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Obama Slams Huckabee's Holocaust Comment; Obama Blasts Trump And Defends McCain; Trump Tops Rivals In New CNN-ORC Poll; Turkey Joins Fight To Destroy ISIS; Huckabee Holocaust Comment Condemned; Interview with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz on the White House Race; Turkey Targets ISIS. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired July 27, 2015 - 13:00   ET

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


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Huckabee wasted little time firing right back. A spokesman issuing this statement, what's ridiculous and sad is that President Obama does not take Iran's repeated threats seriously. For decades, Iranian leaders have pledged to destroy, annihilate, and wipe Israel off the map with a big holocaust.

Our Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta is traveling with the president in Ethiopia right now. So, Jim, why did the president jump into this political fray right now?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, I think this might be the beginning of the surrogate in chief role that the president may be playing over the next 18 months. As you mentioned, he really has stayed out of the 2016 campaign fray. Even the White House has tried to do that. When we tried to ask questions at the White House press briefing, the White House press secretary, Josh Earnest simply tries to steer the conversation in a different direction.

But I talked to a top Democratic advisor today who talks to the White House who said that, you know, these comments from Mike Huckabee were just so offensive, so over the top that the president really had no chance but to respond.

And as I heard from one White House official, yes, you know, that is, in part, why the president had to say that. But also, the president cares very much about this Iran nuclear deal, described this deal as his baby and that he wants this debate to be on the facts.

BLITZER: The president also singled out Donald Trump today at that news conference. I want to play for our viewers what he said. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In fact, it's been interesting when you look at what's happening with Mr. Trump when he's made some of the remark that, for example, challenge the heroism of Mr. McCain, somebody who endured torture and conducted himself with exemplary patriotism.

The Republican Party is shocked and yet that arises out of a culture where, you know, those kinds of outrageous attacks have become far too commonplace and get circulated non-stop. We're creating a culture that is not conducive to good policy or good politics. The American people deserve better. Certainly presidential debates deserve better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Strong words from the president, Jim. Directly mentioning Donald Trump specifically by name this time. I guess that's part of this theory, as you say, --

ACOSTA: That's right.

BLITZER: -- he's going to be surrogate in chief?

ACOSTA: I think so, Wolf, because, you know, just recently, I tried to press White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, to comment on Donald Trump and Earnest would not even use the word Trump during those press briefings. So, to hear the president go after Donald Trump the way he did was rather remarkable.

But at the same time, you know, this is a president who has tangled with Donald Trump before. Remember back in 2011, when Donald Trump was demanding on the president to release his birth certificate and then he finally did. The president referring to Donald Trump as a, quote, "carnival barker" at the time.

So, the president, you can tell, I think he's been storing up a lot of these campaign comments over recent weeks. He went after Senator Ted Cruz for saying that the Iran nuclear deal would make the Obama administration a leading financier of terrorism in the world.

The president went after Tom Cotton who described secretary of state, John Kerry, as playing the role of Pontius Pilate. You get the sense that this president is just fed up. And as you know, Wolf, this White House is coordinating (INAUDIBLE) with Hillary Clinton's campaign for her election campaign for the White House in 2016. So, it's not surprising to hear the president come out so forcefully.

But I think, Wolf, from here on forward, the bear is loose, as they like to say at the White House.

BLITZER: It certainly is. All right, Jim Acosta traveling with the president in Ethiopia. Safe travels over there. Thank you.

Despite the criticism from President Obama and some of his Republican rivals, Donald Trump comes out on top in a new CNN-ORC poll. Trump is at 18 percent nationally among Republicans. Former Florida Governor, Jeb Bush, comes in second with 15 percent. He's followed by Wisconsin governor, Scott Walker, at 10 percent. None of the other Republican candidates, and there are many of them, were in double digits.

Let's bring in our CNN Political Director David Chalian and our Senior Political Reporter Nia-Malika Henderson. Donald Trump, it's fair to say, David, he's the front-runner among Republicans right now.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Oh, there's no doubt about it. And he's solidifying his front-runner status. We've seen this rise. And remember, this is the first national poll conducted by a telephone survey which we trust that was done entirely after the controversial comments he made about John McCain.

So, it's like Teflon Trump. Like, there's no -- there's nothing that's sticking to him right now that we, in the press, get really worked up about or the Republican establishment gets really worked up about. It doesn't stick to him. He is clearly sort of defining the rules of play in this Republican nomination.

[13:05:06] BLITZER: So, those pundits, very quickly, who were saying, after the John McCain statement that Donald Trump made, that this is the beginning of the end of Donald Trump, those pundits, at least so far, have proven to be wrong.

CHALIAN: We don't see evidence of that here at all.

