Subject: *5.19.16 Friends and Allies Daily Message Guidance*
From: Mary Rutherford Jennings <[email-masked]>
To: Mary Rutherford Jennings <[email-masked]>
Cc: Adrienne Elrod <[email-masked]>, Alexandria Phillips <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 19 May 2016 16:29:06 -0400
List-Id: <toptalkers.hillaryclinton.com>

Hi all, Please find the attached message guidance, as well as the
transcript from Secretary Clinton's CNN interview this afternoon. Let us
know if you have any upcoming TV appearances and/or need anything from us!

Best ,

Mary

*5.19.16 Television Interview with Chris Cuomo, CNN's "Wolf," in Park
Ridge, IL*

*CHRIS CUOMO:* Well Wolf, you're outlining all the right issues, let's get
the questions together and see if we can get some answers. Thank you very
much. Secretary Clinton, it's good to have you as always.

*HILLARY CLINTON:* Thank you. Welcome to my hometown Chris.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* Thank you very much. There's a very warm reception here and
you've come home, and yet the problems of the world are upon us.

*HILLARY CLINTON:* That's true.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* Once again we see in a headline this morning, Egypt Air.
They're now finding debris in Greek waters. The Greek authorities, the
Egyptian authorities, all saying that they believe this was terror as much
as anything else. They're not there investigatively yet, but if that's the
theory, it is a reminder to people, not just of the loss of these families,
but somehow the loss in the battle against terror. What is your message?
And what do you believe the response should be to make something like this
less likely?

*HILLARY CLINTON:* Well Chris, it does appear that it was an act of
terrorism. Exactly how, of course, the investigation will have to
determine. But it once again shines a very bright light on the threats that
we face from organized terror groups. ISIS of course, but there are other
networks of terrorists that have to be hunted down and defeated. I think it
reinforces the need of American leadership, for the kind of smart, steady
leadership that only America can provide working with our allies, our
partners, our friends in Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere.

We have to have a concerted effort that brings to bear both domestic
resources, sharing of intelligence, take a hard look at airport security
one more time. Whatever needs to be done must be done. The world depends
upon air travel. We can't allow it to be interrupted or people to be
intimidated. And to continue to take the fight, although it needs to be
even more intensified, against ISIS from where it is running its
operations, in Syria and Iraq.

We have to really go along with the kind of plan that I've been outlining
for months, which is: We're going to defeat them on the ground using our
air power, equipping and training and supporting Arab and Kurdish fighters.
We're going to drive them out of Iraq, drive them out of their stronghold
in Raqqa, Syria. We are going to intensify cooperation among those nations
that have a direct stake, which I would argue is just about every nation
right now, but principally European, Arab-Middle Eastern. We're going to
take them on online and we're going to intensify our intelligence and law
enforcement cooperation.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* The criticism is that the Obama Administration, with you as
a part of it and when you were not a part of it, have been making this
case. We're going to attack on every front. And the world seems to be
getting worse. It seems that the threat is greater than our ability to
defend, protect, and respond to it. Do you believe that things are worse
now than they were seven, eight years ago?

*HILLARY CLINTON:* I think we have to take a historic view of this. We have
been able to defeat, in large measure, Al Qaeda, which was our principle
adversary, responsible for the worst terrorist attack on our shores and
terrible ones Europe. We have to deal with the threats as they come. But I
think we have learned a lot more and we are really grappling with and I
think succeeding at making it more difficult for them to operate from their
strongholds.

What we now also have to pay a lot of attention to are the literally
thousands of people who left Europe, went to Syria and, or Iraq. Or are in
Turkey or somewhere else connected to ISIS or when of the other terrorist
networks that are part of the overall threat. We have to work more closely
and we have to really convince forcefully the Europeans that they have to
do much more as well.

When I was Secretary of State, we were in a constant dialogue with the
Europeans because we wanted information about travel manifests for airlines
flying across the ocean towards us. It took a while, we finally got it.
They have a lot of concerns about privacy and other legitimate issues, but
right now we are in an environment where we have to put everything we can
toward the goal of defeating ISIS, protecting ourselves, our friends, and
our partners.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* How do we fight the perception that we look weak? Trump,
this morning, was out hot and early on Twitter when this happened, saying,
"Looks like another act of terror. More proof that we're weak. We have to
be strong. There's a lot of hate and anger out there." He's channeling the
perception that a situation like this fuels, which is, we are weak. They
can take our planes when they want, the Russians, the Chinese - they can
scare our military when they want, and America does nothing. How do you
answer that?

