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WOLF

Rumblings Inside Republican Party; Trump Town Hall In Florida; Trump Refusing To Endorse McCain And Ryan; Gold Star Families And Others Want Apology From Trump; Senior DNC Staffers Forced To Resign; Millions To Iran Not Linked To Jailed Americans; Interview with Joel Benenson. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 3, 2016 - 13:00   ET

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


[13:00:00] ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: And we appreciate you being here on LEGAL VIEW. We'll see you again tomorrow. "WOLF" starts now.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 6:00 p.m. in London, 8:00 p.m. in Jerusalem. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

We're now just under 97 days from Election Day here in the United States, and there are rumblings inside the Republican Party about anger and frustration over recent comments from the candidate, Donald Trump, on a host of issues.

Right now, Donald Trump is preparing for a town hall in Daytona Beach, Florida. A big crowd already there. That event set to begin around two hours or so from now in that key battleground state.

We'll have plenty to talk about today, given recent events. I assume he will discuss all those events as well. They include some reports of unrest inside the campaign and even a call for help to get Trump's campaign back on track.

Campaign staffers are getting frustrated with the distractions Donald Trump appears to have brought on himself. Distractions like Trump refusing to endorse the House speaker, Paul Ryan, in his bid for reelection in Wisconsin and Senator John McCain running for reelection in Arizona.

The party's presidential nominee says McCain, a former prisoner of war, has not done enough for American veterans. And of Paul Ryan, he says, quote, "I'm not quite there yet, echoing something that Ryan said about Trump a couple of months ago right here on CNN.

The Ryan snub isn't sitting well Republican National Committee chairman, Reince Priebus, a very good friend of Paul Ryan who's been defending Donald Trump and trying to get the party behind their nominee.

Adding to Trump's troubles are comments from Republicans like Meg Whitman. She's a major Republican fundraiser, a CEO -- former CEO of Hewlett Packard who's not alone in jumping ship. She told "The New York Times," and I'm quoting her now, "I will vote for Hillary." I will talk to my Republican friends about helping her. And I will donate to her campaign and try to raise money for her.

From the outside, these interior battles point to a fractured campaign and a fractured party. But not to Donald Trump who tweeted this, and I'm quoting now, "There is great unity in my campaign, perhaps greater than ever before. I want to thank everyone for your tremendous support. Beat crooked H.

Our Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash has been doing lots of reporting on this. Dana, what's the very latest you're hearing on these divisions, the disruption that has emerged inside the GOP.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the very latest is, at least in my experience in covering presidential politics which is a few cycles, something that was pretty unprecedented which is about an hour ago, a little more. I got a call from pretty much all of Donald Trump's senior staff, all in one room in Trump Tower, pushing back on the notion that I reported last night that there is frustration within the Trump campaign at the candidate. Frustration that he is as you just listed. Lots of evidence that he's going off message. That he's not sticking to message.

And the call I got was, literally, do we sound frustrated? We're not frustrated. The frustrated that -- the frustrations that they feel is with us, the media. This is what Paul Manafort said to me. And that we're not covering the campaigns in an equitable way.

But also, most importantly, signaled this that you mentioned Donald Trump is going to have an event at 3:00 in Florida. That he is going to be talking about some of the things that a lot of Republicans are pulling their hair out because he's not discussing, about Hillary Clinton, about the e-mail situation, about her -- the four Pinocchios she got talking about that on a Sunday show this past week. And now, about this Iran deal which they think is a very beneficial thing to talk about politically.

So, you sort of see along with that Donald Trump tweet, this unusual group call that I got from senior Trump staff. It all sort of points to the fact that they appear to be trying to get the narrative back on message, not to mention the actual campaign.

BLITZER: Well, how angry are Republican leaders that -- about what Donald Trump said yesterday in that interview with "The Washington Post," saying he's not ready to endorse the speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, or John McCain?

BASH: Furious. Absolutely furious. And it's not just Republican leaders. It's the chairman of the party, as you mentioned. I talked to some sources who said that he was so upset and he really took it personally that Donald Trump decided not to endorse Paul Ryan in his primary bid. Because Paul Ryan and Reince Priebus are like family. And they grew up together in politics in Wisconsin. Reince Priebus was the chair of his very first -- Ryan's very first congressional campaign.

And so, Reince Priebus, I'm told, feels like he has really stuck his neck out for Donald Trump. He tried to get the party behind Donald Trump. And that, you know, he wasn't getting the fact that you have to be a party leader and you have to say that you're good to back the House speaker no matter what when you're in the position that Donald Trump is.

