>> and live in cincinnati right now on "andrea mitchell reports," south of the border. just hours before a speech promising to explain his immigration policy, donald trump is about to land in mexico. a surprise visit this hour to a country trump mocked for more than a year. >> they're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, and some, i assume are good people. okay, you ready? who's going to pay for the wall? who? 100%. 100%. it's going to be as beautiful as a wall can be, but it's going to be a wall. remember what i say, mexico will pay for the wall. remember. >> is he about to soften his hard line about deporting millions of undocumented immigrants? >> going to see a reversal in

the policy? >> you will not see a reversal. if you look at his speech at the convention, he does not talk about a deportation force, everybody makes clear he hasn't changed at all in terms of enforcing law. >> and on defense, was the clinton campaign caught flat footed by trump's trip. hillary clinton about to speak about her commander in chief credentials to a military crowd. we are live in cincinnati with the candidate, her comments moments away. and good day, erin, i'm andrea mitchell in cincinnati. covering two major moments in the race for the white house. we are expecting to see both presidential candidates this hour. hillary clinton here in ohio. she just landed in cincinnati. she will be speaking here at the american legion national convention. where she hopes to offer a sharp contrast to donald trump on national security. and more than 3,000 miles and one country away in mexico city,

donald trump surprise meeting with the president of the mexico after a year of trashing mexico's trade and border policies. joining me now by phone from mexico city, nbc national correspondent miguel a.m. gar is in mexico city this hour and in seattle, katy tur was with him last night. jose, first to you, what kind of greeting can donald trump expect in mexico after all that has gone down between donald trump and mexico? starting with his very first day announcing his campaign for the presidency? >> andrea, today, the fact is that during those first months of the whole primary campaign season, i don't think there was a chance that donald trump had anywhere in the country where he wouldn't say, we're going to build the wall and mexico is going to pay for it. the reaction here in mexico for the past year, one of amusement and quite frankly of outrage.

a lot of people feel personally slighted when donald trump said during the first day of his announcement running for president, he just ran a bit of it a little while ago, that, you know, the undocumented across the border are racist, murders, and are not good people. there are millions and millions and millions of people in the united states who cross the border or parents across the board and who have been in the united states, many of them for generations. and feel as though he was talking about them and their parents. and here in mexico, the latest poll, very respected newspaper and organization had donald trump with 3% favorability among the mexican people. why does this happen? andrea, because president nieto has a 23% favorability view by mexicans, and so, he is in a very low political point.

i don't think quite frankly he expected donald trump to take him up on his offer. 48 hours after he made it. and now, it seems as though, people here are scrambling for this visit that clearly was unexpected by many. >> and i want to go to katy tur because katy, you've got the back reporting on how this came about. an offer from pena nieto who is historically unpopular to both candidates. donald trump accepting it after conversations i guess with steve bannon and his new campaign leaders over the weekend. >> reporter: and pena nieto said he wasn't going to get involved in american politics. so the invitation caught many by surprise. but donald trump did take him up on this. reportedly steve bannon was the one that encouraging this. believing that donald trump could show some leadership skills. could look presidential with the meeting like this. this came together very hastily,

andrea, i can tell you that not many people in the campaign even knew about this as of late last night. it came as a surprise. they were trying to keep it under wraps in order to get it done. didn't break as i said until late last night, even for some of those within the campaign. and as you've been reporting, the state department is not encouraging this trip because of all of the security concerns. and the u.s. embassy in mexico, but donald trump is trying to seize this opportunity to look presidential. to cross the border, literally and figuratively and face somebody that he has been at odds with. he's been at odds with the mexican people since day one. one of the call-in responses on the campaign trail at his rallies, one of the most popular events at his rallies is when donald trump says who's going to pay for the wall. and the crowd yells back, mexico. whenever they have criticized donald trump for that or said that mexico will absolutely not

