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Interview with Obama Adviser Robert Wolf; Commuter Train Derails in California; Protesters Thrown Out of Trump Rallies; Hogan Faces Cross-Examination in $100M Case. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired March 08, 2016 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:30:05] CLINTON: But you know sometimes you don't get perfect choices in life or politics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. So here's the truth of it. Sanders did vote for the auto bailout. That measure failed. But he did vote against the auto bailout when those funds were included in a larger Wall Street bailout bill. Hillary Clinton voted for that bill. Hope you got that.
With me now is Robert Wolf. He's currently an adviser to President Obama. He also supports Hillary Clinton.
Welcome, sir.
ROBERT WOLF, ADVISER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA: Great to see you.
COSTELLO: Great to have you here. Let's talk about the big banks and Wall Street because Bernie Sanders is pounding Hillary Clinton on that issue. She refuses to release the transcripts of her Wall Street speeches. Doesn't that signal she's vulnerable?
WOLF: Well, first, I'd like to respond to your opening on the TARP money, and what it went to. To be clear, and everyone knew it, and I was advising the president now, the 2009 TARP money that then Senator Obama to be president was supportive of, as was Senator Stabenow and Senator Levin, and which -- became Secretary Clinton then senator also voted for it. That was critical. That was for financial stability and the auto bailout. It was incredibly important to Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois, and most importantly, Michigan.
That money was $350 billion. And it was clear that that was for the auto bailout, and it saved millions of jobs. So the bill that Senator Sanders talks about, that didn't exist. It was voted down, and then the next bill was the only thing to vote on. So he did not vote for the auto bailout on the bill that passed.
COSTELLO: But I think he would say, you know, that included help for big banks, and let's be frank about this. The big banks never paid for what they were guilty of. Right? At the height of the recession? They're still sitting pretty.
WOLF: Well, no one was sitting pretty during that time. And remember, I was there during the Lehman weekend. The entire country was having struggles. Not just the financial institutions but all industry. And so it was critically important that this TARP money which was run by the Treasury was for troubled assets of which the auto sector was one of those assets. They benefitted from the bailout, and today they're stronger for it.
We should all know that out of all the manufacturing -- out of all the manufacturing sectors, the auto sector was the best to come back during the -- post the recession.
COSTELLO: Well, let me put it this way. If Hillary Clinton wins the nomination, right, she's likely to go up against Donald Trump who is funding his own campaign.
WOLF: Yes.
COSTELLO: So some voters might say, you know what? Hillary Clinton won't even release the transcripts of her speeches before groups of these big bankers, and here's Donald Trump who's not depending on anybody but his own pocketbook, you know, to fund his race for the president.
WOLF: Well, I'm not sure that that's fully accurate. One, Secretary Clinton has been clear that she will release the transcripts, OK, when all candidates release the transcripts. It's not as if Donald Trump has never given a speech. I mean, so I think that -- first of all, I don't think the whole general election is going to be on a speech and a transcript. It's going to be who is the best for the economy and who is the best on foreign policy.
And it's been clear to date that Secretary Clinton is the best for the two most important issues in this country. The economy and foreign policy. We don't know who --
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: But don't you think, sir --
WOLF: Yes.
COSTELLO: Don't you think, sir, if she just released the transcripts of those speeches, this would be settled once and for all and she wouldn't have to worry about it in a general election? .
WOLF: I mean, I don't think that's the debate for the country. I also think that there is no one who has had more of a forensic done on them than Secretary Clinton. But why should she put herself out there when possibly the people she may go against in the general like a Donald Trump may never release things that we need to see. So I don't understand why you would ever put yourself in a disadvantage. OK. What's good for one is good for all.
And I think at this point, I don't think she needs to release anything. And I don't think that that is what the debate is for this country. The debate is on jobs and on wages. Not what was given in a speech. COSTELLO: OK. Let's talk about Hillary Clinton has fully embraced
President Barack Obama in a general election. Some independent voters are not so enamored of the president. And Republicans really don't like President Obama. So how might this play in a general election if Mrs. Clinton wins the nomination?
WOLF: Well, I think it's going to go back who was the best candidate. And it will be Secretary Clinton versus whoever that Republican may be. Whether it's Donald Trump or Ted Cruz. And certainly I think the president will help get out the vote.
There's no question that the economy is doing better under the president of the United States. We've had 70 straight months of private sector job gains. We've actually had the best two years in 15 years in the private sector, and honestly, we should be very clear.
[10:35:03] Then candidate Governor Romney said he hoped at the end of his term, which would be 2016, that he would get unemployment to 6 percent. We know that we're at 4.9 percent. So I'm going to give credit to independents that are going to take a clear look at Secretary Clinton and whoever that general election Republican candidate will be. And we'll see.
COSTELLO: Here's the thing.
WOLF: We'll see.
