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Trump Tweets Invitation to Meet Kim Jong-un at the DMZ; President Trump Defends Relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman; President Trump Announces Trade Negotiations Continue with China; Democrats Who Succeeded and Failed in the First 2020 Presidential Primary Debate; Candidates Julian Castro, Beto O'Rourke to Visit Clint Border Patrol Facility; Dem Candidates Defend Kamala Harris After Don Jr.'s Racist Attack; Remembering the Stonewall Uprising 50 Years Later. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired June 29, 2019 - 19:00   ET

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


[19:00:00] ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: You're live in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. The President teases a reunion with North Korea's Kim Jong-un. Now, it wouldn't be a third summit, he insists, just a quick meetup. Total photo-op, especially if the President dips a toe over the border into North Korea.

And it all kicked off on Twitter earlier today in this casually worded invitation to a dictator. "If Chairman Kim sees this, I would just meet him to say hello". President later shared this tidbit with reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He follows my Twitter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He does?

TRUMP: And it's very hard - yes--

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He follows your work?

TRUMP: --I guess so, because we got a call very quickly. A lot of people follow it. But you know they've contacted us, and that they'd like to see if they could do so. And we're not talking about for you know extended - just a quick hello. We won't call it a summit. We'll call it a handshake if it does happen. I don't know that it will, but it could happen.

I know, I think he'd like to do it and I wouldn't mind doing it at all. I'm going to be - I am literally visiting the DMZ.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: CNN's Jim Acosta is traveling with the President and joins us now from Seoul, South Korea. Jim what could be better for Kim Jong-un than having a U.S. President willing to pop in for a visit?

JIM ACOSTA, CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And as the President was talking about at that press conference at the G20, potentially stepping on North Korean soil, we're going to have to wait and see whether or not the President ultimately does that and whether he ultimately meets with the Dictator Kim Jong-un.

He is going to have a meeting later today here in Seoul South Korea with the South Korean President Moon. And then he'll head off to the Demilitarized Zone meet with U.S. troops and some South Korean troops, as we all wait to see whether or not Kim Jong-un has this rendezvous with the President at the border.

But as we've seen for so long on, Ana, you know this, the President has had this very cozy, friendly relationship with Kim Jong-un. He's called it a love affair at times. And that was something that I pressed the President on at the G20 Summit - at that press conference after the G20 Summit, because we saw on display there the President really getting cozy with the likes of Vladimir Putin and Mohammad Bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

And I asked the President, what's with the coziness with the dictators? And here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: What is it with your coziness with some of these dictators and autocrats at these summits? With Mohammad Bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, when you were asked about the case of Jamal Khashoggi, you did not respond to that question in front of the--

TRUMP: I don't know that anybody--

ACOSTA: afraid of you - were you afraid of offending him on that subject?

TRUMP: No, not at all. I don't really care about offending people. I sort of thought you'd know that.

ACOSTA: Well, you passed up an opportunity to--

TRUMP: And I get along with President Putin. I get along with Mohammad from Saudi Arabia. Look, I spoke to Saudi Arabia when the oil prices a year ago were getting very high. And I wasn't so nice and I said, "You got to get some more oil into the system, because what's happening is no good", and they did.

And people are driving it very low numbers right now. You haven't seen in the old days you'd have spikes where the gasoline went to $5 and more and it wasn't so good. But I also get along with people that would be perceived as being very nice--

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, I pressed the President further on the case of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi being killed allegedly by Saudi operatives, so that was the conclusion of the United Nations report that came out last week on.

And you heard the President there say that he didn't think that anybody had actually pointed a finger at Mohammad bin Salman, that's just not the case. That is not what the outcome of that United Nations report suggested.

I did ask him whether or not he thought the prospect of a government murdering a journalist is despicable. He agreed with that. He said yes it is, but he went on to say that Saudi Arabia is a terrific ally, so the President not really moving on that subject.

