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Funerals Continue for Those Killed in Synagogue Shooting; President Trump Begins Campaign Blitz Ahead of Midterm Elections; Analysts Criticize President Trump's Comments on Birthright Citizenship. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired October 31, 2018 - 08:00   ET

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


[08:00:00]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: John is not even paying attention, Dana, to what you are saying. What you're saying is still fascinating, because he can't tell us apart.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: He's looking back and forth and he can't tell us apart. I should have done my hair like you today to just really pull this off, but I think that it's good enough. Happy Halloween.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is the best Halloween costume ever.

BASH: It's Jersey girls. That's what we are.

CAMEROTA: You're right. It is our essence actually as Jersey girls.

BERMAN: And I went as Jake Tapper. Not quite as convincing, but I'm doing the best I can with what I have to work with. Dana, thank you very much.

And good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Halloween, Wednesday, October 31st, 8:00 in the east. We've run off the rails.

Here's the news. President Trump begins an ambition campaign blitz today, traveling to eight states in the finals stretch of election day, now just six days away. His closing argument to viewers seems to be continuing the divisive rhetoric. In the last week the president has also ordered thousands of troops to the U.S. border in response to asylum seeking migrants who are roughly 1,000 miles away. And he has falsely claimed that he can deny the U.S. constitution to end birthright citizenship.

BERMAN: And it's not the use of fear with his new here. What I find very interesting is that all of a sudden some members of the Republican Party are saying the president is going too far. House Speaker Paul Ryan throwing cold water on the president's proposal on birthright citizenship. George Conway, a conservative lawyer who is married to the president's counselor Kellyanne Conway, says the president has it wrong. And the generally Trump friendly "Wall Street Journal" editorial board is trolling the president, selecting the legal advice he's getting on this subject, he could be getting it from Michael Cohen.

So amid the debate over the president's language, the president and first lady visited Pittsburgh yesterday and paid tribute to the 11 Jews murdered in a synagogue. Some, including the rabbi at the Tree of Life Synagogue welcomed the president. Others did protest his visit.

Joining us now to discuss where we are six days until the midterms, Errol Louis, political anchor at Spectrum News, Jess McIntosh, former director of communications outreach for the Hillary Clinton campaign, there's both CNN political commentators, and Ian Bremmer, "Time's" editor at large and the president of the Eurasia Group. Errol, we have been talking for days, if not weeks, about the president's closing message here, part of it is immigration, part of it is attacks on the media. It has a fear based component to it. Now Paul Ryan says no. I think we have Paul Ryan saying the president is wrong. It is worth hearing how wrong Paul Ryan says the president is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN, (R) SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: Well, you obviously cannot do that. You cannot end birthright citizenship with an executive order. We didn't like it when Obama tried changing immigration laws via executive order. And obviously as conservative, we believe in the constitution. As a conservative, I'm a believer in following the plain text of the constitution, and I think in this case the 14th Amendment is pretty clear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So what's most interesting to me isn't the debate over birthright citizenship, because I think the legalities of it are fairly clear. It's that six days before the midterms, the House speaker albeit the outgoing House speaker, is saying I don't like where the president is. This doesn't work for me or for us six days before the midterms.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. It is interesting because it is both substantive. I think there is something that really binds a lot of conservatives together, and this is their regard for the constitution. But also as a political matter. Trump is pulling out his base. Trump is running a campaign for his own reelection. That's not going to work in every district. That's not going to work in every state. And I think this is what Paul Ryan is signaling as he exits the stage in part because his district, like many others, have really gone in a different direction than where Trump wants to take them. And it is just not going to be a good scene for the House. I think this is what they're saying is that politically this is going to be very, very damaging. Trump is turning out his base. It will help some candidates, but there is going to be an enormous negative consequence for a lot of Republicans.

CAMEROTA: Ian, you often do a good job of channeling what the White House may be thinking or why it would be strategically wise. So the two pillars that the president is going after are, again, calling the media a vile name and calling migrants vile names. And what is the thinking?

IAN BREMMER, PRESIDENT EURASIA GROUP: Look, I think it's like advertising. They say 50 percent of it works, but you don't know which 50 percent. I think 50 percent of what Trump throws out there is strategic, but he's not necessarily sure which 50 percent until it hits. And that's kind of what we're seeing around the caravan. That's kind of what we're seeing around the 14th Amendment. Let's be clear. On his statement about birthright citizenship, he didn't actually bring that up. That was brought to him by Jonathan Swan by "Axios." It's not clear that --

CAMEROTA: But he took it and ran with it.

