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President Trump Continues Racist Attacks; Gilroy Shooting Kills Three; Democratic Presidential Candidates Get Set For Second Debate. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired July 29, 2019 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:50]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: And we are back.

And we are live in Detroit, Michigan. It is so nice to be here. So, so nice to be back. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me for special live coverage of CNN's Democratic presidential debate. It is officially debate eve.

Check out this big, beautiful set we have here. We are just a day away from this debate at the historic Fox Theatre just across the street from us.

We begin with breaking news about the party's front-runner for 2020. The former Vice President Joe Biden has taken a stronger hold of his lead, according to a national poll released just moments ago. So Joe Biden is now sitting pretty at 34 percent, with Senator Elizabeth Warren now coming in second place.

And take a look at this. This is how the candidates did in that same survey just a couple weeks ago. And you can see that Biden has gained more than 10 points, and Senator Kamala Harris has lost support, dropping to the third spot.

So all of this is coming to us today on the same day that Senator Harris has launched her health plan, after months of confusion over whether she supports private health insurance.

So let me -- let me explain this for everyone. Harris' proposal basically puts her between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. Biden wants to expand Obamacare, offer private insurance plans. Bernie Sanders wants the government to back all health care with his Medicare for all, and it would totally eliminate private health insurance.

However, this is the difference. Senator Harris' version of what she's calling Medicare for all would allow for private health plans, but only those that would adhere to strict Medicare for all benchmarks.

So let me bring in my all-lady panel on this Monday afternoon.

Gloria Borger is a CNN chief political analyst. Hilary Rosen is CNN political commentator and a Democratic strategist. Republican Mia Love is a CNN political commentator and a former Utah congresswoman. And CNN political commentator Angela Rye is a former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus.

So, ladies, welcome, welcome to D-town.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Let's start with -- let's go left-right.

Hillary, to you first, just on the polling and seeing where Joe Biden now stands in this national poll, and Warren now in the second spot, what do you think?

HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Warren, I feel like, is establishing a little bit of the old Bernie Sanders role, which is lots of solid support, people are sticking with her, as everybody else shifts around.

She's got a solid base of support, based on her ideas, which is really important. And she's making headway with those ideas. And it's nice to see a Democrat, frankly, running on ideas.

Joe Biden is solidifying. But, look, national polls don't mean that much. We are here in Michigan. State polls matter.

BALDWIN: Yes.

ROSEN: But these top four are going to stay the top four, unless something dramatic happens this week.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: What was really interesting to me about this poll is that, if you look at very liberal Democrats, as they put it, Warren is 14 points ahead of Bernie Sanders with liberal Democrats.

BALDWIN: What changed? What's going on, you think?

BORGER: Well, she's capturing a lot of his supporters, probably because they see her as something different. Maybe she has some different ideas. They say they're friends, but we will have to see.

They're going to be on the debate stage together here in Detroit, and Bernie Sanders has to work to get those people back in his camp and differentiate himself from Elizabeth Warren. And I think that might be difficult for him to do.

BALDWIN: What do you ladies think about these numbers?

MIA LOVE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I was actually -- I'm not surprised that Biden is solidifying his numbers and actually getting better, when you think about the idea of medical -- Medicare for all.

I think that we talk Middle America and the independents that actually want to keep their private health care insurance. That's a big issue.

BALDWIN: Yes.

LOVE: As a matter of fact, I hear from Republican strategists all the time, the more Democrats talk about Medicare for all, the better it is for Republicans.

So I think that that's one of the reasons why he's doing so well. And, also, if you think about it, most people want for Congress to fix the health care system, to fix what's going on. And so when you have got somebody who's actually been in the mix, working on health care, and starting from that point to improve it, instead of getting rid of the whole thing, I think that that's really what gives people pause.

They don't want to just take away or change everything. And it's a big part of people's lives.

(CROSSTALK)

[15:05:03]

BALDWIN: Yes. No, no, I just want to stay on that.

