Transcripts For CNNW Wolf 20160908

College, emphasis on research, on job creation and innovation. And now North Carolina under the Current Governor and legislature has been trying to restrict peoples right to vote. Well, you know it. North carolina voters won an important victory when a Federal Court just struck down this states voter i. D. Law. The Federal Court brought back more days of whats called onestop early voting. Here is what the court said. This is not me talking. This is what the Federal Court said. The court said the North Carolina law was designed to target africanamericans with almost surgical precision. Thats not just happening in North Carolina. Unfortunately its happening across america. And courts have been Overturning Restrictions that make it harder, not just for africanamericans, but latino people, young people. One of the provisions in the North Carolina law was to make it really hard to vote where you go to school. So this has been a concerted effort to undermine the right to vote, even to make it hard for people with disabilities to cast ballots. Well whats the best way to repudiate that kind of underhanded, mean spirited effort to deprive people of their votes . Get out and vote and make it clear and make it clear were not putting up with that . These laws are a blast from the jim crow past and have no place in 21st century america. We should be doing everything we can to make it easier to vote, not harder. Thats why, if im elected president , i will work to expanderly voting. We will enact universal Voter Registration so every young person in every state is automatically registered to vote when you turn 18. And we will repair the damage done to the Voting Rights act and take on discrimination in all forms. Hb 2 is another example of trying to discriminate against people that doesnt have anyplace in our modern society. Youve seen this firsthand in North Carolina. Discrimination is not only wrong, its Bad For Business the nba, you know, canceled the game. Paypal canceled bringing i think 400 jobs. Others are not coming the this beautiful state because they dont want to be associated with the discriminatory bigoted policies of your governor and legislature. One thing you can do about that is change your governor in novemb november. While youre at it, change one of your senators. Were going to need reenforcements in washington. Weve got a big agenda. People say to me, well, what is it youre going to try to get done . Ill show you, real easy. We just published a book. Tim kaine and i put this book out. Its called stronger together. Its not very long, its not a hard read. We have this oldfashioned idea that if were asking you to support us as president , were going to tell you what it is we want you to do. Not just blufter, not empty words, not demagogic rick, real plans that will ill prove our lives, make our country safer and better. So you can pick this up. Were going to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. Sounds like a good idea. Were going to make the biggest investment in good paying jobs since world war ii. Infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, clean energy jobs. Were going to make the economy fairer, raise the National Minimum wage, get people to work full time out of poverty. And we are finally going to guarantee equal pay for womens work. It is long overdue. If you see any of the democratic convention, you might have missed one of my favorite sets of speakers. We had these two young people from kansas, 17 years old, young man, young woman. Id read about this. I said lets contact these young people and find out their story. Here is their story. 17, had the same summer job, knew each other, working in a pizza restaurant. They were pretty excited. I remember when i got my first real job, not babysitting, but actually showing up at a job and having to do it. So one day after they finished work, they were talking, and the young woman said, you know, i think making 8. 00 an hour i should be able to save something for college. The young man, a friend of hers said, well, im making 8. 15 an hour. She said why are you making 15 cents more an hour than i am. Neither of us have any experience, were the same age. He said, i dont know, that doesnt sound right. Maybe there was a mistake. They go to the manager, they tell the manager. And the manager fired them both. You know what . Thats legal. If you find out youre not being paid the same for doing the same job, you can be fired. So this is not some madeup problem. This would raise family incomes. If you have a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister who is working, its your issue. So were going to get that done as well. Like i said, were going to make College Affordable for everybody. Pay down debt. Were going to do something else. I think it was a mistake when we got rid of all Vocational Education in high school. It needed to be improved, dont get me wrong. It wasnt training people for the jobs out in the marketplace anymore, but we got rid of all of it. We need Technical Education in high school. We need more Apprenticeship Programs where young people can learn and earn at the same time. Were going to go back to emphasizing that in high school, community colleges, Apprenticeship Programs, creati Creative Ideas like coding camps. Jobs for people with commuter science tills. Well only, if we continue on our present path, only have 400,000 americans