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Pence to Address Conservative Values Voters Summit Shortly; Gary Johnson Apologizes for "What is Aleppo" Comment; Kerry Announces U.S.-Russia Deal on Syria; Concerns Growing Over North Korea; Democrats Concerned As Polls Show A Tightening Race; Sunday Marks 15- Year Anniversary Of Attacks; Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired September 10, 2016 - 11:00   ET

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


[11:00:00]

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: We begin in Washington, that's where Donald Trump's running mate, Indiana Governor, Mike Pence will address the Conservative Values Voters Summit, that'll be shortly.

Pence just released ten years of his tax returns which of course poses this question, will Donald Trump finally follow suit? He has only 59 days until the election to do so.

Let's bring in our CNN, Senior Political Reporter, Manu Raju, Manu?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning, Martin. Now, that's right Mike Pence releasing 10 years of those tax returns. Really showcasing his life living in an upper middle income class family in Indiana. He didn't earn more than $200,000 in a single year. He took you know, standard tax deductions. And, actually in his most recent return he and his wife, Karen, reported a combined federal income of $113,000 paying roughly $9,000 in tax with an effective tax rate at about 8%. Even showing some financial strain, pulling out $40,000 for their kid's college education in 2014.

But, what was interesting was that the Trump campaign released these returns Friday night. Typically a time to bury bad news. And there was no bad news in Mike Pence's tax returns. But one reason why it could be to avoid extensive discussion about when, and if Donald Trump were to release his tax returns. Something he said that he won't do because he's being audited by the IRS.

Now the Clinton campaign already seizing on those tax returns, on Mike Pence's release of his tax returns. They're saying Martin, what is Donald Trump hiding?

SAVIDGE: And I'm sure that's the theme they'll continue to hammer. How important -- let me ask you this about Mike Pence's speech that he's making. It seems to be he's preaching to the choir almost.

RAJU: Absolutely because these are his voters. These are the people that he needs to get out to the polls. That's why Donald Trump spoke to them yesterday actually really imploring them to get out to the polls. In fact, I'll ready you a little bit of what Donald Trump had to say yesterday. He said "you have to get out and vote on November 8th. You cannot -- and you didn't vote four years ago, you didn't vote, a few of you did, believe me when I look at the stats you didn't vote. This is your last chance."

So really trying to fire up this crowd that's Mike Pence's job today too to ensure their voters get out there in November. They're worried that if the base doesn't turn out then the chances of Hillary Clinton getting elected improve significantly, Martin.

SAVIDGE: All right. Manu Raju, thanks very much. Good to see you. I'm sure we'll talk again.

RAJU: Thanks Martin.

SAVIDGE: Meanwhile, third party candidate Gary Johnson continues to struggle with foreign policy questions. Johnson made headlines last week when he was asked about the refugee crisis in Syria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What would you do if you were elected about Aleppo?

GARY JOHNSON, THIRD PARTY CANDIDATE: About?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aleppo.

JOHNSON: And what is Aleppo?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're kidding?

JOHNSON: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aleppo is in Syria. It's the epicenter of the refugee crisis --

JOHNSON: Okay. Got it. Got it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Johnson immediately embarked on somewhat of an apology tour. This morning he and running mate, Bill Weld, spoke with CNN's Michael Smerconish where he discussed the role the U.S. has played in Syria and Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN HOST "SMERCONISH": Governor Johnson I don't want to beat you up on the whole Aleppo thing. You've been beat up enough on it. But, I want to raise this question, I know you said that you were thinking acronym when you heard Aleppo. I'm wondering, is it also a reflection of those issues that do have your focus and those that do not? Because a hallmark of your candidacy is that you believe in less foreign entanglements. Might that be an explanation as to why you didn't identify Aleppo?

JOHNSON: No, Michael. No excuse whatsoever. And I know you're doing a poll right now but most -- not -- the person on the street is not running for President of the United States. But understanding what is happening in Syria, that it is very serious. That I've been saying now for quite some time that the key to Syria is bringing Russia to the table. Believing that Kerry was actually involved in those negotiations. And then seeing, you know, just last night that in fact we do have what hopefully will be a lasting cease fire.

SMERCONISH: But you don't want us there is my point. I mean you don't want us over there wherever over there might be. Is it fair to say that Gary Johnson believes that every time we open a base overseas we put more American lives in jeopardy and not make us more safe?

