Return to Transcripts main page

WOLF

Rep. King Comments On Donald Trump; White House, Republicans Weigh In on Trump's McCain Comments; Friend Says Chattanooga Shooter Discussed ISIS; Controversy over Scott Walkers' Gay Boy Scout Leader Comments. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired July 20, 2015 - 13:30   ET

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


[13:30:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: A quick unrelated matter about Donald Trump, his comments. Your reaction.

REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: Totally wrong. I'm not one of those people who generally attack Donald Trump. He loud mouthed New York. That is so wrong. It's morally wrong. John McCain is a genuine hero and the thought that anyone who spent five years in a prison and passed up the opportunity to get out before the others, I can't imagine anything more heroic. It's sacrilegious. It crosses a line that's totally indefensible. It goes beyond politics. We could say a lot of things about each other but I would never question the patriotism, bravery, courage, heroism of John McCain.

BLITZER: As some Republican presidential candidates say, this disqualifies Donald Trump as a candidate. Should he drop out of the race?

KING: I think he has to apologize, let the voters decide. He's made himself untenable as a candidate. What he's going to end up with is hard core within the party, it might be anti-immigrant or anti-McCain, that's a small segment. As far as normal people, regular people, intelligent people, everyday people, they won't stand for that.

Again, I was at a ball game last night in New York in Brooklyn and I had people coming up to me, not political ideologues at all, they came from different races, backgrounds, whatever, and they said the same thing, what Donald Trump did is wrong. You should never say anything like that about John McCain. This man is a genuine hero. I can't begin to appreciate what John McCain went through questioning his heroism is beyond me.

BLITZER: Congressman King, thank you for joining us.

KING: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Coming up, more on Donald Trump's GOP rivals. They're not wasting any time. They're going after him. You'll hear their angry reaction about his comments about Senator John McCain's war hero status.

Now even the White House, the press secretary, they are weighing in. Stand by. We'll tell you what the White House is now saying.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[13:36:15] JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Even in the midst of their 2008 campaign for the White House, Senator Barack Obama expressed his admiration and deep respect for Senator John McCain's heroism. There are political differences between Senator McCain and President Obama. Have continued even while President Obama has been in office. But those debates have not reduced his appreciation for Senator McCain's remarkable service to the country. The fact is, the most notable comment in this episode came from Senator McCain himself, who I think pretty selflessly made clear that he didn't really care about an apology but he did believe that our military veterans are entitled to one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The White House, as you just saw, weighing in on Donald Trump's headline-grabbing comments over the weekend, stating Senator John McCain is not necessarily a war hero because he was captured.

This morning, Republican rival, Jeb Bush, weighed in on Trump's remarks while voicing support for a military spending proposal of John McCain's. Bush said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: I support initiatives by the respected chairman of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, John McCain, a real hero, by the way.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Bush's biggest applause line, by the way.

Now listen to Trump's other Republican rivals blasting his comments about Senator McCain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's not just absurd, it's offensive. It's ridiculous. And I do think it's a disqualifier as commander-in-chief.

RICK PERRY, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER TEXAS GOVERNOR: Donald Trump owes every American veteran and, in particular, John McCain, an apology.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He crossed a line today that will offend most everyone that I know. And in my view, the Democratic process is going to lead to him hearing what he is so fond of saying, "You're fired."

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's a true and humbling privilege to serve in the Senate with an American hero like John McCain.

GOV. SCOTT WALKER (R), WISCONSIN, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is an honorable man. And you may have a policy disagreement with him here or there but we should never, ever, ever question the patriotism and the heroism of someone like John McCain.

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR: John McCain is a hero. What John McCain did was the most honorable, sacrificial service that a man could give to his country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Joining us, Michael Smerconish, the host of CNN's "Smerconish," joining us from Philadelphia. Also joining us, CNN political commentators, Kevin Madden and Paul Begala. They're here with me in Washington.

Michael, first to you.

Do you think it's going to sink the Trump campaign?

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN HOST: I do. I think this is the beginning of the final act. And I think the ripple effects of this extend further than Donald Trump. I appreciate what you just rolled of all the GOP candidates doing now what's obvious, and that's condemning his speech. But they should have done it two weeks ago, and I think Jeb Bush in particular blew a great opportunity. He should have taken on the Donald when Trump made the statement about Mexican rapists -- which was Jeb, who said you need to be prepared to lose primaries to win the general. Trump teed up a great opportunity and Jeb didn't hit it. And he should have.

BLITZER: Kevin, do you think this is over now for all practical purposes, the Trump Republican quest for the presidential nomination?

KEVIN MADDEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's the beginning of the end. I think it's part of a process. I think this information will get to voters and even those that initially may have had some level of support for Donald Trump I think they'll see they're going to see a revelation in his character as well as temperament that will lead them to look at other candidates.

