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Clinton Makes History, Clinches Nomination; Super Tuesday, East Coast Voting Underway; Ryan Faces Media Amid Trump Controversy; GOP Squirms as Trump Digs In On Judge Attacks. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired June 07, 2016 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:51] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Hillary Clinton makes history and shatters every glass ceiling in America. Nearly 100 years after women win the right to vote, Clinton becomes the first female presumptive presidential nominee from a major political party in the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do think it will make a very big difference for a father or a mother to be able to look at their daughter, just like they can look at their son, and say you can be anything you want to be in this country, including president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The irony of all of this, it's a moment she has waited for her entire career, but no one on her campaign dares to celebrate. That's because the superdelegate count put Clinton over the top. A CNN count shows Clinton garnering the support of 2,384 delegates, that's one more than is needed to get the nomination, but of course, voters in six states still have to vote today. So the celebrations have been put on hold.

We're covering all of this like only CNN can with our team of political reporters. Let's bring in CNN's Chris Frates, he's in Los Angeles.

Good morning, Chris.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. You're exactly right. Hillary Clinton is holding the champagne and not celebrating the news that the media has called the nomination for her. She wants to make sure her supporters get out in the six states that go to the polls today, including here in California where there are still 475 pledged delegates at stake and she got at least one vote here in California, House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, announced this morning that she voted for Clinton and is endorsing her run for president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLINTON: According to the news, we are on the brink of a historic -- historic, unprecedented moment.

FRATES (voice-over): Overnight, Hillary Clinton clinched enough delegates to become the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

CLINTON: We're going to fight hard for every single vote, especially right here in California.

FRATES: But she is not claiming that historic milestone just yet, instead focusing on getting her supporters to the polls in the final six states holding contests today.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In case you haven't noticed, there are a lot of people here tonight. Thank you.

FRATES: Clinton's rival Bernie Sanders is insisting that the primary contests aren't over yet. His campaign releasing a statement arguing that superdelegates can change their minds before the July convention, saying, quote, "It is wrong to count the votes of superdelegates before they actually vote at the convention this summer."

The senator not acknowledging Clinton's triumph at a rally in San Francisco, but softening his rhetoric when asked about the possibility of endorsing her.

SANDERS: Let's assess where we are after tomorrow before we make statements based on speculation.

FRATES: Clinton is hoping to bring Democrats together quickly after this long and bruising primary season.

CLINTON: I'm going to do everything I can to unify the Democratic Party, and I certainly am going to be reaching out to Senator Sanders and hope he will join me in that because we've got to be unified going into the convention and coming out of the convention.

FRATES: Clinton is poised to get a major boost from President Obama, who sources say could endorse her as early as tomorrow and is itching to take on Donald Trump.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRATES: Now President Obama and Sanders talked by phone on Sunday, but Sanders refused to publicly discuss what that conversation sounded like. And last night, CNN asked Clinton seven times about the news that she had won the delegates needed to clinch that nomination, but she declined to answer.

Of course, both candidates, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, still trying to ensure their supporters don't think this race is over. And they get out to the polls in all six states today -- Carol.

COSTELLO: We'll be keeping a watch on those people going to the polls today.

Chris Frates, thank you. And that's starting right now because voters on the East Coast are

just hitting the polls, casting their ballots. Jessica Schneider is live with ballot casters in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Good morning.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. The campaign is definitely concerned about dampened voter turnout but the poll workers here tell me they've seen a steady stream of people throughout the morning when the polls opened at 6:00 a.m.

[09:05:06] In fact I talked to three women leaving the polls and they tell me that even though the nominees in both parties have been effectively set, they deemed it necessary to get out here and vote. And if there's any indication about the interest level, 1.1 million people have registered to vote just in the past six months. So the campaign is definitely hoping that they can seize on that enthusiasm.

Now we're here in Bloomfield, New Jersey, just outside the city of Newark. There are 30,000 registered voters here, 5.5 million registered voters throughout the state. The polls opened at 6:00 a.m. They're opened until 8:00 p.m. tonight and the poll workers tell me that they are expecting a high voter turnout -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Jessica Schneider, reporting live from New Jersey this morning. Thank you.

With me now, Joel Benenson. He's the chief strategist for Hillary Clinton's campaign. Welcome, Joel.

