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Trump: "Absolutely Moving Forward" with Census Question on Citizenship; South Bend Police Ask Buttigieg to Recuse Himself from Police Shooting Investigation; Sunday's CNN "THE MOVIES" Features 1980s Hit "The Princess Bride". Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired July 03, 2019 - 11:30   ET

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

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[11:30:43] KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump is refusing to accept defeat, denying that his administration is backing down just a day after it announced a huge about face, that it is going to be moving forward with printing the census without including the citizenship question that Trump officials had fought so hard to include.

Moments ago, President Trump spoke out, denying the position of his own administration, tweeting this, in part: "We are absolutely moving forward, as we must, because of the importance of the answer to this question."

Besides the fact that seems confusing, this is like the second tweet he had about this today. He's saying they're going to fight on.

So he's not giving up now, but what can he do? The forms are being printed, according to the Commerce Department.

And the Supreme Court told the administration that they had to go back to the drawing board if they even wanted to consider this question again.

Joining me now, hopefully to get some answers here, CNN's Supreme Court reporter, Ariane de Vogue.

Ariane, what can the president do at this point?

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: Those tweets certainly seem to leave open the possibility, but he might be having to pull a rabbit out of a hat here, Kate, because, yesterday, Secretary Ross' statement was definitive. And the Department of Justice told a court that the decision was final, according to plaintiffs' lawyers.

One of the reasons is that they have big hurdles here. They have a census official who testified that waiting until October to print those questionnaires could jeopardize the administration of the census. He also said it would take a lot of resources to do so.

And on top of that, there's two collateral legal proceedings happening in the lower courts. In New York, one judge is considering sanctions against the government for new evidence that had been recently disclosed that suggested that the decision might have been politically motivated. And another judge, in Maryland, he was considering reopening the case, more deposition, more testimony.

A government official told me today that the decision was final, that they just looked at these deadlines and the possibility of more injunctions. They thought it wasn't realistic.

But maybe what the president is talking about is what the census officials have argued all along. Keep in mind, census officials had said there's other ways to get this information. It doesn't have to be on the question. For instance, they can get it through other data with the government. There's a survey that goes out to some households and asks the questions.

So maybe that's what the president is talking about. But it's a little unclear right now -- Kate?

BOLDUAN: A little unclear? It's a lot unclear, if you will, Ariane. I think this goes into the category of, I don't know if it's dream world versus reality, but in the very least, because the Commerce secretary says the census papers are being printed without the question. It's at least maybe don't listen to what the president says, just look at what he actually does. And let's see if he tries to fight this, change this, do anything about it, or he just wants to tweet about it.

Thanks, Ariane.

DE VOGUE: Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Coming up, Democratic presidential candidate, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, facing new criticism over a police shooting in his hometown, South Bend, Indiana. That new criticism now coming from his own police department. Coming up, one of the police officers who is calling for the mayor to recuse himself from the investigation.

[11:33:55] We'll be right back.

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[11:38:34] BOLDUAN: South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg is rolling out a plan today to promote the call to service, a plan that would greatly expand voluntary public service programs with a goal, according to the campaign, of attracting a quarter of a million Americans to serve in the near term and potentially more down the road. We're talking about programs like AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps.

While he's promoting the call to service, the mayor is dealing with continued questions about his leadership back home. Racial tension flaring up in South Bend last month after a white police officer shot and killed a black man who approached the office with a knife raised. That's according to the police.

The case has fueled anger from the community and activists and police. Just yesterday, the Fraternal Order of Police in South Bend called for Buttigieg to remove himself from any involvement in that investigation.

Buttigieg addressed the controversy again yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE BUTTIGIEG, (D), SOUTH BEND MAYOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Events compel me to acknowledge that whatever we've done has not been nearly enough.

As long as a traffic stop is a completely different experience for a black driver than it is for a white driver, we know we have not done nearly enough. We know that as long as police departments, and this is true of my own, do not reflect the community they serve in their makeup, then we have not done enough.

I accept responsibility for the work that is left to be done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining me right now is the president of the South Bend Fraternal Order of Police, Police Sergeant Harvey Mills.

Thank you for being here.

