tv The Situation Room CNN June 17, 2014 3:00pm-4:01pm PDT
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about our country right now is that everybody is just talking to people who are like them. there's a great book called a big sort. we have sorted ourselves into communities where we live with people who think like us, we good to school with people who think like us, on and on. one of the great opportunities that the military used to provide was mixing up men, you know, it wasn't women so much in those days. but people from all over, all walks of life. every kind of american. we have lost that and i think it is one of the reasons why we have such really disagreeable politics. because people can't put themselves in the shoes of someone else. so i would like to see more broadly available service and some way to make sure that all young people are not shut out. because they can't afford to take the time to do that. >> and finally, we go to our last tumbler question from will jackson. why run, he says. why would you run for such a dangerous and very stressful job
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when you have a precious grand baby on the way. retire, relax, enjoy life. >> that's on the ledger. and actually, i've said this a few times earlier in interviews. i'm not making a decision in part because i do have this very life-changing experience coming up in the fall. i don't want to be looking past it, you know. i don't want to be meeting my new grandchild and having somebody calling me and saying, oh, you got to do this, that and the other in order to make this decision. i'm just not going to do that. so i will make this decision based on how i feel about it and what i believe i can do. but i'm not going to be rushed to do it, because this -- >> cannot rush you? hard choice? grandmother or the possibility of being the first he female president of the united states of america. >> you know, there have been --
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>> hard choice. >> there have been a lot of grandfathers who have done it. >> precisely. maybe it's not a hard choice. >> it's a personal hard choice. >> all right. on that note -- >> oh thank you. >> thank you all very much. >> so i do want to thank secretary clinton for sharing her time and her thoughts with us. you can read more about her experiences as we've been talking, her book "hard choices." thank you to our audience and to our viewers here and around the world for joining us and for everyone at cnn. good night. [ applause ] >> nice round of applause for hillary clinton and christiane amanpour. hi, i'm wolf blitzer.
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you've been watching town hall. hillary clinton's "hard choices." we welcome you to this special edition of "the situation room." you have just seen and heard hillary clinton talk for about an hour, about benghazi, syria, immigration and a whole lot more. we've got a lot of coverage, a lot of analysis to do. here in "the situation room," we're in the situation room. and i want to keep all of you here for the next hour as we assess what we have just heard. what do you think? did she do a good job or didn't she do a good job? good job? [ applause ] i think they think she did a pretty good job. let's bring in jake tapper. he's got some thoughts on what we just heard. nice round of applause for jake. come on over here, jake.
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what do you think? how did she do? >> first of all, she said hard choices a lot. i don't know if you picked up on that. >> trying to sell her book. >> that's the title of the book "hard choices." for the people that read the book with a lot of anecdotes are very much from that. i've seen her in a lot of different formats. this was her, at her best campaign format. she was on message and really trying to relate to the audience in some moments. especially talking about being a woman in leadership. there were a couple moments when you can tell she was speaking as a way not as candidate. i'm thinking when she talked about the gun lobby and referred to them as a radical minority terrorizing the majority. but christian did a wonderful job. we should give applause. [ applause ] i didn't learn a tremendous amount new, but i thought it was her at her best in terms of relating to an audience. >> i want to bring in john king. john, you listen very carefully.