prepared to do those jobs. I want those jobs to be american jobs. Were going to help train people of all ages to be able to do those jobs. We are also going to defend Quality Affordable Health Care for everybody. Were going to get the cost down. Were going to get the cost of Prescription Drugs down for sure. Were going to emphasize two things that we have fallen short on. Mental health and addiction servic services. People ive met here in North Carolina and across the country talk to me about that all the time. Again, weve got our ideas in here. We want you to engage with us, give us your ideas. This needs to be an ongoing conversation. We want you to hold us accountable. When were in that white house trying to do all of this, but we also have to keep america safe. We have to lead the world with steadiness and strength. One of the biggest differences in this campaign is donald trump basically says i alone can fix it, whatever it is. Think of who that leaves out. That leaves out our troops on the front line. It leaves out our police and fire responders to emergencies, it leaves out our teachers, our educators who are working to help young people. It leaves out everybody. I alone can fix it . I was raised to believe that were in this together, and together we can fix it. Thats is exactly what were going to do. Thats why tim kaine and i are running a campaign of issues, not insults. Donald trump has a different approach. He wants to build an economy that works even better for himself starting with a 4 billion tax cut for his own family. Hes built a career on stiffing workers, mom and pop contractors, Small Businesses that did jobs for him and then he refused to pay them. I take this very personally. My father was a small businessman. Thats how he provided a good middle class living for us. He printed drapery fabrics. He would get the fabric and roll it out on these big long tables. You take a silk screen, dump the paint in, take the squeeze gee, go down one table and start at the end of the other table. You do it ununtil the job was done. Sometimes i would be there helping him. Then he would load the fabric in the car and deliver it. I am so grateful he never had a contract with Donald Trumps businesses. In fact, i just ran across the story in las vegas when i was there a few weeks ago of a small Drapery Business who got what they thought was the greatest contract ever for trumps new hotel in las vegas. They delivered the goods and they were refused payment, for no reason other than its a game to him. Everything is a game. Its like hes living in his own celebrity reality tv program. You know what, donald . This is real reality, this is real people, real decisions that have to be made for our country. He actually stood on a debate stage and said wages are too high in america. Now, hes got new advisers a bunch of advisers. Hes got new advisers and theyre all trying to make him look more president ial, sound more serious. Not working too well. But remember what maya angelou who spent the last years of her life right here in this state at wake forest reminded all of us. I think about it often. I was so privileged to know her. When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. [ cheers and applause ] stronger together also means working with our true allies and partners around the world. Last night i offered some thoughts about isis, iran, how were going to reform the va system to take better care of our vets, and just since last night when i appeared on that program backtoback with trump, just in the last 24 hours, more retired generals and admirals have signed up to support my campai campaign. People who have sacrificed and spent their lives protecting our country, valuing what makes us exceptional and already great. See donald trump and know he should not be anywhere near the white house. He is temperamentally unfit to be president and commanderinchief. Tomorrow i will hold a meeting of bipartisan, bipartisan which is what i want to get us back to, where republicans and democrats Work Together to make the changes, to protect our country. Im going to be meeting with a Bipartisan Group of leaders and experts to focus more on these crucial challenges. But its hard to forget what trump did last night. It was a test, and he failed it. He trash talked about americas generals, saying that theyve been, quote, reduced to rubble. He suggested he would fire them all and hand pick his own generals since, you know, he knows so much about what it takes to be a general. He attacked dozens of former Flag Officers. At the same time and here is what i want you to really hear because eenl i was shocked by this, and i didnt know much could shock me coming out of his mouth anymore. He praised russias strong man Vladimir Putin, even taking the astonishing step of suggesting he prefers the russian president to our american president. That is not just unpatriotic, its not just insulting to the office and the man who holds the office, it is scary, it is dangerous it actually suggests he will let putin do what putin wants and even make excuses for him. I said this morning i was trying to think about what other president s would be imagining hearing that, coming out of the nominee for the Republican Party . What would Ronald Reagan say about a republican nominee who attacks americas generals and heaps praise on russias president . Weve never seen anything like this. One thing you didnt hear