pay, donald trump says well what happens then, and the crowd says the wall just got ten feet higher. his rhetoric on the campaign trail has been anything but diplomatic. it's going to be very interesting to see what sort of reception he gets from the mexican president himself. we know the mexican people are not going to be giving him a warm reception. what comes out of this meeting is going to be of high interest. whether pena nieto takes this opportunity to really forcefully push back against donald trump. come out and make himself look like a strong leader in the face of what many have accused donald trump of being a racist. being a bigot, of being somebody who is out to get the mexican people. what is going to be pena nieto's red sox and how is he going to come off to his constituents? we do know that donald trump is trying to play this as a presidential visit, as somebody who can reach across the aisle, literally reach across the border and face folks that he's been at odds with.

>> at the same point, miguel, in mexico city, we've got a twitter war going on today between former mexican president fox and donald trump. who have been insulting each other on twitter. if he comes away from this without having persuaded mexico to quote build the wall, and that's not going to happen, does this undermine his claim to be a great negotiator or does it enhance his image, standing up to a foreign leader who's not popular at home and arguably not popular with the republican base here in the state kps. >> that seems to be the million dollar question right now, nobody seems to be certain how donald trump will walk away from this or how the president of mexico will walk away from this. the words we are hearing most here in mexico city are anger and disgust. many of the people here in mexico are frustrated that donald trump would have been invited here. many people are angry that the president offered that extension to him. in fact, the former first lady

here had gone out and said that mr. trump may have been invited here, but he's certainly not welcome. that sentiment is something we have clearly seen as we have made our way through mexico city. we know later on this afternoon there are two protests, many people consider them are estimated they'll be large protests. it'll be happening close to the presidential palace where mr. trump will meet with the president here. so that's kind of what we are hearing here on the ground, andrea. >> and donald trump i should point out will also be coming here to the american legion convention tomorrow, following in the footsteps of hillary clinton. katy tur, before you go, you were at the speech last night in everett, washington, and we are expecting this big speech in phoenix tonight. what are we going to hear? is this the softening? is this a new policy on the deportation, you know, policy that he had said for almost a year? we've been seeing a lot of wavering over the last two weeks. which donald trump is going to show up tonight? >> you know, it's unclear

exactly what we're going to hear when it comes to donald trump's policy on immigration. but what we can tell you is that he -- the campaign expects this to be a hardening. they don't think this is going to be a softening in any way. they are saying this is going to be the most hard line immigration speech that any american candidate has given on the campaign trail. donald trump is expected to address a number of things, including sanctuary cities. he is now expected to support any form of amnesty. and he's expected to address undocumented immigrants, but whether that means deportation forces is still not clear. from the past week or so, as you've said, andrea, he's been wavering on that. first saying there would not be deportation forces. there would be a path to legalization. and then saying they're absolutely would be. mostly though, this campaign is trying to paint, trying to contrast donald trump from his opponent, hillary clinton, saying that she is soft on borders and he is going to be tough on borders. that, of course, has been the crux of this campaign.

>> thanks so much, katy tur, again, miguel and jose, of course we will all be talking again when donald trump arrives, this hour, in mexico city. meanwhile, msnbc political analyst rick tyler served as communication director to the ted cruz presidential campaign and joins me now from washington. rick, i mean, the unpredictability of this campaign continues to astound. you're a political strategist, is this a good play by donald trump or is he walking into a possible tough situation where he'll be blind sided by the mexican leader? >> you know, this is really unbelievable. this is really high stakes, very risky, and it's all what we observers all live for, right? here you have the president of mexico nieto, and he has about a 23% approval rating in mexico himself. he's been involved in and been played by of all things a real estate scandal, and then you have donald trump, who's

approval rating with the mexican people is at about 2%. so why would the president of mexico, whose already has low ratings himself invite someone with astronomically lower ratings? i mean what is the purpose and what is going to get accomplished? i don't believe this is about appealing to mexicans because those first generation mexicans or mexican-americans who probably follow mexican politics more than most americans certainly would, they know that this president is very unpopular. donald trump has called mexico an enemy, he has compared immigrants to rapists, to criminals, and the president of mexico has said about donald trump that his tone reminds him of hitler and musa leeny, so i am really anxious and excited to see what these two could possibly have to say to each other. >> and just to point out that pena nieto was in washington a couple weeks ago with a visit

