Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Clinton, Sanders Split Primary Wins; Fears Sanders Revolt Could Disrupt Dems Convention; Trump: I Would Speak With North Korean Leader. Aired 9-9:30a ET
Aired May 18, 2016 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:01] CUOMO: People are warriors in different ways. And in true soldier form, the United States Army gifted Christian not only with a combat uniform, but the patches that the soldiers had actually earned in battle.
CAMEROTA: My gosh.
CUOMO: And you know what the good news is?
CAMEROTA: Yes?
CUOMO: Christian is in remission.
CAMEROTA: My gosh, that's wonderful. That is some good stuff.
CUOMO: Right?
CAMEROTA: Thanks Chris. And time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.
Hey, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much. NEWSROOM starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, Democratic split. Dividing the vote and Bernie Sanders digging in.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are in until the last ballot is cast.
COSTELLO: And now fears what happened at this Vegas Democratic convention won't stay in Vegas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People like you should be hung in a public execution.
ROBERT LANGE, CHAIRWOMAN, NEVADA STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: There were people sitting out in the crowd that heard people calling for my death that saw the chair thrown to the stage.
COSTELLO: Plus, Donald Trump drops a foreign policy bombshell when it comes to dealing with North Korea. DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would speak to him. I
would have no problem speaking to him.
COSTELLO: Plus, Facebook face-to-face with conservatives after censorship claims. We've got the details on the meeting.
Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
Hillary Clinton, squeaks out a win in Kentucky, barely edging out Bernie Sanders, and essentially splitting the delegates with him. In the meantime, Sanders wins by a bigger margin in Oregon. So while he picks up more delegates, Clinton is now within 100 delegates of clinching the nomination.
And Democratic fears of a Sanders rebellion still echo from over the weekend. Nevada's Democratic convention spirals into chaos, furious Sanders supporters say Democrats are stealing the election for Clinton.
There you see the strikes get there. And now the party's national leaders fear that the same fury will burn at this summer's national convention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, CHAIRWOMAN, DNC: It is critical that we as candidates, we as Democratic Party leaders, everyone involved, needs to make sure that we can take all the steps that we need to, to ensure that the process is not only run smoothly, but that the response from the supporters of both candidates is appropriate and civil. No one should be subjected to death threats. Roberta Lange, the chair of the Nevada Democratic Party, has been essentially stalked by phone. Has had to endure unacceptable feedback through violence and intimidation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Our correspondents and guests are here to break it all down for us so let's begin with our senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns.
Good morning, Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. So far, no hint from the Sanders or Clinton campaigns that there are any discussions underway to try to come together. After a primary night that brought Hillary Clinton closer than ever to the number of delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination, she now needs just 89. As the focus turns to the California primary on June 7th this morning, Bernie Sanders will be at the fairgrounds in San Jose. Last night, he held a huge rally in Los Angeles County and gave every
indication he flans plans to fight this out until the last vote is counted.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANDERS: We won a great victory in the state of Washington a few months ago. We just won Oregon. And we're going to win California. I am getting to like the West
Coast.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Last night, Sanders really did not lay out for his supporters how steep a climb it would actually be for him to get the nomination.
Hillary Clinton, for her part, has just about started turning her full attention to Donald Trump and the Republicans -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Joe Johns reporting live for us this morning.
So with Clinton now within about 100 or so delegates of clinching, Democrats still believe she'll have the nomination in hand for the July convention. But party leaders also fear the bitter primary fight will carry over to that convention. And Sanders' angry and alienated supporters will unleash chaos.
CNN's senior political reporter, Manu Raju, is live on Capitol Hill to tell us more about that. Good morning.
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Now when Bernie Sanders addressed his supporters last night at that rather raucous rally of about 11,000 supporters, he really steered of the controversy that has engulfed the campaign since the Nevada convention in which a number of Sanders supporters really took -- went after the party leadership, and believing that they were treated unfairly.
Now the challenge for the party leadership is how do you harness the support of legions of -- legions of Sanders supporters without alienating them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[09:05:02] WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: The senator's response was anything but acceptable.