Let me actually pivot to you on what we have seen from Kamala Harris. And we will come back to your first point, because Rahm Emanuel had a message for some Democrats earlier today on Kamala Harris.

So, she says that she that -- she rolled out this plan today. She says she will not increase taxes on households making $100,000 or less, which is a key differentiating factor between her and Senator Sanders' plan.

So let's just start with the cost. Senator Harris says she is not going to raise taxes on the middle class. She says to pay for this specific change -- let's go there. Let's get in the weeds a little bit.

She says ,I would tax Wall Street stock trades at 0.2 percent, bond trades at 0.1 percent, derivative transactions 0.002 percent. My point is, she says these proposals would raise well over $2 trillion in the next 10 years.

But my question to you, $2 trillion -- $2 trillion -- easy for me to say, who is going to pay for that?

ANGELA RYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, and I don't know.

That is -- honestly, I haven't checked the numbers on all of this.

BALDWIN: Because Bernie Sanders said it's going to $4 trillion.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: Yes.

And I think that the reality that we have here -- and, Mia, it is so interesting to hear you say, people don't want to see the whole thing completely broken after your party voted so many times to dismantle Obamacare.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: No, I don't want to. I just want to say the irony of that, right?

And so it's like, here are some candidates coming forward with proposals to fix something that's already in place. And I think that is where at least finally there can be some unification in the Democratic Party. We know the health care system as it is doesn't work. We know that it's even more broken than when Obamacare was voted in and signed into law in the first place.

So, regardless of how much it costs, what we know more than anything is Middle America, whether they're Democratic -- Democrats, Republican or independent, cannot afford their health care bills, if they're honest. And the system that's currently in place doesn't work.

(CROSSTALK)

LOVE: I do.

And so I was very familiar with the health care bill that I supported. And that was keeping the things that people wanted to keep, the preexisting conditions, making sure that premiums weren't skyrocketing, because that happened.

People lost their private health care insurance after they were told that they wouldn't lose their health care insurance. You're talking about...

(CROSSTALK)

LOVE: I had people in my district, a woman that was pregnant, and had four children that completely lost everything.

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: Did she not join the pool or what happened?

LOVE: She lost her private health care insurance that was working well for her family.

So I'm talking about there was a major change for a lot of families. And you can't say that there isn't because those are the people that were speaking to me. So let's talk about this for a second.

I'm talking about Biden actually having more of a holistic thought in terms of keeping some of the private health care insurance. He knew exactly what hurt the administration in terms of the promises that they were making.

And so what I'm saying is that he's actually saying, OK, I'm going to improve upon it. I don't agree with all of his health care insurance.

(CROSSTALK)

LOVE: ... better place than Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

BORGER: Let me add something here.

I think the Democrats at least are being more realistic. They're not saying Mexico's going to pay for it.

LOVE: Yes, I agree with that.

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: OK? Didn't pay for the wall. Donald Trump was saying Mexico...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: But how are they going to pay for it?

BORGER: Well, but that is Biden's -- that's a good question.

And I think Biden has to ask that question, because you don't want to get into one of these tax the wealthy kind of situations, where the Democrats hate the rich, because the Democrats don't hate the rich.

So I think that what Kamala Harris is saying here is very specific. We're going to tax a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Yes, it's from Wall Street. Wall Street's not really popular. And Biden will ask that same question.

And Bernie Sanders is going to have to answer it. It's very simple.

ROSEN: And I think, given the week we have had, where Republicans have so willingly busted the budget because of tax cut to wealthy Americans, I think Democrats are not clamoring to figure out how to pay for health care for families.

What I do think is interesting about what Harris did, though, is, she took on Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders on this Medicare for all, and, honestly, in some ways, is a little more honest, because what she's saying is already 30 percent of the people who are on Medicare buy a private option.

BORGER: Right.

