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Clinton V.P. Search Enters Finald Hours; NBA Moves All Star Game out of North Carolina; Major Shake Up at Fox. Aired 9:30-10a ET.

Aired July 22, 2016 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:02] JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: That is just not seem to be the overall strategy of this campaign of this candidate.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I have to leave it there. (Inaudible) and John Avlon thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the RNC winds down, the Clinton veep talk heats up. And we could just be hours away from a decision. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: And good morning, from Cleveland, Ohio where the Republican National Convention just wrapped up. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Hillary Clinton kicks off a tour of Florida, as her V.P. search enters its final hours. First up, Orlando, followed by Tampa and then Miami. Her veep pick is likely to be revealed today and appear with that Miami with her tomorrow. CNN's Joe Johns live in Orlando with more on this. Hi Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hi Carol. We are using a lot of qualifier words today and the key qualifier is "likely". She is, we're told, likely to reveal her choice for a vice- presidential nominee today by text message to her supporters.

[09:35:17] She is likely, we're told, to appear in Florida International University here in Florida tomorrow with that vice- presidential pick. And we're also told the most likely choice is Tim Kaine of Virginia. The senator, we got a little bit of video of him this morning.

Kaine didn't say anything. He's a former governor of the State Of Virginia. He's also a former chair of the Democratic National Committee. He's been vetted for this job before back in 2008. President Obama was looking for someone to run with him of course and eventually settled on Joe Biden.

The other top tier individual we've heard is Tom Vilsack, the agriculture secretary. The former governor of Iowa, he of course would bring a lot to the ticket in terms of speaking to people in rural areas and small towns. Another name mentioned more and more over the last 48 hours or so, Cory Booker, the former mayor and the senator from New Jersey. We also staked out his house, haven't seen him or talked to him yet as well. He brings a lot to the ticket in terms of likability and the fact that many Democrats see him as a very eloquent spokesman for some of the issues on their side.

So, those are the sum of the individuals we're watching, expecting to see Hillary Clinton here in Orlando, actually a very solemn time in Orlando, as she meets with the mayor and talks about the attack at the Pulse Nightclub that occurred so recently.

So, we're watching and waiting, Carol. When we hear something, we'll get back to you and check your text messages.

COSTELLO: All right, Joe Johns, thanks so much. So let's talk about that. With me now is Patrick Healey, CNN Political Analyst and New York Times Political Correspondent. Good morning, Patrick.

PATRICK HEALEY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning Carol.

COSTELLO: So, why is Hillary Clinton expected to announce her pick today?

HEALEY: Now that she's coming out of the Republican convention, you know, if their focus is to draw a sharper contrast to what the Republicans just did here in Cleveland. And what they want to do is they want to unify the party and show that she has sort of the command to be, you know, this sort of strong governing presence, and the idea is this I think with someone like a Tim Kaine or Tom Vilsack, the feeling is that ticket will start appealing a little bit more toward white men, which has been sort of a real concern of hers, that she might not be able to be as popular with those voters as Donald Trump.

But most, they want to just do a really strong pivot to Philadelphia in their convention, and draw as many contrasts to, you know, what we've seen as some of the bumps, some of the controversies here at the Republican convention.

COSTELLO: I will say Kaine, Vilsack, not exactly household names, not exactly men who will like set the world on fire with their rhetoric. So why choose someone like that?

HEALEY: Because she's not really looking for an exciting pick. I mean, her confidence level is pretty high right now, that she offers the experience, the qualifications, the temperament contrast against Donald Trump. That she'll be able to win on her own. I think with a Tim Kaine, she's got a stronger chance of carrying the State Of Virginia, with a Tom Vilsack, it'll be stronger chance of carrying Iowa. Both states figure highly into her calculation.

But I think what you're going to see with this pick is that Hillary Clinton is fairly confident that the base, African-Americans, women, Hispanics, are solidly in her corner. And that she doesn't need to make a vice-presidential pick like Cory Booker who ...