JOHNSON: Well, you know, we are there right now. We're going to honor all treaties and obligations. And, you can't -- you can't wave a magic wand and not recognize that we are there. But we're there in the first place because we do support regime change. Which I think has resulted in what is happening right now in Syria. And that started with Iraq. And Raqqa and the fleeing of Saddam Hussein's loyalists that fled to Raqqa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:05:13]

SAVIDGE: All right. Let's talk about this more with our CNN Political Analyst Ron Brownstein, and CNN Political Analyst, Rebecca Berg.

Ron, I'm not going to say that you know, he's blown his whole campaign here. But how much damage has been done for Johnson on this?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: No, look, I think Gary Johnson is a candidate, who is a rare candidate who will actually do better with less exposure and less definition.

I think he is best, you know, the most impact he can make on this race is as a vessel for the large number of voters, particularly younger voters who have said they don't like either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. The more he becomes defined as kind of an alternative choice with more precision, not only with his difficulty on foreign policies but some of the kind of the extent and extremity of their position on domestic issues, I actually think he will struggle to maintain support. He does better as kind of an almost a blank screen on which people can project their desire for an alternative to either of the two major party candidates.

SAVIDGE: Yes. Turning to Clinton and Trump they've both had some very searing words for each other Friday night. Let's listen to this first.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To just be grossly generalistic, you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE) CLINTON: Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, islamophobic, you name it. And, unfortunately, there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She could walk into this arena right now, and shoot people watching right smack in the middle of the heart. And she wouldn't be prosecuted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: It's worth noting that Donald Trump has used a similar line about himself when he said that people love him so much that if he shot someone he could still win the election. But Rebecca he's insinuating a kind of conspiracy here that she is protected. Is that what the implication is?

REBECCA BERG, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: That's absolutely the implication Martin. But it also is very much in line with the message that Donald Trump has had throughout his campaign. That Hillary Clinton acts as if she's above the law. And so he's not completely off message there. But Hillary Clinton's remark about the basket of deplorables is something that I think could be damaging.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERG: Because here she's not talking about Donald Trump, she's actually insulting his supporters, insulting voters. And when you go into that territory, when you make the transition from what she has said in the past about Donald Trump and his campaign pushing racist ideas, pushing bigoted ideas, and you make that transition to actually insulting his supporters and insulting voters that becomes problematic. And, it reminds me of course of Romney's 47% remark in the 2012 election which was very damaging for him.

SAVIDGE: Yes, Ron, what is up with that? Because you know, this was not some sort of off the cuff remark that she said. This clearly was scripted and she knew she was going to say it. Why would you attack supporters?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, I think you have to separate the substance and the tactics. You know, first of all on the substance, I don't presume to know what's in people's hearts, I can't tell you whether people are racist, or xenophobic, but the evidence Martin is overwhelming From poll after poll, from pollster after pollster, that Donald Trump draws his deepest support from the people -- from the voters who express the most unease about racial and demographic changes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWNSTEIN: No question about that. Donald Trump supporter are more likely to say they are bothered when they hear people speak a language other than English. More likely to say that the growing number of immigrants threatens American culture. More likely to say discrimination against whites is a big a problem as discrimination against minorities. And more likely to say that Islam is fundamentally incompatible with American values. On the tactics it is never a good idea to impugn the motives of people

voting for the other side. And, I suspect Hillary Clinton will you know, come around to some sort of apology. But, I don't think it's quite as simple as saying it only hurts her. Because it is a reminder that the fundamental fault line between our parties right now is culture, not class. It is attitudes toward the changing face of America. And, in many ways what Hillary Clinton said also is the deepest belief of the people who are voting for her.

SAVIDGE: I'm not questioning, you know, essentially how she said it I guess. It's the tactic of going after --

BROWNSTEIN: -- yes, right.

SAVIDGE: -- what is likely to backlash. But we're going to come back and talk about this so I'll say goodbye for the moment. We're going to have you back. Ron Brownstein, and Rebecca Berg, stay with us, because we've got a lot more to discuss later this hour.

And a reminder for you, don't miss two back to back CNN primetime specials tonight. All Business, The Essential Donald Trump. That airs at 8:00 eastern. And then Unfinished Business, The Essential Hillary Clinton. That follows at 10:00 eastern. Of course on CNN only.

