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New Day

Prince Harry's New Baby; Measles Outbreak Continues to Spread; Buttigieg Confronts Lack of Support. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired May 07, 2019 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Commentator and Victoria Arbiter, royal expert and CNN royal commentator.

Great to have both of you here.

Victoria, let's talk about what they are doing, from the birth announcement to the secrecy around the location, that's bucking royal tradition.

VICTORIA ARBITER, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it's interesting actually around royal births, these traditions have become traditions in a somewhat unwitting fashion. The Duchess of Kent was actually the first royal to have a baby in hospital in 1070. It's very difficult to sneak royal in and out of hospital, hence the press buildup outside and the photograph that we've all become accustomed to.

But prior to 1970, all royal babies were born at home behind castle walls and palace walls. So, in a sense, we still don't know if Meghan did actually have this baby at home. There's been talk overnight that she was rushed off to hospital. But if she had the baby at home, we'd actually be reverting back to old traditions.

But as you mentioned, this sort of idea of now announcing things on social media, on Instagram as well. William and Kate did put out a message on social media when their children were born as well and yet we saw Harry and Meghan use Instagram, that's how they're communicating with this new modern royal follower. But we also did see the announcement placed in the full court at Buckingham Palace several hours later. So I think this is Harry and Meghan -- it's a nod to how things are being done today, but still hanging on to a few of those old traditions.

CAMEROTA: Kate, what was it like to see Prince Harry. I mean this man who Britain and the world watched growing up from a baby come out and seem so kind of besotted already by his new baby. What was that like for the country?

KATE WILLIAMS, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: Oh, Alisyn, I mean it was so wonderful, wasn't it. Yes, well, those of us watching Diana's funeral will never forget that little boy walking behind the coffin through the streets of London. The little card mommy on the flowers on the coffin. And we've watched him grow up and it's been a tough time. Prince Harry's had a tough time. He's talked very publicly about how it's been difficult to lose his mother. And to see him yesterday overwhelmed with happiness and thrilled at the birth of his baby, completely without sleep, but so delighted.

And we really saw the Harry magic there. We saw why the public love him. Why, when he goes out to meet crowds, people adore him because he's so warm and he's so open and he's so down to earth. And I have to say, when he gave tribute to all of the women of the world for giving birth, it was -- it was really a very moving moment. And I think we just can't wait to see him actually with the baby.

CAMEROTA: Victoria, what does this baby mean to Britain? I mean the fact that this baby is of mixed race, the fact that its mother is an American, the fact that people have watched their romance, I mean, what, at this moment in time in Britain, what does -- what is the significance of this baby?

ARBITER: Well, I think it's exciting that the royal family finally reflects modern society. Some have said that Meghan catapulted the Windsors into the 21st century. But the institution has been around for over 1,000 years and part of that reason is because of its ability to adapt and evolve.

People underestimate the queen's reach. She' head of state to 16 nations. She oversees the commonwealth that's over 2 billion citizens. Now America has a vested interest in the royal family because one of their own is behind palace walls. This baby is half-American. So I think it's a very exciting time when we -- in terms of witnessing history within the royal family, it's this living history we get to see on a day to day basis.

And so I think England's proud. It's very rare for a news story to have positive reflection on a country. And I think in this Brexit- weary climate, England is glad to have the eyes of the world for a positive reason.

CAMEROTA: So tomorrow, Kate, we will see the baby, we're told, for the first time. What's the latest thinking about what they're going to name the baby?

WILLIAMS: Yes. As you say, Alisyn, tomorrow we expect to see a photo. We, obviously, do expect to hear news about the title, whether it will be earl (INAUDIBLE), whether the queen will last minute intervene and call -- it will be a prince or whether the little baby will just be mister. And we -- I think we're going to see a photo about midafternoon, but who knows.

And, yes, the name. So the front-runners we've got are Alexander, there's James, there's Spencer is whizzing up in tribute to Diana. I do think Alexander's quite likely. I think that they're looking for a name that has both resonance in the U.K. and the U.S. and Alexandra is the queen's middle name and Alexander Hamilton, a key part of -- key figure in American history.

