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William Cohen Talks Iraq Strategy; Congress Skips Town; Will Hillary Run for President. Ex-Con Edward Edwin Wants to Return to Congress.

Aired September 19, 2014 - 13:30   ET

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


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. pulled out because Nouri al Maliki, the former Iraqi prime minister, refused to give immunity from Iraqi prosecution. The administration does say that they have that commitment now. They will not be prosecuted by Iraqi courts, if you will. They do have that immunity.

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: They have an agreement in writing, presumably?

BLITZER: That's what they say. They say they have an agreement from the new prime minister, from the new government. And it didn't have to go back to parliament because if it went back to the Iraqi parliament, they don't know what would have happened.

There you have it. So this new prime minister, who may be new wine in an old bottle or simply old wine with a new bottle coming into it, he hasn't decided yet.

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: Yes, but he has said he will not allow any U.S. combat forces on the ground in Iraq. So he's consistent with what President Obama is saying.

So I have a question. What happens if some of those forces come under fire, maybe taken hostage? What do we do at that particular point? I think we have to level that point. And this is why Congressman McKeon and others, Ed Royce, have said, we need to have the flexibility to say, they may not have a combat mission specifically but they are going to be in combat. And we need to be flexible enough to say, if we need to go in, we have the authority to go in. I think the president is making a mistake by not getting that.

BLITZER: McKeon and others say, don't take any options off the table. If you're going to war, keep the enemy guessing. Don't send in combat forces. The other side of the argument is the president wants to be transparent with the American people and Congress. If he doesn't deploy combat forces, he should tell them.

COHEN: He can be transparent but, if this is successful, it will need tactical American forces on the ground. You're now going to conduct air campaigns and air strikes, and if you don't have those specialists on the ground calling in those strikes, you might very well start killing lots of people, which rebound against us. We're going to have people on the ground calling those strikes. I think that's why the president has to be more transparent on that particular issue.

BLITZER: What about the Iranian countries, and Turkey, for that matter? Are they stepping up to the plate? Because they are threatened, much more than the United States.

COHEN: I think you'll find the UAE, the United Arab Emirates, is stepping up a great deal in Kosovo. They volunteered in Kosovo. They've been with us in Afghanistan. I think you'll find members of the Arab community --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: They'll use some air power, the UAE. Qatar, too, maybe? The UAE and Qatar used air power against Gadhafi in Libya at the request of the United States.

COHEN: We need to see Arab participation, visible Arab participation. Otherwise, it's going to be seen as a bunch of white guys. The Western countries coming in, white man's burden coming in, attacking a Muslim country again. Then it becomes something of a crusade. That's the reason we need to have a visible presence participating and going after this evil called ISIS.

BLITZER: It hasn't happened yet. But maybe it will, starting with the UAE. Do you think the Saudis are going to step up to the plate?

COHEN: I don't know but we need to provide some visible sign of assistance so they are not hiding behind any kind of --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Turkey has been very disappointing.

COHEN: I'm very disappointed in some of the NATO countries, period. NATO has a long step of stairs you have to climb to get into NATO. There's no back door. Once you're in, you're in. Even if you don't measure up to the kind of requirements that are necessary to be a member of NATO. I'd like to see them consider a way out for those countries who want the benefit of having NATO security, not willing to bear the burdens of it, I'd like to have that considered as an exit door as well.

BLITZER: I spoke with the NATO supreme allied commander, and unlike Afghanistan where there was a NATO contingent deployed to Afghanistan, there's no talking about that as far as Iraq and Syria is concerned.

COHEN: We're carrying the burden. I'd like to see some of the NATO countries really share that burden and be willing to belly up and show that they are willing to provide benefits and burdens and bear them equally.

BLITZER: Secretary Cohen, thanks for joining us.

COHEN: Thank you.

BLITZER: Congress won't be debating new authorization of military force against ISIS at least for a while, maybe two months. Instead, they are heading home, at least for six weeks. Dana Bash chasing down lawmakers as they rush for the exits. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN, the world's news network.

BLITZER: Capitol Hill is a very lonely place today. The halls of Congress nearly empty as members head home to campaign for the midterm elections. Some didn't make a clean getaway.

Our chief congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, caught up with several lawmakers on their way out of town and asked them, point blank, why they were leaving with so much of their work undone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Congress racing for the exits. Cars line the parking lot waiting to whisk lawmakers away, home to campaign for six weeks through Elections Day.

