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GOP Demanding Loyalty Pledge from Candidates; Reported Sighting a Hoax in Hunt for Cop Killers; Migrants Board Train in Budapest. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired September 03, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: In Nashville recently, Trump, a former Democrat, explaining why he preferred to run as a Republican.

[07:00:07] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That would certainly be the best path to victory. And we're going to make a decision very soon. And I think a lot of people are going to be very happy.

MURRAY: On Tuesday the party circulating a loyalty pledge to the GOP contenders. An apparent attempt to neutralize Trump's threat to run as an independent, which could jeopardize the GOP's attempts to retake the White House. It's a pledge Trump rebuffed during the first debate.

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: You're not going to make the pledge tonight?

TRUMP: I will not make the pledge at this time.

BAIER: OK.

MURRAY: Now the RNC wants it in writing, asking Trump to sign an agreement stating he will not seek to run as an independent or accept the nomination for president of any other party if he fails to win the Republican nomination in 2016.

Trump's meeting comes on the heels of his controversial remarks in "Breitbart News," slamming Jeb Bush for speaking Spanish as he attacked Trump's political views a day earlier.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: (SPEAKING SPANISH)

MURRAY: Trump telling "Breitbart News," "He should really set the example by speaking English in the United States.

A Bush aide lashed back saying Trump was, quote, "trying to kill the party, attacking any American who is bilingual."

The war of words escalating as Trump's unfavorable numbers remain sky- high among Hispanics.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MURRAY: Now sources are telling CNN they do expect Donald Trump to sign the pledge today and rule out this third-party bid. But we won't know for sure until he takes the stage at his press conference later this afternoon. As we all know, Donald Trump is known for being a little bit unpredictable.

Alisyn and John, back to you.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Unpredictable, really? Sara Murray, my word. All right, Sara, thank you so much.

We want to bring in Geoffrey Lord, a CNN political commentator, former political director for Ronald Reagan. Also, Matt Schlapp, former political director for George W. Bush; also the chairman of the American Conservative Union here.

Matt, let me start with you. When you hear Donald Trump say about Jeb Bush, "I like Jeb. He's a nice man, but he should really set the example by speaking English while in the United States." What do you make of that?

A lot of people in the Republican Party have been trying to do outreach to Latino communities, a lot of it over the last several years. Jeb Bush proud of the fact that he speaks Spanish so well. Donald Trump says don't do it.

MATT SCHLAPP, CHAIRMAN, AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE UNION: Yes, look. These guys are in a man-a-mano battle. And they're taking each other on. And Jeb Bush is fighting back, as well. And you know, when I hear Donald Trump, who I think has really connected with a lot of Republican voters, I agree with much of what he says.

I'm married to someone whose native language is Spanish. A lot of Spanish gets spoken in my house, including last night, when I do things that are wrong around the house. And, you know, I think we should be accepting as a party and as a country. We are a nation of people who come from all kinds of other cultures. That're proud of their culture.

I think when Jeb Bush speaks Spanish, he's not pandering to voters, and HE'S not trying to say it's OK TO not speak English. What he's actually doing is saying, "look, I respect your culture. I'm married to someone who is originally from Mexico. And guess what? Together, we can make America what it needs to be." And I think -- I think it's perfectly acceptable.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So Matt, I just want to stick with you for one second. Because of, you know, your marriage -- and you do speak some Spanish at home -- I mean, doesn't this go a little further? I mean, you think that Donald Trump was actually being rude to say this?

SCHLAPP: Yes. I think this is too much. Look, I think -- I have a lot of respect for Donald Trump. I agree with much of what he does. I have applauded Trump for running as Republican. I'm glad he's running. But sometimes on issues he scores a touchdown, but he keeps running, kind of like Forrest Gump.

And, you know, he's made his point on immigration, and it is a very valid point. We don't have to go so far as to say that people who come from other countries -- look, Donald Trump has married two immigrants. There's nothing wrong with people coming to this country and holding onto their language. I think it's a wonderful thing. Now, I think we should conduct our government business in English. I think English is our -- should be our official language. It should be how -- we should be proud of our own language. But there's nothing wrong with people speaking other tongues.