JOEL BENENSON, CHIEF STRATEGIST, HILLARY CLINTON'S CAMPAIGN: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Bernie Sanders says the announcement that Clinton had clinch the nomination is a rush to judgment. Is he right?

BENENSON: Well, I don't know what he means by a rush to judgment. We've had over close to 25 million people votes so far. We're at the tail end of this race. There are going to be six states contested today. We're still working for every vote. But we go into tonight with a very commanding lead in the popular vote, more than three million votes -- about three million votes more than Senator Sanders, and a commanding lead with pledged delegates. And we hope tonight to get a majority of pledged delegates.

COSTELLO: Bernie Sanders would say it's a rush to judgment because he thinks he can sway superdelegates to change their vote. If he can do that, wouldn't it be a rush to judgment?

BENENSON: Well, he hasn't been able to do that so far. I think superdelegates will make up their own minds. I mean, there is no indication that he's been able to sway them. And I'm not sure he has a good argument to sway them when he's behind by at least three million votes, maybe behind by more than that tonight. And by every measure, Hillary Clinton has met the test of what it takes to be the nominee. More pledged delegates, winning the popular vote, winning more states, winning three quarters of the states where we've had the higher voter turnout literally, three quarters of those states where the turnout has been the highest.

So by any measure, I think superdelegates have been watching this and they see who's really been the formidable leader throughout this campaign.

COSTELLO: Did the campaign know that Hillary Clinton was over the top when it came to superdelegates?

BENENSON: Well, we keep an eye on these things.

COSTELLO: But you knew --

BENENSON: I mean, you've got to --

COSTELLO: But you guys didn't let the cat out of the bag.

BENENSON: Well, look, we think that pledged delegates are important, too. We think people voting today in the six states who are voting. With New Jersey, we expect to have a very good night there. California is going to be close, but it's a lot of people and a lot of delegates. And we want people to vote.

COSTELLO: Well, let's talk about California.

BENENSON: Sure.

COSTELLO: Because an enormous number of independent voters signed up to vote this time.

BENENSON: Yes.

COSTELLO: Bernie Sanders says that they are behind him. So he could well win California.

BENENSON: Well, the key -- the key tonight is going to be who gets a net lead in delegates by the end of the night. That's been our standard, our threshold all the way through. We're currently have about 290 more pledged delegates than Senator Sanders. We think we'll add to that early in the evening with New Jersey. I think California will be close either way, we're looking forward to what we think will be a close win for us. But this is -- it's not going to be a landslide on either side. This is going to be closely contested.

COSTELLO: Do you wish that AP wouldn't have called the superdelegates and polled them?

BENENSON: Look, Carol, there are a lot of things I wish the media had done or hadn't done during this campaign. I'm not going to comment on any of that today.

COSTELLO: OK. So Hillary Clinton certainly has to turn her attention to convincing Bernie Sanders supporters to go her way. I just want you to listen to -- we went out to a Bernie Sanders campaign rally and asked a few of his supporters what they feel about Hillary Clinton, and this is what -- this is an example of what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEG BRITTMAN, SANDERS SUPPORTER: If Bernie Sanders doesn't get the nominee, it would be really depressing. I don't think people will stop believing in him or stop trying to fight the good fight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, I think Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both represent doom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK, so both represent doom, so how can you convince that Bernie Sanders supporter to throw his support Hillary Clinton's way when he thinks her candidacy is doom?

BENENSON: Yes. Look, I think Senator Sanders has said earlier he believes we have to do everything we can to defeat Donald Trump. He will have a role to play here, we hope, if Hillary Clinton does become the nominee. You know, he, very early in 2008, before Hillary Clinton conceded, said that Barack Obama is the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party. I believe it was June 5th after the primaries.

But I think the point here is that Democrats are going to look at this as a choice. People who've been supporting Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, they're progressives. These are not right wing conservatives. These are people who are moderate to liberal to progressive in their values. They know what's at stake with Donald Trump as the candidate on the Republican side. And I think those stakes --

COSTELLO: They also disagree with some of the positions that Hillary Clinton takes.

