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CNN NEWSROOM

Democratic Congressional Campaign Hacked, Similar to DNC Hack; Trump Fires Back After A General Says Hillary Is The Only One Qualified To Be President; Mother-Daughter Hug Between Clintons Resonates; Panel Discusses; Minnesota Prosecutor Speaks On Case Of Philando Castile Death. Aired 10:30-11:00a ET

Aired July 29, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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


[10:30:00]

VOICE OF MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: ... what kind of record that these hackers have accessed. But it raises the possibility that alleged Russian hackers may have gotten a much, much broader swap of records than we originally thought.

So whether the records are ultimately released somehow, they're leaked, it could have another major political effect right in the middle of this hugely contentious (ph) election year. So the Committee says, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee says there's an investigation that is ongoing. They're going to -- they're still awaiting results, they're cooperating with federal investigators.

But it has been hacked, adding another subplot on this already very, very contentious (ph) year ...

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN HOST, "NEWSROOM": Well, let, let ... let me stop you for just a minute, Manu. Because I just, I just want to make it clear. I know you don't know what kind of records were hacked but what kind of records might have been hacked? What are we talking about here?

VOICE OF RAJU: Well if it's similar to the DNC we could be talking about private emails. And that could be emails between Congressional leadership and members of Congress, emails between donors and operatives, emails between aides and reporters. We don't really know. But it could be all sorts of communication, depending on the sweep of it.

But again, we don't know. But if they're saying this is similar to the DNC, then it's potentially similar in nature -- the types of records these hackers may have accessed, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Manu Raju, I'll let you get back to it. But more disturbing information about cyber hacking into the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee this time.

All right, onto last night and Hillary Clinton. Because she came out swinging at Donald Trump. Now he's hitting back this morning. In addition to a new ad, Mr. Trump is tweeting up a storm. "Crooked Hillary said that I couldn't handle the rough and tumble of a political campaign. Really? Just beat 16 people and am beating her."

Trump was not happy with retired Marine Corps General John Allen, either. Who had this message for voters:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ALLEN, MARINE CORPS GENERAL, RETIRED: The stakes are enormous. We must not, and we could not, stand on the sidelines. This election can carry us to a future of unity and hope. Or to a dark place of discord and fear. I tell you without hesitation or reservation that Hillary Clinton will be exactly, exactly the kind of Commander in Chief America needs. I know this. I know this because I served with her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Trump's response, "General John Allen, who I never met, but spoke against me last night, failed badly in his fight against ISIS. His record = bad #NeverHillary." With me to talk about this once again, my panel, Julian Zelizer, Marc Lamont Hill, Sally Kohn, and Katrina Pierson. Welcome to all of you.

So Julian, I -- we'll start with you. So General Allen is very well respected. He's a very well-respected General among the troops. The military newspapers have done stories, glowing stories on him. So will this hurt Donald Trump or is Donald Trump right?

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well I think national security can hurt Donald Trump. People think Republicans have a lock on this issue. And it's not true. Since George W. Bush we saw the Republican advantage on these kinds of issues erode. Hillary Clinton has immense experience in this field.

Sure there's the email scandal, there's controversy over handling ISIS. But she brings to the table a record in dealing with this that is a striking contrast to the current Republican candidate. And this is a vulnerability for Donald Trump. There are questions, what does he actually know? What does he understand? And in the next few weeks, especially when it comes debate time, he is going to be under a lot of pressure to prove his credentials. So this is an opening Democrats are going to take.

COSTELLO: So one of the lines last night was that Donald Trump maligns our military, says it's a complete disaster. That's what the Democrats accuse Donald Trump of doing. Donald Trump is now telling this General, who led in the fight against ISIS, that he was an unmitigated disaster, essentially ...

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right, that he had a bad record.

COSTELLO: So is there danger in that for Donald Trump?

HILL: There is danger. I would say this though. I think, I think you're right. I think this is absolute -- I think any area which requires expertise and discipline and rigor is an area of weakness for Donald Trump. But actually when you look at the -- Sally, of course mentioned that (ph). But no, but when you look at what happens post- terror attack, people are looking to Donald Trump.

When you look at Donald Trump's strengths among voters it actually is national security and the fight against terror. Whether that's reasonable or not is a different case. But I do think where the challenge comes in is in debates where you have to actually show expertise and nuance. As opposed to simply saying, "smoke 'em out, bomb 'em, kill 'em."

