Return to Transcripts main page

Wolf

Clinton And Trump Prepare For General Election Fight; Clinton States This Is Our Moment To Come Together; Trump States He Will Make Everyone Proud Of Republican Party; Clinton Touts Historic Moment In Victory Speech; Trump Under Fire For Comments About Judge's Heritage; Clinton And Trump Reach Out To Sanders' Supporters; Trump Insider Says Nominee Is Jekyll And Hyde; Obama And Sanders To Meet; Hillary Clinton Makes History. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired June 08, 2016 - 13:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: A watershed moment in the 2016 presidential race and in the history of American politics.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Thanks to you, we've reached a milestone. The first time in our nation's history that a woman will be a major party's nominee.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: To those who voted for someone else, in either party, I'll work hard to earn your support.

BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are going to fight hard to win the primary in Washington, D.C.

TRUMP: Tonight, we close one chapter in history and we begin another.

CLINTON: The end of the primaries is only the beginning. We are stronger together. Let's go out and make that case to America. Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 10:00 a.m. in Los Angeles, 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 6:00 p.m. in London. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

The historic stage is now set. Hillary Clinton, the first woman to be the presumptive nominee for a major American political party, and Donald Trump, a billionaire businessman who has been a politician for less than one year, facing off for the biggest job in the world. The two took their victory laps last night as the final major night of primaries wrapped up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CLINTON: My victory is not about one person. It belongs to generations of women and men who struggled and sacrificed and made this moment possible. There are still ceilings to break for women and men, for all of us.

But don't let anyone tell you that great things can't happen in America. Barriers can come down. Justice and equality can win. Our history has moved in that direction, slowly at times, but unmistakably. Thanks to generations of Americans who refuse to give up or back down.

Now you are writing a new chapter of that story. This campaign is about making sure there are no ceilings, no limits on any of us. And this is our moment to come together.

TRUMP: You've given me the honor to lead the Republican Party to victory this fall. We're going to do it. We're going to do it, folks. We're going to do it.

I understand the responsibility of carrying the mantle and I will never, ever let you down. Too much work, too many people, blood, sweat and tears. I'm never going to let you down. I will make you proud of your party and our movement and that's what it is is a movement.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton certainly have a lot of work ahead. While they combine for more than 29 million votes in the primaries, it's still just a small fraction of the more than 225 million Americans of voting age.

And while Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump push forward talking party unity and preparing attacks against each other, there is one more candidate who has not yet thrown in the towel. Senator Bernie Sanders says he's not giving up, though he is shedding some campaign staff.

He's also coming to Washington this week for a meeting scheduled tomorrow with President Obama. The president who is anxious to get in the middle of this presidential race to take on Donald Trump and secure his own legacy.

Let's talk a little bit more about these major headlines. Bernie Sanders staying put. Donald Trump's battle with members of his own party. And Hillary Clinton now making history. Here with me, our Senior Political Reporter Nia Malia Henderson and David Gregory, CNN's Political Analyst and host of the David Gregory Show podcast.

Guys, thanks very much for joining us. Nia, this is truly a historic moment in American politics. But will this history have a real impact over the next few months as this contest goes forward?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: You know, I think Hillary Clinton's certainly hoping so. I mean, she very much ramped that moment last night in the historicity of it, I guess. She tweeted out that photo of her and a little girl, saying, you know, anything is possible in America.

And even if you look back to her announcement video, it was also all about women. So, I think we'll hear that. I mean, there'll be sort of an implicit comparison with what Donald Trump is offering. You heard last night, she sort of rewrote his make America great again tagline to say that some people see that as let's take America backwards.

[13:05:02] So, I think she, you know, sort of the overarching argument that Democrats are going to make is that she embodies the kind of progress that Obama also embodied and that Donald Trump embodied something different.

BLITZER: It was really a moving part of her speech last night. Set -- beginning with that video that they presented, focusing in on this historic moment. The first time ever in American political history a woman will head a major political party.

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: And it's worth, I think, as a country, taking a minute to let that set in because it is an important moment in history for our sons and our daughters alike to understand that this is the progress that America is capable of making, all of us together.

I also think, to Nia's point, which is exactly right, there's quite a contrast that she is setting up here. She wants this to be a campaign, not just about the future, but about a new America. That she is part of where she's going to make the argument that Donald Trump, who wants to make America great again, she will argue he really wants to make it whiter again. The way it was again. Make it smaller again. Make it more infused with a sense of grievance and not hope.