I think we might see some unconventional names, but perhaps towards the middle name. I do expect to see perhaps Charles or Phillip there as well. This is a very royal baby and it is seventh in line to the throne and there is a possibility, if everyone else abdicates, I mean stranger things have happened in the royal family, that one day this little boy will be queen -- be king. So they will be thinking, I think, very clearly that, yes, they could have some nods to modern life. But also, I think, they'll be thinking about traditional names as well.

So let's see if Alexander works out. But none of us got Louis last time. So, you never know.

CAMEROTA: All right, Victoria Arbiter, Kate Williams, thank you very much for the preview.

WILLIAMS: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: We will look forward to tomorrow, right, John?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I -- yes, look, Alexander Hamilton, a founding father in the palace, I would like that.

CAMEROTA: OK.

BERMAN: That would make the revolution complete.

CAMEROTA: I'm sure they're listening.

[08:34:57] BERMAN: The measles outbreak spreading fear among parents whose children are too young to be vaccinated. We'll hear from one father who lives in the heart of New York's outbreak. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Time now for the "5 Things to Know for Your New Day."

The Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin rejecting a demand by House Democrats to turn over President Trump's tax returns, saying the request lacks, quote, a legitimate legislative purpose. This sets the stage for what could be a long, legal battle.

BERMAN: Investigators are now pouring through flight recorders to find out what happened in Sunday's fiery plane crash in Russia. Twenty-two- year-old Jeremy Brooks, who was pursuing his dream to be a fly fishing guide, is the only American among 41 people to die in the crash.

CAMEROTA: Two Reuters journalists jailed in Myanmar for more than 500 days have been freed. The men were imprisoned in 2017 for their reporting on the massacre of Rohingya civilians. They won a Pulitzer prize for that report this year.

BERMAN: The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has denied an appeal on behalf of the owner of Maximum Security. The horse was disqualified after crossing the line first in the Kentucky Derby. Owner Gary West says he plans to sue to overturn that decision.

[08:40:02] CAMEROTA: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the duchess of Sussex, now proud parents to a healthy baby boy. We are expected to get a peek at the newest little royal tomorrow.

BERMAN: During our show. CAMEROTA: Make sure you set your DVRs if you are going to be at work.

BERMAN: For more on the "5 Things to Know," go to cnn.com/newday for the very latest.

CAMEROTA: All right, now here's what else to watch today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ON SCREEN TEXT: 10:00 a.m. ET, Georgia governor signs anti-abortion bill.

11:00 a.m. ET, First lady celebrates Be Best anniversary.

2:30 p.m. ET, Biden makes inaugural Nevada trip.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Very nice.

CAMEROTA: OK, it's a little different than the industrial dance mix that we used to have, that you favored.

BERMAN: It is, but I feel -- I feel -- I feel uplifted in a different kind of way.

CAMEROTA: All right.

BERMAN: All right, more than 760 people in the United States have now caught measles so far this year with at least 550 cases in New York alone. Health officials in the state are having a hard time stopping the outbreak, now the largest and longest in decades.

Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us live with the very latest.

Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: John, the CDC tells us that this outbreak, this particular outbreak, has been so stubborn. It was started by anti-vaxers, but now even people who do vaccinate their children, they've been forced to change their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice over): Shimon Singer is worried for his baby. Malky is two months old, too young to get vaccinated for the measles, and the Singers live in an ultra-orthodox Jewish community in the heart of New York's measles outbreak.

The virus is one of the most contagious on earth.

SHIMON SINGER, MALKY'S FATHER: I'm worried for her safety. I'm worried for his well-being. Is my kid safe? Is my baby safe? Will she get sick tomorrow? Will she get sick next week?

COHEN: Malky's cousin was in the hospital recently with measles and a family friend was struck, too.

SINGER: And she's had like -- you cannot imagine what a pain I was in. It was like every part of my body felt on fire. It was like somebody was inside of my body with a bulldozer and destroying organ by organ, piece by piece.

COHEN: So Singer and his wife made a decision. With a few exceptions, Malky does not go to public places.

SINGER: So we wouldn't take her to the mall. We wouldn't take her to Target. We wouldn't take her to Walmart. We wouldn't take her to Macy's.

COHEN (on camera): And she's the youngest of four. So that must be quite inconvenient.

SINGER: It is very inconvenient. You know, we have to go buy clothing for the older kids. We have to go buy shoes. And we have to go to the grocery, you know, every week.

