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At This Hour
Mark Cuban: Trump Presidency Could Cause Financial Instability; Clinton Seems to Back Off Some on Bill Clinton in Administration; Has Donald Trump Turned into a Politician; Kasich Reluctant to Support Trump, Say No Way to V.P. Slot; Rubio Launches Bizarre Tweetstorm Against Media; Nevada Dem Party Files Complaint Against Sanders, Dem Chair Receives Death Threats. Aired 11:30a-12p ET
Aired May 17, 2016 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:30] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: In other news about reality shows, Donald Trump's fellow reality show billionaire businessman, Mark Cuban, is sounding the alarm about a possible Trump presidency. The Dallas Mavericks owner and "Shark Tank" star projects Trump's style could lead to huge stock market losses. He says Trump's general unpredictability and lack of specifics on issues could cause financial instability.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK CUBAN, OWNER DALLAS MAVERICKS & SHARK TANK STAR: That uncertainty potentially as the president of the United States, that's the last thing Wall Street wants to hear. I can say with 100 percent certainty that there's a really good chance we could see a huge, huge correction. It could b 20 percent. You know, now with high frequency trading accelerating, you know, strong moves in any direction, it could be worse than that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us now, CNN political commentator and former Obama senior advisor, Dan Pfeiffer; CNN political commentator and Trump supporter, Kayleigh McEnany; and Republican strategist and former chief of staff to the GOP Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, Josh Holmes.
Josh, set aside the fact Mark Cuban says the stock market is going to tank but the other almost of this conversation is that he was the one -- he was one of the names being floated, Mark Cuban, who among other things is known to be a reality TV show star. He was one of the folks that was thought to be maybe the third-party candidate savior. The fact that we are there, right there where he's the guy they're looking to, what does that say?
JOSH HOLMES, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST & FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL: I guess it's trying to out-Trump Trump. That's like basically the only one I can think of that's a reality TV show, can fund his own campaign, and is willing to say absolutely anything at any time. Mark Cuban would fit the bill. Unfortunately, I don't think that's a method that's worked terribly well against Trump.
BERMAN: Kayleigh, I was struck by the oddness of the moment, which is that, you know, we're hearing from other reality show stars about the race for presidency right now. It just seemed like an interesting moment in our history. Granted, Mark Cuban made a lot of money doing different things. He owns the Dallas Mavericks. She won a championship under him. He has a very successful TV show but is all of this now the bar to be president of the United States?
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It does seem a bit strange. I thought Mark's prediction was rather cryptic. The stock markets are going to crash if Donald Trump is president. I mean, that just seems very strange to me. It's also strange to see a reality TV show star commenting on a fellow reality TV star. Nonetheless, I would point mark in Hillary Clinton's direction where she once called the Trans-Pacific Partnership the gold standard of all trade deals. Now, all of a sudden, she's against it. Keystone was inclined to support and now, all of a sudden, she's against it. So if Mark is worried about uncertainty, he should look at Hillary Clinton rather than Donald Trump.
BOLDUAN: Looking at Hillary Clinton, Dan Pfeiffer -- Kayleigh clearly saw where I wanted to go with this conversation. Stop looking at my notes.
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: Well done.
BOLDUAN: Let's take you to the campaign trail, Dan, in Kentucky. Here was Hillary Clinton. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: My husband, who I'm going to put in charge of revitalizing the economy because, you know, he knows how to do it --
(CHEERING)
CLINTON: -- and especially in places like coal country and inner cities and other parts of our country that have really been left out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: So Hillary Clinton says that Bill Clinton is going to be in charge of the economy. Later, she kind of couched it as not part of the cabinet. A little bit here and there on that. Dan, what is she trying to do with this?
DAN PFEIFFER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think if you listen to the full context of what she says, as important as the first part is the second part where she says where and specifically about places in the inner city. She was in Kentucky, coal country, Appalachia, places that have suffered greatly a focused on that. And I think that's a very interesting idea for what I think will be a wide array of things Bill Clinton is involved in. For some segment of voters, they have very fond memories of the Clinton economy in the '90s and it's a chance to bring that back, it's fine. Of course, because we live in the Twitter age of politics, that got taken out of context or attacked from the left and attacked from the right. But the idea that Bill Clinton would focus on his energy, his experience, his knowledge on a set of segments of the economy, inner cities, parts of Appalachia that have been left behind I think is a great idea and it would be a great use of his time while he's there.