BERMAN: Geoffrey -- Geoffrey, he's not doing this by accident. Donald Trump didn't make that statement by accident at all. He's playing to an audience here, isn't he?

GEOFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. This is remarkably, once upon a time this would be remarkably uncontroversial. But I do think that, because of the illegal immigration issue and the sort of white heat that is on this, this now, suddenly, has become an issue. And the implication is that, if you speak English and suggest that everybody we should all speak English and that everybody should learn English is somehow controversial. Wow, if Jeb Bush is going to try and defend that, I mean, that's...

BERMAN: But that's not what Donald Trump is saying, Jeffrey. Donald Trump is not saying that we should...

(CROSSTALK)

LORD: There's nothing wrong with being bilingual.

BERMAN: Donald Trump -- Geoffrey -- Geoffrey, Donald Trump is saying you should speak only English on the campaign trail.

LORD: Well, I think he's trying to make a point here. In terms of illegal immigration, we're not a Spanish-speaking country. We are an English-speaking country. We don't speak Russian; we don't speak Polish, Italian or German or any of the other languages that have been brought to this country. There's nothing wrong with learning them. We should "parle un peu le Francais." But, you know, I'm not French. I'm an American, and English is the language of the American people. And should be, I think, at this point.

[07:05:17] SCHLAPP: This is -- this is a little bit absurd. People have been running for president in this country by going to different communities that have come, derived from different countries, using a little bit of their language in their stump speeches. You know, this has been true with battleground states throughout this country.

And here's the thing. I have no problem with taking on -- I have a disagreement on immigration with a lot of Hispanics around the country. I think the bill that passed the Senate was too liberal and was a bad bill. I'd like to see us do something on immigration, but I think we can disagree with people on the fact that we have to secure our borders without being jerks about it. And I think what we have to do when it comes to our Hispanic outreach

as a party, is let's stand on our principal, but my Lord, let's put out the welcome mat. Let's tell people that we want them to be part of our party.

And I want every Hispanic-American who's listening to this show right now to know the Republican Party welcomes you. And I believe that they connect to us on a lot of issues. When we are rude to them, we destroy that opportunity.

CAMEROTA: Geoffrey, is Donald Trump -- go ahead.

LORD: I don't -- I don't think that suggesting we all speak English is being rude. I mean, why are we -- why are we deferring to Spanish here? I mean, people come to this country from other countries. I mean, why not Chinese? Why not Arabic? I mean, when you go to Dearborn, Michigan, are we supposed to be learning -- are we all, as Americans, supposed to be learning Arabic? I mean...

SCHLAPP: But of course a candidate -- but if you're running -- if you're running for president, and you -- you know other languages and you put a little bit of that into your responses to reporters who are from those countries, or you put a little bit of that into your speeches, there's also nothing wrong with that, Geoffrey. And to act like you put any other language into a speech, come on, that's absurd.

LORD: Wait, wait. Context is everything. This is all coming about because of the controversy over illegal immigration with, what, 11 million or 30 million people, however many people there are.

SCHLAPP: But you and I agree on -- Geoffrey, you and I agree on that, that's a problem.

LORD: What?

SCHLAPP: You and I agree on this. That's a problem, and that needs to stop.

BERMAN: All right, guys.

LORD: I'm saying, in that context, that's why this has become controversial.

SCHLAPP: Well, you have to say you can't speak Spanish, because there are illegals here?

BERMAN: Both you guys -- both you guys were political directors.

LORD: I think we're having the conversation in English, which should tell you everything we need to know about America right there.

BERMAN: But OK, Geoffrey. But occasionally people will speak other languages on TV, and we don't tell them they shouldn't.

SCHLAPP: Sure. Sure, they should. LORD: There's nothing wrong with it. I'm just saying that in the context of this controversy over illegal immigration and whether this...

BERMAN: Donald Trump said there is something wrong with it.

LORD: ... country should be an English-speaking nation or not...

SCHLAPP: No one is denying the fact that English should be spoken in America. This is absurd. The question is, is it OK for a candidate to speak some Spanish?