ROSEN: And so what she's saying is, let's take that private option and expand it and make it affordable. That's going to be the big challenge. And I think that that's an intellectual honesty about it.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Let me pause on this conversation. Hang tight, ladies, because I want to move on, because I want to talk Trump and Baltimore, all right? So stay with me.

I want to get onto that.

I also want to get to the breaking news out of Northern California about the victims of that mass shooting at that festival in Gilroy. This is near San Jose. Investigators say two of the three people killed are children, a 13-year-old girl and a 6-year-old little boy.

His name is Stephen Romero. A young man in his 20s was also killed and 12 people are hurt.

And last hour, I talked to a father and a son who described what they saw when the gunman started firing into the crowd.

[15:10:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRENDON GORSHE, WITNESS: I was more focused on the gunman. Like, I was locked on him.

But as I took my truck in reverse, because the gunman -- I got on my truck and I screamed at him, like, hey. And he started to turn towards us.

And there was another guy next to us like out of the car trying to film, a Mexican guy and a -- then, when he started turning towards us, I threw it in reverse and start backing up fast, screaming at people to get down and run.

And the guy panicked. And he started running towards the fence. But for some reason, he changed his mind, and he turned around, and he raised that gun and he just walked into the festival and continued.

And we were around the other side of the stage just trying to tell people to get out there, get down.

TIM GORSHE, WITNESS: It was pretty -- it's pretty emotional. I'm pretty much numb about it. I have been hunting all my life, and see that, but not human beings being hunted down . And it's pretty sad.

It's a -- like I said, I don't know -- it's -- I'm still numb.

B. GORSHE: All I can think was, someone had to stop this guy. But I had my little girls. They came first. I had to choose, I felt.

It was pretty, pretty horrific.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And Brendon has two twin 12-year-old girls who saw it as well.

Sara Sidner is live in Gilroy.

And, Sara, I know police have identified the gunman. Tell me more about the investigation. Why did this happen?

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, he had an AK-47 style assault weapon, that he planned on waging war against people who had no idea, complete innocents were at this concert, because, for whatever reason, he seems to be an angry young man.

What he was doing there, we do not know at this time. Police are looking into whether or not, for example, he's a member of any kind of group. What we do know is that we have seen some of his social media posts

and Instagram, for example, that has been taken down a few days before this festival was to open up and. On his Instagram, he talked about the Gilroy Garlic Festival and items there being too expensive.

And then he talked about a white supremacist book. It is filled with misogyny, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, a really racist and race- baiting-filled book that he recommended people to read.

So those are two details from this particular shooter that we have learned from police as well.

What we should also mention, though, because more importantly are those who have suffered because of him. We now know that a 13-year- old girl, a 20-something-year-old young man, and a 6-year-old boy named Stephen Romero has been killed.

Let me let you hear from his father as he learned of his son's death, who was supposed to be enjoying a lovely family outing here in Gilroy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBERT ROMERO, FATHER OF VICTIM: They said that they shot my son, and they took him from her, like, the officer.

QUESTION: And she -- so she was shot in the stomach at the time?

ROMERO: Shot in the stomach and hand.

QUESTION: What did you think when she told you this?

ROMERO: I couldn't believe what was happening, that what she was saying a was lie. Maybe I was dreaming. They told me he was in critical condition, that they were working on him.

And then five minutes later, they told me that he was dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: He learned of his son's death. He learned that he was alive, he thought, but in critical condition, and then five minutes later learned that his 6-year-old baby had died.

Think about the impact of that family and the impact of all of the families here, not only those who were physically injured, but those who will have emotional scars for a lifetime after experiencing something like this in the midst of what it was supposed to be a wonderful weekend.

As school starts to come closer, this was a time for families to enjoy the end of summer -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Why does this keep happening in our country? That poor father.

Sara Sidner, thank you. We are back talking politics, the president using racism as a

political strategy, as he escalates attacks on Baltimore and Congressman Elijah Cummings. We're going to discuss that with my ladies up here in Detroit.

Also, two American teens charged with murdering an undercover police officer in Italy. Authorities say it all started with a botched drug deal.