BLITZER: Do you see any evidence of that?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: No evidence of that so far. Pundits said that, Republicans said that and, in some ways, I think for Republicans, it was a hope and a prayer, right, that this would be the beginning of the end for Donald Trump. I think he's tapping into what we've seen a lot over these last couple of years, this sort of Tea Party movement, folks who don't like the government, folks who feel left behind, left out of the Democratic administration. So, he's been able to channel that. And he's, in some ways, I think, dialing back some of the more harsher rhetoric that we've seen from him so far. But it's working for him, whatever he's doing.

BLITZER: A lot of Trump -- his rivals would like him to go away. But take a look at this, 52 percent of Republican voters, according to our poll, want him to stay in the race and continue his run. 15 percent want him to run as an independent. About a third say he should drop out. When you assess those numbers, what do you see?

CHALIAN: You know, all movement ahead for Donald Trump. I mean, if a majority of Republicans are saying, let's stay in this race, if the most enthusiastic Republicans who are most animated and engaged in this election are saying, hey, you're my guy, then all signs point to him moving forward and being with us for a while. And I'm not quite sure about the 15 percent who say he should run as an independent because I think most polling shows that would almost the election gets handed to a Democrat.

BLITZER: Trump's unfavorable rating still pretty high, as you see in our poll. Among Democrats, not surprising, 80 percent, 53 percent of independents, 42 percent of Republicans have an unfavorable view of Donald Trump. Potentially, does that spell some trouble for him?

HENDERSON: But he's still riding high, in terms of people who do like him. I think he's second to Huckabee, in terms of favorability ratings there. So, I mean, relative to the field, I mean, in this Republican field, he's doing OK. But you're right, when you take it to the general, he's got problems there. In matchups against Hillary Clinton, doesn't do so well, 80 percent of Democrats. Independents certainly don't like it and those are the kind of swing voters that will be so crucial in a general.

CHALIAN: Exactly. That's why we see the agida (ph) with the Republican establishment over the Trump candidacy because although he's running really strong and clearly tapping into a vein of support inside the Republican nomination race, he still has a lot of work to do as a general election candidate. He's losing to Hillary Clinton in the matchups. He is not -- 59 percent of the overall public see him as unfavorable. That is not the -- those are not the numbers of success for a general election candidate.

BLITZER: All right, guys, we are going to continue to dissect these numbers, a lot to assess right now. David Chalian, Nia-Malika Henderson, thanks very much.

The new 2016 poll numbers don't especially look good, at least right now, for the GOP. There are also some troubling numbers in there for the Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton. We're going to ask the chair of the DNC if the party is worried about the front- runner for the nomination. Stand by.

And Turkey joining the fight against ISIS in a major way right now. But could that country have its own agenda in this war? That and a lot more coming up.

[13:08:14]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Like several other Jewish organizations, the ADL, Anti- Defamation League, is condemning a comment by the Republican presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee, comparing the Iran nuclear deal with the holocaust. In the statement, the ADL national director, Jonathan Greenblatt, said, and I'm quoting him now, "comments such as those by Mike Huckabee suggesting the president is leading Israel to another holocaust are completely out of line and unacceptable." He went on to say, quote, "to hear Mr. Huckabee invoke the holocaust when America is Israel's greatest ally and when Israel is a strong nation capable of defending itself is disheartening."

Joining us now from Manchester, New Hampshire is Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She's chair of the Democratic National Committee. I want to quickly get your reaction, Congresswoman, to Mike Huckabee's comments that this Iran nuclear deal potentially, in his words, opening the door for Israelis to the oven.

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, CHAIRWOMAN, DNC: Well, I agree with ADL and their sentiments wholeheartedly. It is outrageous and unacceptable for any presidential candidate, any politician to make cavalier references to -- and analogies to the holocaust. No matter how people feel about the Iran deal, no matter where anyone comes out on it, they are entitled to their opinion. They should dissect it. We should debate it. But to make the suggestion, A, that there is some comparison to the six million Jews that lost their lives and millions of other non-Jews in the gas chambers to preventing Iran in a deal from achieving the nuclear weapon is an outrageous, unacceptable analogy. And Mike Huckabee owes the Jewish community and the American people an apology.

BLITZER: Are you going to vote for this Iran nuclear deal? You're a member of the House.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: I'm in the middle of, really, reviewing it and looking at all the moving parts to the Iran deal. I've had many administration briefings. I've talked to experts on both sides of the deal. And I'm going to go home and speak to my constituents who have been weighing in. And, you know, I'll reach a conclusion on what I'm going to do with my vote once I really feel like I've been able to thoroughly review the whole deal.

BLITZER: So, the president and his supporters, they haven't yet convinced you that it's a good deal?

