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Pageant Winner Under Fire For Past Tweets; Trump Spars With Family Of Fallen Soldier; Visceral Reaction To Trump Attacks On Soldier's Parents; GOP Must Denounce Trump; Trump Campaign Advisor Discusses Trump And Clinton; Clinton on E-mails; Family Feud with Trump. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 1, 2016 - 13:00   ET

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


WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 2:00 p.m. in Rio De Janeiro, 8:00 p.m. in Aleppo, Syria. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

There are now 99 days until Election Day here in the United States, and we're watching two live events set to start soon. President Obama, he's in in Atlanta to speak to the National Convention of Disabled Veterans. He's also headlining a Hillary Clinton fund- raiser.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump is set to take part in the town hall in Columbus, Ohio, covering some of the same territory hit by the Hillary Clinton bus tour over to the weekend.

Hillary Clinton is looking to keep the momentum going after last week's democratic convention, while the Trump campaign is in damage control right now after a rather rough weekend which included criticism over Mr. Trump's blistering attacks on a fallen soldier's Muslim parents who spoke at the Democratic convention. They also spoke about it today on CNN's "NEW DAY."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHIZI KHAN: There was no need to comment the way he commented. That initiated this conversation. I, again, say we want to maintain our dignity. We want to maintain my family's dignity, my son's dignity and sacrifice. And he should listen to America, and what the world is telling about the remarks, about the lack of empathy.

You solve the problems with empathy. Putting people together. There are bad people among us, but there are good people among us as well. You gather good people to get rid of bad people. But you do not malign the whole religion, the whole culture. We are the solution to the dealing with the terrorism in the United States, joined hands with good Muslims.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The Trump camp is also trying to clean up comments the Republican candidate made about Russia and complaints over the upcoming debate schedule.

I should also mention, by the way, that later today in the "SITUATION ROOM," we'll get our first CNN look at our post dramatic -- post Democratic convention polls.

To the controversy now over comments Donald Trump made about the parents of Captain Khan, attacking them for speaking about their fallen soldier son at the Democratic convention and on television over the weekend.

We also just heard from the White House. Deputy press secretary, Eric Schultz, aboard Air Force One saying families who make the ultimate sacrifice for this country's freedom and this country's safety deserve nothing but our country's honor and gratitude and deepest respect.

And this from the national commander of the Veterans Foreign Wars' Organization, and I'm quoting now, "Election year or not, the VFW will not tolerate anyone berating a gold star family member for exercising his or her right of speech or expression.

Arizona Senator John McCain, a former prisoner of war who was criticized by Donald Trump for being captured, weighed in with this statement, quote, "In recent days, Donald Trump disparaged a fallen solder's parents. He has suggested that the likes of their son should not be allowed in the United States and say nothing of entering its service. I cannot emphasize enough how deeply I disagree with Mr. Trump's statement. I hope Americans understand that the remarks do not represent the views of our Republican Party, its officers or candidates.

Other reaction includes House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issuing statements praising the Khan family for their sacrifice.

Then, there's this tweet from Jeb Bush. This is so incredibly disrespectful of a family that endured the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

CNN's Phil Mattingly is joining us from New York right now. Phil, is there any sign that Donald Trump is going to apologize, for example, on this?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, obviously all eyes will be on Columbus, Ohio where Donald Trump is going to hold that town hall. Up to this point, there has been no indication of that.

And you have to look at this though the lens of how Donald Trump has run his campaign. Never apologizing, always moving forward and, most notably, and we've seen this in Trump's response to this both in interviews and in Twitter, when he feels attacked, he is going to, as he said throughout the campaign, counter punch. That's exactly what he and his team feel like they've been doing here.

And also, it's worth noting, Wolf, Trump's advisors feel like this is a distraction. The broader discussion should be about terrorists. However, it's Donald Trump that continues to make this the issue, and he's getting a lot of pushback.