COSTELLO: Here's the thing, though. Republicans say the economy isn't recovering as it should. In fact, they say it's in an abysmal state. A lot of blue collar workers are rallying around Donald Trump because they're not happy about, you know, how much money they make and how their place and, you know, and how their personal economies are going. So how do you suggest those blue-collar workers who are not so enamored of Hillary Clinton that the economy is great for them?
WOLF: First of all, Carol, I think that's a very fair point. I don't think anyone is saying the economy is great. I don't think President Obama is saying the economy is great. OK. It's clear that he would like to get wages up. I think at the end of the day, it's where are we going? Are we in a better trajectory over the last seven years than where we were? And can Secretary Clinton take what the president has done today and actually even make it better?
The clear -- the most important thing with blue-collar workers and all workers, OK, may be infrastructure. We're in Michigan. Look at the Flint water crisis. Without a doubt, the best policy on infrastructure is Secretary Clinton. She came out with it in November, 2015. And it was fantastic. If you read her policy, that includes water treatment center and next generation GPS, and roads and bridges and tunnels and ports. There's no question that it's going to lead to more jobs.
Secretary Clinton has talked about how literally infrastructure is the best multiplier of GDP -- GDP growth. So I think, actually, she has a great policy. I'm just hopeful that the American people will look at it clearly, who has the best economic policy for the future, and I think it's going to be clear that the secretary has it.
COSTELLO: All right. Robert Wolf, I have to leave it there. Thanks, sir, for being with me this morning.
WOLF: Well, it's my birthday, so the pleasure was all mine.
COSTELLO: Well, happy birthday from all of CNN.
WOLF: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Thank you so much.
WOLF: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Hulk Hogan facing cross- examination in a sex tape trial now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:41:47] COSTELLO: At least nine people are hurt after a packed commuter train derails and plunges into a creek in northern California. New pictures this morning of the wreckage. Officials say the train apparently struck a tree that had fallen in the middle of the tracks.
CNN's Dan Simon live in San Francisco with more. Good morning.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. That was a scary situation. You had firefighters punching out windows to rescue passengers. The bay area, it had some really heavy storms yesterday and it caused a tree to go down on these tracks. And that's what ultimately led to this train derailment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SIMON (voice-over): Breaking overnight, a harrowing scene of panic and chaos. A packed commuter train derailing 45 miles east of San Francisco after hitting a downed tree on the tracks, sending a train car full of passengers plunging into a swollen creek.
JAY VIJAYEN, TRAIN PASSENGER: I realized something was wrong so I started -- I held on to the rails and right then the train flipped over.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was thrown out of my seat.
SIMON: All 214 aboard miraculously managing to make it off the train alive. Officials saying nine injured, four critically, but not life- threatening.
SGT. J.D. NELSON, ALAMEDA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: I've never seen anything like this. It was absolutely chaotic, absolutely chaotic. You can only imagine the terror and the angst that went through their mind when that was going on. Very fortunately nobody was killed in this incident.
SIMON: Rescue crews fighting the creek's fast-moving currents throughout the night to pull riders to safety.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's scary. It's still scary. But, you know, somebody was watching over us tonight. Everybody got out and everybody is going to hopefully be OK.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIMON: Well, again, no life threatening injuries, but obviously a lot of rattled nerves, Carol. There's not going to be any train service along that route. As you can imagine those crews work to get things cleaned up. Back to you.
COSTELLO: All right. Dan Simon reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.
Checking some other top stories for you at 43 minutes past. It's now been exactly two years since Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared. It took off from Kuala Lumpur, heading for Beijing and was never seen again. 239 people were onboard. Today is also the deadline for family members to file suit against the airline.
The funeral for former first lady Nancy Reagan will be held this Friday in California. The White House says First Lady Michelle Obama will be in attendance. Mrs. Reagan will lie in repose tomorrow and Thursday at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. After Friday's funeral she'll be buried next to her husband on the library grounds.
And several companies including Nike and Porsche are suspending their multimillion dollar deals with tennis superstar Maria Sharapova. This is after Sharapova admitted to failing a drug test of this year's Australian Open.
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MARIA SHARAPOVA, PROFESSOR TENNIS PLAYER: I know that with this I face consequences, and I don't want to end my career this way, and I really hope that I will be given another chance to play this game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Sharapova says she began taking meldonium back in 2006 after an irregular EKG. She says she didn't realized it was declared a banned substance at the start of 2016.
[10:45:03] Still to come in the NEWSROOM, if you have watched a Trump rally, you know three words, get him out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Oh, we have protester. We have a protester. We have a -- out. Out. Bye. Go home to mommy. Go home to mommy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: "Get them out." Those words becoming Donald Trump's newest rallying cry.
Here's more from CNN's Gary Tuchman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A Donald Trump rally about to begin in Concord, North Carolina. The crowd eagerly anticipating his arrival. And in the back of the room, a man wearing this T-shirt.
MICHAEL MORTON, TRUMP RALLY PROTESTER: This man doesn't deserve to have the launch code to nuclear weapons. He can't even control his Twitter account.
