Return to Transcripts main page

Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Examining the Democratic Nomination Contest; Nuclear Weapons Summit Discussed; Republicans and Donald Trump; New Jobs Numbers. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired April 01, 2016 - 12:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:30:11] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are nowhere near at each other's throats the way the Republican candidates are. Yeah, but that doesn't mean there isn't good old-fashioned knifing going on. I want to show you something, this is Hillary Clinton arguing with a climate change activist on a rope line about accusations that she takes campaign money from "big oil". She calls that a Sanders campaign lie. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you protect- with climate change will you act on your word and reject fossil fuel money in the future in your campaign?

SEC. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do not. I have money from people who work for fossil fuel companies. I am so sick of the Sanders campaign lying about this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Well, Bernie Sanders probably saw that on the news and then he doubled down telling ABC's "Good Morning America" that it is no lie.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not crazy about people disrupting meetings, but the fact of the matter is that Secretary Clinton has taken significant sums of money from the fossil fuel industry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Well, I think the argument there is that they both take individual contributions, but as far as corporations it's a different story. But you can parse it any way up you want.

Professor Larry Sabato is here from the University of Virginia Center for Politics. John Avalon is here, our political analyst and editor- in-chief of "The Daily Beast."

John, if I can begin with you about these sort of two-front battle that Hillary Clinton finds herself in right now. She's having to face someone on a rope line like that and then a sound bite, like that. But at the same time, she is still setting her sights on Donald Trump. Is this an unusual predicament to be in? Is it par for the course?

JOHN AVLON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, DAILY BEAST: It is a little unusual. I mean, certainly the Clinton camp didn't think that Bernie Sanders would be half of -- were leading this kind of protracted fight in the primaries. He's shown much more endurance and it's a measure of the divisions within the Democratic party right now. But of course as the presumptive front runner the Republicans have been -- the one thing that unites this Republican field right now is their fixation with attacking Hillary Clinton.

So, it is an unusual situation for general election style tactics to go in made (ph) a continued primary. But that is one of many odd dynamics this season and part of just what it means to be Hillary Clinton in 2016.

BANFIELD: You know what it mean to be a journalist asking questions of politicians at a time like this you can't ask hypotheticals because nobody will answer them. Since you are not politicians I'm throwing some hypotheticals up there.

In the way of your fantastic work, Professor Sabato, you put out a great piece, it's called the, "the long way to November" but for the moment the GOP is the under dog. I want to put up a map up if I can. And this is your crafting. It is show's -- it's a little complicated. So, you'll have to start to walk us through it Professor Sabato, but it effectively shows what the electoral map would be right now if we all went to the polls right now. And I want to know what you sort of -- what you put in to this, what would were the metrics that you used. And before you get to the metrix, explain what those colors effectively mean.

LARRY SABATO, DIR. CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIV. OF VIRGINIA: Yes, the darker the red, the more likely the state is to vote Republican. In this case for Donald Trump that was our projected map was Clinton versus Trump. The darker the blue, the more likely the state is to vote for the Democrats, in this case Hillary Clinton.

So you can interpret it that way or I can summarize it for you very quickly which is that if the election were now Hillary Clinton would win effectively a landslide in the Electoral College. She would have 347 electoral votes. You need 270 to win. Donald Trump would be below where Mitt Romney was. Trump would be at 191.

So that's the essence of it. Since we did this map a year ago, for a generic Democrat and generic Republican, the movement has been all in the direction of the Democrats. The generic now ...

BANFIELD: Is it polling? Did you use pooling or what did you use to come up with these numbers?

SABATO: Three, there are three metrics, national polling, the national polling averages we don't use any particular poll. We use nuclear politics and pop codes polling averages, individual state polls where they exist where you have a clear Trump versus Clinton match up (inaudible) where we multi-polls taken over sometime. And third, the demographics of a state. How is the state changing, the growth of the Hispanic vote for example. That's an important metric.

