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Trump Stokes Fears about Immigration "Crisis" Ahead of Election; Washington Post: Trump Misleading More in Final Stretch of Midterms; Democrats Focus on Health Care in Final Midterms Push. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired November 02, 2018 - 07:00   ET

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


[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Political theater on the campaign trail filled with falsehood, filled with some racial animus. NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's an opportunity for the president to rally the base.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some people call it an invasion. It's like an invasion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's simply a lie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are (INAUDIBLE) with a humanitarian crisis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't shoot at someone who's thrown a rock. It violates what morals and laws of war are -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's following through on what he promised.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's an un-American American president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an issue that splits Republicans and Democrats apart.

OPRAH WINFREY, CAMPAIGNS FOR STACEY ABRAMS: All the noise you just can't get away from it. Vote your values. Vote your conscience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

BERMAN: All right. Good morning and welcome to your NEW DAY.

The White House is producing theater. Theater designed to provoke fear, some of it is racist theater, some of it is dishonest theater and some is both, but its theater designed to get votes. The president is using all the levers of power including the Roosevelt Room, including the military, to rile up voters with four days to go until the midterms. He's wallowing in some cases in fear after bombs were sent to his critics and after the murder of 11 Jews in a synagogue. In fact he told a political rally overnight that those horrific events, in a way, were politically inconvenient.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We did have two maniacs stop a momentum that was incredible. Because for seven days nobody talked about the elections, it stopped the tremendous momentum.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the president also suggested the U.S. troops that he is deploying to the next in border could shoot any migrant who throws rocks at them. And when it comes to fact checking, the rest in Mr. Trump's comments yesterday, we have our work cut out for us this morning. A new tally from "The Washington Post" fact checker says the president is lying more in the final stretch of this election, an average of 30 times a day now. There have been a whopping 6,420 false or misleading statements since he became president.

Let's discuss it. The CNN political analyst David Gregory, former special assistant to the President George W. Bush, and CNN political commentator Scott Jennings and former Democratic member of the South Carolina House and CNN commentator, Bakari Sellers, great to have all of you with on this important morning. OK.

Just as an example, David Gregory, let me start with what the president says about people who are detained at the border and whether or not they ever show up, show back up, because this has seeped into the public conversation. Well, you know once you catch them and you release them they just disappear and they never show back up. That's what he continues to claim and I hear people repeat it. So he says we're not letting them into the country. We let them into the country and then they never show up, almost it's like 3 percent that show back up. They never show up for trial.

Here are the real stats from the Department of Justice and from I.C.E. 89 percent of asylum seekers show up and did show up for legal proceedings in 2017, 89 percent. There was a pilot program where during the course of it they had to check in with I.C.E. from time to time, 100 percent of the people who were in that pilot program showed up for their court hearings. That pilot program was ceased by the Trump administration. David Gregory, your thoughts?

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, what the president wants here more than anything else is a fight. He wants a fight with what he will call an invasion and then voice that off on saying well some people are calling it an invasion, which is not what it is. He is really in a fight with what the facts are about the immigration policy. And as happened with so many issues, there are real issues and real challenges on our border that present huge challenges for our government that he has not been able to solve. I mean it's striking that nearly 40 percent of Republican voters care about the immigration issue. The president is highlighting it in its final pitch in such a hard line way. He said that he was going to solve this problem in a way President Obama could not. He and the Republican Congress had been unable to do that. That's what is striking about this fear mongering as a final pitch.

BERMAN: And again, for all the hype of this Roosevelt Room speech, the rally, there really is no new policy here which tells me that it's just about the fight, it is just about the theater.

Bakari, what do you think the right way for the Democrats to respond is with four days left? Do you want to see Democrats taking the bait? Do you want to see Democrats standing up and saying this was a lie, this was a lie, this video he put out was racist or do you ignore it?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN COMMENTATOR: You ignore it. I mean this is the - this is the final stretch. These are the last four days of this race, and if you have seen anybody do this extremely well, it's been people like Andrew Gillum in Florida.

[07:05:01] It's been people like Stacey Abrams in Georgia. It's been people like Andy Kim in New Jersey and Aftab Pureval in Ohio. And what they are focused on is very simple. It's a closing message talking about jobs. It's a closing message talking about health care. Look, we all know the president is racist. We all know he is going to drag us into these debates that pit one group against another group. But as a candidate on the trail right now, people want to see you be Congressional. They want to see be gubernatorial. They want to see be something that the president is not.

And so please, let all of this bickering, let leave that to me and Scott Jennings, Democrats, please, but just focus on your message to your voters and your closing message has to be one, bringing this country together first and foremost but talking about issues that matter.

