Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Hillary Clinton Unveils Economic Plan in Detroit; Trump Speech to Pastors in Orlando; Harry Reid Calls Trump a "Bigot"; Child Falls Off Pennsylvania Roller Coaster. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired August 11, 2016 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00] DAVID MALPASS, SENIOR ADVISOR, DONALD TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN & FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT TREASURY SECRETARY: It was a standard Democratic program, offering bigger government, more taxes. There wasn't a lot that I could see that was going to give us more growth. She mischaracterized a lot of what Trump has been saying. Yet I was struck -- surprised by how much of his rhetoric and his vision she was adopting. It went on and on. She talked about manufacturing renaissance. She talked about, we are builders, we need to get back to building. Obviously, Donald Trump is a major builder and she's never really created a private-sector job or built anything in terms of the private sector in her career that I'm aware of.

(CROSSTALK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: What was the issue of child care? You perked up. She keeps using the word "average."

MALPASS: There were several parts where she talked about Trump's program. On child care, he said very clearly in the speech on Monday that there would be a deduction to the extent of average child care. And so it is specifically not oriented at wealthy. She was saying it is all for the wealthy when it was specifically designed to help average Americans --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Parents can write off average child care costs in state per age.

(CROSSTALK)

ARI VELSHI, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS & ECONOMIC ANALYST: The problem is if you are low-income, the average could be one-quarter of your income. That's the point she was making. Average doesn't help -- the lowest income Americans are paying 25 percent of their income in child care. So when you give them the average, which is about 10 percent, they're still paying 15 percent.

MALPASS: I was happy both sides are trying to address this problem.

VELSHI: Yes, that's the good part.

MALPASS: The economy is doing really badly. She even addressed it in saying we've got to get incomes to start rising. Well, you have to go back with her and say, but you've been in government for so long, a giant long career. What are you going to do any differently in the future than you've done now?

BALDWIN: Let me have --

(CROSSTALK))

MALPASS: Trump is coming in saying I'm going to have an upheaval, we're going to change everything and make it better. Isn't that a more credible approach?

BALDWIN: Let me have Andy Green respond to you, our Clinton supporter, managing director of economic policy at the Center for American Progress.

You just heard David there, Andy, rattle off what he heard from a sort of Trump positive perspective. Your turn.

ANDY GREEN, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC POLICY, THE CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: Well, I think that the economy took a massive crash in 2008 and it's been long-time coming out of that. We've been out of it for a long time. Created 14 million jobs. Just in last year we've seen incomes begin to rise. I think Secretary Clinton recognized that and said as much in her speech about the importance of raising wages. This is a challenge that progressives are focused on around the country. And contrast it pretty starkly with Donald Trump's plan, which independent economists have said are going to cost us three million jobs, throw us back into a recession. It is about having a responsible, positive program versus a pretty reckless, destructive program that is not going to work for working families.

BALDWIN: Go ahead, David.

MALPASS: So he's referring to one study that was done that she referenced by Moody's. Critical in that study, if you actually look at it, he's assuming -- that guy is assuming that the Feds will raise rates to 4 percent next year and to 3.6 percent in 2018. It is a completely discredited, uncredible study because of that. Of course, the economy would be in recession if you did that -- if you did that with the central bank. He's also then basing job growth, he says she'll create 10 million jobs, but there's no back up to how that would be possible with the economy growing slowly. You know, CBO has forecast going forward under the current economic plans, policies which are Obama/Clinton policies, the economy only grows 2 percent for the next 10 years. It adds $1 trillion to the debt per year on average for the next 10 years. And that's already out. That's the government itself saying that's how badly we're going to do. So I was surprised she didn't offer more that would actually get the economy going.

BALDWIN: Let me hit pause. I promise we'll come back to the economics of the conversation.

But I want to also get into the political sphere with my three ladies at the desk in Washington.

Dana Bash, sort of to you first.

I do think from a 30,000-foot view it is important to note she's in Warren, Michigan, particularly this plant, used to racquetball court, turned automotive carmaker kind of plant, turned, now they're building rockets and a jet. That's sort of symbolic of the positive picture she was trying to paint.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely.

BALDWIN: Beyond that, what else did you see?

BASH: Look, first of all, I'm continuing to be struck at how she is adopting so many of the things that worked for Bernie Sanders. Obviously talking a lot about the college plan that the two of them came up with together, but also apparently -- excuse me, place like Michigan where I remember just coming up in Michigan during the primary season, how many --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: She lost Michigan, didn't she?

[14:35:08] BASH: Right. Not only that, but Donald Trump and his whole pitch was incredibly popular in Michigan, so much so that I had a lot of Republicans kind of quietly -- who were not necessarily thrilled with Trump, but quietly saying to me, look, he is really resonating here. I have my neighbor and my kid's teacher, so on, so forth, saying, oh, I get it, he's finally speaking to us. There is a very important reason just on the pure, as you point out, the map of it all and the reason why she decided to go to Michigan. Wasn't just because that was where Donald Trump gave his economic speech. But more importantly because they want to make sure that his message doesn't continue to resonate in a state like Michigan because it is -- has been reliably blue for the past several election cycles and they want to keep it that way.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Go ahead, Jackie.

