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CNN NEWSROOM

Hunt for Girls; Plan to Take Back Mosul; Giuliani Comments

Aired February 20, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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


BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, here we go on this Friday afternoon. Thank you so much for being with me. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We're following this developing story that may demonstrate just the power, the reach of the ISIS recruiting machine. Now we've learned about these three British girls who are missing. And Scotland Yard fears they may be making their way to Syria. I want you to take a close look at the faces of these three young women here. These are three women the U.K. is now frantically trying to find, trying to hunt down. One of them, 16 years of age. The other two, 15. Bags packed. They were last seen boarding a plane from London to Istanbul.

This story eerily similar to one we told you about just a couple of months ago here in the United States. You remember those three teenage girls from Colorado, intercepted at Frankfurt Airport in Germany, trying to make their way to Syria to join ISIS. While another woman, also from Colorado, is now facing four years in prison, arrested heading to Syria to marry an ISIS militant she met online.

CNN's Nima Elbagir is following the latest for us from London.

Tell me exactly any kind of details we have about these three young women and how they were traced.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you said, two 15-year-olds and that 16-year-old friends. They left their houses in the early hours of the morning, boarded a plane from London Gatwick and arrived in Istanbul. Police believe they are still in Istanbul and that really is what is driving the urgency here, Brooke, because this is the window of opportunity for authorities and for their families because once they get into Syria, not only have ISIS threatened to kill those who try and return home, and in some instances has carried out those threats, but it becomes extraordinarily difficult for them to retrace their steps back home.

These three girls at school together in London, we understand from all sources, that they had incredibly bright futures. But it seems that they, like so many other young girls and young women in this country, are falling prey to almost an infatuation one security contact described it. he said it's like other teenage girls follow Hollywood actors. These girls are following jihadis online and on these message boards. It is a really worrying trend. Scotland Yard described the sheer numbers as of huge concern, Brooke.

BALDWIN: With the message boards, with the videos, you know, you can't talk about ISIS without talking about propaganda. And we talk about how they're such a recruiting machine, but I'm wondering how strong that recruit is for people specifically in the U.K.

ELBAGIR: Well, the British authorities have, for a while now, been warning about that and they've been asking a lot of the local Internet providers to set up hotlines so that people can report when they see. They're also now specifically speaking out to parents saying, if there is anything different in their behavior, if they're spending too much time online, if you're concerned about the fact that they're asking for their documents, it is better to be safe than sorry.

The recruitment, as you said, is extraordinarily sophisticated. Another security contact described it to us almost like the kind of grooming that pedophiles are involved with. They lure these young girls in, they gain their trust, and then they sell them on mythology which is obviously very, very different from the violence and the extremism out there on the ground, Brooke.

BALDWIN: There are now hotlines -- we talked about this with other European countries -- hotlines now for parents to call in if they think their son or daughter want to join ISIS. Nima Elbagir, thank you, in London.

We are also now learning about this major offensive to retake Iraq's second largest city from ISIS control. U.S.-trained Iraqi forces, as many as 25,000 of them, prepared to launch attacks to win back the key city of Mosul in northern Iraq. So, the key question now, how involved will U.S. advisers be? Let me bring in two voices. I have Lieutenant Colonel Scott Mann, retired U.S. Army special forces and military adviser for the Concerned Veterans of America, and with me here in New York, Gideon Rose, editor of "Foreign Affairs" and author of "How Wars End."

Gentlemen, welcome to both of you.

And to both the first obvious question I want both of you to answer this, first to you, colonel, from a military perspective, you know, on the surface you have to wonder why it - why give ISIS the heads up that they're coming in the springtime?

LT. COL. SCOTT MANN, U.S. ARMY SPECIAL FORCES (RET.): Yes, I mean, their -- I'm sure that question's on a lot of folks' minds. But one of the things that - you know, I'm not going to get too deep into questioning the ground force commanders' decisions on that. I'm sure they have reasons for that. They're probably, you know, maybe strategic information or something like that. I mean it's typically not what you do, that you announce that you're coming. But, again, those guys on the ground, those maneuver force commanders, I'm sure they know what they're doing there. So I think probably just let that one play out and see.