with president obama. there've been plenty of opportunities for them to get together in a more formalized way, but to do this so spontaneously, this was an invitation as you point out to both candidates. hillary clinton saying that she would be meeting or doing that at the appropriate time, whatever that is. but certainly not accepting this. let me play label the of kellyanne conway discussing trump as leader. this was her play on the "today" show with savannah guthrie. >> sure. >> i'm sorry that secretary clinton is not going and has not accepted the invitation. i feel like she keeps following the leader here. people in louisiana, we get right there, governor pence and mr. trump went right there. the president in mexico invites us, we accept his invitation. i think they'll have a productive conversation today, savannah, about illegal immigration, but also trade policy and drugs. >> i mean, does she have the point that trump is being aggressive and that hillary clinton, which we're going to be pointing out as we continue this

broadcast, this is today her first speech since reno, but she's only given two public appearances in the last two weeks. she's been spending time in hamptons or beverly hills, raising millions and millions of dollars. $21 million minimum, they give us the minimums and maximums. the minimum is $21 million in the hamptons and $19 million in california the week before. >> so hillary clinton has been running somewhat of a traditional campaign. she only emerged when the one are of the scandals that she had to clarify. but she's been raising a lot of money hoping that in the end she'll have enough money to communicate her message to these swing states. donald trump, has not been raising as much money, but -- so look, i think she's going to play a cautious. i don't think she's going to accept the invitation. donald trump said he's playing it bold, but the risk here is so enormous, and i don't know what the upside is. i don't know what they're going to do. i mean, donald trump has said

over and over again that he's going to build a wall and mexico's beginning to pay for it. i'll tell you the only way that mexico would pay for the wall is if donald trump promises to see texas, new mexico, arizona, and southern california, then the mexicans would be glad to build a wall. >> rick tyler, thank you very much. and coming up here in cincinnati, hillary clinton on her way here from the airport. she will be speaking to the american legion at any moment. what does she have to say about trump's trip? that's next right here on "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. [ ges stopping ] when your pain reliever stops working, your whole day stops. trthis. but just one aleve has the strength to stop pain r 12 hours. tylenol and advil can quit after 6. so live your whole day, not part... with 12 hour aleve.

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welcome back. we're at the american legion convention in cincinnati. shint backstage, i'm told she's going to be taking the stage any moment now. here at this convention's annual meeting. she's trying to show off her foreign policy expertise, she's

trying to reach out to independent and republican voters. how is she going to handle donald trump's surprise trip to mexico? joining me now to talk about all of that, all things clinton, my colleague, my friend, kristen welker. we've been up all night dealing with all of this as donald trump surprised the world with the announcement than he's going to mexico. he's accepting the invitation. she, telling us, through her spokes people, that she would accept this at the appropriate time, whatever that means. she clearly not trying not to change her campaign strategy because of what he's done. >> that's right. and she's using this as a moment to highlight all of this controversial comments that he has made about mexico, about mexicans, her campaign, tweeting out a slew of his tweets that some would find offensive to mexico and reminding voters of some of his past statements, but making that the point that she met with nieto back in 2014 and she's been in regular contact with his government and will visit at the appropriate time.