BREMMER: He did. I'm just saying it didn't feel like from that interview that he was planning on unveiling that yesterday. And certainly the reaction from Republicans that we saw almost immediately did not smack of we think this is something that is good to run on, right?

[08:05:01] So if it was strategic, it sort of died on arrival with a lot of help with a lot of folks. On the caravan, that's clearly an issue they want to run on. They like fear of immigration. It may be far away, but getting the camera shots of military on the border is something that Trump clearly feels he wants to do along with the border wall.

But one sad statistic that I saw yesterday that I think that people watching this need to know is that so far over 60 percent of all the Twitter traffic on the caravan has been driven by bots, not by people, which means the coverage we're now giving to it on CNN and other places actually has nothing to do with what individual citizens in America actually want. And this social media thing is completely broken. It's really deeply problematic for democracy. They're keeping on it because they could charge as much advertising to a bot.

CAMEROTA: Are they Russia bots? Because this is again sowing division.

BREMMER: We don't yet know. It came out yesterday. It's was "Wired" magazine that put it out. It's a definitive study. They're going to have to show where they think those bots originally come from. But the fact is you cannot promote that as if it is actual news. And that's the problem with the platform.

BERMAN: Look, and I think that is a known phenomenon to the White House, which is why they worked so hard so get that message out. Even in the wake of other developments that have been happening around the country, the president keeps on returning to it. And Jess, so far what you have seen from Democrats is to just push it away and say we're not going to focus on this. We're going to talk about health care. We're not going to focus on this. We're going to talk about health care. Do you think that is smart? Can they do that? Democrats -- how can we say this? Sometimes they're not as disciplined. Sometimes they worry here and there. Sometimes they have a lot of self-doubt. Will they put that aside? JESS MCINTOSH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think Trump does a good

enough job making it about Trump all by himself. Democratic candidates don't have to use that as their closing message. And if you look at these candidates, these campaigns out in the field where they are, the conversation is completely different than the one that is happening in Washington, D.C. Every final closing ad that you see is health care, health care, health care, because those are the issues that they are going to win on.

So we can continue talking about Trump's antics and we can talk about the caravan. They're not going to do that, and that means that they're actually relating to real people who are going to turn out in six days. I think the bot thing has a bigger electoral consequence than Trump might realize. Only 26 percent of this country voted for Trump. A vast majority of the people voted for somebody else or sat it out. So when he sees these numbers, this conversation around his latest fearmongering live, he believes that that has some sort of bearing on his real world popularity, and it doesn't necessarily do that.

So it's a strange way to end when Trump is not on the ballot. And we know that fearmongering around immigrants actually turns off the Republican suburban women that they are counting on to win. So I don't see this as a winning strategy. I understand why Republicans are frightened of what the president is doing. And I think if nothing else changes in the next six days, Democrats get to bring this home on a really strong, substantive message.

CAMEROTA: Errol, I so glad Jess brought this up, because I sat down yesterday with suburban women, so these all important voting bloc. And they were across the political spectrum. And they did not bring up any of these things that the president is talking about. Their first thing -- I asked them what the issue is that will be driving them to the polls. They said health care. They are concerned about their family's health care and insurance, and they talked about the opioid crisis.

LOUIS: I think it's real for people. The caravan is in some ways an extraction. Maybe you care about it a lot, but you also care about the aches and pains that your kids have, whether or not you will be able to pay your next dental bill, what you are going to do in this election period for the next round for next year's insurance. And so that's real, and that's something people have to deal with every day.

On the other hand, I have to say, having grown up in the suburbs, I don't trust this stuff about suburban women. There are a lot of different interests. You have health care interests, you've got, cultural interests. You have got this tax cut. And somehow when all of the numbers came in in 2016, a lot of these folks went exactly where their economic interests led them. And so I'm not so sure there is going to be some gigantic wave of them who make the difference, but we'll all see next week.

MCINTOSH: There doesn't have to be a gigantic wave. It could just be a point or two to be absolutely crippling for the Republican Party. I'm not saying that white women are going to leave the Republican Party en masse, they have been reliable Republican voters forever. But we're starting to see, especially with family separation at the border, just the beginning of whittling away from that normally stalwart base, which means that Republicans are going to be left with just white men, which is not enough.

BERMAN: Part of the issue, is it a debate about separation, or is it a debate about caravans, and who wins the language there. Ian, I'm sorry to go back to this, but we've been dying to get you on to talk about what's gone on in the last 10 days. Bombs, there's the shooting, there is the president embracing the phrase "nationalism."

