Interview With Vice Presidential Candidate Tim Kaine; President Barack Obama's Plea To African- Americans
TAPPER: Welcome back. Breaking news this morning, as police in New York are trying to determine who was behind that explosion that shook Manhattan last night. Twenty-nine people were injured, one critically, and this unsettling discovery hours later, a pressure cooker bomb attached to a cell phone. Of course, pressure cookers were used to create the bombs that killed three and injured hundreds more at the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. Also last night, a stabbing attack at a mall in Minnesota. Eight people were injured by a man in a security uniform who asked at least one of his victims if he or she was a Muslim. And also the stabber made a reference to Allah. Plus, a pipe bomb exploded at a charity military race in New Jersey yesterday, no one injured there, likely because the race got a late start. Hillary Clinton spoke to reporters last night.</s>CLINTON: I have been briefed about the bombings in New York and New Jersey and the attack in Minnesota. Obviously, we need to do everything we can to support our first- responders, also to pray for the victims. We have to let this investigation unfold.</s>TAPPER: I'm joined now by Clinton's running mate, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine.</s>TAPPER: Senator Kaine, thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate it.</s>SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You bet, Jake. Glad to be with you.</s>TAPPER: So, before we turn to the election, I want to start with the explosions that took place yesterday in New York and New Jersey. Is there anything you can tell us about what happened?</s>KAINE: Well, first, you know, we're really, really thinking about the victims, and just thankful in New York that for as massive an explosion it was, no fatalities, at least as of yet that we know, injuries, and hopefully people will recover quickly. We don't know too much more. The New York police and the New York mayor are releasing information as they go. But, look, it just raises the stakes on the need to be really, really smart in dealing with challenges like this, both with the law enforcement community, but also to make sure we're doing what we can to stop any lone wolf attacks in the United States. Hillary and I both believe this. You know, she was the senator from New York on 9/11 and was there when they were still looking for survivors. And that is seared into her memory. She was part of the national security team that helped restart the hunt for bin Laden. We know the threat that's out there, and we have a plan to deal with it.</s>TAPPER: I know we're waiting for more details from law enforcement, but, obviously, someone left those bombs. We also have this person in Minnesota stabbing people at a mall. We don't know anything yet about the people behind these acts. But is there anything that U.S. law enforcement and counterterrorism officials are not doing right now that they should be doing to keep the homeland safer?</s>KAINE: Jake, here is the test of this, you know, just to kind of give you the dimension of the battle against terrorism. There is a battlefield component to it. So, we are waging a punishing war to defeat ISIS on the battlefield. And it's shrinking their space. However, they are looking, as other terrorist groups are, OK, well, we're losing our ground. They're looking for opportunities to engage in terrorist acts in cities. And that's what they're doing, whether it's in Europe or the United States. How do you stop that? That's not primarily military. As you point out, it's primarily intelligence and the sharing of intelligence. So, we have to always up our game in the gathering of intelligence. But then we really have to share intelligence with allies. And if you don't have strong alliances, then, suddenly, you find out that you're weaker, not stronger. So, as a member of the Armed Services Committee, this is something we're always focused on, is the strength of our alliances and our ability to share intelligence, what it needs to be.</s>TAPPER: Also this morning, there is new tension between the United States and Russia over the U.S. -- what looks like the U.S. sitting Syrian soldiers. The U.S. said it was a mistake, that they thought they were targeting ISIS. The U.S. has been working closely with Russia in Syria, but the Russians are very angry about the strike. A year ago, you had some very tough words for President Obama when it came to Syria policy. Take a listen.</s>KAINE: In Syria, it's -- the strategy's a joke. We do these one-off actions like try to train 30 people and put them back into the -- into a roiling civil war involving millions. No surprise they get swallowed up in the civil war, killed or captured or defect immediately.</s>TAPPER: Do you believe that that's still the case, that U.S. policy in Syria under President Obama is a joke?</s>KAINE: Jake, we have dramatically improved in the last year. And the proof is in how much ground ISIS has lost. A year ago, I think you remember, we had a small force that we were trying to put into Syria. And the opening of that was a dismal failure. But now we're taking the fight to ISIS to defeat and destroy them. And if you look at what's happened in the last year, ISIS' territory has dramatically shrunk because of a significant uptick in cooperation between the U.S., the Iraqi military, the Kurdish fighters in Northern Iraq, the Kurds in Northern Syria and the Syrian opposition. We're shrinking their space on the battlefield. This is a regrettable incident yesterday because we weren't targeting Syrian soldiers. But what you have to know is this. We are battling to defeat ISIS. ISIS exists largely because Syria has waged a war against its civilians, killing hundreds of thousands. Russia can demand that Syria stop its atrocities against its civilians. Russia has always had the ability to mandate a cease-fire, because they're there in Syria. They're Syria's chief backer. We hope that Russia will stick to the table, stick to the cease-fire agreement, because that's what's necessary to solve this humanitarian crisis.</s>TAPPER: But, Senator, isn't one of the reasons ISIS exists because of the vacuum that was left in the wake of the decision for U.S. troops to completely withdraw from the region? Isn't that one of the problems?