Tonight’s NBC News Commander-in-Chief Forum marks the first joint candidate event of the general election.
Presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will take questions on national security, military affairs and veterans issues from moderator Matt Lauer and a live audience comprised of service members and veterans. The candidates will appear back to back with a brief commercial break in between.
The live one-hour event, co-hosted by NBC News and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, takes place at New York’s Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
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MATT LAUER:
08:02:11:13 Good evening everyone. The decision of a commander-in-chief makes can have a profound and lasting impact on all Americans, but none more so than the brave men and women who serve, fight and die for our country. (MUSIC) What makes tonight’s forum unique, some of the questions will be asked by U.S. military veterans who are in our audience. The presidential nominees will appear back to back tonight after a coin toss yesterday won by Mr. Trump. He chose to go second, so that means we begin tonight with the Democratic nominee for president. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Hillary Clinton. (APPLAUSE) (CHEERING)
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:02:52:28 (UNINTEL PHRASE). Good to see you. Good to be here.
08:02:57:01 (OFF-MIC CONVERSATION)
MATT LAUER:
08:03:10:09 Nice to see you. Good evening.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:03:12:22 Thank you very much.
MATT LAUER:
08:03:12:01 So (UNINTEL)–
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:03:13:03 (UNINTEL) you’re doing.
MATT LAUER:
08:03:14:07 Thank you very much. I’m happy to be here. Let me ask you something ahead of time that I’ll ask Mr. Trump in a half an hour. To the best of your ability tonight can we talk about your qualities and your qualifications to be commander-in-chief and not use this as an opportunity to attack Mr. Trump. All right? And I’ll ask him the exact same thing.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:03:32:13 I think that’s an (UNINTEL) right way to proceed.
MATT LAUER:
08:03:36:06 Okay.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:03:36:00 This is a very important decision– for our country and each of us should be presenting our experience, our expertise and our plans to protect and defend the United States and our allies around the world.
MATT LAUER:
08:03:47:18 What is the most important characteristic that a commander-in-chief can possess?
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:03:52:09 Steadiness. An absolutely rock steadiness. And mixed with strength to be able to make the hard decisions, because I had the unique experience of watching and working with several presidents. And these are not easy decisions. If they were, they wouldn’t get to the presidents in the first place.
08:04:14:07 And when you’re sitting in the situation room, as I have on numerous occasions, particularly with respect to determining whether to recommend the raid against Bin Laden, what you want in a president, a commander-in-chief, is someone who listens, who evaluates what is being told to him or her, who is able to sort out the very difficult options being presented–
MATT LAUER:
08:04:41:12 You’re talking about judgment–
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:04:41:12 –and then makes the decision. Makes the decision. That’s right.
MATT LAUER:
08:04:45:00 So judgment is a key?
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:04:47:03 Temperament and judgment. Yes.
MATT LAUER:
08:04:49:15 The word judgment has been used a lot around you, Secretary Clinton, over the last year and a half. And in particular concerning your use of your personal email and pre– and server to communicate while you were secretary of State. You have said it’s a mistake.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:05:03:12 Uh-huh (AFFIRM).
MATT LAUER:
08:05:03:28 You said you made not the best choice.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:05:06:07 Uh-huh (AFFIRM).
MATT LAUER:
08:05:06:24 You were communicating on highly sensitive topics. Why wasn’t it more than a mistake? Why wasn’t it disqualifying if you wanna be commander-in-chief–?
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:05:16:03 Well, Matt, first of all, as I have said repeatedly– it was a mistake– to have a personal account. I would certainly not do it again. I make no excuses for it. It was something that should not have been done.
08:05:30:22 But the real question is the handling of classified material, which is I think what the implication of your question was.
08:05:38:19 And for all the viewers watching here tonight, I have a lot of experience dealing with classified materials, starting when I was on the Senate Armed Services Committee, going into the four years as secretary of State. Classified material has a header which says, “Top Secret,” “Secret,” “Confidential.” Nothing– and I will– I will repeat this and this is verified in the reports by the Department of Justice, none of the emails sent or received by me had such a header.
MATT LAUER:
08:06:13:03 Were some of the emails sent or received by you referring to our drone program, our covert drone program?
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:06:23:03 Yes, because of course there were no discussions of any of the covert actions in process being determined about whether or not to go forward. But every part of our government has to deal with questions, and the secretary of State’s office was first and foremost. So there are ways of talking about the drone program that–
08:06:48:00 (OVERTALK)
MATT LAUER:
08:06:47:16 And you said you thought your communications on that were fairly routine?
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:06:51:12 Well, let me say the F.B.I. just released their report about their investigation. They discuss drone matters in the unclassified section–
MATT LAUER:
08:07:03:25 Director Comey–
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:07:03:18 –of their report.
MATT LAUER:
08:07:04:09 –also said this after reviewing all the information. He said, “There is evidence to support a conclusion that any reasonable person in Secretary Clinton’s position should have known that an unclassified system was no place for that conversation.”
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:07:18:19 Well, Matt, I– I just respectfully point to the hundreds of experienced foreign policy experts, diplomats, defense officials who were communicating information on the unclassified system because it was necessary to answer questions and to be able publicly to go as far as we could, which was not acknowledging the program.
08:07:45:01 But I would be in Pakistan, as I was on several occasions. There might very well have been a strike. I would be asked in a public setting in an interview about it. It was known to have happened. We had to have an answer that did not move into classified area, and I think we handled that appropriately.
MATT LAUER:
08:08:06:16 You mentioned you’re in Pakistan. Some of the emails you sent and received happened while you were overseas, and Director Comey also said that while they have no proof, “We assess that it is possible that hostile actors gained access to Secretary Clinton’s personal email accounts.”
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:08:23:28 Matt, there is no evidence– of course anything is possible. But what is factual is the State Department system was hacked. Most of the government’s systems are way behind the curve. We’ve had hacking repeatedly, even in the White House. There is no evidence my system was hacked.
MATT LAUER:
08:08:46:09 Let us bring in Hallie Jackson of NBC News who’s been covering this campaign. She’s getting questions from our veterans. Hallie, who are you with?
HALLIE JACKSON:
08:08:52:03 Hi Matt. (UNINTEL) John Lester, who is standing with me here–
08:08:54:28 (OVERTALK)
HALLIE JACKSON:
08:08:55:21 He began his military career by enlisting in the Air Force and then switched over to the Navy before he retired, where he flew P30 planes in Desert Storm and in Desert Shield. He’s a Republican and he has his question for you, Secretary Clinton.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:09:08:18 Thank you.
JOHN LESTER:
08:09:09:09 Secretary Clinton, thank you very much for coming tonight. As a Naval flight officer I held a top secret sensitive compartmentalized information– clearance. And that provided me access to materials and information highly sensitive to our war fighting capabilities.