from him was any plan to take on isis, one of the biggest threats facing our country. He says his plan is still a secret. Well, the truth is he doesnt have a plan. I served on the Senate Armed Services committee. I served as secretary of state, as you know. I respect the men and women who put their lives on the line for the country that i love and that i believe in. So whether youre passionate about more good jobs, better education, health care, whether youre passionate about protecting our country and the brave men and women who serve s us, you have to realize as so many republicans are, that this is a time to put country over party. I would be saying that even if i were not running against him. We have never been threatened as much by a single candidate running for president as we have been in this election. As your commanderinchief, i will not trash our countrys most cherished values. I will defend them. That is especially on my mind because this weekend is the 15th anniversary of 9 11. I was a senator serving, and i will never forget the horror of that day or the bravery of our First Respond eers, the victims the survivors, people i had the honor to work with and represent. Its what kept me so passionately involved on behalf of the people that i served all during those years. That is what i was thinking of ten years later in the white house Situation Room. I was part of the small Group Advising president obama whether or not the intelligence we had was good enough to take a chance, to go deep into pakistan, to try to finally bring Osama Bin Laden to justice. It was not ans si choice by any means. These never are. Thats why who sits at the head of that table in the Situation Room has to be able to sort out fact from opinion, has to be able to ask the hard questions, pursue even the most difficult leads. We went through that hour after hour after hour, and then the president went around the table asking each of us what we advised. And we were split because it was not some kind of easy layup. I believed it was Strong Enough that we needed to take action and i supported take action that would determine whether or not we were successful. That meant sending in Special Forces. You know what happened. I was in that Situation Room watching that day the most stressful 30 minutes of my life probably. Because you remember one of the helicopters hit its tail on the wall going into the courtyard and became disabled. Thank goodness there were good contingency plans, but you had to get another helicopter in to take out the s. E. A. L. S that would no longer be able to fly out on that one. Here is what i want to tell you. It is a story that to me illustrate our values in such a clear, unambiguous way. You heard donald trump say he would order our troops to torture. You heard him say he would order our troops to kill Family Members of terrorists. You know he was advocating illegal actions against our own laws as well as the laws of war. Thank goodness theres a code of honor in our military stronger than the Blufts Center ter an bullying of donald trump. Here is what happened on that night. Every single second counted. That helicopter had to be blown up, but before it was remember, the s. E. A. L. S had gone in. They had taken out the two kuwaitis, the bodyguards, they had taken out bin ladens son who was there, they took out bin laden. They had to get his body out, they had to get themselves out. Here is what they did first. They rounded up all the women and children, members of terrorist families, they took them outside as far from the helicopter as they could get them in order that they would not be hurt. That, donald trump, is what american honor looks like and that is what were going to stand up and defend in the face of your outrageous, disgraceful attacks on the men and women of our armed forces were going to unify this country, my friends. Were going to bring us back together. Were going to get things done, big things. Thats who we are as americans. I cant do any of this unless you join me in this campaign. You can start by going to hillaryclinton. Com or texting join to 47246. You can knock on doors, make phone calls, register your friends to vote, attend a house party in your neighborhood. Were going to keep asking for your help over these next two months. Theres so much at stake in North Carolina and in america. No one can sit on the sidelines. The stakes are high for everyone. Join the campaign. Lets build a future where were stronger together thank you [ cheers and applause ] in charlotte, north korea n, Hillary Clinton delivering another Campaign Rally address focusing in on a whole host of issues including National Security. There was one theme throughout, a theme of trashing, trashing donald trump, especially for some of his comments last night at that commanderinchief forum. Jeff zeleny is in charlotte covering the Clinton Campaign. What stood out in your mind . Reporter theres no question Hillary Clinton is trying to point out the deep differences in experience she has and donald trump. It is all about judgment. The Clinton Campaign believes this is a Pivotal Moment in this race to stop growth of donald trump, particularly in the area of National Security. We heard Hillary Clinton go through a laundry list of how she believes donald trump is not prepared to be commanderinchief. This election has been about many things, about the economy in some degrees. Its now about