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Hala Gorani Tonight
Kislyak denies being a spymaster in interview with CNN; Trump's son- in-law on Middle East peace mission; Clinton explains what went wrong in new book; Final battle against ISIS in Iraq and Syria; Samsung pins high hopes on Galaxy Note 8; Louise Linton apologizes for Instagram rant
Aired August 23, 2017 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:10]
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. Tonight, the tale of two presidential personalities. I'm Hala Gorani. We are coming to
you live from London on this Wednesday.
Donald Trump has changed his tone today again less than 24 hours from a fiery performance in Arizona where the U.S. president went on the attack
against several perceived enemies.
But what a difference day and a state make, key themes today in neighboring Nevada, healing, unity, and common value. Listen to President Trump
speaking just minutes ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We are not defined by the color of our skin, the figure on our paycheck or the party
of our politics. We are defined by our shared humanity, by our citizenship in this magnificent nation, and by the love that fills our hearts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: So the love that fills our hearts. There was not much love in Mr. Trump's heart for some of his favorite targets yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: All of the Democrats in Congress, that is the only thing they do well. They do one thing well. You know what it is called they
have no ideas. They have no policies, they obstruct. That is all they do.
We are cracking down on the sanctuary cities that yield criminal aliens finally. These are sick people. You know, the thing I do not understand.
You would think, you would think, they would want to make our country great again and I honestly believe they do not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: So that was Donald Trump in Arizona. Our White House reporter, Stephen Collinson, joins me now from Washington. So, we were scripted to
Trump today.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: That's right, Hala. On the one hand, the speech that he gave today in which he called for national
unity healing and love does not seem that compatible as you said, with the performance he gave last night, which was one of the most wild and divisive
speeches I think that Donald Trump has actually given since he was president.
On the one hand, he is appealing to his political base. On the other, he is talking to a crowd of veterans so I think that is one of the reasons why
the tone was more respectful.
But it is very interesting Donald Trump the one hand is calling for unity, but he is acting in a way that provokes division. So, I think it does
leave some observers or the rather cynical view of his calls for Americans to come together and to realize their common values.
The issue here is the values that Donald Trump is promoting are not recognized by many Americans as the values that they believe their country
stands for. That is where the tension comes from.
GORANI: And it's not just tensions and attacks directed at journalists and in other, but even the Republican establishment, his own party in
Washington. The leader of the Republican Party in the Senate, for instance, where there are reports they had screaming matches on the phone.
He is attacking a senator from Arizona, where he gave that fiery and divisive speech as well, Jeff Flake. How can he continue to govern without
the support even of his own party in Washington?
Well, it does not sound like a very smart sort of governing strategy. You know Donald Trump is under a lot of pressure and he really cannot afford
any of his most loyal political supporters to peel away from him.
So, in isolation, that speech he gave in Arizona on Tuesday night does make some political sense, but at the same time, he is making it far harder for
him to get what he needs to get done in Washington.
And the speech -- the tempo of his speech, the way he delivered it, was one of the reasons why you've got people like the Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell coming out, reported by the "New York Times" on Tuesday and confirmed by CNN as saying he is not even sure that Donald Trump can
salvage his presidency.
You've got other senior Republicans wondering aloud whether Donald Trump has the temperament and the stability to be president. So, in one -- on
one hand --
GORANI: You're talking about James Clapper, the former director of National Intelligence, who even said essentially he is worried that he got
his fingers on the nuclear codes -- very strong words from a usually very restrained individual.
COLLINSON: That's right. James Clapper has worked for pretty much every American president apart from Trump since John Kennedy, Republicans and
Democrats, he was put in very high positions by both Bush presidents in the intelligence world.
This is not someone that comes out and says, you know, flagrantly alarmist things. He said he found and he was speaking on CNN, he said he found the
speech sort of very scary, and raised the question of the president's temperament as commander-in-chief and as the sort of guardian of the U.S.
nuclear arsenal.
[15:05:06] I think what we are seeing, we are seeing increasing public questions about the president's temperament and suitability from sources
that this is not Hillary Clinton speaking, these aren't Democrats speaking.
These are senior Republicans and senior members of the intelligence community and Clapper is not the first senior intelligence sort of veteran
to come out and say this. The way that Trump sort of behaved in Arizona feeds those, those worries.
Perhaps the speech and the sort of -- the temperature he toned down today was an attempt to sort of meet some of those questions. But there is no
reason for us to expect that when Donald Trump, for instance, goes to Iowa to do another campaign speech next week that he won't behave in exactly the
same manner.
GORANI: Stephen Collinson, thanks very much for joining us from Washington. David Swerdlick is joining us from Washington as well. Here
is CNN political commentator and assistant editor at the "Washington Post" and with me here in the studio is Doug Heye. He is also a political
commentator for CNN as well as a U.S. Republican strategist.
Thanks so much for being with us and it's great having you in person with us. All right. I'm going to start with Doug. What did you make of that
Arizona speech when you hear James Clapper, the former director of National Intelligence essentially saying on CNN yesterday, I am worried, I am
seriously worried about whether or not Donald Trump is fit to be president.
