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Reports of Third-Party Recruiting Amid GOP Unity Pact; Sanders Predicts Win in Kentucky; At Least 10 Killed on Baghdad Gas Plant Explosion; Interview with Louise Sunshine; Obama Delivers Rutgers Graduation Speech; Biden and Attend College Graduation Ceremony in Pennsylvania; Pope Francis Opens Door to Female Deacons. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired May 15, 2016 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:45] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again, thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
If you can't beat them, join them? Well, that could be the Republican Party's rallying cry today about Donald Trump with more conservative leaders saying they will work towards party unity. But one faction is countering with new reports of a third party launch.
The "Washington Post" reports that Mitt Romney and a, quote, "band of exasperated Republicans" is drafting an independent candidate who could beat Trump. Among those recruited, another billionaire, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. In an e-mail to CNN, Cuban said, quote, "It would have to be fun -- it would have been fun, rather, to run against Donald but as a third party it's too late," end quote.
And although the Donald Trump campaign was dogged by a new controversy surrounding his past and his policies, we heard a lot of political leaders and pundits this week say Trump supporters simply don't care.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REINCE PRIEBUS, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: All these stories that come out and they come out every couple of weeks, people just don't care.
It's a little bit odd but I will just tell you that I think of all of the things facing this country right now and after being through this primary for a year, I can assure you that that particular issue is not going to move the electorate.
JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: This is a media thing. A New York-Washington media deal here. And people out here in the real world who are trying to earn a living, who are concerned about their jobs, their health care, et cetera, they could care less about it.
PAUL MANAFORT, TRUMP CAMPAIGN CONVENTION MANAGER: This is an issue that the media is interested in. It's not an issue that middle America is interested in.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: All right. Let's talk more about this with our political panel. Brian Morgenstern is a Republican strategist, Ellis Henican is a political analyst and author of "The Party is Over."
All right. Good to see you, guys. All right. So shall we interpret here that there is this sentiment that voters don't really worry or care about the content but this is about showmanship, Brian?
BRIAN MORGENSTERN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Maybe to some extent. I mean, based on the results of the primary. I think Reince Priebus's assessment that it's a little bit odd is maybe the understatement of the week.
Look, in terms of a third party recruitment, I understand where some of the senior leaders are coming from in trying to come to grips with the outcome of the primary, but ultimately it will have the efficacy of a Ted Cruz filibuster. It might feel really good but it's not really going to accomplish much. You're not going to get anybody able to run at this late hour. And even if they did, of course, you know, nobody expects a third party candidate to be able to win. It would siphon off some votes, probably more from the Republican Party than the Democrats. So it wouldn't really have any, you know, practical effects with any benefit.
WHITFIELD: So, Ellis, is this a side bar issue or is it a legitimate concern that there may be this, you know, band of conservatives, band of Republicans who are thinking, talking about this third party?
ELLIS HENICAN, POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's the real deal. And it's a symptom. I mean, Brian is right. Third party not very, very unlikely to win but boy, you could cause a lot of trouble, couldn't you? Which is one of the reasons I'm smiling at it. I mean, exasperation may not be the best emotion with which to launch a presidential bid, but let me tell you, you sure can turn over the furniture if you throw a third person into a two-person race. I think it's probably good for the Dems.
WHITFIELD: All right. So among the names, who do you think, Ellis?
HENICAN: I don't think any of these are real. I mean, Mark Cuban, you just heard say no. I know that Marco Rubio, John Kasich, I mean, all the -- also Rand is being mentioned. I mean, you've got to get down to some pretty second and third string players. Ben Sass, the Republican senator, freshman senator from Nebraska, his name prominent on this list. But let me tell you, if that's where you're going, I don't think that's going to have too much of a bang.
WHITFIELD: And Brian, House Speaker Paul Ryan, you know, renewing his promise to, quote, "find some common ground." Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: As you know I had a long meeting with Donald Trump. I and our party leaders in the House had a long meeting with Donald Trump on Thursday. Thought it was a very productive meeting. It was the first meeting we've really had, other than a phone call in March.