National Security and who would be a better commanderinchi commanderinchief. Its one of the reasons shes here in North Carolina, obviously a heavy Military State and going through chapter and verse about that story about Osama Bin Laden and reminding voters what donald trump has said before about the military. Specifically the respect of the military and the generals who he said he would, indeed, fire. She simply is calling him out on some of the things he said. Wolf, we should note, many surveys say actual members of the military and veterans have a strong affinity for donald trump. She is trying to get some of those voters to her side. More importantly, stop any growth and keep those questions that some voters may have in their mind about if donald trump is ready to be commanderinchief. Wolf . Jeff, stand by. I want to bring in my political panelist, Gloria Borger is here, Executive Editor of cnn politics, mark preston and Washington Post reporter, david knock muir rah. She referred several times to what happened last night. Look, i think donald trump gave her a lot of openings last night. First and foremost praising putin, talking about his 82 approval rating. Im not so sure we would trust those polls saying, look, he thinks im brilliant, so i like the guy. She is trying to remind voters that Vladimir Putin is not somebody that folks in this country should either love or respect. Talking about the generals and came flat out, wolf, and said donald trump is scary. She said hes dangerous. Again, it goes to the points that jeff was talking about, judgment, temperament and how risky it would be. Thats a key word, how risky it would be for donald trump to become president. I think they believe that while people may not like her, there is a question when they go into that booth, do you want to take a risk with him . And thats what shes going to be talking about for a long time. She said, mark, he praised the russian strongman. She called putin the russian strongman and said he prefers putin over the president of the United States. She said trump is unpatriotic, insulting, scary and dangerous. Lets put in perspective where hes saying this. In the state of North Carolina that has more than 700,000 veterans that live in the state, a very big military presence. So when she talks about that and goes on to say that donald trump trash talked about the generals who were executing the war and the Flag Officers, many of them leading the folks who are still in the service right now, clearly trying to send a message to those that donald trump is not adequate enough, not good enough to be their commanderinchief. North carolina, as mark said, clearly in play, the polls show its very close in North Carolina. She was there a few weeks ago. Were seeing a flip on those numbers. The numbers earlier suggest shes a few points down. The bigger question, we saw this at the dnc convention, shes a woman who has been in the arena, shes been in the Situation Room, going after bin haddin. She says she has the good junlment and temperament. What was interesting about yesterday, still defensive about her vote on the iraq war, again, a question of judgment and one that donald trump has obfuscated his own position on the iraq war, but something she continues to defend and sort of maybe make up for by saying she wont put anymore boots on the ground there, maybe trapping herself if and when she does become president. Donald trump says he always opposed the iraq war when we know in 2002 he in an interview with howard stern said i guess i support the war. Thats a question that will be asked and asked over and over again. I think what was stunning to me, and she didnt mention it in these comments, but did mention it earlier today because she was asked about it. This notion that after a classified briefing yes, he was asked about it. He was asked about it last night, but he seemed to insinuate that as a result of his briefing, there was something explosive in it that allowed him to believe that the president and Hillary Clinton had made some huge mistake and this kind of insinuation many people are saying insinuation, that we hear from him over and over again, very surprising to come out of a classified briefing, that a candidate for president would hint at some kind of insinuation without being able to offer evidence because, of course, he cant. Doing that was surprising. She also remarked shes going to have a briefing tomorrow with a Bipartisan Group of National Security experts including michael chertoff, former republican secretary of Homeland Security who presumably is now supporting Hillary Clinton. She said its important that they put country over party. How realistic is it that republicans will vote for her . Weve seen a lot of Administration Officials have come out in support of Hillary Clinton. Donald trumps biggest problem in this general Election Campaign is he was never able to solidify the Republican Base right after he won the republican nomination through the summer. We are seeing now, according to the polls, they are starting to come around to donald trump. Hillary clinton needs to try to create a wedge and get enough of those republicans to come to her side. To that point about noting it is a bipartisan meeting tomorrow, she also noted that Ronald Reagan what would Ronald Reagan say about the criticism of barack obama, the praise of Vladimir Putin and the attack on the u. S. Military . Clearly