But with regard to the General, I think you're absolutely right. I think at some point Donald Trump's schtick does wear thin. Whereas then often times is with Americans -- we have a very romantic idea about the military. It's one thing to say I disagree with you, it's another thing to tell a General, "you're a disaster." Particularly when you've never been in a theater, when you've never been in a war room, and you've never had any kind of engagement with these, with these ideas.

COSTELLO: So I want to pose that question to Katrina. Is there a -- what exactly is Donald Trump saying? Is he saying that the Generals in charge of the fight against ISIS are a disaster?

[10:35:30]

KATRINA PIERSON, NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON FOR DONALD TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN: Well I'd like to first point out that Barack Obama had zero experience when he was elected, and elected twice. But what I will say is, what Mr. Trump knows ...

HILL: You saw that as a bad thing, right?

PIERSON: ... what the people know. That the American public knows the difference now between the military and the military industrial complex. Donald Trump supports the military and the troops, while Hillary Clinton and the warmongers support the military industrial complex.

And when we look at what Hillary Clinton's record is, particularly in the Middle East, we now have ISIS. Because the United States has been invading foreign countries, taking out leaders, leaving vacuums for ISIS and other entities to flourish. And now they're here on our shores.

Donald Trump knows ...

ZELIZER: That would stay shored (ph) under a Republican president (ph).

PIERSON: ... no, we have to get that under control. And we cannot do that by Hillary Clinton posting up the same failed reform. Saying things like ...

COSTELLO: So ...

PIERSON: ... and we need more intelligence. But where has that been for the last 15 years?

COSTELLO: So, I just want to be clear. So Donald Trump supports the troops, but not their leaders?

PIERSON: He supports ...

SALLY KOHN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's like you've seen her just pop (ph) it over.

PIERSON: ... we had Lieutenant General Michael Flynn speak at the Republican convention. There are several Generals who disagree. You have those who will tell you the truth about readiness, about financing, about needing the equipment (ph) that they need ...

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: So was General Allen lying?

PIERSON: ... members who just support more war.

COSTELLO: OK so General Allen is a warmonger?

KOHN: So you think that the troops ...

KOHN: So ...

PIERSON: Is that for me?

KOHN: ... it seems that Katrina is saying that the troops, the troops who don't, who don't support Donald Trump, Donald Trump thinks is a liar. Let's be clear, Donald Trump said that he knows more about ISIS than the generals. Let's just be clear. The builder reality T.V. show -- you know -- he knows more about ISIS than the generals.

Now we can talk about the fight against ISIS, we can talk about how they are actually losing ground, we can go into all of that. But this, on this, we can disagree about ISIS tactics, that's fine, that's healthy, we should. We should talk about the military industrial complex, we should talk about drones, we should talk about all of that.

But on this point, let me be clear, as clear as we can be, and I hope all should be, that this general, and every general, and every rank and file officer, every troop, every enlisted man and woman in this country does things that I am not brave enough to do, that Katrina I don't believe is brave enough to do. And that certainly, Donald Trump has not been brave enough to do in his whole life.

And I will never, and we should never challenge their patriotism and disparage them in that way. That is unacceptable.

HILL: I just think that's -- I think ...

PIERSON: No one is challenging anyone's patriotism. There is more than one general. Let's be clear. Donald Trump was speaking about those generals, specifically, that were out there promoting more war under failed policies. There are hundreds of generals that this administration fired because they didn't want to go along with what this president wanted to do. By broadcasting what we were going to do, where we were going to be, and when we were going to do it.

There's more than one general out there and Donald Trump sides with those generals who know we have to get strong, we have to be tough, with no one -- but to play these fields all these other games (ph).

COSTELLO: But how many generals, Katrina? How many generals have spoken in favor of Donald Trump's policies when it comes to fighting ISIS? There aren't many.

ZELIZER: This is an area -- I mean he's losing, he losing ...

PIERSON: Did you watch the RNC?

COSTELLO: I did. I saw one.

ZELIZER: ... He's losing support not just with military but with -- many national security experts from the Republican establishment are breaking with the Republican Party over this issue. So it's a big vulnerability. It's not just expertise, it's temperament. That's what Hillary Clinton was talking --

HILL: Right.

ZELIZER: A temperament matters in foreign policy. You can get angry but you also have to contain yourself. And when you have him saying he wanted to hit a Democratic speaker, it's going to raise fears about what will he do with leaders overseas?

