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Biden Head of Trump in Texas Poll; Biden Faces Backlash over Abortion Stance; President Trump and French President Speak Before Meeting. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired June 06, 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: Joe Biden with a notable lead over President Trump in a state that has not voted for a Democrat since 1976.

There's something about Harry. So let's get "The Forecast" with CNN's senior politics writer and analyst, Harry Enten.

There he is.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER AND ANALYST: There I am. And there you two are.

CAMEROTA: So what mysterious state is this to which you refer?

ENTEN: The mysterious state is the state of Texas. So right now what we see, a Quinnipiac University poll that was out just yesterday shows that Joe Biden is leading Donald Trump in the state of Texas by a 48 percent to 44 percent margin. And as you pointed out in the intro, this is a state that has not voted Democratic on the presidential level since Jimmy Carter beat Gerald Ford there all the way back in 1976.

CAMEROTA: I said it was a notable lead. Is that within the margin of error?

ENTEN: This is within the margin of error. But the fact is, as I've been looking at presidential polls for a long time, and you would probably have to go all the way back to maybe 1996 or '92 to actually find any notable poll that had the Democratic candidate for president leading the Republican candidate.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Look, color me skeptical that it would last to the general election. But if it ever did, it would have a huge impact on the electoral map.

ENTEN: It would have a huge impact. Take a look at this. So let's just take the 2016 presidential results, but we add Texas to the Democratic column. Just this one. And what you see is that the Democratic candidate would actually barely win. So just take the Hillary Clinton states, add in Texas, and that is enough. That's how many electoral votes are in that state.

BERMAN: And that's not counting Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin.

ENTEN: Sure.

BERMAN: You wouldn't have to flip any of those back. Texas along would bring the Democrats (INAUDIBLE).

ENTEN: And, you know, we have seen that Donald Trump is unusually unpopular for a Republican president in the state of Texas. We obviously saw the Senate race back in 2018 between O'Rourke and Cruz to be quite close. So that poll isn't completely unreasonable. But, yes, I would say that probably this state would flip blue first. But if this ever flipped blue and the rest of them didn't, that would be more than enough for the Dems.

CAMEROTA: OK, what are you seeing in the primary?

ENTEN: Yes. So, let's take a look. We had a poll that was out earlier this week. And what -- I just want to keep banging in, folks, banging out for you is that this race remains stable. Look at this.

So we take a look at where the poll -- our latest CNN poll showed and basically showed Biden ahead 32, Sanders 18. Take a look at where it was back in October of 2018. You basically see the exact same picture. One and two are the same. Three and four are the same. Buttigieg is really the only one who's moved up because he was basically a no name. We didn't even ask him. But basically all the candidates are in the same place. So right now this is a race that, yes, month to month may change, but overall the picture has stayed stable.

BERMAN: You've dug into some of the racial breakdown a bit in our poll, yes?

ENTEN: Yes, so, this is an interesting thing to me. And, you know, oftentimes, because of sample sizes, we can't necessarily break down too much, but we can get whites and non-whites. And what we've generally seen is that Joe Biden has generally been leading Bernie Sanders by a little bit more among non-whites than whites. This is an average of the last two polls we did, so we can bump up the sample sizes. And we see Biden winning by 23 points among non-whites and 16 points among whites.

But because we combined those two samples, what we can do is really break down and actually see that non-white category, in my mind, is probably a little bit too broad because when we break it down to African-Americans and Hispanics, what we see is Hispanics are actually voting very similarly to whites, but it's actually African-Americans who are powering that Joe Biden lead among non-whites, up 40 points, about 40 points if -- when you combine those two samples. That's a huge lead for him among African-Americans.

CAMEROTA: What's happening with Michael Bennet of Colorado?

ENTEN: Yes, so, I love this. So Michael Bennet, by getting 1 percent overall in our CNN poll, Bennet has 1 percent in three DNC approved polls and qualifies for the June debate. But how did he get to that 1 percent? And, folks, I just love this. This is one of my favorite things. I e-mailed Berman as soon as I got this thing. I was just so excited over it.

CAMEROTA: Wow.