COSTELLO: But what about the young people and progressives, that, you know, the Bernie bros, wouldn't that be Elizabeth Warren pick?

HEALEY: That's a real, that's a real concern. I mean, Tim Kaine gets sort of very little support from Bernie Sanders' delegates. And I think one of the things they're going to have to deal with, and partly why they're rolling this out before they get to the convention is, some of the blow back that's going to come from more progressives who don't see Tim Kaine and Tom Vilsack as either an exciting pick or a really pick who's going to champion their views. Tim Kaine has been very strong on free trade for instance, and that as we know, is kind of the lightning rod with the left.

COSTELLO: Exactly. So, do you think -- I mean, I think Hillary Clinton has probably made up her mind by now and has her choice in mind. You know, a lot of people I talked to yesterday around the convention site, they also were talking about Hillary Clinton's V.P. pick believe it or not. And a lot of them wondered why Cory Booker wasn't a stronger candidate.

You know, he is personalable, he can attack and still -- I don't know, kind of be charming in a way. This is their words, not mine.

[09:40:00] HEALEY: No, it's true. I mean, the Clinton campaign sees Cory Booker as a very strong surrogate. He's charismatic in his defense of her. He doesn't come off as sort of harsh or unpleasant. You know, he has a sort of a great story personally, and when with Newark.

I think that what they're looking for most, though is kind of a governing partner for Hillary Clinton, someone who would have good chemistry with Bill Clinton. Someone who they probably wouldn't have to worry about being either a showboat or ...

COSTELLO: Wait a minute, good chemistry with Bill Clinton, that's its factor.

HEALEY: Oh, that's important. That's very important Carol.

COSTELLO: Why?

HEALEY: You know, because the reality is that, she's -- Hillary Clinton's going to operationalize Bill Clinton in some big ways. They haven't really kind of rolled that out but he's going to be an active presence in her White House. And as we saw with Hillary Clinton, Al Gore and Bill Clinton, you know, you can't really have three power centers that work easily together in the White House.

So, partly what they're looking for is a vice-president who really fit well, fit well with him.

COSTELLO: Interesting, OK. So maybe we'll find out in a matter of hours. And of course, we'll pass that information along. Patrick Healey, thank you so much.

Still to come to the NEWSROOM, the NBA is passing on North Carolina. Next year's All-Star Game, gone. Why the league is making that move, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:25] COSTELLO: The NBA is calling foul on North Carolina in a controversial transgender bathroom law. The league now moving next year's All-Star Game out of Charlotte. The relocation of the marquee event, not entirely surprising, NBA commissioner, Adam Silver had made it clear, the law went against the league's values.

CNN's Brynn Gingras joins me now with more on that. Good morning.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol good morning. There has been mostly praise with that announcement but a little bit of a scathing remarks coming from North Carolina's Governor Pat McCrory. And I want to read you part of the statement that he released in response to this. He says, "The sports and entertainment elite, Attorney General Roy Cooper and the liberal media have for months misrepresented our laws and maligned the people of North Carolina simply because most people believe boys and girls should be able to use school bathrooms, locker rooms and showers without the opposite sex presence".

So that's what this is all about. And that was really quite closely followed up by a tweet by Charlotte's mayor, and she said to that response, "McCrory needs to own up to his colossal mistake and change HB2 before he loses more business and jobs for North Carolina families".

And that's what this All-Star Game was going to bring. Of course it's a big economy booster for whatever city host this so there is a lot of frustration, a lot of disappointment. But as you've been -- you noted, Carol, Adam Silver, the NBA, they said they tried to come to sort of compromise. They worked on this for a while, but they see themselves as an inclusive organization and that's what getting a lot of praise today, especially, notably from Jason Collins, he's the first openly gay player in the NBA, and he called this decision "extremely poignant".