[15:05:03] And so we're beginning the process of discussing what unity looks like in the Republican Party and as I said before, this takes some time. This isn't done with a couple of meetings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, so, Brian, you first. Does it sound like he -- you know, he's really just kind of ruminating, wanting to take his time or is he also feeling the pressure, you know, as the leading, you know, elected party member that he's supposed to endorse and should, you know, take the potential presumptive nominee under his wing?
MORGENSTERN: Yes, I mean, it's certainly part of it. He's getting it from both sides here. You've got the Trump people saying you're a leading Republican, you've got to get behind the nominee. This is crazy town that you're not doing that. And then on the other side it's the, you know, never Trump Republicans who have been campaigning on sort of a consistent policy agenda versus personality, and so they are the ones saying, hey, you have to stand up for us and stand up against Trump. So, you know, damned if he does, damn if he doesn't. He's in a tough spot and he's trying to walk that tight rope.
WHITFIELD: And Ellis?
HENICAN: Well, listen, I'm a cynic about this. I think most of this is theater. Eventually most of these guys are going to come around, even Paul Ryan. But it does imply a deeper problem here. I mean, there's an awful lot of Republicans -- I don't know if Brian wants to raise his mind on this one. But there are a lot of Republicans who are really uncomfortable with this guy. And you know, it's kind of hard to swallow all the awful stuff that's been said about him and pretend he's your big buddy come convention day.
WHITFIELD: All right. OK. Well, I'll give you a chance, Brian. What do you think?
MORGENSTERN: I was going just to throw in a bit of history that now that all these third party recruitment things are going on, think back to when Bill Clinton was elected in 1992 with like 42 percent of the popular vote because Ross Perot got like 19 percent. That's what the third party recruitment, you know, efforts would be looking like, presumably. It's just, you know, siphoning off a bunch of votes and then have probably the Democrat win the general with some weird low number of popular votes.
HENICAN: And I'm OK with that, by the way.
MORGENSTERN: Right.
HENICAN: It's OK. That's all right.
WHITFIELD: All right. Brian Morgenstern, Ellis Henican, thanks so much, guys. Appreciate it.
HENICAN: Good to see you. MORGENSTERN: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: All right. Up next, Hillary Clinton pushing her agenda hard today in Kentucky ahead of Tuesday's primary. 55 delegates are at stake as the frontrunner tries to stop Bernie Sanders' momentum.
Plus my one-on-one conversation with Louise Sunshine, one of Donald Trump's former executives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOUISE SUNSHINE, FRIEND AND FORMER TRUMP ORGANIZATION VP: See, Donald doesn't distinguish between women and men. He distinguishes -- he looks for talent. He looks for trustworthy talent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:10:59] WHITFIELD: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders drumming up votes in Kentucky ahead of Tuesday's primary. Clinton looking for a win in the 55 pledged delegates that come along with it. A victory for her would go a long way in slowing Sanders' moments up coming off his two-state winning street last week. She spent her morning visiting two churches before later holding a rally to try to appeal to Kentucky's working class.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I'm the only candidate who's actually put on the table a plan for coal country. A $30 billion plan. Because I don't think we should leave behind the people who have turned on the lights and powered the factories of the United States for a century.
We also got to make incomes rise. We're going to raise the minimum wage at the level because nobody should be making $7.25 an hour.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Scott McLean is covering developments on the trail and joins us now from Washington with more on this.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so, Fredricka, Hillary Clinton trying to make good with coal country there because some comments that she made or earlier made for some pretty uncomfortable moments so far.
In the CNN town hall in March Clinton said as president she would put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business. Now she later apologized but she's gotten a frosty reception in part of West Virginia's coal country, a state that she lost just last week. Now it's something she doesn't want to repeat in Kentucky.
And despite the fact that Clinton has a nearly insurmountable delegate lead, this afternoon she took a shot at her opponent, Bernie Sanders, repeating a claim that Sanders disputes that he didn't support the auto bailout. But Donald Trump is still enemy number one for her. She had a few jabs for Trump on his economic policy but specially on his recent suggestion that he would be open to allowing Japan and South Korea to have their own nuclear weapons to protect themselves from North Korean aggression.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: And along comes Donald Trump, and said, well, he doesn't care, let them all have nuclear weapons. He says he would use nuclear weapons. This is -- this is scary, dangerous talk. This is a talk of a loose cannon, who is making statements and creating confusion. We can't afford that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCLEAN: So, Fredricka, Bernie Sanders is also campaigning today in Kentucky making the case again that he would be the stronger candidate to take on Donald Trump in a general election. Sanders is looking to win four states in a row if he can capture victories there in Kentucky and in Oregon. Both states are voting on Tuesday. But Hillary Clinton, she's campaigning hard to try to prevent that. She has four events today across the state and then she's going to have another three tomorrow -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. CNN's Scott McLean, thank you so much.