*HILLARY CLINTON:* Well, first of all he says a lot of things. He says a
lot of things that are provocative, that actually make the important task
of building this coalition, bringing everybody to the table and defeating
terrorism, more difficult.

*CHRIS CUOMO: *Why?

*HILLARY CLINTON:* Well, for example, when he says, “bar all Muslims from
coming to the United States,” that sends a signal to majority-Muslim
nations, many of whom we have to work with in order to defeat terrorism.
Some of whom are already among our strongest allies in this fight. It sends
a message of disrespect and it sends a message that makes the situation
inside those countries more difficult for them to go all in the way we need
them to go all in.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* To the Americans that, that message resonates with, where
they say, "well, these attackers always do seem to be Muslim and they're
coming in here." And Comey, who is in charge of vetting them says he can't
vet them. Trump calls for a temporary ban - it seems to make sense to
people. Does it make sense to you?

*HILLARY CLINTON:* No, not at all. Let's remember what he's called for and
to sort of break it up. He has said all Muslims should be barred from
coming into the United States. All Muslims. Nobel Prize winners,
entertainers, sport starts - you name it. The new mayor from London; all
Muslims should be barred. Now, when confronted with the new mayor from
London, who as you know is the first Muslim to be elected to be mayor of
London by the people of London, he says, well, I'll make an exception for
him.

The whole approach is just incredibly provocative and wrong-headed. And
look what he's done just in the last week. He has attacked our closest ally
Great Britain. He has praised the reckless dictator in North Korea. He has
said we should pull out of NATO, our strongest military alliance. He has
advocated for more countries having nuclear weapons. That kind of
unpredictable, dangerous rhetoric and the policies that he throws out there
for whatever hope he has to get people to respond to him, make us less
likely that we're going to be as effective as we need to be going forward
in assuaging the concerns of people that we want to be working with us to
deal with this threat.

We have been effective in beginning to kill off the leadership of ISIS, to
go after their funding sources, to make it very clear that we're going to
keep training the Iraqi army. They've taken back Ramadi, we're going to be
supporting them to take back every other part of the territory, most
importantly Mosul, that ISIS has seized. So we are making progress. Our
biggest concern, and I think if this turns out to be an act of terror with
a flight coming from Paris, our biggest concern is what's going on in
Europe? And that is something that we do have to address and deal with,
with all of our partners. That's going to require even closer cooperation.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* Let me ask you, do you think that Donald Trump is qualified
to be President?

*HILLARY CLINTON:* No, I do not. And I think in this past week, whether
it's attacking Great Britain, praising the leader of North Korea - a
despotic dictator who has nuclear weapons, whether it is saying "pull out
of NATO", "let other countries have nuclear weapons" - the kinds of
positions he is stating and the consequences of those positions and even
the consequences of his statements, are not just offensive to people, they
are potentially dangerous.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* How so?

*HILLARY CLINTON:* As I mentioned--

*CHRIS CUOMO:* Politicians talk, Madame Secretary. They say things, but
once they get in office, people believe nothing will be that different.

*HILLARY CLINTON: *When you run for President of the United States, the
entire world is listening and watching. So when you say, "we're going to
bar all Muslims," you are sending a message to the Muslim world. And you're
also sending a message to the terrorists, because we now do have evidence,
we have seen how Donald Trump is being used to essentially be a recruiter
for more people to join the cause of terrorism.

I think if you go through many of his irresponsible, reckless, dangerous
comments, it's not just someone saying something off the cuff. We all
misstate things; we all may not be as careful in phrasing what we say. This
is a pattern. It is a pattern that has gone on now for months. And it's a
pattern that adds up, in my opinion, having watched Presidents, having seen
the incredibly difficult work that they do, and the decisions that they
have to make, the thinking that goes in, sitting in the Situation Room --
do we go after Bin Laden or not? I was part of that.