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah. One of the other things I thought was really interesting, listening to her talk about colleges is for everybody, it's -- so I spoke to Governor Snyder about this a couple of years ago. He talked about skilled trade workers, and particularly our conversation was about welders. This is something you've heard the Republican governor of Michigan hammer home. In the Rust Belt, that's something that is a very strong reality for people. I thought that targeting that message was really interesting considering where she was in terms of the map.

BALDWIN: What about one of the lines, actually funny, about Michael Phelps and the competing, the Olympics line.

JUANA SUMMERS, CNN POLITICS EDITOR: Certainly, of the moment there, Brooke. But I think the more important thing here and what we heard from Hillary Clinton in that moment is that she understands, as you pointed out earlier in the conversation, her record on trade, her husband's vote for the law that's now NAFTA is something voters in places like the rustbelt and states like Michigan are thinking and talking about. I think Hillary Clinton realizes that's one of her vulnerabilities, especially going up against a candidate like Trump that has made trade much of his pitch, especially white working class voters who he's done very well with in the state.

BALDWIN: David, I want to come back to you.

You're a Reagan guy, deputy assistant treasury secretary. She mentioned trickle-down economics, roughly paraphrasing, she was saying all Trump does is offer trickle-down economics with Trump spin.

MALPASS: That's a 1980s really theme. Remember Reagan did wonders for the economy and stopped the Cold War. He ended the Soviet Union Cold War. It was a giant success. It's ironic that --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: But she and many other economists are saying --

(CROSSTALK)

MALPASS: Right. Growth was fast. Lots of people got jobs and within ten years of Reagan there was a balanced budget. It set in motion the whole process of Newt Gingrich and the House of Representatives doing the Contract with America and changing the economy.

VELSHI: Let me ask you this.

MALPASS: So one point.

VELSHI: Yeah.

MALPASS: The governors in the Midwest are -- what we're seeing is a giant division between what they do. The Republican governors in the Republican states, and that's Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin, are doing very well. Illinois is not. It's Democratically -- it was Democratically run.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Let's talk about --

(CROSSTALK)

MALPASS: She raised Flint, Michigan, the water system, that was specifically not Republicans.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Let's just talk about --

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: -- talk about Louisiana? The fact is, if you brought a Martian down to earth today and they said, let me see your economy, you showed them the unemployment rate, the home prices, all these things.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: But they -- right. Without that, they'd say you have a real economy going. Then you show them real median income and then you break it out. Take the top 5 percent -- I wish I had this chart. You show the top 5 percent and the gains they've had. You take the median and you show a very steady flat line from the 1970s. Then you show below the median, they've lost ground. The reality is the economy's not doing so badly. Corporate profitability is great. The GDP's OK compared to other industrial countries in the world. Growth is not something a president can actually control in our global economy. Different from when you were in the treasury.

MALPASS: I really think they can. They can change policies and you can have growth much faster.

BALDWIN: You do.

MALPASS: But the critical thing and the thrust of Trump's program is to get real median incomes to go up. We've had this very strange situation where the GDP growth is positive but real median income is declining.

VELSHI: That's not true. That's not true.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: You know that. You know that.

Donald Trump very selectively stopped his calendar at 2012. When you pushed to 2014, real median incomes are up.

MALPASS: No. I know those data well. The government rebased it so that you couldn't see the decline. If you use the same -- anyway, we don't need --

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: No, it's up. Adjusted for inflation.

MALPASS: No, that's absolutely not true.

(CROSSTALK)

[14:40:09] VELSHI: I agree with you, we're splitting hairs. Even if it is up or down, it is not good.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Hold on for just a second.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I want to make sure we get Andy to respond.

But first, Cristina Alesci, as promised, we've had crews fact-checking some chunks of Hillary Clinton's speech, specifically on what she says about job creation.

Christina, what's fact?

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: So she keeps pointing to this report out of an analyst -- analytical research firm called Moody's that says her plan would generate 10 million jobs while Trump's plan would cost the economy 3.4 million, 3.5 million jobs. That's technically true and that headline is correct but what she's not saying is if the economy were to operate under current laws and policies, it would generate about 3.2 million jobs anyway. What she's -- I'm sorry. It would generate seven million jobs anyway. Her plan would generate an additional 3.2 million jobs. Still better than the analysis that Moody's put out on Trump's plan, but just keeping her honest here. That instead of that 10 million number, we're really talking about 3.2 million additional jobs.

And one other thing that she had an opportunity to do today that I think was really important is draw a sharp contrast between her tax plan and Donald Trump's tax plan. She talked about the Buffett Rule. This has gotten millionaires and billionaires kind of shaking in their boots. This is a minimum tax on anyone making --

MALPASS: Yes.