BALDWIN: How would you respond to that?

GIDEON ROSE, EDITOR, "FOREIGN AFFAIRS": Well, you know, it's hard to keep a secret from the press, even about our own troop movements. And when you're working with the Iraqis in a coordinated operation, I don't think this would have been secret very long no matter what. So the question is, can you achieve tactical surprise even if you're not going to get strategic surprise?

BALDWIN: Colonel, can you pull this off, is it feasible without U.S. ground troops with regard to Mosul?

MANN: Well, I think - I think that's going to be really tough without U.S. ground troops because the Iraqi military, frankly, is pretty nascent. I mean it hasn't been around that long. You saw what happened when we pulled out before. So I think advisers in this sense are critical.

And, look, advising is hard work in combat. Combat advisers play a very critical role in bolstering the strength and resolve of a host nation military like this. And you can't just sit at - you know, sit at home and say, have a good time storming the castle. You've got to be with these guys and you've got to move as they move.

BALDWIN: And on that note, I'm also wondering if this is the U.S., if this is CENTCOM getting in, you know, sort of saying to this 60-nation coalition, we want to help you, we're coming, full court press time come the spring.

ROSE: I don't think it's full court press but --

BALDWIN: How would you characterize it?

ROSE: Well, I mean, we're - it seems like we are moving forward. Having stopped their advance, the question is, can you now push them back and can you take Mosul --

BALDWIN: Full court press on Mosul, no?

ROSE: Full course press on Mosul, yes. It will be interesting to see. There's a - it's a very interesting operation. People are very skeptical. The Iraqi army has not done all that well fighting outside its own home bases. This is an area that is one that, you know, went over to the rebels relatively easily. And it's -- we all hope the operation works.

BALDWIN: Right.

ROSE: If this one - if this one won't work, a future one will. And eventually I think ISIS' future is not particularly bright. But the question of whether we can do it this spring, that would be great, if possible.

BALDWIN: I hope you're right that the future isn't bright for ISIS. And I'm looking at you and I had pulled up a transcript. The last time we talked was in October. And, listen, a lot of people agreed with you initially thinking that, you know, listen, the biggest surprise with ISIS, and the administration has said this before, is that the momentum of the land grab. And when we were talking in October, you said something essentially to the effect of, ISIS really has reached a natural limit of its logical expansion. And now what we've seen with the decapitation of 21 Egyptian Christians on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea paints a very different picture of how they are moving. ROSE: So ISIS has a territorial base in Syria and Iraq. It's created a

caliphate. And that's absolutely crucial to its appeal. This is not a transnational terrorist group. This is an actual attempt to instantiate a millinery (ph) in reality, to take a - say, we have the future. It is an Islamic return to the past. And it's here and now and working. That gives it a target to be attacked. And if we can keep that in - I don't think they're expanding on the ground in Syria and Iraq. The offshoots in places like Libya or in Egypt, these are, in effect, opportunistic infections of environments that are very disrupted and disordered.

BALDWIN: Right.

ROSE: It's not an expansion of the main ISIS territory. And, in fact, we may see that main ISIS territory --

BALDWIN: But, still, it's an expansion of the ISIS ideology.

ROSE: And this becomes a very interesting question, can the ISIS ideology and can the ISIS brand expand and thrive even if the home base is checked and eventually crushed in?

BALDWIN: That's an interesting point.

ROSE: This is an interesting question. We don't know. And the question - (INAUDIBLE) has to contain it, while at the same time pushing it back without getting sucked in on the ground to its own war. That's the challenge.

BALDWIN: On the notion of containment, we had scholar Aaron David Miller talking this morning on CNN about, you know, ways to stop ISIS. Colonel, I want you to listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AARON DAVID MILLER, DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR, WILSON CENTER: To demonstrate that they, in fact, can't expand and that they can't deliver the kinds of services, electricity, water, good governance. We must make their caliphate fail. We have to demonstrate, on the battlefield and to the extent that we can in the political arena, that I.S. has failed. That's the way to beat this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: What do you think of that, colonel? I mean, listen, I feel like there are two different narratives of why - there are multiple narratives of why people go to join ISIS. One is the tangible, those who were there, water, salary, food, you know, health care. And then there are those who want to subscribe to this ideology. But I'm wondering, in your perspective, if cutting off those tangible things would help stop the land grab.