Was it a clear, easy choice? Of course not. Did it have to be carefully
parsed and analyzed? And then we all gave our opinions, but it was up to
the president to decide. I know how hard this job is and I know we need
steadiness as well as strength and smarts in it, and I have concluded he is
not qualified to be President of the United States.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* You don't think Donald Trump could make that call in that
room to go after bin Laden?

*HILLARY CLINTON: *Based on what we know now, he could make it perhaps on
evidence that wasn't clear, he could say a lot of things that might have
given notice. Based on the way he has behaved and how he has spoken and the
policies he has literally thrown out there, I think it adds up to a very
troubling picture.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* So, you get into the general election if you are the nominee
for your party--

*HILLARY CLINTON:* I will be the nominee for my party Chris. That is
already done in effect. There is no way that I won't be.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* There is a Senator from Vermont who has a different take on
that. He says he's going to fight to the end. There seems to be a change
here. As Donald Trump is trying to galvanize his Party, in the Democratic
Party, it seems to be going the other way. His supporters have become more
aggressive, feeling that the system is rigged against the Senator. We saw
what happened in Nevada. When you saw that did you believe that Sanders
responded the right way to that situation?

*HILLARY CLINTON:* Well, I was very disturbed by what went on there. But I
am confident--

*CHRIS CUOMO:* With him or with the supporters?

*HILLARY CLINTON:* Well, with what we saw - what we saw there.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* With the supporters?

*HILLARY CLINTON:* What we saw was disturbing. I have every confidence
we're going to be unified.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* Where does that confidence come from?

*HILLARY CLINTON:* In part from my own experience. I went all the way to
the end against then Senator Obama. I won nine out of the last twelve
contests. Back in '08 I won Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia. So I know the
intense feelings that arise, particularly among your supporters as you go
toward the end.

But we both were following the same rules, just as both Senator Sanders and
I are following the same rules, and I am three million votes ahead of him
and I have an insurmountable lead in pledged delegates. I am confident
that, just as I did with Senator Obama, where I said, " you know what, it
was really close," much closer, much closer than it is between me and
Senator Sanders right now. I said--

*CHRIS CUOMO:* Votes-wise?

*HILLARY CLINTON:* Yes. Vote-wise and delegate-wise. I said-- in fact, if
you -- depends on how you evaluated, I had more popular votes, but I had
fewer delegates, and the name of the game is, how many delegates you have,
right? So, when I came out and withdrew and endorsed Senator Obama, about
40 percent, according to polls, of my supporters said they would never
support him. I worked really hard to make the case, as I'm sure Senator
Sanders will, that whatever differences we might have, they pale in
comparison to the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party.

Name an issue you care about – domestic or international – and clearly we
are much closer, Senator Sanders' supporters and mine, than either of us is
with Donald Trump.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* Why don't you reach out directly to Senator Sanders and do
the work of reunification, of unification of the party, however you want to
see it. I ask this because Senator Sanders has said to me in the past and
to many others, "It's not my job to get my supporters to vote for Hillary
Clinton. Clinton has to make the case to these supporters." Given what
you're seeing with this increase in hostility and antagonism towards the
process within the primaries on the Democratic side, should you reach out
to Bernie Sanders and say, "Let’s start doing this the right way, let me
start talking to the supporters." From your perspective, have you done
that? Have you thought of doing that?

*HILLARY CLINTON:* I have said many times what I have just said to
everyone, including his supporters. I am absolutely committed to doing my
part, more than my part. But Senator Sanders has to do his part. That's why
the lesson of 2008, which was a hard fought primary as you remember, is so
pertinent here. I did my part, but so did Senator Obama. He made it clear,
he welcomed people who had supported me. He made it very clear. We went to
Unity, New Hampshire together, appeared together, spoke together, and made
it absolutely obvious that I was supporting him. He was grateful for that
support. I was reaching out to my supporters. He was telling his supporters
-

*CHRIS CUOMO:* You nominated Senator Obama at the convention.

*HILLARY CLINTON:* I did.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* Bernie Sanders is saying he's going to fight all the way
through the convention. It's different.

