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America's Mayors On Crime & Punishment; Trump Targets Democrats During Their Convention; Democrats Push For Unity At DNC; DNC Speeches Address Addiction, Disability, And Other Issues; Fmr. Sanders Aide: "No One Stole This Election"; Michelle Obama Electrifies Convention With Rousing Speech. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired July 26, 2016 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00] STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE, DNC SECRETARY, MAYOR, BALTIMORE: Trump's everything.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Trump's everything. Well done, well done. Fixing -- fixing is a big part of politics, OK? You had the problem with the WikiLeaks. The party put out a statement to Sanders' supporters. You signed it, as secretary --

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: An apology, right?

CUOMO: -- saying this was a mistake, this was wrong. How do you fix because you know what it goes to -- you know what it goes to, Mr. Mayor. It's not the simple substance of it, it's the suggestion. This is what the Sanders people felt all along, that the party was against them. How do you fix?

BILL DE BLASIO, MAYOR, NEW YORK CITY: I think the party did the right thing. Very decisive, quick actions. Obviously, Debbie Wasserman Schultz had to go and we needed that apology. The Sanders supporters deserved it. By the way, all Democrats deserved it. What we saw in those leaks did not represent our values.

So, one of the things you see that defines whether an issue is being addressed is speed and clarity. I think the Democratic Party did that decisively -- I really appreciate Stephanie's leadership in that -- and now we have to move forward.

Bernie Sanders couldn't have done better last night in terms of saying he stands for things, his movement stands for things, and they're going to keep working on those things but it is necessary to elect Hillary Clinton to actually achieve that progressive change.

CAMEROTA: Well, speaking of fix, I mean, let's talk about the problems in some of our major cities. In Baltimore -- obviously, there's issues everywhere. There's violent crime, there are issues between the police and the community, so what makes you think that Hillary Clinton has the answer for that?

RAWLINGS-BLAKE: I know for sure Donald Trump doesn't. He doesn't even understand the role of the federal government in the crime fight, which was clear in his -- in his speech. What I know for sure is that Hillary Clinton understands America's cities. We want to put people back to work. She's made a commitment to infrastructure. Those jobs cannot be outsourced.

I think it's a way for many of our challenged communities to put people back to work and allow them to make a way for themselves and their family. She gets it and she's looking out for the least of us, fighting for increase in minimum wage, fighting for paycheck equity. All of the things that matter to middle-class Americans and those who are trying to get into the middle-class.

CUOMO: Mr. Mayor, put your -- just keep your mayor hat on for one second because, obviously, you've got a Clinton hat on, as well. There's a lot of history there. You and the mayor from Baltimore represent one aspect of the Democratic Party, right? Your policies are urban, they are progressive, and they aggressive. That is not what Hillary Clinton is known for and that's part of the fight within your party. How do you meld where you want this party to be -- you two -- with where Hillary Clinton has been traditionally on it?

DE BLASIO: I think it's where the party is already today. I really believe this. When you look at the platform, it's the most progressive platform in decades. Now, the vast majority of that came right out of Hillary Clinton's own candidacy and platform. There was a good process with Bernie Sanders and his supporters to make a couple of additions and improvements.

The Democratic Party, at this point, has moved decisively to the left, there's no question about it. The American people have moved decisively to the left if you look at only of the polling, particularly on the economic issues, so I think it's happened organically. But the question is can Hillary be that messenger? Can she be that change agent?

I always take people back to 1993 and '94, that extraordinarily dramatic fight for health care reform which she fought against all odds, against millions upon millions of dollars of advertising being directed against her. The exact same dynamics you would associate with Bernie Sanders today. She took on corporate America, she had a tough fight, she asked for big change, she didn't prevail. But it was one of the reasons we later got to Obamacare because Hillary Clinton helped set that stage.

That, to me, is the perfect template for taking this Democratic Party progressive platform and bringing it into action. And does anyone doubt her toughness? That she could stand in the fire, even against powerful corporate forces and be able to make that change? I think that's an area where there's a lot of consensus in the party.

CAMEROTA: Donald Trump says these are scary times. Things are happening in this country and around the world that are scary. We're seeing terror attacks, it seems, every week. We're seeing police officers being shot. Is he wrong?

RAWLINGS-BLAKE: He's wrong if he thinks that we're going to have a better country or a great country by peddling fear.

DE BLASIO: Right. RAWLINGS-BLAKE: I want a president that inspires me, that encourages me. What we're seeing -- what we saw last week in Cleveland was, in my mind, shameful. We know that you will appeal to the worst in us if you peddle fear and peddle hate. You saw it. You saw the fervor in that crowd.

It's not an accident, you know, that they're using that to try to drum up support because they're certainly not expanding their tent. So they've got to make the people that, you know -- the few people that are left with him as excited as possible and they've chosen the worst way to do it, by peddling fear. That's not going to work.

DE BLASIO: Let me tell you, what Donald Trump said in Cleveland was, bluntly, fully disrespectful to American law enforcement. For him to paint a picture for the whole world to see of America in chaos and violence growing --

Our law enforcement community has done an extraordinary job over a quarter of a century and we're very proud in New York City to have the all-time lowest shootings, murders. We've seen incredible progress and what does he do? He denigrates the work of law enforcement by saying this country's on the verge of breaking down.

[07:35:00] CUOMO: He said he's defending --

RAWLINGS-BLAKE: By misrepresent -- by misrepresenting the national trend and statistics.

DE BLASIO: Exactly.

CUOMO: But he comes at you guys. He literally comes by name, certainly you, by name.

DE BLASIO: Oh yes, by name.

RAWLINGS-BLAKE: He mentioned Baltimore a few times.

CUOMO: Absolutely, because what he says is --

DE BLASIO: Badge of honor.