RAJU (voice-over): Overnight, Bernie Sanders getting slammed by Democratic leaders, calling for Sanders to rein in his supporters after this weekend's chaotic state convention in Nevada, telling Chris Cuomo --
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: After the word but, you go on to seemingly justify the reason that -- that the violence and intimidation has occurred, then that falls short of making sure that, going forward, this kind of conduct doesn't occur in the future. SANDERS: I say to the leadership of the Democratic Party, open the
doors. Let the people in.
RAJU: Sanders is claiming Democratic leaders used their power during the convention to, quote, "prevent a fair and transparent process from taking place."
JEFF WEAVER, SANDERS CAMPAIGN MANAGER: The leadership there that was running it was not following the rules. They were overruling voice votes on the floor to get the result they wanted.
RAJU: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who spoke to Sanders yesterday, is angrily dismissing Sanders' claim of a rigged system, telling CNN, "It's a silly statement."
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: When you boo me, you're booing Bernie Sanders. Go ahead.
RAJU: And Senator Barbara Boxer, a Clinton supporter, seen here trying to calm the convention's raging crowd, tells CNN that Sanders has to, quote, "get things under control."
WEAVER: So we do not condone any kind of violence or threats. That's unacceptable. Bad language. We don't -- that's unacceptable.
RAJU: The anger didn't stop Saturday. The chairwoman of the Nevada Democratic Party receiving over 1,000 angry calls. Even death threats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People like you should be hung in a public execution to show this world that we won't stand for this sort of corruption.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Now Roberta Lange, the chairwoman of the Nevada Democratic party, is blaming the Sanders campaign for inciting the violence, even as the Sanders campaign is saying that they really had nothing to do with it, and condemning the campaign. But listen to what she had to say. She did not hold back when speaking with CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LANGE: When staff people in the Sanders campaign is feeding into this, people feel empowered to behave this way. I have not received anything from the Sanders campaign. I haven't seen anything that said that this should stop. And it's going to continue, unless, you know, people are made to feel like this isn't OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Now as we were talking about earlier, Carol, the larger fear being that the party will have a hard time uniting against Donald Trump if this continues and goes forward. I spoke to a number of Democratic senators over the last couple of days, who are definitely worried about that, including Dianne Feinstein, the veteran Democrat from California, who said it makes sense for Bernie Sanders to drop out come June because the schism she says could help Donald Trump -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Manu, reporting live from Capitol Hill.
In the next hour of NEWSROOM, I will talk with Roberta Lange, the Nevada -- spokesperson for the Nevada state convention. She is demanding an apology from Bernie Sanders. We'll ask her why she needs a direct apology from the candidate himself. That will happen in the next hour of NEWSROOM.
With me now, Clinton supporter and CNN commentator Bakari Sellers. I'm also joined by Charles Chamberlain, he's a Bernie Sanders surrogate and executive director of Democracy for America.
Welcome to both of you.
CHARLES CHAMBERLAIN, SANDERS SUPPORTER: Thank you for having me.
COSTELLO: Charles, does Bernie Sanders owe the Nevada state chair Roberta Lange an apology?
CHAMBERLAIN: You know, Bernie has been unequivocal in condemning all violence, especially any that could come from any of his supporters. And I hope that the chairwoman has turned her phone over to the FBI and that there's a full investigation into finding out who these threats came from and for those people to be held accountable. But this attempt to hold Bernie specifically accountable for this, to demand a personal apology, that's not just justice. That's a Hillary partisan trying to gain political points.
And frankly, it should be unacceptable. I don't think he should apologize to her. He should continue to make the case for why he is the best choice to win the nomination and then the presidency.
COSTELLO: Bakari, do you agree?
BAKARI SELLERS, CLINTON SUPPORTER: I have to disagree because of the simple fact that at this moment in time, this race needs leadership. And Bernie Sanders and Jeff Weaver and everyone else had an opportunity to display leadership yesterday and fundamentally and simply they did not.
What happened in Nevada should not happen again. What happened in Nevada is below as Democrats, it's below the process, and frankly, it's below what this country stands for. So I'm quite disappointed in the reaction by Senator Sanders and by Mr. Weaver.
And this isn't any type of partisan attack. What this is simply saying is that we should stand up for something. And we should be against the violence that we saw unequivocally, no ifs, ands, or buts. And I think that that is what she is asking for. Plain and simply.