COHEN: The measles outbreak has hurt the Singer family in so many ways. They own this children's play center. And in the past three months, 40 families have canceled birthday parties because they're scared of measles.

COHEN (voice over): Financially, personally, the Singers and other families have suffered because some parents in their community refuse to vaccinate their children.

COHEN (on camera): How does it make you feel that someone else's decision has affected your life in this way?

SINGER: There will always be, you know, a small amount of people who don't think about others, they just think about themselves. They put in jeopardy other people's livelihood and make other people's lives hard.

COHEN (voice over): So, for the next four months, until she's old enough to get the measles vaccine, the Singers say they'll keep --

SINGER: We're praying that, you know, she should stay safe.

COHEN: Safe from the measles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: Now, usually babies get their first measles shot at 12 months. But babies in this area, like Malky, they're supposed to now get their first shot at six months. So the Singer family has only yet about another four months of keeping their baby at home.

John. Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: That's still a challenge.

Elizabeth, thank you very much. COHEN: Thanks.

CAMEROTA: All right, back to the campaign trail.

Mayor Pete Buttigieg is asking for help where he says his presidential run is lacking. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:48:17] BERMAN: So some really interesting comments overnight from South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, whose star has risen in the Democratic primary, driven largely by support from white voters. The lack of diversity in his crowds has been highlighted during his swing through South Carolina, where he made this appeal to supporters last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My deeper answer is, I need help. Out here people are just getting to know me and trust in part is a function of quantity time. And we are racing against time. And so we need to make sure, as we have worked to have a campaign staff that lives up to the values of diversity and inclusion that I've tried to lean on in my administration and that I preach about when I'm in front of a crowd, that the same becomes true of the folks that we draw in to support the campaign and to help shape it. And I can't do that alone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: You know, and the reports from that crowd was that it was a largely white crowd in South Carolina, which is not usual in a Democratic event there.

Let's get "The Bottom Line" with David Axelrod. He's a CNN senior political commentator, host of "The Axe Files."

And, David, two things were interesting there. Number one, he's right, he needs help.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. One hundred percent.

BERMAN: And, number two, you know, you don't often hear a candidate say, I've got a problem.

AXELROD: Yes. Well, that's, of course, part of his appeal to voters is that he is very open, he is -- he doesn't seem to be crafting his answers, and he doesn't seem to be hiding the ball. So he was very blunt about this.

He's absolutely right, the nature of the Democratic nominating process is that if you don't have an appeal to minority voters, and I would add working class voters generally, it's hard to win. He's done spectacularly well to this point to get from where he started as an unknown 37-year-old mayor from South Bend to really the top tier of candidates. But to get to where he wants to go, he's going to have to broaden that coalition.

[08:50:12] CAMEROTA: Like what? I mean, as a strategist, what should he do to get that help?

AXELROD: Well, he's -- I mean he's doing part of it by just showing up. But, you know, relationships are important in this business. And, you know, I think back to the 2016 nominating fight. Bernie Sanders lost that nomination because he didn't have that kind of relationship with the African-American community and Hillary Clinton did historically. And that was hugely helpful to her.

So he needs to identify leaders in the community who will usher him in, vouch for him and then he needs to expand his circle, or he's going to end up being kind of a boutique candidate and that's not where he wants to be.

BERMAN: Any reason he couldn't make inroads?

AXELROD: Well, look, first of all, relationships matter, history matters, so that's one thing. The other --

CAMEROTA: Meaning, they may already have relationships -- some of those leaders may already have relationships with other candidates?

AXELROD: Well, look --

BERMAN: Joe Biden.

AXELROD: Yes, a Joe Biden has a tremendous advantage because of his partnership with Barack Obama. You see him at 50 percent with African- Americans in most polls. So he starts off with a big advantage and he's way ahead in South Carolina as a result.

Look, one of the -- one of the elephants in the room here is Pete Buttigieg is the first openly gay candidate to run for president. Historically, there has been more resistance on this issue in the African-American community, particularly among older African-American voters. And we'll see if that still exists. We've seen enormous movement on this issue, but that is an open question.

BERMAN: And we don't know if it's just lack of name recognition or they don't know him or if --

AXELROD: Well, there's no doubt that's part of it.