look, she has a more than 50-point lead when it comes to latino, in this country. she's using this moment to try to build on that and hear when she speaks to the american legion, the focus is going to be on american exceptionalism. i think we'll hear some of those things resinate as well. >> she's going to talk about the military, defense, and try to contrast her argument that the military is strong, stronger than ever, describe the need to send more on defense or to be smarter and, you know, strategic about defense, but really contrast that to the way that donald trump describes our foreign policy and our military policy. >> and i think a key focus today is going to be her commitment, her stated commitment to the u.s. and it's allies. and she's going to try to make that a part of her contrast and she'll bring up some of the controversial comments for example that donald trump has made about vladimir putin embracing him. that's royaled some conservatives. this is a largely conservative audience, so it's going to be interesting to see what type of

reception she gets. she's going to tout the fact that 50 republican national security officials have said that donald trump would be a danger to national security and it comes adds the campaign is touting this new endorsement she's getting from james clap who is the former assistant deputy secretary of state under george w. bush. >> you know, couple of things in the background though, clinton has spent the last two weeks essentially raising money with the exception of her big speech in reno, and this speech today. we have not seen her publicly. she's been in the hamptons, berly hills, silicon valley. $21 million minimum raised in the hamptons. paul mccartney, then before that, silicon valley, beverly hills, $19 million there for her campaign and for the democratic party for down ballot races as well. but she's running a very cautious campaign right now. >> she is. and the optics, i think, are challenging for her. as you point out, she has been

all of trail, donald trump has used that. he has been tweeting out where's hillary? she has been campaigning, but of course we haven't seen her a whoet lot. she's going to turn the page on that today, andrea. but look today's going to be a tough one for her. there's no doubt that donald trump, for better or for worse is going to soak up a lot of the headlines. a lot of the media attention today. so the challenge for the clinton campaign is going to take some of that back. >> kristen welker, we'll be talking to you of course as we cover this here today. >> thanks, andrea. and with hillary clinton, of course giving this major foreign policy speech, donald trump actually in a foreign country. let's bring in an expert on all of this, james defetes is the dean of international affairs. former supreme allied command r of nato also the chief international security and diplomacy analyst. admiral, what is your take on this and the campaign strategies? you've been close to the clinton campaign, we should put that out there as well, but if you could take a step back and donald

trump is in a foreign country a foreign leader, hillary clinton is addressing the american legion. how do you contrast those two approaches today? >> yeah, one is very mainstream political, and i'll come back to what i think secretary clinton's going to talk about. and the other is obviously what mr. trump does. which is kind of swing for the fences. it seems highly unlikely from a diplomatic perspective that the mexican president is going to agree to building a wall, particularly paying for it, and you know, as a former admiral ab andrea, i'm required to point out that if you look right to the left of of that wall, there's a big ocean out there. so i'm not sure building a wall is really going to stop immigration to begin with. over on the secretary clinton side of the house, i think she is going to want to reassure veterans and active duty military of her support for the budget, military budget, her support for pay and benefits that go along with that.

and for taking care of veterans. those will be the themes, i think you're going to hear her striking that has speech unfolds. >> when you talk to your colleagues, other retired military, what are the big touch points and the tensions here? is it the va and is it the way the retired military has taken care of? and when donald trump says that we have such a weak military, how does that play with an organization such as this? >> i'll start with mr. trump's comments. the american military is unquestionably the best, the strongest, the most well-financed military the world has ever known. we can certainly fall away from that if we don't maintain it, but to say that the american military is in a state of crisis just flies in the face of the facts. in terms of secretary clinton and the notes that i think are the most important that senior military and all military are

listening for are first and foremost, support, continued support for a strong budget. seco secondly, it is making sure the va system remains a public. that it does not become a privatized institute, and thirdly, i think people are very concerned can about ensuring we continue to operate well with our allies and partners around the world because that is a very strong comparative advantage of the united states. that we should maintain. >> and i'm sure that you have some sensitivity as a former supreme allied commander can of nato to donald trump's criticism of nato and of the alliance. >> yeah, the way i would look at that andrea, is to sort of say, how much are the europeans actually contributing? and let's do the numbers. the united states defense budget is about $600 billion, russia and china combined, about $200 billion, europeans contribute $300 billion a year. to defense, via nato, we should