TUCHMAN: It would have been likely this protester would get booted out during this rally, but it didn't happen because he got booted out before the rally.
Call it a preemptive strike against one of the increasing number of Donald Trump demonstrators. It's happening at Trump rallies with increasing frequency and often playing out quite dramatically.
[10:50:07] TRUMP: Yes, get that guy out of here, police. Thank you. Get them out. Come on. Get them out. Get them out of here. Out. Get out of here, please. Get him out. Out, out, out, out.
TUCHMAN: At today's event Trump spoke for 40 minutes and was interrupted from the beginning to the end.
TRUMP: Oh, we have a protester. We have a protest. We have a -- out. Out. Bye. Go home to mommy. Go home to mommy. Tell her to tuck you in bed. Bye-bye.
TUCHMAN: The U.S. Secret Service protects Trump, but private security is increasingly evident at the rallies to keep a check on outside agitators. With local law enforcement in place to aid private security when people are kicked out. The sheriff department here saying this is considered a private event and the campaign has the right to do this.
(On camera): What do you think about that he wants to get people out of here who --
MARIA COLEMAN, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I love his comment on punching. Back in the old days when you could punch them right in the nose and them carry them out on a stretcher.
(LAUGHTER)
COLEMAN: That's fine with me.
TRUMP: Bye-bye. Good job, fellows. I'd like to punch them in the face, I'll tell you. TUCHMAN (voice-over): Other presidential candidates have people
kicked out of their rallies, too, but the Trump campaign takes it to a whole new level, and the real estate mogul who says he will, quote, "be a unifier" as president seems to revel and egging on supporters who boo and cheer those getting the hee-ho.
TRUMP: So if you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donald Trump is a leader. He can do what he wants.
TUCHMAN (on camera): There are people who find it rather unlikely that Donald Trump will ever be a unifier. But in a sense he has already proven that he is. At this rally and many others, he has unified the minority of people who love him against the minority of people most avidly don't.
(Voice-over): At this rally we saw at least nine different groups of people kicked out during Trump's speech. An average of one every 4.5 minutes.
KITTY RICHARDSON, TRUMP SUPPORTER: If you're going to both demonstrate against him, yes, you need to go.
TUCHMAN (on camera): So you think it's OK for Donald Trump to --
RICHARDSON: Yes. He can do anything he wants to. He's our future president.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): The final ejection? During Trump's final words.
TRUMP: So we're going to start winning again. We're going to win a lot. I love you. Go out and vote.
TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, Concord, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, he's known for being one of the toughest guys in the ring, but what about the courtroom? Hulk Hogan on the stand now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:56:57] COSTELLO: Hulk Hogan faces cross examination in day two of his sex tape trial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERRY BOLLEA, FORMER PRO-WRESTLER "HULK HOGAN": I was in character and I embellished a little bit about the number of women.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. So when you made that statement to TMZ, was that you, Terri Bollea, or was that you, Hulk Hogan? BOLLEA: I was totally Hulk Hogan because I wasn't at home in my
private house.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: A live picture from inside the courtroom right now where Hogan is suing Gawker Media for $100 million.
Alina Machado is in Miami following the story for us. Hi, Alina.
ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol, so far this trial has been anything but typical. We've heard details about the circumstances surrounding the infamous sex tape involving Hulk Hogan and the wife of one of his former best friend.
Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, has been on the stand since yesterday afternoon. His attorneys have tried to draw a distinct between Bollea the man and Hulk Hogan the character, trying to humanize the man behind the bandana by having him talk about his soft spoken nature and his children.
Hogan, as you mentioned, wants $100 million from Gawker saying their decision to publish a portion of the sex tape humiliated him. Attorneys for the Web site have spent much of their time asking Bollea about different statements he made to various media outlet about the sex tape honing in on a number of inconsistencies in those statements.
And at one point yesterday Bollea acknowledged that he had lied when he said in a media interview that he had watched the video published by Gawker. But he also explained that he was probably in, quote, "Hulk Hogan mode," and not speaking as Bollea.
Today cross-examination has continued with a very similar theme and here's part of his testimony from just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You felt comfortable sharing publicly that you had a number of women between the time your marriage to Linda ended and your relationship with your new wife commenced. Is that fair to say?
BOLLEA: I felt comfortable saying those words, yes, because it was Hulk Hogan and I was just embellishing about it instead of having a couple of girls -- a bunch of girls. I was just being Hulk Hogan in character.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACHADO: And that testimony may play into one of Gawker's main points that posting a portion of the sex tape was protected by the First Amendment because Bollea himself has made his sex life a matter of public interest.
Bollea continues on the stand right now. This trial is expected to last about three weeks -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Alina Machado, reporting live from Miami.
And again, Hulk Hogan is suing for $100 million. Gawker in the crossfire. We'll have to see what happens.
Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello. "AT THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND BOLDUAN" starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You look at the things that Cruz did.
CRUZ: It's neck and neck right now. I'm encouraged. I think momentum is surging our direction.
