director of the Collective Against Islamophobia joining us live from Paris on this burkini
ban in three French cities. Thanks very much for being with us on CNN.
MUHAMMAD: Thank you, Hala.
GORANI: All right, we`re going to take a quick break. We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:55:13]
GORANI: To the Olympic Games in Rio, where sporting legends are being created daily and in Usain Bolt`s case, reaffirmed. In the last few
minutes, one of the stars of the games, Simone Biles of the United States was aiming for her fourth gold medal.
I`m sorry to break it to all you Simone Biles fans, she did not get the gold, but came third in the women`s balance beam finals at the gymnastics
venue. She made a little mistake on the beam.
Let`s go to Copacabana Beach. Our Don Riddell is there. Let`s talk quickly about Usain Bolt and his 100-meter win. You spoke to his fans.
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORTS: Yes, I did. I was there until the stadium, Hala. It was one of the most incredible things I`ve seen. I don`t think
I`ve ever been in a sports arena where every single person wanted the same thing to happen.
I turned to Coy Wire, one of our reporters next to me, and said can you imagine the pressure that this guy is under to deliver? He was going for a
third consecutive gold medal in the 100 meters. That has never done before.
He won the race, ran his main rival Justin Gatlin down in the last few yards to do it. It was absolutely sensational. Everybody loved it, but
especially so the people from Jamaica where he is a national hero.
Those fans traveled a long way to come and see history and they were absolutely thrilled about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: How does it feel to watch him run like that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Incredible. Truly humbling to be here and present for this moment. It`s a true honor to see him run.
RIDDELL: Do you think he`s going to do all three again?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One would hope. I`m just proud of all of his accomplishments so far. We`re proud of him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: So Hala, that is now seven Olympic gold medals for Usain Bolt. Remember, he won the 100 and 200 in Beijing and is going for all three in
London. He`s well on his way. He says if he does it, it will make him immortal. Few would disagree.
GORANI: All right, Don Riddell, thanks very much. Boy, does he know it. Anyway, loved watching him run. Thanks, Don. And check out our Facebook
page, Facebook.com/halagoranicnn. This has been THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. Thanks for watching. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is up next.
END