LORD: Well, then why are they attacking Donald Trump for saying this? I mean, I think...

SCHLAPP: I'm not attacking him. I'm simply answering a question about whether or not it's responsible for a presidential candidate to address somebody in Spanish. And I think, guess what? It's OK.

CAMEROTA: All right. Guys, listen. Jeffrey, one quick question: Is Donald Trump today going to sign the pledge that he will not run as a third-party candidate?

LORD: I don't know. You know, it's very interesting to me we have other Republicans who have run for other office, Senator Mikulski from Alaska, she lost her nomination and then ran as an independent. So there are other people in the Republican Party who do this, and they've been unpunished. So I -- this will be very interesting to find out.

CAMEROTA: All right. Geoffrey Lord, Matt Schlapp, thanks so much for the debate.

BERMAN: And if he does sign, he'll sign it in English, though.

CAMEROTA: He will. That is for sure.

BERMAN: That is for sure.

CAMEROTA: And we're going to speak with Republican presidential candidates Carly Fiorina and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Stick around for that.

BERMAN: And do not miss the Republican presidential GOP debate hosted by CNN Wednesday, September 16, 6 p.m. Eastern Time.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: To our other top story. A bizarre twist in the search for three people wanted in the shooting death of an Illinois police officer. A tip to police led to a large presence in a cornfield outside Fox Lake, but the woman who called in that tip now admitting it was a lie.

It came as the community paid tribute to that slain officer. Rosa Flores is live at Fox Lake with more for us -- Rosa.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michaela, good morning. What a play on the emotions of this community and a waste of resources. Imagine this: as soon as that call came in, more than 85 agents swarmed to the scene. Eleven canine units and three aircraft. Only for authorities to find out later that this tipster just wanted attention.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES (voice-over): Overnight police descending on this cornfield in Volo, Illinois, just five miles south of Fox Lake, where Lieutenant Joe Gliniewicz was gunned down by three suspects on Tuesday.

The manhunt ratcheting up at 9:30 p.m., with K-9 units and air support after local resident Kristin Kiefer told police two men tried to get into her car to flee the area, eventually running away into a cornfield.

[07:10:05] DETECTIVE CHRISTOPHER COVELLI, LAKE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: Kiefer admitted that she had fabricated the entire story. She fabricated this story, because she was looking for attention from a family that she nannies for. She was aware that a police officer was killed in this area, and she indicated that's why she chose this area to fabricate her story.

FLORES: Kiefer now faces two charges of disorderly conduct, further complicating an already difficult investigation with few clues.

COVELLI: Tonight's response speaks a lot to that and how present law enforcement is in this area. And we are very -- working very hard to restore the peace and calmness in the community again.

FLORES: The sea of a thousand people attending the lieutenant's vigil Wednesday night a testament to the impact G.I. Joe, as he's known, had on this community for 30 years.

MELODIE GLINIEWICZ, WIDOW OF LT. JOE GLINIEWICZ: Joe was my best friend, my world, my hero. My world got a little bit smaller with his passing.

FLORES (on camera): Where do you think that she found her strength to speak in front of several thousand people?

KELLY KOZAR, FRIEND OF MELODIE GLINIEWICZ: I could only think that the strength comes from knowing that Joe knows that people needed to hear something from her. So that they can find some strength from all of this. Nothing makes sense in the world right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: Kiefer is waking up in jail this morning, her bond hearing set for 10 a.m. Eastern. As for the investigation, about 100 agents are in the region, awaiting to hear from any lead, waiting to follow any tip and also scouring through surveillance video -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Let's hope they get a break today. Thanks so much, Rosa. Well, a new justice report about last year's protest in Ferguson

levels broad criticism at police. An after-action report says the police response was hurt by, quote, "inconsistent leadership and a lack of understanding of community concerns." Local police have long defended their response, saying crowds became threatening and violent in the wake of the Michael Brown shooting.

BERMAN: China celebrating the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. A huge military parade, about 12,000 troops, marched through Beijing showing off military hardware, including ballistic missiles and amphibious assault vehicles and drones. About 200 fighter jets were also part of the show.

