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Trump Unclear on Immigration Plan; Ralph Nader Talks Price Increase on EpiPen; Dolly Parton Talks Music, Politics. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired August 26, 2016 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[14:31:00] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
We were discussing with the panel here, when it comes to Donald Trump's immigration plan, one thing hasn't changed. Yes, he has always and still does want to build a wall, but on other specifics, unclear.
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DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And there certainly can be a softening because we're not looking to hurt people. We want people -- we have some great people in this country.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, A.C. 360: You know I got to follow up. You said on "Hannity," you used the word "softening." And last night on "Hannity," you talked --
TRUMP: I don't think it is a softening. I think it's --
COOPER: But 11 million people are no longer going to be departed.
TRUMP: I'd have to say it is a hardening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: On this inner piece of Trump's campaign, his immigration platform, one could argue, catapulted him through the primary process, landed him the nomination, galvanized his supporters, cemented his place as standard bearer here in this election cycle of the Republican party. Is he softening? Hardening?
One Hispanic Republican in particular would like to know. He is Wadi Gaitan. Wadi left his job as spokesman for the Florida Republican Party just a couple of weeks ago. At the time, his departure spurred headlines as just yet another Republican dissatisfied with his party's nominee. Wadi said he left to avoid efforts that support Donald Trump. He is now the national press secretary of the LIBRE Initiative, a conservative non-profit, working on behalf of the Hispanic community.
So, Wadi, welcome. WADI GAITAN, NATIONAL PRESS SECRETARY, LIBRE INITIATIVE & FORMER
SPOKESMAN, FLORIDA REPUBLICAN PARTY: Thank you, Brooke. It's a pleasure to be here with you today.
BALDWIN: Excellent. The pleasure's all mine.
Let me just begin with -- you tell me, why specifically did you leave your role at the Florida Republican party? What specifically about Donald Trump made you leave?
GAITAN: Yeah. Well, there are several reasons but you're asking for specifics? I mean I'll say this, in a very unique election and with various issues, Donald Trump has come out with various policies. On immigration reform, an issue that's surfaced recently, it is very important in my opinion, but in the opinion of just Americans across the nation, immigration stakeholders, that we actually have a policy when it comes to immigration that Benefits the American people. When we talk about immigration reform we are talking about national security. That's where border security comes in but we are also talking about the economy. That's something very important for Millennials, that's something very important --
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: What about you? What made you specifically -- was there one thing he did or said that made you say, see ya?
GAITAN: Yeah. Like I mentioned, immigration for me is a very important issue. I think we have to have policies that address all aspects of immigration from border security, the visa system is very important. We are talking about, how do we reform it. When a candidate, be it Democrat or Republican, be at local level or nationally, is addressing that issue, we have to make sure and I believe they have to be actually lay out a policy and concrete details. We can't have mixed messages when it comes to a key issue like immigration reform. They need a concrete message and policy that will actually benefit our system.
BALDWIN: All right. So on that concrete message, this week, to sort of nail down which day we would have this chat on TV. Depending on what Trump said that there are day and whatever way sort of the wind blows, you were feeling differently. One day he himself said his positions were softening. Yesterday with Anderson he said they were hardening. Where do you stand on Trump right now?
GAITAN: Yeah. Again, I mentioned earlier he's sending mixed signals when it comes to it. We're 74 days away from the election. But even beyond the election, it is just the fact that we have a broken immigration system. If we're not talking about the actual issues and policies and we're just focused on rhetoric or -- again, just the fact that we're so close to the election and we don't have a concrete plan from the candidate --
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: But what if we have a concrete plan from Mr. Trump next Wednesday when he talks in phoenix? No one can speculate on what he will say but based upon some of his language this week, it could be, to use his word, softened. Would that appeal to you?
[14:34:54] GAITAN: Yeah. Here is what would be a step in the right direction. If a policy speech he gave now, and said, yes, we are going to have border security, but if he said we have 11 million people here undocumented, 43 percent of them came here legally through the immigration system. If candidates recognize these individuals came through high-skilled visas, low-skilled visas and because our immigration system is failing they no longer are able to contribute at the level that they should if our immigration a system allowed them for a pathway to legal status, they could continue to work and embrace the entrepreneurial spirit we have here in the United States. If Donald Trump came out with those policies --
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Then you could say yes to him?
GAITAN: I think that's where a lot of people in the Hispanic community and just stakeholders across the country could say this is the direction that we need to go when it comes to immigration reform.
Wadi Gaitan, with the LIBRE Initiative, thank you. We'll loop back and see if you change your mind. Appreciate your time.
GAITAN: Thank you, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Coming up next, the severe allergy treatment that a product called the EpiPen, its manufacturer raised the price of this drug 400 percent to just over 600. Why did this happen? And what about people who need the life-saving medication but may not be able to afford it? We'll talk to someone who wanted to be the president of this country, a strong consumer advocate, Ralph Nader. He's on, live, next.
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[14:40:48] BALDWIN: The maker of this life-saving allergy drug is coming under a lot of heat and a lot of criticism this week. Here's why. Back in 2009, the price of an EpiPen two pack cost about $100. Fast forward to today, the same two pack will set you back $600.