trying to use that as a wedge issue. Clearly thats going to be a major line in her speeches going forward. Hold on for a moment. I want to bring in our Global Affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier and colonel cedric leighton. Colonel, when you heard donald trump say last night, these generals, they arent necessarily all that trustworthy, and if they dont do the job, hes going to get a new set of generals, what was your reaction . Well, wolf, i was basically incredulous. Those kinds of comments really dont reflect the reality of the current Promotion System that the Department Of Defense has for its general and Flag Officers. Basically theyre all picked by the secretaries of the Respective Services and confirmed by the senate and of course subject to the approval of the president. But that kind of a statement would really mark the beginning of a complete turnover in military leadership. I think any president ial candidate would have to be careful with that. There are times in history where that has happened. World war ii, for example, when you had Roosevelt And General Marshall Go through the Little Black Book and pick the right people, the people they thought were the right people to lead American Forces to victory in world war ii. Since that time, we have never seen anything like that. It would be a wholesale change, not only of the Promotion System, but also of the way in which we select generals and admirals. When he said that because of the policies of the president of the United States, president obama, these generals have been reduced to rubble. You heard him say that. I wonder how thats playing among your retired colleagues . Not very well, wolf. The reason its not playing well is, i think part of it is what the candidate intended to say, what mr. Trump intended to say was probably they had been sidelined. What came out, though, was they had been not only sidelined but completely ineffective in the way in which they had not only presented their case but the way in which they prosecuted the war. Theres lot of evidence to indicate that that is not the case. The reaction has been very negative, at least with the people ive spoken with, it certainly shows theres a Degree Offense Mending that would have to happen if mr. Trump were to become the president. Kimberly, youre well plugged in with a lot of National Security professionals out there. Whats the reaction youre getting to what donald trump and Hillary Clinton said last night . Well, theres a bit of outrage. A lot of these generals have put their reputations and careers on the line saying things in public testimony before congress that wasnt always welcome at the white house, things like, yes, we believe you may need more troops in afghanistan going against the obama administrations planned drawdown. Yes, isis is expanding beyond what wed hoped in syria. Yes, russia is a strategic threat to the United States. That was a comment by chairman of the joint chiefs, general dunford. He doesnt often air these out loud in the public. His job, the job of the other generals is to advise the Secretary Of Defense and the president and not share publicly when they disagree. You only get these rare glimpses sometimes in this congressional testimony of disagreement. What donald trump is presuming is that the policy on the ground that were seeing in syria, for instance, is exactly what the generals would have planned. He would have to interview every single one of them personally, decide who he didnt like. And think about the disruption in Military Ranks of taking out senior leaders, and that also means bumping up junior leaders a year or two before theyre ready for these posts. Ive got to take a quick break, kymbimberlkimberly. Cedric leighton, stand by. We have live pictures coming in of a donald trump rally in cleveland. Hell be speaking there very, very soon. Well, of course, have live coverage of that. One of his top advisers standing by to discuss National Security and a whole lot more. Well take a quick break and be right back. Um. Something wrong . So when it comes to pain relievers, why put up with just part of a day . You want the whole thing . Yes, yes live whole. Not part. Aleve. Ive got a nice long life ahead. Big plans. So when i found out medicare doesnt pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. Then i got a Medicare Supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if youre eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80 of your part b medical expenses. The rest is up to you. Call now and find out about an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Like all standardized Medicare Supplement insurance plans, it helps pick up some of what medicare doesnt pay. 