BERMAN: Yes.

AXELROD: I'm not saying he can't do it.

BERMAN: Right.

AXELROD: He's a -- he's an enormously talented candidate. But he's got a lot of work to do.

BERMAN: Very quickly, I want to play you some sound from just this morning from Mayor Pete Buttigieg. He does talk about his faith a lot, which is a way into different communities.

AXELROD: It is a way.

BERMAN: Let me just play you what he said about that this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's also important that we stop seeing religion used as a kind of cajole, as if God belonged to a political party. And if he did, I can't imagine it would be the one that sent the current president into the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AXELROD: Yes, this very, very important. He is very fluent and very out front about his faith. When you think about the last three Democrats who won, Carter, Clinton and Obama, they all spoke openly about faith. But for Pete, given that he doesn't have these relationships, that's an important calling card in these communities.

CAMEROTA: We want to ask you about something that Kamala Harris brought up this weekend in one of her speeches in Detroit, I believe, right?

BERMAN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Yes, in Detroit. And she was talking about electability. And we all bandy that term about as if we know what it means, but she was asking everybody to drill down and really kind of analyze what they mean when they say electability. What does that mean? That you -- that white voters find you electable? Is that really what we're saying? Because, if so, she's saying it's time for a kind of redefining of that term.

AXELROD: Yes, well, I mean, part of Joe Biden's argument is that he can reach into some of those constituencies that Donald Trump took from Democrats, i.e., white working class voters. And that is what you need to win. She is saying, look, if Hillary Clinton had gotten the minority vote, the younger voters, who Barack Obama had, that she would have won. She lost narrowly in Pennsylvania, in Michigan, in Wisconsin. And in Philly, Detroit and Milwaukee, the turnout was abysmal. And what Kamala Harris is saying, there are a lot of ways to get to where we need to go and we should broaden this discussion.

BERMAN: I do think, in politics, as in all things, including the musical "Hamilton," you know, for a reaction there's an equal and opposite reaction. The fact that she did this in a very high profile speech --

AXELROD: Yes.

BERMAN: In a very high profile way told me that this is a thing now that the major candidates feel like they need to address because Joe Biden has had some success.

AXELROD: Without question. Without question. I mean this is the core -- the key to Biden's candidacy. One of the reasons he jumped right to the fight with Donald Trump is that he wants to bypass all of this and say, this is the main event. I'm the guy who can beat Donald Trump because I can reach into these areas, particularly in these key states, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, that he has to have to win. And so, you know, she -- I think candidates are sensitive to penetrating that.

The question is, you know, I had Cory Booker -- I had an interview with Cory Booker last night for "The Axe Files." Good discussion. And I asked him about this. And he said it shouldn't be an either/or thing. We -- and that -- I must tell you, when I was working for Barack Obama, that's the way we approached it. Barack Obama campaigned in these white working class areas. He didn't just put his coalition together with minorities and young people. He did well in those areas.

[08:55:01] Remember, he carried the state of Indiana in 2008 and he did it by talking to these voters, showing them the respect of going there and speaking about middle class economics. So it's not impossible to put together a broader coalition and Democrats should probably think about doing that.

CAMEROTA: You had an interesting tweet about the conventional wisdom about Joe Biden.

AXELROD: Yes.

CAMEROTA: You said on April 30th, conventional wisdom, Joe Biden is a fragile front runner, hobbled by age, record and excessive touching. New conventional wisdom, Joe Biden is a behemoth, astride the primary field, the dragon slayer in waiting. Conclusion, conventional wisdom is usually overdone.

So I guess you're saying it's, what, a little of both?

AXELROD: What I'm saying is that, first of all, I made a career betting against conventional wisdom. Conventional wisdom's almost always wrong.

But the other thing is, we just have to keep in mind, this is a marathon. We're at the four-milepost. And it's going to be a long fight with lots of dips and lots of peaks, and for Biden and all of them. So, lots of fun for us.

BERMAN: Great to have you here. Come back because we've got a lot to talk about in this Democratic primary race, David.

AXELROD: Yes. Good to be here.

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

All right, the battle between the Trump administration and House Democrats is heating up this morning. Jim Sciutto is going to pick up our coverage after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END