MANN: Well, I think the first thing is to acknowledge that their narrative is indeed working. I mean look at the shootings in Copenhagen where the brothers swore allegiance to ISIS. You know, what's going on with these young girls. This narrative is resonating globally. And I think that's probably going to continue for some time.

I'm a little skeptical about our ability to go in and quote/unquote "crush the caliphate." You know, the last 13 or 14 years of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, this top-down approach with just working with the military, we're going to have to work with these marginalized Sunni tribes from the bottom up. They are a major factor. And if we don't work bottom up and top down, I don't see this outcome much different than what we've seen over the last few years.

BALDWIN: I remember that was a point you were making over and over before, it's about these tribes. It's about getting in on the community level.

Scott Mann, Lieutenant Colonel Scott Mann and Gideon Rose, thank you both very, very much.

ROSE: Thanks.

BALDWIN: And speaking of this, you know, recruitment process, ahead we'll talk to a mother from the west whose son went to join ISIS, was killed while he was fighting. Hear why she says it is easy for these militants to persuade these young people.

Also, the White House, moments ago, did respond to Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, insisting that President Obama does not love America. It's a pretty outrageous comment. That's putting it lightly. And that's putting some presidential candidates on the Republican side in a very tough spot. We will discuss every angle here, next.

You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You're watching CNN on this Friday. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you for being here.

Got to talk about this today. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani says the man who leads America does not love America, and yet Giuliani says President Obama is a patriot. These comments from a man once dubbed America's mayor may be confusing, but no doubt they are controversial. The firestorm ignited Wednesday night when Giuliani spoke at an event for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

Let the just quote Politico, who was first to report on this. Giuliani said, quote, "I do not believe -- and I know this is a horrible thing to say -- but I do not believe that the president loves America. He doesn't love you and he doesn't love me." He goes on, "he wasn't brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country."

Then the media blitz began. But Giuliani did not at all back down. In fact, he has doubled down on why he believes President Obama does not love his country. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RUDY GIULIANI (R), FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR: I'm not questioning his patriotism. He's a patriot, I'm sure. What I'm saying is that, in his rhetoric, I very rarely hear him say the things that I used to hear Ronald Reagan say, the things I used to hear Bill Clinton say about how much he loves America. I do hear him criticize America much more often than other American presidents. And when it's not in the context of an overwhelming number of statements about the exceptionalism of America, it sound like he's more of a critic than he is a supporter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh-huh.

GIULIANI: And you - you can be a patriotic American and be a critic, but then you're not expressing that kind of love that we're used to from a president.

President Obama didn't live through September 11th, I did. President Obama didn't almost, you know, have a building fall on him. Myself and my police commissioner and my fire commissioner did, and I lost 10 of my very close friends. And now I've lost about 100 close friends because I've become so friendly with many of the families. So, excuse me, it's a little bit emotional for me. But it's also real. I shouldn't say that the president does or does not love anything or anything. I don't know. I don't -- I'm not a psychiatrist, and he doesn't have one, and he doesn't need one.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Mayor, do you want to apologize for your comment?

GIULIANI: Not at all. I want to repeat it.

If the president goes and makes a speech and talks about what a great country this is, if the president could complete the following sentence -- during the crusades, the Christians were barbarians and so were the Muslims. If the president could say, Islamic fundamentalist terrorism is our enemy, I will applaud the president. But until he does that, I will have doubts about his emotions, his feelings, his attitudes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I mentioned the media blitz and some of the -- much of the criticism that followed, including some that said that there were racial undertones. Some blatantly saying his comments were racist. This is how the former mayor responded to "The New York Times" Quote, "some people thought it was racist. I thought that was a joke since he was brought up," he being the president, "was brought up by a white mother, a white grandfather, went to white schools, and most of this he learned from white people. This isn't racism, this is socialism or possibly anti-colonialism."

