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Trump VP Drama Intensifies; GOP Reveals Speakers for Convention; Obama Talks With Police, Civil Rights Leaders; Discussing Race in America. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired July 14, 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: Let's get to Ana Cabrera. She's in for Carol Costello, and she has it for you.

Good morning, Ana.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Guys, that "Good Stuff" never gets old. Keep it coming. Keep it coming. We need more positive stories.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Thanks.

CABRERA: Great show.

NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, veep frenzy at a fever pitch.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm thinking about two.

CABRERA: But who has what it takes to be Trump's running mate?

Plus, real problems, a deep division. President Obama speaks out after his meeting with police and community activists.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it is fair to say that we will see more tension between police and communities this month, next month, next year.

CABRERA: What happens next?

Let's talk, in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Good morning. Thanks for being here. I'm Ana Cabrera, in for Carol Costello.

Donald Trump, the master showman, ratchets up his political intrigue of what may be the single most important decision of his campaign. Who will be his running mate.

We're keeping a close eye on this "Apprentice" like final moment in the Trump veepstake. Will it be Indiana governor Mike Pence, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, or New Jersey governor Chris Christie, or Trump being Trump, could there still be a shocker?

His advisers are reportedly torn, but promising the big reveal in an announcement tomorrow morning. This as the Republican convention looms just a few days away. We are covering all the angles as this drama intensifies.

Let's begin with CNN's Sunlen Serfaty, on the Governor Pence's stakeout near Indianapolis -- Sunlen.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ana, well, we are here in this big empty room right now, right outside Indianapolis because Governor Mike Pence will be here later this morning attending to actually some gubernatorial duties here at an economic initiative summit of sorts. He will speak here later this morning.

But potentially feeling the weight of this moment as his future -- potentially as Donald Trump's vice presidential running mate hangs in the balance, it seems he took a little time this morning to clear his head. He left the Governor's Mansion this morning with his wife off for a bike ride. So certainly taking a quiet moment, it seems, with his wife this morning.

Now, of course, this is as the day that Donald Trump is anticipated to make his decision. Donald Trump out in California right now. And it's interesting to see how he's kind of worked through what qualifications he is looking for in a vice president. For so long, he's been saying he wants someone who is an attack dog, a fighter, but then yesterday, he shift it a bit and said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm not looking for an attack dog. Frankly, I'm looking for somebody that really understands what we're talking about because I'd rather have the whole on -- be on policy. And I've said that to you before. I mean, people think of me as an attacker, but I'd rather be talking about policy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: Now we have also recently heard from Newt Gingrich, who of course is one of the finalists being considered as well. And it was interesting to hear him last night in an interview really talk about how after a meeting with Donald Trump here in Indianapolis for two and a half hours yesterday, he walked away with the impression that it is down to himself and Governor Mike Pence. And he really tried to align himself, I thought, with Donald Trump' personality. Of course, both men known for their brass styles. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: In many ways, Donald Trump is like a pirate. He's outside the normal system. He gets things done. He is bold. He is actually like a figure out of a movie. In a lot of ways, my entire career has been a little bit like a pirate. I've taken on the establishment in both parties. I've been very prepared to fight in the media.

One of the really hard questions he's got to weigh on the way to California is, do -- I mean, do you really want a two-pirate ticket?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: Now as both these men and potentially some other and potentially women wait to hear the verdict coming from Donald Trump, Donald Trump is out in California on a fundraising swing, again, Ana. That announcement said from the Trump campaign to be tomorrow at 11:00 in New York City -- Ana.

CABRERA: All right, maty. Thank you, Sunlen Serfaty. We appreciate it.

Now politics with a little show business that has Donald Trump all over it. Right? The Republican National Convention taking shape and we just got a list of the speakers. The role is highly coveted. It's a potential springboard as you might know for the party's rising stars and also the first solid clue of what the Republicans want to say to you, to Americans.

CNN's Phil Mattingly in Cleveland. And Phil, there is quite the eclectic mix on this list. We see a big celebrity factor as well.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's exactly right, Ana. Look, Donald Trump made it very clear. This was going to be a different convention than what we're used to. Not just because the 2012 nominee, Mitt Romney, or the 43rd president of the United States, George W. Bush, they're not coming, but the cross-section of speakers that he's going to have, they're different.