COSTELLO: And Charles, with that in mind, and you mentioned that you don't know -- you were kind of confused about where these phone calls were coming from, but they were pretty clearly coming from Bernie Sanders supporters. And here's why I say that. A senior Sanders aide encouraged supporters the night before the Nevada convention to take over the convention and try to change party rules. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[09:10:08] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You should not leave. I'm going to repeat that. Unless you are told by somebody from the campaign, i.e., probably me or David, that you can leave, you should not leave. I don't care if the chair is up there herself or whoever the chair is, whoever becomes the chair, you should not leave.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, Charles, this is coming from a senior Sanders aide. Wasn't she egging things on in Nevada?
CHAMBERLAIN: I don't think that telling supporters of a candidate that they should stay through the entirety of a caucus not to leave until the end of the caucus is in any way supporting or advocating for any kind of violence.
Look, two kinds of terrible things happened on Saturday. The first and foremost is the violence. If the violence happened, and certainly it is horrible voicemails and threats, they're terrible and they absolutely have to stop. And the people that did them need to be held accountable. Those aren't good Bernie Sanders supporters. They're bad people and they need to be held accountable.
But the second bad thing that happened was the Democratic Party in Nevada changed the rules midstream. They disqualified over 50 Bernie delegates and I think rightfully people were very upset about that. That's why even good people were out there booing and yelling.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: Actually -- actually, the fight -- just to be clear, the fight was over two delegates.
SELLERS: Exactly.
COSTELLO: Two. Two.
SELLERS: I mean, I -- if I can chime in here.
CHAMBERLAIN: It cost 50 delegates for Bernie Sanders. So yes, the outcome is two delegates, but the actual outcome is a rigged system. And when people feel like they are part of a rigged system, they get upset, they get angry. That's the difference between losing. Losing, you're disappointed, you're sad. But you get angry when the system is rigged against you.
COSTELLO: How -- Charles -- Bakari, I just want to ask Charles to clarify. So how are these supporters for Bernie Sanders different from the supporters of Donald Trump that everybody criticizes because they also think that the system is rigged and they are accused of violence at Trump rallies? How is it different? CHAMBERLAIN: Well, there is a very specific difference. First of
all, no one has ever been arrested -- and no Bernie Sanders supporter ever been arrested for actually assaulting anyone. Yes, there's been some terrible threats, and these are bad. And yes, people have been offended. But the bottom line is, only one person has been arrested in the Democratic primary, and that was Wendell Pierce, a Hillary Clinton supporter who attacked a Bernie supporter.
So I don't see anybody calling for Hillary Clinton to apologize for Wendell Pierce personally. And I think the reality here is that this is becoming a partisan break up because the party is -- they're worried. And they should be worried. In Philadelphia, it's vitally important that we don't see the same kind of trickery, the same kind of rigged system by the Democratic Party played out on the Bernie delegates there.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: OK. So let's -- let Bakari weigh in. So does Charles have a point?
SELLERS: No. In fact the reason that Bernie Sanders, and I hate to break it to Charles or whomever else, the reason that Bernie Sanders is not winning this race is quite simply the fact that he doesn't have the most votes. He doesn't have the most votes, he doesn't have the most pledged delegates, he doesn't have the most super delegates. If you take away super delegates or they vote the way of the state, Hillary Clinton still wins.
But you are correct in saying that this party needs to come together. This is not something that we haven't seen before. In fact, I would go out and say that in 2008, the schism between the party was much more visceral, the angst was higher. The rancor was higher. And we're not at that point. But what I will say is this. Bernie Sanders has an amazing opportunity to not only lead his movement, but be a leader in this country.
And when someone asks you a question and you tuck tail and run, or you refuse to stand up during this time when it's -- in this apparent need, then you have to display leadership or else your movement will fail. And I think that's what everybody wants Bernie Sanders to do. Stand up and say something about this.
COSTELLO: Bakari Sellers, Charles Chamberlain, thanks to you both.
SELLERS: Thank you.