[13:05:00] Obviously, you noted all of the statements publicly that have pushed back on this. But I'm also told privately, Republican leaders reaching out to the campaign, saying, essentially, knock it off. This is not a fight worth having. It'll be very interesting to see going forward.

Wolf, one very notable thing. You mentioned the VFW putting out that statement. Just one week ago, Donald Trump spoke at the VFW National Convention, was very well received. Now, more or less being attacked by them for his comments on this issue. This is something that isn't going away soon and is really kind of testing the campaign that has often taken controversies, gone on offense with them and then escaped without any long-term damage -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Phil Mattingly reporting for us. Phil, thank you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHAN: This is a proof of the ignorance and arrogance. And I, again and again, ask his advisers to get him in a room, close the door and set him right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: That's from Mr. Khan. Retired Lieutenant Michael Flynn is one of those advisers working for Donald Trump. He's the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency. He served in Afghanistan. He's the -- also the author of the brand new best-selling book "The Field of Fight," how we can win the global war against radical Islam and its allies.

General, thank you so much for joining us.

LT. GEN. MICHAEL FLYNN (retired), U.S. ARMY, ADVISOR, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: Thanks for having me, Wolf, appreciate it.

BLITZER: Have you spoken to Mr. Trump about his reaction to what the Khan family have said?

FLYNN: I have not. I have not. And, I mean, the sacrifice that the Khan family has given to our country by the loss of their son is something that, you know, you just -- you cannot fathom. And you can't really address without being, like Mr. Khan says, empathetic to their loss.

I do believe what we have, though, is we have a significant problem with radical Islamism, and we have to address this problem.

And I think whatever Donald Trump says this afternoon, the bigger issue -- and, I mean, we're seeing it in the -- in our own attacks today in Libya to try to settle that situation down. What we've seen around Europe. I mean, the rise -- the doubling, Wolf, of radical Islamist groups around the world is something that we have to pay greater attention to.

BLITZER: And you've written a whole book about it.

FLYNN: Right.

BLITZER: And it's a best seller.

But if you had a chance to speak to Mr. Trump today, what would you say to him? What should he do, as far as this family is concerned? Because our hearts clearly go out --

FLYNN: Yes, sure.

BLITZER: -- to this family. You know what it's like.

FLYNN: Sure, I do.

BLITZER: And you've had to speak with families --

FLYNN: (INAUDIBLE.)

BLITZER: -- who have lost a son or a daughter in combat. What should he say?

FLYNN: Yes. I mean, I just think that Donald Trump has to -- has to, you know, be honest about his feelings about this family and about what has happened to them. I mean, they've given the last true measure of devotion to the loss of their son.

So, you know, I'm not going to judge or state what Donald Trump has to say. I -- what I personally believe is that we have to obviously -- I do think that we have to show empathy to these types of people.

BLITZER: Should he call this family and speak to them and apologize to them?

FLYNN: Yes, I don't know. I mean, he can -- he'll decide to do whatever he wants to do. I do believe what we must do, though, is we must recognize that we are facing an incredible challenge around the world with this problem that we have. I mean, it wasn't Donald Trump that got --

BLITZER: And Captain Khan, he got -- he volunteered for service.

FLYNN: But it wasn't Donald Trump that got us into the war. It was -- it was -- I mean, there's all this noise today about Jeb Bush. I mean, the 2003 decision to take us into the Iraq War is a strategic -- it will go down in the first half of this century as a strategic --

BLITZER: That was President --

FLYNN: -- failure.

BLITZER: Yes.

FLYNN: President Bush.

BLITZER: President Bush did that. FLYNN: For President Obama to pull us out of Iraq when he did -- and we are now upwards of around 5,000 or 6,000 troops inside of Iraq again. And that number continues to climb like we've just seen the secretary add more troops to it.

So, Wolf, I mean, we have to come to grips with what we're facing. And I -- you know, I feel for the Khans. I am -- you know, I'm saddened for their loss. But we also have to recognize the bigger issue, and I think that's what Donald Trump -- that's -- I believe that's what he is continuing to harp on.