*HILLARY CLINTON:* He has to do his part to unify. He said the other day
that he will do everything possible to defeat Donald Trump. He said he'd
work seven days a week. I take him at his word. I think the threat that
Donald Trump poses is so dramatic to our country, to our democracy and our
economy, that I certainly expect Senator Sanders to do what he said he
would.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* Any thought to you making the first move and reaching out to
make that process happen now as opposed to months from now?

*HILLARY CLINTON:* We have had lots of conversations between people who
know me well and support him.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* But not directly?

*HILLARY CLINTON:* He knows exactly what I am saying. He hears it all the
time, because I have said the same thing. I respect him. I understand the
very passionate advocacy he feels for the issues he's been really pounding
away at for years.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* You know what would bring you together very quickly? If
Bernie Sanders became your Vice President. Is there any chance of that?

*HILLARY CLINTON:* I'm not going to get into that. That's something down
the road.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* Where better? You're here in your home town, make some news,
make it a historic place.

*HILLARY CLINTON:* I think what brings us together is Donald Trump. I think
that's what brings us together.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* But is he even in consideration? Is he even on the list?

*HILLARY CLINTON:* I am not going to answer that question. Good try though,
Chris. I am not going to answer that question.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* Well I am just saying it in the context of things that would
bring you two together. Who knows if he'd even say yes. But alright. We'll
hold that for another day. This is the easy part, theoretically, getting
the nomination. The harder part will be the general. If you are the
nominee, and I know you have full confidence you will be, you know where
Donald Trump is going.

He has started early, and he has adopted the ‘go ugly early’ mentality.
Heavily personal, about you and your husband. Your response has been, "I'm
not going there, I'm going to stay above it." The risk is that's what Jeb
Bush said, that's what others said. The stink wound up sticking to them.
Are you concerned that by ignoring the attacks they become more powerful?

*HILLARY CLINTON:* No, I am not. I think people can judge his campaign for
what it is. I am going to run my campaign. I am not so much running against
him as I am running for the kind of future that I think America deserves to
have and that I believe I am the best candidate to deliver. That's why I
talk a lot about what I will do economically, what I will do on education,
on health care, and how we are going to bring the country together. I have
a lot of experience working across the aisle with Republicans. I did it as
First Lady, as Senator, as Secretary of State. I am very confident that
we're going to lay out my record of accomplishments, my ideas, my vision
for the future.

He can say whatever he wants to say, but I think in every election people
want to know, "What are you going to do tomorrow? What's the future going
to look like if I entrust you with this most solemn responsibility?" That's
exactly the kind of campaign I am running and I intend to keep running.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* But his way is working for him. He took out an entire field.
He keeps winning, he's gotten more votes than any Republican ever in the
primary before.

*HILLARY CLINTON:* And I've got two million more than he has. Yes, he took
out a field that couldn't really criticize him on issues because they
fundamentally agreed with them. They don't want to raise the minimum wage
either. They all want to criminalize abortion. When he would say these
outrageous things more dramatically, perhaps, than Republican counterparts,
they were stymied.

When it got to the personal piece of it, they just tried to respond
tit-for-tat. If you pick a fight with a bully, you're going to be pulled
down to their level.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* But at some point you have to stand up to that bully as
well. Right? That's what we teach our kids.

*HILLARY CLINTON:* And I think that's exactly what I am doing with this
campaign, what this campaign will be doing. It's not so much for me, Chris,
what he says about me. I am really used to it. I have very thick skin.

It's what he says about other people. It's demeaning comments about all
kinds of women. His offensive comments about immigrants, his mocking
someone with a disability, the way he talks about Muslims, how really
unmoored he is when he talks about foreign policy, the loose cannon that he
has turned out to be when it comes to our national security.

I'm going after him. I'm going after him exactly on those issues and
statements that are divisive and dangerous. I actually think that's what
the American people want to see. Not an argument between two people, but
what is it you think you're bringing to the table asking for our vote for
president, and contrast it with the other guys.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* Do you ever feel compelled to defend your honor? The honor
of your husband with statements that he's making that go to the core of the
relationship?

*HILLARY CLINTON:* No, not at all. I know that, that's exactly what he is
fishing for. I am not going to be responding.