08:09:23:10 Had I communicated this information not following prescribed protocols I would have been in– prosecuted and imprisoned. Secretary Clinton, how can you expect those such as myself who were and are trusted with America’s most sensitive information to have any confidence in your leadership as president when you clearly corrupted our national security?
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:09:42:09 Well, I appreciate your concern and also your experience, but let me try to make the distinction that I think are important for me to answer your question. First, as I said to Matt, you know and I know classified material is designated. Is is marked. There is a header so that there is no dispute at all that what is being communicated to or from someone who has that access is marked classified.
08:10:17:12 And what we have here is the use of an unclassified system by hundreds of people in our government to send information that was not marked. There were no headers. There was no statement, “Top Secret,” “Secret” or “Confidential.”
08:10:34:18 I communicated about classified material on a wholly separate system. I took it very seriously. When I traveled I went into one of those little tents that I’m sure you’ve seen around the world, because we didn’t want there to be any potential for someone to have embedded a camera to try to see whatever it is that I was seeing that was designated, marked and headed as classified.
MATT LAUER:
08:11:04:24 Let us–
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:11:05:24 No, I did– exactly what I should have done and I take it very seriously. Always have. Always will.
MATT LAUER:
08:11:14:01 Sir, thank you. Thank you very much for your question. Secretary Clinton, let’s talk about your vote in favor of the war in Iraq. You’ve since said it was a mistake.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:11:21:10 Uh-huh (AFFIRM).
MATT LAUER:
08:11:22:03 Obviously it was not something you said you would do again. I asked before for people who raised their hand if you served in Iraq. Can you do it again? How do you think these people feel when the person running to be their commander-in-chief says her vote to go to war in Iraq was a mistake?
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:11:42:15 Look, I think that the decision to go to war in Iraq was a mistake, and I have said that my voting to give President Bush that authority was, from my perspective, my mistake. I also believe that it is imperative that we learn from the mistakes, like after action reports are supposed to do. And so we must learn what led us down that path so that it never happens again. I think I’m in the best possible position to be able to understand that and prevent it.
08:12:29:21 But I will say this. I’m ask– asking to be judged on the totality of my record. What I’ve done for our veterans as first lady, as senator. What I’ve done for gold star families, working with them to increase the death benefit from $12,000 to $100,000.
08:12:52:13 Working with Republicans like Lindsey Graham to get Tricare for our National Guard members who didn’t have healthcare unless they were deployed. Working to provide more support for the care of our veterans, those who are wounded. Working with the Fisher family, now into the third generation of caring for our fallen heroes. Working with John McCain to raise money for Brook Medical Center’s Intrepid Center to take care of those who are coming back with profound injuries. Working on TBI and PTSD and so much more. Working with groups and veteran suicide like TAFF (PH). So–
MATT LAUER:
08:13:35:15 I’m gonna get to that–
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:13:36:19 –yes, there–
MATT LAUER:
08:13:36:25 –subject of suicide–
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:13:37:15 –there– there was– there was a mistake. And my opponent was for the war in Iraq. He says he wasn’t. You can– you can go back and look at the record. He supported it. He told Howard Stern he supported it. So he supported it before it happened, he supported it as it was happening and he is on record as supporting it after it happened. I have taken responsibility for my decision.
MATT LAUER:
08:14:00:01 Let me go to another–
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:14:00:18 He refuses–
MATT LAUER:
08:14:00:18 –veteran.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:14:01:18 –to take responsibility for his support.
MATT LAUER:
08:14:05:04 Let me go to–
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:14:05:16 That–
MATT LAUER:
08:14:04:28 –another question.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:14:05:21 –that is a judgment issue.
MATT LAUER:
08:14:07:09 Hallie.
HALLIE JACKSON:
08:14:10:03 (UNINTEL PHRASE) Campos, who served in the Air Force for nearly a decade where she was an intelligence analyst specializing in counterviolence extremism. Like you, Secretary Clinton, she’s a Democrat and she has a question for you.
- CAMPOS:
08:14:20:15 Thank you. Secretary Clinton, to your point, you have had an extensive– record with military intervention. How do you respond to progressives like myself who worry and have concerns that your hawkish foreign policy will continue? And what is your plan to end wasteful war campaigns in which our peers, service women and men, continue to be killed and wounded?
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:14:44:22 Well, I– I assume you’re talking about Iraq, because of my vote. And you probably are talking about Libya, because of the– the role that I played– in the– administration’s decision about– whether to take on Qaddafi. But before I get to that, let me say very clearly, I view force as a last resort, not a first choice.
08:15:13:21 I will do everything in my power to make sure that our men and women in the military are fully prepared for any challenge that they may have to face on our behalf. But I will also be as careful as I can in making the most significant decisions any president and commander-in-chief can make about sending our men and women into harm’s way.
08:15:40:16 With respect to Libya, again, there’s no difference between my opponent and myself. He’s on record extensively supporting intervention in Libya when Qaddafi was threatening to massacre his population. I put together a coalition that included NATO, included the Arab League, and we were able to save lives. We did not lose a single American in that action. And I think taking that action was the right decision. Not taking it and permitting there to be an ongoing civil war in Libya would have been as dangerous and threatening as what we are now seeing in Syria.
MATT LAUER:
08:16:28:16 I’m gonna jump in. Thank you very much for your question. Let me ask you about the Iranian nuclear deal. It was signed under Secretary Kerry. It was begun under you. You–
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:16:36:03 Right.
MATT LAUER:
08:16:36:24 –started those talks.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:16:37:04 We did.
MATT LAUER:
08:16:38:18 You have said you expect the Iranians to cheat. You think they’ll buy time and perhaps stay along their course to building a nuclear weapon. If they cheat, Secretary Clinton, will you have any course of action other than a military course of action? Would you enter into negotiations with them again? Would you go back to economic sanctions, knowing they cheated and are then closer to a nuclear weapon?
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:16:59:24 Matt, look, let me put this in context, because this is one of the most important– strategic questions we face. When I became secretary of State the Iranians were on a fast track to acquiring the material necessary to get a nuclear weapon.
08:17:18:12 That had happened the prior eight years. They’d mastered the nuclear fuel cycle, they built covert facilities, they stocked them with centrifuges and they were movin’ forward. What was our decision? Our decision was to try and put together an international coalition, that included Russia and China, to exert the kind of pressure through sanctions that the United States alone could not do.
MATT LAUER:
08:17:40:27 Well, it’s–
08:17:42:01 (OVERTALK)
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:17:42:10 So– wait, let me finish–
MATT LAUER:
08:17:42:00 –think of it’s–
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:17:44:12 This is an important issue. I know we’re on TV with (UNINTEL) live time.