BLITZER: You've seen some of these reports. We're not reporting it but some of these reports out there going so far as to say that Donald Trump, potentially, could even drop out of this race. That sounds pretty far-fetched.

BASH: It does. And we don't have any reporting on that. But what we do have, I've talked to some Republican sources, saying that because he is so mercurial, some party officials are trying to prepare for the what if scenario, what if -- what if he does drop out? It's a complicated answer. It is doable to get somebody else on the ballot.

But, again, this is just a preparation situation, not by the Republican National Committee apparatus. Just by some committeemen who just kind of want to be prepared.

BLITZER: A what if situation. All right, Dana, good reporting. Thank you very much.

Let's talk a little bit more about the state of the Donald Trump campaign. Joining us now, Dr. Ben Carson. He's an adviser to Donald Trump. A former opponent in the Republican primaries. Thanks so much, Dr. Carson, for joining us.

DR. BEN CARSON (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, ADVISOR, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: Always a pleasure, Wolf.

BLITZER: So, what's your reaction when you hear these reports that Donald Trump -- you know, this -- it's sort of far-fetched, totally far-fetched, he could drop out, looking -- calling all of these, the contests, rigged, if you will. When you hear all of these reports about the frustration in the Republican Party, what's your reaction?

CARSON: Well, you know, I've been talking to a lot of people around the country, you know, and basically telling them, don't worry. Don't jump on the bandwagon. There are a lot of people who are trying to stir up a sense of emergency and there is no emergency here whatsoever.

But what does have to happen is that there must be a concerted effort to focus on the real issues here. This is a huge election that we're dealing with. And we're talking about a fundamental change in who we are as Americans. That we go from a nation that is of, for and by the people to a nation that is of, for and by the government. That is essentially what this is about.

People are trying all kinds of diversionary tactics to get off of that. I think that Mr. Trump recognizes that and is going to make more of an effort not to fall for some of the things that are used to divert attention.

BLITZER: You're an adviser to Donald Trump, Dr. Carson. In the last few days, have you had a chance to speak personally with him about all of this and giving him -- and give him some advice?

CARSON: I have spoken to him within the last few days, yes.

BLITZER: And can --

CARSON: And --

BLITZER: -- you share with us --

CARSON: -- you know, --

BLITZER: -- can you share with us --

CARSON: -- a lot of people have --

BLITZER: -- can you -- can you share with us what your message to him was?

CARSON: Well, I never share personal conversations. But I will tell you that we're very interested in reaching out to, you know, demographics that traditionally have not identified with Republicans and talking about ways to empower people.

We're talk -- we want to talk about the economy. There's so much to talk about in the economy, and particularly with the younger generations and how they're going to be saddled with enormous debt if we don't do something about it.

We need to focus on a lot of the corruption that's just being accepted in our society. I'm not so much disappointed with the people who are lying and cheating and deceiving. I'm disappointed with the fact that so many of us Americans have accepted that. It's no longer a big deal. And that's very alarming.

BLITZER: Was it wise for Donald Trump to say he's not yet ready to endorse Speaker Ryan or John McCain or Kelly Ayotte who's running for reelection from New Hampshire?

CARSON: Well, he's very pro-unity in the party. And, you know, he will be, obviously, on board with Paul Ryan. Paul Ryan is a tremendous guy. I have great respect for him, a great intellect. Donald Trump understands that. And any little differences that they have will be resolved and there will be unity in the party.

BLITZER: Because he said that he's not yet ready to support -- to endorse Paul Ryan. He says John McCain, he's a Vietnam War veteran, as you know, served as a POW there, that he hasn't done enough for vets. And that's why he's not ready to support John McCain. Even though both Paul Ryan and John McCain have endorsed Donald Trump. That was pretty surprising. That was a bombshell.

CARSON: And Donald Trump will be on board with them as well. I don't think it's nearly as big a bombshell as people are making it out to be.

You know, again, let's concentrate on the big issues, the things that really threaten this country. And as far as I'm concerned, they're not Republican or Democrat things. They are things that are going to affect the quality of life in this country for everybody.

[13:10:11] BLITZER: What do you say to party members, Republicans like Meg Whitman and others, key Chris Christie aide, a key Jeb Bush aide, who now say they not only can't vote for Donald Trump but they will actually back Hillary Clinton?