I want to bring in executive director of the New York state Democratic Party, Basil Smikle.
Good to see you, Basil.
BASIL SMIKLE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Good to see you.
WHITFIELD: All right. So Clinton would like to put away Sanders, we mean that -- meaning she wants to win ahead of him and focus on, you know, the general election. But look at this map. Sanders, you know, keeps winning these states, including the last two primaries last week. So why is she having such a hard time winning or does it say something about the states that Sanders has been winning?
SMIKLE: Well, listen, I think -- well, some of the states that Sanders has been winning have been caucus states and, you know, he's done very well with that. But that aside, I do think that she has always said this was going to be a competitive race. And I think the fact that both are being very competitive right down to the wire is great for the party because what it does is it energizes the base, it energizes a lot of folks that we need to come out as head of the party and state to come out down ballot -- for the down ballot races into November.
[15:15:02] But I think for her, you know, I -- you know, she is fighting a really, really tough race and she has become a tremendous candidate even with Bernie Sanders, you know, still in this race. But, you know, for her there isn't as much of a path -- well, for him you don't really see the path to victory there. So, you know, I think, you know, she's going to campaign hard right down to California and New Jersey.
WHITFIELD: Yes. Except you underscored it. You know, the message with that word fighting. I mean, we heard from Scott McLean, too. Hillary Clinton is fighting for support in Kentucky. Sanders is rallying this weekend. He's pretty confident about his chances in fact. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nobody would have believed that we would receive well over nine million votes at this point in the campaign. And very few people would have believed that this coming Tuesday we're going to win a great victory right here in Kentucky.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So back in 2008, it was Hillary Clinton that did fairly well. You know, she won Kentucky but then those coal comments didn't help and then you heard from what sounds like a very confident Bernie Sanders. How do you see the potential outcome?
SMIKLE: Well, I'm sure he's going to exude confidence in his campaign speeches, but the truth is that she's got more than three million votes over him at this juncture in this -- in the primary cycle. So, you know, and I talked about fighting before. You know, I mean, I would -- I would underscore it as well in saying that she has never taken this race for granted and she will continue to ask voters for their support in every state that she's going to and campaign heavily there.
Listen, I don't begrudge the Sanders campaign or supporters for continuing to go down -- you know, to make every primary worthwhile and to actually go out there and talk about their messaging, but at the same time, my biggest concern is that at some point assuming that the math doesn't work in his favor as we get to the end of this primary cycle that there is a unifying message and I think that's what Hillary Clinton has been doing and talking about over the last couple of weeks to look forward and try to unify the party.
WHITFIELD: OK, and then a Quinnipiac poll released Tuesday showed Sanders, you know, was doing much better than Clinton particularly in the battleground states against Donald Trump in the general election. We can see, you know, that Hillary Clinton is thinking about -- and focusing on the general election and Donald Trump but in this matchup or in some of these matchups, you know, against Bernie Sanders, Bernie Sanders has to feel fairly I guess motivated by the outcomes.
SMIKLE: Well, you know, I'm not sure because I remember the Democratic debate in Brooklyn when -- all eyes were focused here in New York, and it seemed like Senator Sanders sort of took a dig at Hillary for the kind of support she had, only the southern states. Well, guess what, we've got one coming up. And you know, she has had victories in these southern states that show she's got some, you know, broad support across the country. And look, I think in -- from the campaign's perspective and I think
from the mindset of voters as you've now seen Donald Trump become the nominee and whether he attempts to walk back a lot of his comments from before, it's an interesting dance that he's doing in along the way to do that. But as you start to -- as he becomes the presumptive nominee of his party I think voters generally are going to focus a lot on the general election matchup.