CAMEROTA: Hey, Scott, if my job to fact check. We are busy. We have our hands full here obviously on NEW DAY doing so much of it right now. But here is a fact that I think relates to you and I think it's important to get that out there. The sickening video, as I think Jeff Flake -- I think that's what he was referring to, that the president put, trying to gin up fears about this disgusting psychopath who killed two deputies. He says that this was the Democrats' fault. This is an illegal immigrant. He was here in the country - look at -- Democrats let him in. Democrats let him stay. It's what the president is claiming.

Let's get the facts. He came in illegally when he was 16 years old. President Clinton was president at the time. President Clinton deported him in 1997. He snuck back in a year later. He was arrested by Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Phoenix, who you know is a very hardliner on immigration, and then released, for some reason, a Republican, Sheriff Joe Arpaio released him. Then at some point, he was deported. George Bush - George W. Bush, you former boss, became president. He snuck back in when President George Bush was in office. He got married while President George Bush was in office. He stayed in the country while President George Bush was in office. I don't think this is your fault, Scott, I really don't think this is your fault nor do I think it was the Democrats' fault. Why can the president pin this on the Democrats?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. Look, I'm not going to defend - it's not the closing argument I'd like to make for the Republican Party. I'd like to be talking about the economy. I think the president's global point about immigration is that he wants to lead a political party that is hardline on it. They want more border security. And he wants to position his opponents as being softer on border security. That's the global point he is trying to make.

One of the issues though about this that strikes me, the two biggest issues are health care and the economy. Immigration is in there but it's not one of the top two issues. The Democrats have carved themselves out a nice space and a lot of their campaigns running on health care. It strikes me that if I were running a Republican campaign here at the end, I would want to carve out my space where the polling says that people actually trust Trump, and trust the Republicans and that's on the economy.

Immigration - again, it's in there and it's motivating for some Republicans. But at this point, I don't think motivating base voters is the issue. I looked at the Gallup numbers this week and see Republicans are very motivated to vote. What I think we had to do is say, you all entrusted us with governing the country for the last two years. We have delivered on the economy so Democrats are making one key argument, we are making the other and that's where you want to fight it out. I am just not sure immigration is the closer you want in a lot of districts.

GREGORY: You know, it's interesting though, I have a question about that because if you look at a state like Missouri and you see how Claire McCaskill who is very much incumbent Democrat is very much on the defensive in a state that has moved increasingly away from the Democrats. She is quoted as saying in the last 24 hours that she appreciates President Trump's actions to try to, you know, protect our borders. That's a position that she is in. I wonder whether the president made a decision, it seems that he has, where he says this is really about him to just try shore up those Senate seats that he can, understanding that in a lot of these suburban districts, this hardline immigration message is not what's going to play.

I also think there's some rattling that's going on. I think the president's rattled about the economy, the wild gyrations in the stock market. You look at the fact that he had a productive conversation with the leader of China to try to get a trade deal. He's thinking about the economy in terms of 2020, when it's really going to be about him at a time when there is increasing anxiety about it, so I agree with Scott that that's an objective record of accomplishment for the president and Republicans, but it seems they are more worried about convincing their own people that they got to get out and not just believe things are good.

BERMAN: And not losing more, Scott. Is there truth in that?

JENNINGS: Well, there's probably some truth in the strategy of shoring up the Senate races, because if you look at the map overall, House and Senate, it's highly likely that no matter what you do in the last four days that Democrats are going to win the House. So what you cannot do is give any ground on the Senate. And David is exactly right. Out in Middle America where some of the Senate races are taking place, there are Democrats running on immigration messages that sound a heck of a lot like President Trump.

[07:10:03] You mentioned Missouri and Indiana. Joe Donnelly, a lot of his ads are saying build the wall, build the wall, so there's some truth that the immigration issue is not all about just ginning up Republicans. There are a lot of independents and conservative Democrats in the middle of the country that want more border security as well. So, at the end of the day, the president knows he cannot lose both chambers that would be an utter disaster. Divided government is OK as long as you hold the Senate. And if that's the outcome on election night, you know he will call that a win and move forward and do what he can with divided government, which won't be much but it will be something.

BERMAN: He will call breakfast to win. No matter what happens he will call it a win. I don't think that's the stand here.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: Bakari, you can want border security and not vilify immigrants. I mean, I think that there's are - there's a huge swath of the country that is somewhere in the middle that doesn't believe in vilifying all of this hate talk about immigrants, and the reason I know that is because I just sat down this week with a group of college-educated suburban women, three of whom were Republicans three of whom were Democrats, and what they say, what the universal feeling for them was the tone has to change, the tone is toxic, the tone is exhausting to them. And they told me that that is part of the motivation for why they will vote this time.