continue to work to get them to contribute a bit more, and they could, but frankly, they are an enormous asset and have stood with us in iraq, afghanistan, libya, theball kins, piracy missions in the world of cyber and counterterrorism. why on earth would we want to walk away from that? >> good question. and it's a question of course that we're all going to be asking both candidates coming up. thank you very much, admiral. and coming up on wednesday, msnbc and nbc news along with iraq and afghanistan veterans of america are going to host both major party presidential nominees. hillary clinton and donald trump for a live, televised prime time fortomb focus exclusively on issues that the next president will have to confront as commander in chief. that's wednesday, september 7 at 8:00 p.m. eastern. and up next, borderline will donald trump clarify his position on immigration after a week of contradictory statements? stay with us right here for a preview of tonight's big trump

speech in phoenix. and of course hillary clinton coming up next. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." [alarm beeping]

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donald trump is expected to arrive in mexico at any moment. for his surprise meeting with mexico's president. tonight, trump is promising to explain his immigration policy, there's been a lot of twists and turns over the last few weeks. kelly o'donnell is in phoenix where trump is going to be speaking tonight. and kelly, you've been also covering the arizona campaign last night, john mccain's victory in his primary. and you talked to jeff flake, the other arizona senator. and let me play a little bit of your interview be jeff flake about donald trump. >> it's a good start. i don't know if it'll make any difference. he seems to go one way on a policy like immigration, you think all right, he's going where he should go, and then the next day, he's right back. i don't know if it'll last, but it's a good thing. i'm glad he's doing it. more power to him.

>> that still begs the question, what exactly is donald trump going explain tonight. obviously it'll be informed by whatever he learns and whatever the reaction is from the mexicans to his meetings today. in this surprise visit to mexico city. kelli. >> well, i heard from jeff flake what that what he hopes happens when he meets with officials is that he'll learn fist hand that according to flake, nafta is good for the u.s. there's a good trading relationship between a state like arizona and mexico. to go through some of the complex policy issues that are involved in the relationship between the u.s. and mexico to give them a more nuanced view. we been following this campaign season for it seems like forever, andrea. and nuance view not typically associated with a donald trump policy. what i've been told from sources is that in his address tonight, he wants to again sort of hammer at the tough language that has brought him to this point.

it certainly lifted him in the republican primary. at the same time, to use his speech, to sort of argue the case against a hillary clinton immigration policy. and so, for jeff flake who has been a trump critic and is living near arizona representing the people here, and involved in the immigration debate, he hopes that there is more of what we heard that's kind of calls thor can flufl in the last week or two where donald trump seemed to indicate that immediate deportation would not be a part of his policy. the humane treatment of those that have been in the united states without documentation, but have been living and working and being a part of the community. that there should be a way to address that. jeff flake is one of those who wants to hear more of that as a republican who is elected here. and believes that that's something that could help donald trump have a policy that would appeal more broadly. and of course, we were here for the john mccain primary. he was able to easily win his primary, but as you know, andrea, immigration is a backdrop in politics in a state

like arizona as it is in the national presidential race. it's critical here, we're already outside the convention center where trump will speak tonight. it'll be interesting to see if there's anything new in his remarks based on that firsthand experience. andrea. >> kelly o'donnell in arizona and tonight at 9:00 eastern, msnbc is going to be covering live coverage of donald trump's immigration speech, of course, special edition of the rachel maddow show, be sure to tune into that tonight at 9:00 eastern. and baggage claim. after comparing donald trump to mussolini and hitler, just how will mexico's president receive the nominee? as donald trump arrives on mexico's home turf. stay with us here at donald trump is about to touch down at any moment in mexico city. just like the people