Now getting back to Kim Jong-un, one thing that we will be looking for later on today is if Kim Jong-un meets him at the border here in the Demilitarized Zone. Is whether or not they have any kind of substantive exchange, as the President was saying, at the Summit yesterday.

This is not expected to be any kind of a long encounter with Kim Jong- un, if it happens. But, Ana, that sets up essentially the storyline that the President will have had three different meetings or encounters with Kim Jong-un that have not resulted in any kind of denuclearization that is going to lead to a long lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula as a result of meeting with Kim Jong-un.

And so I think that you know it is going to be something we're all going to be watching later on this afternoon, exactly if this happens, what the President gets out of this. Ana?

CABRERA: And Jim, now that the G20 Summit has wrapped up, were there any tangible victories for this President for America coming away from that Summit?

[19:05:00] ACOSTA: Well, I think you saw the President trying to spin it that way during that press conference. He talked about you know his trade talks with China's Xi Jinping in that fashion saying that they were able to pull back from slapping more tariffs on Chinese products coming into the U.S.

The President was essentially describing this as something of a ceasefire in the trade war between the U.S. and China. That is going to be greeted, I think, by the financial markets around the world positively and that perhaps by some farmers in the Midwest who are who are being affected by these tariffs, as you know.

But the President, he goes to these G20 Summits, has a lot of friendly interactions with these autocrats and dictators. And I think a lingering question coming out of these types of encounters is what exactly is the President of the United States, what is the United States getting out of these summits if it's if it's really just friendly exchanges and back-slapping with autocrats and dictators?

CABRERA: Jim Acosta in Seoul South Korea for us, thank you.

President Trump brushing off accusations that he is too cozy with dictators and autocrats and other world leaders accused of strong- armed policies. A reminder, he specifically said he "Got along" with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and Russian President Vladimir Putin whom he shared this impromptu joke with on Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will you tell Russia not to meddle in the 2020 election?

TRUMP: Yes, of course, I will. Don't meddle in the elections please. Don't - don't meddle in the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Now, earlier I spoke to CNN's Fareed Zakaria host of Fareed Zakaria GPS and got his reaction to that moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, FAREED ZAKARIA GPS: The sad thing is that what President from did was entirely predictable. He just can't get over the idea that any kind of serious conversation about this, any serious pushback seems to legitimize the view that the Russians helped him get elected, which they did. I mean that part of the Mueller report is absolutely clear.

What is not clear is whether there was any collusion on the Trump campaign's part. But that the Russians tried to help Donald from get elected. It is absolutely plain.

CABRERA: Related to this issue of Russian election interference, I want to remind our viewers that last week Trump said there were a couple of former Presidents too that he talks with George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter. For example, we know President Trump called Jimmy Carter in April to discuss U.S.-China trade talks. But listen to what President Carter said Friday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY CARTER, 39TH U.S. PRESIDENT: There's no doubt that the Russians did interfere in the election. And I think the interference, although not yet quantified, if fully investigated would show that Trump didn't actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election and he was put in office, because they Russians interfered on his behalf.

JON MEACHAM, EXECUTIVE EDITOR AND EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AT RANDOM HOUSE: So do you believe President Trump is an illegitimate President?

CARTER: Based on what I just said, which I can't retract--

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Fareed, a former U.S. President questioning the legitimacy of a sitting President in public. How significant is this?

ZAKARIA: Well, it's significant in that it reminds us of the point I was just making, that there is no doubt that the Russian government tried to help elect Donald Trump. Whether they succeeded? I'm not sure I would go as far as President Carter that without that Russian help he wouldn't have been elected. We don't know. What we know is the Russians intended to and they made efforts to do. Whether the efforts made the difference versus other factors, who knows. But, you know, this is partly why I think trump is so sensitive on the issue and can't seem to segregate that from what should be a core issue of defending the national interests of the United States.