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i'm listening there with you, you are taking a lot of notes. what jumped out to you. >> the back and forth. christian in the audience. she was clearly interested in moving on and discussing a lot of subjects. sometimes candidates filibuster. she was not interested in that. which is interesting. tells you about her mind-set. she was very clear and she wanted everyone to understand to the question from the young woman here that she disagreed with the president on syria. gently and politely, she wanted to make clear that she reinforced that early on. she wanted to arm the syrian rebels. she is running. her decision is whether or not to stop running. the base won't like so much her words about those young kids she is showing a great deal of empathy for children at the border trying to get to the united states but she also said just because they get to the border doesn't mean they stay. the liberal base won't like that so much. >> when she said she would try to reunite the young children with families in central america
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or elsewhere, hold on. a big round of applause for our moderator, christiane amanpour, she is here with us. [ applause ] >> you know, it's tough because you want to ask a whole lot of hard questions. but what i honestly genuinely think, it is so valuable to hear what people want to ask her and not just what we want to ask her. and i was very impressed by, as you said, the diversity of the questions. i think many people, all of this was substantive. people wanted to know about iraq, about syria, about immigration, about women. many people criticize, which is why i ask her, including journalist, female journalists, why did you not run as a woman last time. she talked about that very well. and she talked about the pressures of doing that. and some lady's question about maternity leave, she reminds me
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that america is one of only three countries in the world that does not give their women paid maternity leave. an i have spoken to top, top, the imf, there is an added gdp boost if men and women are at the work force at the same level. even in the united states. even in developed economy. for that reason as well as humanitarian and other reasons, there should be that -- >> she certainly sounded and looked like a -- i want to get to that in a moment but she sounded like a presidential candidate. what did you think? >> look, i mean, look. everybody says she is running. what can i tell you? i tried my best. i knew she want going to announce or not announce on this. but she has been thinking about it and evolving. i like her marijuana comment. i like the gay marriage comment i thought was interesting. she did get incredibly testy during the npr. i thought she advanced that and had been thinking about that. i thought that seemed to go down
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pretty well. syria, i cover that, an incredibly important issue. we're all terrified by the fact that an al qaeda offshoot has established a statelet in iraq and in syria. and many people believe that's because of a hand-off policy by this administration. and she is very clear, but i still wanted to know why, if this was the, you know, existential national security threat to the united states, which it is, push and push and push to change this policy. you know, her own ambassador resigned over it. >> if there was any question, jake, about her health, certainly did not indicate any problems at all. she was lively, feisty, talkative. she certainly was alert and she wanted to explain her positions. >> she said if she does choose to run then she will do what other candidates have done and disclose her medical records. one other point to something that you and christiane were talking about, is whether she
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was radically canndid or keepin her options open and that is about paid medical leave. maternity leave. she did not support it, why not? because it is not politically possible. it wasn't a statement of principle as we heard from christiane, it was, we can't have it done. so i'm not going to come out and favor of it right now. >> she said, let the states try it. as everything happens in this country. i come from europe where we have very generous paid maternity leave. where we he have a universal health care. where we do pay taxes in order to have these kinds of things. so we sort of take it for granted. >> and five months vacation. >> no, jake. >> people try to put hillary clinton in a bks. she is constantly evolved but she is evolved in a public way. her husband's administration. architect of health care. ultra liberal, government take over of health care. she is with the liberal base on guns right there. more in the center on the
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immigration issue and she sounds like a states rights republican. let the states try the marijuana question. let the states try on the minimum wage. let the states try on the family leave and let's see how things go and when the state proves they can do it, then you nationalize it. hard it pigeon hole sometimes. and she has a great sense of humor. she doesn't always get to show it. like it or not, she is kind of funny. >> we have a lot of analysis coming up here in our special situation room, including hillary clinton talking about her plans for 2016. >> are your competitive juices flowing for the chance to be the first female president? of the united states of america.