CARSON: Well, I think there are a lot of people who, perhaps, are finding what their true beliefs are. Maybe they never really were individuals who believed some of the things that the Republican platform stand for, you know, individuality and personal responsibility and hard work and compassion for your fellow human beings. Maybe all along they actually did feel that the government knows best and the government should be in control of our lives.

And if that's the case, you know, they should go where they -- wherever their beliefs are. I think there -- the equal numbers of people from the other side, as things are explained to them, who will say, you know, actually, I'm much more of a person who believes in traditional America.

BLITZER: What did you think of Donald Trump's reaction to that Muslim-American family who lost a son, a captain, Captain Khan, who died fighting for the United States in Iraq back in 2004? What did you -- what was your reaction to Donald Trump's statements in the aftermath of what those grieving parents said?

CARSON: Well, obviously, you know, any family who loses service member members are people for whom we should have great sympathy. And certainly I feel very much for those families. I recognize that they are grieving and, very often, they will say and do things out of that grief. I think we should just give them a pass and move on.

And, you know, I'm hopeful that, as time goes on, everybody on both sides of the aisle will simply adopt a position that we're not going to make these the issues. We're going to talk about the real issues that affect America. I can't get that point across enough. People, all of us, Americans, we have some real serious issues here. If our founders had gotten caught up in all these little things and not dealt with the big issues, we wouldn't even have this country today.

BLITZER: Should Donald Trump apologize to those parents?

CARSON: I think -- you know, we should clearly move on. I don't think it would be harmful if, you know, they apologized to him and he apologized to them. But I don't see that happening.

BLITZER: Why should they apologize to him?

CARSON: Well, for one thing, you know, if you accuse someone of something that's not true, it usually is a reasonable thing to acknowledge that.

BLITZER: So, you -- so, you -- what you would like to see is an apology from those parents. Is that what you're saying? CARSON: I would say, you know, rather than make this a one-sided issue, why don't we all just say, back off a little bit. We have such important issues to deal with. And, you know, let's just call a truce. And the best way to call a truce is simply to say, I'm over that. You're over that. I'm sorry I said this if it offended you. Other side, I'm sorry if I said that. Because that's not our issue.

You know, our strength as a nation is through unity. It's not through division. Division will destroy us. A House divided again itself cannot stand. That's what we need to be concentrating on. Not these peripheral issues that don't mean anything. We just seem to be addicted to things that don't mean anything.

BLITZER: Dr. Ben Carson, thanks so much for joining us.

CARSON: My pleasure. Thank you.

BLITZER: And coming up, the shake-up over the Democratic National Committee. More senior staffers to resign after those embarrassing e- mails got leaked. So, how worried is the Clinton campaign about other private information getting out? I'll ask the chief strategist for Hillary Clinton's campaign. Joel Benenson is standing by live.

Plus, $400 million air lifted to Iran on the very same day four Americans were freed. The State Department says it's just a coincidence. Critics say it's clearly ransom.

[13:14:36]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: More heads roll at the Democratic National Committee in the fallout over those leaked e-mails. Three high-level staffers have resigned in the past 24 hours. And WikiLeaks is promising to release more internal e-mails from the hacking of DNC computers.

Joel Benenson is joining us. He's the chief strategist for the Hillary Clinton campaign, he's joining us from the headquarters of the campaign in Brooklyn.

Joel, thanks very much for joining us. Joel, can you hear me? I think we're having trouble. Joel, you can hear me now?

JOEL BENENSON, CHIEF STRATEGIST, HILLARY FOR AMERICA: I can't hear.

BLITZER: He can't -- he can't hear me. All right. You know what we're going to do? We've got a technical problem. We'll fix it. Let's take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:23:46] BLITZER: We're back with Joel Benenson, he's the chief strategist for the Hillary Clinton campaign. . He's joining us from Brooklyn right now.

All right, Joel, how concerned are you about WikiLeaks releasing potentially more embarrassing e-mails, the embarrassing e-mails from the DNC, the DCCC and maybe even from your campaign?

BENENSON: Yes. Wolf, I think the real concern here is, you know, we've had our opponent Donald Trump encouraging the Russians to meddle in our elections. And that's really --

BLITZER: He says he was being -- he says he was being sarcastic.