I don't really trust a lot of polls right now with respect to that, but I do think voters are starting to sort of shift their mindset to November. And that's why you Hillary I think try to have both a message for her match-up against Donald Trump but also a unifying message for the party.
WHITFIELD: OK. Basil Smikle, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Good to see you.
SMIKLE: Good to be here. Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, a massive explosion at a gas plant in Baghdad. ISIS claiming responsibility. We'll talk about that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:22:59] WHITFIELD: A massive explosion and just outside of Baghdad. ISIS claiming its militants attacked a gas plant there killing at least 10 people. As CNN's Ian Lee explains, Iraqi Security Forces are being criticized for their response.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IAN LEE, CNN NEWSROOM: Fireballs lit up the early morning sky north of Baghdad after ISIS launched a deadly attack at a gas plant. Two attack helicopters from a nearby base helped repel the attack. More than 10 guards were killed.
This attack sparked harsh criticism from Baghdad's governor, Ali al- Tamimi. He slammed the chief of the plant for failing to provide adequate protection. He pointed to the inappropriate number of guards and their light weaponry, no match compared with ISIS' firepower and tactics. He called for an overhaul of the plant security to protect the facility, which is important economically, for the services it provides, and geographical location.
The plant is just north of the capital along the road that leads to the ISIS stronghold of Mosul. Another failure of the attack, he says, was the delayed response by Iraqi Security Forces, their Special Forces. The governor called for security leaders to be replaced after it took the forces two and a half hours to respond.
This latest attack underscores two important points. First, a change in ISIS tactics while the terror group faces battlefield losses over the past few weeks, sleeper cells have increased the number of attacks in territory controlled by Iraqi security forces. Second, it highlights the failure of security forces to root out ISIS in that area.
Ian Lee, CNN, Cairo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: After the break, Donald Trump, the mentor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUNSHINE: He was never a boss. He was a leader. It's a lot different to have a boss than a leader. He was a leader. He taught me. He mentored me. He showed me the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[15:25:00] WHITFIELD: My exclusive face-to-face with one of the billionaire businessman's most prominent former execs and current supporters next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Hello, again, and thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
Donald Trump mentored many people on his way to becoming a billionaire. And now as the presumptive Republican nominee, some of those who know him best are coming forward to talk about what kind of business leader he was and what kind of president he just could be.
I recently sat down face-to-face for an exclusive interview with former business executive Louise Sunshine at her Miami home and she talked about her admiration for not only Donald Trump but for the Clintons.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUNSHINE: Are we ready?
WHITFIELD (voice-over): No longer working with real estate mogul and now presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, Louise Sunshine believes he would bring the same kind of leadership to the White House.
(On camera): So describe the Donald Trump that you know.
SUNSHINE: The Donald Trump that I know is a very skilled, intelligent, incredibly determined, very successful and very charming and brilliant businessman, marketer, and to me, a very loyal friend.
WHITFIELD (voice-over): Sunshine, who would have been confined by a very low glass ceiling in the late 1970s.
SUNSHINE: The ceiling then could have been two feet high.
WHITFIELD: Credits Trump for some of the first ceiling cracks, bringing her on board. Sunshine eventually rising to executive rank. She's proud of his new ascension.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We love Albany, right?
SUNSHINE: But he must have people around him who, A, are totally familiar with the issues, B, have a great deal of experience in foreign policy, national policy, local governments, the way Washington operates.
[15:30:19] I mean, I think he will bring something that the United States has never had ever.
WHITFIELD (on camera): So you're voting for Donald Trump?
SUNSHINE: You're not supposed to ask me that question because I'm a lifelong Democrat. I've been a Democrat since the day I went into politics.
WHITFIELD: And you know the Clintons.
SUNSHINE: I do know them very well and admire them.
WHITFIELD: And what do you admire about them? Do you like Hillary Clinton, the candidate?
SUNSHINE: I thought -- I thought Bill Clinton was a brilliant president. I spent a lot of time in the White House when the Clintons were there. I think Hillary is -- I mean, Hillary, how old is Hillary?
WHITFIELD: She's -- I'd like to say seasoned.
SUNSHINE: Right, so I'm seasoned, too. And I think watching Hillary and her energy and her knowledge. I mean, she can speak to any issue at any time and knows exactly what she's talking about. I totally identify with Hillary.