BANFIELD: That's was interesting. Just to agree with you, it's hard to see with the little numbers there but Democrats either likely, or leaning or absolutely safe had 347 Electoral College votes to Republicans 191 again, states likely are leaning. But I think the interesting stories are the states, those swing states that are all likely were leaning Democrat at this point.

[12:35:09] It's great to do that. We'll have to see if it changes though because, you know, it's a lifetime. A week can be a lifetime in this kind of race.

SABATO: For sure.

BANFIELD: John Avlon and Larry Sabato, thank you both. Great to see you. Have a great weekend.

AVLON: Thank you.

SABATO: All right, thank you Ashley.

BANFIELD: Coming up next, we're going to decidedly change the tone here, terrorists pursuing nuclear weapons, tyrants testing missiles with reckless abandon. The world is more dangerous than ever, which is why delegations from dozens and dozens of nations are huddled with our president, President Obama right now for a nuclear summit. So, how do you suppose it is going? A live update from Washington next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:40:10] BANFIELD: Dozens of world leaders meeting right now in Washington weighing on the state of global nuclear security. Today, the spotlight is on nuclear terrorism. Experts are alarmed over the very real threat posed by groups like ISIS.

President Obama, who's hosting his final summit, said it's critical to make sure nuclear material does not fall in to the wrong hands. Our White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski is at that in Washington something still concerning the Belgian authorities had a videotape of a nuclear official inside the apartment of one of those people involved in the cell that attacked Paris. That sounds like a terrible nexus. And I can only imagine it's first and foremost at this summit.

MICHELE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I mean, things like that. We are talking hours of surveillance of a top nuclear science. Leading people to think, well, was there a plot then to attack a nuclear facility to try to get their hands on nuclear material? But a summit like this is generally talking about the kind of missile material, things to make a nuclear bomb, highly enriched uranium, separated plutonium. I mean these are the things that are generally held by governments and military, generally already tightly secured and it's only in about two dozen countries. So, you can expect to see a lot of agreements among the nations here

regarding that. But it's the threats you don't really think of all the time, the radiological material that is in hospitals, and industries all over the world, in thousands of sites that many experts think easier target for ISIS to get its hands on. Well, there are groups, industry groups that are meeting at the summit to talk about that threat. And the insider threat. What if someone at a nuclear facility becomes radicalized and becomes a threat? The U.S. is also leading a push to minimize that Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: All right, Michelle, Kosinski for us live in Washington. Thank you.

Coming up next, why are Republican congress members out there saying please don't vote for Trump? They are Republicans. Why are they so afraid of what he could do to them down ballot? We'll going to find out next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:46:12] You remember that time when Senator Lindsey Graham said the Republican party had gone bat blank crazy. He was talking about the unconventional rise of Donald Trump and that was a month ago, even before Donald Trump won South Carolina and then Florida and then Arizona, and racked up 736 delegates. And it kind of makes you wonder what adjective Senator Lindsey Graham is using about his party today.

Plenty of Republicans in congress elected Republicans, that is, are trying to put as much distance right now between themselves and Donald Trump as they can because they see the billionaire as taking a solid gold hammer to the foundation of their party, the GOP and all the people under that ticket below him if he is actually on it. Our senior political reporter Many Raju spoke with a couple of them. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Republican congressman Carlos Curbelo of Florida is in danger of losing his job. And that could be one reason why he wants nothing to do with Donald Trump.

REP. CARLOS CURBELO, (R) FLORIDA: My community knows i have rejected a lot of what Mr. Trump has said. And I think everyone should for that matter.

RAJU: Trump was already making a lot of House Republicans nervous. But in the aftermath of the blunt billionaire's latest comments, that women should be prosecuted if abortions were outlawed, some strategists in both parties believe that Trump nomination could lead to something once viewed impossible, Democrats retaking the house in November. Some vulnerable Republicans are quickly abandoning the GOP front runner.

