Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Libertarian Presidential Nominee Calls Trump a Racist; 3 Terror Attacks in a Week; Several G.O.P. Delegates Will Bring Guns to Cleveland; Attorney General, Loretta Lynch Will Accept Whatever Recommendation the FBI and Prosecutors make; Toxic Algae Blanketing Florida Beaches. Aired 4-5p ET.

Aired July 03, 2016 - 16:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:00:15] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. And thanks so much for joining me, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

As the vetting process moves into full swing for Hillary Clinton's vice presidential picks, the former U.S. secretary of state is also facing the FBI's final probe into the use of her private e-mail server.

Sources tell CNN, an announcement of no charges is expected within the next two weeks as long as no evidence of wrongdoing emerges from yesterday's three and a half hour interview with the FBI.

The campaign hopes to put the more than year-long controversy to rest and officially turn their full focus to the general election. But the issue still remains to haunt her.

Clinton supporter and potential running mate Cory Booker ruled out any possibility that an indictment would emerge. The New Jersey Senator also dodged speculation that he is being vetted as a possible VP candidate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Two weeks ago, you said you were not being vetted to be Hillary Clinton's vice presidential running mate. Is that still the case? Have you, has your staff, provided any personal documents to the Clinton campaign?

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D), NEW JERSEY: No. At this point, I've answered this question, talked about this. I'm just referring questions about the best vice presidency to the woman that's going to have to make this decision. You should talk to the Hillary Clinton campaign. But what I do know is that on the Democratic side, there are many fabulous candidates. People that could really be strong --

BOLDUAN: That is not a no, sir. That is not a no.

BOOKER: That is exactly what it is. It's telling you if you have a question like that, please, direct it to the Clinton campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, let's bring in our panel: Brian Morgenstern is a Republican strategist and Ellis Henican is a political analyst and author of the book, "The Party is Over: How I Became a Democrat."

It always cracks me up.

OK, so, Ellis, would Cory Booker be a good running mate for Hillary Clinton?

ELLIS HENICAN, COLUMNIST/CO-AUTHOR, THE PARTY'S OVER: Yes, and a pretty good dodger, right? He has a pretty good answer, right, to kind of pivot away from it without actually denying anything.

I don't think he's at the top of the list, frankly. But sure, he's right. There's an awful lot of good choices out there. And one difference between the Dems and the Republicans this time, is that Democrats would all like the job, good luck finding a first-string Republican who feels the same way.

WHITFIELD: So, well, back to the Democrats then, who do you think should be or would be at the top of the list if not Booker?

HENICAN: Well, I mean, Tim Kaine, the senator from Virginia, obviously close to the top. Elizabeth Warren. Someone who I think has a, you know, a pretty good run at it and playing to different strengths, right?

I mean, Elizabeth Warren more toward the progressive wing of the party. And Senator Kaine, someone who would be more, I would say, moderate Democratic choice.

WHITFIELD: And she has shown, Elizabeth Warren, a willingness if not eagerness to go after Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump.

So, Brian, how much attention is the Trump campaign paying to who Hillary Clinton selects as a running mate, to dictate who Donald Trump picks as a running mate?

BRIAN MORGENSTERN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I don't know that that is going to be the deciding factor. Ellis alluded to something. It's an unusual year in terms of Republicans and the vice presidency, because, normally, it's quite an honor to be asked to be vice president of the United States.

This year, for anybody with a political future, they have to consider the risks that go along with being part of the Trump campaign and, you know, being part of that aftermath if he loses.

And so --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: So you see this process as being very complicated, very difficult then for the Trump camp? Morgenstern: Well, there's an added element in that they not only have to decide who Trump wants, they have to figure out who would say yes. And that's not a problem, you know, normally for presidential candidates but it is this year. So --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: So we know that possibly Chris Christie would say yes, right? Because he was very quick to leave his campaign and then, you know, join Donald Trump's.

Who else do you think would say yes, Brian?