That's the contrast that she wants to begin to lay the foundation for. And it was really the first time we've heard her talk about the historic nature of her candidacy in this campaign, I think, with that much vigor.

BLITZER: Donald Trump, he's got major challenges. She certainly has major challenges in the next several months towards this general election. He now said -- he said, yesterday, to his fellow Republicans who have been critical over -- critical of him over his controversial comments on that federal judge of Mexican heritage. He said, get over it. Listen to what Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine said earlier today. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: I would like to be able to endorse Donald Trump, but he really has to change the approach that he has taken. If I were giving him advice, I would tell him he should own up to making a mistake. He should apologize to the judge and to the American people. And he should stop insulting people and groups of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: So, she has three recommendations. You think he's going to own up to his mistake, apologize to the judge and to the American people, and stop insulting people?

HENDERSON: Yes. I mean, that laundry list, I mean, she essentially wants Donald Trump to be a completely different person. Someone who we haven't seen over these last 10 months when he was able to trounce these 16 opponents with this formula that is partly based on insult, partly based on raising some racially tinged language.

People called this the final straw with Judge Curiel, said that it was flat out racist. I think a lot of people with that statement that he came out with last night, they were hoping for something different. He didn't apologize in that statement. There's no sense that he will.

So, the Republicans are really going to have to grapple with what it means. On the one hand, you saw Paul Ryan, for instance, yesterday, trying to have a more inclusive face of the party. There he was in an African-American neighborhood talking about poverty, talking about a reform. But he also had to answer questions about Donald Trump. Said that his comment was racist.

So, I mean, there's this kind of here with Republicans, on the one hand, trying to be a different kind of party but being really chained to Donald Trump who represents a different ring of the party.

GREGORY: He said he was misconstrued. He was not misconstrued. I mean, so he still doesn't get it. Anybody can watch Jake Tapper's interview from over the weekend and understand that he said what he said and he said what he meant.

The question now, Wolf, he's got to begin the task of adding to his political base. And this impulsivity, this, you know, being thin skinned the way he's shown as a campaigner, those are things that really detract from his candidacy. Because I do think voters are going to judge these as personal characteristics, just like they're going to do on the other side with Hillary Clinton.

And, unfortunately, in this election cycle, it's really this battle between personal characteristics and high negatives on both sides that our people are going to be picking through to make a choice.

BLITZER: Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, Nia, reached out to the Bernie Sanders' supporters, hoping to bring some of them in. Listen to this -- these clips.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: Let there be no mistake. Senator Sanders, his campaign and the vigorous debate that we've had about how to raise incomes, reduce inequality, increase upward mobility, have been very good for the Democratic Party and for America.

TRUMP: To all of those Bernie Sanders voters who have been left out in the cold by a rigged system of super delegates, we welcome you with open arms. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We know in some of the exit polls that we did, West Virginia, for example, about 20 percent to 30 percent of the Bernie Sanders supporters said, in a general election, they would, in fact, vote for Donald Trump.

[13:10:01] HENDERSON: Yes, that's right. I think West Virginia is certainly a state that'll be a red (ph) state in the fall. I think you have to look at states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and some of those voters there. Some of those voters who were attracted to Bernie Sanders' message, particularly among trade.

And this is the same message that you hear from Donald Trump, the same message, in some ways, that you hear from Hillary Clinton, now at least. Is that going to play to Donald Trump's favor?

I think the other question is, will some of his harsher rhetoric about Muslims, about African-Americans, about Latinos, is that going to be sort of a slam the door immediately in terms of the --

GREGORY: I mean, look, Progressive Democrats are not going to likely go over to Bernie Sanders. Maybe people who are outside the political system.

BLITZER: To Donald Trump.

HENDERSON: To Donald Trump, right.

GREGORY: To Donald Trump. They're not going to go -- if they're outside of the political system and Sanders has brought them in and maybe they find some appeal on issues like trade, as you say, in certain parts of the country.

The task now, I really keep my eye on President Obama. He's in a unique position in popularity, and as a Democratic incumbent partisan, to try to bring some party unity here. But it's going to take some time. Sanders is going to need some time and some room.

BLITZER: And I keep my eye on president Obama and I also keep my eye on Bernie Sanders.

HENDERSON: Yes.

GREGORY: Yes.

BLITZER: Enthusiastically, once he concedes, --

HENDERSON: That's a good question.

BLITZER: -- he goes out there and tries to --

GREGORY: Right.