REP BOB DOLD, (R) ILLINOIS: I said before I'll say it and again, this is not someone I support. For me it is personal. RAJU: Democrats need to pick up 30 House seats to overcome the largest

majority in nearly 70 years. Republican leaders hope they can stem their losses. But House races are often dictated by the national move. And with Trump's unruly candidacy, Democrats believe their chances are improving by the day.

REP. BEN RAY LUJAN, (D) NEW MEXICO: Donald Trump is not good for the GOP done ballot. This is now the party of Trump and house republicans are dealing with that every day.

RAJU: And that today, it was a Democrat hoping to oust Curbelo in his Miami area district. She is trying to tie Curbello to Trump's harsh words about Mexican immigrants.

ANNETTE TADDEO, FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC HOUSE CANDIDATE: Many of them that have been eligible to become citizens are becoming citizens so they can vote. So, I'm seeing a lot often enthusiasm for our race.

RAJU: Tom Davis, a former House GOP campaign chairman and John Kasich supporter thinks the party could lose at least 20 seats if Trump is the nominee.

TOM DAVIES:, FORMER HOUSE GOP CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN: I think that's a stretch but it's something you have to worry about if the Trump campaign keeps deteriorate in these areas.

RAJU: Behind the scenes, House Speaker Paul Ryan is moving aggressively telling its members to focus on his party's achievements. Publicly he says he's confident.

REP PAUL RYAN, (R) HOUSE SPEAKER: I'm not concerned about the house flipping because we are in control of our own actions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donald Trump.

RAJU: Trump supporters on Capitol Hill say Republicans should be embracing the real estate mogul instead of running away from, him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People get behind a winner, which is Mr. Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: I can tell you Ashleigh, a lot of House Republicans are nervous about Trump but some senate Republicans are open to running with him including that includes senators Ron Johnson, of Wisconsin, he's in a very top re election race. And Richard Byrd of North Carolina. They said they believe Trump's ability to attract new voters could be good for their own races. And a lot of senate Republicans in particular are worried about Ted Cruz for leading his own politics won't play well in swing states. Plus many senator Republicans want Cruz after the peer relations with his college before they get behind him. So, really just a debate among Republicans on Capitol Hill about how to handle their two leading candidates for president.

BANFIELD: Manu, that's a fascinating time to be you. Ping-ponging between them to hear what they had to say. You have to hear for the secret whispers because that's where the news is really happening. Manu thank you.

RAJU: Thanks Ashleigh.

[12:50:06] BANFIELD: Coming up next. Encouraging news if you need a job. But the news isn't that great for the folks who already have one. What you need about the new unemployment numbers that are fresh off the printing press. We've got them for you and the analysis of what they mean next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: More Americans are going back to work. The Labor Department released that March jobs report this morning and guess what? It was another strong month. Christine Romans has the proof, she's got the goods the numbers CNN's correspondent. We thought we might see about a 190,000 or so jobs. What was it?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESSPONDENT: 215,000 net new jobs. That's a net number. The American labor market is very dynamic. There are people coming in every day, hirings and firings. So, on balance 215,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate, Ashleigh ticks up a little bit to 5. (27).

BANFIELD: Yes. To 2.9 (ph).

[12:55:07] ROMANS: It ticks up because people started coming in to the labor market off the sidelines. That's a good thing. This is one of those times when the unemployment rate rises for a good reason. Because people who have been sidelined or elbowed out of the job mark and haven't been looking for a long time, they look around in all these headlines and say, hey wait, maybe now is the time for me to try and come in and get a job. Wage growth 2.3 percent, a little bit better. I'd like to see it higher than that.

BANFIELD: So, where are the jobs magically appearing all of a sudden, 215,000 that viewers are saying how can get one?