MATT LAUER:
08:17:48:24 I wanna get to–
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:17:49:06 I will–
MATT LAUER:
08:17:48:12 –a lot of questions.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:17:50:03 –I will talk quickly. But I want people to understand this. So yes, I put together the coalition. We imposed the sanctions. We got them to the negotiating table. And after I left we got the agreement. That agreement put a lid on their nuclear weapons program and imposed intrusive inspections. I have said we are going to enforce it to the letter–
MATT LAUER:
08:18:14:09 Do you think they’re playing us?
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:18:15:16 On the nuclear issue, no. I think we have enough insight into what they’re doing to be able to say we have to– distrust but verify. What I am focused on is all the other malicious activities of the Iranians. Ballistic missiles, support for terrorists, being involved in Syria, Yemen and other places. Supporting Hezbollah, Hamas.
08:18:42:04 But here’s the difference, Matt. I would rather, as president, be dealing with Iran on all of those issues without having to worry as much about they’re racing for a nuclear weapon. So we have made the world safer. We just have to make sure it’s enforced.
MATT LAUER:
08:18:57:06 Hallie.
HALLIE JACKSON:
08:18:57:27 I’m with Kenneth Anderson. He’s one of our undecided voters here. He considered himself an independent. He earned the rank of a sergeant in the Marine Corps where he was an Arabic translator during three tours in Iraq. Kenneth, you have a question for Secretary Clinton?
KENNETH ANDERSON:
08:19:10:18 Yes, Secretary Clinton, last October you said that surveys of veterans show that they’re overall satisfied with their treatment, and that the problems with the V.A. aren’t as widespread as they’re made out to be. So do you think the problems at the V.A. have been made to seem worse than they really are?
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:19:27:21 Look, I was outraged by the stories that came out about the V.A., and I have been very clear about the necessity for doing what it is required to move the V.A. into the 21st century, to provide the kind of treatment options that our veterans today desperately need and deserve.
08:19:48:18 And that’s what I will do as president. But I will not let the V.A. be privatized, and I do think there is an agenda out there, supported by my opponent, to do just that. I think that would be very disastrous for our military veterans. So I’m gonna do everything I can.
08:20:09:03 I’m gonna have a meeting every week in the Oval Office. We’re gonna bring the V.A. people, we’re gonna bring the D.O.D. people, because we’ve got to have a better fit between getting mustered out and getting into the V.A. system. Sometimes– and you probably know this, Sergeant. I’ve met so many– vets who get mustered out, who leave the service, they can’t find their records from D.O.D.
08:20:32:27 And those records never make it to the V.A. They feel like they’re livin’ in a fun house. They have to go over the same things over and over. We’re living in a technological world. You cannot tell me we can’t do a better job getting that information. And so I’m going to focus on this. I’m gonna work with everybody. I’m gonna make them work together.
MATT LAUER:
08:20:50:27 And I’m gonna interject–
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:20:51:09 –and we’re gonna fix– the problems in the V.A..
MATT LAUER:
08:20:53:09 Sergeant, thank you very much for your question. Let’s talk about veterans and suicide.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:20:57:10 Yes, let’s please–
MATT LAUER:
08:20:57:22 It’s an alarming, alarming story. The population of veterans has a rate of suicide far above the general–
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:21:03:06 Twenty–
MATT LAUER:
08:21:04:07 –population.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:21:04:06 –twenty suicides a day.
MATT LAUER:
08:21:05:21 What are you gonna do to stop it?
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:21:07:06 Well, this month is– Suicidal Prevention Awareness Month. And I’ve spent a lot of time with family members, survivors, who’ve lost a loved one after he or she came home. Sometimes suffering from PTSD or TBI or sexual assault. Being handed bags of opioids. Not being given an appropriate treatment to help that particular person, which is something to go back to the sergeant’s question, we have to change.
08:21:43:13 So I rolled out my– my mental health– agenda last week, and I have a whole section devoted to veterans’ mental health. And we’ve gotta remove the stigma. We’ve gotta help people currently serving not to feel that if they report their sense of unease, their depression, that somehow it’s gonna be a mark against them. We have to do more about addiction. Not only drugs but also alcohol.
08:22:09:27 So I have put forth a really robust agenda, working with a lot of the VSOs and other groups like TAFF who have been thinking about this and trying to figure out what we’re going to do to help our veterans reenter– civilian life and live full, productive lives.
MATT LAUER:
08:22:28:04 Hallie?
HALLIE JACKSON:
08:22:29:01 I’m with Ernie Young, come on up here with me, a former Army captain who led troops during tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He’s an independent voter and he has a question for the secretary.
ERNIE YOUNG:
08:22:38:09 Secretary Clinton, as an Army veteran, the commander-in-chief’s ability to emphasize (?) the service members and their families is of importance to me. The ability to truly understand the implications and consequences of your decisions, actions or inactions. How will you determine when and where to deploy troops directly into harm’s way, especially to combat ISIS?
MATT LAUER:
08:22:59:15 As briefly as you can.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:23:02:12 We have to defeat ISIS. That is my highest counterterrorism goal. And we’ve gotta do it with airpower. We’ve gotta do it with much more support from the Arabs and the Kurds who will fight on the ground against ISIS. We have to squeeze them by continuing to support– the Iraqi military. They’ve taken back Ramadi, Fallujah. They’ve gotta hold them. They’ve gotta now get into Mosul.
08:23:30:09 We’re going to work to make sure that they have the support. They have special forces, as you know. They have enablers. They have– surveillance, intelligence, reconnaissance help. They are not gonna get ground troops. We are not putting ground troops into Iraq ever again. And we’re not putting ground troops into Syria. We’re to defeat ISIS without committing American ground troops.
08:23:56:10 So those are the kinds of decisions we have to make on a case by case basis. And remember, when I became secretary of State we had 200,000 troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. And I am very grateful that we have brought home the vast majority of those. We have a residual force, as you know, in Afghanistan. We have built up several thousands of– the folks that I’ve talked about who are assisting in the fight against ISIS. But it is in our national security interest to defeat ISIS. And I intend to make that happen. And–
08:24:32:24 (OVERTALK)
MATT LAUER:
08:24:33:09 –thank you very much.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:24:33:04 –we’re going after Baghdadi, the leader, because it will help us focus our attentions, just like going after Bin Laden helped us focus–
MATT LAUER:
08:24:42:12 Secretary–
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:24:42:15 –our attention in the fight against al Qaeda–
MATT LAUER:
08:24:44:24 Secretary, I–
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:24:45:12 –in the Afghanistan-Pakistan theatre.