BLITZER: -- generate support for Hillary Clinton.

All right, guys, stand by.

CNN's Anderson Cooper, by the way, has an interview with Hillary Clinton that you will see later tonight in the "SITUATION ROOM." Look for it 6:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Coming up, a Trump versus the teleprompter. The GOP's presumptive nominee tries to stay on message during his victory speech. But could the change in tone actually backfire as one Trump insider compares him to Jekyll and Hyde? We'll discuss.

Also, President Obama prepares to meet with Bernie Sanders. What is he expected to tell the Vermont senator when they meet at the White House tomorrow before hitting the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton?

[13:11:53]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:15:42] BLITZER: America's witnessing history in the making right now as Hillary Clinton becomes the first woman to lead a major party ticket for president of the United States. The victory cannot be understated. It's a momentous moment in American history, regardless of party affiliations. It's certainly taken a very, very long time. Let's look back now on her political path leading up to this point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm not running to be president only for those Americans who already agree with me. I want to be president for all Americans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Madam Secretary, what's it like to be back in the game? What's it like to be back in the game?

CLINTON: It's great.

I'm a progressive, but I'm a progressive who likes to get things done.

I am not a natural politician, in case you haven't noted, like my husband or President Obama, so I have a view that I just have to do the best I can.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The issue of your e-mail practices while you were secretary of state.

CLINTON: Now, I didn't have to turn over anything.

I recently launched a Snapchat account. Those messages disappear all by themselves.

QUESTION: Did you wipe the server?

CLINTON: What, like with a cloth or something?

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn e-mails. CLINTON: Thank you. Me too. Me too.

One of my favorite, favorite political ads of all time, where the announcer said, if somebody running for office said something, we could have an immediate reaction as to whether it was true or not. Well, we've trained this dog. If it's not true, he's going to bark. I'm trying to figure out how we can do that with the Republicans. (Barking).

You've got to move a little bit, Dan. We've got to get more people in.

These are the bravest women. These five women have lost children to police actions and to random senseless gun violence. There are a lot of barriers that we have to be honest about.

You may have heard Senator Sanders say I'm unqualified to be president. I've been called a lot of things over the years, but unqualified has not been one of them.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: So you get into the general election, if you're the nominee for your party.

CLINTON: I will be the nominee for my party, Chris.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All anyone wants to talk about is Donald Trump.

CLINTON: Donald Trump? Isn't he the one that's like, oh, you're all losers.

I think being the first woman president would be quite a change from the presidents we've had up until this point, including President Obama.

TRUMP: The only card she has is the woman's card.

CLINTON: If fighting for women's health care is playing the woman card, then deal me in.

Don't let anyone tell you that America isn't great. Donald Trump's got America all wrong. We are a big hearted, fair minded country.

Donald Trump's ideas aren't just different. They are dangerously incoherent.

He is not just unprepared. He is temperamentally unfit to hold an office.

Thanks to you, we've reached a milestone.

First time in our nation's history that a woman will be a major party's nominee.

The end of the primaries is only the beginning.

We are stronger together. Let's go out and make that case to America. Thank you. God bless you. And God bless America. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, so let's talk a little bit more about Hillary Clinton's presumptive nomination. What it means not only at this moment but moving forward. I want to bring in the former Michigan governor, a Hillary Clinton supporter, in fact, a senior advisor of a pro-Clinton super PAC, Jennifer Granholm, as well as Scottie Neil Hughes, a political editor at rightalerts.com and a Donald Trump supporter.

Ladies, thanks very much for joining us.

Governor, what does it mean to you? A lot of other democracies have had women atop the governments decades ago, whether in Britain with Margaret Thatcher, or Israel or India.

JENNIFER GRANHOLM, SENIOR ADVISOR, PRO-CLINTON SUPER PAC: Right.

BLITZER: Angela Merkel and Germany over all these years. Why has it taken so long here in the --

GRANHOLM: Two hundred and forty years is enough.

BLITZER: It's taken a long time. Now she's -- she's only gotten the nomination, the presumptive nominee.

[13:20:00] GRANHOLM: Right. Right. Of course. Of course.

BLITZER: She hasn't been elected president yet. But it is a moment.

GRANHOLM: It is more than a moment. I mean, whatever happens in the general election, just the fact that she's broken this barrier will send a message to young people who are thinking about running. I mean there just is -- it's a -- it's a -- it's a fact that when women get in the top of potions, whether in an organization, more women in that organization move up. So it is a shame in this nation that only 2 percent of women are CEOs of big companies, or only six percent -- six women are governors. I mean we just -- we have not come to parody with this.