ROMANS: They bare retail jobs, they bare food and restaurant jobs, so, bartenders, clerks, cashiers, will tend to be lower paying jobs which is why you seeing that big push to raise the minimum wage in California and New York. There are construction jobs, that showing the health in the housing market. Health care jobs consistently from doctors to nurses to people who are janitors in health care you are seeing job growth. That last one ...

BANFIELD: Wait what's the last thing (inaudible).

ROMANS: 29,000 jobs lost in manufacturing. This is the most loss in manufacturing since 2009, the bad old days of 2009.

BANFIELD: And that's the kind of number that say, Hillary Clinton struggled in Michigan. Michigan voters were all talking about those jobs. It's the rust belt and these are problematic for people on the campaign trail.

ROMANS: When I tell the world the unemployment rate is 5 percent and voters in those states say we don't care because we lost all of these factories and we've lost good paying jobs. Bartenders and waitresses will not be able to build a new middle class in the Midwest. So, you are right, those numbers as manufacturing numbers incredibly, incredibly important. Millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost because of outsourcing, because of technology and the American economy has been transitioning this higher-skilled, college graduate service- based economy.

BANFIELD: So you could see -- basically you can see two different stories in these numbers. But here's the other story I think a lot of people are confused about. The DOW opened up today, down 100 points I think within the first one hour or so. Is this what you commensurate, did you expect that to happen?

ROMANS: Yes. Here's why. These numbers show resilience in the American labor market. These numbers show that you're creating 200,000- month after month of new jobs. You got an unemployment rate that's 5 percent. You've got people coming in off the sidelines and getting in to the labor market. The DOW fell because investor said, well that means the fed can raise rates this year.

BANFIELD: So, that's just it. It's not going to happen every time nowadays despite what (inaudible) did earlier this week that's going to happen.

ROMANS: That's it.

ROMANS: That if she goes, the market could get shaken if you see signs of strength in the American economy. Because it's going to mean that the fed could start raising in those rates. And that only higher rates at higher borrowing costs.

BANFIELD: So, this is the what I was talking to.

ROMANS: I do, you know, the political (worst) is this. I always say people look at these numbers and see what they want to see. Republicans will look at these numbers and see people who have been moved out of the labor market and say this still isn't good enough. The under employment rate is still almost 10 percent. And that's true, that all the numbers have been getting better. We need to see wage growth better, concerns about manufacturing job growth but this is a solid performance in the American labor market.

For people -- look at this is job growth. Look back to 2009, this is the monthly average each year. For the past few years, we have added millions of job -- eleven -- more than 11 million jobs since President Obama took office. It's not his fault, it's not his credit. It is just the trajectory has been over the past seven years, million of job.

BANFIELD: And that's the way it is. Christine romans you always make it make such perfect sense.

ROMANS: Thank you.

BANFIELD: Thank you.

ROMANS: Have a nice weekend.

BANFIELD: You too.

So, if you were to hear say one of your children say when somebody screws you, screw them back in spades. Go for the jugular so people watching will not want to mess with you. Would you say that is great because that's what our president says?

That is straight from Donald Trump. Two of our remarkable correspondents Maeve Reston, Scott Glover have mined several of Donald Trump's own writings from many of his best-selling books and have pulled out many of his theories, philosophies and direct quote so you can get a good assessment of Donald Trump on Donald Trump.

His own world view from his own perspective. Some of the things may be uncomfortable. For instance, I tried to step back and remember my first shallow reaction, the day I realized it can be smart to be shallow was for me a deep experience. Will this have any affect when so many other things have not? Other candidates could not have weathered these kinds of quotes but Donald Trump is like teflon don. He may even adopt that.

Why is it that the other candidates can't seem to capitalize on that Maeve Reston and Scott Glover are going to join Wolf Blitzer coming up in the next hour to go into these quotes at length and tell you where they found them, and where they think this may go from here.

[13:00:08] Thanks so much for watching everyone. Have a wonderful weekend. Stay tuned. My colleague Wolf Blitzer start right now.