And I think he ought to continue to -- down the road, to talk about the illegal immigration problem, the economic problems that we're having, and all these other issues that we're dealing with.

BLITZER: He's also -- Mr. Khan said, what sacrifices have you made? Referring to Donald Trump. And he said he's made sacrifices. He hasn't made any sacrifices like, God forbid, losing a son in combat.

FLYNN: Yes. I served in Afghanistan not only with my brother at the same time, but with my son at the same time. So, I mean, I am not going to question how people define sacrifice or service. Each one of us has a -- has that -- has to feel that in our own heart how we serve this country in some capacity.

So, I mean, I'm not going to be second guess it. I just know that we have a -- we have a major problem on our hands right now. And this administration -- and, frankly, the last administration with some of its mistakes. This administration has made some serious mistakes.

BLITZER: John McCain, --

FLYNN: Right.

BLITZER: -- he said, 1and I read a little bit of it earlier, --

FLYNN: I read -- I read his letter, yes.

BLITZER: -- a very strong statement. He was a former -- he spent six years --

[13:10:00] FLYNN: Yes.

BLITZER: -- as a POW in Vietnam. He was in the U.S. Navy. I challenge the nominee to set the example for what our country can and should represent. While our party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us.

FLYNN: Yes.

BLITZER: I assume you agree.

FLYNN: I read it and I actually thought it was a great note. I mean, I think it's a great note. I think it -- we all have to continue to cherish the service and the sacrifice of the men and women who serve in our armed forces. It is the very best in the world. But I also have the caveat that they are not ready to fight our nation's wars right now, Wolf.

So, I thought his note was fine. I think that, you know, the issue that's on the table and is the bigger, strategic issue is what we are doing about this rise of radical Islamism around the world. I mean, it's killing thousands.

Look what just happened in Afghanistan again today. Look at what we are trying to do in Libya, a failed decision and a failed state. And we're dropping bombs. I mean, we need to start thinking about how do we invest in stability and not investing in conflict.

BLITZER: When John McCain was taken prisoner in Vietnam, he was a lieutenant commander I think in the -- in the Navy. He was held prisoner for six years.

FLYNN: Yes.

BLITZER: He could've left earlier.

FLYNN: Unbelievable.

BLITZER: He didn't want to leave his men behind, as you know. And Donald Trump, he got a lot of controversy when he suggested John McCain was not a hero because he was a --

FLYNN: Sure.

BLITZER: -- POW. When you heard him speak like that about John McCain -- and you're a three-star general retired. What was your reaction?

FLYNN: Yes, I mean, I think that what John McCain went through and it's been well documented. He went through some ungodly abuse by his captors. And so, I'm not going to address, you know, that. That's well documented.

I mean, I -- again, everybody has to make a judgment call here. We are -- we are in a -- we are on a path in our country, Wolf, that is, at least from my perspective and I think many others, is going in the wrong direction. And we have to get this country back on track to where we're not -- we don't turn around in four years or eight years or 10 years or by the middle of the -- by the middle of this century and we're suddenly a socialist nation.

BLITZER: John McCain received the Navy commendation medal, --

FLYNN: Right.

BLITZER: -- the silver star. Was he a hero?

FLYNN: You know, I think heroism has to be defined by each individual and by the people that know you.

BLITZER: What do you think? FLYNN: I mean, I would look at it and just say all people who serve in the military are heroes, as far as I'm concerned, just by the fact that they stand up, sign on that dotted line and then they serve a Constitution and their buddies on their left and right. So, I mean, I define heroism in a lot of different ways. I mean, we clearly have medal of honor awardees who are -- I mean, who are extraordinary heroes. But I would just say, everybody sort of has their own personal --

BLITZER: But you don't think John McCain stands out as a hero, given the sacrifice, the service he gave this country?