SGT. HARRY MILLS, SOUTH BEND POLICE DEPARTMENT & PRESIDENT, SOUTH BEND FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE: Thank you, Kate.

[11:40:09] BOLDUAN: In your statement yesterday, in calling for the mayor to pull himself off of the investigation, you said that the mayor is, quote, "more concerned about boosting his own presidential political campaign than ensuring a fair investigation."

Why do you think that?

MILLS: Ma'am, several of the comments he's made. He's already called for -- or he's already stated that this officer will be held accountable. Well, the investigation is not even complete. This officer was justified in defending himself against a man with an eight-inch hunting knife.

It's just absurd that he would make statements like that as well as calling all officers racist.

BOLDUAN: I wanted to get to that, because I heard you say that you think the mayor has called all officers racist. I looked back at what he said during the debate, and I also looked at what he said on Monday. He's talking about systemic racism.

Here's how he explained it on Monday. He said, "Every mayor works in the shadows of systemic racism. Every resident lives in the shadows of systemic racism. People of color and people who are not."

So this is not an attack on our police department, is specifically what the mayor said. He says he's not calling out the South Bend police. He says he's calling -- he's saying that every city in America, every mayor in America has to deal with the issue of systemic racism that does exist.

I mean, surely, you would agree that every city, mayor, police department in America should stand up to that.

MILLS: No, ma'am, I really don't believe that's the issue. The issue is not race at all, especially with this incident. Color has absolutely nothing to do with it. Systemic is including everyone. And --

BOLDUAN: Systemic means common, though. Systemic racism is an issue in the country.

MILLS: Well, the definition of systemic actually says the system. So that's what he's called for in many of the comments he's made. Even the ones he just made on Monday were back pedaling from what he mentioned before.

BOLDUAN: Let me play for you -- the mayor was asked to respond to your criticism yesterday and to recuse himself from the investigation. Let me play for you his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUTTIGIEG: First of all, I don't make disciplinary decisions. So I would expect them to understand that this is a matter for our Board of Safety, which is a board of civilians that I appoint to take up. And I've been careful not to weigh in on the incident while the investigation is going on.

But one of the things I really need to continue conveying to our police officers is that it is not anti-police to be pro-racial justice. On the contrary, we absolutely can and absolutely must be both.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: The mayor says it's being handled by the Board of Safety. What would removing himself from the investigation actually do?

MILLS: If he continues to talk about it, especially on a presidential campaign, it influences all of those members on the Board of Safety. And those are handpicked by him, members of the Board of Safety. So they would be greatly influenced by any of his words.

So he should not mention this investigation at all on his presidential campaign.

BOLDUAN: Have you reached out to the mayor to discuss this?

MILLS: The mayor has -- Mayor Buttigieg has called me. We have not had a dialogue, but we are willing to have a dialogue. It is needed. He had ignored previous requests, previous requests before the shooting, to speak with the FOP on other issues.

BOLDUAN: Well, I look forward to hearing what comes of that conversation. Sergeant, we'll check back in with you. Thank you for being here.

MILLS: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Coming up, "As you wish." Remember that line? It's one of the many classics, and there are millions of them, from this movie. You can hear my bias now. Millions of classic one-liners from the movie "The Princess Bride." Cary Elwes, who played Wesley, joins us to talk about the iconic film and the new CNN original series "THE MOVIES."

[11:44:50] We'll be right back.

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BOLDUAN: This Sunday the all new CNN original series "THE MOVIES" takes you inside the iconic American films through the decades, the movies that have stirred out imagination, influenced our culture, shaped our lives. One of my favorites, the 1980s hit "The Princess Bride."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[11:50:04] WALLACE SHAWN, ACTOR: He didn't fall? Inconceivable.

MANDY PATINKIN, ACTOR: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

ROB REINER, DIRECTOR: The Princess Bride is a blend between romance, satire, adventure, swashbuckling. It is all mixed in and it's a very strange mixture, hard to capture.

ROBIN WRIGHT, ACTOR: Westley, what about the RUSes?

CARY ELWES, ACTOR: Rodents of unusual size? I don't think they exist.

REINER: You have to walk a balance, you know? It's a fine line between stupid and clever.

BILLY CRYSTAL, ACTOR: Beat it, or I'll call the brute squad.