SELLERS: Well, you said something that is quite brilliant. You can talk about immigration and Democrats are talking about immigration without vilifying immigrants, without vilifying brown people. I think that's the problem. It's the tone and the tenure and the rhetoric. Look, nobody is talking about immigration the way that Jacky Rosen talk about immigration in Nevada or Kyrsten Sinema is in Arizona, building a robust plan, making sure that we have strong borders, making sure that we crack down on immigrants on this country who commit crimes.

There was no one who deported more immigrants -- illegal immigrants in this country than Barack Obama, so it's not as if Democrats have not taken up a stand on this issue. What we're saying though is the racist, really, in ads. They come from the president of the United States are unacceptable. And what those ladies that you sat down with, what they are talking about are something that I have seen cut across all borders.

I have travelled around the entire country the last couple of days and weeks, trying to help people win elections and everybody -- Democrats and Republicans alike are saying that the tone, the tenure and the demeanor and the nastiness in our politics has to stop. And it's very difficult. I mean we were just in a very solemn moment this past Saturday because we realized that words matter. And I am not sure the president has gotten that message. And that's going to hurt him more than any policy is that his words matter and he doesn't realize it. GREGORY: The reality with President Trump is that he is what you get. His views on immigration are what you get when you don't solve the problem. And what's happened, you know, is Scott Jennings who works for President Bush who really got immigration as a border state governor. He got it with compassion, and understood how to solve the problem. 9/11 happened. The Iraq war you know happened. And conservatives left him. I am not saying it happened organically, Bakari, I understand that he led the invasion of Iraq. What I am saying is the conditions change and conservatives left him on this issue. And Democrats were not able to solve it either.

The interesting part about Trump, again, is that even as hard line supporter who thinks that hey, he is just making good on what he said he was going to do. He hasn't been able to do this. He promised a border wall. He has not delivered on that despite the fact that he says it. That's the reality.

SELLERS: But immigration is not that -- immigration is not that simple. It's not just a problem to be solved overnight with one executive order or one piece of legislation.

(CROSSTALK)

GREGORY: No, no, but there have been a lot of years where (INAUDIBLE).

SELLERS: We got extremely close but the way we got extremely close was in a bipartisan fashion. And what I'm saying is it is going to take those Republicans along Border States so that they can tell us what they touch and feel every single day. It's going to take Democrats coming across and finding some middle ground to figure out how we strengthen our borders but how we also make sure that we are a country of immigrants -- of legal immigrants and build the system for one that works for everyone. This is not something that Donald Trump is going to fix alone. This isn't something that Barack Obama can fix alone. We have to fix it together.

BERMAN: David Gregory, Bakari Sellers, Scott Jennings, this conversation roughly 6 billion times more civil than anything we have heard --

JENNINGS: We had no bickering. Bakari and I, we had no bickering this morning. This was very good.

BERMAN: We will work on that hopefully for next time.

(CROSSTALK)

GREGORY: I'll leave my coffee. I just need my coffee --

BERMAN: We genuinely appreciate it. David Gregory, who plays a very minor supporting role in "House of Cards" --

GREGORY: I'm just in the first scene. Thank you --

BERMAN: Thank you for your very small contribution to "House of Cards" - for a much bigger one, great to see you. Democrats hoping to ride a blue wave to regain control of the House, but who will lead the party if they win? A congressman who's challenged Nancy Pelosi before joins us next.

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[07:18:50] BERMAN: The midterm elections just four days away. Democrats, they hope to win the House majority for the first time in eight years. If that happens, all eyes will be on Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, says she is pretty comfortable she will be speaker once again. Some members of her own party are calling for her to step aside and let a new younger generation of leaders take over.

Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio. He did challenge Pelosi for minority leader in - actually 2016, 2017. Congressman Ryan, thank you so much for being with us. We will get to Wednesday in a second. Before I want to talk about Friday, I want to talk about where we are heading into this election. Democrats very much want to focus on health care. You hear the president laser focused on the issue of immigration. What are you hearing from voters? Do they want to hear about one not the other?

REP. TIM RYAN (D), OHIO: I'm not hearing anything.

BERMAN: Congressman Ryan, can you hear me? Tim Ryan from Ohio is with us right now. I think we are having some audio issues. He is still politely playing along. Let me know if that comes in. What is interesting about Congressman Ryan is he is part of a younger generation of Democrats who suggests that Pelosi should step aside.