MATT LAUER:
08:24:47:19 I am fast running out of time. I wanna get to one that concerns just about everybody in this country and that is terror attacks on our soil.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:24:53:09 Right.
MATT LAUER:
08:24:54:03 Either directed by ISIS or inspired by ISIS. Would your message as the next president of the United States or potential next president be to Americans that we simply are living in the reality that those attacks will happen? And can you guarantee people that after four years in a Clinton presidency, they’ll be safer on the streets of San Bernardino or Boston than they are today?
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:25:17:21 Well, Matt, I’m gonna do everything in my power to make sure that that’s the result. I’m not going to– you know, promise– something that I think most– thinking Americans know is gonna be a huge challenge. And here’s why. We’ve got to have an intelligence surge and we’ve gotta get a lot more cooperation out of Europe, out of the Middle East. We have to do a better job of not only cor– collecting and analyzing the intelligence we do have, but distributing it much more quickly down the ladder to state and local law enforcement.
08:25:53:27 We also have to do a better job combating ISIS online. Where they recruit, where they radicalize. And I don’t think we’re doing as much as we can. We need to work with Silicon Valley. We need to work with our experts in our governments. We have got to disrupt, we have got to shake them out (?) in the arena of ideas that unfortunately pollute and capture the minds of vulnerable people.
08:26:19:06 So we need to wage this war against ISIS from the air, on the ground and online in cyberspace. And here at home, for goodness sakes, we have to finally pass a law prohibiting people on the terrorist watch list from being able to buy again un in the United States of America. So–
08:26:36:12 (MATT LAUER: UNINTEL)
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:26:36:27 –we’ve got work to do. I know we can do that work. I’m meeting with a group of– terror– terror experts, counterterrorism experts. But I wanna just say one additional thing.
MATT LAUER:
08:26:45:24 I’ve got 30 seconds left.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:26:46:19 Matt Olsen, the former director of the National– Center on Counterterrorism, has a great article out today saying the last thing we need to do is to play into the hands of ISIS. Going after American Muslims, defaming a gold star family, the family of Captain Khan, is making it more difficult for us to have a coalition with Muslim majority nations.
MATT LAUER:
08:27:06:22 And we–
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:27:07:21 That is not–
MATT LAUER:
08:27:07:12 –have to (UNINTEL PHRASE) then.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:27:08:24 –going to help us succeed in defeating ISIS and protecting our American homelands.
MATT LAUER:
08:27:15:09 Secretary Hillary Clinton, thank you–
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:27:16:01 Thank you.
MATT LAUER:
08:27:17:03 –very much. (APPLAUSE)
SECRETARY CLINTON:
08:27:17:27 Thanks a lot. (CHEERING)
08:27:21:27 (OFF-MIC CONVERSATION)
MATT LAUER:
08:27:23:12 I know. We’re gonna take a break. We’re gonna have much more with her competitor Donald Trump right after this. You’re watching NBC’s special, The Commander-In-Chief Forum. (MUSIC)
* * *END OF SECTION* * *
* * *BEGIN NEW SECTION* * *
20:30:03:18 (OFF-MIC CONVERSATION)
MATT LAUER:
20:30:31:18 We welcome back here (UNINTEL PHRASE) speaking with the two (UNINTEL) party presidential nominees to find out where they stand on the critical issues. So now please welcome, the Republican nominee for president, Donald Trump. (APPLAUSE) Thank you very much for joining us.
DONALD TRUMP:
20:31:03:15 Thank you.
MATT LAUER:
20:31:03:06 You heard me say to Mrs. Clinton– Secretary Clinton and it didn’t completely work out toward the end there. As much as possible, I’d like you to tell our veterans and our people at home why you are prepared for the role of commander and chief and try to keep the attacks to a minimum. We’ve had a year of that and maybe 60 more days of it.
DONALD TRUMP:
20:31:18:22 To a minimum, absolutely.
MATT LAUER:
20:31:20:06 Okay, to a perfect.
DONALD TRUMP:
20:31:21:09 To a minimum, I–
MATT LAUER:
20:31:21:28 (UNINTEL PHRASE) a question of definition.
DONALD TRUMP:
20:31:23:24 I guess.
MATT LAUER:
20:31:24:10 Anytime you interview a president sitting or past president, they will tell you that the most daunting part–
DONALD TRUMP:
20:31:29:18 Am I suppose to answer this question?
MATT LAUER:
20:31:30:21 No, no, no. I mean, just keep the attacks to a (UNINTEL). Anytime you– you talk to a president, they’ll you the most daunting part of the job is the role of commander and chief?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:31:39:12 Right.
MATT LAUER:
20:31:40:13 What have you experienced in your personal life or your professional life that you believe prepares you to make the decisions that a Commander-in-chief has to make?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:31:49:28 Well, I’ve built a great company. I’ve been all over the world. I’ve dealt with foreign countries. I’ve done very well. As an example– tremendously well dealing with China and dealing with so many of the countries that are just ripping this country.
20:32:02:15 They are just taking advantage of us like nobody’s ever seen before. And I’ve had great experience dealing on an international basis. I look today and I see a Russian plane circling our planes. They’re taunting us. I see in– Iran, I see the boats taunting our ships, our destroyers.
MATT LAUER:
20:32:20:12 But what have you done–
20:32:21:27 (OVERTALK)
MATT LAUER:
20:32:21:12 –in your life that prepares you to send men and women of the United States into harm’s way?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:32:25:15 Well, I think the main thing is I have great judgment. I have good judgment. I know what’s going on. I– I’ve called so many of the shots. And I happen to hear Hillary Clinton say that I was not against the war in Iraq. I was totally against the war in Iraq.
20:32:37:27 From– you can look at Esquire Magazine from ’04. You can look at before that. And I was against the war in Iraq because I said it’s gonna totally destabilize the Middle East, which it has. It has absolutely been a disastrous war. And by the way, perhaps, almost as bad was the way Barack Obama got out. That was a disaster.
MATT LAUER:
20:32:58:12 People talk about you and Commander-in-chief and not just Secretary Clinton but some of your Republican opponents in the primary season and they wonder about your temperament. They say, “Does Donald Trump have the temperament to be Commander-in-chief?” You said something recently that I found interesting. You admitted that sometimes in the heat of a debate or when you’re talking about a lot of issues, you say things that you later regret. So can we afford that with a Commander-in-chief, to have a Commander-in-chief who says things that he later regrets?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:33:27:28 Oh, when you say regret– yeah, sure I regret. But in the meantime, I beat 16 people and here I am. So you know, to a certain extent– there is a regret. I would’ve liked to have done it in a nicer manner. But I had 16 very talented people that I had to go through. And that was a lotta people–
20:33:43:04 (OVERTALK)
MATT LAUER:
20:33:43:12 But when you say–
DONALD TRUMP:
20:33:43:22 That was a record, Matt. That was a record in the history of Republican politics. I was able to get more votes than anybody ever has gotten in the history of Republican–
MATT LAUER:
20:33:52:09 But when say inflammatory–
DONALD TRUMP:
20:33:52:22 –politics and (UNINTEL).