The United States government should be determined to make sure that a foreign government does not interfere with the electoral process of the United States, any of our western allies, any - that piece of it I just wish president trump could separate that from his ego.

CABRERA: I want your take on a 2020 Presidential debate moment where the candidates were asked what do you see as important early steps in reversing the damage done to the U.S. reputation abroad, listen to their answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MICHAEL BENNET (D-CO) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've got to restore the relationships that he's destroyed with our allies.

MARIANNE WILLIAMSON (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One of my first phone calls would be to call the European leaders and say we're back.

PETE BUTTIGIEG (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have no idea which of our most important allies he will have pissed off worse between now and then. What we know is that our relationship with the entire world needs to change.

JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We know NATO will fall apart if he's elected four more years. It's a single most consequential alliance in the history of the United States.

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All the members of the NATO alliance.

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: --first act in foreign policy we are breaking up with Russia and making up with NATO.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Fareed our current U.S. relations with key allies that bad?

[19:10:00] FAREED ZAKARIA: Well, you know they're bad at two levels that it's important to understand. One is they're bad at the level of governments and that can be fixed, because when new government get into the United States, new people in Washington can reach out.

But what's even more damaging is that in the public opinion the image of America and the image of the President have just cratered.

So that if you look at places like France or Germany and you ask people in the last year of the Obama presidency, in Germany or France, do you trust the American President? 80 percent of French and German people said they trusted the American President. That number is now in single digits in France and Germany - 8 or 9 percent say they trust the U.S. President. How do you change that?

CABRERA: Fareed Zakaria always good to get your take. Thank you.

CABRERA: Pleasure. Even though President Trump has had plenty of world issues to attend to this week at the G20, we know, he's had at least one eye on the Democratic debates. For the first night he tweeted this one world review "Boring". On second night he clearly found himself feeling a little sorry for Joe Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I thought that she was given too much credit. He didn't do well, certainly and maybe the facts weren't necessarily on his side. I think, she was given too much credit for what she did. It wasn't that outstanding and I think probably he was hit harder than he should have been hit, Biden. I thought he was hit actually harder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Let's do our own little debate, deconstruction with CNN Senior Political Writer and Analyst Ryan Lizza and Washington Correspondent for New York Magazine, Olivia Nuzzi.

OK. I want a Ping-Pong here guys. Who do you think turned in the best performance overall? Ryan you first.

RYAN LIZZA, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think I'd give it to Elizabeth Warren. I thought that even though the first night is sort of a little bit more forgettable. After the fireworks of the second night she is in this sort of sub primary with Bernie Sanders.

And she had the first night mostly to herself with a few big exceptions. She was commanding and she is doing exactly what she needs in sort of climbing past Bernie Sanders and stealing a lot of his thunder on the Left. So I thought she, overall, had the best of the two nights.

CABRERA: Olivia?

OLIVIA NUZZI, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK MAGAZINE: I think you have to give it to Kamala Harris. So whether or not you agree with how she handled her smack down with Biden, I think the effects of it are pretty clear. She has gotten a lot more attention than anybody else coming out of the debates, even if someone like Julian Castro has really benefited in terms of fundraising.

And I think all of the attention, she's gotten more people know who she is now then probably know who most of the other candidates with the exception of the previous frontrunner, Biden and Bernie, know who anybody else is.

CABRERA: A worst performance overall, Ryan who do you think?

LIZZA: You know, the flip side of that, what I said about Warren is Bernie Sanders, because, look, he was sort of almost like resting on his laurels and he sort of faded into the background of that second night.

He is by far the person who has had more impact and influence on the Democratic Party in the last four or five years. But the flip side of that is so many other people have adopted Bernie style policies that it's hard for him to sort of generate the same kind of enthusiasm as he did when he was running against Hillary Clinton.

And look, Elizabeth Warren has just stolen a lot of what made him unique in his last run. And I thought he - his numbers are down a bit in terms of polling. So I think he overall suffered the most.