And consider this, EpiPen annual sales jumped from around $350 million in 2010 to more than $1 billion last year. The chief of this company who makes the EpiPen is pushing back against the outrage sparked by these skyrocketing prices. Mylan CEO Heather Bresch says, blame the nation's broken health system, but don't blame her. But the outrage increased when her salary growth became public knowledge. According to Forbes, in 2007, the year Mylan acquired EpiPen, Bresch's annual salary was around $2.5 million. Last year, her compensation skyrocketed to nearly $19 million, a 671 percent increase in eight years.
I would love to talk about this with consumer advocate and corporate critic, Ralph Nader. He is joining me now on the phone.
Mr. Nader, welcome.
RALPH NADER, (I), CONSUMER ADVOCATE & FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (voice-over): Thank you.
BALDWIN: First, your reaction to all of this, this week.
NADER: Well, I think it is sort of greed on steroids here. You've got a company that was making good money at $100, and in the last two or three years has jacked it up, as you said, $600. They're getting away with it because there is no generic alternative and the other competitor had problems with dosage and had to withdraw from the market. There is a de facto monopoly. The "Wall Street Journal" today called it a stranglehold on the market, that Mylan corporation has to charge whatever they can get. They're basically hitting very, very vulnerable people, parents desperate about their children with very serious allergens. This is a life-threatening situation and it is sort of a pay or die situation.
Now what's happening is the backlash is very encouraging. With good reporting like CNN on this day after day, millions of people now are alert to it. There is a massive national petition under way started by a mother in Connecticut. You can get the information on the petition by going to my Twitter handle, @RalphNader.
We are starting to see pressure on the stock. Of course that's the language these companies understand. Mylan quit the U.S. last year, went to Holland to incorporate, then had its tax residence in England in order to escape U.S. taxes. And this is the gratification that they produce for their biggest and most profitable market?
So public opinion is coming down hard and I had think that's going to get Mylan to back down on its list price. As CNN reported, the 300 coupon and trying to stratify consumers according to income, I don't think that's going to wash.
BALDWIN: I hear you on public outrage and the petition and the thousands of signatures. Also to your point, though, money talks when you are talking about a stock price. Just on the other side of this, Bresch is pushing back on another channel:
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HEATHER BRESCH, CEO, MYLAN: The reality is in the brand pharmaceutical market this isn't an EpiPen issue. It isn't a Mylan issue. This is a health care issue. Pharmaceuticals -- the irony is that the system incentivizes higher prices.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Let me also add this, Mr. Nader, her company is increasing financial assistance to patients despite the fact that the company said that it -- they are not saying they would lower the price. That's key.
But, B, she's putting the blame, she pushing back to insurance companies increasing -- she's saying it is the insurance companies who are increasing what consumers are paying.
Do you -- is there any part of that, the blame on the insurance companies, that you say is valid?
[14:45:43] NADER: Well, I mean insurance companies obviously have their own gouging record. And they're reacting by increasing their deductibles as the price of the EpiPen goes up. But the basic root problem is the list price of the EpiPen by Mylan corporation. And until they back down on the list price and not show a coupon here or a coupon there, we're not going to resolve this problem. They've got to back down under the force of public opinion, maybe pension funds that have stock in Mylan can put some pressure on. Maybe consumer groups can begin looking into Mylan's otherwise non-EpiPen corporate practices, whatever it is. It's got to be the force of public opinion because there is no time to wait for some regulatory agency to start a lengthy process. It's got to be public outrage.
BALDWIN: I know. We should also mention, members of Congress are calling on Mylan to talk a bit more about this and to describe the price hike.
We need to point out, her own father is a U.S. Senator, Joe Manchin.
Final question, quickly, Mr. Nader, I just go back to the kids who need an EpiPen and parents who now can't afford it, what's your message to them?
NADER: The message to them is to basically appeal for a subsidy, 100 percent subsidy from Mylan corporation. They are on the defensive now and they don't like more adverse publicity. But that's a very short- term fix. The key is Mylan could never get away with this in Canada or Western Europe because those governments do not allow those kinds of gouging prices that basically say to vulnerable patients, pay or die.
BALDWIN: OK. Ralph Nader, thank you for your time and hopping on the phone with me. I appreciate it very much.
NADER: Thank you, Brooke.
BALDWIN: You got it.
Coming up next, country music's finest.
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(SINGING)
DOLLY PARTON, SINGER: But I wrote "9 to 5" because I was --
(LAUGHTER)
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BALDWIN: Yeah, that happened this week. Pinch me. Dolly Parton and I chatted about her new album, her tour, what she thinks of these presidential candidates. Spoiler alert -- she uses the word "nuts" -- twice, and how she likens the election season to political terrorism. Dolly Parton, next.
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[14:51:00] (SINGING)
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BALDWIN: The one, the only, Dolly Parton taking her rhinestones back on the road. She is right now half-way through her first full North American tour in 25 years. Her brand-new release called "Pure and Simple" just debuted.