FLYNN: Yes, I mean, I -- sure. I mean, I think -- I think -- I think he demonstrated a level of heroism by fighting back against the North Vietnamese who held him and brutally tortured him.

BLITZER: So, you disagree with Donald Trump on this as well.

FLYNN: I mean, I disagree on a lot of things. What I would tell you is that, we -- you know, what we're getting wrapped around with is we're getting wrapped around with issues that I don't think are the important issues of the day that the country should be worried about,

And I think that, you know, what we will see what Donald Trump continues to offer. But I personally believe that he has hit -- he's tapped into issues that this country is challenged by, and it goes well beyond what we're talking about right now.

BLITZER: So, the statements he's made about the Khan family and Captain Khan, statements he made earlier about Senator McCain, they haven't given you pause to reconsider your support for Donald Trump?

FLYNN: I think that the statements that have been made, and I -- and I think that the precision of them -- I think all -- the whole media needs to take a deep breath and go, OK, what exactly did he say? And listen to what he has said.

And, no it has -- it hasn't caused me to go, oh, wait a second. I believe what I believe and I believe that we have huge issues that we are dealing within this country going forward. And I'm not going to stand here and tell you that I discount any of the feelings or the sadness that the Khan family has had to endure for more than a decade, 12 years.

BLITZER: You've served with several commanders and chief.

FLYNN: Yes.

BLITZER: Does he have the temperament to be commander in chief?

FLYNN: Yes, no doubt. No doubt. I mean, in terms of the decision- making ability, his strategic vision for the direction of this country needs to go, his ability to listen to advisers around him when we have these kinds of discussions.

So, I -- yes, I don't have any issues with this. I mean, I'm more concerned about what we've seen Hillary Clinton do, Wolf, with basically the disclosure of highly, highly sensitive classified information to our greatest adversaries. I mean, that's very clear to -- you know, to say that she's more prepared to be commander in chief. Based on what she did, --

[13:15:04] BLITZER: But --

FLYNN: She's not even --

BLITZER: What --

FLYNN: She shouldn't be authorized classified information.

BLITZER: Well, let me press you. When you say she gave classified information --

FLYNN: Yes.

BLITZER: To our adversaries, what you're --

FLYNN: Yes, on a silver platter.

BLITZER: What's the evidence of that?

FLYNN: On a silver platter.

BLITZER: What's the evidence of that?

FLYNN: The evidence is what the director of the FBI has stated, OK, and what I know to be true, which is, we -- we are in a -- in an electronic cyber war with China, Russia and Iran, North Korea, to be -- to name a couple others, but particularly China and -- and Russia. For Hillary Clinton, as secretary of state, to walk around with an unclassified communications device multiple, putting that information on an unclassified server, you might as well be giving the -- the Russians and the Chinese, you know, a nice fillet on a silver platter because they have the capability to intercept and to pull all that information in. So the likelihood, as the FBI director said that they have that, is very high.

BLITZER: But he also said there was no evidence her computer system, her server was hacked.

FLYNN: I'm not even sure the FBI has even been able to look at the whole thing, you know, because we're still looking for disclosed e- mails on her account that the numbers are 30,000. I mean why is there so -- such a --

BLITZER: Those are e-mails that she deleted because she said they were private e-mails.

FLYNN: Yes, but why did she delete them? Well, she's a government employee. Why did she delete them? That actually -- that server is -- actually belongs to the United States government but that's what she decided to do her government business on. So it belongs to the U.S. government. So what did -- why did she do that? BLITZER: Well, he didn't charge her. He said there was no evidence for any crime.

FLYNN: I know. And I -- and I -- and I disagreed with -- Director Comey should have just -- he should have just offered the facts, and then he should have preferred his judgment to the attorney general and let the attorney general make the decision. Because you've seen what the attorney general's done. She's just basically thrown it back and say, well, you know, the director of the FBI said this, so I'm not going to do anything.

BLITZER: Because he was very blunt. He said no prosecutor, seeing the evidence there, would file criminal charges against her.