Now you do have traditional politicians. You've got Ted Cruz, obviously a very serious opponent of Donald Trump during the primary. He is speaking. Joni Ernst, the Iowa senator, a rising star. She will be there. Former New York mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, will also be there. Governor Scott Walker, another top rising star in the Republican Party. They're all speaking. So in that sense rather traditional.

[09:05:11] But look who is also speaking at this convention. And this is where it's different. You have sports stars like Tim Tebow, the former Heisman Trophy winning, Natalie Gulbis, a professional golfer. You have soap opera stars, you have Antonio Sabato, Jr., actor and former underwear models.

So as Trump advisers have made very clear, this is going to be a very different convention. There's going to be a cross-section of people. It wasn't going to be as one told me a boring stale political convention maybe that we've seen over the last couple of decades, and they're making good on that promise.

One of the more traditional elements, though, Ana, that is worth pointing out, how they're going to be rolling this out. There will be themes to each day. Themes to each segment. And they really want to focus on national security, immigration, and the economy. But another important element. All of Donald Trump's older children will be speaking at this convention as will his wife. The family man of Donald Trump, one that a lot of Republican who talk to Donald Trump behind the scene note is very important to them, that will be on display and why is that important, Ana, think back to 2012.

Ann Romney's speech at the convention was really considered one of the most important moments of that entire convention. One of the most humanizing moments of Mitt Romney. So we'll get a lot of that at this convention, but no question about it, a few wildcards as well -- Ana.

CABRERA: And Melania Trump has been rather mysterious throughout the campaign so far. Hasn't said much. Phil Mattingly, thank you very much.

I also want to bring in a couple of our panelists right now, Doug Heye, who's the former RNC communications director. Also joining me, Jeffrey Lord, a Trump supporters, also a member of past administrations.

And guys, before we come to you we are getting some new reporting about this possible running mate for Trump. We've seen it play out in the past 24 hours like a circus. Well, now a senior adviser is telling CNN, telling our Jim Acosta that right now Trump's head is leaning toward Pence. So we'll see exactly what unfolds in the next 24 hours because anything can happen. We're talking about Trump here.

And I really want to ask you, Jeffrey, about what we've seen in terms of this race to get a running mate. I mean, it really has been like a race, a media circus, a reality TV show when you see his plane has a problem, he stays in Indiana, his kids rush to get there, and then he meets with Governor Pence. And Newt Gingrich says I still want to be race, he rushes to get there to have a meeting with Donald Trump. Donald Trump holds these meetings behind closed doors. But then he comes out, he waves to the cameras. Have you ever seen anything play out like this?

JEFFREY LORD, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, I think that everything in Indiana was caused by, of all things, a popped plane tire. That --

CABRERA: Oh, come on. It has Trump all over it. You don't think he was trying to create drama?

LORD: Well, I -- sure, I think he is a showman and all of that, but this has been very methodical. I mean, he does have AB (INAUDIBLE) who's done this kind of thing before. There is a vetting process going on. He's met with a number of people. So this has been going on before. But I think we are down to the wire. I think your information may be correct here on Governor Pence. I don't know for a fact. I'm a Newt guy. I certainly hope he goes with the pirate ticket tomorrow.

(LAUGHTER)

LORD: But it's (INAUDIBLE). But we will have to see. But we're getting down to the time when decision is going to be made, and Donald Trump gets to make that decision. CABRERA: Doug, as you know, typically of the vice presidential pick

and what leads up to that happens behind closed doors. There is a lot of secrecy typically. What does what we've seen play out with Donald Trump tell you about maybe how he would govern?

DOUG HEYE, FORMER RNC COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR: Well, it tells us what we've seen about Donald Trump as a candidate. As Jeffrey said, he's a showman. He's all about getting attention for himself. He can say that's good or that's bad. That's the reality. It is the Donald Trump show. It has been for a year. And so it shouldn't be too surprising that what we've seen over the past week is a continuation of that.

CABRERA: And of course, the three favorites, I want to bring them back up, Pence, Gingrich and Christie. But again the one that's been predictable about Trump is his unpredictability.

Jeffrey, is this going to be one of these guys or could the VP candidate end up being somebody completely different? Is Trump just trying to throw us all off?

LORD: You know, in all -- in all candor, Ana, I have absolutely no idea.

CABRERA: Oh, come on.

LORD: I mean, I just can't --

CABRERA: Give us your secrets.