[08:10:01] And you have written, I think, very carefully and sensitively about this subject, about what it means in the world, in the country, and what exactly president Trump's role is in it. I wonder if you could talk to that.

BREMMER: Simply the fact that right now momentum is very much globally for the nationalists, not for the globalists, not for the open border types, the free trade types. We saw that with Merkel now stepping down from her party leadership. She's been the most important leader in all of Europe for the last 15 years. She is not going to be true north anymore. It's going to be much more divided.

In Brazil, Bolsonaro, who supports the same kinds of policies, whether it's on Jerusalem embassy or it's on pulling out of the Paris climate deal or whether it's on hitting the Chinese, he's absolutely in line with Trump in his orientation towards his country, gun laws, and the world. So Trump has some allies now.

What's interesting is that if you put this in the context of the election, there are a few big things I think to focus on. One is the fact we have a really strong economy right now and yet a lot of average Americans aren't feeling it. And Trump's approval is comparatively low in the context of that environment. So you would expect exactly what your guests have been saying, that we're going to see a bigger swing against the incumbent president's party in the midterms. A lot of enthusiasm in that regard, but for both.

We're also seeing, though, that nationalism is becoming a bigger driving force in our country and in other countries around the world. I don't think that that means that suddenly liberal democracies are run by a nationalist block, because, as Vladimir Lenin once found, workers of the world don't unite. They end up being more interested in their own individual countries. They fight more. What that means is liberal democracy as a model is a lot weaker, a lot more fragmented. The big winner, a country like China, right, that doesn't have to worry about the issues of domestic instability and fighting, and they end up being able to do the long-term strategy, spending the money and having stronger leadership.

CAMEROTA: On that note, Ian, Jess, Errol, thank you very much for the great conversation. Great to have you all here.

Now to the other story, of course, we've been following. More funerals will be held today for the victims who were murdered in their synagogue. Up next, we speak with someone who knew these two brothers who were laid to rest yesterday. These are Cecil and David Rosenthal, and you'll hear about the bright light they brought to Squirrel Hill.

BERMAN: It's heartbreaking.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:16:09] CAMEROTA: Hundreds of people turned out for the funeral of Cecil and David Rosenthal, brothers who were killed at the Tree of Life synagogue on Saturday. The brothers were fixtures at the synagogue. Smiling faces at Saturday Shabbat services nearly every weekend.

Joining us is Chris Schopf. She's the vice president at Achieva. That's a Pittsburgh nonprofit that worked with Cecil and David.

Good morning, Chris.

CHRIS SCHOPF, KNEW CECIL AND DAVID ROSENTHAL: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: We're so sorry for your loss. Thank you so much for being with us this morning to tell us about these brothers. We have been really charmed, frankly, by their picture and by their story.

Can you tell us what it was like at their funeral yesterday?

SCHOPF: It was a very moving experience. It was absolutely a testament to the love that everyone showed in the community for these two gentlemen. As you said, they were a fixture at the Tree of Life. They were lifelong members.

Everyone in the community was there to support them. There was seating for, I understand, about 1,400 people and it was standing room only. People shared just wonderful memories.

I had the opportunity to sit in the family section and to hear his cousins talk about their life and for us to talk about what we experienced with them living in one of our community homes. It was just an absolutely moving tribute to these two men.

CAMEROTA: So tell us a little bit more about their lives. So they lived in one of their group or community homes, and I understand that they were inseparable. So tell us about that.

SCHOPF: Absolute -- absolutely. They were two of the most kindest, sweetest gentlemen you would ever want to meet. These are the type of people you would want to be your neighbors. Every day they were extremely positive, couldn't wait to start the day, ask you about your family, bless you for the day, tell you to have a good day.

Cecil was starting a job of working two days a week in a family business, and David had a cleaning job. And the two of them were just so bright and positive. And they would go about their day. And when they came home, it was all about, how are you doing? How was your day today?

Any occasion to have a party, to do anything special for anybody. In fact, one time I can remember, we had just remodeled the bathrooms in the home where they lived, and they wanted to have a, let's celebrate remodeling of the bathroom party. And they wanted -- there was an open house for the next door neighbor who was remodeling a home to sell, and they were like let's go to the hope house. And they would walk all over squirrel hill saying hello to anyone that they met, asking them how their day was.

So many stories about the kindness that that showed other people. That's what they did in their life day in and day out, extremely close to their family. David would call his mother every single day when he got home from work. Cecil would call his parents. They would call their sisters.

They were just people people. And they were the kind of person you would want as your neighbor, as your friend. They were beloved by everyone.