BENENSON: Well, I think what's clear is that he hasn't been sarcastic. What he's been doing is aligning himself very strongly with Vladimir Putin. He tampered with the platform at the Republican convention to remove a provision that would have let Ukraine defend itself against Putin. He has called for the U.S. to abandon its native allies -- NATO allies in Europe. And he has praised Vladimir Putin and said he deserves an A for leadership.

This is a man who isn't just playing footsies with the Russians. He's giving Vladimir Putin a big bear hug.

BLITZER: So --

BENENSON: And that should really cause worry throughout everyone in America, particularly when he makes reckless statements saying he should hack into our computers and interfere with an American election. That's unheard of. Unprecedented in a presidential campaign.

[13:25:05] BLITZER: But how worried are you that your computers, your e-mails at the campaign either already have been hacked or about to be hacked and more damaging information about the campaign, about Hillary Clinton, could be released?

BENENSON: Yes. My understanding last week when this was raised for the first time, Wolf, is that our systems have not been compromised. We've had multiple security experts looking at computers and making sure that everybody here takes every precaution they can. You know, we can do what we can on our end. What is really should be most concerning as I said is that Donald Trump wants to facilitate and encourage, you know, the leader of Russia, a strong man, to meddle in our elections. That's really problematic. It's unheard of and I think it shows again why he's unfit to be president of the United States.

BLITZER: The Trump campaign is blaming the reports about frustration and turmoil within the ranks of -- blaming those reports on Hillary Clinton. I want you to listen to the Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, what he said on FOX today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL MANAFORT, DONALD TRUMP CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN: The turmoil, this is another Clinton narrative that is being put out there and that the media is picking up on. Mr. Trump has appeared this week in front of crowds that are overflowing onto the streets. So the campaign is in very good shape, you know. We are organized. We are moving forward. And the Clinton machine may not like it, but we're prepared for the fight. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. So what's your response to Mr. Manafort?

BENENSON: I mean, my understanding from the stories I've seen and reports I've heard, Wolf, and I don't know if you have different information, but that the journalists reporting on this have sources inside the Trump campaign. We wouldn't know what's going on in the Trump campaign. We can certainly look at it from the outside and what we see is the party nominee unraveling on almost a daily basis, behaving more erratically, more insulting towards military people and anybody who disagrees with him.

And I think that's why you're seeing more and more Republicans saying, hey, wait a second. We've got to put our country ahead of party here and they understand what that means. And they're doing that not because of anything we're saying about the Trump campaign. They're doing that because they're walking away from the Trump campaign of their own volition.

BLITZER: Yesterday President Obama said he's going to move ahead with the Transpacific Partnership, the TPP, right after the November election, during the lame-duck session. He says the critics including Hillary Clinton are wrong and he's right. Listen to the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, right now I'm president, and I'm for it. And I've got some very close friends, people I admire a lot, but who I just disagree with them. And that's OK. I respect the arguments that they're making. They're coming from a sincere concern about the position of workers and wages in this country. But I think I've got the better argument and I've got the evidence to support it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So if Hillary Clinton is elected, Joel, and he pushes for passage of the Trans Pacific Partnership during the lame duck session in November, December, January, before, let's say, she takes office if she's elected, will she lobby against the president?

BENENSON: I think most importantly, Wolf, is the president has, you know, expressed his respect and admiration for some people who disagree with him here. I think Hillary Clinton likewise, I think as we saw last week at the convention, there's a tremendous amount of mutual admiration and respect between her and President Obama.

But she also made clear at the convention that TPP fails to meet as negotiated at the end of the final agreement -- did not meet her criteria for protecting American jobs, for making sure and ensuring that American wages would rise, and that it would benefit America's exporters around the world, and not give China an upper hand.

I think that, you know, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, if she's elected on -- in November. The president will pursue his course of action while he's president and I'm sure that she will make clear her views at that time to him and probably to the public if he -- you know, wants to have this debate aired out then.

I mean, he is the president until January, as he said, and he is going to continue to push for his policies and she'll continue to make her opinion known on the TPP issue.

BLITZER: But you know, Joel, China is not part of the TPP.

BENENSON: Well, one of the key provisions that has disturbed people on the other side here is what's called the Nations of Origin provision which means a -- ownership of a particular entity. Doesn't have to be a -- majority stake in order for that business to be considered a Vietnamese business or a Malaysian business. There are concerns around provisions like that that it would give China more of a free reign in the region than they should when we're talking about trade deals.

BLITZER: Joel Benenson is the chief strategist for the Hillary Clinton campaign. Joel, thank you very much.

BENENSON: Thanks.