COSTELLO: You're welcome.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Donald Trump courts more controversy when it comes to foreign policy. He says he's now willing to meet with Kim Jong-un if he is elected president.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:15:08] COSTELLO: Donald Trump is now just 62 delegates away from the Republican nomination, after picking up a win in the Oregon primary. And this morning, Trump is set to meet with Henry Kissinger, amid a controversy foreign policy proposal, one that would dramatically shift away the United States' approach to North Korea.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would speak to him. I would have no problem speaking to him. At the same time, I would put a lot of pressure on China because economically we have tremendous power over China. China can solve their problem with one meeting or one phone call.
REPORTER: But you say you would talk to Kim?
TRUMP: The one -- I would speak to him. I have no problem with speaking to him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: CNN's Phil Mattingly joins me now with more on this.
Good morning.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Certainly a shift on the foreign policy, but in the same interview, Donald Trump also outlining shifts on the domestic policy front, one at that lines him up more neatly with Republican ideology and that's pertaining to Dodd-Trump, and that's the 2010 financial reform bill, that bill put in place as a cornerstone of President Obama's domestic policy in the wake of 2008 financial crisis.
Now, Donald Trump saying he plans to dismantle that law almost entirely, saying he will announce his plans on that front, on economics in general over the course of the next two weeks, likely in a speech. That's an interestingly element here, because if you look at the Democratic primary, Carol, it has always been about Wall Street reform, who will take it further?
So, that gives a target for Hillary Clinton of sorts to attack Donald Trump going forward. Something you can almost be certain her campaign will go after. But also, another key element yesterday, obviously talking about foreign policy, party unity.
Donald Trump striking a deal with the Republican National Committee on joint fundraising, and how they line this up is very important. Aides from both sides have been working behind the scenes for the last couple of weeks, details of more than $440,000 that a donor can now give to Donald Trump's to campaign committees and how it will be split are important.
Now, if you look at this, Donald Trump who once said he was going to self-fund, as part of this deal, $2,700 of that total would go to Trump's campaign.
[09:20:09] But it's the broader donations that really matter here, $110,000 would be split amongst 11 state parties selected by Trump's team. Another $33,400 would go to the Republican National Committee, that's the maximum that you can donate to a party committee.
And then, there's other totals, more than $100,000 to a building fund, more than $100,000 to the convention, more than $100,000 to the recount and legal fund. Again, Carol, the interesting element here is Donald Trump always said, throughout the primary, he was going to be a self-funder, always hinted that he might shift in the general election.
The reality is, you have to, not just because he is going into a likely $1 billion battle with Hillary Clinton, but also, because the party needs that money. The party now will have access to Donald Trump's fundraising abilities, that will help candidates up and down the ball. As you said there, it will help the national party on the whole.
COSTELLO: What happens to the most attractive parts of his campaign, that he was a self-funder, and he wasn't controlled by special interest? What happens to that?
MATTINGLY: A delicate pivots of sorts. No, I think it is one of the more interesting elements going on behind the scenes. Basically in talking to people involved in the campaign, talking to people involved with the Republican National Committee, how you set this up.
There is reality here. That reality is you have to raise money if you want -- Donald Trump simply not liquid enough to put $1 billion on the table to run an election, between super PACs, the party and just fundraising in general, a lot of work going on behind the scenes, and Donald Trump is really going to have to modify his message, whether he likes it or not.
COSTELLO: All right, Phil, thanks so much.
Joining me now, Amy Holmes, political analyst and conservative commentator, and Healey Baumgardner, a senior press representative for the Trump campaign.
Welcome to both of you.
AMY HOLMES, POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning. Thanks for having us.
HEALEY BAUMGARDNER, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: Good morning.
COSTELLO: Nice to have you here.
I want to focus on what Donald Trump said about this Kim Jong-un and North Korea, because that's what everyone is talking about this morning.
So, Amy, remember back in 2007, then-candidate Obama said he would be willing to sit down with the leaders of Iran, Syria and Venezuela. Is Donald Trump pulling a page from Mr. Obama?
HOLMES: Well, that's very interesting, because then-Senator Obama also said he would be willing to meet without preconditions with North Korea and Iran. At the time, Hillary Clinton said that she thought that position was naive, and well, she said irresponsible and frankly naive, but clearly, Hillary Clinton forgave President Obama because she campaigned for him and then became his secretary of state.
Conservatives, I'm sure are going to be very unhappy with Donald Trump's position on this. But Donald Trump supporters, I think will put it in the context of look, you know, you saw President Obama make the same type of pledge. So, why is Donald Trump getting so much criticism for it now?