MATT LAUER:
20:33:53:25 –things in a presidential cam– campaign, it’s different than saying them when you’re Commander-in-chief. If you say things–
DONALD TRUMP:
20:33:59:10 I agree.
MATT LAUER:
20:33:59:19 –when you’re Commander-in-chief (CHUCKLE) you can spark a conflict, you can destabilize a region. You can put American lives at risk. Can we afford to take that risk with you?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:34:09:03 Well, I think absolutely. I think if you saw what happened in Mexico the other day, where I went there. I had great relationships, everything else. I let them know where the United States stands. I mean, we’ve been badly hurt by Mexico, both on the border and with taking all of our jobs or a big percent– of– of our jobs. And if you look at what happened, look at the aftermath today where the people that arranged the trip in Mexico has been forced out of government.
MATT LAUER:
20:34:35:10 Back–
DONALD TRUMP:
20:34:35:09 That’s how well we did–
MATT LAUER:
20:34:36:04 Back in August–
DONALD TRUMP:
20:34:37:04 And that’s how well we’re gonna have to do, Matt.
MATT LAUER:
20:34:38:19 Back in August when you admitted that you regret some of the things you said, you also said this, “I can promise you this, I will always tell you the truth.”
DONALD TRUMP:
20:34:46:18 It’s true.
MATT LAUER:
20:34:47:13 So let me read some of the things you said. “I know more about ISIS than the generals do, believe me.” Is that the truth?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:34:54:19 Well, the generals under Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have not been successful. I–
MATT LAUER:
20:34:59:24 Do you know more about ISIS than they do?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:35:00:25 I think under the leadership Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the generals have been reduced to rubble. They have been reduced to a point where it’s embarrassing for our country. You have a force of 30,000 or so people, nobody really knows. But probably 30,000 people. And I can just see the great– an example, General George Patton, spinning in his grave as ISIS, we can’t beat. You know–
20:35:25:06 (OVERTALK)
MATT LAUER:
20:35:26:09 “If we had Macarthur today or if we had Patton today, we would not have ISIS. That the rise of these military commanders that we have today, they come up the chain of command. And by the time they get to the top, they’re too politically correct.” And we know that’s not a complement coming from you. Have you lost faith in the military commanders?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:35:44:03 I have great faith in the military. I have great faith in certain of the commanders, certainly. But I have no faith in Hillary Clinton or the leadership. You look at what’s happened. And you know, when she comes in and starts saying, “Oh, I woulda done this, I would’ve done–” she’s been there for 30 years. I mean, we need change, Matt. We have to have it. And we have to have it fast.
MATT LAUER:
20:36:03:15 Let’s go to Hallie (PH) Jackson and in our (UNINTEL). Hallie?
HALLIE JACKSON:
20:36:05:24 I’m with Phillip Clay who’s a public affairs office in the Marine Corps. He spent a year in Anbar Province in Iraq. He left the military with the rank of captain. Service had inspired him to write a book. He’s a Democrat. And he has this question for you, Mr. Trump.
PHILLIP CLAY:
20:36:19:24 Mr. Trump, over the past 16 years, a lot of U.S. troops have bled and died securing towns and provinces from Iraq to Afghanistan only to have insurgent groups like ISIS spring back the moment we leave. And you’ve claimed to have a secret plan to defeat ISIS. But you’re hardly the first politician to promise a quick victory and a speedy homecoming. So assuming we do defeat ISIS, what next? What is your plan for the region to ensure that a group like them doesn’t just come back?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:36:49:21 Sure, I mean, part of the problem that we’ve had is we go in. We defeat somebody and then we don’t know what we’re doing after. We– we lose it. Like, as an example, you look at Iraq, what happened, how badly that was handled. And then when President Obama took over, likewise, it was a disaster.
20:37:07:03 It was actually somewhat stable. I don’t think it’d ever be very stable to where we should’ve never gone into in the first place. But he came in. He said, “When we go out–” and he took everybody out. And really, ISIS was formed. This was a terrible decision. And frankly, we never even got a shot.
20:37:24:03 And if you really look at the aftermath of Iraq, Iran is going to be taking over Iraq. They’ve been doing it. And it’s not a pretty picture. The– and– and I think you know, and– ’cause you’ve been watching that thing for a long time, I’ve always said, shouldn’t be there. But if we’re gonna get out, take the oil. If we would’ve taken the oil, you wouldn’t have ISIS. Because ISIS formed with the power and the wealth of that oil.
MATT LAUER:
20:37:48:21 How are we gonna take the oil? How are we gonna do that?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:37:51:01 Well, just– we would leave a certain group behind and you would take various sections where they have the oil. They have– I– people don’t know this about Iraq. But they have among the largest oil reserves in the world– in the entire world.
20:38:02:07 And we’re the only ones, we go in, we spend three trillion dollars. We lose thousands and thousands of lives. And then look, what happens is we get nothing. You know, it used to be the victor belong the spoils. Now, there was no victor there, believe me. There was no victor. But I always said, take the oil. One of the benefits we would’ve had if we took the oil is ISIS would not have been able to take oil and use that oil.
MATT LAUER:
20:38:27:09 Let me stay on ISIS.
DONALD TRUMP:
20:38:28:10 To fuel themselves.
MATT LAUER:
20:38:29:03 Let me stay on ISIS. When– when– when we’ve met in the past and we’ve talked you say things like, “I’m gonna bomb the expletive out of them very quickly.” And when people like me press you for details, like that gentleman said, on what your plan is, you very often say, “I’m not gonna give you the details because I wanna be unpredictable.”
DONALD TRUMP:
20:38:47:21 Absolutely–
MATT LAUER:
20:38:48:18 But–
DONALD TRUMP:
20:38:48:22 The word is unpredictable.