DOUG HEYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. I try and stay out of the broader psychoanalysis that a lot of people are doing. One of the reasons
is precisely what we saw last night. There are a lot of angry voices in America.
There is a lot of anger in America that we need more call voices out there to not stir the pot because as we see if you poke Donald Trump at all, we
see exactly what happens. I think the broader --
GORANI: You are not concerned at all by --
HEYE: I have definite concerns. I have concerns a year and a half ago when I first said as a Republican I wouldn't support Trump. But I'm
looking forward -- I am looking ahead to September where we are going to have a very tough month and I want to see Donald Trump do the things
necessary to help himself pass a tax reform or Obamacare repeal or keep the government open, which is a very serious threat right now.
GORANI: David Swerdlick in Washington, we are reading reports of Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, essentially having screaming
matches with the president of the United States. The president United States also taking direct hot shot at Republican senators like Jeff Flake.
What kind of environment is this creating in Washington right now?
DAVID SWERDLICK, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's creating an environment that is allowing a Republican sort of family feud or internal civil war to
spill out into the open. You know, Senator McConnell is viewed by everybody in Washington friend or adversary as a consummate professional
and political pro.
But when President Trump has gone out in recent weeks and criticized him publicly rather than reserving his criticism from behind closed doors, I
think that is what leads to these reports that Senator McConnell is keeping the president at arms-length.
Imagine the situation from Senator McConnell's perspective, the one sort of clear major win of the Trump administration to date is the appointment of
Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.
Well, who made that possible? Senator McConnell by denying President Obama the opportunity to nominate his own pick for the Supreme Court during the
last year of his tenure. So, now you come to this point where they have this rift over the inability of the Senate to pass healthcare by one vote.
President Trump goes out and publicly criticizes Senator McConnell. He doesn't call him Senator McConnell, calls him Mitch in front of the cameras
and then you see why Senator McConnell is having this spat with him.
Of course, it is not a personal matter, but you have a situation where this combined with poll numbers that show the president's poll numbers have
dipped below 40 percent suggested Republicans, including McConnell, that they can afford to disagree with the president if they do not want to go
along with him.
GORANI: And Doug, one of the things he said and he came under a very heavy criticism after Charlottesville, as you know for not immediately, or at
least in the 24 hours following what happened in Charlottesville denouncing white supremacists and the KKK. He made reference to that in Arizona.
Let's listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I hit with them with the neo-Nazi. I hit them with everything. I got the white supremacist, the neo-Nazi. I got them all in
there. Let's see. The KKK, we have KKK. I got them all. So, they are having a hard time. So, what did they, right? It should have been sooner.
He is a racist. It should have been soon, OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: He almost making light of this. I mean, a woman was essentially killed, was murdered, Doug, and he is essentially saying, look, I ticked
off the names. You asked me to, I did it. I didn't do it soon enough and now I am being criticized by the fake news.
HEYE: Yes. I think one of the things that really troubled Republicans aside from the very big issue of what actually happened in Charlottesville
and the president's response to it was that this is something that should have been very easy to get right and very difficult for the president to
get wrong.
[15:10:01] But not only has he gotten it wrong, he continues to celebrate the fact that he has gotten it wrong. We bring up these issues time and
time again when we should be moving into September unified as Republicans, which we certainly aren't right now behind tax reform, Obamacare repeal,
keeping the government open, which again may really happen and causes even more of a crisis to this White House.
GORANI: I'm going to get back to the establishment Republicans or the mainstream Republicans in Washington and what is coming up these very
important challenges. But David, we heard Donald Trump expand a little bit today on his Afghanistan strategy.
He made an announcement that would not very detailed. He wouldn't give troop numbers. He wouldn't give timetables. This is what he said today to
the veterans of the American Legion about Afghanistan.
SWERDLICK: Sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: We are stripping tourists of their territory at a record flip, their funding, networks, and the false allure of their ideology. And
I will tell you we are going to start working very hard on the internet.
Because they are using the internet at a level that they should not be allowed to use the internet. They are recruiting from the internet and we
are going to work under my administration very hard so that does not happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right. This was an anti-terrorist strategy. I mean, he is not the first person to have thought of monitoring the internet for
extremist exchanges and messages. What have we learned in terms of how he plans to tackle some of these issues today?
SWERDLICK: So, yes, so, Hala, look, every president comes in with what they inherited from their predecessor. President Trump inherited the
Afghanistan war, just as President Obama inherited the Afghanistan war.
And President Trump only seven months in, you know, has to have an opportunity to sort of succeed or fail based on the directives he gives his
own Department of Defense and his own directives to his generals.
That being said, nothing that President Trump said today or Monday night in his primetime address fundamentally broke with the policy that President
Obama was already pursuing before he left office.
You know, this is not the sort of neo-isolationism that President Trump campaigned on, nor is it a particular ramping up of an aggressive military
posture. You know, President Obama inserted somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 troops into Afghanistan in his first year in office.
President Trump although he did not announce a troop number, it's been widely reported that the numbers are going to be something like 4,000.
GORANI: Right. And Doug, let me ask you why a wider question about the Republican Party because oftentimes we've been heard, of course, you know,
Ana Navarro who has been very critical of President Trump and who's been also very critical of the party, the Republicans.