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advanced safety systems & technology. shipping and manufacturing. across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. when we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. that's not a coincidence. it's one more part of our commitment to america. there have been, as you know, a number of investigations, including the independent one that the state department commissioned as well as many in congress, there are answers, not all of them, not enough, frankly. i'm still looking for answers because it was a confusing and difficult time. but i would hope that every american would understand,
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number one, why we were there. because we need to be in dangerous places. and number two, we are doing the best we can to find out what happened. and i hope that fair-minded people will look at that seriously. >> welcome back. we're here at the museum in washington, d.c. this is a special edition of the situation room and i'm wolf blitzer. let's talk to gloria borger, and cnn political analyst maggie abe rahman. let's go down the line, ladies. give us your immediate thought. what do you think? >> i think she did very well. she got looser as time went on. i still don't hear a theme of what her candidacy would be like her discussion was like her book, a series of issues. but she was much more candid than she has been. she did show flashes of humor
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and you did see at the end she addressed the questions of grandmother. she said a lot of grandfathers have run too. that's a good point. >> what did you think, gloria? you've been watching her for a while. >> i don't think there is any overall message because, i am woman. i am different. i am running as a woman this time. in 2008 when she lost, she said it was difficult to gauge how i was being presented. she talked about the hair, make-up, being under the microscope as a woman. how people ask her about being a grandmother and didn't ask mitt romney so much about being a grandfather many times over. i think what i heard from her was, there is going to be a different campaign. she is running on her experience. but she is also appealing to women as a woman. >> brianna, you've been covering her for a while as well. did you see outbursts of desire to be the first woman president
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of the united states. >> i think when you kind of -- i think you see her really keeping, not just the door open, but everything is geared to me. i see toward running. unless she decides not to. to me it seems very apparent at this point that that is where her mind is. what struck me is if she is going to run and this is to your point, maggie, she sort of raised the question herself. what is your vision. she raised the question and didn't really answer it. i want to know what her vision is. she may not want it unveil it so quickly but i think that's the question she is sort of figuring out right now. >> there was a clear take on the nra. then the question was, she said, and it almost sounded like a -- she was asked about barack obama, it brought me he back to 2008. she said some people can paint a beautiful vision but can you lead us there. and i thought, wait, is this 2008. >> there is no question she is didding a l doing a lot of thro.
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she did not answer the question about race with president obama. i do think that will come up again and again and again. i think she will need a clearer answer. >> specifically, what would you like to have heard? >> i think she needed it say there were people who opposed him because of race. i think in the democratic primary that is going to hurt her and people want to hear her say that. for voters that would be offended in a general election, they probably wouldn't be with her anyway. >> there may not be much democratic primary. >> that's why they need daylight. why do you want to go through -- this is a system we have but why go through that if you don't have to. >> if there a democratic primary, people will run to her left and not to her right. >> yes. >> that's to my point. >> exactly. >> let me play this little clip from the town hall meeting. watch this. >> are your competitive juices flowing for the chance to be the first female president of the of
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united states of america? >> you can see why she's an experienced journalist. i've been asked this a million different ways. that was very clever. i was with my husband for eight years. i saw how difficult that was. i have served president obama for four years. he became a good friend of mine. i see how difficult that is. buzz people who don't agree with you try to tear you down. because there is a lot at stake. it really matters what is going to happen, whether it is immigration or guns or income, inequality or anything else. i'm going to think about all that, but not right now. >> not right now. but she will make up her mind presumably by the enof the year. >> she had said by the end of theier and now she said that she will be well on her way by the end of the year. so she is giving herself a little bit of wiggle room. that fascinates me because if she decides she doesn't want to run, that is something she needs to do sooner than later to give
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space to the other potential democrats who may want to run. if she does decide she is going to run, it helps her to put it off a little bit and she also was -- she looks back and really does not like that she declared in january of 2007 and had almost two full years of campaigning really did not like that. so i think she will put it off as long -- >> she won't have long to wait. >> a lot of pressure. >> she's running. can we just say that, she's running. >> if she doesn't run, i totally agree with you. >> if she doesn't run, that will be a huge story. like everybody believes she's running. it will be like, of course she's -- >> in the meantime, she freezes out other potential democratic candidates. >> saying it is a fantastic field and we have tons of other people, which she has said in other interviews, there isn't a ton of others. >> there a vice president. >> he is thinking about running. >> he is at the world cup, by
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the way. >> and a few governors. >> but it is not the same. >> all you have to do is look at the polls. when you look at potential field, she is in the 60s. joe biden is the closest. he not even in the teens, i don't think. >> she faced it in 2008, inevitability is not a campaign slogan. i'm the inevitable candidate. i'm going to win. polls show not only is she expected to be the democratic nominee but also favored to win the presidential race. and it is a little early for people to think she's inevitable because it happened to her once before. and i'm sure she is thinking with b that. >> how did she do on benghazi. >> i think her answer is still incomplete and she will continue to get questions shp she said, i'm searching for answers too. >> she said, there is a lot gloria, that we don't know. i guess that in effect might justify a special congressional committee if there's a lot she doesn't know. >> and my reporter ears perked up when i heard that.