MATT LAUER:
20:38:49:13 But yesterday, you actually told us a little bit about your plan in your speech. You said this, quote, “We’re going to convene my top generals and they will have 30 days to submit a plan for soundly and quickly defeating ISIS.” So is the plan you’ve been hiding this whole time asking someone else for their plan?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:39:09:24 No. But when I do come up with a plan that I like that perhaps agrees with mine of maybe doesn’t. I may love what the generals come back with. I will–
20:39:18:24 (OVERTALK)
MATT LAUER:
20:39:18:27 But you have your own plan?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:39:19:21 I have a plan, but I wanna be– I don’t wanna– look, I have a very substantial chance of winning, make America great again. We’re gonna make America great again. I have a substantial chance of winning. If I win, I don’t wanna broadcast to the enemy exactly what my plan–
MATT LAUER:
20:39:34:10 But you’re gonna–
DONALD TRUMP:
20:39:34:10 –is. And let me tell you, if I like maybe a combination of my plan and the generals’ plan or the generals’ plan– if I like their plan, Matt, I’m not gonna call you up and say, “Matt, we have a great plan.” This is what Obama does. “We’re going to leave Iraq on a certain–”
MATT LAUER:
20:39:48:07 But you’re gonna convene a panel of jud– of generals and you’ve already said you know more about ISIS than those generals?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:39:54:03 Well, they’ll probably be different generals, to be honest with you. I mean, I’m looking at the generals. Today, you probably saw, I have a piece of paper here, I could show it, 88 generals and admirals endorsed me today.
MATT LAUER:
20:40:05:15 It’s a–
20:40:05:21 (OVERTALK)
DONALD TRUMP:
20:40:05:22 And these are great– well, that’s not really–
MATT LAUER:
20:40:07:06 It’s (UNINTEL) more numbers–
DONALD TRUMP:
20:40:08:21 It’s not– yeah, numbers– people that have been losing for us for a long period of time. I mean, the fact is we have had the worst– and you could even say the dumbest foreign policy, our results are so bad. We would’ve been better off had we have ever spent two dollars–
MATT LAUER:
20:40:26:03 You recently–
DONALD TRUMP:
20:40:26:03 –in that part of the world.
MATT LAUER:
20:40:27:00 You recently received two intelligence briefings?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:40:29:25 Yes, I did.
MATT LAUER:
20:40:30:15 Did anything in that briefing, without going into specifics, shock or alarm you?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:40:34:25 Yes. Very much.
MATT LAUER:
20:40:36:24 You learned new things?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:40:38:21 First of all–
20:40:38:24 (OVERTALK)
DONALD TRUMP:
20:40:39:19 –great respect for the people that gave us the briefings. We would– there were terrific people. They were experts on Iraq and Iran and different parts of the w– and Russia. But yes, there was one thing that shocked me. And it just seems to me that what they said President Obama and Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, who is another total disaster– did exactly the opposite.
MATT LAUER:
20:41:03:27 Did you learn anything in that briefing, again not going into specifics, that makes you reconsider some of the things you say you can accomplish like defeating ISIS quickly?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:41:12:09 No. I didn’t learn anything from that standpoint. What I did learn is that our leadership, Barack Obama, did not follow what our experts and our truly– when they call it intelligence, it’s there for a reason, what our experts said to do.
MATT LAUER:
20:41:28:07 Howie?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:41:28:07 And I was very, very surprised. In almost every instance. And I could tell. I’m pretty good with the body language. I could tell they were not happy. Our leaders did not follow what they were recommending.
MATT LAUER:
20:41:40:27 Howie?
CAPTAIN SUE (UNINTEL):
20:41:41:00 I’m with former Army captain, Sue (UNINTEL). Who was a member of the first West Point class to include women. She started a (UNINTEL PHRASE). She’s a Democrat and she has a question for you.
CAPTAIN SUE (UNINTEL):
20:41:59:00 Mr. Trump?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:41:59:18 Hi, thank you very much.
CAPTAIN SUE (UNINTEL):
20:42:00:16 Thank you. Do you believe that an undocumented person who serves– who wants to serve in the U.S. armed forces deserves to stay in this country legally?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:42:10:06 I think that when you serve the armed forces, that’s a very special situation and I could see myself working that out, absolutely.
MATT LAUER:
20:42:18:10 So she’s saying has already served in the armed forces or wants to serve?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:42:23:22 Well–
MATT LAUER:
20:42:23:24 Plans to serve?
CAPTAIN SUE (UNINTEL):
20:42:24:12 Plans to serve– plans to serve in the armed forces. As you know that under DOCA that– we already have people–
DONALD TRUMP:
20:42:30:22 Yes, I– I think–
CAPTAIN SUE (UNINTEL):
20:42:30:21 –who are undocumented who are serving.
DONALD TRUMP:
20:42:31:24 –our military’s a very special thing. If they plan on serving, if they get in, I would absolutely hold those people– now, we have to be very careful. We have to vet very carefully. Everybody would agree with that. But the answer is it would be a very special circumstance, yes. Thank you.
MATT LAUER:
20:42:47:06 Thank you very much for your question. Howie, you have another one?
STAFF SERGEANT ALICE:
20:42:49:28 I do. Alice (UNINTEL). She was a Army staff sergeant assigned to special operations. He was stationed at Fort Bragg. And was deployed to Afghanistan and other places throughout the Middle East. He has not decided who he will vote for yet in November. And you have a question for Mr. Trump?
STAFF SERGEANT:
20:43:04:09 I do. Mr. Trump, as you know, tension between the United States and Russia have been at the highest level since the Cold War. In your first 120 days of presidency, how would you de-escalate the tensions. And more importantly, what steps would you take to bring Mr. Putin and the Russian Government back to the negotiating table?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:43:23:07 I think I would have a very good relationship with many foreign leaders. I think it’s very sad when you like at Barack Obama as an example, lands Air Force One in– China and they don’t wanna put out stairs to get off the plane. I mean, you s– has to use the– the stairs that mechanics use to get up and down to fix the plane.
20:43:43:24 They wouldn’t give him stairs. I think it’s very sad when he lands in Saudi Arabia and he– he lands in Cuba and there aren’t high officials to even greet him. This is the first time in the history– the storied history of Air Force One. I think I would have a very, very good relationship with Putin.
20:43:59:13 And I think I would have a very, very good relationship with Russia. As I said, take a look today. Take a look at what happened with their fighter jets circling one of our aircraft in a very dangerous manner. Somebody said less than ten feet away. This is hostility.
20:44:16:00 And I saw just two or three days ago, they looked like they were not exactly getting along. But I looked at President Obama and Putin staring at each other. These were not two people that were getting along. And you know, the beautiful part of getting along, Russia wants to defeat ISIS as badly as we do. If we had a relationship with Russia, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could work on it together and knock the hell out of ISIS?
MATT LAUER:
20:44:46:00 Let–
DONALD TRUMP:
20:44:46:15 Wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing?
MATT LAUER:
20:44:46:13 Let me ask you about some of the things you’ve said about Vladimir Putin. You’ve said, “I will tell you, in terms of, leadership, he’s getting an A. Our president is not doing so well.” And when referring to a comment that Putin made about you, I think he called you a brilliant leader, you said, “It’s always a great honor to be so nicely complimented by a man so highly respected within his country and beyond.”