WHITFIELD: In what ways?
SUNSHINE: In that she's been a great mother, a great wife. And an outstanding brilliant woman who's written books, taught, been involved in a lot of charities and she's been a leader. She is a leader.
WHITFIELD: Do you see her as being presidential?
SUNSHINE: Definitely. No question about it. And you know, the comments that are made about her, in terms of her marriage, I think what's a woman supposed to do? Half of the men in the world cheat on their wives. And you know what, what does a woman do? She either stands by her man or she gets a divorce.
WHITFIELD: So Donald Trump called her an enabler.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And Hillary was an enabler and she treated these women horribly. Just remember this. And some of those women were destroyed not by him, but by the way that Hillary Clinton treated them after everything went down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SUNSHINE: I think she handled it beautifully. And if -- maybe he thinks she was an enabler but I think she was fabulous.
WHITFIELD: Would you want to see a woman in the White House?
SUNSHINE: I would want to see a woman anywhere. I mean, I think women are tremendous. I think women are intuitive. They multitask. They are smart.
WHITFIELD: Couple of other things, would you consider Donald Trump a flip-flopper when he says banning Muslims --
SUNSHINE: No.
WHITFIELD: -- in one step and now he says well, it was a suggestion? Does that make him a flip-flopper? Should people trust his word?
SUNSHINE: He is not a flip-flopper. What he is is -- what was it that you said on page 5 of his book? I'm going to play that I am --
WHITFIELD: "Sometimes it pays to be a little wild."
SUNSHINE: Right. That is that. He was being a little wild or a lot wild. A lot of the outrageous things -- wild things that he said you will see him being different.
WHITFIELD (voice-over): Just as Trump himself states in the "Art of the Deal," "The point is that if you are a little different or a little outrageous or if you do things that are bold or controversial, the press is going to write about you." He says, "All press is good press."
But Sunshine did want to set the record straight on that "Washington Post" report last fall. Revealing Trump had a so-called fat picture of Sunshine that he would bring out from time to time.
SUNSHINE: As a friend, he would simply show me a picture and say, you know, you look beautiful. This is a beautiful picture of you. And I would get the point that maybe I looked better as a size six than a 14. And I thought it was like so fabulous that he did that because today I keep pictures around of myself -- never.
[15:35:09] I considered it the nicest thing somebody could do for you. How many friends do you have would do that?
WHITFIELD: She doesn't recall Trump doing that with male employees. Still she maintains he's not sexist and uses ear plugs when he says something she believes is absurd.
TRUMP: I don't know what I said --
WHITFIELD (on camera): Things that you say are ear plug moments, doesn't it say something about Donald Trump? Does it say something about his character? Does it say something about how far he's willing to go to get attention or to deflect from issues, any of that in your view?
SUNSHINE: For me, what it says is, here goes Donald being outrageous to get the media to talk about him for the next two weeks nonstop. That's what it says.
WHITFIELD: So it says less about him in your view and more about those who pay attention.
SUNSHINE: Right.
WHITFIELD: To these things and latch on to them.
SUNSHINE: Bravo.
WHITFIELD: And give it a life of its own.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. So who will Louise Sunshine vote with this fall? 68-year-old Clinton or 69-year-old Trump? No answer. She says she'll decide after the conventions.
You also will want to stick around for next hour. I'll have more on my face-to-face exclusive interview with Louise Sunshine including her reaction to Trump's past controversial comments on women and what it was like as a female executive working with him for years. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:40:24] WHITFIELD: All right. It's graduation day for many students across the U.S. but two ceremonies in particular are getting a whole lot of attention and security.
President Obama delivering the commencement speech at Rutgers University in New Jersey and Vice President Biden and Donald Trump are simultaneously attending a commencement in Pennsylvania. Biden's granddaughter and Trump's daughter both attended University of Pennsylvania and today they graduate.
President Obama didn't mince worse when he went after Trump telling students at Rutgers, saying that ignorance is not a virtue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I guess it's part of human nature, especially in times of change and uncertainty, to want to look backwards and long for some imagery past when everything worked, and the economy hummed and all politicians were wise and every child was well mannered and America pretty much did whatever it wanted around the world. Guess what? It ain't so.