(on camera): Congressman?

(voice-over): Leaving a lot on the table, especially debate over a new authorization of military force against ISIS.

REP. CHAKA FATTAH, (D), PENNSYLVANIA: There's broad agreement in the country that this ISIS group is a threat.

BASH (voice-over): So then, why not stay and debate it and not go home if your constituents believe there is a real threat?

FATTAH: I don't disagree. I'm prepared to vote "yes" on the use of military force. I'm not ducking any vote.

BASH (voice-over): Many rank-and-file members are frustrated about bolting.

(on camera): I get the importance of campaigning. But really? While all of this is going on in the country?

REP. JARED POLIS, (D), COLORADO: As if there's not enough to do. And it's not just the war issues. It's immigration reform. It's a number of different bills.

BASH (voice-over): There is, of course, a lot of blame tossed around. Republicans blame the Democratic-controlled Senate.

(on camera): Senate Republicans, who run the House, say, don't go home, don't go home to campaign, and work on that authorization. They have the ability to do it.

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R), TEXAS: Well, Dana, the problem is that we have a do-nothing Senate.

BASH (voice-over): Republicans also blame the president.

(on camera): So why not stay here and debate an authorization for use of force which is Congress' job?

REP. RICHARD HUDSON, (R), NORTH CAROLINA: Absolutely. And I wish the president would ask for one.

BASH (voice-over): And Democrats, who run the Senate, point to the House.

SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL, (D), MISSOURI: This tradition, I think, began because of the House of Representatives runs every two years, and for many, many years, the House has adjourned for the month of October.

BASH: Senator Susan Collins is up for re-election in a safe seat and wanted to stay.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS, (R), MAINE: My job is to be in the capitol working for the people of Maine and the American people and that's where I've been -- where we all belong right now.

BASH: Hey, Senator.

(voice-over): Lindsey Graham is also on the ballot, and blunt about why they are leaving.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: We seem to be more worried about who runs the place than how the place runs.

BASH (on camera): Senator, before you get in your car, can I ask you a quick question?

SEN. DEB FISCHER, (R), NEBRASKA: Sure.

BASH: Freshman Senators are appalled.

FISCHER: We need to be here and debate these issues.

BASH (voice-over): But at this point, there's no reason to stay.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And Dana Bash is here along with our chief political correspondent, Candy Crowley. We'll have a discussion on what is going on. Stand by. I will ask you, what will Congress' priorities be once they return.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Before the break we showed you members of Congress rushing out of town, heading back to their districts, many of them trying to get re-elected.

Dana did an excellent report on that. Did you get a sense, six weeks from now, seven weeks from now, when

they come back after the midterm elections, what their priorities might be? I guess a lot of it will depend on what is happening in Iraq and Syria.

BASH: A lot will depend on that. And let's be honest, a lot of it depends on what happens in the election. If Republicans take the Senate, there will be a very different set of priorities that the now- Democrat-controlled Senate can do. That's number one.

Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, was talking yesterday about the fact that when they come back they'll be ready to do this authorization of force but then we were told it might not happen then. It may not happen until the next Congress comes in.

BLITZER: This may be a lame-duck session until the new Congress is sworn in, in January?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST, STATE OF THE UNION & CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, sure, especially if the leadership changes hands in the Senate. It makes a huge difference. And they have to pass another C.R., right?

BASH: That's right.

CROWLEY: Another continuing resolution to keep the government in business and to keep arming the Syrian rebels. We see what comes up with that.

BLITZER: Let's talk a little bit about Hillary Clinton. She's becoming invisible. Everyone assumes she's going to run for the Democratic presidential nomination. What are you hearing?

BASH: I think what is fascinating is she gave a speech a short while ago at a Democratic leadership forum.

BLITZER: Today?

BASH: Just today. And to me, just watching her over the past few weeks, this was her comfort zone. She was speaking to women, about women, for women in a ballroom, mostly donors, but those were her people. She was in a groove. If she can capture that and keep that in her quiver, if you will, then she will really have a lot to do.

I think the other interesting thing is she was talking about women's issues in general but obviously she needs those people to vote for her if she runs for president and needs them for the midterm election.