BERMAN: Josh, you have that big smile on your face, which indicates to me that either someone is tickling you, or at a minimum, it is ironic about what Hillary Clinton is saying. Which is it?
[11:35:03] HOLMES: The irony is amazing. Here is the pro-woman candidate who is taking the one issue that every single American cares about the most and saying that her husband is going to do it, right? It makes absolutely no sense. She really needs to solidify that answer, and Bill Clinton, look, Bill Clinton is a president from the 1990s. The economy looks a very, very, very lot different than it did back then. This is something that they're going to have to actually try to refine in some way or Trump is really going to kill them on it because nobody is looking to look backwards 20 years in order to get their economic policies in place for today.
BOLDUAN: But, I mean, Bill Clinton did run on the two-for-one tag line. The two-for-one tag line.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: The two-for-one tag line. Look, I'm just saying in a 2016 economy with all the tech advances, all the amazing opportunities we have domestically and abroad to increase our economic output and increase jobs throughout the country, the last thing we need s model that was actually the sort of precipitating effect for a lot of job loss we saw over the last 15 years in the manufacturing sector and beyond. I don't think it's a winning message for her and they need to rethink that.
BERMAN: Kayleigh McEnany, back to Donald Trump. He's going to visit Henry Kissinger tomorrow to talk about foreign policy. He's going to set up a fundraising operation. He just hired a pollster. Is Donald Trump now a politician?
MCENANY: Yes and no. Yes in the sense of he wants to win this election so he has to do what some politicians do, which means hiring pollsters, but no in the sense he's his own man. He will say what he says whether people --
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: He knocks pollsters and now he's hiring one.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: Mocks taking donations from anyone. MCENANY: Sure, but the general election, it's a very surgical
operation. He has to pick off three to four states from the so-called blue wall that the Democrats have won going back 20 years. And it means getting a pollster to figure out what is Hillary Clinton's vulnerabilities in Ohio --
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: "Surgical" means forget what I said before?
MCENANY: No, "surgical" means he wants to win the election. He's going to be him. He's going to be a real candidate off the teleprompter Donald Trump. But if he's going to win the election, he has to hire a pollster.
BOLDUAN: It's like proposal and suggestion of last week.
BERMAN: Suggestion and promise. Understand the new campaign lingo.
Dan Pfeiffer, Kayleigh, McEnany, Josh Holmes, great to have you with us.
BOLDUAN: Thanks, guys.
BERMAN: What sends a former presidential candidate over the edge on Twitter? Marco Rubio unplugged overnight about what he does next. We're going to speak to a source familiar with Marco Rubio's thinking. That's an inside joke really designed only for Marco Rubio.
BOLDUAN: Because he's watching all the time.
BERMAN: Yes.
BOLDUAN: Plus, this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SHOUTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Tension clearly boiling over at the Democratic convention in Nevada. The chairwoman of the Nevada Democratic Party now says that she's getting death threats. Is this a preview of what's in store for the main event in Philadelphia? We have more details on what happened.
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[11:42:22] BOLDUAN: So another non-endorsement for Donald Trump this morning coming from a former Republican rival and the second-to-last- man-standing. Governor John Kasich tells CNN he is currently undecided about backing the presumptive nominee. One big reason he says, his wife and his daughters.
One thing Kasich says he is decided on, the prospect of becoming Trump's V.P. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, A.C. 360: Is that something you would consider? During the campaign you said absolutely not, no way.
JOHN KASICH, (R), OHIO GOVERNOR & FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've not changed my mind on that. Look, I have said all along, I have the second-best job in America.
COOPER: So Donald Trump called you up today and said, look, you got to do this for the country?
KASICH: I'm not inclined to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: All right. Let's bring in Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota, former Republican presidential candidate, who says he will support the nominee.
Governor, I hear John Kasich say I'm not inclined to do that, and to me, that says, abso-freaking-lutely, I'm in, there's a big chance I'd say yes.
BOLDUAN: I disagree. He says no. His top adviser says, no is no, he's not going to take it.
BERMAN: Please settle this for us.