ENTEN: So we asked -- before we asked the horse race question, we asked, have you heard or not heard of Michael Bennet? And what we saw was 56 percent of people had not heard his name before, Democrats, 44 percent had. Among those who had heard of Michael Bennet, he only -- he got zero percent, no respondent said that they would vote for him in the Democratic primary. But among those who had not heard of him, when he was listed with all the other candidates, he managed to get 2 percent and, therefore, get 1 percent overall.

CAMEROTA: Wow, that is a good one. I see why you were excited about that.

BERMAN: No, it is. People who haven't heard from him are putting him in the Democratic debate.

CAMEROTA: Right. So there's a lesson there, go away and you might win.

BERMAN: Exactly.

ENTEN: You know what, maybe I could get 1 percent. You know, throw my name in there. Maybe I can get 1 -- we can all get 1 percent.

BERMAN: What does that tell us about the June debate or where are we right now for qualifiers?

ENTEN: Yes, so -- so if we were to go for the June debate, these -- this is the list of candidates, my goodness, look at this, all these names.

BERMAN: It doesn't even fit on the screen.

ENTEN: It doesn't even fit on the screen. All 20 are in. These are the three who are not in, Bullock, Messam and Moulton are not currently in the debate. And here's the thing I'll point out. They all got zero respondents in the primary preference in our last two CNN polls.

BERMAN: Not zero percent?

ENTEN: Zero respondents.

CAMEROTA: So -- and they can't change.

ENTEN: Zero.

CAMEROTA: So now that it is June, they can't change that?

ENTEN: They're -- they -- they're -- there may be a poll that comes out that maybe gets one of these guys, and Bullock needs just one more poll, but they all need at least one more poll to qualify with 1 percent or more. Right now they're not there.

[08:35:01] BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you very much. A revealing look at the numbers, with spirit fingers. All right, 2020 Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden is facing a backlash from his rivals after his campaign confirmed he supports a ban on federal funding for abortions. Many in his party want that amendment -- it's called the Hyde Amendment -- overturned.

So let's get "The Bottom Line" with CNN political director David Chalian.

David, thanks so much for being with us.

This is a big deal. And I think in the last 24 hours you have seen the first clear policy rift between Joe Biden and the others that will not go away or is not easily explained away for Joe Biden. Talk to us about this.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, and I think you see an eagerness among the Democrats not named Biden to take on the frontrunner over something that is policy based. And I think that that's critical here too.

Listen, this all stemmed, as you know, because Joe Biden was on a rope line and misheard a question and actually suggested that he was in favor of repealing the Hyde Amendment. His campaign had to come out and explain, no, no, no, he's not and he does not intend right now to move off this position that he's held throughout his career in public life supporting the Hyde Amendment.

Here's the thing. It gives an opening to his fellow Democrats who are almost completely aligned in wanting to repeal the Hyde Amendment. It, obviously, as you know and noted, these federal tax dollars for abortion, this is largely an issue about Medicaid which impacts low income and communities of color, women of color. So there are key Democratic constituencies here at play in this policy.

And I'll just add one more thing, John, about why I think this is -- not like we're going to see polls start tumbling down for Joe Biden. I'm not suggesting it has that kind of impact. I'm suggesting it feeds this overall question that hang over the Biden candidacy, is Joe Biden, all the way through this process, going to be able to prove that he is a man of this moment in time to lead this Democratic Party. We're seeing a time with abortion rights under assault and it's an animating issue for many Democrats and many female Democratic voters that power much of the resistance that we've seen to the Trump presidency. A key constituency here.

Is Joe Biden looking like he's a man of the past on this or looking like he's a person that can lead the Democratic Party into the future. I think that kind of question is one that Joe Biden doesn't want hanging over his head.

CAMEROTA: David, hold on, if you would, for a moment. We're just watching President Trump and President Macron meeting. This is right before the bilateral meeting that they are planning to have.

As you can see, this is a little impromptu since the camera is still shaky. It hasn't been locked down yet. But they are sitting down. I guess they're take some comments. Let's listen for a second.

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): (INAUDIBLE) what our two countries (INAUDIBLE) together on the international stage of (INAUDIBLE).

This is the action which is ours together in Africa, in the (INAUDIBLE) facing up to international crisis, and that is why I'm very happy that President Trump is in France and that we can work together with each other.