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welcome back, everyone, we are in ohio, in cincinnati, we're expecting hillary clinton to begin her national security speech here at the american legion national convention at any moment. donald trump comes here by the way tomorrow morning to speak to this same group. joining me now for our daily fix. chris alyssa, msnbc contributor and founder of the washington post fix blog. and here with me in cincinnati, washington post political correspondent ann gagarin. with the virtue as well as of i as covering hibt as secretary of state, we know where she's coming from in terms of diplomacy before she became a candidate, but also the fact that she has still trailed by all of these e-mail issues. there is a story in today's new york post, even after she left government, she was still sending classified e-mails. today the state department pushing back on that saying that these were foia'd by the new

york post, freedom of information suits, they weren't classified at the time, they were simply e-mails sent, because anything they release to the public is then reclassified, i'm not sure of those details, but this is again the controversies that keep following her as she continues to travel as a candidate. >> it's further evidence that this is never going to go away. there will be things that keep coming up like this where business that she did as secretary of state turns out later to contain information, the state department retroactively says is classified. it's going to go through the campaign and if she's elected, there are controversies surrounding these e-mails. >> and ann, as we are speaking right here, hillary clinton is about to be introduced. we're hearing right know behind us the american legion dale the american legion commander who is going to introduce her. she's going to get up and speak

and will respond, we are told, to donald trump's surprising visit to mexico. speaking about it in her own context of being a former diplomat who does things in a more orderly and prepared fashion. i think that's the contrast she would like to project. but he has certainly called an audible and chris alyssa, we're going to jump in with the live coverage of her speech in a moment, but we don't know what to expect out of mexico city, do we? >> we don't. and in fact because he left his press corp. behind, we won't get what we deserve out of it. this is a guy who flies by the seat of his pants. he is a remarkable direct contrast to whoint looks, looks, looks, and then leaps. they are two very different politicians in terms of their approach. he may be better suited to this electorate which sort of wants all politicians and everything too old with them away, but he

may be too far down that road and she is able to present herself as yes, cautious, but someone you can -- >> i'm going to interrupt all of us right now and for the only -- because hillary clinton's at the podium. let's listen to her speech. >> having this opportunity to address you. i want to thank the national commander, thank you, commander barnett. i want to thank ver in a jones, your executive director and dewey moss, aid to the commander and i want to thank a long-time friend and advisor to me, someone whom i am very grateful to, and that is your national treasurer, george busberk. most of all, thanks to you. all the legionnaires here and across america. thanks for your service in our armed forces. you wore the uniform, you took

an oath. you put your life on the line to protect the greatest country on earth. yes. there are some who may argue with that, but not around me. when you came home, you joined the american legion and by doing so, you kept serving. just look at what the legion does. you care for wounded warriors, you help raise the next generation of american patriots. i want to give a special shoutout to boys nation, which meant so much to my husband when he was growing up and when i told him i was coming here today, you've got to mention boys nation. i told him i would, but i also have to mention girl's nation

too. [ applause ] i want to thank your auxiliary -- the world's largest women's patriotic service organization. i was honored to receive the auxiliary's public spirit award in 1997 and i have great admiration for the work you do. as the daughter of a veteran, as a proud american, i am grateful to you all. now i'm not going to talk a lot about politics today, but i do to want say this, whoever america elects this fall won't just be our next president, that person will be our next commander in chief. and every person in this room

understands how great a responsibility that is. now i know some of you are democrats and some of you are republicans and some of you are independents, i suppose there are some of you who've never voted far democrat before. i get that. my dad was a rock red republi n republican, but i learned at our dinner table that we can disagree without being disagreeable. and -- [ applause ] and i want you to know if i am fortunate enough to win this election, i will be a president for democrats, republicans, independents, for people who vote for me, for people who don't, for all americans. that is what i think we need, we need to unify our country, and

go forward into the future with confidence and optimism. [ applause ] today i want you to know a little bit about where i stand and how i see the world and america's place in it. i spent four years as your secretary of state, eight years before that, as senator from the great state of new york. six years on the senate armed services committee. if there's one core belief that has guided and inspired me every step of the way, it is this, united states is an exceptional nation. i believe we are still lincoln's last, best hope of earth. we're still reagan's shining city on a hill.