CABRERA: Olivia, I know your answer to this, because your Twitter feed was on fire about Biden, explain.

NUZZI: Well, I think he obviously had the worst night. He just came in so unprepared. I think there are probably a lot of ways that he could have responded to what Kamala Harris said. And it seemed like he was just consumed with trying to not appear too angry at her. And like he was a little frustrated and felt as if maybe he didn't even have to be there or shouldn't have to be there.

And I think his worst moment was probably when he said, "Oh I'm out of time". It was - he seemed a little tired. He seemed sort of old and it just--

LIZZA: Well, he is old.

NUZZI: --really was not sure. OK. But he seemed older than he normally does when he's out on the stump. And I think he clearly just wasn't listening to his prep. But that's what a source close to the campaign told me that people inside were worried that he was not following what they had planned to do leading up to the debates.

CABRERA: OK. You just also gave us your worst moment, so let me pivot back to you Ryan and I'm going to play the clip of the worst moment you picked.

LIZZA: Yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: But, I also believe and it's personal. And I was actually very - it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on segregation of race in this country.

[19:15:00] And it was not only that, but you also worked with them to oppose bussing. And, there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools and she was bussed to school every day, and that little girl was me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: OK. Ryan, we played the wrong clip. That was your pick for best moment. So we'll come back to worst moment in just a minute. But tell us why you chose that as the best moment? LIZZA: I mean, no surprise here. This is the moment obviously everyone is talking about. We could probably spend a whole show - an hour-long show just unpacking all of the politics wrapped up in this confrontation.

I mean, I think this will be looked at as one of the most historic debate moments for years to come. So much of what's going on in politics and culture right now is essentially a massive shift in power from, frankly, white males to everyone else - to women and people of color. And this moment just captured it in such a raw dramatic way.

I mean, when in in political history did you have someone who, as a young person, was affected so personally by a policy, grows up to be a United States Senator, a serious Presidential candidate and is on stage with the front-runner and can confront that person in such a personal way with a policy that he opposed that benefited her.

So - and then just on the pure politics of it, Joe Biden right now, his base is African-American voters. He's very strong with African- American voters. Kamala Harris knows that a lot of those African voters are available to her and she found a very powerful way in denting him where it hurts. And I just think the fallout from that moment we're going to be talking about it for a while.

CABRERA: Olivia, when it comes to best moments--

NUZZI: If I can just step in?

CABRERA: Sure.

NUZZI: But when you look at that clip, not only is it just she's gunning him before our eyes, but you really see how prepared she is and how unprepared Joe Biden seemed. You could tell, she probably practiced that line - I think another guest was saying on CNN earlier that she's probably practiced that line a lot. But it was her delivery, she found the exact right moment to bring it out.

Whereas, Joe Biden, he seemed unprepared for that. And you would think, going into that debate, how could he have not prepared exactly for a moment like that, have come up with some kind of response. There's a lot that he could have said in response to that. He could have brought up truancy, other parts of Kamala Harris' record, and he didn't.

And it just - it was pretty shocking that someone could seem that completely inept responding to that.

CABRERA: It was a powerful moment. There was another powerful moment that you picked as best moment of the two debates and that was this back-and-forth between who Julian Castro and Beto O'Rourke over immigration. Why did you think that was such a strong moment?

NUZZI: Well, look they're both from Texas. They have a very interesting history. And I think when it really showed was that - it was Castro really emphasizing what is kind of becoming the rap on Beto, which is that he is unprepared. I think he said that he had to do his homework on this. I'm par phrasing, but something to that effect. And I think it really emphasized what a lot of people were beginning to think of Beto already, even though there was so much excitement about him and comparatively few people knew who Julian Castro was.

And I think when you can bring out opponents flaws, or perceived flaws in that on a national stage on the debate stage, it can be very effective, and I think that's why you Julian Castro coming out of the debate with a lot of increased interest.