MACRON: I will say a few words in English, and I will repeat them, exactly what I -- what I say.

And I wanted first to thank you, (INAUDIBLE), President Trump, for your presence here in this place and thanks to your country, your nation, and your veterans.

This morning we paid this tribute to the courage and I think it was a great moment to celebrate and celebrate these people.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was.

MACRON: And -- and I think your presence here to celebrate them and their presence is for me the best evidence of this unbreakable links between our two nations. From the very beginning of the American nation, and all over the different centuries (ph).

I think this message conveyed to us is our main tribute is precisely to protect freedom and democracy everywhere. And this is why I'm always extremely happy to discuss with you in Washington, in Paris or everywhere.

TRUMP: Right.

[08:40:03] MACRON: You can count today (ph), because we work very closely together. Our soldiers work very closely together in (INAUDIBLE), in Iraq and Syria.

Each time freedom and democracy is at stake, we work closely together. And we will follow.

So thanks for this friendship.

TRUMP: Thank you very much.

MACRON: Thanks for what your country did for my country. And thanks for what we will do together for both of us and the rest of the world.

TRUMP: Thank you very much, Emmanuel.

MACRON: Thank you.

TRUMP: It's really great.

MACRON: Thank you, Donald.

Thank you.

TRUMP: Well, thank you very much.

And I will say, we've had great success working together too, whether it's the caliphate, whether it was a couple of other things we did militarily, and you know what I'm talking about. And your military is excellent. My people report back, they say it's absolutely excellent. But they work very well together.

This was a very special day and I want to thank you for inviting me. This was something that was -- we read about it all our lives, Normandy, and there was -- there were those that say it was the most important ever, not just at that time, but ever. And to be a part of it and to have number 75, 75 years, was very, very special. So, we very much appreciate it.

We met some great people today, some tremendous people, some very brave people, and I look forward to coming back. We'll be coming back. Hopefully over the years we'll be coming back.

But it's a very special place. It's an amazing place. And it's somewhere when you think of those places of great importance, this is certainly one of the top. In the eyes of some, it's the top because of what it meant in terms of the turnaround of a very, very bad situation. That was the big turn.

So I really enjoyed it. Seeing it firsthand was something. And we're going to be now discussing, first of all, this beautiful place where we ended up. I hope everybody can appreciate -- I'd love you to maybe tell some of the folks in the media just a quick, like you did me, how it started with Napoleon. It's a very interesting place that we're in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, that's -- it's Trump speaking.

TRUMP: And, as you know, France has many interesting places.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know.

TRUMP: But we'll be discussing something just as interesting, is trade and military and all sorts of things. And we're going to spending a little time together. And then I'll be going back probably tomorrow morning or tomorrow afternoon. We've pretty much finished up. We've had a very hectic schedule. Most of you have been with us from the beginning, but it's been a beautiful schedule.

Got to know the queen. The queen is a great woman, as you know. And we had a very, very good talk with the United Kingdom and a lot of good talks on trade. And you know what's going on over there. It's a complex subject because of Brexit. Nobody knows where it ends up, but I know it's going to end up very well.

And then we came here and a lot of people are anxious to see what we're going to be doing together because, as you know, we know what a lot of other people don't know, we're doing a lot together. And the relationship between you and I and also France and the United States has been outstanding. I don't think it's ever been maybe as good. It's been good sometimes and sometimes it hasn't been but right now it's outstanding. So the relationship that we've had together has been really terrific and I appreciate it very much.

Thank you, Mr. President.

MACRON: Thank you.

TRUMP: Thank you.

MACRON: Well, thank you. Thank you.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) talking about in the cemetery (INAUDIBLE)?

TRUMP: I just -- yes, we were talking about the depth and the number of people killed. You know, we had a -- they call them the guides and they were guiding us. They were telling us what happened and when. And they were talking about the first wave came in and 92 percent of the people in the first wave were killed. And then the second wave came in and it was 80 percent were killed. And then the third wave and fourth wave, and then I guess they said the sixth wave they broke through. It's like a dam. They broke through. And it was so incredible and so fascinating.