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because of course, there are questiones about whether she will testify about this committee in benghazi. now that she has come out and said to christiane that there are a lot of unanswered questions, i guarantee you that republicans will say, well, madam secretary, come visit. >> all right. hold on for a minute ladies. we have a lot more coming up ahead. hillary clinton speaks out about guns in america. also about marijuana, both medical and recreational. >> we have at least two states that are experimenting with that right now. i want to wait and see what the evidence is. >> you want to wait and try it? you said you never smoked. >> we're moving our company to new york state.
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from the museum here in washington where hillary clinton has been talking about her book "hard choices", taking audience questions. i'm joined now by ann jones and s. e. cupp. what do you think about the word terrorizing when talking about guns. >> that is a strong action across the bow, no pun intended. that was clearly her drawing a battle line between herself and republicans. and gun rights groups. and it was just one of many in this interview. where she drew battle lines. not just between herself and republicans but herself and president obama. to me, i think this interview is the clearest indication that she's running. she really didn't equivocate on a lot and i think she offered up maybe unnecessarily a lot of, a lot of opinions that people are going to read as different from the president's and certainly
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different than republicans. >> van? >> i think first of all, what she said about guns, you know, the majority of republicans actually are for common sense gun reforms. i don't think she is drawing a line between herself and republicans but from extremists. i will say this. she came as close to throwing president obama under the bus on his foreign policy as i've heard any democrat do. >> on theish you've syria? >> on the issue of syria. she is looking down the road and seeing syria looking worse and worse and she does not want to be saddled with whatever mistakes obama may have made. but she he has to be careful. she was not concerned at all that there are a big number of democrats that love this president, supportive of this president. an she seems to have no concern with offending them, number one. she also seems to have no concern for the left wing of this party that is very concerned about her position on some economic questions. there were students here. she didn't talk about student loans. she has elizabeth warren on her left talking about student loans
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everyday and she isn't mentioning it. she is acting like a candidate. >> in her defense a lot of the economic questions didn't come up. >> fair enough. >> you're right she has to draw those distinctions and deal with the far left wing of her party. on syria, i counted three times that she offered up how she would have done it differently. three times. she also said on foreign policy in general, i don't believe we should be retreating from the world. i this i that was a clear dang-it president's obama's withdraw from afghanistan. she drew distance between her immigration position and the president's. even on marijuana she seemed less -- >> hold on a second. asking secretary clinton about that, were you received with the answer if?
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>> i did. a ban on assault weapons and maybe a ban on magazines, which nobody needs, nobody needs those except to kill more people more quickly. >> you teach where? >> in montgomery county. >> are you afraid of what is happening that we've seen at sandy hook and elsewhere? do you go to school everyday worried about that? >> i do not. but every time there's an incident on tv, there have been 74 school shootings since sandy hook. if sandy hook isn't going to convince people to get rid of assault weapons and high capacity magazines -- >> i don't want to say those numbers rntd aren't accurate but democrats suffered and hillary clinton knows this, democrats suffered the last time there was
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looking at the ban. >> i give her credit for standing up to the gun lobby. i think that's a very important thing for her do. it shows courage. she raised something i never heard before. automatic registration for every american when they turn 818. >> to vote. to vote. >> yes. not for guns. not for guns. for vote pg. that was inspiring. there has been this concern that there is a concerted effort on the part of republicans to push down the right to vote. she came with something i think probably would have bipartisan appeal. i give her credit for both. >> a good answer. >> they can't even enact background checks. >> the politics of this, first of all, there are facts on gun control that really just don't bear some of this out. however, the politics is so tough on this issue right now, that it's just -- it is just impossible to get a coalition around that. and the conversation really needs to ship to mental health
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and even democrats are recognizing. >> thanks for doing an excellent job teaching. thanks for your question. we will take a quick break. much more of our special coverage coming up. hillary clinton on iraq. should the u.s. team up with a bitter foe to stop the insurgent attacks. >> i'm not prepared to say that we go in with iran right now. we are a collection of smalls. a home saved. a hero homebound for a new opportunity.
