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Trump Campaign Wants To Move Debates To Avoid NFL Conflict; Trump Comments On Russia/Ukraine Controversy; Trump Ridiculed For Saying Putin Won't Go Into Ukraine; Trump Expected To Get "Vanilla" Intel Briefing This Week; Trump Spars With Family Of Fallen Soldier. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired August 1, 2016 - 15:30   ET

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


[15:30:03] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... as good and successfully in his life. He's trying to get himself leveraged for whatever it is that he wants in the future and the NFL certainly is up against a marquee event, as Matt said, it's certainly as good as any bit of leverage.

But one quick thing I want to say about Ohio and that is that maybe Donald Trump hasn't given a multi-point plan about how he plans to fix the job issue in Ohio. But no question about it, and even privately, the Democrats who are very staunchly in Hillary Clinton's camp will tell you, he is hitting a nerve, he is reaching out to people who are very, very upset in the Clinton campaign. And private people are very concerned about whether or not they can win Ohio for that reason.

The trade issue and the jobs issue is very potent and Donald Trump does a -- has done a pretty good job of that reaching not just Republicans in the primaries but Democrats who are fed up.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go back to Ohio and hear from Mr. Trump after this quick break. Thanks to all of you. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:35:36] BALDWIN: Welcome back, I'm Brooke Baldwin. Here we go, 99 days and counting. That is when Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will face off officially for the general election. And for Donald Trump, it's an all out blitz of battleground states.

Right now, he is campaigning in Ohio. Hosting the town hall in Columbus which we'll listen to in a second here but it's an effort to hone in not only to Ohio but as we mentioned a moment ago, Pennsylvania and also Florida, key swing states. His campaign considers them must-wins to put him over the top in November. Could he pull it off?

Let's bring in our Political Director here at CNN, David Chalian. I mean, I was just talking to Matt Schlapp who was saying, you know, especially in Ohio, you can't win the presidency without winning Ohio. How likely do you see all of that happening?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Listen, those three states are the mother of all battleground states. That is where, you know, what they say about bank robbing, right? You rob banks because that's where the money is.

So, yes, you go to the big states to get big electoral prizes; 29 electoral votes in Florida, 20 in Pennsylvania, 18 in Ohio. So, that would be the quickest path to put him in contention of 270. Now I -- it's not the only path.

There are different permutations of the map, Brooke, that you can do that if he doesn't win Florida, that he can maybe try to steal some other Rust Belt on upper Midwest states. But that would be the quickest path and it's where as you said his campaign is focused, where his time is being focused and where the super PACs that are on the air supporting him right now, that's where they're advertising.

BALDWIN: OK, what about Hillary Clinton? What about her map?

CHALIAN: So listen, her map is, recreate the Obama 2012 map. Remember, he won that election. So, she has to play a little more defense. She's got to make sure that she hangs on to the Ohio, the Pennsylvania, the Florida, wins that Barack Obama had twice in a row. So she's got to play defense there against Donald Trump. That's a big part of her map.

And then, this should be a little bit easier for her but to protect some of the states that have been -- the Obama coalition has sort of emerged them as battlegrounds and they've been sort of almost leaning Democrats. States like Colorado, Virginia with Tim Kaine on the ticket. Just to make sure not to give up anything in those newer battleground states that we've seen in the Obama era.

But I think mission one for Hillary Clinton is the same of mission one for Donald Trump. He's trying to pick off those three battlegrounds and her mission number one has got to be to defend them.

BALDWIN: Speaking of Ohio, let's go to Donald Trump. Let's listen in, in Columbus. David Chalian, thank you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: As an example, I gave a very good answer over the weekend to one of the shows on Russia going into the Ukraine. I said very simply, they're not going to do it on my watch, essentially. I said Russia will not go into Ukraine. Now I said that, and the next day the story comes out -- and we let it roll a little bit. But, actually I think it was "USA Today", a couple of them covered it accurately what I said. But a couple of papers said "Donald Trump doesn't realize that the Crimea was already taken."

I know it exactly. Two years ago approximately, approximately. OK, approximately. It was taken during Obama's watch. So when I said, believe me, Russia's not going into Ukraine, all right? They're not going into Ukraine. The person said, but they're already in Ukraine. I said, yeah, well that was two years ago, that's -- I mean, do you want to go back, you want to have World War III to get it back? That was during Obama's watch?

So, during Obama's watch, you know, all the tough guy statements, right? So, he talks about Donald Trump is not strong on Russia. First of all, I have to say this, wouldn't it be great if we actually got along with Russia? Am I wrong in saying that, wouldn't it be great? OK?