LORD: I tend to think personally that it is one of these three people. I do. But is it possible that there is somebody else waiting in the wings? That's possible, too. But you know, they've done this vetting, they go through this process. Vice presidential nominations are today a whole lot more organized than they were. I worked for Ronald Reagan, that was supposed to be President Ford as his running mate at the convention, and at the last minute, Ronald Reagan decided no, and just literally turned around to somebody and said get George Bush on the phone.

It was done a lot differently than it is today, which in spite of all the showmanship, it's much methodical.

CABRERA: Well, and we have so much social media now which really does kind of revs up all the spin.

LORD: Exactly.

CABRERA: As we continue to contemplate who is going to be.

[09:10:03] LORD: The chatter is immense.

CABRERA: There's a lot of chatter for sure.

Let's talk about the speaker list that just came out this morning. It has a lot of different names from celebrities like Tim Tebow, we have Antonio Sabato, Jr., also has your typical politicians, Mitch McConnell is on this list as well, just a couple of the names. Your thoughts, Doug?

HEYE: Well, I'm -- you know, I'm most excited to see what Paul Ryan has to say. I thought the forum he had with Jake Tapper on CNN the other night was probably the best espousal of conservative I've seen not only this year but probably in a generation. Paul Ryan is going to talk about the House agenda that he's trying to move forward and he's trying to get Donald Trump to join on.

The rest of the side show, whether it is Tim Tebow or someone else that, you know, is -- maybe good for "The Apprentice," but not necessarily a top shelf speaker, that's all fine and well for the showbiz aspect of it. But what Paul Ryan has to say about the direction the country moves forward really will demonstrate the ying and the yang that the Republican Party is facing right now.

CABRERA: You know, another name that caught my eyes here, Phil. He's the billionaire Silicon Valley entrepreneur. Also openly gay.

And Jeffrey, Trump has said he's going to be a better friend to the LGBT community than Hillary Clinton. But I want to talk about what's on the Republican platform when it comes to LGBT issues. This is something that has sparked a lot of debate, a lot of heated debate at the platform committee as it met this week. Take a look at this here. The party opposes same-sex marriage rights, it backs efforts to restrict bathrooms to birth gender. Supports parents' right to choose so-called sexual conversion therapy for minors and currently protects businesses who refuse services to gays and lesbians based on religious beliefs.

Jeffrey, does this fly with Donald Trump?

LORD: Well, sure, sure. I think Donald Trump is very much a traditional -- a traditional guy. I mean, he's got his positions on this staked out. This doesn't mean hostility. There is a difference between saying that you want bathrooms to be men and women and that sort of thing, and being hostile here.

I mean, heavens, we just had this terrible, terrible situation in Orlando, where somebody who was devoted to radical Islam, which is quite hostile, I mean seriously hostile to gays, went in and murdered 49 people in cold blood. I mean, we do have to have a sense of proportion here.

CABRERA: Doug, what happened to that 2012 autopsy and a pledge to be more inclusive?

HEYE: Yes, unfortunately, I think it got completely ignored by a lot of the candidates, by a lot of members of Congress, and certainly a lot of the voters who want to see Republicans fight more but don't necessarily have a plan to win.

And I can tell you, Ana. Having worked on naming members of the platform committee and planning for the convention in the past when I was at the RNC, it's an important document for the party, but it's not something that any voter in any swing state is going to look at and make their decision on the presidential race or senators and gubernatorial congressional races at all.

LORD: That's right.

HEYE: It's something we'll all talk about. It's an important document for Republicans, it's an important document for Democrats. It's not a voting issue for voters.

CABRERA: All right. We'll wait and see, I guess.

LORD: That's right, Ana. I've worked on these myself a couple of times in a couple of conventions. You put a lot of work into them and then the minute the convention is over, attention moves on. So you know, I --

CABRERA: All right. Who raised the fine print.

LORD: I'm sorry to say but I think Doug is right. And I agree with him.

CABRERA: All right, Doug Heye, Jeffrey Lord, thanks to both of you.

HEYE: Thank you.

CABRERA: Still to come, from the race discussion at the White House to your house, next. One white mother tells us what Black Lives Matters means to her and her African-American children.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:17:42] CABRERA: With the nation on edge, what is going to change? President Obama is forcing a new dialogue. He led a four-hour meeting with police officials and civil rights leaders to discuss the problems with race and policing in our country. This meeting ended with a stark prediction from Obama. More anger and more unrest is likely to come.