[11:10:05]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Secretary of State John Kerry announcing a deal with Russia that's aimed at putting Syria's peace process back on track.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: The United States and Russia are announcing a plan which we hope will reduce violence, ease suffering, and resume movement towards a negotiated peace and a political transition in Syria.

SAVIDGE: The deal which calls for a cease fire to take effect across Syria at sundown Monday is being greeted with cautious enthusiasm around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: CNN International Diplomatic Editor, Nic Robertson is following this story, he joins us now live from Geneva. Nic, this is welcomed but what is included in the deal?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: So some of the things that the deal will call for is that cessation of hostilities as the sun goes down Monday evening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: And sort of a seven day trial period, test period, to see if it can hold. After that the United States and Russia will be working to put together joint military centers so that they can focus combined efforts to target the former Al Qaeda affiliate, Al Nusra and to target ISIS But there's also going to be a humanitarian effort, a part of the deal calls for specific cease fires in Aleppo. And, specifically for humanitarian aid to be targeted to that city, 300,000 people, opposition people there, cut off from access to food, so that is a key part of it.

[11:15:02]

ROBERTSON: But, another fundamental -- and this is something that has sort of being seen -- has been seen to be if you will flouted already today. One part of it stipulates that the Syrian air force and those helicopters that drop the barrel bombs, they will be severely limited and curtailed in where they can attack and this is to avoid civilian casualties.

Secretary Kerry says oftentimes the Syrians say they're going after terrorists, going after rebels and civilians get hit. And that's what's happened today in the city of Idlib in the northeast of the country. A Syrian opposition group says 24 citizens killed in bombing in that city today.

So, even though this has all been agreed you can see already is there really a will to stick to it if this is happening? People are already asking that question, Marty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: One -- you know we mentioned this was negotiated by the U.S. and Russia it's happening in Syria. Do we know what the Syrian regime is saying about all of this?

ROBERTSON: Well, the first inklings we're beginning to get are that they are saying that they are going to support it. Certainly Sergei Lavrov yesterday in the press conference, or in the early hours of this morning actually, said we told the Assad government what the agreement is and they accept it.

Of course, the key part of this is the enforcement part. If the Syrian government transgresses is Russia really going to turn up the heat on them?

In the past, particularly when it's come to the political talks in the past, you know the United States and others have had the expectation, the real expectation that Russia is going to do that, turn up the heat on Assad and it hasn't happened. So that is certainly a big open question.

But, at the moment, there's the appearance that the Syrian government along with the opposition and the U.N. are going along with it. You know, we're going to see in the days ahead, Marty.

SAVIDGE: We definitely will. Especially the people in Syria. Nic Robertson, thank you very much.

International outrage and alarm after yet another nuclear provocation from North Korea.

What punitive action can be taken against Kim Jong-Un, we'll talk about it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:20:50]

SAVIDGE: I want to remind you we're keeping an eye on Donald Trump's running mate, Mike Pence. He's expected to address voters in the nation's capital at any moment. He is speaking to the Conservative Values Voters Summit. We'll take it live when he is there.

South Korean leaders say tough talk isn't enough, stronger action now needed after North Korea claims it carried out its fifth and most powerful nuclear test yet.

One official calling for the world to apply "unbearable pain" on the north leaving them no choice but to change. The U.N. Security Council has condemned the test, North Korea's second in just eight months and says it will begin to draft new sanctions.

Let's talk about all of this with Gordon Chang, he's a columnist for the Daily Beast, and author of the book "Nuclear Showdown: North Korea takes on the world." Gordon, good to see you again.

GORDON CHANG, COLUMNIST, THE DAILY BEAST: Thank you, Martin.

SAVIDGE: North Korea already is facing a series of international sanctions but they seem to lack bite because the country is so isolated and apparently is willing to endure almost anything. What do we do?

CHANG: Well, first of all, the sanctions could be tighter. There are a lot of loopholes in them. But, more important, we have not been enforcing the sanctions that are in place. The Chinese have really let the trade across their border go to pre-sanction levels, a real indication that the Chinese are no longer enforcing them. So there's a lot that can be done.

The most important thing would be to sanction Chinese entities that have been selling for instance, uranium hexafluoride, vacuum pumps, valves, computers all for the use in the nuclear weapons program. And these are things that we have yet to deal with. So, sanctions haven't work because they haven't been enforced.