ALESCI: -- adjusted gross income of $1 million. So that is a big deal for a lot of people -- rich people in this country. That is why she's saying she's more for the middle class. Because if you look at Donald Trump's tax plan, the benefits of that one undoubtedly flow to the higher income brackets.

BALDWIN: Sure. She talks about the Buffett Rule. Also hearing some of what she mentioned about the Trump loophole, slamming him on his proposals on the death tax.

We actually have a billionaire who will be joining us momentarily to respond from his perspective on what he thinks about Hillary Clinton's plans.

I want to just thank all of you for now. We have so much more to go through. Thank you, thank you to all of you.

But we do have some breaking news now. We are learning the FBI wanted to open a corruption case against the Clinton Foundation but the Department of Justice refused. Why? Why did they refuse? What's the fallout now? What do we know?

I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN's special live coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:46:36]BALDWIN: We're going to go now to Donald Trump. He's speaking to a group of pastors in Orlando, Florida. (DONALD TRUMP SPEECH FROM 14:46:40 to 14:52:40)

[14:52:40] BALDWIN: Donald Trump there, softer tone, speaking to a group of pastors there in Orlando, Florida, telling some stories, joking about how, yes, he grew up going to Sunday School, talking about his own personal faith there. We just wanted to dip in and listen to a bit of that.

Quick break. Much more on this Thursday. We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:55:24] BALDWIN: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid minced no words today when describing the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. He called the candidate, quote, "a bigot." The remark was made during a conference call with reporters about the Republicans blocking the Supreme Court nomination of Merrick Garland.

To Manu Raju, our senior political reporter.

You were on the call, Manu. I want the context of this, please, sir.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Sure. This is the famously blunt and partisan Democratic leader, Harry Reid. Never known for holding his tongue. In fact last month, when I spoke to him at the Democratic convention, he called Trump, quote, "dumb" for his handling of the Russian e-mail situation, his comments about the Clinton e-mail hacks. In that same interview, he said that he used to say nice things about Donald Trump because he wanted to prop him up so he could win the Republican primary and become the GOP nominee. And now that he is the GOP nominee, Harry Reid is unloading.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID, (D-NV), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: They spent a lot of times, these Republicans, spent a lot of energy trying to separate themselves from Donald Trump. But as long as they're holding court for him, they're his minions. They're his enablers. That's the legacy of Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans, to stand behind Trump and refusing their constitutional duties for a bigot who is clearly unfit for office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: In the same call, Harry Reid also said he is convinced with, quote, "some degree of certainty" that Hillary Clinton, if she becomes president, would move forward with Merrick Garland's nomination for the Supreme Court.

The Clinton campaign, Clinton herself, has been noncommittal about what she would do with Merrick Garland. But it's been suggested maybe she would move forward. Reid also suggested they'd try to do some procedural maneuvering on the Senate floor this fall trying to force the issue during this election season. But perhaps, Brooke, this fight over Merrick Garland's nomination is not done quite yet.

BALDWIN: Manu Raju, thank you from Capitol Hill.

Some news before we get back to politics here. Another awful story involving a child and a ride this summer. We've just heard about this child who's fallen off a roller coaster at an amusement park in Pennsylvania. A public safety official tells CNN an ambulance responded to an amusement park just about two hours ago. We don't know the child's current condition. It is unclear which roller coaster this child was on. According to the park's website, there appears to be at least two roller coasters at this particularly amusement park.

Let's got to our national correspondent, Brynn Gingras.

It's like a water slide, a ferry wheel, now an issue with a roller coaster. What happened?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I know, it's been a tough week, Brooke. In this particular case, we know that the child fell off the roller coaster. At this point we know the child was also airlifted to a medical center -- children's medical center in nearby Pittsburgh. This happened in the town of Ligonier. One of the rides had a height requirement of 36 inches, the |"her 48 inches. One says it is a classic roller coaster and the other goes up and down through the hills. It definitely touts itself is as a children's amusement park. It even says it is one of the oldest amusement parks in the country. We are still getting a little more details what happened. You said it. It has been a rough week. We know about that ferris wheel incident that happened on Monday, overturned and dumping those three girls out, one suffering a traumatic brain injury. Then, of course, the horrific one on Sunday, the water slide, 10-year-old Caleb Schwab dying after that incident from a neck injury. It's been a tough week. Of course, this is when people are going to these amusement theme parks, though.

BALDWIN: Yes, of course. Of course, they are. Families are out, kids are out of school.

Let us know how the child is doing.

Brynn Gingras, with that, thank you so much.

We continue on. Top of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We begin with what many polls say is the most important issue in the race for the White House, the economy. Minutes ago, we heard from the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, there in Warren, Michigan, as she has pushed this economic plan that she says puts families first, making a contrast to the plan rolled out earlier this week in Detroit from her rival, Donald Trump, who said America first when he detailed his economic policies on Monday. In fact, Hillary Clinton dedicated much of her time today --