CNN's Athena Jones joins from the White House with more now. And Athena, what did this accomplish?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Ana. That is a good question. But first let's start with that prediction you mentioned from the president, and we'll talk about it on the other side. Go ahead and play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Sadly because this is a huge country that is very diverse and we have a lot of police departments, I think it is fair to say that we will see more tension in police -- between police and communities this month, next month, next year, for quite some time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And so the president's words there, I don't think were meant to shock or provoke fear. I think he was acknowledging the fact that this is an issue that has a long history and deep roots, and won't be solved overnight. And you asked what the meeting, this four-hour meeting with some 40 participants accomplished. And I would say it was a chance for everyone to come together, share ideas. We heard from the president in Dallas, saying how inadequate words can be in solving anything. What really needs to happen is action.

And so this meeting was about what actions can be taken. I mentioned there were a lot of participants. We're talking about not only members of the administration, for instance, from the Department of Justice, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and others, but also civil rights activists, faith leaders, of course representatives from law enforcement agencies, among others. And so a lot of people offering a lot of different perspectives.

They didn't all agree on everything, but the president did spell out a few areas where there was broad agreement. I'll tell you some of them. The need to build confidence in investigations after officers use force. So if there is a situation, an accusation of excessive use of force or deadly force, they want to make sure communities feel as though those investigations are being carried out fairly.

Also the need to improve police training and hiring processes. One of the recommendations of the 21st Century Policing Task Force the president pulled together is to promote diversity in these police departments across the country. So that's one thing they discussed.

[09:20:08] Another area that there is agreement on is the need to fix data collection issues. This is so that different law enforcement units country can collect data to help them determine not just how to manage their police force but also what's working.

One more thing the president said is that this has to be a long and sustained conversation. As I mentioned, this is not a new conversation, not a new problem and it won't be resolved overnight -- Ana.

CABRERA: All right, Athena Jones from the White House. Thank you.

The 15-year-old son of Alton Sterling will meet with the president today in Washington. Cameron Sterling will also participate in a town hall that's being taped this afternoon. The family spokesman said he's going to ask the president a question during that town hall event.

Now Cameron's father, as you know, was killed last week in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, during a confrontation with police. That shooting is still under investigation by the Justice Department.

A funeral procession about to get underway next hour to remember Philando Castile in Minnesota. Governor Mark Dayton will be among the mourners at the Cathedral of St. Paul for this service this afternoon at 1:00 Eastern. Castile was shot and killed by police one week ago during a traffic stop, and those moments after the shooting were live- streamed by Castile's girlfriend who was also a passenger in that car. And one week after that brutal police ambush in Dallas, family,

friends and fellow officers will say goodbye to Sergeant Michael Smith. This married father of two was one of the five killed in that attack. And take a look --

(AUDIO BROKEN)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMILY THOMPSON OFFICER BRENT THOMPSON'S WIDOW: All of my brothers and sisters in blue, to the coward that tried to break me and my brothers and sisters, you know your hate made us stronger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: It is hard to watch some of those moments.

Some very influential sports figures want to help change things. They've joined this call to action, urging communities to end gun violence.

This is what it looks like as LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul took the stage at the Annual Espy Awards. This group says it is time to end racial profiling and they believe athletes must do more to usher in change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEBRON JAMES, NBA STAR: Let's use this moment as a call to action for all professional athletes to educate ourselves, explore these issues. Speak up. Use our influence and renounce all violence. And most importantly, go back to our communities, invest our time, our resources, help rebuild them, help strengthen them, help change them.

We all have to do better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Some viewers criticized the group's comments. Others praised these players for trying to use their influence for positive change.

Now here is the real perception in America right now. According to the "New York Times," race relations are considered as bad as they've been in decades. Really since the Rodney King riots back in 1992. This poll finds 69 percent of Americans say race relations are bad.

So how do we talk about race with our kids? My next guess, Rachel Garlinghouse, bring a new perspective to this conversation. She is a white mother raising three adopted African-American children and she recently wrote an article about what Black Lives Matters means to her.

Rachel, welcome to our show.

RACHEL GARLINGHOUSE, WHITE MOTHER RAISING THREE AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHILDREN: Thank you for having me. CABRERA: Thanks for being here. In your article, you write, "When I

say Black Lives Matter, my first point of reference is my children."

GARLINGHOUSE: I know through your children, you have experienced, just a slice maybe of what it's like to be in the shoes of black people. Walk us through the racism you've seen firsthand and tell us how it has made you feel.