[07:20:01] Again, he did challenge her for minority leader. One of the questions we will ask if he comes back is if he intends to challenge her again if the Democrats take over. Do we have audio?

All right, we're going to take a quick break. Get our act together. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right. Still four days until the midterms and still one key member of the Democratic caucus is Tim Ryan of Ohio. He joins us now with masking tape, tin foil and MacGyver like skill. We got his audio working so he can hear us now. Congressman, thank you so much for being with us. I want to talk about Wednesday in a second but let's talk about where we are. It's Friday. Democrats, trying to focus on health care, the Republicans trying to focus on immigration and the president especially here. What are you hearing from voters? Do they want to hear about one and not the other?

RYAN: The health care, the economy, wages, pensions, bread and butter issues is what people are talking about here in Ohio and from around the country.

[07:25:05] And I think people are seeing through what the president is trying to do. I mean this is blatant fear mongering you know with the caravan with women and children, he saying are invading the United States, the biggest, most powerful military in the history of the world, biggest most powerful country is not going to get invaded by women and children refugees who have been walking thousands of miles. People are seeing through it and they know it's just an election year ploy by the president and he's lost a lot of credibility over the last few months. And I think this is really icing on the cake.

BERMAN: How are you advising your fellow Democrats to respond to this? Do Democrats need to have a proactive immigration policy, a proactive stance on what to do with the migrants who are still 800 miles away. And if you think they do, what should that be?

RYAN: A couple things. First foremost we have to have a secure border. You know, we do need increased border security. We do need technology on the border. We do need to know who is coming in out of the country and those laws need to be enforced and we need an immigration system that protects the border but also allows for legal immigration in assimilating people by - if they're here undocumented having them pay a fine, pay their back taxes, to pass a background check and then coming peacefully into the United States. I think we are all for that. And so, having a secure border, allowing for you know immigration reform proposals to come in.

But really, the reality is President Trump dropped the ball on this. I mean, he has multiple appointments at the State Department that go unfilled. He's cut the State Department budget and a proactive president who reads his presidential daily briefing every morning would have seen this percolating up months if not years ago where we would have send in USAID aid workers, technical support, some security forces in these countries like Honduras, Guatemala to preserve the peace there so these people don't get out of our country. But the president get in fights, inviting Kanye West over, doing Twitter left and right, starting fights with everybody in the world, meanwhile not solving problems that end up coming on to our border.

BERMAN: Kanye by the way has split. Says he's no longer going to be political in the latest developments involving Kanye West. Congressman Ryan, again, not to get -- I know Democrats do not like to get ahead of themselves when it comes to elections and probably never will again. But if Democrats take control of the House, there will be an election for the leadership in the House. Before we get to you, I actually think one interesting question is the Black Caucus, issues an enormous force inside the Democratic caucus came out yesterday and says if there's a leadership shake-up, they want one of the two top positions, either speaker or majority leader. Given their role do you think that's a reasonable request?

RYAN: I think it's entirely appropriate. I mean, if you look at one of the major power structures within the Democratic Party it's the African-American community, it is African-American women who have carried us through so many elections. Just look at Doug Jones race down in Alabama. He was carried on the backs of African-American women. So I think it's entirely appropriate for us to have in the top two leadership spots, African-American representation. Not to mention, we have got to start go into the south winning elections. You know where we -- the blue wall caved in 2016 and the industrial Midwest and we are not playing as aggressively as we need to be in the south. And I think, you know, southern Democrat, African-American would be appropriate for us to have in leadership and would allow us to expand the field and start winning more and more races in the south and in the industrial Midwest where we've lost so many.

BERMAN: So you stand beside them and you'll demand that?

RYAN: Yes, I think that's an appropriate request.

BERMAN: So Nancy Pelosi says if the Democrats take over, she does want to be speaker and she has suggested she could be a transitional figure, that's not something that you support?

RYAN: Correct. Correct, yes.

BERMAN: Why?

RYAN: I think we need -- we need new leadership. I mean, I have been saying this since last year. It's time for us to make a change. I think there's a number of people in our caucus who are -- who want us to make a change. I think there will be a viable challenge to leader Pelosi this year. This will not be a coronation. And there are a number of candidates already out there talking about it that are interested in doing it from different regions of the country, different back grounds, different demographics, and we just need to sift through and see who exactly that's going to be, but there will be a challenge. And I think it's appropriate for the Democrats to have this discussion. And you know, we will see how it plays out.

BERMAN: Are you challenging -- will you challenge?

RYAN: You know I don't have any intention on doing it.