FLYNN: Yes. Yes.

BLITZER: You heard him say that?

FLYNN: I did. I heard -- I listened to the whole thing. And I -- and I was stunned that the level of lying he said she did and then she turns around just the other day and talks about not -- you know, hey, the FBI director said I didn't lie. Yes, he did. He said you lied.

BLITZER: We're going to get into that too.

FLYNN: Yes. Yes.

BLITZER: Retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn. Let me give you the name of the book, "The Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and its Allies."

FLYNN: Thank you.

BLITZER: It's a "New York Times" bestseller.

FLYNN: Big time. Yes, thank you.

BLITZER: Thank you very much, general. And thank you for your service as well.

FLYNN: Yes, thanks, Wolf. Appreciate it.

BLITZER: We appreciate it very much.

Up next, as we just mentioned, "The Washington Post" accusing Hillary Clinton of being less than truthful when it comes to her private e- mail server. We'll speak with the Hillary Clinton press secretary. We'll get his reaction to what we just hear from General Flynn and a whole lot more. Brian Fallon is standing by live. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:22:04] BLITZER: The father of an American Muslim soldier killed in Iraq has a message for Republican leaders, tell Donald Trump enough is enough. Donald Trump attacked the soldier's family for criticizing him during the Democratic Convention. And on CNN's "New Day" earlier this morning, the father of Captain Humayun Khan said Republicans should publically condemn Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHIZR KHAN, FATHER OF U.S. SOLDIER KILLED IN IRAQ: Every decent Republican has said -- I apologize if I am a little emotional about this -- every decent Republican has rebuked his behavior, yet nobody has stood up and said, enough, stop it, you will not be our candidate. In private, they have done this. We are aware of it that in private they have done this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let's get some reaction now from the Clinton campaign. The press secretary, Brian Fallon, is joining us now from campaign headquarters in Brooklyn.

Brian, thanks very much for joining us.

BRIAN FALLON, PRESS SECRETARY, HILLARY FOR AMERICA: Good afternoon, wolf.

BLITZER: All right, so what's the campaign's reaction to Donald Trump's comments about the Khan family?

FALLON: Well, Wolf, I listened to the last segment with your interview with General Flynn and I respect, obviously, the general's service, and he's clearly a very loyal surrogate to go out on television on a day like today on behalf of Donald Trump, but I think he struggled to defend the comments that we've heard from Donald Trump because there is no defending them. These comments attacking the Khan family are callous, they're despicable, and I think that they show, once again, his fundamental lack of fitness to be commander in chief.

One of the bare minimum things we ask of our president, of our commander in chief, of anyone who serves in that role, is to honor the service of our military and to comfort the grieving families that they leave behind when they fall in the line of duty. And Donald Trump is showing a complete and utter lack of empathy for this family. And in one sense I guess it's as callous as it is, it's not too surprising considering just last week he was maligning the service of a four-star general, General Allen, and in -- in the months previous he has even denigrated the POW status of an American war hero like John McCain. I heard General Flynn, he even had to hesitate to call John McCain a hero, because he didn't want to get at odds with the candidate that he's supporting.

And, of course, John McCain is a hero. And it just shows you the lengths to which Donald Trump's supporters have to go to defend him at this point. And I think that Mr. Khan has it right, it is no longer enough for Republicans like Speaker Ryan and Leader McConnell to simply distance themselves from the latest set of remarks that Donald Trump makes. It's about time for them to completely disavow him as a candidate for president.

BLITZER: As you know, some on the right are accusing Democrats for exploiting for political purposes the Khan family and their grief. How did their appearance at the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia come about?

[13:25:00] FALLON: Well, Wolf, this -- the story of Captain Khan is one that Hillary Clinton has invoked for months now in the immediate aftermath of Donald Trump taking this outrageous position of suggesting that we have a bar on Muslims from entering the country. Hillary Clinton had heard of this story and wanted to invoke it in an appearance I believe that she made in Minneapolis, Minnesota, about how we can work together as Americans and come together to deal with the threat that we face from radical jihadi terrorism here on the home front. How can we prevent homegrown radicalization. And in the course of the remarks that she made in Minnesota, she wanted to invoke the example of Captain Khan to reject the position of Donald Trump and show that American Muslims are just as patriotic, just as devoted to their country as anyone else.