Absolutely. So when I published the Babble article, I really wanted to convey the fact that, though I have white privilege, of course, and have my entire life, that once I became a mother through adoption, that privilege has slowly begun to melt away because I live through their experiences.

So two examples that I had cited in that article was, one, about six months after Ferguson had happened, my girls were riding bikes in the driveway. I was standing there, checking my e-mail and a young man drove past our house and yelled the N words twice at my girls. And at that moment, I just -- I wanted to throw up, pass out, freak out. I mean, I really didn't know what to do. So I called my best friend, who is also a mother, by transracial adoption, and we ended up calling the police and we did find the gentleman who did it.

And then another incident was when my son, who is a pretty big boy, had just turned 2 years old. An acquaintance of ours have mentioned how big he was and how much he had grown.

[09:25:06] And I said yes, he is a really big boy. And she said he is a, quote, "cute little thug." And again, that just broke my heart because I thought he is baby yet he is already being perceived as this future criminal. You know, not a great guy.

CABRERA: And perhaps she said it without realizing how offensive and how insensitive it was. How did you respond?

GARLINGHOUSE: Unfortunately I did not respond in the way I think I should have. I just looked at her. I was completely speechless. I didn't know what to say. And this again was right around the time Ferguson, we live about 20 minutes from Ferguson, and all of this was going on in the media. And I think things are coming out of people's mouths that they're thinking now, there's less filter, and she just said it. And I just sat there stunned. I really did not know what to say to her.

CABRERA: Let's listen to what one presidential candidate had to say about how race might affect family dynamics. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Let's put ourselves in the shoes of African-Americans and Latinos, and try as best as we can to imagine what it would be like if we had to have the talk with our kids about how carefully they need to act.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CABRERA: How do you talk about race with your children? I imagine it might be a more difficult conversation in your household since you haven't experienced exactly what they're going through.

GARLINGHOUSE: In the case of families like mine, where we adopt trans racially, so where the parents are white and the kids are black, the only way I think to have a talk or a conversation is one to have a lot of things in your home that help you. You know to surround yourself with black media, for example, where you can learn about the perspective of the African-American community. But also, we have a mentor for our girls, and we'll have one for our son when he is old enough so that we can have conversations with her about how to handle this.

I even have conversations with the people who braid my girls' hair or who cut my son's hair about how I handle these situations because I did not grow up as a black person and I'm not a black person, I'm never going to be a black person. It's helpful to talk to them and they can help guide me on what I need to say to my kids.

CABRERA: In your article, you also write, "With each passing video op-ed, article and social media debate, I grew even more anxious, infuriated, and honestly confused. I couldn't help but noticed that many of the same friends who would quickly remark on Facebook "I stand with Paris,' suddenly had nothing to stay about Philando Castile or Alton Sterling. Likewise they didn't make a peep last year about Treyvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland or Eric Garner."

You know, it's interesting, because if you're being honest with yourself, do you think you would feel as passionately about all this if you didn't have the experiences you've had with your adopted children?

GARLINGHOUSE: No. I absolutely don't think so. I think that I learned what a lot of us did in textbooks about African-Americans, you know. We hit on slavery and we would hit on MLK, but that was about the extent of what we learned. Myself and fellow black students, white students, that's what we learned. But black students of course had experience, which I did not have. So I think no, I wouldn't be having these conversations and thinking about these things quite as much if I weren't raising black children. Probably not.

CABRERA: How do you get the attention of those friends, then, who don't know what it's really like or don't feel like this is something that affects them?

GARLINGHOUSE: The thing that I have found most effective, because I've struggled a lot personally about how to be involved in Black Lives Matter, which I fully support, but how also to educate my friends in a way that doesn't turn people off that makes them listen, and for me, it's writing these articles. Yesterday, I got very, very many messages from people saying, hey, saw your article from a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend and it starts circulating, and I feel like that's my gift is to write.

So therefore maybe the thing I meant to do at this point is to just write and share experiences and that will be my place right now.

CABRERA: Well, Rachel Garlinghouse, thanks for doing your part and thanks for sharing with us today.

GARLINGHOUSE: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

CABRERA: We appreciate it very much.

Still to come, as Donald Trump dominates the talk about his running mate selection, Hillary Clinton hits the trail with the man some say is the frontrunner to join her ticket.

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