You know, Russia, like us, has nuclear weapons, folks. It would be really nice if we got along with Russia and others that we don't get along with right now. And wouldn't it be nice if we teamed up with Russia and others, including surrounding states and maybe NATO and we knocked the hell out of ISIS and got rid of these people? Wouldn't that be nice? Right?

[15:40:01] But even beyond that, even beyond that, Putin said some very good things about me. People say oh, Trump's going to be weak with Putin because Putin is saying nice things about me. OK, all right. And I said, he's a strong guy, they immediately say oh, Trump likes Putin. Look, I don't like or dislike, I just say this way, wouldn't it be great if the United States and Russia got along, combined, knocked out ISIS, maybe did other positive things?

You know, we forced them through stupidity into an alliance with China, you know why? Because of oil, because China needs oil, we were driving them both crazy, they formed. And from the time I was a young guy, I've always learned, don't ever let China and Russia get together.

We forced them together. Obama forced them together. Because he didn't get along with either and they eventually -- China came in and said let's make a deal on oil. They're together. Right, they're doing naval exercises together some place. And you look at China, they're building one of the largest military installations in the world right smack in the middle of the South China Sea.

And then they talk about Donald Trump and Russia or Donald Trump and -- believe me, folks, somebody can say anything nice things about me -- he did call me a genius but these are minor details. Somebody can say nice things about me, it makes no difference, it makes no difference, all right?

I've been dealing a long time. A lot of times I'll make much better deals with people that say terrible things about me. I don't care what they say about me, I want the deal. You know on trade, one of the people that's standing back there, one of the dishonest media, well, what's your definition of trade? I said well, you have fair trade, you have all sorts, you have so many different types of trades.

But here's my definition of trade ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: All right. So we just wanted to make sure we heard some of what Donald Trump was saying. And he initially alluded to, you know, this conversation he had with George Stephanopoulos over the weekend which has been all over, as he mentioned, a lot of headlines. And so, let's go into it. But I also want to play you what he actually said over the weekend and now how he is clarifying. Coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:46:48] BALDWIN: Just before the break we listened to Donald Trump talking at the Town Hall in Columbus, Ohio. He was specifically addressing this controversy from over the weekend over his comments on Russia and Ukraine. So in case you missed it, I just want you to hear this. This is the original statement he made on ABC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I have my own ideas. He's not going into Ukraine, OK? Just so you understand. He's not going to go into Ukraine. You can mark it down, you can put it down. You can take it anyway you want.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC HOST: He's already there, isn't he?

TRUMP: Well, he's there in a certain way but I'm not there yet, you have Obama there. And frankly that whole part of the world is a mess under Obama with all the strength that you're talking about and all the power of NATO and all of this. In the meantime, he's going away, takes Crimea, he's sort of, I mean ...

STEPHANOPOULOS: But you said you might recognize that.

TRUMP: I'm going to take a look at it. But you know the people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So his critics saying that answer is just more evidence that Trump doesn't have a proper handle on foreign policy. Trump trying to clarify his position first with this tweet. He said "When I said in an interview that Putin is not going into Ukraine, you can mark it down. I am saying if I'm president. Already in Crimea."

So joining me now, Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and Juliette Kayyem here with me in New York, CNN national security analyst and author of "Security Mom".

So ladies, first to you and again we just heard him in Columbus, Ohio. And as I understand, he was saying Russia won't go into Ukraine, won't do it on my watch. So he's saying is, if I'm president looking ahead instead of looking back, when George Stephanopoulos said, "Well, isn't he already in Ukraine?" Did he misspeak?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: No, I mean let's just all be real here, which is he didn't know that Crimea is part of the Ukraine. It's just obvious, there's no way to parse it. And so that's one problem with what happened yesterday with George Stephanopoulos. The other is that then once he realizes it, he probably takes the wrong side in this conflict. I mean, in other words, to say that we're going to abandon Ukraine and the Crimeans want to be with Russia, it's inconsistent with, you know, 60 years of post-World War II history.

So I think what it goes though is just narrative, this is sort of not curious and doesn't really know what's going on and then we'll just speak off the cuff. He can retract at anyway he wants to on Twitter but there's only like -- you know, two plus two equals four, everyone saw what he said on George Stephanopoulos. He can parse it anyway he wants at this stage, but it's the simple fact that he just didn't know.

BALDWIN: Gail, what do you think?