And then you talk about bravery. But when you think 92 percent of the people were killed in the first wave. So it kept going down, down, down, and then they break through. It's a lot of courage and a lot of heartbreak, but an incredible victory. It was one of the most important victories, wouldn't you say?

MACRON: Yes.

TRUMP: So you might want to respond to that.

MACRON: No, I -- I mean you're perfectly right. We had a lot of discussions indeed and all the scenes were described. And I think what this very important thing, especially for young generation, having shared this with actual heroes, these veterans, is that a lot of things probably we take for granted were precisely (INAUDIBLE) protected by these guys. And a lot of these veterans and -- I mean, I think you told it during your speech -- came back for the very first time after the war. And they came here. They took a lot of risks. They put their life at risk for our country and for liberty. And I think for the young generation in the U.S. and in France, it's extremely important to see these veterans are -- as actual heroes (INAUDIBLE) precisely thanks to all these maneuvers and these actions allowed our country to be free.

[08:45:59] QUESTION: In 2004, (INAUDIBLE)?

TRUMP: Yes. Sure. I would.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: I would certainly recommend that, definitely.

Look, this was a great unifying situation. There's probably been seldom in history has there been anything like it. But especially when you heard about the waves of people in, knowing they were going to be killed, most of them, it's just an incredible thing. And then the result was -- as many people died, the result was so important because it -- it's -- we have what we have today because of things like that. And it's very sad. But I would absolutely be right there. I would be right there.

We have a very good partnership. We really have a partnership. I guess maybe is the best word. They talk about allies and they talk about many different words you can use, but we have a great partnership, France and the U.S.

QUESTION: Mr. President, when will you decide whether to propose additional tariffs on China?

TRUMP: Additional tariffs on China? Well --

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: You mean when am I going to put the extra $325 billion worth of tariffs?

I will make that decision, I would say, over the next two weeks, probably right after the G-20. One way or the other, I'll make that decision after the G-20. I'll be meeting with President Xi and we'll see what happens. But probably planning it sometime after the G-20.

OK? Thank you.

MACRON (through translator): The questions today the president said that our relations are extremely strong, that the operations we're carrying out in the Africa (INAUDIBLE) is very strong and the main risk that we carry on -- out together is with these operations. Together we vote many subjects of international nature and other subjects. And each time it's important to have a common view.

We were able to defeat the Nazi. We have been loyal to what is deeply part of American and French. We are seeing things of liberty. We want freedom, especially when you're American or French. And each time that liberty is threatened, we work together. And that's why we work together. We work on each of these subjects together to build common policies. And I am confident above all. I hold to these historic ties and this friendship that we have between the United States and France.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: Well, that's really going to be between the U.K. and the European Union and they're working very hard. I know they're working very hard together. It doesn't seem to be working out, but at some point something will happen one way or the other. It will all work out. But I'm interested to find out how it -- how it happens also.

Very big will be, who's going to be your new prime minister over in the U.K. And that's going to be a very big thing. And that's happening now. So I think before you can think in terms of Brexit for the next few weeks, you're going to have to find out what happens, who's going to be the new leader. And that's a very interesting situation taking place.

I found it to be a very sort of an amazing period of time, especially having spent so much time with the queen, who I think is an incredible lady. But I spent so much time and, you know, there's a lot of question marks as to who's going to be leading. And so it was very interesting talking to her, being with her for so many hours actually for so many -- I feel I know her so well and she certainly knows me very well right now.

[08:50:14] But we have a very good relationship also with the United Kingdom. But it'll all work out.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: Well, I don't think we have differences over Iran. I don't think that the president wants to see nuclear weapons and neither do I. And that's what it's all about. He don't want to see them having nuclear weapons. And I don't want to see them having nuclear weapons. And they won't have nuclear weapons.

With that being said, you know, let's see what happens with Iran. But when I became president, it's hard to believe two and a half years ago now (INAUDIBLE), Iran was a true state of terror. They still are. But they were undisputed champions of terror. And that's a bad thing. And we had 14 different locations where they were fighting, causing -- between Yemen and Syria, but many other locations and many other battle sites. And it was all about Iran. They were behind every one of them.