BLITZER: You were the first woman governor of Michigan.

GRANHOLM: I was the first woman governor. I was the first woman attorney general. I mean I understand -- I'm still brushing the shards of glass from my hair. I'm so happy that that ceiling, this particular one, was broken. Now for the next one.

BLITZER: Scottie, I know you want Donald Trump to be the next president of the United States, but what does it say to you that a woman finally has become the presumptive nominee of a major American political party?

SCOTTIE NEIL HUGHES, POLITICAL EDITOR, RIGHTALERTS.COM: Well, I think it's a great thing. But let's remember, Wolf, you know, we've been trying, as vice presidential candidates for -- we've had Sarah Palin. We had Geraldine Ferrero. I mean it -- there has been people, women, that have rosen up to be the point of the White House or to be second in command. This is great. This is wonderful. But I have to tell you, this is a different generation. Nobody is going to tell my daughter that she couldn't be president. That's not even in her vocabulary. That might have been in my mother's vocabulary, but it was not in mine. It's definitely not in my daughter's.

And when you're sitting here -- and we're going to sit here and say, OK, great, congratulations, now let's move on. We also have to remember, this is also the first candidate to be under FBI special investigation as well being in the nominee of a presidential -- as a major presidential party. So there's two sides to this --

BLITZER: Scottie, look --

HUGHES: And let's start actually looking at what she's done and what she wants to accomplish and let's take the gender card out of it. Congratulations. You got your banner. Let's actually move on and look at the policies and her track record.

BLITZER: Well, do you -- do you think, Scottie, it puts pressure on Donald Trump to name a woman as his vice presidential running mate?

HUGHES: Absolutely not. He is going to name the person who's most qualified, regardless of their gender or their color. And let me point this out, back in 2008, yes, it was a wonderful thing that we elected Barack Obama, who was an African-American male, into the presidency of the United States. People, though, elected him, hopefully not just because of his skin color, more importantly about what he wanted to offer. And I think that's why the majority of the people did.

Now, eight years later, are we in better race relations today than you were eight years ago? A lot of people think not. I don't want people to go to the polls thinking we're going to make a difference and elect a woman, thinking that guaranteeing that eight years from now gender equality is going to be guaranteed. We've seen the track record. I think folks need to go to the poll based on just exactly who they believe in is best for our country, not their race or their gender.

BLITZER: All right. Let me let Governor Granholm respond to that.

GRANHOLM: Yes. No, what I think is terrific about this is that once a woman is in those positions, you see policies flow. So we are one of the -- we are the only industrialized nation, for example, that doesn't have parental leave, paid parental leave. We don't have access to universal child care. We don't have the policies that would enable young women to be able to fully take advantage often of what society has to offer. This is -- we -- she would never say to vote for her because of her gender. But this is a massive step forward for the nation, and that's good.

And, believe me, the contrast with Donald Trump is going to be so stark and so on -- apparent and her message last night when you were playing that little thing, I was just, ah, because it was so inclusive and uplifting. She's trying to build a nation that looks like America, where he is out there spewing these racial statements that are exclusive. She was talking about building bridges. He's talking about building walls.

BLITZER: All right, Scottie, go ahead.

HUGHES: Well, it's funny you talk about that. That was a great montage. Congratulations to your editor. You left out a couple clips. You left out the clip where she sat there and told coal miners that they weren't going to have the job and the man in tears asking her about that. There's not -- she does not have this wonderful track record. And when we sit here and we think about everything's that's going on right now in our country and our economy, you cannot sit there and say that Hillary Clinton can -- is 100 percent pro-woman when you look at her track record of the Clinton Global Initiative sitting there paying less to their women, when you sit there and look at her supporting countries, taking money from countries that do not support women's rights or homosexual rights within their country. Her track record, she can say one thing on the campaign trail but the actions are not backing up. Unlike Mr. Trump, who you might not like his tone or his voice --

GRANHOLM: Does Trump support equal pay? Does Trump support equal pay, Scottie? Does Trump support a woman's right to choose?

HUGHES: Equal pay for equal -- for equal work. That is the difference.

GRANHOLM: Does Trump support access to white women's healthcare?

BLITZER: One at a time. Go ahead, Scottie.