All right, we need to have a big conversation about this. We have our senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta standing by, because we know the spokesperson there at the White House just made comments on this.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. BALDWIN: We'll go to you in a second, Jim.

Also i have with me, CNN political commentators S.E. Cupp, Donna Brazile, Marc Lamont Hill. Also with me, Kevin Jackson, the executive director of the Black Sphere.

So welcome to all of you.

But, Jim Acosta, first, what did Josh Earnest say?

ACOSTA: Well, you know, Josh had sort of a prepared response to what Mayor Giuliani had to say, and he didn't call him America's mayor, but, you know, sort of hanging over all of this is the fact that Rudy Giuliani has this police in the history books as this mayor who walked through the rubble of 9/11 in those days and hours really after the 9/11 attacks. And Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, was sort of referring to that legacy when he made this response to Rudy Giuliani just about a half an hour ago. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: More generally, I can tell you that it's sad to see when somebody who has attained a certain level of public stature and even admiration tarnishes that legacy so thoroughly. And the truth is, I don't take any joy or vindication or satisfaction from that. I think really the only thing that I feel is, I feel sorry for Rudy Giuliani today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, we should point out, the president did have a chance to weigh in on all of this. He did not directly respond to Rudy Giuliani during a speech to the DNC here in Washington. But, Brooke, I do want to point to something that the president did say. He was talking about why Democrats pursue the policies that they pursue. And he says, "it's about doing thing that make us confident that America will continue on this upward trajectory that began so many years ago. It's about making this nation we love more perfect." So he talks about his love of country in that comment there.

I asked a White House official, well, was this added into the speech because the president wanted to give sort of a veiled response. And this official said, no, this was in the speech a few days ago. So just sort of a circumstance there.

One other thing I do want to point out, though, Brooke, is that this very much puts the rest of the Republican field for 2016 on the spot. Keep in mind, Giuliani said this at a Scott Walker event and now you're going to have almost every Republican candidate on the spot. And one of the questions they're going to be asked over the next 24, 48 hours is, do you agree with Rudy Giuliani?

BALDWIN: Do you think - exactly. That is a huge part of this discussion and we're going to get to that in a minute.

ACOSTA: Yes. BALDWIN: Because this whole thing has absolutely turned political. Jim Acosta, thank you, at the White House.

ACOSTA: You bet. You got it.

BALDWIN: Panel, jump in. And, S.E., I want you to be first up to bat here because, listen, you can - you know, you could come forward and say - and I'm not saying this is you, just anyone in this country could say, listen, President Obama is the worst president in the history of this country, but the comments that Rudy Giuliani made were outrageous. Do you not agree?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, look, I've been highly critical of the president when it comes to his rhetoric on terrorism. I thought the speech yesterday where he condemned western attitudes for fomenting Islamic extremism bordered on apologizim and was really disturbing.

However -- however, I don't think it's appropriate for Rudy Giuliani, someone with his stature, someone who is so admired by so many in this country, I'm a former New Yorker who lived through 9/11, that's a real feeling. I don't think it's appropriate for him to psychologize onto President Obama and declare that he doesn't love the country or that he wasn't raised like the rest of us. That's - that's not appropriate. That's sort of beneath, I think, the national discourse that we all - that we all want to have. And I think people are rightly criticizing him.

Now, does that mean all Republicans need to apologize for Rudy Giuliani? No, that's absurd. Republicans don't have to explain or denounce Rudy Giuliani. His comments live where they live, and he's continuing to say that --

BALDWIN: It does get tricky, though, and I -- it does gets tricky, though, for some of these presidential contenders, potentially. And we've already heard from a couple of them and I want to get to that in a moment because I would love to hear your thoughts on that.

But Donna Brazile, I want to hear your voice.

DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, first of all, I want to associate myself with some of the remarks that S.E. made because it really -- his remarks have - I don't believe they have any place in our national discourse. They're corrosive, they're incendiary, they're divisive, and it's simply outrageous a man of his stature would even say it and then repeat it and then double down. It is time that we stop this conversation.