Now despite that show of fire power, Chinese leader pushed to cut 300,000 troops from the military there. The cut would still leave China with some 2 million troops.

PEREIRA: Got to show you this, President Obama showing off his moves on the final day of his Alaska visit. He stopped by the salmon fishing town of Dillingham and watched middle-school children perform traditional native dance. Apparently he couldn't resist the urge to join in. Afterward the president encouraged the children to hold onto their traditions, even when they leave home. A powerful message to hear for those children. Our Native Americans.

BERMAN: You look at that, you know what I see?

PEREIRA: What?

BERMAN: A second-term president who can't run again.

CAMEROTA: You don't think that this would be a good campaign video that he puts together?

I see somebody who might have just pulled something.

BERMAN: Exactly.

PEREIRA: He's in better shape than all three of us, please.

BERMAN: I think he got the opening down, though. That's impressive.

PEREIRA: I think he got the moves ahead of time. You think?

CAMEROTA: Yes, I think so.

BERMAN: You know what it was? It was the teleprompter.

PEREIRA: Is that...

BERMAN: I'm kidding.

PEREIRA: There you go.

CAMEROTA: All right. You need to stick around for this next story, because thousands of migrants pack a train in Hungary desperate to escape a better life. And they don't even know where this train is going. Our Arwa Damon is on the train with an up-close look at this situation that is unfolding at this moment. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:17:26] BERMAN: A really powerful scene unfolding in Hungary. This morning a train packed with thousands of migrants left Budapest. These refugees, they forced their way on. CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon is on the train outside moving outside of Budapest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, just take a look at how crowded this train is. We're stopped at a station that's about maybe 20, 30 miles outside of Budapest.

These are families around us right now that have all fled the war in Syria, making this horrific journey with their children. They're not entirely 100 percent sure where this train is going to end up. Some people have told them that it's a town that's on the Hungarian-Austria border. Others have told them that they might be going to one of the locations, that these camps are in. They don't know.

They got on the train, uncertain of where they were going, but they just wanted to cling to small little hope that maybe it would get them all the way to Germany, because they just couldn't take it. They couldn't take staying in the Budapest train station any more.

There is a police presence outside at this location that we're stopped in. It's creating quite a bit of unease amongst those who are here.

When we first rolled up here and they saw the police force, there was a little bit of panic where they thought that they would be forcibly removed from the train. Everyone agreed that, if that were to happen, they would not.

It's a very uncertain situation. And it's quite frightening for the parents. They're saying right now, no one get off the train. No one get off the train.

But quite frightening for the parents, because if they do try to forcibly remove these people, there's a lot of children among them, especially small, little children.

So people got on this train, because they saw that the station was open. They assumed that maybe it would be going to Germany. Some of them did receive word that no -- that no people would be crossing international borders, but they have to cling to that little hope, because they have no other choice but to just try to get out of Hungary.

CAMEROTA: Arwa, your reporting and your live shot there just brings home to us the uncertainty and unease on that train car. We see a lot of men around you. Are there also women and children on that train? DAMON: Sure. Let me introduce you to some of these families. This

little girl, she's 8. Her name is Nideen (ph). And earlier she was reciting the ABC's, the alphabet, to her newfound friend, Barninth (ph), who is just two-and-a-half years old. She's over here sleeping in her mother's lap. They're from Syria. They're from Damascus.

[07:20:04] And her mom has really been struggling to provide a little bit of dignity for her daughter. Her most important thing in all of this has been to keep her daughter clean. And now she has her dressed in her favorite little Hello Kitty clothing.

We also have another family here who is from Syria, who also fled the warfare. All of these people who we were speaking to throughout this entire journey said that they left because they thought that, if they left these children back home, they would end up dead there.

All of them who are around us right now live on various different frontlines that is the war in Syria. From different parts, they -- some of them traveling together, a lot of them meeting throughout this entire journey. And some of them making this trip with relatives.