Here is a peek.
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(SINGING)
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BALDWIN: I got to talk to Dolly earlier this week. We talked music, we talked politics and, of course, about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Dolly Parton, nice to see you again.
PARTON: Well, nice to see you, always.
BALDWIN: You are in the middle of -- you're half-way through your 60- city mega tour. You have this double album, "Pure and Simple," with Dolly's biggest hits. You are celebrating 50 years with your husband. You're just a little shy of 25 years young.
(LAUGHTER)
How are you doing all of this?
PARTON: I've always done it. I love it. It's a way of life for me. Started singing when I was little, on local radio and TV when I was 10 on radio, moved on to Nashville.
BALDWIN: You still write in long hand?
PARTON: I do. I have to write using long hand. I have to keep those big old yellow legal pads and my pencil. I have to see my words written down so I can scribble and re-change them.
BALDWIN: With your schedule, what's crazier, your life or that of the presidential campaign.
(LAUGHTER)
PARTON: I'd say about the same, but not as nuts. I'm more comfortable with mine.
BALDWIN: On politics just briefly, Hillary Clinton used "9 to 5" in her 2008 run. Your pal, Kenny Rogers, said you were like the Donald Trump of music.
(LAUGHTER)
Whatever that really meant, I don't know. But where do you stand on this election?
PARTON: Right now? I just don't know. It's just the greatest show on television right now.
BALDWIN: You're watching. You're watching CNN.
PARTON: I do! You can't not watch it, even if it is FOX television or CNN or whatever you are watching. But it is just crazy. Right now, I'm just not sure. It is the biggest reality show out there. I don't know where we're going to land but I think they're both nuts.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: We were just talking about like staying true to your roots and going home, and you're out and about traveling or on buses and planes and you are talking to people. I'm curious just, in conversations about what matters most to Americans, what issue, what are you hearing from them?
PARTON: Well, I think people just really would like to know what they're going to do for us, rather than badmouthing each other and getting on with all that and stop acting like kids. And let's talk about like what we really need, taking care of us. And so I think people just want to have a feeling of security. It's just like political terrorism right now. They got us all scared to death about everything. It is like watching the O.J. Simpson trial. You just believe whoever is up next. Whoever testified last is who you believe. Then you go on. I think people are just confused but we are a great country. I think people are just confused.
But we are a great country and I'm sure --
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: You think America is great already?
PARTON: I think America's always been great and will always be great, no matter who is in. Hopefully, whoever is in will do good by us. I just think we all have to work together, and we will, and we have. We'll just have to pray hard for whoever gets in and help them all we can.
BALDWIN: You have a massive gay following, a lot of gay supporters. Have you ever thought about marrying any of your gay friends? (LAUGHTER)
I was Reverend Baldwin last summer. This is why I'm asking. I was. Would you be Reverend Dolly?
PARTON: I've never been asked to do that. I don't think I necessarily need to go that far.
BALDWIN: Yeah.
PARTON: But I may go to the wedding.
BALDWIN: Yeah.
PARTON: Yeah.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: "Head Over High Heels."
PARTON: Oh --
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: You know where I'm going. Your lyric is, "Put on my tight dress, hair teased on my head, my lips red and my eyes like Adele." You named Adele. Have you met her?
PARTON: No. I haven't yet. But I'd like to. I've seen a couple times in interviews where she mentions that she appreciates my music, which I love. And I think she's great. And when I wrote "Head Over High Heels in Love," just a girly type of song, when I started talking about what kind of makeup, I thought, don't we all want Adele eyes if we wear a lot of makeup. I love how she does her eyes.
[14:55:27] BALDWIN: Do you have a favorite Adele song?
PARTON: I just love them all. I think she is fantastic.
BALDWIN: She is fantastic. I've seen her a few times.
Just, I remember the first time I ever interviewed you, you've been so lovely to us, and just, you sang "Jolene" with your nails. I remember.
PARTON: That was probably "9 to 5." But I can do it.
BALDWIN: Would you?
(SINGING)
PARTON: But I wrote "9 to 5" because I was on a typewriter --
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: Final question, on "9 to 5" and you were already sort of making a big deal of women and equality. When was that? That was 19 --
PARTON: That's 35 years ago.
BALDWIN: 35 years ago.
PARTON: I know. It was amazing. That was about "9 to 5," equal pay for equal work.
BALDWIN: Yeah.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: We've come a long way. We're doing good. We got a woman that could go in the White House. We've certainly come a long ways in that respect.
BALDWIN: Dolly Parton, thank you so much.
PARTON: Thank you.
BALDWIN: I appreciate it.
PARTON: All right. Thanks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Dolly Parton. Dolly Parton!
Walmart, by the way, has a special version of Parton's album "Pure and Simple" featuring two bonus tracks and a greatest hits DVD. Plus, Cracker Barrel has a deluxe edition featuring live versions of "9 to 5" and "Jolene."
Coming up next here on CNN, back to politics here. Donald Trump clarifying his remarks on immigration, but is he, as Sarah Palin said, being wishy washy? Let's talk about that coming up.
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