Saying look, a lot of them are putting party over country, it is clear that Donald Trump is not fit to be president that he is destructive, not just of
the Republican Party that he hijacked essentially a year ago when he was elected.
What would be too much for the Republican Party to bear from Donald Trump? At what point will they say we cannot support you --
HEYE: The short answer is I do not know. We've had 20 different breaking points with Donald Trump right now and if everything is a breaking point
then nothing is a breaking point. Certainly, the temperatures are rising and continue to rise with Republicans.
I think it ultimately comes down, though, to poll numbers and it's not the national number that everybody looks at. If you drill down into Republican
congressional districts, Donald Trump remains very popular, which means the politicians have existential problems if Republican candidates and members
if they come out against Trump.
GORANI: So it's when they threatened at the polls that at that point, they'll reconsider --
HEYE: The lower his number goes in Republican states and Republican districts the more latitude Republicans may have. What a shock that
politics gets involved --
GORANI: Exactly what a shock. But I want to also ask you because you are here in London and Doug, I will stay with you. You are here in London and
you've seen I am sure some of these polls. There was a Pew one gauging public opinion outside the United States.
Do you think Trump is doing a good job? Do you trust him to do a good job? Here is some of the numbers that have come out, for instance, Japan,
France, I believe we also have Germany and Mexico.
No, 86 percent, 72 percent, 87 percent, 93 percent. So internationally, the image of the United States is suffering.
HEYE: Absolutely. And if you go back to the campaign, one of the things that Donald Trump consistently said was the world is laughing at us. In
fact, the world is not laughing at us. They are very scared.
I've met with members of parliament in the House of Lords while I've been here, they are frightened by what --
GORANI: Kind of what?
HEYE: By all things going on in Washington right now, the instability, the lack of predictability, the gridlock. It does not seem that anything can
get done and even what can get done, we are not really sure what direction it will go.
GORANI: But specifically, if there is one concern that you have been able to sort of -- that you heard from elected officials --
HEYE: A lack of consistency from the president.
GORANI: They don't know --
HEYE: They don't know which way he may go next.
GORANI: All right.
HEYE: Now he will say some of that is strategic.
GORANI: Right.
HEYE: But we don't know.
GORANI: That he's keeping the world guessing, I won't tell you troop numbers (inaudible). Thank you so much to both of you, Doug Heye, and also
David Swerdlick at the "Washington Post" for joining us.
[15:15:10] Coming up later this hour, a CNN exclusive, listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What about this allegation that you are spymaster, a spy (inaudible)? Did you attempt to
recruit any members of the Trump administration?
SERGEY KISLYAK, FORMER RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR TO UNITED STATES: You should be ashamed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: CNN's Matthew Chance tracked down one of the most prominent figures in the Russia probe, former Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, his
revealing interview with him is coming up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: When it comes to Brexit negotiations, words matter, and one single word is causing a bit of a kerfuffle between remain and leave supporters.
That word is "direct.' The U.K. government released a position paper on thorny issue, the European Court of Justice.
It said, "In leaving the European Union, we will bring about an end to the direct jurisdiction of the court of justice of the European Union." Direct
which means what, the door is open to indirect influence. Theresa May says her position remains clear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: But what I'm clear about is that we will be ending the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in the
United Kingdom. We will be making our laws. Parliament will make our laws. It will be British judges who will interpret those laws and it will
be the British Supreme Court. They will be our ultimate arbiters of those laws.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Let's go live to Downing Street. Bianca Nobilo is there with more. What is this mean then the end of direct influence or a direct
interference of the European Court of Justice?
BIANCO NOBILO, CNN PRODUCER: Well, you said, Hala, words matter and even though the prime minister's restrict might now say that the government has
a clear position on this, that fine print in the position paper says otherwise.
It says that direct jurisdiction of the ECJ will stop after Brexit, but this does leave some room for some form of indirect influence of the
European Court of Justice not to mention the fact that the ECJ might continue to have jurisdiction while the Brexit transition happens.
And yes, direct is just a word, but it's a word that could potentially damage one of the fundamental arguments of the Brexit campaign and that is
regaining full sovereignty, full control of U.K. laws.
And Hala, if the prime minister gives much ground on this issue, she is likely to face a backlash, not just for those people that voted for Brexit,
but also from the Brexiters in her own government.
GORANI: All right. Bianca Nobilo, thanks very much.
Let's get more now with Steve Peers, a professor of law at the University of Essex and an expert on this. How did you interpret then the wording in
that paper?
[15:20:04] STEVE PEERS, LAW PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Well, I think the government wants to leave itself some leeway to decide what direct
means so that at the end of the negotiations they can say it's one, whatever they get from the E.U. at the end of the negotiations they say,
well, that is not direct jurisdiction so we want what we want. And so, they want some flexibility there, but I think --
GORANI: But they can afford this position when the Brexiters, this was one of their biggest issues, we want full withdrawal. We don't want any
influence of the European Court of Justice at all?
PEERS: Well, yes, but I think they are trying to come up with a compromise now telling the Brexiters, well, there is no direct jurisdiction, but
telling the E.U. OK, we can go along with something that maybe satisfies what the E.U. side wants in these negotiations.