They're not doing that anymore. They're doing very poorly as a nation. They're failing as a nation. And I don't want them to fail as a nation. They can -- we can turn that around very quickly. But the sanctions have been extraordinary, how powerful they've been. And other things.

I understand they want to talk. And if they want to talk, that's fine. We'll talk. But the one thing that they can't have is they can't have nuclear weapons. And I think the president of France would agree with that very strongly. I think that he would agree that they cannot have nuclear weapons.

MACRON: I -- I -- I think we do share the same objective on Iran. What do we want to do? First, we want to be sure they don't get nuclear weapon. I mean, we had an instrument in 2025. We want do go further and have full certainty on the long run.

Second, we want to reduce their ballistic activity. And, third, we want to contain the regional activity. I'm in this three (INAUDIBLE) these three objectives are important. We have, as well, the fourth common objective, peace in the region.

So what we have to deliver together is these four objectives. This is --

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE). MACRON: This is -- this is a point. This is a point. And all the other debates are about technicalities. In order to build that, you need to stop the negotiation and I think the words (INAUDIBLE) by President Trump (INAUDIBLE) are very important. We need to open a negotiation in order to build and to get these four objectives.

Thank you.

(CROSS TALK)

TRUMP: Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you.

MACRON: Thank you.

TRUMP: Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: This is the beginning of a bilateral meeting. Again, after all the ceremony we saw today, President Trump and President Macron will sit down for a little bit here and they will discuss many of the thorny issues that face both countries, Brexit, the Iran nuclear deal.

We heard President Trump answer questions about domestic policy, tariffs, U.S. tariffs that he has threatened to place on China. And the one bit of news that I heard from that is the president said he will not decide on increasing the tariffs on China until he meets with President Xi at the G-20 later this month. So he put a bit of a timeline on that.

CAMEROTA: Fair to say those were unprepared remarks, after this morning when we heard the prepared remarks around D-Day and the 75th anniversary in Normandy.

So now they're an hour away for this bilateral meeting and that was interesting to just hear both leaders speaking off the cuff about what they do share and the philosophies they do share. They were just -- as President Macron was just saying, about Iran and the goals of Iran. And we'll see what they don't share after this bilat meeting.

So let's bring in political director David Chalian.

You were listening along. Your thoughts on everything that we've seen this morning?

CHALIAN: Yes, I mean, on the Iran nuclear deal, it was interesting, Macron sounded similar to Theresa May the other day, which is stressing again, we share the same objective with President Trump. Yes, he ripped up that Iran nuclear deal from the previous American administration and we would like to have, you know, stayed -- had America stay in that. But we share this objective that they can't be nuclear.

But then you heard President Trump say today, you know, they want to talk, meaning the Iranians. And if they want to talk, that's fine. And it seemed that Macron sort of reasserted that point at the end of trying to get to a new negotiation. So it sounds like there is a new chapter to be written here and it sounds like the Europeans, perhaps, are trying to lead President Trump towards this new chapter of finding a way to contain any of Iran's ambitions for a robust nuclear program.

BERMAN: David, the president noted he's headed back to the United States tomorrow. Put this four or five day trip to Europe in context for us and what happens next because while he has been there meeting with the queen, doing the D-Day celebrations, there's been a lot of politics here in the United States, particularly tariffs with Mexico and a whole number of other things that the president's never completely disengaged with. And I imagine over the next few hours that will only be reengaged in a heightened way.

[08:55:24] CHALIAN: Yes. I don't think he got a question there -- at least I couldn't hear one -- about --

BERMAN: No.

CHALIAN: Speaker Pelosi calling for his imprisonment at some point. But I would imagine we may hear from President Trump on that before too long.

Listen, I think the D-Day speech will be sort of the capstone to this entire European trip. And you heard the president really wanting to stay on that theme of unity. The bravery he was praising, of course. But also the friendship, despite on the Iran nuclear deal, climate change, the friendship with France, the friendship with Europe. This was not the President Trump we've seen, I think, as much in previous European visits where he was really trying to disrupt NATO or take them to task or question our alliance. This was one where Donald Trump was trying to assert our alliance.

CAMEROTA: All right, David Chalian, thank you very much for standing by with us and that snap analysis of everything that we just heard.

We are following the president's meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. So our coverage picks up after this quick break.

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