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Clinton Tax Plan Speech in Cleveland, Ohio. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired August 17, 2016 - 13:30   ET

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


[13:30:00] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Sean, your point is taken.

Sean Spicer, chief strategist and communications director, thanks for being with us.

Like I said, Hillary Clinton is in Cleveland. She's there to talk about her tax plan and she's attacking Donald Trump for his. Let's listen.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: And I saw the future. The students and teachers who showed me what they're doing in robotics, in 3-D design, and entrepreneurial and civic education. I, for one, am really proud of this high school and what it represents for the students here.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: And why is that so important for those of us no longer in high school? Because woof got to get the economy working for everybody, not just those at the top and how are we going to do that?

Well, I know that too many families right here in Ohio are of financial stress, worrying about how they are going to make ends meet, dealing with all of the costs from child care to prescription drugs. I understand that. That's why I have laid out specific plans about how we're going to get the economy working for everyone. And I think it's important when someone comes to you and asks for your support running for president that maybe they tell you what you want to do so you can decide who you want to vote for.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: And sometimes I get criticized for doing that and people say, oh, there she goes, she has another plan.

(LAUGHTER)

Well, I do. I have an infrastructure plan to create millions of jobs fixing our roads, our bridges, our tunnels, our airports, our water systems, our sewer systems.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: As part of that plan, I want to start a national infrastructure bank so we have public and private funds working together so we don't just wait on Congress to act but we are building, rebuilding, maintaining all the time. And it's not just what we can see, as important as that is. We need a new modern electric grid that can take and distribute clean, renewable energy across America.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: And we need to finally finish the job of connecting every home and business everywhere in America, from inner cities to remote, rural areas to high-speed broadband access to they can be part of the 21st century digital economy.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: You know, I was talking to a group of my friends who are teachers. I love teachers.

Thank you all for being here with me.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: And they were telling me there had just been a national survey done and the teachers were asked, do you ever -- you know, do you ever assign homework that allows your students to go on the Internet? 70 percent said, yes, they do. That's makes perfect sense if you just saw what I saw. You've got to have knowledge of the Internet. You've got to be able to learn to use it. It can spark your imagination, create new dreams. I meet young people and said what got you interested in computer design, 3-D design, robots? Well, they were interested in the arts. They were interested in what they could do to design and make things.

So the answer was 70 percent of teachers. But here's the problem. Five million students, five million homes with students in them in America do not have access to the Internet. And so we're already creating a big gap, a homework gap, which turns into an achievement gap and doesn't give every kid the chance to go as far as his or her hard work and talent will take them. So when I talk about infrastructure, I'm talking about making our economy more competitive and creating more opportunities for more Americans willing to work for it because I believe in the basic bargain. If you're willing to work, you ought to be able to get ahead and stay ahead. That's how I was raised. That's what I want Americans to believe again.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: You know, this past Monday, I was in Pennsylvania with Joe Biden.

(CHEERING)

[11:35:00] CLINTON: And Joe was born in Scranton. My grandparents, my father was born in Scranton. I went back to Scranton every summer, a lot of Christmas holidays. My grandfather was an immigrant, came as a young child. He worked in the Scranton Lace Factory making lace, which was a big deal. I remember we had lace curtains and table cloths and things like that. And my grandfather worked really hard because he believed, if he worked hard, he could provide a better life for his kids. And he did.

My dad got to go to college. He went to Penn State here. He played football.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: And then he took a job in the Midwest as a salesman and then went into the Navy during World War II. When he came out, he started a small business and he worked really hard. And I used to go help him sometimes because he printed fabric for draperies and he had a print plant. And he had two long tables. It was this old plant, low ceilings, no windows. And he would print that drapery fabric. He's take an old-fashioned silk screen. He put it down, he poured the paint down and then take a squeegee and then go from one side to the other and pick up the screen and keep going down the table. And he provided a good life. I grew up in a suburb of Chicago. And so I know what the American dream is all about. I am proud to be the granddaughter of a factory worker and the daughter of a small businessman and standing here before you.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: And so when I think about how hard my dad worked and I think about him printing those fabrics and him loading them into his car and delivering them to whoever had ordered them and then expecting to be paid because he had done the work, it just really hits me personally when people are standing up and telling their stories -- they were small business people, they were plumbers, electricians, painters, who did work for Donald Trump, and he refused to pay them.