MORGENSTERN: Newt Gingrich is running for vice president at this point, it seems like. So he's obviously on the list. He's open to being vetted. He said it would be an honor. So those two are clearly on there.

Other names that have been bandied about, you know, Scott Brown, the former senator from Massachusetts. Although, I don't think he's at the top of the list.

You know, it's an attack dog role which is unusual because Trump is, you know, nothing if not an attack dog, so maybe he wants to counteract and have somebody who's kinder and gentler, I don't know. But certainly someone with political experience and both Gingrich and Christie fit that bill.

WHITFIELD: And what about Joni Ernst? I mean, talk about attack dog or at least, you know, showing that the qualities are there. She bows down to no one. We're understanding that she might be added to the list now.

Brian, what do you think about the possibilities of her?

MORGENSTERN: I mean, she's a rising star in the party. She is, you know, extremely popular in Iowa, which is sort of a swing state and has Midwestern values, and sort of reaches out to a different demographic.

[16:05:05] But about, you know, political futures, she's got a long future in the party. She's a rising star. I don't know that she would want to assume the risks that go along with being on a Trump ticket. That's something that she'll have to think long and hard about. I think she would be a great choice, though.

WHITFIELD: Ellis, the political future, is that a determining factor for most of the VP candidates? I mean, it would seem to be a real honor if anyone were to ask, would you like that job? But, you know, now thinking about what happens after that run, if the candidate is defeated or if they win, seems to be outweighing -- or seems to be helping to determine, you know, whether they'd want to do it or not.

HENICAN: Yes, it's weird year. For the best analogy I could give you is a nude beach. You're going to a nude beach. It's like, it's like the people you see there are not necessarily the ones you want to see. WHITFIELD: Oh!

HENICAN: I think it might be the same thing with the lineup of the VP stakes this time.

WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness. OK, it took my mind to elsewhere. That was really interesting.

Let's go back. OK, back to the beach where people, you know, have something on.

So, Brian, how do you respond to that?

MORGENSTERN: Yes, now I just can't stop thinking about Newt and Chris Christie on a nude beach.

(CROSSTALK)

HENICAN: Scary, isn't it. Very scary.

MORGENSTERN: Kind of ruined it. Fourth of July weekend, let's avoid that beach, shall we?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

MORGENSTERN: I think that's about right, it's a weird year, where, you know, people who are not going to be running for something else in the future are probably going to be the most likely contenders.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ellis, Brian, always good to see you. Thank you so much for that lasting imagery.

HENICAN: Happy Fourth. Happy Fourth.

WHITFIELD: I can't get it out of my head now, thank you for that.

All right. You know, have a good one. I appreciate it.

All right, Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson had some other harsh words for Donald Trump today on "State of the Union."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY JOHNSON, LIBERTARIAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The stuff he's saying is just incendiary.

BOLDUAN: Incendiary, but you think he himself is racist?

JOHNSON: Based on his statements, clearly. I mean, if the statements are being made, is that not reflective of -- I mean, if you look up the definition of racism, calling a U.S.-born Hispanic, a Mexican and his inability to judge others, I think I'm now semi quoting Paul Ryan here.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: All right, this comes on the heels of Trump's controversial tweet yesterday where he targeted his rival Hillary Clinton. Criticism started rolling in after the Republican presumptive nominee tweeted an image you see on the left hand, an image resembling the Star of David.

Well, not long after that, Trump deleted and then re-tweeted the same message but with a circle instead.

So let's bring in CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein to talk more about this.

So, Ron, you've got two different things there. You've got the tweet and the use of what some say is a star of David versus, you know, the circle.

And then listen to, you know, Gary Johnson there who says that he is a racist. So does this help your Gary Johnsons of the world? And hurt Donald Trump at all? Or what do you make of all this?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think this clearly hurt Donald Trump. I think he has opened himself to these kinds of charges to a degree of no major party nominee in memory. And really no nominee for president from any party since George Wallace ran as a third-party candidate in 1968.