BLITZER: Paul?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Wishful thinking. It is, to paraphrase Churchill, not even the end of the beginning. Mr. Trump will continue to say outrages you things. The problem is with the Republicans the base, the party, the heart of the base, Republicans, they all admire John McCain and admire his heroism but the base of their party is as John McCain said, crazy. Michael is right, by the way, Jeb Bush wussed out when Donald Trump called Mexican immigrants rapists, but he moved up in the poll. He was rewarded by the crazy base voters. The Republicans' problem is that the base of their party are people who agree with this kind of hate.

(CROSSTALK) [13:40:45] MADDEN: I think the candidates were too careful at first when the -- when Donald Trump made those very offensive remarks about Mexican Americans. But I think right now what you're seeing is the party take a dramatic shift this weekend, taking the -- taking Donald Trump head on to confronting this type of rhetoric. And, you know, many candidates right now will see it as an opportunity that this is their chance to really draw some stark contrasts about the direction of the party. This is an opportunity for these candidates.

BLITZER: Do you think, Michael, it's possible -- because there's a lot of speculation out there that if he were to drop out as a Republican presidential candidate he could pull a Ross Perot and run as a third party Independent candidate. Certainly he's got a lot of money to do it as Ross Perot did.

SMERCONISH: I'm glad you asked. I've been paying close attention to Peter Ackerman and his changetherule.org group. I spoke with Frank Farenkopf, the co-chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates. Independent of the Donald, there is a move afoot to expand that debate stage in the fall. And it could be that individuals having no motivation to help the Donald are setting the table for him. And one thing about it, we can all debate even now -- and these two guys are brilliant. We can debate whether Ross Perot really pulled from George Herbert Walker Bush or whether, in fact, he took from Bill Clinton. But we would all agree if he's on that stage with a Republican and Democrat, he's pulling only from an "R," and helping Hillary Clinton.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Is that true?

MADDEN: That's a very big risk right now for Republicans. That's why I think they were careful not to engage. Many folks -- never find just the candidates but inside the establishment, folks at the RNC, they didn't want to give Donald Trump what he wanted, more oxygen, more attention. I think one of the big worries is that if you push him into a position where he says -- and he said this, he said he'll run as an Independent. That would take more votes away from Republicans.

BLITZER: It'll be great news for the Democratic nominee --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: -- if he were to run a la Ross Perot.

BEGALA: Not a la Ross Perot. There's data on this. There's mythology and data. The data are clear. Mr. Perot drew equally from Governor Clinton and President Obama -- President Bush. They asked Perot voters, if you had not had the choice of Perot, who would you choose? Equal numbers said Bush and Clinton. This is different. Michael is right. We don't need to debate facts. There's no doubt if Mr. Trump runs as a third party candidacy he will draw from the crazy base, not moderate swing voters the way Perot did.

BLITZER: We'll see what happens. That's obviously a nightmare scenario for the Republicans right now.

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: A dream.

BLITZER: It's a nightmare scenario for the Republicans, I said.

BEGALA: OK.

BLITZER: It's a dream scenario for the Democrats, if that were to happen.

BEGALA: And cable news.

BLITZER: Yeah. Obviously.

(LAUGHTER)

Thanks very much, guys.

This just in. We're just hearing now from a friend of the Chattanooga killer, Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez, who says he discussed the terror group ISIS at length with Abdulazeez. The interview that you will see and hear only here on CNN. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:48:13] BLITZER: This just coming into CNN. A close friend of the Chattanooga gunman is offering new clues into the mind-set of Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez. Abdulazeez was killed in a shootout last Thursday after attacking and killing four U.S. Marines and a U.S. sailor.

Our senior investigative correspondent, Drew Griffin, is on the scene getting new information.

Drew, tell our viewers what you're learning.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: James Petty has been a friend of Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez for about a year. He's a Southern Baptist who converted along with Mohammed's help to Islam. He last saw him on July 10 at prayers. Everything from what we've heard is the same, he was happy go lucky, there was no problems.

We had a wide ranging discussion about shooting guns, about smoking pot and also ISIS, and the conversation is not what you might expect. Take a listen.

GRIFFIN: Did you ever talk about the conflicts in the Middle East?

JAMES PETTY, FRIEND OF MOHAMMAD YOUSSUF ABDULAZEEZ: Not too much. It was more like a -- what they're doing is wrong.

GRIFFIN: Who?

PETTY: Mohammed -- who was doing wrong or? GRIFFIN: Right.

PETTY: Like ISIS mainly. Groups, any terror groups like ISIS.

GRIFFIN: What did he say?