[09:10:02] And let me ask you this way. So Hillary Clinton is going to start searching for a running mate. The VP candidate. So -- Elizabeth Warren comes to mind, because you know young people like Elizabeth Warren. She's anti-Wall Street. Right? She is for the little guy. Raising minimum wage, all those things Sanders' supporters like. So would she on the short list for a VP?

BENENSON: I think who's ever on any list for VP right now, and I think it's broader than most people think, that's up to the candidate. This is a very --

COSTELLO: How broad is it?

BENENSON: This is a -- this is a very personal choice for the nominee. They have to pick a vice president that meets their test of being ready to be president, that they have a good working relationship with, and that they feel comfortable with that choice. And I'm sure those are the criteria that she'll use in making that choice.

COSTELLO: But would two women on the ticket work do you think? BENENSON: I think the -- two women on the ticket can work. A woman

at the head of the ticket for the first time in a historic moment. And a man on the ticket could work. I think what has to work is having a team that's prepared to lead this country, take the race on to the Republicans and Donald Trump and then lead the country so that we can make the change we need to produce the results we need for working people all over America.

COSTELLO: Joel Benenson, thanks for stopping by.

BENENSON: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Republicans meeting in Washington right now to talk about the economy, but something tells me when House Speaker Paul Ryan face the press this hour, things could get heated, really heated, as outrage builds over Donald Trump's attacks against a judge. Manu Raju is there.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Carol. Actually Paul Ryan is set to unveil the first part of his election year agenda here in the southeast D.C. neighborhood, but he's trying to steer the conversation away from Donald Trump. We'll see if he's able to do just that in just a little bit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:49] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, the House Speaker Paul Ryan, will step before the cameras, facing questions from the media, as the Republican Party reels from the latest Trump controversy. Donald Trump now says he doesn't care if Judge Gonzalo Curiel who is overseeing a Trump University lawsuit is Mexican or not, he just wants to be treated fairly.

But for some Republicans, those comments come way too late. Lindsey Graham saying it is time for those who endorsed him to rescind their support, telling "The New York Times," quote, "This is the most un- American thing from a politician since Joe McCarthy. If anybody was looking for an off ramp, this is probably it." Excuse me. "There will come a time he says when the love of country will trump hatred of Hillary."

CNN is covering all angles of the story. We begin with senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta. He is outside of the Trump Tower here in Manhattan.

Please take it away, Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

That's right. Donald Trump is not backing down. He is not apologizing. According to sources who are on this conference call with Donald Trump yesterday when he was addressing his supporters, surrogates and staffers, Donald Trump urging his team to keep on fighting, keep on with this battle against Judge Gonzalo Curiel, and he echoed that last night during an interview when he said he is not giving up this battle against the judge. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, I've had very, very unfair decisions. People said this should have gone away a long time ago in summary judgment. I don't care if the judge is Mexican or not. I'm going to do great with the Mexican people because I provide jobs. So, I don't care about Mexican. But we're being treated unfairly, Bill. Very, very unfairly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, despite Donald Trump being defiant on this, there are concerns building inside the Republican Party. We talked to a GOP source earlier this morning, who confirmed that RNC Chair Reince Priebus actually had a conversation now with Donald Trump to talk about these remarks that Trump made about Judge Curiel.

And we want to also mention there are other Republicans coming forward and saying that Donald Trump is simply gone too far this time. Consider this, former California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, he is saying, quote, "Judge Curiel is an American hero who stood up to the Mexican cartels," talking about the judge's judicial work against Mexican cartels on the federal bench. I was proud to appoint him when I was governor." That from Governor Schwarzenegger.

And then, also, Senator Ted Cruz, who, of course, tangled with Trump during a primary battle season. He says, "Of course, it's inappropriate to be attacking federal judge's race or ethnicity. You're going to have to ask Donald why he says the things he does. I'm not going to try to do so."

Now, one thing we should point out, Carol, on all of this pushback that's coming from nearly every corner of the Republican Party, there are even some Donald Trump vice-presidential short list Republicans who are echoing this criticism, considering former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, saying this is one of the worst mistakes that Donald Trump ever made.

Now, keep in mind, Carol, during this conference call, when Trump was urging his supporters to stop with the criticism, don't back down, we think it is working for the campaign, Newt Gingrich in another interview last night appeared to be walking back that criticism.