ANDRE THE GIANT, ACTOR: I'm on the brute squad.

CRYSTAL: You are the brute squad!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining me right now is actor, author, screen writer, of course, the man who played the part of Westley in the iconic movie "The Princess Bride, Cary Elwes.

Cary, thank you for being here.

ELWES: It is my joy, Kate. Thank you for having me. BOLDUAN: I can't even tell you how excited I was when I found out I

was able to finally speak with the one and only Westley of "The Princess Bride." It shows how iconic this is.

ELWES: Thank you so much. I know I'm very blessed. I call it the gift that keeps on giving.

BOLDUAN: It sure does.

Taking the role, the meaning, the legend, the legacy of "The Princess Bride," in the CNN look into the movies --

ELWES: Right.

BOLDUAN: -- in this episode, I want to read you how the director, Rob Reiner, describes "The Princess Bride". He describes it as a blend between, "romance, satire, adventure, swashbuckling." And he says it's a strange mixture that's hard to capture.

When this first came out in 1987, the studio didn't even know how to market it. Is it because it was such a strange mixture that made it such a classic?

ELWES: I think that's part of it, Kate. I want was a hard film for them to market because they couldn't figure out which genre they should focus on. Was it a romance, adventure, fantasy, comedy? They had never seen a film like that before. In fact, I don't think anyone has.

Rob describes it perfectly when he says that -- you know, he wanted us to just make sure that we didn't play the lines for laughs.

BOLDUAN: When did you first know the film found its audience, that it was -- it was so much. It was so -- it had such following.

ELWES: Well, you know, it's interesting, Kate, it didn't have a big following when it came out. It came out the same time as "Fatal Attraction," which cleared out every other movie.

BOLDUAN: Slightly different.

ELWES: Slightly different genre.

But the poster that FOX came up with was very unusual. It didn't sell the movie very well. It was a very beautiful poster. Nobody knew what the film was. Was it a kid's movie? Was it a girl's movie with the title?

It was only through word of mouth, the college campuses that students that really picked up on the film. It wasn't until 10 years later when the film came out on VHS that it had this -- it literally went from being mostly dead to having a whole new life.

I was in New York. I was ordering a hamburger or something in a restaurant. She said, how would you like your hamburger? And I said medium-rare. And she said, "as you wish." That was the first time I heard it being said by anyone.

BOLDUAN: Really?

ELWES: My life changed after that. I have forever people asking me on the street to say that line.

BOLDUAN: You wrote about the experience. You wrote a memoir om 2014 about the making of the film. Was it as much fun to make as it was to watch?

ELWES: That's why I wrote the book, Kate. Fans would come up and ask, was it as much fun to make as it looks? And I said, it was more fun. I realized that wasn't sufficient to make them, you know, feel satisfied.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

ELWES: And I thought, well, I should write a book and share how much fun it really was. And I think you can see it translates onto the screen. I can't remember a single day without laughter.

BOLDUAN: That is so good to hear from someone who is such a fan of the film.

There are so many one-liners. I was bantering about with my producer.

ELWES: Right.

BOLDUAN: Other than as you wish, what are some of the other ones that always stick in your head? What would you say your favorites?

ELWES: I love, "anybody want a peanut," which is silly. "Never get involved in a land war in Asia," is pretty great.

BOLDUAN: And do not forget, "you killed my father."

(CROSSTALK)

ELWES: Yes. Poor Mandy says he gets asked that every five minutes. It's incredible.

Wally says he can't walk down the street in New York without somebody saying "inconceivable" to him. If he drops his keys, misses a cab or is late for an airplane, somebody says it to him.

(CROSSTALK)

[11:55:07] BOLDUAN: I still try to drop "Princess Bride" lines on TV whenever possible, probably much to the eyerolls of my entire audience.

ELWES: That's hilarious. That's hilarious. That's great to know.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much for being here and sharing with us.

ELWES: My pleasure. Thank you, Kate. BOLDUAN: "THE MOVIES" premieres Sunday, 9:00 Eastern and Pacific,

only on CNN.

Coming up next, the acting DHS chief vows to take action after a reporter reveals a secret Facebook group from border agents.

We'll be back.

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