You're watching CNN's special live coverage. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:19:47]

BALDWIN: President Trump quadrupling down on his feud with Maryland Democratic Congressman Elijah Cummings.

Just since this past Saturday, he has tweeted more than a dozen times about Baltimore and Chairman Cummings, calling the city a -- quote, unquote -- "rat and rodent infested mess" and lashing out at the African-American veteran congressman as racist and incompetent.

[15:20:05]

President Trump even dragging the Reverend Al Sharpton and Senator Bernie Sanders into all of this, Calling Sharpton a con men and Sanders racist.

So let me bring these ladies back in with me.

And, Angela Rye, just to start with you.

Like, I was talking to a guy last hour who is from Baltimore and he was saying he wasn't surprised by this, which I think is tragic, in and of itself.

RYE: Yes.

BALDWIN: He says it's part of his behavior. We have seen him single out members of Congress who are black and brown.

If this is some sort of strategy that he's deploying, and we will see more of it potentially between now and next November, what's the result of that in this country?

RYE: I think it's dangerous.

I think we are at a time right now where for so long people have suppressed feelings of racial bias and hatred and haven't had to be had -- haven't had to deal with them. And I think if I could point to a silver lining in this moment, which is really hard for me to do that, it means that we finally have to call the worst amongst us out.

And I hope that is exactly what comes. For Donald Trump to refer to Congressman Cummings as King Elijah, I would say to him, yes, you're absolutely right. This is a man that fully understands that being in elected office is akin to being a public servant.

And that is what he's dedicated his career to. He is Threatened by the fact that this man has tremendous oversight over his administration, which is horrible and abysmal, and that is, in fact, rodent-infested. It is full of people who are regularly violating all types of ethics rules, that Hatch Act on down.

And that is what he's the most threatened by.

The other thing, Brooke, quickly, forever Reverend Al to dedicate his life to fighting for those of us who have been gunned down by police violence, who have been assaulted at the hands of people who have also taken on an abuse of power is immensely troubling.

But he -- I mean, it's time for him to get his head checked. This is dangerous behavior. And somebody has to call it out.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: It's not just Trump. It's also his advisers.

Congresswoman, I wanted to ask you about this, because "Washington Post" is reporting Trump's advisers have concluded these attacks by him are good, that they resonate among his political base, and, in particular, among white working-class voters he needs to win.

Why do they think racism is working among white working-class workers?

LOVE: I have no explanation for it.

As a matter of fact, I think that this is the worst of not just American politics, but humanity. I remember just watching Elijah Cummings and Trey Gowdy go at it. But he never said the words that the president said.

Jason Chaffetz and Elijah going at it, but they have never done what the president did. So, at some point, people like Mark Meadows, who Elijah went and helped and said, look, I know him, he's my friend, why do you have to -- I mean, do you have to ask permission?

(CROSSTALK)

ROSEN: None of them have stood up to the president.

(CROSSTALK)

LOVE: Why do you have to ask permission -- yes, ask permission to stand up for your friend?

I mean, I remember sitting down in the Congressional Black Caucus, the only Republican there, feeling like oh, my gosh, I'm by myself, and being embraced by Marcia Fudge, by so many other people...

BORGER: Where all there?

LOVE: ... that, besides all of the things that we were, that we -- that we fought against, fought against each other on politics, it had nothing to do with how we felt.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: To your question, where are they now?

BORGER: Where are they now on this?

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: ... standing up against Donald Trump on this.

(CROSSTALK)

ROSEN: You mean the Republicans.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Where are the Republicans on this?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Let's remind everyone last February. Let's go back the moment. We will play the sound.

This is back when Mark Meadows got really emotional in that congressional hearing, right, the testimony, when Rashida Tlaib, the congresswoman, had criticized him for bringing in an African-American Trump administration employee to that Michael Cohen congressional hearing.

Just setting it up for everyone, just to remind everyone, suggesting the whole thing was a stunt. And guess who supported Mark Meadows?

Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARK MEADOWS (R-NC): My nieces and nephews are people of color.

Not many people know that. You know that, Mr. Chairman. And to indicate that I asked someone who is a personal friend of the Trump family, who has worked for him, who knows this particular individual, that she's coming in to be a prop, it's racist to suggest that I asked her to come in here for that reason.

Mr. Chairman, you are -- you and I have a personal relationship that's not based on color.

REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS (D-MD): I think she said that she was not calling you a racist.

And I thought that we could clarify that, because you -- Mr. Meadows, you know, and of all the people on this committee, I have said it and got in trouble for it, that you're one of my best friends. I know that shocks a lot of people.

MEADOWS: And, likewise, Mr. Chairman.

CUMMINGS: Yes, but you are.

And I would do -- and I could see and feel your pain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:25:07]

BALDWIN: He called him his best friend.

LOVE: I am fired up. I mean, I almost get emotional about it, because my brother -- I remember my brother being diagnosed with colon cancer.

(CROSSTALK)

LOVE: And the CBC, without -- just grabbed. They put their arms around me and started to pray for my brother, without even being asked.

BORGER: Right.

LOVE: So when you see somebody stand up for Mark without being asked -- he didn't have to ask permission.

Mark has to do the right thing. He really does. And I'm calling on him to do the right thing here.

BORGER: Sometimes, in politics, sometimes, you have to look inside yourself, and you say, what is it worth? What is it all worth to me?

LOVE: Yes. Yes.

BORGER: Now, he may disagree with those of us who believe very strongly that these Donald Trump tweets are racist. Let's say he even disagrees with that, OK? Let's say he finds a way to rationalize and say it's not racist.

Elijah Cummings is different. He's his friend.

BALDWIN: His best friend.

BORGER: He is somebody who defended him.

If he is so worried about the president, what does that tell you? And what does that tell us? And what should that tell his constituents? Quite frankly, I know he's a conservative. He's been with the president. The president has elevated him in a lot of ways.

But, at a certain point, I think all of us have to look inside ourselves and say, what's it worth?

ROSEN: And I think people will look inside themselves on Election Day. And let's not lose Angela's point, which is, this is a distraction from what Elijah Cummings and the Democrats are calling the president out on. And now we're spending two days on whether or not Baltimore has rats, which is horrifying.

January 29, 2017, Donald Trump spoke, and we all sat at these panels and said, he is not speaking to all of America. He has got to broaden his community. He has got to embrace that every American is now his citizen.

He hasn't done that for a single day. And this confirms it. And I believe that -- why should we be surprised, when he is consistently distracting us with the same message he's been doing since the day he was inaugurated?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Quickly, quickly, and then we've got to go.

RYE: I will.

Is it a distraction, though? At this point, we're talking about a number of people who now have their lives at risk. There's a real threat to them.

(CROSSTALK)

ROSEN: I don't mean distraction. Shifting it.

RYE: And it's a problem.

And I'm just saying it's bigger than a distraction. It is a fundamental problem. And so long as the Democratic Party continues to say, this is a distraction, and not the core problem, we're at an impasse.

(CROSSTALK)

ROSEN: But we're on his page, though.

BALDWIN: I appreciate you talking about your brother, talking about -- and also just calling them out and asking for Mark Meadows to say something.

LOVE: I hope he will do the right thing.

BALDWIN: So, I appreciate you saying that.

BALDWIN: But he didn't answer questions today. Reporters shouted at Mark Meadows.

BALDWIN: Yes. And he was at the White House. I know.

BORGER: Gave nothing.

BALDWIN: All right, thank you all so much. RYE: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

One of the 2020 candidates who will be on that debate stage behind me at the Fox Theatre tomorrow night, former Congressman John Delaney, we will talk to him live just ahead.

But, first, President Trump picks a party loyalist as the nation's next intelligence chief. We have details on the background of Congressman John Ratcliffe.

You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:00]