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And could save you in outofpocket medical costs. Call now to request your free Decision Guide. And learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now and down the road. I have a lifetime of experience. So i know how important that is. Welcome book. Hillary clinton just wrapped up a Campaign Event in charlotte, North Carolina. Donald trump is set to speak in cleveland, ohio. Well see if he responds directly to what we just heard from Hillary Clinton. Well have live coverage of that coming up. In the meantime, i want to bring in Senior Advisor to the trump campaign, jack kingston, a former republican from georgia, a strong supporter of donald trump. Thanks very much for joining us. Thank you, wolf. Trump says, if hes elected president , hell give his generals 30 days to submit a plan to defeat and destroy isis. He already says he has a secret plan to do that. What is it . Does he already have a plan or is he waiting for the generals to come up with a plan . Actually, i think he has some ideas of what he wants to do. And unlike barack obama he doesnt want to broadcast it to the bad guys. I think also hes saying to the generals, in 30 days were going to change directions. Were not going to have isis and other groups just running roughshod or syria falling to bits and chaos in afghanistan and libya. So i think what hes saying is, were going to change things. I believe, wolf, thats what the American People want, a new direction, not just domestically, but in Foreign Policy. He said his plan is foolproof. So it raises the question, does he really have a Foolproof Plan to destroy isis or does he need the generals to give him 30 days to come up with a new plan. There seems to be some confusion which im sure you appreciate. I think what hes saying is, look, youve got to keep these guys a little bit on their toes. You dont want to put your cards face up on the table. He has some ideas. As somebody who served on the Defense Committee and had the honor of representing five military installations, there are a lot of good ideas out there. What mr. Trump said last night is he wants to pick a new team in there. If you think about whoever advised barack obama that isis was a jv team, whoever said to the red line and if they go over it, bomb them and then dont do it, hes probably not really getting good advice. What donald trump wants to do is put new advisers in there and has a new team. I want to point out, its not unusual. Remember harry truman fired douglas macarthur. Barack obama forced the dismissal of Stanley Mcchrystal because he did not agree with what he had said about afghanistan. So i think the president of the United States as commanderinchief does have the right. Of course he has the right. Its constitutional, to choose his team. Thats why 88 military advisers have recently endorsed donald trump. These are Flag Officers with great years of experience. I think there was another issue involving general mcchrystal, but we dont have to kbo into that right now. I want you to listen to what the president of the United States said to do about donald trump suggesting hes uninformed or has out right wacky ideas. Here is the president. As far as mr. Trump, i think ive already offered my opinion. I dont think the guy is qualified to be president of the United States. Every time he speaks, that opinion is confirmed. I think the most important thing for the public and the press is to just listen to what he says and follow up and ask questions about what appear to be either contradictory or uninformed or out right wacky ideas. Whats your response to the president , especially because donald trump last night said the generals. I assume he means chairman of the joint chiefs, members of the joint chiefs. He said they have been, quote, reduced to rubble. Let me say this. This is a democrat president doing what a democrat president should do for his party nominee. No surprise there. But when he talks about donald trump maybe not being up to the job, what has barack obama accomplished in the middle east . Chaos in syria, chaos in afghanistan, iraq and in libya. Isis now in 18 different countries. A 1 Economic Growth rate back home, Health Care Premiums skyrocketing 20 and 30 . I dont think barack obama is in a great position to be saying who should be president or who shouldnt. Donald trump was saying with his comments about the military, look, i want people who disagree with me, i dont want Yes Men And Women in those positions, i want them to come to me with viable criticism. Congressman, do you agree with donald trump that the generals have been reduced to rubble . I agree that under barack obama he hasnt been listening to them. Hes selectively taken information which is what donald trump was saying. I think thats very important. Again, commanderinchief of the United States of america constitutionally can pick his own team. What drchl is saying, i want a new team. If youre satisfied with the Foreign Policy that we have right now, then Hillary Clinton has promised a third term of barack obama. But if you want to change in the middle east, you want peace through strength, i will bring it to you. He can certainly pick a new team as far as his National Security adviser, civilians are concerned, Secretary Of Defense, secretary of state, director of the cia. You know this well. Theres a process in the u. S. Military for moving up the chain of command, moving up the ranks from a Junior Officer to a senior flag officer. Its not that easy simply to get rid of these generals, if you will. Well leave that for another time as well. Congressman jack kingston, former congressman from georgia, thanks for joining us. Thanks, wolf. For team clinton, the democratic president ial candidate is doubling down on her position to never again send Ground Troops in iraq and syria. Listen what he said a few hours ago at a News Conference in new york. I think putting a big contingent of american Ground Troops on the ground in iraq and syria would not be in the best interest of the fight against isis and other terrorist groups. In fact, i think it would