They're both on kind of a tour right now through Texas and going to a lot of the same places. But it's Julian Castro who's fundraising numbers are up significantly, who's Google searches are up. And I think it's exactly what his campaign wanted and probably exactly what Beto was hoping would not happen during the debate.

CABRERA: I just was told we have about 30 seconds left guys, so quickly I'd like to get both of your biggest takeaways from the debate, Ryan?

LIZZA: My biggest takeaway is the confidence with which the Democratic Party is moving left and unapologetically so. Most - Democrats are often used to being on the defensive ever since the Reagan era, and these candidates are placing a big bet by embracing things like Julian Castro and embracing decriminalization of border crossings.

Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Kamala, to a certain extent - well she's been a little fuzzy on this, embracing getting rid of essentially most private insurance and on a few other big issues, they are betting that there won't be a cost associated with it - with that in a general election and that it will actually benefit them. So that's my big takeaway is the leftward tilt and the confidence on it.

[19:20:00] CABRERA: And Olivia what's yours?

NUZZI: Mine is how wide open this race might be. I think a lot of people thought the conventional wisdom was you've got Joe Biden with more name ID than anybody else. He's up a lot in the polls. Bernie, second highest name ID.

But it really - it's a big field, but it might be wide open. I think there's a lot of opportunities for candidates to take a shot at the front-runner like Kamala did and perhaps weaken them and maybe come out on top.

CABRERA: It was just the first debates, lot more to come in many more months. Ryan Lizza Olivia Nuzzi, good to see you guys. Thanks so much.

LIZZA: Thanks Ana.

NUZZI: Thank you.

CABRERA: President Trump's planned deportation raids are back on after they were initially postponed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: --illegally. But, yes, we will be removing large numbers of people. People have to understand, yes, the laws are--

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In a week?

TRUMP: --yes, starting in a week after - sometime after July 4th.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So the--

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: A latest from the border, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:25:00] CABRERA: President Trump today vowing his administration will carry out immigration raids after the 4th of July holiday. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: But, yes, we will be removing large numbers of people. People have to understand, yes, the laws are--

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In a week?

TRUMP: --yes, starting in a week after - sometime after July 4th.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So the--

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: The President had delayed those raids initially planned for last week. All this coming as two politicians made appearances today outside a child detention facility near the border in Clint, Texas.

The republican lawmaker was allowed inside the child detention center. But the 2020 democrat was denied entry. CNN's Natasha Chen has the details. Natasha.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana we saw two native Texan politics come through with different views on how to solve the problem here at the border. We spoke to republican Representative Will Hurd who represent this is area.

He was actually allowed into the facility for a tour. It was a prearranged visit. And he told us he saw about 60 unaccompanied minors with the youngest child being about two or three years old.

Now that 60 number is down by nearly 50% from what Customs and Border Protection told us earlier this woke. Now, Hurd did not know exactly how long these children right now have been here. But earlier in the week we were told the unaccompanied minors were staying on average about six to ten days. Now, we also spoke with Secretary Julian Castro who was denied entry into the facility. He did not have an appointment for this visit. But he did say that he wanted to decriminalize entering the country between ports of entry. He repeated that call to repeal Section 1325.

Now here is what Hurd and Castro had to say about this that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. WILL HURD (R-TEX): This concept of open borders - now open borders is going to exacerbate the problem and it's not just going to be refined to border towns that are dealing with it. It's going to be every other town having to deal with this. Now we should have - we shall have laws.

MAYOR JULIAN CASTRO (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Open borders is a right wing talking point. And I don't buy the B.S. narrative that the women and children that are coming toward our Southern border represent a national security threat. I am not going to criminalize desperation. If somebody is trying to traffic drugs or traffic humans, we already have laws for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: Tomorrow we are expecting Beto O'Rourke here doing a rally outside this Clint facility and on Monday we expect a delegation from the House, including Joaquin Representative Castro, Representative Judy Chu, Representative Veronica Escobar who represents this area.