HILL: And I think this -- I agree with you 100 percent. I mean, people who tend to note a lot about things tend not to support Donald Trump on these matters. But I think it's a bit troublesome to paint Donald Trump as this wardog, all of a sudden.

Hillary Clinton is the warmonger. And Donald Trump is the duck (ph). Hillary Clinton absolutely supports the military industrial complex. Hillary Clinton absolutely promotes hawkish policy, as does President Obama. That's one of the reasons why, again, I support the Green Party.

But Donald Trump's strategy is to blow ISIS up. It's the continued predator drone. He just talked about enhanced interrogation this week. So these are all practices of warmongering. This is -- these are all practices of hawkish foreign policy. In no way has Donald Trump talked about reconciliation.

You're right, Donald Trump does say perhaps we shouldn't be so friendly with everyone. But one of the people he doesn't want to be friendly with our NATO allies. And one of the people he talked about cozying up to is Russia and Putin. So it's a very bizarre, convoluted foreign policy.

And just one more correction, you say that under Hillary Clinton's regime as Secretary of State of President Obama's presidency, we see Al Qaeda emerge. That again is just not true. And we can debate all kinds of things but Al Qaeda emerges from -- or excuse me (ph) -- yeah, ISIS emerges out of Al Qaeda in Iraq which emerges out of a set of political moves that emerged before President Obama. And even somewhat before President Bush.

But largely, this terrorist issue starts with George W. Bush -- the current arrangement that we're talking about. So it's a bit untrue to blame this on Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama ...

COSTELLO: OK I have to let Katrina have a last word here and then I got to go. Katrina go ahead.

PIERSON: I agree 100 percent with Marc Lamont Hill, surprisingly. He's absolutely right. This started before Obama.

COSTELLO: Oh! My goodness.

PIERSON: This started before Obama ...

KOHN: I must be dreaming.

PIERSON: This started when Bill Clinton allowed Osama Bin Laden to get away. And here we are today.

HILL: We were doing so well, Katrina. We were doing so well.

COSTELLO: Thanks to all of you, I appreciate it. Julian Zelizer, Marc Lamont Hill, Katrina Pierson, and Sally Kohn. Still to come in the Newsroom, an historic moment for Mrs. Clinton and the country. The mother-daughter hug resonating with millions. We'll talk about that next.

[10:41:05]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:45:30]

COSTELLO: All right, any minute now we're expecting to get an update in the Philando Castile case from the County Attorney in Minnesota. Castile was shot to death by a police officer on July 6th after a traffic stop. His girlfriend broadcast the aftermath of that shooting on Facebook live. Of course we'll monitor this press conference and bring you any updates as we have them.

Back to politics now, history is made. But Hillary Clinton cannot afford to bask in the moment. She is campaigning today in Pennsylvania. But for women, who have long fought for a woman in the White House, the sight of Clinton walking out onto the stage, dressed like a white knight will be something they'll tell their daughters about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm so happy this day has come. I'm happy for grandmothers, and little girls, and everyone in between. After all, when there are no ceilings, the sky's the limit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Douglas Brinkley is a presidential historian. He joins us this morning. Hi, Doug.

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Hey, good morning to you.

COSTELLO: Good morning. So the hug. The hug between Clinton and her daughter Chelsea. Some women said that moment really resonated with them. Why do you think that is?

BRINKLEY: Well because Hillary Clinton's been in the public eye for so many decades and we often forget there's this behind-the-scenes sides of her. A loving mother, somebody who's a grandmother. And everybody's always liked Chelsea. She's always handled herself with incredible amount of dignity and poise in public.

And there was a how proud the daughter must be of her mother to be shattering that ceiling we heard about all week. Making the skies blue for not only Chelsea, but for Chelsea's children, or daughters in the future. So it just rained history last night. Anybody there will always be able to say they were there at really, the biggest moment in women's history since the Susan B. Anthony era.

COSTELLO: But what I will say, seeing the men in the family sitting in the audience, looking at the women on stage was just different.

BRINKLEY: Well it is different. I've heard throughout the week, people like Shirley Chisholm being mentioned. Or Geraldine Ferraro, and all. Those -- they've become footnotes. Hillary Clinton now already has done something important before trying to win the presidency. She's the nominee of a major Party. And so it was an awe-inspiring evening. She'll get a great bounce out of it come early next week in the polls, just like Donald Trump got a bounce. And then it's back to fist fighting. All the way 'til November, and ...

COSTELLO: Yes, so let's talk about that now, Douglas, let's talk about that. Because so much has changed since 2008 when Hillary ran the first time, right? When pundits were talking about the difficulty of debating a woman.