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so the question is, does iraq fall or do you go in for a tactical reason in this case. >> i'm not prepared to say we good in with iran right now until we have a better idea of what we're getting ourselves into. >> we're back with a special edition with the situation room. we're here with the museum in washington, d.c. the subject, cnn's town hall with hillary clinton. let's bring in chief national security and chief congressional correspondent dana bash. she said, there were some sort of sidelined discussions yesterday between the u.s. and iran. she is not ready to cooperate with iran on iraq, at least not
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yet. >> not that surprising an answer. at risk of saying, she may be running for office, that's a political answer. it is a risky thing to support. i think we saw on some of the answers, on iraq, what should the u.s. do? should the u.s. carry out military strikes? she said yes, as part after broader position. in the foreign policies sphere where she did go further was on syria saying, making the point, which is true, she disagreed with the president two years ago and calling out the president -- >> elise, listen carefully. i will play the clip where she makes it obvious, she and the president disagreed a couple years ago. >> if we had gone in earlier and tried to help the so-called moderates, i'm not sure that it would have turned the tide. but i believed then that it was important for us to make clear that we were going to try to support them against assad and
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fill the vacuum that would be created in that territory. >> she obviously disagred with the president on a sensitive issue like that. but clearly the thrust of what she was suggesting is if they would have listened to her, the president, maybe the problems if iraq would not have developed. >> and she said it a couple of times, right? she said we made that argument two years ago, look at the situation we have now. i thought what was interesting is because i covered her when she was secretary of state. very rarely was there a hint of any disagreement with the president. but here, i think she really wanted to distinguish herself from the president as someone not only who is more mauscular and also more thoughtful. that we need a more comprehensive strategy. we can't see the ground onsyria. when christiane asked her about benghazi and when she said that serving in these dangerous places is part of the u.s. dna
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and that we can't be retreating. that's one of the biggest criticisms that you see right now of the obama administration that they are retreating from around the world. >> interesting. because the answer about retreating from the world was specific to u.s. embassies in response to attacks like this. but i thought there was a bigger message available, or not to avail criticism. >> dana, how is it going to play on the hill, what she said today. >> let's talk about the most politically explosive issue, which is ben edict xv is bengha. so she is basically making the point for republicans which they are not going to, you know, democrats are not going to love and i'm guessing that in retrospect she wishes she would have phrased it differently. but going back to your question about iran, this is really shaping up to be an issue that
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doesn't necessarily fall on the political lines that it has traditionally fallen on. lindsay graham, senator from south carolina, who is no dove, said this weekend, that to cnn, that he thinks that the u.s. should be working. having direct talks to deal with iraq. it is just that important because he is so concerned about the embassy personnel in iraq. but he just wants to give you the politics, to call it out for what it is, he just won a primary in his state two days before he he talked to us. hillary clinton is thinking long-term about primaries that she has and fund-raising from people -- >> uttering these words and a lot we don't know, which i'm sure a lot of people on the hill, republicans, who want more and more hearings to benghazi, that is music to their ears as you point out. on tumbler for hillary clinton, what were people most interested in knowing. the word cloud gives us an idea.