TIM PAWLENTY, (R), FORMER MINNESOTA GOVERNOR & FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Normally, I wouldn't believe any of them but with John Kasich I think it's genuine. I'd say there's a high probability even if asked he wouldn't take it.
BERMAN: That means Kate wins.
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: Just to be clear, you're siding with Kate.
PAWLENTY: Yeah, on this particular issue.
BOLDUAN: Why do you think it's different for others -- why do you think John Kasich is different than others? You know him.
PAWLENTY: John Kasich is somebody who is, not to use an old McCain phrase, but is a bit of a maverick. He's his own thinker, his own person, and he has a resilient and a life compass that's different than your typical politician so I think that's why.
BERMAN: Since you are familiar with the thinking of John Kasich right now --
(CROSSTALK) PAWLENTY: Well, not intimately, no.
BOLDUAN: He's a source close to John Kasich.
BERMAN: He's not endorsing just yet. What do you think is going through his head?
PAWLENTY: I think he has reservations like we all do. Look, many people went and said we're going to support the nominee didn't think be it would be Donald Trump and then Donald Trump has become the nominee. In fairness, when the establishment gets their candidate and they call for the outsiders to join in unity, now the outsiders have one and they're saying establishment, be part of the unity team. But I think John is I saying there's understandable reservations about Donald Trump and he wants to think that through and see if Donald Trump can improve before he puts his support behind him.
BERMAN: But do you think it's inevitable?
PAWLENTY: Probably but not necessarily. A lot depends on what else comes out and behavior between now and the convention or maybe even the fall. But somebody like John Kasich or Paul Ryan can wait and see what happens.
BOLDUAN: Do you think there's any element of this that this is any kind of a power play? I mean, if you look at the great state of Ohio, Donald Trump needs that state. John Kasich won that state big time.
PAWLENTY: Normally, again, yes, but I put John in a separate category.
BOLDUAN: Still?
PAWLENTY: This is somebody who is a person of deep faith. He's a person who is willing to kind of call it like he sees it and take the recriminations for it. He's got his feet on the ground and his compass set, so I think he's going to do the things he thinks is right for the right reasons.
[11:45:20] BERMAN: That's why he was so frustrated with the primary process.
BERMAN: It sounds like John Kasich may have a different perspective on this.
Let's talk about someone else, Marco Rubio, Republican Senator from Florida, former presidential candidate, who had an interesting night on Twitter, OK? There was an article in "The Washington Post" which talked about Marco Rubio and said he was uncertain about what his future might be, right? So Marco Rubio goes on Twitter last night with just ten tweets. Let me read you a couple of them.
BOLDUAN: Dramatic reading, please.
BERMAN: "Another genius line claims that I'm a bit at sea in terms of his next step politically. Um, not really. I have only said, like, 10,000 times I will be a private citizen in January."
BOLDUAN: Then he adds this later. "A long-time friend says Rubio is betwixt and between when it comes to whether to do chest or legs tomorrow at gym. According to a source, who knows his cousin's wife's dentist, Rubio could do cardio instead."
Yes, that happened.
PAWLENTY: This probably reinforces the idea that politicians should not tweet late at night --
(LAUGHTER)
PAWLENTY: -- without help or without a sounding board. I think it reinforces that. Number, two, he's probably frustrated. You have all these people who really don't know speculating about his future and 11:00 at night after maybe a beer or something, he said the heck with it, I'm going to --
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: Why not?
BERMAN: The whole campaign with Donald Trump, calling him Little Marco and, all of a sudden, he explodes last night. It seems strange to me.
PAWLENTY: It probably is a little odd but people get frustrated. If you talk all day every day, eventually, you're going to tweet or say something a little odd. It happens to all of us. And by the way, he's an immense talent. He should run for president in 2020. And the party needs him.
BERMAN: A talent on Twitter and elsewhere, apparently.
(LAUGHTER)
PAWLENTY: Right.
BOLDUAN: We've been asking this of everyone, to weigh in, and I want to get your take on this as well. We asked Congressman Mark Meadows. He will support the nominee. You will support the nominee. Do you think the Republican nominee should release his tax returns?
PAWLENTY: It's the norm, and, yes, I think he should release his tax returns but he's not the normal candidates, so he basically looks at all the rules and says I'm not doing it and it's part of his campaign.
BOLDUAN: Does it set a bad precedent for the candidate in the future?