*CHRIS CUOMO:* As you head forward in this, where do you believe the path
forward is from here? What do you think happens within the Democratic Party
going forward? It does seem to be somewhat of an unknown right now. Not the
math about the nomination. That's frankly the easy part. It's about where
the party is lined up and how, and about what you bring against Donald
Trump because you know what he's bringing against you.

*HILLARY CLINTON:* Well I think that we are going to come together. We will
unify. That doesn't mean we won't have some vigorous discussion and debate
about issues, about the platform, about all of the process of a convention.
I welcome that. I think that's healthy. I think bringing people into the
party and giving them a voice at the end is going to help us in the fall.

I think, as I said, that I will certainly do my part and more to reach out
and bring in Senator Sanders' supporters. I have every reason to expect he
will do the same. I think we'll have a great convention in Philadelphia.
Then we will go out and carry on the campaign against Donald Trump and the
Republicans. I really believe we will have a strong, compelling case to
make about the choice that the American people will be facing.

I feel very optimistic about how the election will come out, and I also
feel optimistic about the country. Most of what Trump says is pretty
negative about the country. It's pretty much fear-mongering, criticizing.
We are well positioned if we do our part, if we show leadership, if we
bring people together. I think the three big tests any of us have to meet
to run for president are: can you produce possible results in people's
lives? I have a track record of doing that.

Can you protect America? Can you be Commander in Chief? Can you lead the
world towards safety and prosperity?

Number three, can you unify our country? I think on all three of those I am
able to go to the American public and say, "I can meet that test." I
believe on all three of those Donald Trump cannot.

*CHRIS CUOMO*: Last question. I don't want to keep you from your hometown,
but I do have to ask you this. When you started this campaign, you talked
about your grandkids and you talked about your mother.

*HILLARY CLINTON: *Right.

*CHRIS CUOMO*: Nobody saw what is happening in this election coming down
the road. What do you think when you think about your mother, and the
inspiration about how you get up? You've never faced an opponent like
Donald Trump before in the way he's coming after you, whether it's the
foundation of your marriage, or whatever. What do you think her advice
would be to win?

*HILLARY CLINTON: *I think it would be the same advice my mother always
gave me, which is that everybody gets knocked down and knocked around in
life. The real test is whether you get back up, you dust yourself off, and
you keep going.

My mother's life, which was really so different from mine because she was
abandoned and neglected by her family and was out working on her own to
survive at the age of 14 in someone's home as a maid and as a babysitter.
She taught me resilience, courage, and the power of love and kindness,
because that's what kept her going. Not from her own family, but from the
teachers that saw the spark in her and reached out to help her.

Even from the woman whose house she worked in, who knew how desperately my
mother wanted to go to high school. She said, "Dorothy, if you can get up
early and get all of your chores done, I'll let you go to high school. But
you have to come right back."  That might sound harsh to our ears with your
beautiful children and my adorable granddaughter, but to my mother it was a
gift that she could actually go to high school while she was working to
support herself.

I, by osmosis, as well as by example, know that if you are putting yourself
in the arena, everything that just goes with life, as hard as it may be, is
probably amplified, magnified, increased. I get all of that. I am someone,
sitting here in the library of my hometown in Park Ridge, Illinois, a place
that I spent a lot of hours in, I am the recipient of not just my family's
sacrifice, but this country's promise. I feel with all my heart, Chris,
that’s what is really on the ballot come November.

Are we going to reconfirm the promise of America, which does have a place
for immigrants, which does try to move people to be more unified and not
divisive, that does expect leaders to bring people together, not tear them
apart? Are we going to chart a course in keeping with our history? I think
we already are great, but there's no guarantee we stay great unless we work
together, leaders and citizens alike.

Coming back to this place where I went to public school, where I had my
first jobs working in the park system, where I spent a lot of time both at
the library and the movie theater across the street, just inspires me to do
everything I can to make sure that my granddaughter has the same
opportunities that my mother made sure to provide for me. That is my
mission and that's what I will try to do and stand for in this campaign.

*CHRIS CUOMO*: Secretary Clinton, I know you have a very busy day. Thank
you for making time. The conversation continues. Good luck to you going
forward.

*HILLARY CLINTON: *Thanks Chris.

###

-- 
Mary Rutherford Jennings
Hillary for America
501-920-6844