fulfill one of their dearest wishes, which is to drag the United States back into a ground war in that region. Lets talk about this with congressman Chris Van Hollen of maryland. Hes endorsed Hillary Clinton. Congressman, thanks for joining us. Good to be with you, wolf. Do you agree with her flatly saying, doubling down this morning that under her administration the United States would not send any Ground Troops into iraq or syria . I do. Because i think american Ground Forces in syria and iraq would only inflame the situation and make it worse. We saw what happened in the aftermath of the last time we september american Ground Forces into iraq. A long, protracted war where were still seeing the fallout. We need to make sure our allies in the region, whether theyre the kurds, whether theyre the iraqis, that they have the equipment that they need and the air support they need to go after isis and ultimately destroy isis. Putting u. S. Forces on the ground in that part of the world would make matters worse and i think harm our National Security. Lindsey graham, member of the Armed Services committee from south carolina, he told me last night there are about 7,500 u. S. Ground troops in iraq and a few hundred in syria right now. Would she pull all those troops out . I think it was pretty clear that secretary clinton is talking about Ground Combat forces. Shes not talking about american troops who are there to train iraqi forces. Shes not talking about some limited numbers of Special Forces that have been there primarily to help train the syrian kurds and others. Shes talking about making sure we dont do in syria and iraq again what happened with the first mistake in iraq. That is what she is focused on. I think its very appropriate that she lay out a strategy that doesnt involve american Ground Combat forces because, as she indicated, i think that makes the situation worse, not better. You dont think any of those 7,500 u. S. Troops in iraq right now are engaged in combat . Those troops, other than a limited number of Special Forces are engaged in training and equipping the iraqi forces and our kurdish friends to go after isis. But they are in harms way. Theyre in danger right now let me ask you this. What happens if the u. S. Military were to say to a president Hillary Clinton, you know what . Theres a major National Security threat facing the United States, lets say in mosul, the second largest city in iraq, still under ooi sis control. Or in raqqa, the capital of isis in syria. The only way to destroy these guys to Kig Baghdadi T Leader of isis is to send in Ground Troops and kill them. What would she do if the military commanders said, thats what we recommend . Wolf, you can always come up with hypotheticals. What we know right now is this, u. S. Military commanders have not said that. They have not made the recommendation. In fact, theyve been very clear that putting more combat forces in those regions would risk Dragging Americans deeper into the conflict and not solving the problem, but making it worse. I have to say, were now talking about which candidate is suitable to be commanderinchief. Last night if people didnt already know it, the amount of misinformation, the amount of factfree statements that were made by donald trump should scare every american about this guy being anywhere close to the white house and certainly being our commanderinchief. He had his facts wrong. Hes unprepared. He has a dangerous mix of somebody who thinks he knows a lot, thinks he knows more than the generals, and yet he knows very little. Thats a very dangerous mix in a commanderinchief. Congressman, thanks very much for joining us. Thank you. Still to come, stopping a major arms deal with a key u. S. Ally . How will stopping the deal Impact International relations and potentially the u. S. Economy. Were standing by to hear from donald trump. He has a rally coming up soon. Youre looking at live pictures from cleveland, ohio. Well have coverage of that and a lot more. Bipartisan group of u. S. Lawmakers looking right now to stall the planned sale of more than 1 1 billion in arms and sophisticated Military Equipment to saudi arabia. The reason the growing number of civilian casualties in yemen, a result of air strikes carried out by the saudiled military coalition. Republican senator rand paul of kentucky is joining us now from capitol hill, he serves on the Senate Foreign relations committee, as well as the Homeland Security committee and Governmental Affairs committee. Senator, thanks for joining us. Thank you, wolf. So you are opposed to the continued sale of this Military Equipment to saudi arabia. How can you stop it . Are you planning to introduce legislation to stop or delay it . We have a privileged resolution which means it will demand a vote, and a vet will occur because of the law. The Arms Export Control Act of 1970s gives the right of any one senator to demand a vote on this. The Arms Export Control Act also says that we can only export arms that are solely for the legitimate defense of a country. Well, theyre using these arms to have an incursion into a Neighboring Country and get involved in a Neighboring Countrys civil war. But this is not selfdefense of saudi arabia. So i think theyre in breach of the original Arms Export Control Act. But i also think that weesht have a swe should have a say, congress and people should vote on whether we are in the middle of another war in