DONALD TRUMP:
20:45:07:18 Well, he does have an 82% approval rating, according to the different pollsters, who by the way, some of whom are based right here.
MATT LAUER:
20:45:15:18 Look, he’s also a guy who annexed Crimea, invaded Ukraine, supports a (TAPE SKIPS) in Syria, supports Iran, is trying to undermine our influence in key regions of the world. And according to our intelligence committee– community, probably is the main suspect of the hacking of the DNC computers.
DONALD TRUMP:
20:45:33:03 Well, nobody knows that for a fact. But do you want me to start naming some of the things that President Obama does?
MATT LAUER:
20:45:38:28 But do–
20:45:39:03 (OVERTALK)
MATT LAUER:
20:45:39:15 –wanna be complemented by that former KBG (UNINTEL)?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:45:42:10 Well, I think when he calls me brilliant, I’ll take the compliment, okay? The fact is, look, it’s not gonna get him anywhere. I’m a negotiator. We’re gonna take back our country. You look at what’s happening to our country. You look at the depleted military, you look at the fact that we’ve lost our jobs. We’re losing our jobs like we’re a bunch of babies. We’re gonna take back our country, Matt. The fact that he calls me brilliant or whatever he calls me, he’s gonna have zero impact.
MATT LAUER:
20:46:06:00 But the fact that you say you can get along with him–
20:46:09:07 (OVERTALK)
MATT LAUER:
20:46:08:28 You think the day–
DONALD TRUMP:
20:46:09:09 I think I’ll be able to get along with him.
MATT LAUER:
20:46:10:04 You think the day that you become President of the United States he’s gonna change his mind on some of these key issues?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:46:14:28 Possibly. It’s possible. I don’t know, Matt. It’s possible. And it’s not gonna have any impact. If he says great things about me, I’m gonna say great things about him. I’ve already said he is really very much of a leader. I mean, you can say, “Oh, isn’t that a terrible thing.”
20:46:26:12 He called– I mean, the man has very strong control over a country. And that’s a very different system and I don’t happen to like the system. But certainly in that system he’s been a leader, far more than our president has been a leader. We have a divided country. We have a country where you have Hillary Clinton with her emails that nobody’s ever seen where she deleted 33,000 emails. And that’s after getting the subpoena from Congress. If you do that in private business, you get thrown in jail.
MATT LAUER:
20:46:51:03 Howie?
PETE CORREA:
20:46:52:18 Pete Correa (PH), here with me. He was in the Army reserve and spent ten months in Iraq right at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is a Republican and has this question for you.
PETE CORREA:
20:47:00:24 Hey, Mr. Trump.
DONALD TRUMP:
20:47:02:00 Hi.
PETE CORREA:
20:47:03:01 I like what you say about supporting veterans and how they’re important. But I haven’t heard what the actual plans are to continue that support beyond words. How are you (TAPE SKIPS) words to action after you take office?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:47:13:19 Well, I love that question because I’ve been very close to the vets that– you see the relationship I have with the vets just by looking at the polls. In fact, today, a poll came out. And my relationship has been very good. I have a very, very powerful plan that’s– on my website that you possibly saw.
20:47:29:18 One of the big problems is the wait time. Vets are waiting six days, seven days, eight days. And by the way, Hillary Clinton, six months ago said the vets are being treated essentially just fine. There’s no real problem, it’s overexaggerated. She–
MATT LAUER:
20:47:44:09 (UNINTEL) she went on after that and laid out–
20:47:46:25 (OVERTALK)
MATT LAUER:
20:47:47:00 –problems within the VA.
DONALD TRUMP:
20:47:48:15 Right. I mean, she made up half of the things she said about me. I’m telling you this is– she said she was satisfied with what was going on in the Veteran’s Administration. Now, under my plan, if you’ve gotta wait– and by the way, people are dying on the line.
20:48:01:22 They’re dying waiting– waiting to get to see a doctor. They’re waiting five days and six days. Under a part of my plan, if they have that long wait, they walk outside, they go to the local doctor, they choose the doctor, they choose the hospital whether it’s public or private.
20:48:17:21 They get themselves better. In many cases, it’s a minor procedure or a pill or just a prescription. And they end up dying because they can’t get to see the doctor. We will pay the bill. They go outside. They get a doctor. They get a prescription.
20:48:33:21 They do what they have to do and we pay the bill. That is something that I have been pra– and by the way, I never said take the VA, take it– the Veteran’s Administration private. I wouldn’t do that. Too much respect for our people. I would never do that.
MATT LAUER:
20:48:47:18 Okay.
DONALD TRUMP:
20:48:47:27 I heard it was said that I said that. I would not do that. But I do believe– I do believe when you’re waiting in line for six, seven days, you should never be in a position like that. You go out, you see the doctor, you get yourself (UNINTEL).
MATT LAUER:
20:49:01:24 Howie, you’ve got another question?
RACHEL FREDERICKS:
20:49:02:18 I do. Rachel Fredericks who specialized in aviation operations in the Marine Crops serving stateside. She lost two friends to suicide and you now struggle yourself with P.T.S.D. She’s a Republican but leaning towards you. Still undecided a little bit too. Rachel, you have a question for Mr. Trump?
RACHEL FREDERICKS:
20:49:18:25 I do. Mr. Trump, I wanted to ask what your plan will be to stop 20 veterans a day from killing themselves.
DONALD TRUMP:
20:49:27:06 And actually it’s 22. And it’s– it’s– it’s almost impossible to conceive that this is happened in our country. Twenty to 22 people a day are killing themselves. A lot of if it they’re killing themselves over the fact they– they can’t– they’re under tremendous pain and they can’t see a doctor.
20:49:46:00 We’re gonna speed up the process. We’re gonna create a great mental health division. They need help. They need help. They need tremendous help. And we’re doing nothing for them. The VA is really– almost you could say a corrupt enterprise.
20:49:58:00 If you look at what’s going on as an example, Matt, in Arizona, where they caught people stealing. And they can’t even do anything about it. They can’t even fire the people. So we are going to make it efficient and good. And if it’s not good, you’re going out to private hospitals, public hospitals and doctors.
MATT LAUER:
20:50:14:19 Howie, one more?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:50:15:18 Thank you very much.
MATT LAUER:
20:50:16:03 Donald day here who served as a radio operator in the Marine Corp in the Vietnam era. He had tours of duty in Southeast Asia and in Europe. He’s also a Democrat and has this question for you.