GORANI: That's breaking another promise, isn't it?
PEERS: Well, they are trying to sort of add that adjective direct in order to try (inaudible), but they didn't break that promise. Maybe some people
will say they are breaking it and some people will go along with it. It may depend on what the final package deal is.
GORANI: So, explain to us what it would mean? How it could -- what -- after Brexit, what jurisdiction, what laws would apply, what influence,
impact, interference the European Court of Justice could still have in the U.K.?
PEERS: Well, the government paper says they merely want to shift from (inaudible) to international court to international arbiters decide things
instead. But at the back of the international arbiters, they say maybe sometimes the arbitration people will ask the Court of Justice or maybe
sometimes, the British court will look at what the Court of Justice decided.
So, it is (inaudible) we could say decaffeinated impact of the Court of Justice, but not quite (inaudible) distance away --
GORANI: But if the U.K. wants a close trade relationship, if it wants to continue to keep some of the existing, for instance, deals it has which it
wants, trade deals with the E.U., it would have to accept some form of influence from the ECJ, wouldn't it?
PEERS: Well, the government has said it will accept the kind of indirect influence. It will accept the British courts look at the E.U. courts and
maybe follow along with what it says.
GORANI: If they don't?
PEERS: Well, if they don't, then that could lead to a kind of political argument between the two sides and maybe arbitrators are coming then.
GORANI: Will you be able to -- will this be resolved in a year and six -- a year and a half from now, by March 2019.
PEERS: Well, maybe if it isn't resolved by then, (inaudible) transitional deal, which gives them extra time to resolve this along with a dozen other
things, at least in that time.
GORANI: Do you think it's too ambitious even that, ever three or four years? I mean, this is an extremely complex set of negotiations, isn't it?
PEERS: Well, it maybe they get a whole series of transitions on different things adding to the original transition and something gets settled in and
some things don't, and maybe this is one of things that doesn't get settled.
GORANI: Are you --- do you believe Brexit will happen in a way that Brexiters wanted to happen?
PEERS: Well, Brexiters aren't all of one mind. They have all sorts of different views. Some of them (inaudible) free trade and some of them
maybe want less free trade. Some of them want free trades (inaudible). Some of them are very suspicious.
It may happen in the way that some of them want. It's impossible to happen in a way that all of them wanted.
GORANI: All right. Thanks very much, Steve Peers. Really appreciate your time and your expertise on this.
Well, let's take now a hard right turn to another story into Denmark now. Police today are confirming that A headless torso that washed up on shore
near Copenhagen is in fact that of missing journalist. Kim Wall.
Police said DNA was used to identify her. She had boarded a Marine belonging to Peter Madsen. He is an inventor. She was working on a story
about him. Here is the latest with David McKenzie.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It should have been a routine assignment, but it ended in a gruesome tragedy.
(voice-over): It is a case that is both deeply shocking and mysterious. Danish police now confirming that DNA tests proved to be mutilated and
headless torso found near Copenhagen is that of freelance journalist, Kim Wall.
Kim was last seen leaving port two weeks ago in the "Nautilus," a private submarine built by inventor, Peter Madsen. Police say Madsen changed his
story first saying he dropped Kim on shore, then saying she died in an accident.
A cyclist found the body earlier this week. Now horrifying new details are emerging.
JENS MOELLER JENSEN, CHIEF INVESTIGATOR, COPENHAGEN POLICE (through translator): There are some injuries on the torso which seemed to have
been deliberately inflicted to ensure or to attempt to ensure that gases should pass out of the body so that it wouldn't wash out to the sea or
flowed up from the seabed. Some metal had been secured to the body to seemingly ensure that the body would sink to the bottom of the sea.
MCKENZIE: Madsen is charged with manslaughter, which he denies. As a journalist, Kim traveled the world on dangerous assignments. But she died
just miles from her home and in an emotional tribute online, Kim's mother wrote, "It is still difficult for us to fully comprehend the extent of this
tragedy and the many questions that still need to be answered."
[11:25:06] MCKENZIE: Kim's mother wrote that her daughter gave a voice to the weak, marginalized, and vulnerable people around the world. Now that
voice is silenced. David McKenzie, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: A very sad story there.
Coming up, an exclusive interview with an alleged Russian spymaster at the center of the controversy over the last U.S. election. You may recognize
this man, former Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. She speaks to CNN next.
And then a financial flap at Egypt, the United States decides to cut aid just as a high-level delegation visits Cairo. We'll tell you why. Stay
with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Well, remember the man behind me, he hasn't been in the news much lately, but Moscow's former ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak is
central to the Russian investigation and he was talked about a lot a few months ago.
You see him here meeting with President Donald Trump and the Russian foreign minister in the oval office back in May, a meeting that became
especially controversial when it was discovered that the president had revealed classified intelligence about Syria to the Russians right there in
the oval office.
Well, our Matthew Chance managed to track down Ambassador Kislyak and Matthew joins me now with his exclusive interview from Russia. What did he
tell you?
CHANCE: Hala, thanks very much. It was a very difficult -- he's a very difficult man to track down. We've had to travel, what is it, 600
kilometers, 400 miles or so from the Russian capital to this city of Sarantsk (ph) to find him.