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i've evolved over time and i'm very proud to state that i'm a proud supporter e of marriage equality right now. [ applause ] >> we're back here at the museum in washington for a special edition of "the situation room." i'm wolf blitzer reporting. we're talking town hall with hillary clinton which just took place. joined once again by senior political responsibility keeler. and peter hamm. what she said about supporting marriage equality, she has evolved her position over the years likesome other people. why is that such a political issue in the npr interview? >> this is a great question. this is the answer she should have given last week. it took her ten tries to answer
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what she should have said last week, that she supports marriage equality. polling shows that is what majority of americans want to hear. shocking she didn't get there so quickly last time. that what this year is for. for practice. for her to get better, perhaps, before she does become a candidate, if she chooses to do that. >> it is a sensitive subject for some, but she made clear, she changed her position and fully supports it. >> she is where president obama is. her husband switched on this. what is interesting with the npr interview is she defended doma, which is not a -- >> the defensive marriage act. >> yes. even her husband who signed it into law, and her answer is where she should be and all she should say about it going forward. she will get pressed about aspects but this is where she should be. >> press owned what some. >> whether it can be nullified by other states. whether some bills that are state legislation going forward,
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she will get pressed on specifics. i think that she needs to keep this as her frame. >> what do you think. >> i think she he is a safe place with this. i felt that way with a number of topics as well including her issue on for instance, on gun control. i felt like she is kind of where the ground swell is on polling. she is kind of there. and so, i think most americans are on board with same-sex marriage. i don't think it is entirely, i don't think you secretary guess her when she says she's evolved. i think she is not very much super to the left in her party. so i think it is pretty believable. but it was certainly a much more articulate answer. >> i think she was defensive on this last week because she is perceived in the gay community as being late on the issue. she was very good with the gay rights issues. everybody says this who covers the issue. but she was behind, even members of her party and senator portman spoke out that she did.
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she has her antenna up for this. she will get pressed on it again. peter is right, the practice run got the kinks out. >> and a another thing she said on the npr interview is that a lot of people in the '90s, not supportive of marriage equality. >> and involving marijuana, let me play another clip. >> i think people in extreme medical conditions and have anecdotal evidence that it works. there should be availability under appropriate circumstances. we need research. we don't know how it interacts with other drugs. there's a lot we don't know. >> and then christiane asked, but you haven't smoked. she said, i didn't do it when i was young, i'm not going to do it now. >> i sort of believe her on that. i just think that actually, i
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don't think americans have -- you know, when her husband ran, it was a big deal, that i didn't inhale. it is not that big deal any more. i was joking, it is fine to be president and to have done drugs. president obama has been out thereabout it. but she seems to have the bases covered on this one, right? wait for more research but it should be available. when it comes to recreational use, states are the laboratory but we should wait and see. >> which your point is that that is not a very often heard democratic answer in terms of what you hear candidates say. that's what you hear republican governors say about the states are our laboratories for innovation. i did think that was a generational moment in town hall when she said she never smoked marijuana before. i totally believe her and i think it caught a lot of people by surprise. >> people growing up when she did grow up, i think a lot of people did. >> i do think that. i think it was acceptable then.