GAYLE TZEMACH LEMMON, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS SENIOR FELLOW: Well, I mean it's fascinating. You have a television interview that sparked a twitter battle between Ukrainian leaders and Donald Trump and really over a Russian land grab. And I think we're at this fascinating moment where on the one hand you have, you know, the largest movement of NATO forces to its eastern borders, and at the same moment you have a Republican presidential candidate really talking about upending what had been a bipartisan consensus about, you know, NATO and what America would do to support its NATO allies.

And just the other day, you know, Estonia was talking about how it's quite concerned about Russian activity on its borders.

[15:50:04] And I think you see NATO activity to answer that. And so we're really finding this moment where the entire U.S. foreign policy establishment, both from Republic and Democrat is seeing everything up is down and everything down is up. And you really have a moment where the consensus is being questioned.

BALDWIN: Let me just throw something at you Gayle, just taking from Trump's own mouth what he just said to this crowd in Columbus on Russian, and listen to his critics who's come forward and said, he would be cozy with Putin and that's an good thing, you know, with the U.S. and Russia relations, and he was just saying to this crowd, "Wouldn't it be great if we got along with Russia?" Would that necessarily be a bad thing? How would you respond to that?

LEMMON: I mean it is an entirely reasonable thing to say in isolation, and in fact if you look at what happened when Obama took office, there was this reset in U.S.-Russian relations. And now maybe we'll see a reset to a reset, if you see a Trump election administration. But the real question I think is how you've seen this fascinating change in Republican orthodox, right -- you know, four years ago, Mitt Romney was talking about Russia as, you know, geopolitical phone number one. And here you have Donald Trump really opening this idea of, we can talk and we can all get along, and so far it has not worked for the United States.

But the question is, what does he actually think of consensus which says we protect NATO allies, we're going to be there if they need us. And just what does he mean by having good relations? How much is the U.S. willing to give up for that?

BALDWIN: Unorthodox election with a capital "U". Moving on, a piece of this, we heard Harry Reid weight in on this last week, you know, being -- I don't know, semi-facetious, talking about this security briefings that as anyone who's running from presidential Juliette Kayyem, we get, I mean you were part of the Obama transition team, you know what these briefings are. And there are folks who are saying, "I don't know, should it be briefed?" Harry Reid saying, we should get big briefings. I mean, he should get the briefings.

KAYYEM: He should get the briefings.

BALDWIN: He should get the briefings. What does that process entail?

KAYYEM: So, the system actually works. You know, despite what -- you know, even Trump says about, you know, criticizing fire marshals for making statements about too many people, you know, there are bureaucracies that actually judge things on objective criteria. Our intelligence agencies know how to do transition. So when I was on the Obama transition, you begin to get some of these briefings. I was lower level than higher level. They will be top level briefings to Trump as the nominee about, you know, various themes, concerns and intelligence issues that he may want to know about at this stage. I don't know how much different they would be from someone who is so well-versed in foreign affairs or international relations when already know.

And then we have this process of what's called get-back. And so if him or his team and he'll determine who the team is, well we really want to know what's going on in Brazil with Zika say, then if that information is not readily available, that intelligence officer will then take it back, what's called a get-back and find out more information. The intelligence officer is not allowed to give opinion. So if they say, well what do you think about Putin? They know how to get out of stuff like that.

BALDWIN: OK. OK. And so that is happening, I believe starting this week. Juliette, thank you. Gayle, thank you so much.

Coming up next, Donald Trump in a heated feud with the parents of this fallen Muslim-American soldier. Now the VFW is joining here in this chorus of Hillary reacting and wanting Mr. Trump to apologize. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALSWIN: You think about this brave parent when a baby is in intensive care and family's life is turned upside down. And in so many cities, an unexpected financial challenge only adds to the stress. The problem this week's CNN hero set out to resolve.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[15:55:26] BALDWIN: You think about this for any parent. When a baby is in an intensive care a family's life is turned upside-down. And in so many cities, an unexpected financial challenge only adds to the stress. The problem this week's CNN Hero set out to resolve.

CARRIE MEGHIE, JACKSON CHANCE FOUNDATION FOUNDER: These babies are in the NICU for not days but months at a time. When your child is going to be in the hospital for long-term stay, you think about all of the medical expenses or, you know, things of that nature. But, when you end up with the reality that this parking is going to cost you, you know, so much money, it's just not something that people expect. It's definitely, you know, a significant burden on families and there are a lot of babies who are alone a lot of the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Make sure you look at her entire story. Go to cnnheroes.com. We'll be right back.

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