HUGHES: Hey, guess what, equal -- equal pay is not just -- or equal, you know, right to choose, that is actually something I -- we -- we actually are fighting for women's right, the unborn woman's right. We are pro-life for a reason. We want all women to have the chance to live, and men as well. So, yes, so I consider him to be very feminist when it comes to the pro-life era.

And when you look, it's equal work for -- equal pay for equal work. That's exactly what Mr. Trump -- he does not sit there and judge. And if you look at it, he has a better track record with promoting women within his own organization, with jobs he has given, rather than what Hillary Clinton has done, who the jobs she has created, she pays the women less than she does the men. And in her own Senate office, she was called out for paying the women less than she did the men with it.

[13:25:16] So, you know, you've got to (INAUDIBLE) with the action.

GRANHOLM: There were some stories this week --

BLITZER: All right, Scottie, hold on. Let Governor Granholm respond.

GRANHOLM: I was just going to say, there's a story just this week, Scottie, that showed that he pays his -- the women on his campaign significantly less than he pays the men. I mean the reality is, what are his policies going to be going forward?

HUGHES: Because she got caught. GRANHOLM: What are his policies going to be to be able to help women and men succeed? I guarantee you that when she talks about access to income, making sure that pay is equal, at equal pay, Lilly Ledbetter Act that was signed by the president. My guess is, if you ask that of Donald Trump, he would not support that. Access to health care is a critical issue for women getting ahead. And when you talk about denying them access to contraception, that hurts women. My guess is that he's going to be against that because that's what the Republican Party is against.

BLITZER: All right, Scottie, go ahead.

HUGHES: And that's a funny thing you said you guess. That's a guess right there. And let me tell you --

GRANHOLM: Well, tell me, where -- how (INAUDIBLE) women?

HUGHES: You know how he's going to help women? He's going to repeal and he's going to replace Obamacare. The number one thing that is hurting women today because our insurance rates have gone two to three times up and we cannot insure -- we cannot afford insurance right now thanks to Obamacare and she wants to continue that and embrace this economy --

GRANHOLM: Is he in favor --

HUGHES: That President Obama has given us. No, he wants to replace it with a competitive system that will actually make our prices go down.

GRANHOLM: Which would include contraception? Which would include contraception?

HUGHES: It's all about -- it's all about -- you know, isn't it funny, it's all about choice. It goes to the states. He's going to give it back to the states and those state exchanges and let them make the decision, not sit there and force it down the throat and make taxpayers and the government pay for it.

GRANHOLM: So he supports the fact that the states are closing down all of these Planned Parenthood clinics, that there is a complete effort on the part of the states with Republican governors to shut down women's access to health care. I'm certain that he supports that as well. This is why there will be such an important choice in the fall.

HUGHES: You need to separate women's health care from abortion. They are two separate things. Yes, if they are sitting there doing taxpayer funded abortions, those should be shut down.

GRANHOLM: No, there is no taxpayer funded abortions. There is no taxpayer funded abortions. No, there is not. Do not -- see, this is what the problem is.

HUGHES: There is a (INAUDIBLE) if taxes -- if taxes (INAUDIBLE) pay for electricity, it is taxpayer funded. Yes, it is.

GRANHOLM: They are deceiving people, as usual. There is no taxpayer funded abortion. It is illegal.

BLITZER: All right --

HUGHES: If they are paying for the electricity to be on, the water to be run --

GRANHOLM: OK.

BLITZER: All right.

GRANHOLM: OK.

HUGHES: If they are paying for the services, then, yes, it is -- those actions are happening because of taxpayer funds and it's not right.

BLITZER: Scottie, hold on for a moment. A final question for the governor. Were you disappointed that Senator Sanders did not concede graciously last night?

GRANHOLM: Well, I think, you know, he's got to -- this -- you can't just turn this on a dime. I mean he's been running and he's got a huge number of supporters. He's -- it's a -- it's a deep and emotional thing. I think you've got to allow somebody the time to process it, to talk with his supporters, to figure out what he's going to do. I know he's going to do the right thing. He wants to see unity too. He knows that the biggest danger that this country faces is Donald Trump.

BLITZER: All right, Jennifer Granholm, Scottie Neil Hughes, a very good, serious, important discussion. Thank you to both of you.

GRANHOLM: Thanks.

BLITZER: Coming up, cue the president of the United States. President Obama gets ready to hit the stump for Hillary Clinton. But first, he has a meeting with Senator Bernie Sanders. Can he help unite the Democratic Party? We're going live to the White House.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)