PETTY: That it was a stupid group and completely against Islam and not to think about going towards them. And I felt like it wasn't kind of in a sense I'm with their group so I don't want you to do like me. It was more like just stay away, this is not where you should be going towards.

GRIFFIN: You felt he truly believed in his heart at that moment that what ISIS is doing was wrong?

PETTY: Yes, sir.

GRIFFIN: And that any kind of radical Islamic terrorism is wrong?

PETTY: Yes, sir.

GRIFFIN: And he discussed that?

PETTY: He did.

GRIFFIN: Did you ever notice anything out of sync with this guy?

PETTY: I believe not. He was the most genuine, kind, sweet person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:50:25] GRIFFIN: Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez, described by his friend, James Petty, he said was more American than I was. Never talked disparagingly about anything in the U.S. He said his friend did have a big problem, Wolf, with marijuana. He didn't drink but he smoked a lot of marijuana. He took pain medications, supposedly, from a back injury because of wrestling. But contrary to what the family is saying -- and James Petty spent time at the home, sleeping over -- he said he never noticed in the year he knew him anything resembling any kind of mental illness or depression whatsoever.

We just completed that interview. And, again, he is questioning like every other person we know, questioning what could have motivated or snapped, as he said, in Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez's mind to do what he did.

BLITZER: His family says he was suffering from depression, bipolar disease and other ailments as well.

Drew, we'll continue to follow this story, obviously for our viewers in the United States and around the world.

Just ahead, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is generating some headlines over his stance on gay leaders in the Boy Scouts. CNN's exclusive interview with Scott Walker. Raising lots of questions as he seeks the Republican presidential nomination. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:55:54] BLITZER: The United Nations is now firmly behind the Iran nuclear deal. The U.N. Security Council voting unanimously to give its endorsement to the agreement and the U.S. Congress is now officially reviewing the agreement after receiving the official copy from the State Department over the weekend. President Obama says he will veto any attempts to change the nuclear deal.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter is in Israel today trying to smooth things over with critics of the agreement. The White House wants to reassure Israel that the U.S. will continue to support Israel's security in the region.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASH CARTER, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Israel is a cornerstone for our strategy in the Middle East. And its security and qualitative military edge are a top priority for America, for our military and for me personally. That's especially true when it comes to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, which the deal, reached in Vienna last week, which is a good deal, is designed to do. Friends can disagree about whether it will work and we'll be watching Iran very closely to see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The defense secretary will also visit Saudi Arabia and Jordan this week before heading back to Washington.

In political news here in the United States, the Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders' campaign is continuing to pick up steam. The Vermont Senator drew around 8,000 people in Dallas, Texas. In Phoenix, 11,000 people showed up for his events. That's the most so far. He continues to push forward.

A week into his presidential campaign, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is being overshadowed by the controversy surrounding Donald Trump. But Walker is making headlines of his own, especially for his stance on gay leaders in the Boy Scouts. The organization is currently taking steps to end its ban on gay leaders.

Our chief congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, caught up with him and spoke exclusively with him about his campaign. They met on his campaign bus.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Earlier this week, you said that the Boy Scouts of America should keep its ban on gay leaders because the policy protected children and values and your campaign clarified to say it was really protecting the Scouts from the political and media discussion about that. I'm having trouble understanding that. What -- at the end of the day, what is your position? SCOTT WALKER, (R), WISCONSIN GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm

not talking about personal protection. I'm talking about -- for me, the reason I have a problem with it, it puts it into a cultural and political debate. Scouting is about camping and citizenship and instead of pulling all of these other issues out there and I hope we can stay focused. That's all.

BASH: So -- but should there be a ban on allowing gay men to be scout leaders?

WALKER: That's up to the people who run the Boy Scouts. One thing that is unique, people ask me a question, I'll answer a question.

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: But you're not answering this.

WALKER: Sure. In this case, I thought the policy was just fine. When I was in Scouts, it was fine. You're asking what should the policy be going forward and it should be left up to the leaders and the Scouts.

BASH: Do you think being gay is a choice?

WALKER: That's not even an issue for me to be involved in. The bottom line is I'm going to stand up for every American, regardless of who they are and no matter where they come from and not matter what their background. I'm going to fight for people no whether they vote for me or not.

BASH: To act on behalf of people, to do that properly, you have to understand or at least have an opinion on who they are and where they are coming from.

WALKER: But, again, I don't have an opinion on every single issue out there. To me, that's -- I don't know. I don't know the answer to that question. I don't know what the answer to that is. And, again, I'm going to spend my time focused on what I do know and what I can work on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[13:59:59] BLITZER: Good interview by Dana Bash.

That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching.

For our international viewers, "AMANPOUR" is up next.

For our viewers here in North America, "NEWSROOM" with Brooke Baldwin starts right now.