President Obama loves not only America, he loves the American people. He loves the American way. I can give you not just chapter and verse, but I can read like a sermon the many descriptions he has given over the years. Speaking of not only his grandfather, his service, but the many other people that he has come to admire. It's just -- this is just politics. And it's sad that others cannot condemn it. But, more personally, if you're thinking -- if you really believe this, then what is wrong with you? I mean this is the United States of America and here we are, in the

21st century, just weeks away from a historic moment in this country where, you know, 600 people, after kneeling in prayer, marched across the (INAUDIBLE) bridge, or tried to match for their freedom and their dignity and we're having this conversation in America. You know, we're a laughingstock.

But yet he has - he has the right to say whatever he wants to say. I strongly disagree with the mayor. And I would hope that after reflection this weekend - because sometimes, you know, cooler heads prevail when you have some time to distance yourself from the TV screen -- maybe he will just come back and say, you know what, perhaps I should not have said it, because it's really incendiary.

BALDWIN: We'll see. Kevin, did I see you - were you shaking your head? Why were you shaking your head?

KEVIN JACKSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE BLACK SPHERE LLC: Oh, my gosh! I'm just absolutely flabbergasted at all the nonsense that I just heard. If you want to be embarrass about something, Ms. Brazile, how about you be embarrassed about a president who has essentially tried to spin the narrative that it's somehow America's fault that jihadists are running around the world lopping off the heads of Christians, and he absolutely alludes that the unrelated incident that happened in North Carolina --

BRAZILE: Sir, with all due respect, you know what, this president -

JACKSON: And let me finish.

BRAZILE: This president has taken the fight to ISIS.

JACKSON: I'd like to finish. And what - and what he absolutely eludes to the not - to the idea of North Carolina -

BRAZILE: You may not like the way he -

BALDWIN: Hold on. Hold on. Hold on, Donna.

BRAZILE: OK.

JACKSON: Of the situation that happened in North Carolina being related to that. He has often talked about how America is not a Judeo- Christian nation. Every time Barack Obama speaks about this country, in those very flowing words of his, it's followed by "but" because everything he says has to do something with America being the scourge of what's going on.

BRAZILE: You want to fuel the fire too.

JACKSON: This is an amazing country that has allowed every type of person that wants to come in and be a part of it. He never talks about what the Middle East doesn't allow. They don't allow Bibles. They don't allow Christians to go live there and practice freely.

BALDWIN: Kevin, I do want to point out one fact, this is a man who has been elected, not once but twice.

JACKSON: Fine. But what's that have to do with mayor -- Giuliani is having a discussion that we need to have often in this country. And to be able --

BALDWIN: What is it about Giuliani's point that you think we need to be talking about?

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But that's not the discussion.

BRAZILE: Because there's no substance to what Mayor Giuliani said, sir.

JACKSON: The point is Giuliani - Giuliani can say what he wants in his - in his -

BRAZILE: You know (ph), take your hatred off the table, too.

JACKSON: Giuliani can say what he wants, and he's great to be having a discussion about a man who should be OK to stand up for himself and not have people saying, oh, my gosh, look at what Giuliani said. There are many millions of Americans questioning the very same thing that Giuliani's talking about, and you guys act like the guy has three heads. These are legitimate questions. When you release five --

HILL: Well -

BALDWIN: Marc Lamont Hill -

BRAZILE: Really (ph).

HILL: Well, I - can I jump in.

BALDWIN: I want to hear - I want to hear from you. Jump in.

HILL: Yes, I think it's absolutely reasonable to question the president's stance on Islamic fundamentalism and on his Middle Eastern politics. I happen to agree with mostly what the president said yesterday. And I typically disagree with the president on Middle Eastern politics. But I thought his approach yesterday was appropriate.

But there's a difference between saying he has a right to say that and saying that that's connected to a question about whether or not he loves America or not. Whether or not he was raised like the rest of us. That kind of language smuggles in, really, quite frankly, a racist narrative about the president. And we can pretend that it's not, but that's what this is about. The whole idea - to always --

BALDWIN: So you do agree that there were racist undertones? Because some people - I mean multiple people vehemently disagree with that, including Giuliani himself.