Now the House did pass the Senate version of a bill offering $4.6 billion for border resources. But that upset some progressive members of the Democratic Party who felt there should have been more accountability on the part of the government for how they care for children in custody.

But in theory, that bill should be alleviating some of the problems by hopefully bringing resources to the border quickly. Ana, back to you.

CABRERA: All right, Natasha Chen, thank you. A "New York Times" investigation finds a consultant for president trump's re-election campaign is trolling democrats with the site spreading disinformation about democratic frontrunner Joe Biden and it's all legal. The reporter joins us next.

[19:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: At first glance, it looks like former Vice President Joe Biden's official campaign website. But take a closer look at this and you can see it actually mocks the Democratic frontrunner we are Gifs of him touching women and quotes that are highlighting some of his more famous gaffes.

As it turns out the fake site, which at times has gotten more hits than Biden's real campaign page was created and paid for not but a Russian troll, but by a Trump campaign consultant. "The New York Times" reports Patrick Mauldin who makes videos and other digital content for Trump's reelection campaign is behind the Biden site. Mauldin says it was intended to help Democrats "Face Facts".

Matthew Rosenberg joins us now he's the New York Times correspondent that broke this story. Matthew how did you find out who was behind the site?

MATTHEW ROSENBERG, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So we started digging around. This site had become the most popular Biden website. And got a little press, oh, this parody site, it's so popular, we wanted to find out who's behind it.

It simply looks like it's attacking Biden from the left. And after digging around a little bit we found that it shared a number of Google Analytics tags with other websites that led us to Mr. Mauldin. He wasn't too keen to talk about it. But at this point he's named as known and we've reported it.

CABRERA: Right. And again this is legal, up until recently this fake site, as you point, was getting more hits than Biden's real page. Is there anything the Biden camp can do?

ROSENBERG: I mean, look, you can go (Technical Difficulty) companies that we pushed down pages about your others - mixed results. I don't know that Biden campaign has done that. I definitely know that Democratic consultants were like amazed that hadn't done that.

Because even now, now that his official campaign site is the top hit for Joe Biden when you search for it, this is still one of the top hits. You still get this on the first page or the top of the second page of results.

But I think the bigger issue here is that we're getting warned a lot that Russians are coming, disinformation, but I think this shows that Americans have learned the lesson, all from the right and left. And we're about to get 17 months of being bombarded by well kind of thought of disinformation by sophisticated political analysts who are American and know Americans much better than any Russian could hope to know us.

[19:35:00] CABRERA: I mean, the fact that the Trump campaign knows that one of their consultants is behind this fake site, even if you know he did create and paid for it with his own money, Matthew, are they essentially condoning it? Does this show that the Trump campaign is willing to stoop to this level?

ROSENBERG: Look (Technical Difficulty) talked to them. They sent us a statement saying that they thought it's like a great use of their supporters' time and that they encourage them to do more. So, yes, that sounds like they're condoning it to me.

CABRERA: OK. Matthew Rosenberg thank you for joining us, good reporting.

ROSENBERG: Thank you, Ana.

CABRERA: All right. Washington Governor Jay Inslee has made climate change his campaigns primary focus. This as President Trump has rolled back many environmental regulations and undermined scientists, as well as members of his own administration.

I'll ask the Governor why he says the President is the nation's biggest threat to national security, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:40:00] CABRERA: New tonight, the Democratic candidates for President are coming to the defense of Senator Kamala Harris after a racist attack by the President's son Don Jr. Earlier he retweeted and then deleted a racist tweet suggesting that Kamala Harris is not a black American and thus should not be in authority on issues of race.

Here was the reaction from Joe Biden, "Same forces of hatred rooted in 'birtherism' that questioned Barack Obama's American citizenship and even his racial identity are now being used against Senator Kamala Harris. It's disgusting and we have to call it out when we see it. Racism has no place in America". And this from Bernie Sanders, "Donald Trump Jr. is a racist too. Shocker."