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Well, I think that there are -- that there's merit to the deal. There's a lot of merit to the deal. But there's also a legitimate cause for concern and I think this is a decision that no member of Congress should make lightly. You know, I found it particularly outrageous that you had some Republicans clearly who had not read the deal, who had not thoroughly examined it, who came out in less than 24 hours from its being announced in opposition to it. That's just not responsible. Nor would it be responsible for me to come out in favor of it that quickly.

[13:15:10] I want to take my time. My constituents at home have very strong opinions. It's a very well-educated pro-Israel district and, you know, I have a lot of respect from them and their opinion and I want to seek it while also making sure that I thoroughly understand all its implications. And as a pro-Israel legislator myself, it's very, very important to get this right.

BLITZER: Because without, obviously, making any comparisons, analogies to the Holocaust and Hitler and ovens or anything like that, based on what you see right now, do you think that this deal endangers Israel?

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: I think that we need to make sure that Iran never achieves its goal of attaining a nuclear weapon. That has clearly been President Obama's top priority from day one in initiating and pursuing this deal. That's the -- that's what the deal actually says that Iran will not be allowed to attain a nuclear weapon. But like I said, Wolf, there's a lot of moving parts.

You know, as far as the analogies to the Holocaust, what I also find outrageous is that not a single Republican presidential candidate running has called out Mike Huckabee's comments as unacceptable or outrageous. This is par for the course, a consistent pattern where they're willing to make extreme comments -- you know Huckabee, obviously, is not gaining much traction in the primary and is trying to get some attention, you know, bringing the Holocaust into a very serious discussion that requires our attention and our careful deliberation is unacceptable, insulting, deeply hurtful for the Jewish community. And, like I said, he owes -- he owes the Jewish community and the American people an apology and I also would call on all 15 other candidate -- Republican candidates for president to repudiate what Mike Huckabee said because it's outrageous. BLITZER: On "NEW DAY" -- CNN's "NEW DAY" earlier today, a spokesman

for Donald Trump, Michael Cohen, he defended Huckabee's comments, making that comparison to the Holocaust.

I want to quickly get your reaction, though, to our latest poll numbers and the CNN/ORC poll. Hillary Clinton's unfavorability number right now is at 49 percent nationwide. Forty-nine percent of the American public have an unfavorable opinion of Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump's unfavorable number nationwide is 59 percent. So they're not all that far apart. Here's the question for you as the chair of the DNC and Hillary Clinton's clearly the front-runner for the Democratic nomination. Why do almost half of the American people have an unfavorable opinion of Hillary Clinton?

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Well, Wolf, number one, not surprising that Donald Trump would defend Mike Huckabee's comments. Donald Trump is the king of outrageous comments and we'll see on August 6 the Republican field busily trying to outrageous one another.

As far as polls, you know, we've had this conversation, you and I, so many times. We're 18 months from Election Day. You know, polls are going to show some candidates up, some candidates down. What's important is that the candidates, both sides of the aisle, get out and communicate the direction that they would take this country. Whether it's Hillary Clinton or any of our Democratic candidates for president, they would continue to make sure that we could continue the economic recovery. We've been through 64 months of job growth in the private sector after we were losing 750,000 jobs a month when Barack Obama took off. What the Republican field would do is end Medicare as we know it and turn it into a voucher system, move towards privatization of Social Security and continue to cut taxes and take care of the wealthiest most fortunate Americans at the top and to heck with the middle class. And that's the contrast that we're going to have, the debate we'll have throughout this election cycle. And I know we all look -- on our side of the aisle, we look forward to that debate because the American people are with us when it comes to continuing to move our nation forward. They don't want to go backward, which is where any of the Republican candidates would take us.

BLITZER: Debbie Wasserman Schultz is a U.S. congresswoman from Florida. She's also the chair of the DNC, the Democratic National Committee.

Congresswoman, thanks very much for joining us.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: For the latest in politics, by the way, you can always go over to cnnpolitics.com for all the most important, the best political coverage out there.

Coming up, the latest in the war against ISIS. Turkey now joining in the fray and it could be a game changer potentially. What this means for the U.S., the allies and a whole lot more in this war against ISIS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:23:52] BLITZER: President Obama didn't miss an opportunity today to defend his administration's nuclear deal with Iran. Congress was given 60 days to review the deal and the Secretary of State John Kerry says it would be embarrassing for lawmakers to reject it. President Obama believes it's the best chance to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's a reason why 99 percent of the world thinks this is a good deal. It's because it's a good deal. There's a reason why the overwhelming majority of nuclear scientists and nonproliferation experts think it's a good deal. It's because it's a good deal. It accomplishes our goal, which is making sure Iran does not have a nuclear weapon. In fact, it accomplishes that goal better than any alternative that has been suggested.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The United Nations Security Council has already endorsed the deal with Iran. They voted unanimously at the U.N. Security Council in favor of the deal.