Remember Joe Biden was coached on how not to appear condescending when he debated Sarah Palin? Let me take, let me take our viewers back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's nice to meet you.

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a pleasure to meet you.

PALIN: Hey, can I call you Joe?

BIDEN: You can call me Joe. PALIN: Don't be condescending. Thank you. Thank you, Gwen. Thank

you. Thank you. Thank you.

GWEN IFILL, JOURNALIST, PBS: Welcome to you both. As we have determined by a coin toss, the first question will go to Senator Biden.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right so you get the gist there. Sarah Palin tried to kind of throw Joe Biden off guard there, right? She knew she was a woman, she knew she was inexperienced in national politics. Can you imagine that happening on stage today, in 2016?

BRINKLEY: No. No, Carol. I've just finished watching last week in Cleveland -- or the week before -- "Lock her up! Lock her up!" This is -- there -- the kid gloves have been thrown away. Donald Trump is the master of inductive, of barbs, of put-downs. Your show this morning since you've been on, you've run some of Trump's tweets just pummeling her, hit after hit. And in fact, it also is considered gauche up until recently to raise

Bill Clinton and the Lewinsky scandal and the like in front of Hillary Clinton. That's no longer gauche. That's all fair game, too. So it's a free-for-all out there.

And I think part of women achieving parody is that they're going to be taking the parody of -- the blood sport of politics, also.

COSTELLO: Interesting. Douglas Brinkley, thanks for joining me this morning.

BRINKLEY: Thanks.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the Newsroom, health officials confirm the first locally transmitted cases of Zika in the United States. The breaking details out of Florida, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN CHOI, RAMSEY COUNTY, MINNESOTA ATTORNEY: About how I made this decision.

COSTELLO: All right, let's go to Minnesota right now. This is the Attorney General talking about the Philando Castile death. He was shot by a police officer after a traffic stop. Let's listen.

RAMSEY: ... in confidence. I will continue to be actively engaged in this case as the DCA investigation proceeds. And will inform the public of my decision with respect to a Grand Jury at a later date.

Since July 8th, I have been asked by multiple individuals, representatives, including the ACLU, and the attorney for Philando Castile's family, to request the Attorney General and the Governor to appoint a special prosecutor. While some have been careful to point out that their requests are not about me, personally, or my office, they see this suggested route as a way to engender the public's trust and confidence in how we arrive at our decisions relative to a Grand Jury. And whether to bring charges in this case.

I have spent much of the past two weeks contemplating these requests and concerns expressed by members of the community. And I have come to a conclusion. When our Ramsey County residents elected me County Attorney, they entrusted me with upholding the laws of our state, and the values of our community. And I took an oath to do so.

That is what I signed up for when I took this job. I understand that there is distrust of the system, and some may question the ability of prosecutors to hold police accountable when we rely on them to present cases to our office. However, if I handed this case off to any other person outside of the duties and authority of my office, I would not only be abdicating my responsibility, but potentially creating additional mistrust.

A standalone, unaccountable, special prosecutor without an election certificate would not be beholden to any of these values or obligations. And would fail to provide the legitimacy this case requires and deserves. With every decision I make in this case, I am firmly committed to upholding the interests of justice, public transparency, and ensuring the absolute integrity of this case.

I believe the most important role of a Chief Prosecutor is to ensure the public's trust and confidence in the legal process. Therefore, in light of these considerations, I have chosen to incorporate a special prosecutor into our team to provide independent perspective, bolstered by the authority of this office. I have not come to this decision lightly, nor do I expect that this decision will satisfy all of the concerns raised by some members of our community.

In determining whom to appoint, it was important for me to select someone who doesn't have any connection to law enforcement interests in Ramsey County. Someone who doesn't have any personal or professional connection to this case. Who has not publicly weighed in on any aspects of it, and who can remain fair and impartial. Someone who has extensive legal experience and background, who fundamentally understands the complex challenges ahead of us. And who will help ensure faithful adherence to the law, and in the pursuit of justice. Someone who is competent, fair, and ethical. Who will bring fresh eyes and an independent perspective to our ...

COSTELLO: All right, you heard the Ramsey County prosecutor saying he's going to appoint a special prosecutor to help in the investigation of the death of Philando Castile. Of course we'll be covering this throughout the day. In the Newsroom and beyond. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello. AT THIS HOUR with Berman and Bolduan after a break.

[10:56:45]

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