Washington Governor and 2020 candidate Jay Inslee joins us now. Governor, you say this is the Trump family again peddling birtherism?

GOV. JAY INSLEE (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, unfortunately it appears that the rotten apple doesn't fall too far from the rotten tree. And what comes to mind is the question to the whole Trump family at last "Have you no decency sirs"?

The fact that Donald Trump seniors entire political existence is built on a foundation of racist attacks on Barack Obama, to now not learn from that experience to perpetuate it, is unacceptable in America and I think everyone ought to make a really fundamental decisions right now. They've got to get new - we got to get new President. This indecency is corrupting.

CABRERA: You've said "We need to heal this country racially after the division of Donald Trump". Instead of seeing candidates go after President Trump on race, though, we saw senator Kamala Harris press Joe Biden on his anti-bussing stance from 45 years ago. President Trump was asked about busing earlier today. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INSLEE: The biggest threat to the security the United States is Donald Trump

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: OK. Sorry we have the wrong soundbite. I think we have the right now loaded. Let's play the right one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where do you stand on that issue of federally mandated bussing?

TRUMP: I will tell you in about four weeks, because we're coming out with certain policy that's going to be very interesting and very surprising, I think, to a lot of people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just wanted to follow up quickly on the question about bussing. Do you see it as a viable way of integrating schools? Does that relate to the policy that you are going to unveil?

TRUMP: Well, it has been something that they've done for a long period of time. I mean, there aren't that many ways you're going to get people to schools. But it is certainly a primary method of getting people to schools.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: The President doesn't really seem to understand what bussing was in front of a record-setting audience. However, why are Democrats going after each other's records instead of president Trump's?

INSLEE: Well, listen I know where my sights were on were about the number one threat to United States. I was asked and you played the clip what I believe the number one threat to the United States national security was. And I accurately answered Donald Trump.

And I'll tell you why I did that. The day we landed in Miami was the hottest day of that date in Miami history. Tens of thousands of acres of wetlands in the Everglades - these were like a swamp was on fire. When you have a wetlands that are burning you know you got a problem with climate change.

I talked to a community that's being dispossessed because of the sea level rise. And the same weakness was going on, Donald Trump was essentially rescinding the package of measures that could help us defeat climate change.

So I know what I think is the number one priority that our party needs to do, which is to remove this person who is a threat literally to our - to the continuation of civilization as we know it. This country is not going to look like recognizable if we don't make defeating climate crisis the number one priority, and I'm offering that to the country.

CABRERA: I wouldn't ask you more about climate change. But do you believe the President is a bigger national security threat than Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un or Iran?

INSLEE: Yes, because he embodies all of these threats and is an irresponsible chaotic person, more interested in press conferences and soundbites then solutions. Let's just take climate crisis for one thing. This is an existential threat to the United States. People are dying today.

I met people in Paradise, California, a town of 25,000 people. Entire town burned to the foundations. People are drowning in the Midwest. They're dying - they're going to - predicted to die of heatstroke. This is an issue of fatality and a change in the fundamentals that allow this country to exist.

[19:45:00] And he is surrendering to this. He's essentially run up a white flag of surrender to the fossil fuel industries. We need someone to fight against the fossil fuel industries, break the shackles they have, take back that $20 billion of tax breaks and build a clean energy economy. He's standing in the way of all of those things. So you bet he's a threat to this nation.

CABRERA: As you have made the climate crisis the central issue of your campaign, make the case to the working class that Democrats were accused of at times of overlooking in 2016, some of these are, again, people who work in the manufacturing industry, who work in the old mining industry. Make your case to them why addressing the climate crisis is important to them?

INSLEE: Well, I'm about - all about jobs. I've been Governor of the State of Washington for six years now. We've created the number one economy in United States. The number one GDP growth and fastest wage growth, because we've intensely focused on jobs.