So, there's a lot of people who are in favor of this, but now the big question is, where is this mega event going to be held, as you said, it's not clear yet. The NBA has not made a decision, but there are a lot of people chiming in wanting it to come to their city. It looks like New Orleans might be a top favorite, but also, New York City said, "Hey, come on here. We're an inclusive city. We'll certainly host it for you as well," but certainly we'll find out more in the next couple of weeks, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Brynn Gingras reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a major shake up at Fox, we're getting more details about who's in charge now?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:52: 05] COSTELLO: One of the most powerful men in media is out of a job today. But now former CEO of Fox News Roger Ailes resigned yesterday from the network he founded 20 years ago. It comes just two weeks after an ex-anchor filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against him. Her name is Gretchen Carlson.

CNN Senior Media Correspondent Brian Stelter joins me with more about this. Hi Brian.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Hi there Carol. You know, this had been in the works for couple of days, and yet still came as an astonishing development. Right on the -- kind of the hours before Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination.

These two stories are intertwined. Because the rise of Fox News and the rise of Donald Trump have many things in common. Donald Trump of course was calling in to Fox every week, getting to know the conservative audience before he ran for president. But right now Donald Trump is in and Roger Ailes is out.

Ailes as of yesterday leaving Fox News. We don't know what he's going to do next but there's a lot of speculation and buzz that maybe he'll actually work for Donald Trump in some sort of either informal or more formal advisory capacity. But in the meantime, there are lots of jokes to be had about Ailes departing.

Before we talk about the serious nature of this, let's look at what Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart said last night about the past and present and future of Fox News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT HOST": Although I spent well over a decade making fun of his network and him and the damage I think he did to the world, the news of this man losing his job gives me no pleasure.

Hey, Jimmy, can we cut the camera off me for just a second, please?

If only there was someone I could share this lack of pleasure with.

What we're talking about? You know that Roger Ailes was accused of sexual harassment?

JON STEWART, COMEDIAN: I might have read something.

COLBERT: OK, yeah, well, today, Roger Ailes stepped down.

STEWART: Um, Jimmy, could you take the camera off me for a second?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: So, Jon Stewart there, Stephen Colbert reacting to the news. Of course, Stewart, many other liberals feel like Fox News has been a negative force in media for the past 20 years like causing more polarization, further dividing the country. Many fans of Fox would say the opposite. They would say Fox News broke the barrier, you know, and was an alternative to what they call liberal media bias. Through it all, Ailes has been the center of it. He is Fox and Fox is Ailes.

But now as of today, he's gone and Rupert Murdoch will be running the show, at least for the time being. So everybody wants to know, how is Fox going to change, how it's going to cover the election differently? And will all the stars of Fox like Bill O'Reilly stick around now that Ailes is gone?

[09:55:08] COSTELLO: What about the talent at Fox News, some of them have, you know, clauses in their contract so they can leave if there's a change in upper management?

STELTER: Yeah, that's right, Bill O'Reilly does, Sean Hannity does, Megyn Kelly does. My sense is there's no imminent walkout, no eminent accident has happen right now. Hardly because Ailes isn't going anywhere. He has a non-compete which means, he can't go start a network or new news organization.

But I mentioned Megyn Kelly and I think her role in this is really important. She told investigators and we're looking into these charges of sexual harassment. And she was harassed by Ailes about a decade ago. Consider what that means. If that is the case, Kelly hasn't confirmed this on the record, she hasn't commented. But if that's the case, she was living with this secret for a long time and so were many of the other women that have come forward either on the record or anonymously about these allegations.

Ailes of course has denied them. He continues to deny the allegations of harassment. But keep in mind, this man was running Fox News for 20 years and if it's true that there were incidents of harassment all throughout this time, I think there's some tough questions that need to be asked of 21st Century Fox, to the Murdochs, about why it went on for so long?

So, Carol, we're going to keep asking those questions. We haven't got any answers yet but it's a very significant story and I think ...

COSTELLO: Oh, I hope so because that is the most important question. And talk about vindication for Gretchen Carlson because that was a gutsy thing to do, no matter how you feel about her, that was gutsy. Brian Stelter, thank you so much.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.