PAWLENTY: It set s bad precedent in general. He should release them. But again, that's the norm. He's usually not the norm.
I want the party to unite. We all have reservations. We want him to improve. He's got to be a better candidate. His behavior has to improve. That's my hope between now and the convention. BERMAN: In the not the normal candidate file, there was a story from
"The Washington Post," these tapes from the 1990s where a man claiming to be John Miller, who claimed to be a spokesman for Donald Trump, is recorded talking to --
(CROSSTALK)
PAWLENTY: You have done that, haven't you?
BERMAN: Have you?
PAWLENTY: When you tried to get a job at CNN, it was you on there.
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: I have never done it.
PAWLENTY: It's odd. It's just weird but the whole thing is weird. So, you know, it seems to me like it's Donald Trump. He should just admit it and say, that was me, it was stupid --
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: It almost seems weirder he'd admit it. He's the one who says, yes, I own it.
PAWLENTY: We've all done dumb things. Just say, yeah, it was 20 years ago, it was dumb, I shouldn't have done it, let's move on. And most people laugh it off.
BERMAN: Former Governor Tim Pawlenty, thanks for being with us. Really appreciate it.
PAWLENTY: Thanks for having me.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: Thank you so much, Governor.
PAWLENTY: You're welcome.
BOLDUAN: Always so fun.
Ahead for us, a Democratic Party official is getting death threats after this chaotic scene exploded during a Democratic convention in Nevada. What does this mean for the big show in Philadelphia in July?
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[11:52:42] BERMAN: This just in to CNN. Nevada's Democratic Party filed a complaint against Bernie Sanders and the campaign and some of its supporters. Things got pretty chaotic Saturday at the state's Democratic convention.
BOLDUAN: The state's party is complaining about violence and threats that it blames on Sanders' supporters. Nevada's Democratic chairwoman says she's getting death threats over this.
CNN senior political reporter, Manu Raju, is following this from Capitol Hill.
This complaint is just coming, Manu. What are you hearing about the whole thing?
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: His is starting to alarm Democratic Party leaders. They worry if Bernie Sanders does not reign in his supporters, that this could be a really bad sign for the Philadelphia convention. Actually could lead to some unruly protests. It could lead to disunity and undermine their effort against Donald Trump.
At this convention on Saturday, Bernie Sanders supporters felt they were shut out of the process. They made a post of the address of -- a Sanders supporter posted the address of Roberto Lang, the Democratic party chairwoman in Nevada, and some of those phone calls she got afterwards were very, very harsh.
(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Roberta Lange. This is a citizen of the United States of America, and I wanted to let you know people like you should be hung in a public execution to show we won't stand for this sort of corruption. I don't know what kind of money they paying to you but you are a sick, twisted piece of (EXPLETIVE DELETED) and I hope you'll burn for this cowardless (EXPLETIVE DELETED) running off the stage. I hope people find you.
(END AUDIO FEED)
RAJU: The Nevada Democratic Party really seizing on this and what they also believe were violent episodes launched by Bernie Sanders supporters and also incited by the Bernie Sanders campaign in their words. There's actually the complaint that you guys referenced. I will read you a snippet from that. They said, "We believe, unfortunately, the tactics and behavior on display in Nevada are harbingers of things to come as Democrats gather in Philadelphia, in July for the convention. We write to alert you that we perceive as the Sanders campaign extra parliamentary behavior, indeed, actual violence in place of Democratic conduct and convention setting."
Sanders campaign, on "New Day," was asked about this episode in Nevada. He says that, look, the campaign does not condone violence. We do not believe our supporters to do this. But at the same time, he was very critical of the Nevada Democratic Party. He says that the system is disenfranchising Sanders voters, so clearly sympathizing with their concerns but disagreeing with their tactics -- Guys?
[11:55:30] BERMAN: Manu, thank you so much.
We've been talking about discord in the Republican Party, but clearly, there's discord in the Democratic Party as well.
BOLDUAN: Still ahead, one of Donald Trump's lawyers, he's now calling for "The New York Times" to retract a story about Donald Trump's behavior towards women, but the same attorney is softening his tone when it comes to a formal lawsuit. That's coming up.
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[12:00:08] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, everybody. Nice to have you with me. Ashleigh Banfield here. This is "Legal View."