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>> this answer to me was revealing and typical of many answers in this town hall in that she masked caution with a lot of charm and laughter, and she felt very comfortable without saying much of anything. remember she walked into that answer talking about radical candor and didn't really answer the question. and we saw that with some other things with deportations and, look, that's vintage hillary clinton. she is extremely cautious, but he is charming and able to sort of sell that in a setting like this especially. >> that is different, though. she was not always great at even sort of the canned candor. she was better at that now in this town hall than she was at some points. >> she's very good in these town hall meetings. i remember when she was running for the senate in new york state after she was first lady, i hosted a town hall with her in new york at buffalo, my alma mater, and she did very well then, she did very well today. stand by, we have a lot more coming up. hillary clinton's encounter with a squirrel and why that got the
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to be able to make those hard choices. in my book "hard choices" -- it's a very hard choice. these are difficult hard choices. we make hard choices and we balance competing values all the time. >> all right. you just heard hillary clinton talk about hard choices, hard choices again and again. now, that happens to be the name of her new book out, which has clearly something to do with it. let's get some analysis here in our special edition of "the situation room." we're at the newseum in washington. brianna keilar, maggie haberman, political writer for politico and peter hamby. you got the sense she's trying to sell a book. >> i think that's the case. maggie reported today how many books has she sold. >> 100,000 on the first day. >> and e-books, too. >> is that enough for the reported i guess $14 million
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advance? >> time will tell. but the question is going to be i think it debuts on "the new york times" best sellers list tomorrow or wednesday, the question is how long it stays there. >> at number one, you mean? >> i would say so. >> she's selling books, trying to do -- >> she's saying the title a lot. >> she's got to make a living because you remember a few years ago she didn't have that much money. >> she was dead broke. >> that's what she said. she's making some money right now. nothing wrong with that. you get the sense that it's not just a campaign to sell the book, it's a campaign to start something else. >> and i also think it might be a campaign to kind of connect in a way. in 2008 she didn't really connect. it was to her detriment. she realizes that, she talked about it today especially talking about herself as a woman. now she's getting really comfortable kind of in that space. i'm always intrigued by these little sleeper moments that we see. i saw one tonight where, as she was talking about describing herself, the word she settled on
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was dt gra"grateful." that was oprah speak to me. she was really trying to connect to women. >> what this book tour does is allows her to delay actively campaigning for democrats because lord knows democrats in all kinds of state races are asking her to come and campaign. >> listen to this, she received a very warm welcome here inside the newseum at the cnn global town hall but outside she was greeted -- look at the video -- by a protester from the republican national committee. the person was in a squirrel costume wearing a t-shirt that read, another clinton in the house is nuts. mrs. clinton got out of her car to shake hands with the so-called squirrel who has followed her to a number of events. the protester says hillary clinton even gave a copy of her book. that's pretty clever of her to do that. >> i think it is. she's dealing with a lot of -- when she has a chance to deal with criticism with humor, we see her doing that more and more. >> you covered her in 2000. this was a vintage move taking
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the criticism head-on. even republicans think the squirrel is a tad goofy. she made the most of that movement. >> lots of pacs will be following her around the country doing stunts like this. she handled it the right way. >> she brings out a lot of anger among her critics. >> oh, definitely. i think that there's still a polarizing influence that hillary clinton has on the debate. right now the sense i get is that it has so much more to do with benghazi than i'm sort of getting the female thing that i think we got in 2008, but that's just my read on it. >> you cover her on a day to day basis. >> hour to hour. >> minute to minute. >> a lot of it centers around benghazi and her recent tenure at the state department. the problem for her is the book focuses on a period in time and there are issues that she doesn't, as she said at the top of the town hall, totally have the answers to. not being able to answer the benghazi question completely will be an issue.
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>> one of the reasons she can't answer some of those questions is because there is a sitting president of the united states, she worked for him. >> she did. don't forget hillary clinton is one of the most famous people in the world. when she articulates something on foreign policy, people around the world, leaders, are listening to that. she does have to be careful. but look, she's such a big personality, such a known commodity. and there's so much focus on what kind of a candidate will she be if she runs again, will her candidate skills be better, will she figure out what to do about the media. the biggest problem for her if she runs again might be president obama and just answering for all the unpopular things that happened in his administration and not just overseas, but domestically because she was a part of the obama administration. >> thanks very much. that's it for us. remember, you can always follow us on twitter, you can tweet me @wolf blitzer, tweet the show @sit room. join us tomorrow in the situation room. you can always watch us live or dvr the show so you won't miss a
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moment. thanks very much. this lass beenhas been a really special event. i'm so glad all of you have been watch. from the night studio at the newseum in washington, d.c., the news continues next right here on cnn. >> next, our exclusive interview with republican senator ted cruz. we'll ask him about hillary, iraq and why members of his party are calling him a fraud. plus the suspected benghazi mastermind arrested. an exclusive report on how cnn tracked him down before the fbi. and tv star dr. oz grilled on capitol hill. is he deceiving his viewers? let's go out front. good evening, everyone. i'm erin burnett. the former secretary of state of taking questions right here on
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