The good old days weren't all that good. But I say it to point out that change has been a constant in our history and the reason America is better is because we didn't look backwards. We didn't fear the future. We seized the future and made it our own.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Joining me right now is CNN's Ryan Nobles at the White House and Kristen Holmes is at Penn.
So, Ryan, you first.
RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka, interesting to listen to President Obama there find a way to tailor his message to the graduates at Rutgers University and at the same time go after the Donald Trump campaign without ever specifically mentioning Trump by name.. You heard that clip from him there where he was talking about how the good old days weren't all that good.
President Obama really making a veiled threat at the Trump campaign's make America great campaign slogan. President Obama arguing that by almost every measure, America is much better than it was when even he graduated from college and he really challenged the graduates at Rutgers University to attack the problems of the future and he said the only way that you can do that is by engaging people from different viewpoints and different perspectives, and that's when he was able to go after Donald Trump's proposal to build a wall on the border with Mexico.
But it wasn't just that. He talked about Donald Trump's free trade plans. He also talked about Trump's just general approach to the campaign as a whole. And he really challenged the graduates there at Rutgers and he said it was up to them to decide who their leaders are and that they need to get engaged and at the very least vote reminding them that apathy has consequences -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Ryan, thanks so much.
And Kristen, I'm sure the Secret Service, well, they had their hands full at the ceremony with both a presumptive Republican, you know, presidential nominee there as well as the vice president of the United States there.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, certainly you're right to think they have their hands full. Both men have their own security details and motorcades. We know security has shut down parts of the campus making it difficult to access the graduation site. University officials telling parents and friends of the roughly 1500 students graduating here today to get there pretty early if they want to make it through the security line and actually get into the graduation.
Still no word on whether or not these two men will cross paths today while they are here. You know, could make for an awkward encounter as neither of them are known for their ability to bite their tongues. Joe Biden in particular has had some pretty harsh words for the Republican nominee this election cycle. However, both of them have spoken at length about the importance of family so we'll see if they can put aside the political contention and see the spotlight.
WHITFIELD: All right. Kristen Holmes, thank you so much. And Ryan Nobles, appreciate it.
All right. So known as the Pope of Firsts, Pope Francis may be set to break yet another church tradition. We'll discuss right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:48:16] WHITFIELD: Pope Francis is continuing to break through traditional barriers of the Catholic Church. Calling for a study of review the possibility of ordaining women as deacons. Potentially gesturing a significant shift for the role of women in the male dominated Catholic Church and answering a call that women particularly here in the U.S. have been asking the church to address for decades.
Let's bring in one of those women right now, Bridget Mary Meehan. She is with the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, a movement not association with the Catholic Church. It promotes equal rights for women within the Catholic Church.
Good to see you.
BRIDGET MARY MEEHAN, ASSOCIATION OF ROMAN CATHOLIC WOMEN PRIESTS: Thank you. It's a joy to be here today.
WHITFIELD: Well, thank you so -- thank you so much. So you were excommunicated from the Catholic Church when you became ordained -- an ordained priest back in 2009. So when you first heard this news of the Pope making these kinds of considerations, what went through your mind?
MEEHAN: I think it's a great first step that Pope Francis has taken towards the full equality of women in the Roman Catholic Church that would include deacons, priests, bishops and women in leadership positions. It's about time I must say and in a way it goes full circle to the early days of the church where women were ordained for the first 1200 years of the church's history. So it's really a positive and wonderful direction.
And we in the Roman Catholic Women Priest Movement are excited because it could be a moment of a promise for a dialogue with the Pope on dropping our excommunication status. And really honoring our privacy of conscience because we feel it's our mission to develop communities that are inclusive where all the gifts of the people are honored and drawn forth in a welcoming community that excludes no one.
[15:50:13] WHITFIELD: And so what's your feeling as to why the Vatican feels like a study needs to be done to allow women to serve as deacons?
MEEHAN: Well, I think they begin there. Actually, the truth is, for the last 30 years, the studies have been done. And for the first 900 years it is well-documented that women were deacons. The ordination rite for male and female deacons was basically the same. And the interesting thing is, the Vatican's own pontifical commission in 1976 concluded that there's no evidence in scripture whatsoever to exclude or to prohibit women from being ordained. So in a way, you know, they just have to read their own archives and
read the contemporary feminist scholars and historians who have done all the work for them and then they will rediscover their own history which is all refreshing.