He is a man who has been at the center of those allegations of collusion between the Trump team, the Trump administration, and the kremlin because
of the conversations he had with General Michael Flynn.
That he has to stepdown as national security advisor to Donald Trump. Jeff Sessions, the Attorney General of the United States had to recuse himself
from the ongoing Russia investigations because of his undisclosed meetings with Sergey Kislyak.
So, when I finally got to meet the former Russian ambassador to the United States, I put some of those allegations and some of those questions to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: Hi, Mr. Ambassador, quick question, did you discuss lifting sanctions with any members of the Trump team when you are in the United
States?
KISLYAK: With due respect, I'm here to talk to Russian people.
CHANCE: I understand that. You say you've got no secrets?
KISLYAK: I said everything I wanted prior to this.
CHANCE: Did you discuss opening secret channels with the kremlin with Jared Kushner, for instance?
KISLYAK: I've said many times that we do not discuss the substance of our discussions with our American (inaudible) out of respect to our partners.
CHANCE: Fair enough. But when you met Donald Trump, the president, were you surprised when he disclosed secret information to you about Syria?
KISLYAK: I'm not sure that I heard anything that would be secret, but it was a good meeting, and we were discussing things that were important to
your country and to mine.
CHANCE: What about this allegation that you're a spy master or a spy -
KISLYAK: Nonsense.
CHANCE: Did you attempt to recruit any members of the Trump administration?
KISLYAK: You should be ashamed because CNN is the company that keeps pointing to these allegations. It's nonsense.
CHANCE: It's US security officials, intelligence officials that made it, of course.
KISLYAK: I've heard (INAUDIBLE) statements by them and also by former head of the FBI who said that I was a diplomat. I have no reasons to doubt that
he knew what he said. OK.
CHANCE: Just one last question, what's your prediction for the future of US-Russian relations?
KISLYAK: I'm afraid it's going to be difficult and it's not because of us. It's because of the US political dynamics. The anti-Russian law simply is
not going to help Russian-American discussion.
CHANCE: Is it the sanctions law?
KISLYAK: It's the sanctions law, but sanctions is an instrument. It's basically a statement of being anti-Russian. That is the most important
thing. And that's not going to be wished away. It's going to stay. It's going to spoil ability of both countries to resume normalcy in our
relations and normalcy in our relations is exactly what is missing.
CHANCE: Have you lost faith that Donald Trump is going to be able to do what he said during his campaign and make things better with Moscow?
KISLYAK: I'm not sure that I operate with definitions of faith, absence of faith. We work with the United States based on the policies that you have.
Not new.
We have seen so many different things about us. And we are pretty comfortable with what we do for Russia. And by the way, I'm here to do
exactly what is important to us.
CHANCE: Sergey Kislyak, thank you.
KISLYAK: Thank you. Bye, bye.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHANCE: Sergey Kislyak, of course, is no longer the Russian Ambassador to the United States. He was replaced just a couple of days ago and is now
back in the country touring this region. But as we heard there from that short interview we did with him, he is still able to give very diplomatic
answers to our questions indeed. Hala.
HALA GORANI, CNN HOST, WORLD RIGHT NOW: Right. You didn't see him really unhappy to answer your questions. He didn't run off or anything. What you
did - in the business, we call this door stepping where someone doesn't give you a sit-down interview with a sort of setting - traditional setting.
But how hard was it to get to him, to track him down because you traveled hundreds of kilometers?
CHANCE: Yes. No, it was quite a challenge. And, of course, we tried to get a sit-down interview with him, first of all, but those requests to the
Russian Foreign Ministry and to others have been met with silence.
And even when we were here, it was pretty clear to us that Sergey Kislyak and the people around him did not want us to meet him. They were giving us
misleading information about where he might be, telling us that he was going to a village four hours' drive away from this city of Saransk.
This is the local administrators here in Saransk. And we've got other sources that we worked as well. And we sort of staked him out in the city
and took this opportunity to speak to him. And so, yes, it was a quite challenge.
GORANI: Good. Well, it was great to hear from him and great that you are able to ask him these questions. Thanks so much. Matthew Chance in
Saransk, Russia.
Now, Israel's prime minister delivered a stark message in person to the Russian President Vladimir Putin today, speaking of Russia. Where ISIS
vanishes, Iran steps in.
Benjamin Netanyahu stressed his concern about Iran's actions in Syria during talks in Sochi today. He said there is a drawback to the fight
against ISIS, warning that Iran's growing military presence in Syria is a threat to the entire world. Russia, like Iran, is a key backer of Bashar
al-Assad of Syria.
Well, Prime Minister Netanyahu is now switching gears to talk Middle East peace with Donald Trump's son-in-law. Tomorrow, Senior Advisor Jared
Kushner will meet separately with Mr. Netanyahu and the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Kushner hit the ground running, arriving in the region Sunday. His latest stop was Egypt where he met with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and other
top officials.
There may have been, though, a few tense moments considering the timing. Why? Because Washington just cut off or suspended millions in aid to
Egypt. The reason given was its human rights record.