CAMEROTA: I love this story they would throw a party for anything and that they loved to party and would show up at a party for anything, and they wanted a bathroom remodeling party. That really says it all.

[08:20:01] SCHOPF: You know, it does. It goes to the core of who they are, which is to celebrate life, to find the joy in every moment of every day. And it is just so unfortunate that the faith that they had and the love that they showed for Tree of Life -- Cecil was a greeter there, and David was the person who arranged the prayer books and the shawls.

So, Cecil greeted everybody that was there. And they went every single Saturday without fail. And on this particular day, they were so excited, they got up early. They couldn't wait to go.

Oftentimes they got there way before the synagogue was even open because they were so excited to go there. And, you know, we have mans to pick them up at noon and other plans for the day. And for their lives to end so tragically there in a place they love is so unfortunate.

But I will tell you that if Cecil and David were here, they would tell you that's where they were supposed to be that day. That's how important the Tree of Life was to them.

CAMEROTA: There is something really haunting and heart wrenching about knowing that Cecil as the greeter and that his smiling face was the first one that people would see and that he's probably the person that greeted the gunman that morning.

SCHOPF: That's what we understand. And that is so unfortunate.

And we do know from accounts that we have that they did try to protect David, but his main concern was finding his brother. They were inseparable. To make sure that his brother was okay. And in doing so, we believe that's how he passed also.

CAMEROTA: Just so I understand, you mean that there were people who were trying to keep David from going to Cecil when they heard the gunfire?

SCHOPF: My understanding is, yes, there were people that were trying to get David to stay where he was, but his only concern, as is the case of these two inseparable brothers, was to be there for one another. That's always the way it's been. Their love is a testament to how we all would aspire to live.

CAMEROTA: Chris Schopf of Achieva, the nonprofit that worked with these brothers, we are so sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing a portion of their life with us this morning.

SCHOPF: Thank you very much.

CAMEROTA: If you would like to help the families of the victims, you can go to CNN.com/impact. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:26:53] BERMAN: All right. The clock is ticking, the midterms just six days away. President Trump kicks off an eight state campaign blitz today, going to Florida tonight, where he hopes to avoid a loss for governor and Senate among other things.

Joining us now CNN political analyst Jonathan Martin with "The New York Times" and Josh Green with "Bloomberg Businessweek", both CNN political analysts and fine human beings as well. OK, human beings as well.

Jonathan, I want to start with you. The president, we believe, his closing message seems to be on the caravan and the media. Fear is a big part of it.

Is that the Republican closing message, though? The president is talking about that. Is that where the Republicans want to be with six days to go?

JONATHAN MARTIN, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: It depends where you are in the country. I think it works in some states that will be determined by whether or not the Trump loving base comes out. But in large swathes of the country, that is not the message they want to close with, and especially in the House. And we can't say this enough, but the House is going to be decided in a series of more upper income suburban and urban districts where this is not effective.

And the idea of talking about birthright citizenships is counterproductive to a lot of candidates who are trying to hang on to House seats in and around the biggest cities in this country. And, John, it is no coincidence that if you look at that map you just put up there, the president is not going anywhere near the Pacific Coast. The closest he's going is go to Montana, which I think is a very good trip to the Pacific.

And he's also going nowhere in the Northeast. And I think that is very revealing as to his, you know, no go zone, places where he effectively is not wanted. The reason he is not wanted is because he insists on talking about these issues that House candidates don't want him to talk about.

CAMEROTA: So, Josh, what do you think? I mean, is the president's message working across purposes for many Republicans or are they going to be able to ride his coattails to success?

JOSHUA GREEN, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK: I think it is cross purposes. I mean, what the president's message is doing is driving a wedge in the country that splits states probably in a Republican direction in the Senate. If you look at places where he's traveling like Missouri, you have a Democratic incumbent. Indiana, you have a Democratic incumbent. Both of them are struggling over issues of the caravan, of birthright citizenship, that sort of thing.

But as Jonathan said he's going nowhere near the coast in places like California, places like suburban Minneapolis, northern Virginia where a lot of these House races are going to be decided because that is toxic to the kind of Republicans trying to get elected there. Trump is a drag on the ticket rather than a help. And so, this wedge that he's driving I think could very well cost his party control of the House of Representatives.

BERMAN: It's interesting. We spoke to Seth Moulton last hour, and the Democrats really want to talk about health care. You can ask them what color is the sky, and they'll say health care. You know, that's their answer to everything right now.

And I'm trying to figure out exactly what the message is on health care. Will you play the Claire McCaskill campaign ad? I'll talk over it, I just want people to see what's going on here.