(BOOING)

CLINTON: That violates the basic bargain. If you do your job, you're supposed to be rewarded for your work, not stiffed.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: Not told to go sue somebody.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: And I can't help but take it personally, because I think about what would have happened to my family if my father had taken a job like that and put his heart and soul into it, bought the material, bought the paint, did the labor, shows up and delivers the product, and then told we're not paying you. But person after person, small business after small business is telling the same story, that they were not paid, that they were told to go sue Donald Trump. Well, if you're a small business, you can't afford to go sue somebody. That's not the way it's supposed to work.

So when I talk about creating new jobs in infrastructure, advanced manufacture, clean renewable energy, I also talk about creating more small businesses, and small businesses that will grow and give people a chance to fulfill their dream and will be part of the basic bargain, who will be paid for the work that they do so they can stay in business.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: Now, I've got to tell you, creating the jobs of the future means we've got to make sure that all Americans, not just young Americans, have all of the education and all of the skills that are needed. That's why I want to start with early childhood education so that more young kids get prepared to succeed in school.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: I want to see more technical education like I saw right here in John Marshall across America so that high school students can be better prepared.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: You know, when we stopped doing vocational education some years ago, we basically sent a message to so many young people, there's only one way to be successful in America, you've got to go to a four-year college. That is so unfair and it's also untrue.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: Actually, if you look at job projection, more than half of the jobs that will be available in America in 2020 will not require a four-year college degree. And so how are we going to get our people prepared? We're going to bring more technical education, not the old- fashion kind, but what I saw here at John Marshall. We're going to bring computer coding, like I saw in a classroom just a few minutes ago.

(CHEERING)

[11:40:07] CLINTON: We're going to bring engineering and design work. We're going to give young kids in high school the chance to either get that education right in their own school or go to a community college that will provide it and give them credit to get a credential in an associate's degree or credit to go on to a four-year college.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: So we're going to do more on apprenticeship programs.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: I want everybody who is willing to work to be prepared. I don't want any excuses. I'm a kind of no-excuse person. If you are willing to do the work, I want to make sure that we've got an economy that will produce the jobs.

And then I want to make four-year college affordable.

(CHEERING) CLINTON: If you go to a four-year public college or university, it should be affordable. And we're going to make community college free for everybody that wants to go to community college.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: And we're going to help everybody with student debt pay down the debt, get it off their backs.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: Now, I think it's fair to say, OK, well, how are you going to do all that? That's fair to ask. Well, we're going to do it in two ways. Number one, we are going to tax the wealthy, who have made all of the income gains in the last 15 years.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: The super wealthy, corporations, Wall Street. They're going to have to invest in education, in skills training, in infrastructure, because we have to grow this economy. We do need to have the resources to do that.

And I've laid out what I want to do and how I would do it, closing the loopholes, creating a fairer tax system. But I've made very clear, I'm the only candidate who ran in the either the Democratic or Republican primary who has said from the very beginning that I will not raise taxes on the middle class. The middle class has to catch up to where they were before the Great Recession.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: And so I've laid this all out. And so independent analysts, economists and others are looking at what I've said and what Donald Trump has said and, in fact, according to an independent analysis, by Moody's Analytics, carried out by the man who was John McCain's economic advisor, if you were to implement what I am proposing, we would create at least 10 million new jobs in the first term of my administration.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: By contrast, if you look at what Trump is proposing, and how he wants to give huge tax breaks to people who are wealthy like him, it would cost out economy 3.4 million jobs.

Now, this is not me saying it. This is an independent analysis saying it that has tried to look at both of us very objectively.

But what does that mean for Ohio? If we divide across the country by population, Ohio would gain 376,000 jobs under my plan and lose more than 123,000 jobs under Donald Trump's plan.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: And it's not hard to see why, because he wants to give tax cuts to big corporation, millionaires, Wall Street money managers. He's even created a new tax loophole that we call the Trump Loophole, because it's really good for Trump. It would let millionaires and billionaires cut their tax rate in half on a lot of their income. Under his plan, Donald Trump would pay lower tax rate than middle class families. Of course, we have no idea what tax rate he pays because, unlike everybody else who has run for president in the last four or five decades, he refuses to release his tax return so the American people can't really judge.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: And then there's the estate tax, which he wants to eliminate altogether. So if you believe Donald Trump is as wealthy as he claims -- we can't say that for sure, but let's assume it -- he would, by eliminating the estate tax, save the Trump family $4 billion. And do absolutely nothing for 99.8 percent of all Americans.