But I can tell you from talking to one of these surrogates who was on the call with Donald Trump yesterday, Carol, they are furious inside the Trump campaign at Newt Gingrich, and according to this one supporter I talked to who's on this conference call, you can now take Newt Gingrich off the vice presidential short list, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Jim, reporting live from New York -- thanks so much.

House Speaker Paul Ryan would probably prefer to discuss the Republican congressional agenda when it goes before reporter this hour, but a safe bet, most of the questions he will face will be about his recent endorsement of Donald Trump.

CNN senior political reporter, Manu Raju, joins us now live from Washington. Good morning.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning, Carol.

Now, Paul Ryan is set to unveil the first piece of his election year agenda, something that actually he and his House Republican conference set out to do when he became speaker last fall. This piece focusing on how Republicans would address the issue of poverty reform. He is here in this low income neighborhood in southeast D.C. to try to underscore this point.

[09:20:02] Now, they're saying it has nothing do with Donald Trump. This was done well before Donald Trump. But, of course, Donald Trump's criticism against Judge Curiel, which a lot of folks consider, especially on the Democratic side, considered to be racist attacks, are the backdrop essentially of this event.

Now, a number of Republicans, including Paul Ryan, have criticized sharply what Donald Trump did say about Judge Curiel. I got a chance to talk to Marco Rubio, his former rival, who did not hold back his criticism as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: When I ran for president, I told everyone that this is what would happen. We would be continuing to be faced with this difficult choice, as we are, many of us have been, between Hillary Clinton and Donald. This is not where I want to be. This is what the voters have chosen, and I respect that. But, you know, I can -- thinking (ph) to stop opining from time to time when he says something that goes to for and this is one of those instances.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, other Republicans also jumped on that criticism. Tim Scott, the lone African-American Republican senator, told me yesterday that he thought that those comments were racially toxic, that Trump had made.

But it's important to note that actually none of those members, including Tim Scott have rescinded their endorsement, at least not at this point. They're saying that they would back Trump because he is better than Hillary Clinton, but there are some warnings, including from John Thune, the number three Senate Republican who said that Trump has to adopt, otherwise they're going step on the Republican's election year message -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Manu Raju, reporting live from Washington this morning.

It will be fascinating to hear what Paul Ryan has to say about Donald Trump's attacks on Judge Curiel. We already know some Republicans regret endorsing Mr. Trump. And, Michael Reagan, one of President Reagan's sons tweeted he will

not vote for Mr. Trump in California's primary today. Other Republican leaders seem confused. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Donald Trump should be given a ton of credit for advancing and widening the playing field.

Look, the comment about the judge the other day just was out of left field from my mind. It's reasoning I don't relate to. I completely disagree with the thinking behind that.

SEN. BOB CORKER (R), TENNESSEE: I thought that what he did yesterday was a really good transition in the campaign.

Look, I don't condone the comments.

NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: I think there is a potential for Trump to bring into a much larger tent and that's the key. This will be a much bigger Republican Party three months from now.

This is one of the worst mistakes Trump has made. I think it's inexcusable.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

COSTELLO: With me now, Scottie Nell Hughes, a Trump supporter, and Susan Page, Washington bureau chief for "USA Today".

Welcome to you both.

Scottie, I'm going to start with you. I know Donald Trump wants to double down on Judge Curiel and his criticisms of the judge. But isn't it clear that this strategy has been a dreadful mistake?

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, I don't know necessarily that it is a strategy that's a dreadful mistake. But let me say this, I think the timing of this is very interesting. I agree with the piece that we just ran, where the majority of people want to focus on the economy. And I have to wonder, you know, Trump University was tried months ago. It did not get hardly any traction amongst the primary candidates. Now, all of a sudden, we're talking about it. Why is that?

You know, Gallup poll just came out, it said, according to that, the economy, Mr. Trump is trusted 53 to 43 percent, jobs to Hillary Clinton. Jobs, 52 percent, national security, 50 percent.

Last week, we saw pictures of people out on the streets burning the American flag, and waiving the Mexican flag. This right here, this is GOP's race to lose, and they realize the way they're going to do that possibly from the other side is by creating some sort of race war. So, this is just feeding into that narrative and I think that the more we can focus on to the economy and focus on the issues that matter, I think then we actually have a real race between two candidates. COSTELLO: OK. So Mr. Trump is the candidate who said that he thinks

the judge couldn't treat him fairly because he was Mexican. Mr. Trump said that. That's why we're talking about it.