we're still robert kennedy's great, unselfish, compassionate country. and it's not just that we have the greatest military or that our economy is larger than any on earth, it's also the strength of our values. the strength of the american people. everyone who works harder, dreams bigger, and never, ever stops trying to make our country and the world a better place. and part of what makes america an exceptional nation is that we are also an indispensable nation. in fact, we are the indispensable nation. people all over the world look to us and follow our lead. my friends, we are so lucky to be americans. it is an extraordinary blessing.

it's why so many people from so many places want to be americans too. but it's also a serious responsibility. the decisions we make and the actions we take, even the actions we don't take affect millions, even billions of lives. you know that, you've seen it. now all of of this may seem evident, spaeblly to men and women who have worn the uniform, you may wonder how anyone could disagree. but in fact, my opponent in this race has said very clearly that he thinks americansulting to the rest of the world. in fact, when vladimir putin, of all people, criticized american

exceptionalism, my opponent agreed with him. saying, and i quote, if you are in russia, you don't to want hear that america is exceptional. maybe you don't want to the hear it, but that doesn't mean it's not true. my opponent misses something importa important, when we say america is exceptional, it doesn't mean that people from other places don't feel deep national pride just like we do, it means that we recognize america's unique and unparalleled ability to be a force for peace and progress, a champion for freedom and opportunity. our power comes with a responsibility to lead humbly,

thoughtfully, and with a fierce commitment to our values. because when america fails to lead, we leave a vacuum that either causes chaos or other countries or networks rush in to fill the void. so no matter how hard it gets, no matter how great the challenge america must lead. the question is how we lead. what kind of ideas, strategies, and tactics we bring to your leadership. american leadership means standing with our allies because our network of allies is part of what makes us exceptional. no other country in the world has alliances like ours. russia and china have nothing close. we stand with our allies because generations of american troops

fought and died to secure those bonds and because they deliver for us every day our allies share intelligence on terrorists. they provide stages areas for our military so we can respond quickly to our events on the other side of the world. sailors, airmen, and marines, often fight side by side with ours. some may have served and fought alongside with men and women in other countries. you saw them in action, you know how important these bonds are to our security. threatening to walk away from our alliances, ignoring the importance that they still are

to us is not only wrong, it's dangerous. if i'm your president, our friends will always know, america will have your backseat and we expect you to have ours. american leadership means bringing the world together to solve global problems as only we can. united states built the international coalition against isis. now we're working with partners to take back territory and defeat them without getting drawn into a ground war. we imposed sanctions on iran and secure a deal that puts a lid on iran's nuclear program without firing a single shot. ewe don't build a coalition by insulting our friends or acting like a loose cannon. you do it by putting in the

slow, hard, work of building relationships, getting countries -- working together was my job every day as your secretary of state. it's more than a photo op. it takes consistency and reliability. actually, it's like building personal relationships. people have to get to know that they can count on you, that you won't say one thing one day and something totally different the next. and it certainly takes more than trying to make up for a year of insults and insinuations by dropping in on our neighbors for a few hours, and then flying home again. that is not how it works. american leadership means leading with our values, and pursuing of our interests in protection of our security at our best, united states is the

global force for freedom, justice, and human dignity. we celebrate our diversity -- [ applause ] -- as a source of national strength. just look at our armed forces. which represents all races, religions, ethnicities, and yes, imgraduates from other countries. all fighting for the red, white, and blue. we stand up to regimes that abuse human rights, we stand up for religious and ethnic minorities for women, for people with disabilities, and we comport ourselves with honor. there's no better proof of that than what our navy seals did during the raid to kill osama bin lad. .

i was deeply honored to be part of that small group advising the president. i brought to those discussions, my experience as a senator from new york on 9/11. and my commitment to do whatever i could and whatever role i had to bring bin laden to justice. you've all seen the picture of us crowded into the smaller situation room, watching the video screen. every second counted. one of the copters misgauged how high the wall was around the courtyard, clipped the tail, getting disabled. it didn't stop the seals from rushing out, getting into the compound, returning fire against bin laden's body guards, taking

on his adult son and finally, bin laden himself. but the s.e.a.l.s. knew they had to destroy the helicopter before they left. i was holding my breath through the entire operation. because at any time, pakistani soldiers could have arrive d ths compound was in a military garn city, actuality home of their military academy. so yes, every second counted, but still, our s.e.a.l.s. took the time to move the women and children, bin laden's family members to safety before destroying the helicopter. that is what honor looks like. that is america at our best.