[13:45:05] Now, think of what we could do with $4 billion in Ohio. We could build 280 new elementary schools. We could eliminate the outstanding student loan of 166,000 Ohioans.

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: We could provide health care to 370,000 veterans.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: We could sure rebuild every crumbling bridge in this state and fix a lot of the highways that are causing folks to incur expenses.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: Donald Trump doesn't need a tax cut. I don't need a tax cut. It's time for the wealthiest Americans, whoever you are, as well as corporations and Wall Street, to pay your fair share in taxes.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: You have been successful in this country because of everything that this country represents. We're going to stop giving tax breaks to corporations that outsource jobs and profits. We're going to reward those who invest in their employees again. If corporations move their headquarters overseas, we're going to slap an exit tax on them and try to persuade them not to move.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: We're going to add a new tax on multi-millionaires, crack down on tax gaming and close loopholes, and then use that money to make the kind of investments that will grow the economy for everybody.

So here's the bottom line. There are just 83 days left in this election. I keep track of them.

(LAUGHTER) And for anyone waiting for Donald Trump to suddenly become more responsible --

(LAUGHTER)

-- remember what a great American, Mayo Angelou said, "When someone shows you who they are, believe them."

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: And I think it's fair to say that Donald Trump has shown us who he is. He can hire and fire anyone he wants from his campaign. They can make him read new words from a teleprompter.

(LAUGHTER)

But he's still the same man who insults Gold Star families, demeans women, mocks people with disabilities, and thinks he knows more about ISIS than our generals.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: There is no new Donald Trump. This is it.

And you know, I hope you will talk to any of your friends who are flirting with the idea of voting for Donald Trump. Friends don't let friends vote for Trump.

(CHEERING)

(CHANTING)

CLINTON: So now -- now here's what I have to ask all of you. I'm proud that we have run a campaign of issues, not insults. That's what I'm going to continue to do for the next 83 days --

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: -- because I think the details actually matter. That's why I sweat the details.

You know, I actually care a lot about what happens to the young people in our families and our seniors. That's why I'm going to do everything that I can to raise the national minimum wage so that it is a living wage.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that you have the health care you need at an affordable price --

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: -- and get the costs of prescription drugs down because they are, once again, getting out of reach. I was at an event the other day and a very distinguished doctor, the

head of a big hospital in New York, he said, we've got to do something about prescription drug costs. This is not a patient or a family. This is one of the most distinguished doctors in New York City. He said it's getting to the point where I can't prescribe certain drugs that my patients need because the insurance won't pay for them, Medicare, Medicaid, nobody will pay for them because they are too expensive. And he mentioned particularly a drug by Gilead that will cure Hepatitis C. And it is so expensive that a lot of Americans are being left out.

And you know what really is upsetting about this? Is that drug company sells that same drug all over the world at a much lower price to everybody else.

[11:50:40] Now I'm proud -- I'm proud that our drug companies invent drugs to cure really terrible diseases treat chronic diseases. I'm proud of that. But let's be clear, your tax dollars help support the research that's used to create those drugs in the first place.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: Your tax dollars support the Food and Drug Administration that tests those drugs to determine whether or not they are safe and effective to be able to go to market. And then we end up in America paying the highest price for those drugs that we have helped to create. We have got to take this on, and we can do it without hurting research and discovery and new drugs and new devices.

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: There are two other issues that I want to mention respecting health. Because I've been on the campaign trail now for, well, about a year and half, ever since April of 2015. So I have talked with, and mostly listened to, thousands Americans. Now people talk to me about their jobs, they talk to me about education, they talk to me about student loans and the high cost of college, they talk to me a lot about gun violence, they talk to me about the things that are on their minds. But the most emotional encounters I have are when families grab my hand and talk to me about mental health and addiction.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: We have got to do a better job. We have too many families and too many individual Americans whose lives are being either totally undermined or shortened because of mental health and because of addiction. So I'm going to work on those, too, as your president, because we've got to tackle these two problems.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: And I also want to defend the rights that Americans now have from all of the various attacks that people are waging. That's why I support human rights and civil rights. I support women's rights.