WHITFIELD: And do you get a feeling that Pope Francis is trying to modernize the Catholic Church or take it to, you know, a different place?
MEEHAN: Yes. I think Pope Francis really identifies with people on the margins. The poor, the ones who are the least and the last in our society, and make a connection. And I think he's beginning to make the connection that among the poorest in our world are women and their dependent children. So if we discriminate against women in the church, then we have justification for oppression of women in the world.
So it's very connected and the Women Priest Movement is all about transformation of sexism and a new kind of empowerment and partnership with the people. Not a new clericalism. We don't need more clericalism or hierarchy. What we need is to develop a sense of the whole community as gifted and called to use their gifts to build a more just and equal world.
WHITFIELD: Thanks so much for your time, Bridget Mary Meehan.
MEEHAN: You're welcome.
WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is taking steps to win back the trust of Facebook's conservative users. And he's hoping a meeting with Glenn Beck will help. We'll talk about that next.
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[15:56:15] WHITFIELD: All right. Checking our top stories. British police carrying out a controlled explosion at a soccer stadium in northern England this afternoon. They were trying to neutralize a suspicious package. It turns out the package was not a working bomb. But it forced the cancellation of the final game of the year in the English Premier Soccer League.
And Red Hot Chili Peppers' front man Anthony Kiedis has been hospitalized. The band had to cancel their concern in Los Angeles last night. No word yet on why he went to the hospital or his condition.
And Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he is inviting prominent conservatives Glenn Beck and Dana Parino to a meeting at his company's headquarters. The meeting is aimed at discussing accusations the company is suppressing conservative news stories. Facebook says an investigation has turned up no evidence that those allegations are true.
And this year, college graduation season happens to intersect with election season. And at particular graduation ceremony today in Philadelphia attendees are being treated to more than your average pomp and circumstance, which is the subject of Jake Tapper's "State of the Cartoonion."
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JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Congratulations, graduates of the University of Pennsylvania class of 2016. We apologize for all the Secret Service agents here today. Even though you've spent your lives being coddled and told you're very important people, we have here today two actual very important people in attendance.
TRUMP: Everybody knows what a great school it is. Everybody knows that to get into Wharton is probably the hardest school to get into.
TAPPER: That's right, please welcome, Donald Trump. An alumnus of our business school.
TRUMP: I'm really smart. Went to the Wharton School of Finance. Did well at the school. Came out, made a fortune.
TAPPER: Trump is here to celebrate the graduation today of his youngest daughter Tiffany who he says got all A's and is a winner.
TIFFANY TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: His hard work ethic is truly inspiring. Whenever I'm, you know, at school studying these long hours, I see him on TV without any sleep and it just makes me want to continue to work harder.
TAPPER: Also here today, Vice President Joe Biden. Here to celebrate the graduation of his granddaughter Naomi. We'll be trying to keep the vice president and Mr. Trump separated since how this election has played out was not really the stuff of Mr. Biden's dreams.
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think I would have been the best president. But it was the right thing not just for my family, for me.
TAPPER: We considered asking the vice president to give the commencement address today but we did not want to keep you here until the next semester. We did ask Mr. Trump his advice to the students assembled here. He said, there's nothing wrong with the size of his hands.
OK. Anyway, congratulations, graduates.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you very much, Jake Tapper.
All right. We have so much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM and it all starts right now.
All right. Thanks again for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
So two words still dominating the race for the White House this Sunday. Party unity. These headlines are just a small sample of what's out there. And although the Donald Trump campaign was dogged by new controversies this week, House Speaker Paul Ryan is renewing his promise to, quote, "find common ground with the candidate."
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RYAN: As you know, I had a long meeting with Donald Trump. I and our party leaders in the House had a long meeting with Donald Trump on Thursday. Thought it was a very productive meeting. It was the first meeting we've really had other than a phone call in March.
And so we're beginning the process of discussing what unity looks like in the Republican Party and as I said before, this takes some time. This isn't done with a couple of meetings.
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