</s>KAINE: Well, look, we had 175,000 troops in the region when President Obama came into office. And there had been a commitment made by President Bush to pull all troops out of Iraq -- we didn't have troops in Syria -- by the end of 2011. A former foreign minister of Iraq told me, Jake -- he told me this. He said: "Look, you were willing to stay and help us manage Iraq" -- and we were if we got status of forces agreement. We were willing to stay. But he said: "But we didn't want you to stay. We kicked you out, and now we regret it." We pulled our troops out of Iraq because they didn't want us to stay. And, yes, in Iraq, it spiraled downward. And then, in Syria, where we didn't have troops, it spiraled downward because of the atrocities of Bashar al-Assad. We can't make governments govern wisely. But what we need to do is, when terrorists pose a threat to allies or to the United States, we need to engage in punishing activity to destroy them. We are now on track to defeat ISIS on the battlefield. But we have got to be sharing intelligence with our allies, so that we can keep America and our allies safe.</s>TAPPER: Options, of course, are always important. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates just wrote an op-ed for "The Wall Street Journal" in which he said -- quote -- "Mrs. Clinton has ruled out putting U.S. ground troops in Iraq and Syria -- quote -- 'ever again.' That's a politically driven categorical declaration of a sort no president or candidate should make." Do you stand by Secretary Clinton's declaration that your administration will never put ground troops into Iraq or Syria ever?</s>KAINE: Well, let me tell you this. What Robert Gates -- he said, as you know, that Donald Trump is not fit to be president. He has proven himself unfit. And he wants to see more from Hillary Clinton. But let's talk about ground troops, because I have had extensive discussions with leaders in the region about this question. And the king of Jordan, who is one of America's strongest allies, said: "This is our fight, not your fight. This is a terrorist threat born and bred in this region that claims falsely the religion of the region as its mantle of authority. We have to defeat this threat. And if we're all in to defeat it, we need your help. But it can't be your fight. In fact, that would be a recruiting bonanza for terrorists." So, the right strategy is for us to train and equip, use air assets. And that is the strategy we're using. And that strategy is -- again, we're shrinking their space on the battlefield, Jake. But now what we have to do is make sure that we're sharing intelligence with allies, not tearing up alliances, as Donald Trump would propose. We're sharing intelligence with allies, so that we can keep Americans safe.</s>TAPPER: Senator, I want to turn to politics. Obviously, Secretary Clinton making a big deal out of the fact that, for years, Donald Trump pushed the birther lie, the false suggestion that President Obama was not born in this country. Sidney Blumenthal, a longtime Clinton confidant and friend, was peddling the birther lie in 2008, according to the former Washington bureau chief of the McClatchy news group. McClatchy says that they went so far as to have a reporter in Kenya look into it because of what Sidney Blumenthal told them. Has Secretary Clinton or the campaign in any way looked into whether Blumenthal was pushing the birther lie?</s>KAINE: Jake, Sidney Blumenthal has categorically denied that. But Sidney's not running for president. Let's talk about Donald Trump. He started to push this notion in 2011 and has been pushing it for five years.</s>TAPPER: No, that's true. That's true.</s>KAINE: And I just have to explain...</s>TAPPER: Yes.</s>KAINE: But I just have to explain why this is so painful. This just isn't a wacky guy saying something wacky. But, as you know, Jake, from the time African-Americans arrived here in 1619, through the end of the Civil War, an African-American could not be a citizen of the United States, free or slave, born here or born elsewhere. That's what the Dred Scott decision decided. And we had to change the Constitution...</s>TAPPER: I got it, sir. I understand.</s>KAINE: ... so that somebody with African descent could be a citizen. So, when Donald Trump says that the African-American president is not a citizen, that's so painful to so many people who still have deep feelings about that dark chapter in American life. He -- and he either believed it when he said it for five years, which shows that he's either incredibly gullible or conspiratorial, or he didn't believe it, in which case he was just trying to prey upon people's darkest emotions.</s>TAPPER: There's no doubt, sir.</s>KAINE: This is an incredibly painful five-year chapter.</s>TAPPER: There's no doubt that it's offensive and it's a lie. But I'm asking you about Sidney Blumenthal, who was banned from joining the Obama administration by the Obama White House precisely because he trafficked in a lot of questionable information about Barack Obama. If it's true, if there's evidence that Sidney Blumenthal did push the birther lie, should Hillary Clinton disassociate herself from Sidney Blumenthal and should she pledge he will not work in her administration?</s>KAINE: I have no reason to believe that's true, Jake, none. But, again, Sidney Blumenthal isn't running for president. Donald Trump is. And whatever Sidney Blumenthal thought in 2008, by 2011, it was absolutely crystal clear that President Obama was a citizen, because his birth certificate had been released. And yet, for five years, for five years, a candidate for president has pushed a theory that basically calls back the most painful time in American life, when, if you had African descent, you were not allowed to be a citizen of the United States. That's what this is about. And that's why Donald Trump's decision on Friday to try to pull the plug and change the subject isn't sufficient. He owes the public an apology. And somebody should ask him, did you believe it, in which case, how gullible are you, or were you just trying to cynically play to the darkest emotions in American life?</s>TAPPER: Senator Tim Kaine, thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate it.</s>KAINE: Absolutely, Jake. Glad to be with you.</s>TAPPER: Coming up: After last night's explosion, New York City police are scouring surveillance for clues. Who might have left this pressure cooker bomb behind? That's next.