SAVIDGE: North Korea has apparently been ready to do this since May from what we know. And, the obvious question is why now? Well part of me said you just had the President go into that region of the world. You've had the gathering that's taking place there in North Korea wants to be a reminder that hey, we're still a big player in this game whether we're at the table or not.

CHANG: Well, yes. I mean during the G-20, the North Koreans fired off three intermediate range missiles and this detonation on Friday can be considered a radioactive snub. I think that it has more to do with the dynamics between North Korea

and China. A senior North Korean nuclear envoy arrived in Beijing on Tuesday. And, I believe the North Koreans wouldn't have set this off on Friday if they really thought the Chinese would impose real punishments on them. So, there's a lot of coordination going on between Beijing and Pyongyang.

And I thought -- and I think that probably Pyongyang thought now is the time to do it because China is on side. China is now much more angry at South Korea for employing missile defense. So Pyongyang saw a big green light.

SAVIDGE: So, this is really what we're getting down to here; it's North Korea sending a message, yes, but it appears that China is sort of sending a message as well, at least by listening to what you said there.

CHANG: Oh, yes, I mean, China is telling Washington indirectly that it is not going to do anything to rein in North Korea until the U.S. withdraws its terminal high altitude area defense missile system from South Korea.

In July, both the Pentagon and South Korea jointly announced the THAAD system for South Korea. The Chinese say that the radars can pierce into Chinese territory and degrade China's first strike capacity. So, clearly the Chinese are upset at that.

I don't think that they're objections are well-founded but nonetheless that's the way they feel. And so as China is so angry at Seoul it's not going to do anything to punish North Korea. In fact, Chinese trade has increased since the THAAD announcement.

SAVIDGE: What about the idea of a blockade? Would you think that would be effective or is it a dangerous way to war.

CHANG: Well, it's probably both. You know, we've seen up to now that the sanctions do need to be tightened and do need to be enforced. We haven't gotten to the point of an embargo yet. Because you know, essentially U.S. sanctions are designed to bring North Korea to its senses not to its knees as the state department says.

But they're not working, North Korea has become a real threat, it's got launches that can hit the lower 48 states. Within three years they'll be able to put nukes on top of them. So we've got to do something. And whatever we do, and we have backed ourselves into the position, where whatever we do carries enormous risks. There are no good solutions anymore. So yes, both, effective and dangerous.

[11:25:15]

SAVIDGE: Isn't it to the point where we just have to accept that, of course, one you've got a nuclear nation and it's a nation that will have the ability to strike us within five years or so?

CHANG: I don't think we want to accept that.

SAVIDGE: I know we don't want to accept it. But I mean isn't that really the reality we're facing?

CHANG: That is the most probable outcome because we probably won't do anything that's effective. But if we did have the political will, I think that we probably could push North Korea in much better directions. Because we could push China in a better direction.

Chinese economy right now is vulnerable. We haven't taken advantage of that. So there's a lot of room for us to do things to maybe make the situation a lot better in five years than it otherwise would be. The issue is going to be political will. North Korea is always at the bottom of the inbox as they say in the White House. Now we need to push it to the top.

SAVIDGE: Gordon Chang, as always we appreciate the insight. Thanks very much.

CHANG: Thanks, Martin.

SAVIDGE: Still ahead, we're keeping an eye on Donald Trump's running mate, Mike Pence. He's expected to address voters at the nation's capital, almost at any moment. We will take you there live when he does begin speaking. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Good morning. Thanks for joining me I'm Martin Savidge in for Fredricka Whitfield

We are awaiting a speech at any moment now from Donald Trump's running mate, that's of course Indiana Governor, Mike Pence. He is about to address the Conservative Values Voter Summit. These are live pictures from that event in the nation's capital.

We will monitor Pence's speech and share some of the comments with you coming up just ahead.

But, first, with the election day, less than two months away. And polls showing a tightening race there is a growing sense of concern among Democrats about Clinton's inability to build an insurmountable lead.

[11:30:09] This "Washington Post" headline says it all, "Democrats wonder and worry why isn't Clinton far ahead of Trump?"

The article says, quote, "that tightening has frustrated many Clinton allies and operatives who are astonished she isn't running away with the race, given Trump's deep unpopularity and his continuing stream of controversial comments."