BLITZER: Let me play a little clip of what she said. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Women up and down the income ladder face double standards and barriers to advancement. We see it with the middle class moms who take home less money than their male co-workers. We see it in the still too-small percentage of women in incorporate board rooms. And we see it in the motherhood penalty, with many women forced to take a pay cut when they have children, while men, who become fathers, often get a pay bump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Candy, go ahead and weigh in on this. These are obviously important issues.

CROWLEY: They are. And a couple things. Number one, it fits nicely for 2014 and 2016. So this is a twofer for her. She can stir that up. And the other thing that always strikes me, this is not what she did during the campaign.

BASH: Yep.

CROWLEY: And it is where she failed because, time after time after time, when you talk to young people in Iowa who came out in the caucuses in a way that no one had seen them, they thought history was Barack Obama. They did not see Hillary Clinton as, oh, my gosh, the first woman. They absolutely did not. To them, it was like, yeah, whatever. So she did not play the women card, as people like to call it, until it was too late.

BLITZER: That issue, women voters in particular, will be critical for Democrats out there. It's going to be make-or-break in many of these districts, Senate races and House races.

BASH: I was just talking to Anna Greenberg (ph), who is a Democratic pollster, who said, without a doubt, there is such a gender gap in these incredibly tight races, and women are so overwhelmingly potentially Democratic voters that if they were to fire up those female voters, as Hillary Clinton was just trying to do, it could make or break -- make a difference between Democrats, keeping the Senate and not keeping the Senate.

CROWLEY: But married women are more constant voters and tend to vote more in the midterm and tend to vote Republican.

BASH: That's true.

BLITZER: And older women as opposed to younger women?

CROWLEY: Yes.

BLITZER: What does that show?

CROWLEY: That demographic shows older people in general tend to be a -- older people, in general, tend to be a little more Republican, and women, older women are the same generally.

BASH: Which is why you're seeing in a lot of these very close Senate races in Colorado and Iowa, Democrats playing up the idea of the contraception, the Hobby Lobby decision, things that really do appeal to and affect younger women's' every day lives.

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Candy, Dana. Appreciate it.

This note to our viewers, don't forget to see CNN's "State of the Union" every Sunday with Candy at 9:00 a.m. eastern. This weekend, the former NFL player, Shannon Sharpe (ph), will weigh in on the allegations of abuse by several NFL players. That's with Candy Crowley on "State of the Union," Sunday morning.

Coming up, he served time in prison and now wants to represent his own state here on in Washington, Capitol Hill. We're going to find out why the former Louisiana governor, Edwin Edwards, is now running for Congress.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The state of Louisiana is known for its colorful politics but now the 87-year-old former governor and congressman, Edwin Edwards, is making headlines again. He wants to return to the U.S. Congress after serving time in prison for corruption, eight and a half years jail time.

Gloria Borger spoke with Edwards about his plans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): It's Sunday morning at the New Life Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

(MUSIC)

(SHOUTING)

BORGER: But the man preaching to the choir is no minister.

EDWIN W. EDWARDS, FORMER CONGRESSMAN, FORMER GOVERNOR & EX-CON: My God is not finished with me.

BORGER: He's Edwin W. Edwards, ex-four-term governor, ex-four-term congressman and ex-con.

EDWARDS: I may be old and rancid butter but I'm on your side of the bread.

(CHEERING)

(SINGING)

BORGER: Unrepentant and unapologetic, Edwards is in church not looking for forgiveness but for votes because, at 87, after almost nine years in prison, the flamboyant showman of Louisiana politics has a fresh act, running for Congress --

EDWARDS: Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

BORGER: -- co-starring, his new 35-year-old wife and their 1-year-old baby.

(on camera): Can you tell the story of how you two met?

TRINA GRIMES, WIFE OF EDWIN EDWARDS: You want his story or you want my story?

Trina Grimes began as Edward's prison pen pal, which led to love at first visit.

GRIMES: I was expecting him to be angry or bitter and he just wasn't.

EDWARDS: She said, if you don't mind, I only live 30 minutes from here, I would like to come back and visit you. That's like throwing a rubber raft around a drowning man.

GRIMES: He was so full of life and had such a good time even in the situation he was in. It was really an amazing thing. I have never known anyone like that before.

EDWARDS: We agreed to stay together when I got out. When the gates opened for me to leave, she was there with open arms and we haven't spent a night apart since.

BORGER: After marriage, along came Eli, a miracle of science. So now Edwards is the father to children in their 60s, a wife half their age, and a baby.

GRIMES: He changes his diapers. He baths him. He puts his clothes on. He feeds him.