Reme (ph), who I was speaking about earlier, she's traveling with her uncle. Her parents are in Turkey, but the family could only afford for one person to make this trip, so they chose and had her be the one to go with her uncle to try to give her, at least, a chance.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: Arwa showing us the heartbreaking conditions that families are facing there just for survival with so much of their future unknown at this point. We'll check back in with her when we can.

We need to show you this heartbreaking image that has sparking a major outcry around the world, a little Syrian refugee boy being cradled in the arms of a Turkish police officer. His little body washed up on the beach. His family identified him as 3-year-old Aylan. He drowned after his boat sank off the coast of Turkey, along with his brother and mother. The family was reportedly trying to reach Canada.

BERMAN: Horrifying picture right there.

CAMEROTA: I mean, both those illustrations, that terrible, heartbreaking picture, and then seeing it live unfold with Arwa. I mean...

PEREIRA: It's important for us to see so it just doesn't become statistics, and numbers and headlines. Right? You need to be able to feel what is happening.

CAMEROTA: Yes. I've never seen it in such stark illustration as that picture and Arwa's report until now.

All right. Meanwhile, we want you to stick around, because she is surging in the polls ever since her first debate performance. What does Carly Fiorina have up her sleeve for the CNN debate? Well, the GOP presidential candidate is going to join us live. That's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:26:13] PEREIRA: Well, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump may not be a team player. The RNC wants the presidential candidates, including Donald Trump, to sign a loyalty pledge promising to support their nominee and not run as a third-party candidate. Trump and RNC chairman Reince Priebus are meeting in New York today to discuss this.

BERMAN: The former State Department staffer who worked on Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server when she was secretary of state is expected to plead the fifth. Brian Pagliano was served with a subpoena by the House panel investigating the 2012 Benghazi attack. That same panel this morning will have Clinton's ex-chief of staff Cheryl Mills in a closed-door meeting. She is expected to be asked about internal communications between Clinton and her top staffers.

PEREIRA: Overnight a reported sighting of two possible suspects in that murder of an Illinois police officer turned out to be a hoax. Police dogs, helicopters descending on a cornfield after a woman called 911 and said she saw two men running into the area. She later admitted, though, that she lied, and she is now facing charges. Meanwhile, the search is now expanding for the trio believed responsible for the death of Lieutenant Joe Gliniewicz.

BERMAN: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel forced offstage during a budget hearing by protesters angry over a proposed high school closing. Emmanuel's security team quickly escorted him backstage after a handful of protestors jumped onstage. The hearing was canceled a short time later. Protests over the school's fate have all but taken over Emmanuel's two public budget hearings. The third and final hearing set for tonight.

CAMEROTA: All right. On to politics. CNN mending its GOP debate criteria, clearing the way for Carly Fiorina to be on the main stage on September 16. So take a listen to the moment when the presidential candidate found out about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via phone): Literally as we're speaking, I just got a text that CNN has amended their GOP debate criteria.

MEGHAN MCCAIN, HOST, PREMIERE NETWORK'S "AMERICA NOW": Shut up! Does that mean you're going to be on the debate stage?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina joins us now.

Good morning, Ms. Fiorina.

FIORINA: Good morning, Alisyn, how are you?

CAMEROTA: I'm doing well. I see that we're catching you at Reagan National Airport on your way from campaign stop to campaign stop. But I want to ask you about that. That moment, that seemed like a fun moment there with Meghan McCain when you found out.

FIORINA: Yes, I loved her reaction, "Shut up!" But anyway, I literally got a text on my phone as we were speaking, and obviously, I'm enormously gratified and pleased that CNN did the right thing here.

I'm the only candidate who has moved clearly from the bottom tier to the top tier. I'm now in the top five in every statewide poll and easily in the top ten in national polls. In fact, I was No. 4 in the latest national poll. So I'm really looking forward to being on that debate stage.

CAMEROTA: Well, there you go. I mean, everybody, it was -- as a result of your performance, they say in the first debate, that you have seen that rise. So you're certain now that on September 16, you will be on the primetime stage?

FIORINA: Yes, I'm quite certain, given the polling results that we have seen and will, I think, continue to see. I'm quite certain and looking very much forward to it.