A perfect jumping off point for conversation. Let's bring in our panel of experts, CNN senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein, and CNN political analyst, Rebecca Burg, and CNN senior political reporter, Manu Raju.

Let me start with you, Rebecca. How concerned should Democrats be about the fact they're not leading by a huge margin? BERG: Well, we always knew that this was going to be a very tight race because increasingly the political climate is very divided so you have fewer persuadable voters for the candidates to target.

But at the same time, there is real reason for concern because Democrats are looking at what Donald Trump has said over the course of the campaign, all of the controversies he has created for himself with some of his remarks.

And they feel that really Hillary Clinton should have closed out this race by now, but part of the problem was in August she was off fundraising. She wasn't as much in the news. She wasn't out there talking to the media in the way that Donald Trump was.

And Donald Trump was able in August to actually recover his messaging a fair bit. He started using teleprompters a lot more. He started attacking Clinton a lot more and focusing the conversation more than he had on the Clinton Foundation.

And that I think we're seeing now ended up being very damaging and Clinton is going to have to recover in September, which is not ideal.

SAVIDGE: No, it's not. Ron, I'd love to hear your take in this. Why isn't she winning?

BROWNSTEIN: I think there is a couple of reasons. First, it is, as Rebecca said, a very divided and stable country. Forty states have voted the same way in the past four presidential elections, which is an extraordinary number.

There was one projection out today from "The New York Times" that if every state followed where their model had them leaning today it would exactly replicate the map of 2008. So there's a lot of stability.

Second, Hillary Clinton is a flawed candidate. There is a lot of resistance to Hillary Clinton. Majority of Americans have unfavorable opinions on her. Significant majority don't consider her honest and trustworthy.

And particularly among millennials she is failing to hold voters who don't like Donald Trump. Many of them are leaking away to those third party candidates.

But having all of that, Martin, the race has tightened much more because of Hillary Clinton going down than Donald Trump going up. That is very significant. He has enormous difficulty getting passed 40 percent of the vote in any poll in a four-way race.

Sixty percent of the country say they do not consider him qualified to be president, 60 percent of them believed that he is appealing to racial bigotry per our conversation before.

And so unless he can improve his ceiling I think ultimately that is the real challenge. The race is tighter now because the doubts about her have been elevated. But the real challenge for Donald Trump to ultimately get there is to prove that he can push past this 38 percent, 39 percent, 40 percent of the vote that he is largely been stuck at.

SAVIDGE: Well, let me bring in this Hillary Clinton new ad. There have been many, but this is a new one and it's using Republicans and their words against Trump. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a race baiting xenophobic religious bigot.

MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud.

SENATOR BEN SOSSE: He's not a serious adult.

SENATOR JEFF FLAKE: I can't vote for Donald Trump given the things that he said.

CONGRESSMAN RICHARD HANNA: Trump should not be supported.

CONGRESSMAN REID RIBBLE: I believe he's disqualified himself to be president.

SENATOR SUSAN COLLINS: I just cannot support Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: You know what gets me about these ads is that if you're a supporter of Hillary Clinton you're thinking bam. That's a homerun hit against Donald Trump. But if you're a Trump supporter, you don't even listen or pay attention. Rebecca, what are your thoughts on hearing Republicans knock Donald Trump?

BERG: It's certainly an effective ad, but the problem for Hillary Clinton --

SAVIDGE: Why is it effective? Why do you say that? Just because you've got Republicans -- some of whom campaigned against him. I mean, when you've got --

BERG: Exactly. But it's effective because they are Republicans and so they have some partisan reason to support Donald Trump. They're using very strong language that you wouldn't usually hear someone from the nominee's party using about the Republican nominee.

But that said, Hillary Clinton has done a very good job of making the case for Donald Trump being unfit for the presidency. But at the same time, her problem right now is that she hasn't really made the positive case for herself.

That's why we see her unfavorable ratings still so very low. That's why we still her struggling to bring people into her fold. As Ron pointed out, some people bleeding away to the third party candidates. That's why this month she's going to be trying to make the case for herself using what her campaign is describing as an uplifting message and trying to make more of a positive case as opposed to just trashing Donald Trump, which as we've seen with his polling has been very effective.

[11:35:12]SAVIDGE: All right, let me bring in Manu. A group of high- powered, big name Democrats are going to hit the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton. We've learned that First lady Michelle Obama will hold an event in Virginia next week.