HILL: Undertones, undertones. I mean here's the thing. What makes this different is that for this president, unlike all the others before him, we keep talking about him as if he's not like us. He's the other. We keep marginalizing him, exoticizing (ph) him, framing him as something unlike the rest of us. He wasn't raised like us. He's not like us. If you want to disagree with Obama's politics on Islam or on Middle East or, whatever, that's fine.

BRAZILE: Right.

HILL: But it's the piece of, he's not like us, that is entirely different than any other president we've seen. This isn't about his politics, this is about something else. And that's what he's doing. Rudy Giuliani is playing to the cheap seats right now and he is taking us back to 2008 and 2012 where the extreme right would attack President Obama and talk about him as a foreigner, as someone who shouldn't be trusted. That's the problem here, and that's why Rudy Giuliani is being - is being reputed.

CUPP: Brooke.

BALDWIN: Let me just jump in because we did pull some other sound. Just wanted to look back at other comments that Mayor Giuliani has made. And this was just from - I believe this was just back in November. He was on "Meet the Press." This is in the wake of the Eric Garner non-indictment. Roll this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR: What about the poor black child that was killed by another black child? Why aren't you protesting that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those people go to jail. I do protest it. I'm a minister. They go to jail. Why don't you talk about the way in which white people have undercut the ability of Americans to live -

GIULIANI: Well, why don't you cut it down so - so why don't you cut it down so so many white police officers don't have to be in black areas? I put white police officers -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They don't have to be. It's a matter of the effect of the state occupying those forces, sir.

GIULIANI: How about 70 -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.

GIULIANI: How about 70 to 75 percent of the crime in my city takes place in black cities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How about your attitude reinforces the problem --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: S.E., I want to go to you out of that. I mean you talk about being a New Yorker. You talk about, you know, living through 9/11.

CUPP: Yes. BALDWIN: And that is emotional for a lot of people. And he really is seen as America's mayor. But let's not forget, he has definitely stepped his big toe in multiple controversial issues.

CUPP: Yes, I'm not sure that he is the most articulate when it comes to some of these issues. But just to echo what Kevin was saying, you know, Rudy Giuliani is not the first person to key in on this sense that the president apologizes for American might. He's done that for years. I've talked to Democrats recently who have been questioning why the president is talking the way he is on terrorism. So it's absolutely right to have this question about the president's world view, and the remarks that he makes on a world stage. That's important.

But I will - I will again say that I think it was inappropriate for Giuliani to question how he was raised or if he loves this country. If you remember back to when Kanye West said George Bush doesn't care about black people, yes, it was Kanye saying that, but a number of legitimate liberal thought leaders took that idea up on their own and explored that. That's equally inappropriate to psychologize into someone a hatred of other people just because you disagree with their policies.

BALDWIN: OK. I --

BRAZILE: And (INAUDIBLE), Brooke, --

HILL: And I -

(CROSS TALK)

BALDWIN: Go ahead, Donna. Donna, really quickly, and then I want you to stick around. Go ahead.

BRAZILE: But at that point, S.E., because I remember that. I was on TV. I was on CNN. And I disagreed and I denounced those very words.

BALDWIN: Yes.

BRAZILE: And the reason why I did it is because I am from New Orleans, and I know the pain and suffering that people went through down on the Gulf Coast and I thought that was totally inappropriate for that statement.

CUPP: Yes.

BRAZILE: And we just make it clear that we take leadership, and I think it's important that other people take leadership right now and denouncing the corrosive tone that was - that has been set off as a result of Mayor Giuliani's incendiary remarks.

JACKSON: That corrosive tone has been around Washington and it gives Bush the -

BALDWIN: Hang on a second. Hang on a second. Kevin, just a minute, just a second. We've got to go to break. When we come back, though, I think this has taken a huge political turn. As Jim Acosta alluded to at the top of the segment here, how do these other potential 2016 Republican contenders respond to this? Will they all have to respond to the questions, Does Barack Obama love America? That is next.

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