And now here's what we know, and that is that the clean energy sector offers probably the largest spectrum of job creation in the United States and we're seeing that today. Today, in the clean energy economy jobs are growing twice as fast as the rest of the economy as a whole.

We're making electric cars in Orion, Michigan. We're making wind turbines in Iowa. Donald Trump has said wind turbines cause cancer. We know they cause job. We're making electric batteries in Nevada and biofuels in Iowa and Washington State. So we know this is a tremendous job creator.

We know that we just simply need to accelerate the rate of that transaction - transition that is already occurring and we know Donald Trump is doing what he does every single day, which is to lie to the coal miners, because those jobs are not coming back.

We're seeing a transition to new systems of fuel and we need to be honest and help these dedicated hard-working people with transition like we're doing in the State of Washington with our coal miners with a very successful transition program. So this is about economic growth. I'm all about that.

CABRERA: Governor Jay Inslee, good to have you with us. Thank you very much.

INSLEE: Thank you.

CABRERA: Hope you will come and share more of our positions and your vision for America.

Cities around the world are holding events to mark Pride weekend. Coming up, how one night 50 years ago helped spark a revolution and bring the fight for gay rights to the forefront, you are live in the CNN Newsroom.

[19:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Welcome back. New York is celebrating WorldPride 2019 this weekend. And Lady Gaga got the celebration started yesterday. This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. The protest at a gay bar was a major catalyst for the gay rights movement.

CNN's Polo Sandoval recounts what that day was like for people who were there 50 years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At New York City's monumental Stonewall Inn, there are those who come to pay homage.

JOSEPH NEGRELLI, STONEWALL ELDER: I'm ready to go

SANDOVAL (voice-over): reporter: And those who come to remember what they lived through back in the summer of '69.

NEGRELLI: Nothing was really different that night except that people decided to fight back.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): As New Yorker Joseph Negrelli remembers it, the NYPD barged in as he sipped a drink inside the Stonewall. Before that night this tiny Greenwich Village bar was known mostly as a place for LGBT men and women to be themselves.

For many, sharing in the relative safety of this place came with a price. They were subjected to frequent police raids described by New York's Police Commissioner five decades later as discriminatory and oppressive.

If you were a feminine or you were dressed non-conforming your sexuality at birth, you were arrested and tried to be humiliated and that's what was happening that night.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): But the night of June 28, 1969, the bars patrons revolted. They fought back refusing to comply with officers.

NEGRELLI: Someone threw a bottle from Sheridan Square part into Christopher Street.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): That was the start of a night that would galvanize the modern-day LGBTQ civil rights movement.

NEGRELLI: 75 people move forward and blocked the police. Obviously, they got a big surprise that night. And I was very surprised. Immediately what happened was that they started to call for groups of homosexuals to come together.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Eventually the call spread throughout the country and around the world.

NEGRELLI: The civil rights movement, the women's movement, all galvanized together, but it was truly the transvestites and minorities that were the forefront runners of the Stonewall riot.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Five decades later many of the voices that refused to be silenced returned to where it all started. For Soraya Santiago it's been 50 years and she set foot at the Stonewall.

SORAYA SANTIAGO, STONEWALL ELDER: I thought I will never be here again, because a lot suffering, a lot of abuse appeared in this place.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Santiago was back with her fellow Stonewall elders for the 50th anniversary of the riots. So was Karla Jay who participated in subsequent protests at the bar.

[19:55:00] KARLA JAY, STONEWALL PROTESTER: In 1970, we thought it would be wonderful to hold hands in the street. We never dreamed that we would be able to get married. So it's an incredible advancement. But we really need to embrace all individuals, particularly our most disadvantaged.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): The activist says more needs to be done especially for homeless LGBTQ youth and transgender women of color.

JAY: We used to say none of us is free until all of us are free.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: A racist retweet by Donald Trump Jr. is now uniting the Democratic presidential field behind Senator Kamala Harris, up live in the CNN Newsroom.

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