President Barack Obama is going to travel to Pennsylvania in the coming days and we've got Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is already campaigning in Philadelphia on Friday.

Bernie sanders, hit after hit stars going out there. Are they hoping that this is all going to have what, just a major snowball effect of wow, Hillary is it?

RAJU: Yes, and to shore up her vulnerabilities. Look at the groups of voters that each of those surrogates are going to go after. Elizabeth Warren, very influential with the progressive base, younger voters, as well as Bernie Sanders.

They speak to the same group of voters. A lot of the voters who are distrustful of Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama, still very popular with the Democratic base more so than Hillary Clinton.

And Michelle Obama, one of the most popular political figures in the country. So someone trying to -- all trying to energize the Democratic base that may not be so energized behind Hillary Clinton because of the vulnerabilities that we've been talking about.

But also to show contrast with Donald Trump. You're not seeing a whole bunch of heavy hitters hit the campaign trail for Donald Trump. You know, you don't see Paul Ryan for instance making the case for him or even any of the past presidential nominees or even the past president, George W. Bush, who has declined to endorse Donald Trump.

So they're trying to show a contrast with Donald Trump and also try to energize their base. We'll see if it's effective because as Rebecca and Ron said she has to make the case for herself and that's not something she has not done effectively to this point.

SAVIDGE: Yes, I also heard that Mark Cuban is going out there on the campaign trail on her behalf, which is interesting a billionaire reality TV star but a different one. OK, Ron Brownstein, Rebecca Berg, and Manu Raju, thank you all for joining me.

Be sure to watch "STATE OF THE UNION," that's tomorrow, Sunday, for an exclusive interview with Hillary Clinton tomorrow morning 9:00 a.m. and noon Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:41:03] SAVIDGE: Just a reminder, not a broken record. We are awaiting a speech at any moment now from Donald Trump's running mate, Indiana governor, Mike Pence. He's about to address the Conservative Values Voters Summit in the nation's capital. When he begins speaking, we will take you there.

Tomorrow marks, if you can believe it the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. CNN will air the documentary "9/11, 15 Years Later" Sunday evening and at 8:00 Eastern. It features the only video footage that was shot inside the World Trade Center on that devastating morning. Here is a brief example of what was captured.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): It was just before 10:00. A little over an hour since the first plane hit. Firefighters from all over the city were inside those towers. Hundreds of them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I remember I'm filming and he's on the radio.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: The 9/11 is a day that has a special meaning to all of us who lived through it, but most especially for the first responders who rushed to the scenes of the attacks and risked their lives to save the injured. Some of those responders made the ultimate sacrifice. Others continue to struggle to overcome trauma and injuries.

My next guest knows these battles all too well. Bob Gray is a retired Arlington County Virginia Fire Department battalion chief, who responded to the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon.

Bob later suffered a traumatic brain injury in a fall and actively works with the "Project Rebirth" and its program, The First Responders Resilience Network.

Bob, thank you very much for joining me. I have a close friend who has suffered a TBI so I know how difficult it is. But let's start going back to remembering that day, 15 years ago when you responded to the plane attack on the Pentagon. I imagine that sticks with you every day.

BOB GRAY, RETIRED ARLINGTON COUNTY, VA FIRE DEPARTMENT BATTALION CHIEF: It indeed does. It's a difficult thing to remember. It makes this time of year kind of difficult to be very honest, but when we arrived on the scene, it was surreal.

Very chaotic, very challenging. Firefighters love a challenge. This was extreme. We entered the building to do searching and suppressed the fire. There was so much debris inside the building in the area where the plane hit. It was very hard to get through that.

What we saw initially and then through the next two days, which is how long it took to put the fire out, and then as I joined the collapse team later on, the memories are very serious. There are very hard to put in the right place to say the very least. SAVIDGE: I imagine.

GRAY: The heat was incredible.

SAVIDGE: I'm sure it is. And I want to -- let's digress. Let's talk about rebirth, the Rebirth Project and specifically The First Responders Resilience Network. You're going to be speaking at an event this afternoon about this program. Tell us. What is this program about? What does it do?

[11:45:03]GRAY: Well, if you view the military, they've -- thanks to General Casey, they've done very well starting to understand the level of stress that people get from battle and involvement in such type of emergencies.