[15:35:07] Let's talk about all of this with Daniel Kurtzer, a former US Ambassador to Israel and Egypt. He is now a lecturer and professor at
Princeton University. Thank you, ambassador, for being with us.
First of all, why now? There have been concerns over the military government of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi silencing opponents, extending military
rule to civilian institutions. Now, all of a sudden, Donald Trump's administration is concerned about human rights. What do you make of the
timing?
DANIEL KURTZER, FORMER US AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL AND EGYPT: Well, everything about this decision and its implementation is confusing. The president had
signaled that he wanted a very warm relationship with Egypt and President Sisi, and yet we've returned to a more traditional approach, which focuses
on Egypt's internal situation, human rights, non-governmental organizations and so forth. And I think that's been very confusing to the Egyptians.
Also, the timing with the visit to Egypt of a high-level American delegation is quite strange. And the rollout. Apparently, the Egyptians
were not given a heads up and the delegation itself may not have known what it was running into when it landed. So, this was not handled as well as it
might have been.
GORANI: Yes. And it's interesting. In May, of course, Donald Trump called Sisi a fantastic guy and he is a big supporter of Egypt. The
Egyptian government, of course, was not too happy about Washington's decision to withhold the nearly $300 million in aid.
Here's what the foreign ministry said in a statement. "Egypt considers this step as a misjudgment of the nature of the strategic relations that
bind the two countries over decades and reflects the lack of understanding of the importance of supporting the stability and success of Egypt. It
also underestimates the size and nature of the economic and security challenges facing the Egyptian people."
That being said, ambassador, there were reports that the foreign minister had canceled a meeting with Jared Kushner, but that went head and Jared
Kushner's delegation also met with President Sisi.
KURTZER: I think one of the things looking ahead is how specific the administration can be in asking Egypt to change policies. I think on the
question of human rights and NGOs, it's going to be a dispute between us, as the Egyptians believe that they have to take measures for their internal
stability.
But some of the military aid is being withheld, not necessarily cut yet, but withheld until the Egyptians move more expeditiously into a
counterterrorism and counterinsurgency phase, and I'm not sure the Egyptians understand what it is they need to do.
And there is also a question of North Korean workers in Egypt, which the Egyptians have employed for quite some time, but have bothered the United
States. So, I think, at a minimum, the administration has to be much more specific and provide much more detail with respect to what it expects from
Egypt, so that the relationship can put back on track.
GORANI: Could it be the North Korean workers, the underlying reason?
KURTZER: I don't think it's the main reason. I think the tensions within various parts of the administration over human rights - you remember, a few
years ago, the Egyptian Government did arrest American non-governmental organization workers. There is some residual anger over that. The North
Korean issue was part of it, but I don't think that was the main issue.
GORANI: All right. And what about Jared Kushner? He is there in Egypt. He is also going to Israel. You were ambassador to Israel as well. What
do you make of his appointment and what kind of job he might do in this role?
KURTZER: Well, I hope he understands both the depth and breadth of the challenges he faces. He's been given so many portfolios that to treat the
Middle East portfolio as one among many, I think, is going to be way above his pay grade.
First of all, handling the Egyptian portfolio alone is hard, as this visit has proved. And now, he's going to go to Israel where he thinks he's going
to talk about the Middle East peace process.
But as you reported just a few minutes ago, Prime Minister Netanyahu has a lot of other things on his mind, in particular, Iran's advances in the
region, the future of the joint comprehensive plan with respect to the Iran nuclear program and what's happening in Syria. So, this is a multifaceted
problem, which Kushner is facing.
And I just hope he is ready to handle it. We have a problem that a lot of senior positions of the administration have not been filled in the State
Department, and so there is not enough backstop right now.
GORANI: If you had to give him one piece of advice then - he is not the first person to try to bring peace to the Middle East and some sort of
agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. If you had to give him one piece of advice, what would it be?
KURTZER: I would, first of all, study. He told some interns a week ago that he hadn't done a lot of reading and didn't think history was that
important, and I think that's wrong. There is a lot of lessons to be learned about what to do and what to avoid doing.
[15:40:08] And then second, I would suggest to him, come up with an idea. Don't just go out there and be in a listening mode. The parties out there
have long history of being unable to get together and I think they could use some advice from the United States.
GORANI: All right. Thanks very much, Daniel Kurtzer, the former ambassador to Egypt and Israel as well. Pleasure having you on the
program. Thank you so much.
KURTZER: Thank you, Hala.
GORANI: Washington and the world would look a lot different if Donald Trump had lost the election and Hillary Clinton had won.
Well, the former secretary of state is now giving all of us an inside look at what she says went so wrong for her. Her new book is about to be
released. It's called simply, "What happened?"
Clinton acknowledges making mistakes and explains what she would do differently if she had the chance. She also writes about some of the more
memorable moments of the campaign. Listen to this excerpt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is not OK, I thought. It was the second presidential debate and Donald Trump was
looming behind me.
Two days before, the world heard him brag about groping women. Now, we were on a small stage. And no matter where I walked, he followed me
closely, staring at me, making faces. It was incredibly uncomfortable. He was literally breathing down my neck. My skin crawled.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: That's one short snippet there from her book - Hillary Clinton's book "What Happened?," in which, by the way, she also acknowledges that she
just didn't live up to the challenge of winning this election and that she'd have to live without for the rest of her life.