COSTELLO: Interesting.
So, Healey, I want you to listen to something else Donald Trump said about Kim Jong-un back in February. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You got to give him credit. How many young guys, he was like 26 or 25 when his father died, take over these tough generals, and all of a sudden, you know, it's pretty amazing, when you think of it. How does he do that, even though it is a culture and it's a cultural thing, he goes in, takes over and he is the boss. It's incredible. He wiped out the uncle. He wiped out this one, that one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So just to refresh our viewers' memory, he executed his uncle, he executed his aunts, he executed his military chief, he executed his vice premiere.
What was Mr. Trump trying to say, Healey?
BAUMGARDNER: Well, I think top line, you know, Mr. Trump's point is he wants to keep an open dialogue and repair relationships with world leaders.
COSTELLO: But what was he trying to say in January at his campaign rally?
BAUMGARDNER: Well, I'm not going to speculate on what he meant specifically by those points. But, generally speaking, he wants to have an open dialogue to repair relationships with leaders throughout the world?
COSTELLO: I know, but --
HOLMES: Carol, I can answer that question.
COSTELLO: OK.
HOLMES: I think Donald Trump was trying to project strength. He has said similarly, you know, he has complimented Vladimir Putin in similar terms. I could answer Donald Trump's question, which is how does a guy that young get to be leader of a closed country called the Hermit Kingdom? It's called dynasty, and it's called tyranny, and it's called murdering your opponents. That's the simple answer.
But I think what Donald Trump was trying to do was sort of sound like a strong man himself. I don't like it. I hope that he refines his point of view.
COSTELLO: Yes, and I'm just -- well, Healey, you can't give us any more guidance on this? You're the -- you are the senior press representative for Mr. Trump.
BAUMGARDNER: I am. Exactly. What I'm telling you is that top line, one of his biggest goals is to repair relationships with leaders throughout the world.
COSTELLO: OK, then.
Amy --
HOLMES: Yes.
COSTELLO: -- the Clinton camp fired back that Donald Trump is willing to sit down with Kim Jong-un, but he is not really willing to talk very much to David Cameron, from Great Britain.
[09:25:05] Is that fair?
HOLMES: Right.
No, it's not obviously, because Hillary Clinton as we were discussing earlier went on to support then-Senator Obama in his election efforts to become president of the United States, when Senator Obama had made similar pledges of no preconditions, willing to sit down and even his foreign policy advisers said that any great nation and great president should be willing to open up these avenues of dialogue.
In terms of criticizing Donald Trump about David Cameron, again, I think that's unfair. When we saw that President Obama just went to the U.K., lectured the Brits on Brexit, and he insulted the Brits by saying if you don't stay in the E.U., I'm going to put you back to the queue.
Well, interestingly enough, polling data when it came to sentiments on leaving the E.U., support for leaving went up after President Obama's threat.
COSTELLO: So, Healey, I want to ask you about something else. Donald Trump is expected to meet with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. He's expected to that later today.
Why Henry Kissinger and not another secretary of state?
Healey?
BAUMGARDNER: I'm sorry. Was that question to me. Yes, sorry about that. I had a little feedback.
COSTELLO: No worries. BAUMGARDNER: Mr. Trump regularly meets with experts and highly
respected individuals, and you know, he values their input and feedback.
COSTELLO: And what do you suppose they'll talk about in this meeting? Do you know, Healey?
BAUMGARDNER: You know, I'm -- I can't confirm or deny the meeting. I do know Mr. Trump values feedback of highly respected individuals, and experts. And you know, he will have those conversations as he deems fit.
COSTELLO: How do you feel, Amy, about this meeting with Henry Kissinger?
HOLMES: Hey, listen, the more Donald Trump can learn about the world and foreign policy is better. And Mr. Kissinger is, you know, very well-respected among many foreign policy experts, although people have their criticisms of him as well as being a realist when it comes to foreign policy. So, again, if it's a little bit educational for the Republican presumptive nominee, I'm for it.
COSTELLO: All right. Amy Holmes, Healey Baumgardner, thanks to both of you.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM: what happens in Vegas may not stay in Vegas. Why some Democrats fear chaos could erupt at the Democratic convention.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