Fire, police, ECC, EMS, all those folks really haven't had the right focus. We had a good program in Arlington County. It provided a factor of resilience that helped us all a great deal.

So what we're doing now is we're taking it to the next level. We're raising the bar. The number of suicides in the military is huge. The number of suicides amongst first responders is really rising very quickly.

It's -- some of the things that involve this is stigma. You have to be strong. You have a facade that everything's all good. It's very important to learn to deal with, first of all through training and to learn to deal with this stress and have the right counseling to get you through it.

And keep enjoying a job and then eventually in a retirement as a happy person and have good days with your friends, good days with your families after a significant trying events.

SAVIDGE: As we mentioned in 2010 you fell from ladder at your home and suffered a traumatic brain injury and essentially had to learn almost everything about life all over again. How are you doing now?

GRAY: I'm doing very well. I feel very blessed. I've had a tremendous amount of support from Project Rebirth. You know, because I work for them since 2004 on a lot of the stuff going on in New York and building resilience for folks.

But relearning everything is just -- it's very, very trying. It's a huge challenge. My cognizance was gone. My ability to speak. I did not recognize anybody. I was in a coma for three weeks and then did not remember anything for two months.

Once my memories came back, I started exiting the Pentagon where the plane hit every morning so I had to go back through rehab again after I learned -- got my academic level back together.

So I feel very blessed. It's really an amazing thing to have such strong people around you and help you recover from significant events. I can tell you that probably the primary thing besides the rehabilitation, the family stuff and friends is exercise. It's one of the coping mechanisms that we actually teach through the resilience program, too. It makes a huge difference. Get your blood flowing, stay out. My paralyzation on the right side went away. I am looking for ways to contribute and help others right now in a different manner.

SAVIDGE: Right. Your message is incredibly inspiring. Thank you for the job you did and now the new job that you continue to do. It's a pleasure talking with you, thank you.

GRAY: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Tomorrow night at 8:00 Eastern Time, CNN Films presents "9/11, 15 Years Later." You have to watch it. We'll be right back.

In the meantime, still ahead, we'll look for Mike Pence, bring him when he speaks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: As promised, there we see Indiana Governor Mike Pence, Donald Trump's running mate, getting introduced in Washington, waving to the crowd, thumbs up.

[11:50:04] This is going to be a speech that is pretty much, as we already said earlier, preaching to the choir. This is a group that is solidly already behind the Trump campaign, but let's listen.

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, Penny.

Thank you for that wonderful introduction. To Ken Blackwell, to my friend Tony Perkins, it is great to be back to the Values Voters Summit, the greatest gathering of conservative pro-family Americans in the nation.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: I'm truly humbled to be here. It's been a few years since I've been back. I'm so grateful for the invitation to me and to my running mate. I'm -- I'm grateful that with so many of you here today, you've known me for some time and you know that despite that, uh, overly generous introduction by Penny, the introduction I prefer is just a little bit shorter. I'm a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: And it's been my high honor to work with so many of you, so many of the extraordinary organizations that are represented here.

During my years in the Congress of the United States, where we stood strong for conservative values with you at our side, in my years as governor of the state of Indiana, where we moved forward a positive agenda for the family in the Hoosier State. And I promise you, from the first day I am elected vice president of the United States of America, I will again be your champion on --

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: -- in Washington, DC.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: But, uh, despite the high nature of that office, I will tell you, the highest office I will ever hold, the highest position I will ever have, is to be Karen's husband and Michael, Charlotte and Audrey's dad.

Would you join me in welcoming my wonderful wife, the first lady of Indiana, Karen Pence, is with us here today.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: You know, it's hard to believe -- it's hard to believe it was just a -- just short of, uh, two months ago that the phone rang, with Karen at my side, 11:00 at night at the governor's residence and I heard that familiar voice on the other end of the phone. We had heard the call might be coming. We had prayed through it with our kids, talked through it. We knew that we were ready to answer the call.

But when it came, I heard that voice and he just said, Mike, it's going to be great.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: And I've got to tell you, it has been.