CAMEROTA: OK, let's talk about what's happening today. Donald Trump has this meeting with the RNC chair, Reince Priebus. And apparently, Reince Priebus is going to ask Donald Trump to sign this pledge that we have here affirming that he will not run as a third-party candidate. Have you received this pledge from the RNC?

FIORINA: Yes, we have. My office received it, I believe, yesterday. I certainly will sign it. I've actually already signed something similar when we entered into data-sharing agreements with the RNC, as I believe have many other candidates. And I certainly think that Donald Trump should sign such a pledge.

CAMEROTA: But I mean, let's be honest: This is an interesting gimmick. It's fun to watch all the candidates sign this pledge, but it's just a flimsy piece of paper. I mean, it's unenforceable.

And why do you need to sign the pledge? Sometimes Republicans and Democrats have run as third-party candidates, why not this year?

FIORINA: Well -- I think, first of all, you're right. It's unenforceable and it is more than anything else, your word. And I would presume somebody running for president would like to signal to the American people and most especially right now to Republican primary voters that their word can be trusted.

And I think the point is that if you're going to run as a Republican in a Republican primary, then you're declaring that you are a Republican. It's not simply a run of convenience. This is about, hopefully, some degree of principle here. So we'll see what Mr. Trump does.

CAMEROTA: Let me ask you about this sparring that's been going on, on the Republican side among some of your opponents particularly Donald Trump and Jeb Bush. They have been having a war of words and it continues.

Donald Trump said in a "Bright Bart" interview about Jeb speaking Spanish on the campaign trail, "I like Jeb, he's a nice man, but he should really set the example by speaking English while in the United States." What do you think about that statement?

FIORINA: Well, first, I think Donald Trump and Jeb Bush are going at it as frontrunners are going to do in a presidential campaign. I mean, I recall just over the last couple of days Martin O'Malley protesting at the DNC meeting because he wants a chance to go at Hillary Clinton.

I think this is what politics is about. I also think, look, I admire the fact that Jeb Bush is multi-lingual and admire the fact that so many people are multi-lingual and also think that English is the official language of the United States.

CAMEROTA: But do you think it's rude for Donald Trump? Do you think it's a winning strategy for Donald Trump to say that Jeb Bush is bilingual should just speak English?

FIORINA: You know, Donald Trump has said many things that I don't agree with and a few that I do agree with. So I think it is fair to say that Mr. Trump is going to continue to do what Mr. Trump does, which is say all kinds of things, some of which are shocking and a few that are outrageous and many that people agree with because they are angry and frustrated.

CAMEROTA: Is it fun for you, maybe fun is the wrong word, but interesting for you to sit back and watch this food fight among the frontrunners or is it uncomfortable to see what is going on in your party?

FIORINA: Well, I think it goes on in every presidential campaign. I remember there were plenty of food fights between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in 2008. And I suspect we're going to continue to see food fights on both sides. It is a little bit what politics is about.

On the other hand, I don't get asked questions from voters about Donald Trump or anyone else frankly. The questions that I get asked about from voters are, what are you going to do about Obamacare and Iran and ISIS? What are you going to do about the out-of-control government?

Frankly, people who ask me questions about Donald Trump and other candidates are the media and not the voters.

CAMEROTA: All right, we'll talk about some of those issues as you bring them up. It's the year of the outsider, obviously, and you are an outsider, you are not a career politician, obviously. And you tout your record as a businesswoman at the helm of Hewlett-Packard for many years as part of why voters should elect you.

But your tenure was hardly considered a runaway success. Let me read for you how the DNC categorizes what you did as the head of Hewlett-Packard. They say, she negotiated a merger with Compaq where 30,000 Hewlett-Packard employees lost their jobs.

Then she negotiated a $40 million golden parachute after she was fired. Here's Carly Fiorina's policy record, an affinity for sending American jobs overseas. What do you say for this under your tenure?

FIORINA: You are reading the DNC talking points. Here's the thing about business unlike politics, in business the results are crystal clear and reported in excruciating detail every 90 days. And I had to stand up to explain the results every 90 days.