NATO ministers are set to meet Tuesday after Turkey called for emergency talks. The Turkish government says it plans to address its growing security threat. Turkey has recently ramped up its efforts to fight terrorists, launching air strikes on ISIS positions in Syria and bombing Kurdish positions in northern Iraq. It comes during a wave of violence in Turkey.

[13:25:12] Our senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is joining us from Beirut, along with our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr and our CNN contributor Michael Weiss. He's the author of the important book "ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror."

Nick, what kind of security threat in Turkey right now, what kind of threat is it facing and how significant are these latest Turkish moves.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It really changes the dynamic in northern Syria and in southern Turkey irreversibly. Turkey has long been accused of sitting on the fence, not really getting involved in the U.S. coalition against ISIS. Perhaps some say because it's worried about what it may see in the months ahead, and that's retaliation against targets in southern Turkey. One attack like that against a Kurdish (INAUDIBLE) initiated these attacks as well, but also those critics of the Turkish government say actually they've been soft on ISIS because they've also wanted to see them in play against their other adversary who they're also bombing here, the Kurds.

This is where it gets particularly complex. The Kurds are, in fact, fighting ISIS and assisting coalition air power and strikes against ISIS, but they're also the enemies or certain parts of the Kurds are enemies of Turkey. So Turkey's effectively bombing both sides of the fight here against ISIS. The Kurds and ISIS themselves arresting over a thousand, we're now hearing, in sweeps across southern Turkey. And really now with this desire tomorrow to meet at NATO and express its concerns and perhaps hear offers of support from other members, too, massively widening its involvement here, potentially dragging in further resources from NATO. And I think there are many looking at this and the potential calls from both American and Turkish officials for a chunk of the border, along southern Turkey in northern Syria, to be turned into a safe zone. Unclear how that's really going to work. Massively changing the dynamic in northern Syria. This is the beginning of a new chapter, Wolf.

BLITZER: It's a huge, new development.

Barbara, the fact that Turkey now, which is a NATO ally, after all, will finally allow the U.S. to use its F-16s, other war planes, to launch air strikes from the Incirlik (ph) Air Base, other air bases in Turkey against ISIS targets in Syria, what are officials there saying about that?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, from the U.S. military point of view, it gives them a good deal of additional flexibility. They're that much closer to targets in northern Syria, in northern Iraq. That means warplanes can stay up longer, they can stay on station, they can look for additional targets and they can strike more. All of that is translating into what everybody is now talking about, this new ISIS-free area on the ground. By all accounts, a very narrow strip along the border. Not a no-fly zone, but if you have U.S. warplanes up there, it's just that much more ability to keep an eye on the border and try and keep both the rebel fighters and civilians safe from ISIS.

But I have to tell you, Wolf, the Pentagon, today, very much scrambling to keep up with all of this and try and explain exactly what is in play here. President Obama and the Turkish leader agreed to a framework to talk about it, to discuss cooperation. Now it's up to both militaries to try and put some detail to all of that. It's a great idea in the view of the Pentagon. They Still haven't figured out how to make it work.

Wolf.

BLITZER: Well, very quickly, Barbara, I know the U.S. is pleased that Turkey is launching strikes against ISIS in Syria, but what's the U.S. reaction to Turkey launching strikes against Kurdish positions in northern Iraq and elsewhere?

STARR: You know, as Nick was just saying, very complex. You have two groups of Kurds, one called the PKK mainly in northern Iraq, a terrorist organization. The U.S. has called for them to renounce violence and the Turks have been striking them. The U.S. pretty much would like to stay out of that. They want to keep focusing on ISIS.

But in Syria, the Kurds who were there, sort of known by their translated name, the YPG, these are some of the most capable fighters in northern Syria that have been pushing ISIS back, that have been having a lot of success in putting some ISIS elements on their heels in northern Syria. So the U.S. doesn't want to do anything to lessen the support for that group of Kurds in northern Syria because they think they're effective against ISIS. How this will all sort out with the Turks, what exactly the Turks will let those U.S. warplanes do still remains to be seen, Wolf.

BLITZER: Well, Michael Weiss, give us some perspective on what's going on. As Barbara and Nick just pointed out, it gets sort of complex over there.

[13:29:41] MICHAEL WEISS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, I mean, look, the PYD -- we rely on a very pydantic (ph) reading of sort of what distinguishes them from the PKK. The PYD themselves acknowledge, we are the Syrian arm of the Kurdish -- or Kurdistan workers party, which as Barbara mentioned, is a designated terrorist organization. So what you have, Wolf, essentially is this, operation inherent resolve now consists of the U.S. providing close air support to the Syrian affiliate of a Turkish designated terrorist organization which Turkey is now bombing alongside ISIS, which that Syrian affiliate has been at war with.