(CHEERING) CLINTON: And, yes, I will defend Planned Parenthood against all of these partisan attacks.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: I support gay rights.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: They are under attack across America, including right here in Ohio.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: I support workers rights, the right to form and organize a union and bargain collectively.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: I support the rights of people with disabilities who deserve more chances to be integrated into the economy and society.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: And, yes, I will take on the gun lobby and try to get common sense gun safety measures passed.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: And I know -- I know how difficult this is. But here's what I want to say. I want to say what I said at the convention in my speech. I am not at all advocating the repeal of the Second Amendment. I am not at all advocating any program that would in any way take people's guns away.

Here's what I'm advocating. I want to help you stay alive so that nobody who shouldn't have a gun in the first place gets one and hurts you or other people.

(CHEERING)

[11:54:47] CLINTON: Because when I think about the three big challenges the next president faces, getting the economy to work for everybody, not just those at the top, keeping us safe, and leading the world with steadiness, and unifying America, it's not just the job for the president. We all have to do our part.

And when it comes to keeping Americans safe, I want to keep you safe in your own communities and your homes from gun violence. I want to keep us safe from terrorists no matter where they're from or what they're after. I want to make sure that we keep our alliances strong because I know how important it is that we work together to defeat the terrorist threat.

And I will bring all the experience I had as a Senator serving on the Armed Services Committee, as a secretary of state, to make sure that America remains the most free, the most safe, the most important leader.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: But I also want to unify our country.

You know, I bet if we had the time, we'd find something that every single one of us disagreed about with everybody else. We have different experiences, different backgrounds. I think that's part of the American DNA. You know? Our founders had some big arguments. We have a lot of impassioned people who care about the future of our country and what we should do. But at the end of the argument, we've got to come together. We are the greatest example of freedom and opportunity and justice that the world has ever known, and we can't do anything that ever undermines that. And that's why it is so important that we seek and find common ground together. I did that as a first lady. I worked with Republicans to create the children's health insurance program that now covers eight million kids. I worked with Republicans to reform the adoption and foster care system, which I care deeply about.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: I worked with Republicans after 9/11 to rebuild New York and to make our country safer, to get health care to National Guard men and women. I worked with every Republican I served with. I worked with Republicans as secretary of state. We got a new treaty with Russia to lower the number of nuclear weapons. And that took 67 votes and we had to get Republicans, as well as Democrats to agree with that.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: I happen to believe I don't have all the answers. I happen to believe we are Stronger Together in charting a course toward the future.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: So I need your help. Stronger Together is not just a slogan for our campaign. It is what I believe in my heart. I will get up every day in the White House trying to figure out how we're going to create more jobs, more opportunity, keep us safe, unify us.

And that's where you come in. I hope you will join this campaign. You can do so today by texting JOIN, J-O-I-N, at 42746. Or you can go to HillaryClinton.com. We're hiring organizers in Ohio. So if you're interested in working as an organizer, see one of our people who will be at the doors as you leave.

This is a consequential election. I understand a lot of the concerns that many Americans have, wondering and worrying about our country, about their lives, about their kids' lives, about their retirement, about the purpose and dignity of their work. So I know we've got challenges that we have to address. But I am absolutely sure we can do this. I believe America's best days are still ahead of us. If you will join this campaign, join our cause, together, we will, not just win an election, but chart a course of confidence and optimism, getting results for the American people.

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: Come join me, please!

Thank you all very much!

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: (SINGING)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Love that song.

Here we go. Hillary Clinton real point/counterpoint on economics. We heard a couple of days last week, she was addressing folks in Warren, Michigan. And today she remains in the Rustbelt, Cleveland, Ohio, where she's laying out her tax plan in the key battleground state of Ohio. Her campaign hoping her message will resonate with the working class, the middle class. Hillary Clinton's remarks aimed at drawing a sharp contrast from that of Donald Trump and his economic speech just last week.

Now, here --