There was the answer to Jake Tapper on the Sunday before Super Tuesday, when he very clearly refused to disavow David Duke. There was this Gary Johnson, quoting Paul Ryan, noted the condemnation of a U.S.-born Hispanic judge as a Mexican who could not do his job.

There was the use of this tweet, against Hillary Clinton which as there is a widespread reporting today originated in a white supremacist Web site, and he's also re-tweeted other, you know, tweets from those kinds of sources before.

Trump has had a consistent pattern. And if you look, I think it has clearly cost him in the polls. I think his two biggest personal vulnerabilities are the questions about temperament and preparation. And also the perception on a big part of the electorate that he is consciously stoking racial division.

WHITFIELD: Yes. In many corners, you know, his polling has dropped as a result of all those things that you just listed, particularly after, you know, the judge didn't really seem to take a particular hit.

But then you listen to Donald Trump, you know, when he's losing he says, you know, polling, it doesn't even matter. Of course when the polling is in his favor, he uses that to help stress the point that he believes he is the winner here.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, here's the conundrum that Donald Trump faces. The conundrum that he faces is that the racially polarizing strategy that he has used to win the nomination in these kinds of kind of feints and signals obviously cause him problems with minority voters. He's facing historically high unfavorable ratings among African- Americans and Hispanics. And what that means, of course, is that he's going to win, he's going to have to drive up his number among whites with very, very high historic levels.

The problem, the conundrum is that the same racially coded imagery that causes him problems with minority voters also causes him to under perform with white-collar, college educated white voters.

And as I've told you before, as we talked about before, no Democratic presidential nominee in the history of polling going back to 1952 has won most college-educated whites.

[16:10:10] Hillary Clinton is consistently leading Donald Trump among them now. And what that means is that he needs enormous margins among working-class whites to overcome those two deficits among the other two blocs which I think are largely rooted in this racially coded imagery that he's been using.

WHITFIELD: And we're talking about this largely because Gary Johnson, you know, said what he said, calling there Donald Trump a racist.

BROWNSTEIN: Right.

WHITFIELD: But then, you know, he's polling, Gary Johnson, is polling around 10 percent where he is included in those polls. He needs to get to 15 percent to make it to the presidential debates.

So does he stand a chance?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Look, his opening, I think, is the difficulty of both Trump and Hillary Clinton face with younger voters. You know, Hillary Clinton underperformed with younger voters all the way through the primary.

Bernie Sanders won a higher share of voters under 30 than Barack Obama did in 2008. Donald Trump is facing enormous negatives among Millennials, too, precisely for the reasons that we're talking about.

And I think that is where the Libertarian argument, you know, not to make a finer point about it, particularly around the legalization of marijuana, gives him an opportunity to make some in roads. So, yes, I think there will be some opportunities for Gary Johnson in this race.

Now whether he can sustain it with more exposure, whether the libertarian platform can hold the initial support that -- or initial interest that it generates is another question. But there's no doubt that there's a big -- there are chunks of the electorate that are not particularly happy about Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton and may be more willing to look at a third choice than they would in a more normal year.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right, always fascinating. Thank you so much, Ron Brownstein. Good to see you.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you, Fred. WHITFIELD: All right, three major terror attacks in three different countries in a week. ISIS claiming responsibility for all of them.

Still ahead, we'll ask why the terror group is turning up the intensity of its attacks on civilians.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In Baghdad, a massive explosion rocked the city center overnight. At least 125 people were killed when a car bomb went off in a busy shopping area. The area was filled with people breaking their fast on one of the last days of the holy month of Ramadan.

The Iraqi prime minister has now ordered an investigation of bomb detectors used at some security points. ISIS says it is responsible for the bombing. This is the third major terror attack claimed by ISIS in the past week.

First, last week's shooting and bombings at the Istanbul airport, killing 44 people. Two days later, civilians were taken hostage at a cafe in Bangladesh, 20 were killed. And then now, Iraq. So we've got full coverage for you.