(LAUGHTER)

PENCE: Every day, since I accepted my party's nomination, I've got to tell you, it's been an absolutely incredible experience, because you have nominated for president a man who never quits. He is a fighter. He is a builder and until very recently, it seemed like he was out there fighting all on his own, but now this movement is coming together. This party is coming together and we're going to elect Donald Trump to be the next president of the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: I'm going to have a lot to say about my running mate before I let you go, but the contrast between the man that you heard from yesterday, a man who would have been with you here today, except at this very hour, he is paying his respects and praying with the family of the late and great Phyllis Schlafly, who we remember on this day.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: The heart and the vision and the mission of this good man, who will be a great president, couldn't be a more dramatic contrast from what the other party has nominated. It truly is amazing. It's amazing when you think about it. At a time when millions of Americans are crying out for something new and different, crying out for a change of direction and here in our nation's capital, the other party has nominated, uh, the most predictable of names and a stale agenda.

Well, the truth of the matter is Donald Trump and I both know the only way you can change Washington, DC is by changing the leadership in Washington, DC.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: And that begins the day we make Donald Trump the 45th president of the United States.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: The stakes in this election really couldn't be higher and the choice for this election couldn't be clearer. I mean, if you think about it, our party has actually nominated the most straight-talking candidate since Ronald Reagan.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: And the other party is literally running the most dishonest candidate ever.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: Well, as I said at the Reagan Library just a few short days ago, America picked a bold truth-teller in 1980 and they are going to pick another bold truth-teller in 2016.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: It really is remarkable when you look at the, uh, when you look at the agenda of Hillary Clinton and the record of Hillary Clinton. It was Hillary Clinton who was the architect of the failed foreign policy of the Obama administration and she means to continue it. Hillary Clinton's record on foreign policy must be recalled.

It was Hillary Clinton who helped undo all of the gains of our troop surge in Iraq. Supporting this president's decision, after the American soldier had won security and peace in Operation Iraqi Freedom at incredible cost. It was Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama who withdrew American forces without a new status of forces agreement and literally created the vacuum in which the terrorist organization ISIS was able to be conjured up, as it were, out of the sands of the wider Middle East, to compromise large areas of those hard-fought gains.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: It was Hillary Clinton -- Hillary Clinton who actually initiated the president's disastrous agreement with the radical mullahs in Iran. It's extraordinary to think, $150 billion to Iran, including more than a billion dollars in ransom payment delivered in the form of cash, $400 million of which was delivered on the very day that four Americans were released from captivity.

Let me make you a promise. When Donald Trump becomes president of the United States of America, we won't be paying ransom to terrorist- sponsoring states.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: They'll be paying a price if they threaten American citizens or detain or harm our people.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: And lastly, as Penny referred to before, it was Hillary Clinton and her State Department who left Americans in harm's way in Benghazi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.

PENCE: Told a story about it being inspired by some video, even to the parents of the fallen when their remains arrived back at Dover Air Force Base. And then when she was asked about it before a Senate committee, Hillary Clinton literally said, quote, "What difference, at this point, does it make?"

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shameful.

PENCE: Well, let me say, as the proud father of a United States Marine, anyone who said that, anyone who did that, should be disqualified from ever serving as commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: As bad as -- as bad as the record is on the foreign stage, it just gets worse when you get closer to home. It really is extraordinary.

Hillary Clinton is essentially running for Barack Obama's third term.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.

PENCE: And she boasts of it every day. Economic policies that have literally stifled the American economy. I can tell you in the Hoosier State, any progress we've made in the last four years has been in spite of the O -- policies of the Obama administration, not because of them.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: Hillary Clinton literally in -- in the midst of an economy where we have nearly seven million more Americans living in poverty, the lowest labor participation rate since the 1970s and the slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression, Hillary Clinton promises more of the same -- more taxes, more regulation, more ObamaCare and more of the war on coal that's been stifling American energy.

And her policies, we know, at home will include re-imposing the executive orders of this administration, even, uh, defying the recent ruling of the Supreme Court. She promises to reimpose executive amnesty, bypos -- passing the Congress of the United States. And Hillary Clinton -- Hillary Clinton's harsh criticism of the Hobby Lobby decision, uh, will continue to support mandating contraceptive coverage even with those with religious objections and Hillary Clinton wants to repeal The Hyde Amendment.

It truly is extraordinary. And when it comes to the Supreme Court, we know what we'll get, the Supreme Court, more of the kind of judges that legislate from the bench instead of upholding our fundamental liberties.

But in the midst of all of that, in the midst of that liberal agenda that we see mounting up, we get the news this morning...

[12:00:00]