Check out our Facebook page, Facebook.com/HalaGoraniCNN for more of the show's content online.
Coming up, a closer look at the final battle to defeat ISIS. We'll report on two key fronts next. And later in the show, Samsung is seeking
redemption. We find out more about the company's greatest phone. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: James Mattis, the American defense secretary, is now in Turkey after a brief tour of Iraq. He says he is confident ISIS is on the run and
in its final days.
But civilians remain at great risk in both Iraq and Syria. Many of them, by the way, die in some of those airstrikes, targeting ISIS. As the battle
against the terrorist group reaches its climax, Jomana Karadsheh has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A little over a month after declaring its second city, Mosul, liberated, the Iraqi forces are on
the offensive again to recapture one of ISIS' last strongholds in the country, the city of Tal Afar.
[15:45:04] Under ISIS control since 2014, the once strategic city on a main ISIS supply line from the Syrian border to Mosul cutoff, surrounded by
security forces and militias for most of the past year.
HAIDER AL-ABADI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): All axes have been mobilized today to start the operation to liberate Tal Afar. I tell
Daesh that you have no choice but to surrender or get killed.
KARADSHEH: No one expects this to be an easy fight.
(on-camera): Once again, in what seems to be this endless war in Iraq, it is the civilians who are bearing the brunt of the battle. Thousands are
believed to be trapped in the city of Tal Afar. And those who managed to flee, they have a 10 to 20-hour trek in that unforgiving summer heat of
Iraq to try and reach UN camps.
(voice-over): Civilians caught in the crossfire of the fight against ISIS, not just in Iraq, across the border in Syria. Civilians trapped in a
living hell with the battle for Raqqa, ISIS' de facto capital, intensifying.
And with ISIS believed to be holding civilians as human shields, more and more reports of casualties as a result of coalition airstrikes.
LT. GEN. STEPHEN TOWNSEND, COMMANDER OF COMBINED JOINT TASK FORCE: I've seen the reports of increased civilian casualties. And it's probably
logical to assume that there have been some increase in civilian casualties because our operations have increased in intensity there.
But I would ask someone to show me a hard information that says that civilian casualties have increased in Raqqa to some significant degree.
KARADSHEH: With ISIS pushed out of more than half of Raqqa and main Iraqi cities, its fighters now squeeze into the oil-rich desert province of Deir
Ezzor in eastern Syria, described as ISIS' last stand.
But in the complex Syrian battlefield, it's not just forces backed by the US-led coalition that will try to root ISIS out of the province. The
Syrian regime and its allies are making a major push on Deir Ezzor.
US officials believe the group's command-and-control has been disrupted in Iraq and its days in Iraq and Syria are numbered, but it's not over.
TOWNSEND: There are still ISIS leaders - there are orders that have been given and their ISIS fighters are going to follow those orders. There are
subordinate - small unit ISIS leaders that have been told to do.
So, just because their higher commander is dead or fled, that doesn't mean those guys are going to stop fighting. So, we're still going to have to
fight.
KARADSHEH: While it's so-called caliphate is collapsing, its ideology is far from defeated. With followers across the globe, this terror group
remains as dangerous as ever.
Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Amman.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: A quick break. When we come back, Samsung's latest challenge to the iPhone. We take a look at the Galaxy 8 after the huge issues with the
7. Samuel Burke will join me in the studio.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: So, Samsung is back. Hopefully, this time without the bang. It's unveiling a new phone. And our correspondent Samuel Burke is here to tell
us all about it. Hi there.
SAMUEL BURKE, "CNNMONEY" TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They packed in so much to the Note 7 that it was bursting at the seams
literally.
So, you can't talk about the Note 8 without thinking about, really this was the biggest, arguably, tech disaster in all of tech history. So, they're
playing it safe this time. Very conservatively.
[15:50:09] Let me just put up a list on the screen of what the Note 8 has, starting with a dual camera. Now, this is new for Samsung, but something
that we've seen on a lot of other phones. So, you can take one picture but with two cameras on the back of the phone, makes it very high-quality.
A double SIM. So, you can actually have one phone, but two different phone numbers. So, you can give one to your friends -
GORANI: Does the iPhone have that?
BURKE: No, the iPhone does not have that.
GORANI: OK.
BURKE: So, that means that you can give one number to your friends, one to your enemies - or maybe your work number -
GORANI: Or work and - yes.
BURKE: Bixby has been a major problem for them. That's their version of Siri. Now, that is starting to roll out over again because that's also
been problematic. It doesn't catch on fire the way the other phone did, but very problematic.
On sale for $929 and - let me finish - $0.99.
GORANI: What? No!
BURKE: That's expensive.
GORANI: Who spends that much money on a phone.
BURKE: Release date September 15. It's interesting because it used to be that Samsung was very similar to the iPhone, but had a much lower price.
But now they have people locked in, they're loyal customers as evidenced by the fact that they're still buying the Note phones even after the disaster
with the Note 7.
But it's interesting, as I've also heard from analysts who predict that maybe the iPhone, the next one, the iPhone 8 could be around $1,000, some
are predicting.