BORGER (on camera): What's your secret?

EDWARDS: I never smoked, never used tobacco products of any kind. Never used alcohol. Nobody believes that. Nobody believes that. But I never used alcohol. And it boils down to two things, genes and moderation.

BORGER: What if they say you're kind of, you know, this is ridiculous, you're in your 80s.

EDWARDS: They said that when I announced that Trina and I were going to have a baby. I have living proof they were wrong.

BORGER: You do

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED NEWS ANCHOR: Governor Edwin Edwards awaits sentencing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BORGER: Edwards went to prison after a felony conviction for extorting millions in exchange for riverboat gambling licenses. After serving his time, he's living in a suburban chateau with reminders of himself as a younger governor. And the silver fox loves motoring around the neighborhood in a golf court. (LAUGHTER)

EDWARDS: You only as young as the woman you have and running is fun feeling her.

BORGER: If this seems like reality TV, it was. Briefly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRIMES: I'm the governor's wife.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BORGER (on camera): Tell me about doing the reality show. What was that like?

GRIMES: It's horrible.

(LAUGHTER)

BORGER: Horrible?

EDWARDS: It was unbelievable.

BORGER: (voice-over): They admit they are a bit of on odd couple.

EDWARDS: We're having fun.

BORGER: And it's not just about age. Trina is a Republican. And Edwards is an old time populist Democrat --

EDWARDS: You and me are the only old men here.

BORGER: -- who wants to return to Congress exactly 50 years since his first stint there.

(on camera): When the seat came up, what went through your mind?

EDWARDS: That's my chance. I got a second chance. I'm going to take it. I'm going to surprise everybody.

BORGER: Were you for this congressional race?

GRIMES: Not particularly. I would naturally support him in whatever he chose to do but it's really not my thing.

BORGER: What about people who also say he's a convicted felon, why do I want to send him to Washington, D.C., to represent me?

EDWARDS: People say, well, they're all crooks any way, you might as well send an experienced one.

(LAUGHTER)

But all this about how crooked I am and what I stole -- no one has ever charged me or accused me of taking money from the taxpayers. It had nothing to do with my career as a public official. Nothing.

BORGER: A local political columnist -- and I'm going to read this to you -- said, "If he cared, he would ask for forgiveness for making us a laughing stock for so many years."

EDWARDS: I don't pay any attention to it. And I don't think many people do.

JEREMY ALFORD, EDITOR, LAPOLITICS.COM: He's talked about this until he's blue in the face. And he knows that if he just keeps talking about it, it becomes noncontroversial.

EDWARDS: I would be much better off financially if I behaved myself and stayed home with my wife and my baby. But that's not what turns me on. It's not what I was born to do. I was born to serve people.

BORGER: (voice-over): If Edwards had his choice, he would run for governor again. But he has to settle for a federal office because felons can't run for Louisiana state office until they've been out of prison for 15 years, when Edwards would be 98.

(on camera): If you live long enough, you can run for governor.

EDWARDS: You're right. If for no other reason but to please my friends and shock my enemies.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: For an 87-year-old guy, he sounds lively and looks good.

BORGER: Yeah. Very vibrant.

BLITZER: What are his chances of being a member of the House of Representatives?

BORGER: Well, Wolf, the way Louisiana politics works is it's a crowded field. He's up against nine Republicans and some Democrats. And the top two finishers -- if nobody gets 50 percent of the vote, the top two finishers face-off against each other. There's a lot of feeling in this district, even though it's Republican, that because of his name recognition, he will get into the runoff. The question is, once he's in a runoff, will Edwin Edwards be able to get re-elected because he's a populist Democrat. He seems to think so.

And by the way, no political expert in that state I have spoken to is counting him out.

BLITZER: That would be a mistake.

BORGER: Yes.

BLITZER: And he spent eight and a half years in prison in Louisiana.

BORGER: In prison. And he's very interesting in talking about his years there and how he helped other inmates.

BLITZER: Gloria, excellent piece. Thanks very much.

That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching. I'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern. Another two-hour edition of "The Situation Room."

A reminder, CNN will bring you the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's news conference on domestic violence issues plaguing the league. That happens one hour from now, 3:00 p.m. eastern. Stay with CNN for that.

Meantime, NEWSROOM with Martin Savidge today starts right now.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Wolf.

Thank you, Wolf, very much.