And the reason I said that it might be a dreadful mistake, as Newt Gingrich said, on Mr. Trump's part is this, and, Susan, I'd like to look at these numbers with me.

Mr. Trump says Hispanics will love him. That is simply not true. John King broke down the numbers. According to an NBC/"Wall Street Journal" poll, Mr. Trump has 20 percent among Hispanic voters. If that holds, he will be toast in a general election. The last time the Republicans took the White House, right, 2004, the Republicans had 44 percent Hispanic support. Today, it's only 20 percent. That's a 48 point gap with Democrats, Susan.

So, Mr. Trump says Hispanics love him, but clearly they do not.

SUSAN PAGE, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, USA TODAY: And compare those numbers even more dramatic when you consider the proportionate of the Hispanic vote and the electorate has only gone up over recent years and continues to rise.

I think Scottie makes a good point. There are topics that would be more favorable for Mr. Trump to be talking about, like the jobs report from last Friday.

[09:25:04] But we're not talking about them because of his rhetoric and because of his decision not to back down on the criticism he has made of Judge Curiel.

So, this is, I think, one of the things that is so alarming to other Republicans, including other Republicans who are going to be on the ballot in November, which is a kind of lack of at least whatever you think about the tone of his remarks, a lack of message discipline in a way that is proving pretty harm of to him at the moment.

COSTELLO: Scottie, the columnist, the conservative columnist George Will writes this, quote, "Paul Ryan, the House speaker, has now paid a staggering price by getting along with Trump. What did Ryan purchase with the coin of his reputation? Perhaps his agenda."

You know, he is out there trying to sell his agenda today. In other words, Ryan's reputation as a principled politician is now shot because he supported a candidate who claims that a judge can't be fair to him, because he is of Mexican descent.

HUGHES: Carol, I have to laugh of that of conflict of principled politician. I mean, that's almost an oxymoron right there when you said.

But, you know, you have to look at the agenda right here, of the politicians and the ones who are Republicans that are taking the first opportunity to run to the spotlight, to grab a camera and say, look, America voter, look Republicans, I told you so, I told you he was going to run his mouth. These are all people that I have very little respect for from the very

beginning. They've never been on the Trump team. The people that concern me with this issue right now, I heard yesterday, one my friends was telling me about a cab driver that has been driving around New York, up until yesterday, he said I can't vote for Mr. Trump now. He always encompassed the American dream because of his economic principles, but now this has come out. That voter right there, that worries more than any principled politician in Washington, D.C., who really is just looking for I told you so moment to the GOP.

COSTELLO: Susan, one more question about Paul Ryan since we're going to be covering his remarks when he steps outside of the building and before the microphones. Will Paul Ryan come out and like Lindsey Graham, rescind his support?

PAGE: I would be surprised if he did that. He'll be the chairman of the Republican convention. He is the top ranking Republican in the country. It would be surprising for him to rescind his endorsement of the nominee who is after all, won the nomination by winning Republican votes in primaries.

However, I think this is a tough spot for Paul Ryan. One reason we see events like today's event that Paul Ryan is sponsoring, is his effort to define the Republican Party in a different way than Mr. Trump is defining it and preparing maybe for a post-Trump GOP. Look, past November, what will be the situation that the Republican Party faces with Latino voters, with African-American voters, college- educated voters, and I think that is something of real concern to people, including Speaker Ryan.

COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Scottie Nell Hughes, Susan Page, thanks to both of you.

I want to take you back out to Washington, because the House Speaker Paul Ryan is, well, actually he is having his round table in a low income neighborhood in Washington. This is a drug treatment and rehab center for those struggling with alcohol and drug addiction. It's a predominately African-American neighborhood. And Paul Ryan, along with other House Republicans are going to unveil their policy positions on how to fight poverty in the United States.

Paul Ryan is expected to pop out of that building, oh, in just about 15, 20 minutes. We will take you back there when I come back.

Also coming up, Libertarian presidential candidate, Gary Johnson, will join me after a break.

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