GORANI: Who spends that amount of money on a phone. I find that insane.
BURKE: You?
GORANI: No, I don't. A thousand dollars?
BURKE: You've got an iPhone?
GORANI: Yes, but it's not $1,000.
BURKE: Yes. But the next time, are you going to switch to another one?
GORANI: I'm not sure at a thousand. I think there could be a deal breaking figure there. Because why? Because at what point - so, my thumb
print and then we're going to move on to my iris scan and then we're going to move on to the next step and the next step of sophistication.
But at what point do you need that - do you think you need it versus, well, it's a fun plus it's worth a grand.
BURKE: Well, it's funny that you say that because you think price would drive some people, but even - look what happened with Samsung. They had a
phone that caught on fire. They had to recall it. Then they had to do another recall. And people are still buying it.
If you look at the stock chart -
GORANI: It's not marketed yet. We don't know how this will sell, do we?
BURKE: Yes, but they took the Note 7, just fixed a bit and called it the fan edition and Samsung it sold out - look at how their stock has done over
the past year with this disaster. It went from $1400 a share to $2000 a share.
My only point being is that they keep on raising the prices. And even with these fiery phones, they get people to pay for them. And Apple may be
betting that they can get people to pay even more for them. People are loyal to these brands.
GORANI: And it's interesting that the stock price has gone up, though. I find that interesting because that means that investors are betting that
the company will manage the crisis and get over it.
But if this one, for whatever reason fails, then really they're looking at a lot of trouble.
BURKE: They didn't even change the name of this phone. That's how well they believe that they can manage it.
They did have the S8 between. It didn't have anything that caught on fire, but everyone said, well, they may not even call it a Samsung phone anymore.
Definitely not a note. And here they are with the Note 8. There's fierce loyalty.
And people - we talk about Apple so often, but there are way more people with Samsung phones than Apple phones, and they've been able to bank on
that, and that's why - look at the stock price. That's why a lot of people think that people are going to be able to pay $920.
GORANI: One share will buy you two phones.
BURKE: Good point. I guess it's time to sell.
GORANI: Exactly. Thanks very much. Samuel Burke. Appreciate it.
Here is a refreshing story about two Washington insiders. Melania Trump and Chelsea Clinton being civil and even gracious to each other, Samuel.
It's all about some criticism that was aimed at young Barron Trump for his casual clothing.
The former first daughter came to 11-year-old Barron's defense, tweeting, "It's high time the media and everyone leave Barron Trump alone and let him
the private childhood he deserves." Spoken by someone who has been there obviously.
Barron's mother, First Lady Melania Trump tweeted back, " Thank you @ChelseaClinton - so important to support all of our children in being
themselves! #StopChildhoodBullying"
BURKE: What goes through people's minds, Republican or Democrat or any, to think that they can attack people's kids.
GORANI: I don't -
BURKE: It's nuts.
GORANI: But the thing is a lot of people were appalled it and called the -
BURKE: And nice to see some unity that came out of it. You don't see a lot of that.
GORANI: It took that to get them both to agree on something.
BURKE: Poor child.
GORANI: All right. Now, move over Kim Kardashian. There may be a new Instagram queen in town. The wife of the US Treasury Secretary is getting
a lot of attention these days, not necessarily good attention.
Louise Linton is apologizing for a social media tirade, in which she told an Oregon mom, she was adorably out of touch. Jeanne Moos has that story
for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She once played Marie Antoinette and it didn't end well. Now, the former actress and current
wife of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is being zinged for acting like a French royal in real life.
[15:55:10] Louise Linton posted this photo of the multimillionaire Mnuchins getting off a government jet to visit Fort Knox, Kentucky.
She tagged the photo with luxury brands she was wearing. TOM FORD Sunnys for sunglasses, Hermes scarf, Valentino Rockstud heels, which so annoyed
Jenni Miller, an Oregon mother of three that she posted back, "Glad we could pay for your little getaway #deplorable."
JENNI MILLER, MOTHER OF THREE: Honestly, it was probably just a weak moment for me. It was the first time I had ever posted on someone's
Instagram.
MOOS: The Treasury Secretary's newlywed wife responded with a rant. "Aww! Did you think this was a personal trip? Adorable! Do you think the US
government paid for our honeymoon or personal travel? LOL. Have you given more to the economy than me and my husband? You're adorably out of touch."
The post was adorned with blown kisses. Miller's reaction -
MILLER: A little bit amused and a little bit horrified.
MOOS: There was one overarching theme to the criticism. It's a little let them eat cake, don't you think, tweeted former CIA officer Valerie Plame.
Linton deleted her tirade. Someone joked, luckily her photo remains.
And now, Linton says, I apologize for my post on social media. It was inappropriate and highly insensitive. The Mnuchins are reimbursing the
government for her travel.
In the past, she's played a creepy deputy and a reporter. But when she came off sounding like the costume party character she played in CSI New
York, she was clearly in over her head.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, this has been the WORLD RIGHT NOW. Thanks for watching. I'm Hala Gorani. Don't go anywhere, though. The news continues on CNN.
I'll see you same time same place tomorrow. But stay us. "Quest Means Business" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