MALE VOICE 2:
20:50:26:04 Mr. Trump, I have a daughter who is interested in joining the service. But she when she researches military she saw the stats on sexual assault and decided not to go. I have a concern about the rape of women in our armed forces. As president, what specifically would you do to support all victims of sexual assault in the military?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:50:49:24 It’s a great question and it’s a massive problem. The numbers are staggering, hard to believe it even– but we’re gonna have to run it very tight. I, at the same time, wanna keep the court system within the military. I don’t think it should be outside of the military.
20:51:01:19 But we have to come down very, very hard on that. And your daughter is absolutely right. It is a massive problem. But we have to do something about that problem. And the best thing we can do is set up a court system within the military. Right now, the court system practically doesn’t exist.
MATT LAUER:
20:51:17:07 In 2000–
DONALD TRUMP:
20:51:17:15 It take too long.
MATT LAUER:
20:51:17:24 In 2013, on this subject, you tweeted this, quote, “26,000 unreported sexual assaults in the military, only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men and women together?”
DONALD TRUMP:
20:51:32:15 Well, it is– it is– it is a correct tweet. There are many people that think that that’s absolutely correct. And we need to have a strength–
20:51:39:19 (OVERTALK)
MATT LAUER:
20:51:39:24 So this should have been expected and does that mean the only way to–
DONALD TRUMP:
20:51:41:18 Well– (UNINTEL)–
MATT LAUER:
20:51:42:13 –fix it is to take women–
DONALD TRUMP:
20:51:43:09 It’s happening.
20:51:44:15 (MATT LAUER: UNINTEL)
MATT LAUER:
20:51:44:15 –out of military?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:51:44:25 And– and by the way, since then it’s gotten worse. No, not to kick ’em out. But something has to be happened. You– right now part of the problem is nobody gets prosecuted. You have reported and the gentleman can tell you, you have the report of rape and nobody gets prosecuted.
20:51:58:10 There are no consequence. When you– when you have somebody that does something so evil, so bad as that, there has to be consequence to that person. You have to go after that person. Right now, nobody’s doing anything. Look at the small number of results. I mean, that’s part of the problem.
MATT LAUER:
20:52:15:12 So many of the issues that we’ve talked about with you, Mr. Trump, tonight and Secretary Clinton are so complex that even career military people and career diplomats and politicians have trouble getting their arms around.
DONALD TRUMP:
20:52:28:03 Right.
MATT LAUER:
20:52:29:12 You’ve had a very different background in business. So nobody would expect you to have taken over the last 20 years, really deep dives in some of these issues. But I’m curious about what you’re doing now. What kind of research are you doing now? What kind of homework are you doing? What kind of–
20:52:46:15 (DONALD TRUMP: UNINTEL)
MATT LAUER:
20:52:46:22 –things are you reading as you prepare for the day in two months where you might be elected the next President of the United States.
DONALD TRUMP:
20:52:53:16 Well, in the front row, you have four generals. You have admirals, you have people all throughout the audience (?) that I’m dealing with. Right here is a list that was just printed today of 88 admirals and generals that I meet with and I talk to.
MATT LAUER:
20:53:06:18 How much time–
DONALD TRUMP:
20:53:06:27 I brought those–
20:53:07:24 (OVERTALK)
MATT LAUER:
20:53:07:19 –spending on–
DONALD TRUMP:
20:53:08:18 A lot– a lot. And I’m doing a lot of different things. Don’t forget, we’re running a big campaign. We’re doing very well. I’m also– you know, and I’m very much giving it to my children and my executives to run. I’m also partially running a business.
20:53:21:00 I’m campaigning. I’m running a business. I’m– got a lotta hats right now. But we’re doing very well. But in the meantime, I am studying. And I’m meeting constantly. You see– you see General Flynn and you see some of the folks that we have and they’re scattered throughout the audience. So we have admirals, we have generals. We have colonels. We have a lot of people that I respect. And I think I’ve learned a lot. But I– I think also I certain– I really feel I have a common sense on the various issues that are– you’re talking about.
MATT LAUER:
20:53:52:07 But you’ve said in a speech today, you said “History shows that when America is not prepared, is when the danger is the greatest.”
DONALD TRUMP:
20:53:59:07 And we’re not prepared.
MATT LAUER:
20:53:59:27 Will you be prepared on day one if you’re elected President of the United States to tackle these complex national security (UNINTEL)?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:54:08:09 One hundred percent. Hey Matt, again, she made a mistake on Libya. She made a terrible mistake on Libya. And the next thing– I mean– not only did she make the mistake, but then they complicated the mistake by having no management once they bombed you know what out of Gaddafi. I mean, she made a terrible mistake on Libya. And part of it was a management after effect. I think that we have great management talents, great management–
MATT LAUER:
20:54:33:25 But you are prepared–
DONALD TRUMP:
20:54:34:15 And I have to say– totally prepared. But remember this, I’ve found this subject and these subjects of interest all of my life, Matt. This hasn’t been over the last 14 months. I’ve found these subjects of tremendous interest. That’s why they were asking me about Iraq– 14 years ago. They were asking me these questions. They don’t ask business people.
MATT LAUER:
20:54:53:21 Let me end–
DONALD TRUMP:
20:54:54:00 Right.
MATT LAUER:
20:54:54:03 –in kinda the same place I started. Have you given much thought, Mr. Trump, if you’re elected president and Commander-in-chief, to that moment where you’re going to have to make that first decision that puts American men and women in harm’s way?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:55:09:12 I think it’s the most difficult decision you can possibly ever make. You’re talking about death– and we’re talking death to not just our side, we’re talking death all over. I would be very, very, cautious. I think I’d be a lot slower. She has a happy trigger. You look, she votes for the war–
20:55:27:09 (OVERTALK)
MATT LAUER:
20:55:28:06 But have you thought about–
DONALD TRUMP:
20:55:27:15 –she go to Libya–
MATT LAUER:
20:55:28:13 –personally the emotional burden of that moment?
DONALD TRUMP:
20:55:30:07 I– I think it’s a tremendous burden. I think there is no great burden that anybody could have. I’ve been preparing this for a long time. And you know, my theme is make America great again. We’re going to make America great again. But Matt, we’ve also gotta make America strong again. And right now, were are not strong, Believe me, we have a depleted military. We have the greatest people in the world in our military. But it is very sadly depleted.
MATT LAUER:
20:55:55:06 The Republican nominee for President of the United States, Donald Trump.
DONALD TRUMP:
20:55:59:03 Thank you, Matt.
MATT LAUER:
20:55:59:21 Thank you. (APPLAUSE) Thank you very much. We’ll back with much more from the (UNINTEL PHRASE) on this Commander-in-chief forum right after this. (MUSIC)
20:56:19:00 * * *END OF TRANSCRIPT* * *