If I misrepresented them in any way, I was criminally liable. Imagine if we held politicians to that standard. So here's the record, here are the facts. I led HP through the worst technology recession in 25 years. And yes, in order to save a company, sadly, we had to cut some jobs.

But we saved 80,000 jobs, went on to grow to 160,000s, and now Hewlett-Packard is 300,000 jobs. Meanwhile, some of our competitors literally went out of business and all the jobs were lost. As well, we doubled the size of the business to almost 90 billion and quadrupled the growth rate of revenues.

We tripled innovation to 15 patents a day and quadrupled cash flow. We went from lagging behind in every product and every market to leading in every product and every market.

[07:35:09] I'll run on that record all day long. Every single aspect of my pay was approved by shareholders ahead of time. And yes, I was fired in a boardroom brawl about which I have been very candid and clear from the day it happened.

And I was fired in that boardroom brawl because when you lead, you challenge the status quo. And when you do that, you make enemies. And that's part of the price of leadership

But I want to tell you something, there are a lot of voters out there who would like a leader with the strength and the courage and the track record to actually hold government employees accountable.

Just today we learned that over 300,000 veterans have lost their lives waiting for appointments. I actually think there are few people at the VA, who ought to lose their jobs.

CAMEROTA: How does your record in everything that you have just outlined translate to what you would do about America's problems? Let's talk about the one that is on the front burner in terms of immigration.

You have heard what Donald Trump has said. You have heard now what Chris Christie has said, that he thinks that immigrants can be tracked like FedEx packages on some level. What is your answer to the immigration issue?

FIORINA: Well, let's start with the basics and this is where a track record of turning words into results matters so much. We have been talking about the border for 25 years. For 25 years the border has been insecure. This is absurd.

This is a fall down of a basic government responsibility. We have to secure the border, period. It takes money, yes, manpower, yes, technology, yes, but mostly -- it takes political willpower and leadership.

CAMEROTA: And is that with a fence or wall?

FIORINA: No, no, no, this is not rocket science. It takes money, manpower and technology. San Francisco has been a sanctuary city since 1989. We now have 300 of them. Every presidential cycle we talk about immigration. And yet nothing changes.

This is why people are upset. So what I would say to voters is, vote for someone who has a track record, not just a talking but a doing because of what I will do is ensure that we actually secure the border. What I will do is ensure that we actually fix the legal immigration system.

CAMEROTA: How?

FIORINA: Which has been broken for 25 years and it's a contributory to the problem. Let's just say, for example, we hand out Mexican border crossing cards every single day. We have no idea whether those people go home. Wow.

We have 16 different visa programs. We don't have an employer verification system that works. Therefore we can't make it mandatory. We're the most sophisticated technological nation on the planet. If I understand something about technology, it is not difficult to create an employer verification system that works.

We just haven't done it. Just like we just haven't fixed the VA over 20 years so 300,000 veterans die waiting for an appointment. This is about ineptitude and corruption in the federal government.

CAMEROTA: And what is your answer for the roughly 12 million illegal undocumented immigrants who are here. What would you do with them?

FIORINA: What I have said consistently over five years almost now is first we must secure the border to re-instill faith in the American people and our government.

CAMEROTA: And a lot of your opponents agree with that.

FIORINA: Second, we must fix the legal immigration system because the legal immigration system is contributing to the illegal problem. And finally, for those who have come here illegally and stayed here illegally, assuming they are not criminals, in which case they have to leave the country, assuming they pay back taxes, et cetera, I do not believe they earn a path way to citizenship.

There must be consequence for breaking the law. They can earn a pathway to legal status under certain circumstances so that they can work, but citizenship is a privilege to be earned. And I know too many people, as do you, Hispanics among them, who have studied our history, raised their hands, taken the oath and earned the privilege of citizenship.

And I don't think you can say to them, never mind, somebody who broke the rules gets the same privilege that you do.

CAMEROTA: Carly Fiorina, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY. We always enjoy talking to you and we will look forward to September 16th and the CNN debate.

FIORINA: Me, too. Thanks, Alisyn, have a great day.