And so at that time we reached out to his family, this was several months ago, to insure that they would not be offended in any way for her to invoke Captain Khan's situation in this way. And, indeed, they indicated that they would not be. We've remained in touch with them ever since. And I think that Hillary Clinton felt strongly that Mr. Khan and the Khan family should be provided this opportunity last week if they wanted to take it to speak out, and they decided to do so. The sentiments that they expressed were their own. And what you've heard from them in the days since they've come under attack from Donald Trump has been their own genuine reaction.

BLITZER: Let me give you a chance to clarify. The e-mail controversy, as you know, it came up over the weekend once again. Secretary Clinton claiming that the FBI director, James Comey, said she told the truth about sending -- not sending or receiving classified e-mail on the private server -- on her private server. Here is what she said on Sunday on Fox.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Director Comey said that my answers were truthful and what I've said is consistent with what I have told the American people, that there were decisions discussed and made to classify retroactively certain of the e-mails.

CHRIS WALLACE, FOX ANCHOR: That he not only directly contradicted what you said, he also said in that hearing that you were extremely careless and negligent.

CLINTON: Well, Chris, I looked at the whole transcript of everything that was said, and what I believe is, number one, I made a mistake, not using two different e-mail addresses. I have said that, and I repeat it again today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, so, but listen to what Director Comey said in a hearing, a House hearing, when he was questioned by Congressman Trey Gowdy in July. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. TREY GOWDY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Secretary Clinton said there was nothing marked classified on her e-mails either sent or received. Was that true?

JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: That's not true. There were a small number of portion markings on, I think, three of the documents.

GOWDY: Secretary Clinton said I did not e-mail any classified material to anyone on my e-mail. There is no classified material. Was that true?

COMEY: Three was classified material e-mailed.

GOWDY: Secretary Clinton said she used just one device. Was that true?

COMEY: She used multiple devices during the four years of her term as secretary of state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: OK, Brian, so how do you explain the discrepancy?

FALLON: Thanks, Wolf.

Yes, so, what the director did say at that very same hearing is that he had no basis to believe whatsoever that Hillary Clinton said anything that was at all untruthful in her answers that she gave to the Justice Department when she went in for her several hour-long interview prior to their conclusion of their investigation. And what we can say here today is that what she said in that interview is completely consistent with what she has said over these many months in all of the public settings where she's be asked about this.

And so even though you did play those exchanges between Congressman Gowdy, I believe it was, and Director Comey, later in that same hearing under questioning from different members of Congress, including Congressman Cartwright, he expanded on those answers and brought clarity to those apparent contradictions. And as a result of those further answers he gave later in the hearing, I think it resolved the apparent contradictions in a way that explains fully what Secretary Clinton has been saying these many months.

So to just take one example, in that particular exchange that you played, the director said that there were three e-mails that appeared to have markings. But, of course, we know that later in that same hearing he indicated that those markings were a mistake, that they were improper, and that anybody that was looking at those three e- mails, seeing those improper markings would not have known that the documents were classified. And so that's just one example of how, based on further opportunities to expand on his answers, the director explained things in a way that completely matches up with what Hillary Clinton has been saying for these many months.

BLITZER: The impression I got from the FBI director in -- during the hearing, as opposed to his news conference when he announced that he was not going to recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton, was that she was truthful, she didn't lie to the FBI. Lying to the FBI, as you know, is a crime. He would have charged her with lying to the FBI if, in fact, he felt she had lied to the FBI. He said she was truthful to the FBI, but he also left the clear impression she was less than honest with the American public in some of the statements she had made and I want to -- I want you to respond to that.