the middle east. Some of these yemeni fighters that the saudis are fighting together with the uae and other countries, they are actually in saudi arabia. Theyve taken over some parts of southern saudi arabia. So wouldnt that justify the saudis moving against them the way they are . Well, the saudis invaded yemen, and yemen rebels invaded back. But i dont think this was something where the saudis were trying to stop an invasion. The saudis actually invaded and started bombing in the capital of yemen. So youre blaming the saudis for this war thats going on over there, not the yemenis. Well, there is a civil war thats very complicated. Im not sure assessing blame is very accurately done in a civil war. But, yes, saudi arabia chose to get involved in a civil war and take sides on a civil war. Weve now given 100 billion worth of arms under president obama to saudi arabia. Weve approved 100 billion worth of sales of arms. We also approved billions of dollars to be released to iran. So were supplying the arms on both sides of this arms race in the middle east. We supplied turkey with tanks that are now rolling in to syria and we have kurdish troops using american arms to fight turkish arms which are supplied by the u. S. As well. So i think we do need to rethink whether or not this is making the situation better or worse. There are now millions of displaced people in yemen. Theyre refugees. So we supply the saudis with arms, they create havoc and refugees in yemen. Then whats the answer . Then were going to take the yemeni refugees in the United States . Maybe we ought to quit arming both sides of this war. You think your legislation would have a realistic chance of passing the senate or the house . And if it did, do you think the president of the United States would sign it into law . He would presumably veto it. At the very least, it begins the debate of whether or not we should be at war. We are refueling the saudi bombers, so we are essentially part of the bombing campaign. We are helping them choose targets and we are refueling the saudi bombers that are dropping the bombs. It is said that thousands of civilians have died in yemen because of this. Yes, we need to have a debate over this. I dont know what the president will do but he ought to come to congress and ask for permission. Weve given him no authority to get involved in the civil war in yemen. And we have to ask the bigger question, is that making it better or worse . Are there more refugees or less refugees . Is there more chaos or less chaos with saudi arabia bombing in to yemen. So, yeah, it is a debate we ought to have, and no president should unilaterally have this Authority Without the approval of congress. For you, this is a moral issue because you know there are a lot of jobs at stake certainly if these Defense Contractors stopping selling warplanes, other sophisticated equipment to saudi arabia. There is going to be a significant loss of jobs, revenue, here in the United States. Thats secondary from your standpoint. Well, not only is it a moral question, it is a constitutional question. Our Founding Fathers very directly and specifically did not give the president the power to go to war. They gave it to congress. So Congress Needs to step up. And this is what im doing. Stepping up and asserting our authority over Foreign Policy and that we need to be involved. We should not be an afterthefact, oh, well give you a consultation. No, we should be directing the president whether he has the power to do this or not. I dont believe he has the constitutional power to do it, nor do i think it is wise. I think we are elevating an arms race in the middle east and i dont think it is good for america. To have millions of new refugees look, saudi arabia hasnt taken any refugees. They were part of the violence in syria. Many of the weapons that saudi arabia and qatar sent into the syrian civil war, some of those wound up in the hands of al qaeda and isis. And then refugees are streaming across the world and saudi arabia foments this but didnt take any of the refugees. Very quickly, whos more qualified to be Commander In Chief . Hillary clinton or donald trump . Without question, i think Hillary Clinton would more likely get us involved in another war in the middle east. Shes been for sending arms into syria. From the very beginning donald trump has said that he questioned the iraq war. So that gives me some consolation that donald trump would be a better Commander In Chief because he at least had the foresight to see that the first the iraq war led to a destabilization of the area and Hillary Clinton was on the other side of that. Before the war, he did tell howard stern he supported the war. But we have to leave it on that note, as usual, senator rand paul, thanks for joining us. Thank you. The news continues next right here on cnn. Hi, everyone. Youre watching cnn. Im brooke baldwin. Thank you for being with me. In a bit of a waiting game right now as donald trump is set to take the podium in an ever important Battleground State of ohio. Yes, he is back in cleveland. If you are Keeping Score with us, 61 days until the president ial election. He is scheduled to start any moment so were watching and waiting for him. He is hosting this roundtable with teachers and administrators right now. Obviously the key theme here education. But the big question is this how will trump hit back after his rival Hillary Clinton came out