[ applause ] maybe the soldiers of other nations wouldn't have bothered, or maybe they'd have taken revenge on those family members of terrorists, but that is not who we are. and anyone who doesn't understand that doesn't understand what makes our nation great. and let me say something else about american greatness. there is no question, we face real threats and real enemies that we need to confront and defeat. but my opponent is wrong when he says america is no longer great. consider the record of the past eight years, in 2009, our global

economy went collapsing. osama bin laden was plotting. we had more than 180,000 troops fighting two wars. iran was racing toward a nuclear weapon. many of our allies were less supportive of american leadership then they had been in decades. look where we are now. we've pulled the global economy out of free fall, thanks to the hard work and sacrifice of the american people. we've redeployed well over 100,000 troops from iraq and afghanistan so they can go home, rest, and train for future contingencies. we cut off iran's path to a nuclear weapon. we convince russia to reduce their nuclear weapons arsenal.

we protected our ally israel and we brought osama bin laden to justice. we did that, we americans did all of that working together across party lines. and there is no question we have more work to do, but let's be clear. we are stronger together, and it will be my goal, if i am fortunate enough to be your president to bring people back together again. to set our goals and move forward to achieve them. [ applause ] i know we can't cozy up to dictators, we have to stand up to them. we can't contain isis, we must defeat them, and we will. we will do whatever is necessary for as long as it takes. to bring them to justice and end their reign of terror once and

for all. this election is about how to make things better. make no mistake, i believe we do have better days ahead. but things could also get worse. if more countries get nuclear weapons, if we abandon our allies whereif our commander inf orders our military to break the laws and commit torture or murder terrorist family members that's why it is so critical we get this right. and let me underscore what i have said throughout this campaign. we must only send our troops into harm's way as a last resort, not a first choice. that must be our bedrock principle. [ applause ]

but we must be able to act decisively on our own when we need to. i completely reject anyone, including my opponent who calls the american military, and i quote, a disaster. that is an insult to the men and women serving today and all who have served before who put their lives on the line. it's just not true. we do have more work to do to continue to have the strongest, most effective military in the world. i know this is something that matters a great deal to everyone in this room. and here's what we have to do. we can't lose our military edge. that means giving the pentagon the stable, predictable, funding it needs to make smart investments. you've heard -- [ applause ] -- you've heard of the

sequester. the arbitrary caps that congress has imposed on our entire government for the past several years. now look, i'm all for cutting the fat of the budget and stretch our dollars and when my husband left office, we had a balanced budget and a surplus, and i hope that some day we can get back to doing that. but we cannot impose arbitrary limits on something as important of our military. that make no sense at all. the sequester makes our country less secure. let's tend. and get it budget deal that supports america's military, our families, and our country. and let's make reform a priority so the defense department spends it's budget on the right things. and by the way, the last thing we need is a president who brings more name-calling and temper tantrums to washington. we've got to get people

listening to each other again. getting both parties actually to work together. let's modernize our army and marines, our navy and air force, our coast guard, we need to respond to e vovling threats. from states like russia and china, iran, and north korea. from networks, criminal, and terrorist networks like isis. we need a military that is ready and agile so it can make the full range of threats and operate on short notice across every domain. not just land, sea, air, and space, but also cyber space. we'll invest in new technologies so new break throws can inform our military just is stealth, precision weapons and advanced communications did in the past. we'll make a renewed push to reduce the world's nuclear weapons. because that does make us all safer. and we'll step up our efforts to secure