CUOMO: What he says is the reason the police are at risk is because of people like both of you pitting the citizens against the police and saying that the police were a --

RAWLINGS-BLAKE: Which is, again --

CUOMO: -- problem all the time.

RAWLINGS-BLAKE: Which is, again, a misrepresentation of our history. You know, before the very tragic death of Freddie Gray, I was out there very vocally, very front, fighting for Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights reform. Fighting with the Department of Justice, the cop's office, to get us closer with police-community relations.

You know, I don't wait for it to be a headline to hop on the issue like Trump does. And he needs to understand -- just like he was wrong with the national trends on crime, he's wrong with where we stand on trying to bridge that gap between the community and police. He thinks just by saying it, you know, saying these words -- disconnected words -- that it makes it a fact and it just doesn't.

DE BLASIO: He also -- look, in New York City we're adding 2,000 police officers. Just yesterday, with Commissioner Bratton, we announced new, heavy gear to protect our officers in active shooting situations, better weaponry, better vests. We're going to do everything that we can to protect our officers in this environment.

But the bigger picture is declining crime over two decades in this country and the very fair concerns that people are raising about police-community relations. By the way, a lot of our police community are trying to bridge that gap, too.

CUOMO: Sure.

DE BLASIO: And that was the truth. Obviously, we saw in Dallas a peaceful protest where police and community had been working so well together and then the tragedy occurred.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Mr. Mayor, Madam Mayor, thank you.

DE BLASIO: You're very welcome.

RAWLINGS-BLAKE: Thank you.

CUOMO: It's great to have you both here.

DE BLASIO: Thank you.

CUOMO: Thanks for being on NEW DAY. All right, so what did we see so far in the Democratic National Convention? Well, you certainly had diversity. You've got diversity in the hall and you had the diversity among the speakers on the first night. You've got to do a comparison, that's what an election is. How does it compare with what we saw at the RNC, and what will this contrast mean in November? The facts and potential, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:40:50] CUOMO: Donald Trump will not be overshadowed or outdone, even during the Democratic National Convention. He is out on the trail with his running mate, Mike Pence, the governor from Indiana, and he is talking about what is going on at this convention.

"Crooked Hillary" -- Trump even has a new nickname for Clinton. CNN's Sara Murray live in Charlotte with more. I'm doing the air quotes around "Crooked Hillary" but now I've got to shift to a new one. What's this new one?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Wow, good morning, Chris. Donald Trump has decided the best way to counterprogram the DNC is, of course, to go on the attack and he's doing that, in part, by slapping Hillary Clinton with a new nickname, calling her "Hillary Rotten Clinton" as he's on the campaign trail.

He also took some shots are her newly-minted running mate, Tim Kaine, as they were campaigning across Virginia yesterday. But you could tell that yesterday was just an opportunity for Trump to sort of revel in the disarray he saw unfolding at the Democratic National Convention.

But he also sees an opportunity here. He sees an opportunity to make his own pitch to Bernie Sanders' supporters, particularly ones who are worried about free trade agreements. This has been a cornerstone of Donald Trump's campaign.

And during the speeches last night he took to Twitter to express his feelings on the matter, as he is one to do, saying "Sad to watch Bernie Sanders abandon his revolution. We welcome all voters who want to fix our rigged system and bring back our jobs."

Now, Donald Trump is going to continue campaigning today, along with Mike Pence, here in North Carolina. Trump will be speaking here at the VFW. This is a group that Hillary Clinton addressed just a day earlier but, of course, Trump is betting he can bring this coalition into his fold, as well. Back to you, Chris and Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much, Sara. Meanwhile, Democrats trying to reach a wide range of voters. You saw that last night. They addressed addiction, the LGBTQ community, immigration, and the disabled.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANASTASIA SOMOZA, INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY RIGHTS ADVOCATE: Donald Trump doesn't see me, he doesn't hear me, and he definitely doesn't speak for me. (Cheers, applause) I am confident that, as our president, Hillary will do everything in her power to promote the rights, empowerment, and humanity of all Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Well, critics say that the Democratic Party focuses too heavily on identity politics. So, here to discuss this, CNN political commentator and vice-chair of the New York State Democratic Party, Christine Quinn. And, former lieutenant governor of South Carolina, Andre Bauer. Great to have both of you here.

ANDRE BAUER, FORMER LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, SOUTH CAROLINA, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Good morning.

CHRISTINE QUINN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: So, Governor, explain that. I mean, hearing from the disabled, hearing from gay folks, hearing from immigrants, is that identity politics or are they all Americans?

BAUER: Well, they're all Americans but they're doing what they need to do. They're reaching out and trying to hit the different segments of the population that they want to come out and vote for them, and they hit a lot of buttons last night. I thought, actually, Democrats did a great job. They started off with another terrible day and really started turning the ship around the other way.

And they had a lot of dynamic speakers. I thought at the beginning it was a little political-laden. A lot of politician, after politician, after politician, and I think a lot of folks, like me, we're starting to get sleepy but we were staying up because I wanted to see Bernie. And I thought Bernie delivered a great job.

But I think the major difference is the Democrats are really going after the voters. I think Donald Trump is creating new voters.

CUOMO: You know, Christine, let me ask you something. Walking around here last night, one of the things that I heard in unison, whether it was Sanders or Clinton people, was their objection to Mike Pence. I'm talking about the LGBTQ community. Their objection to Mike Pence almost exclusively -- not even the religious liberty laws -- conversion therapy. They kept saying that to me. You're not making enough of a deal of conversion therapy.

QUINN: Right.

CUOMO: But this matters, this matters. Why does conversion therapy -- literally, the therapeutic treatment of gay people to try to make them straight --

CAMEROTA: Come un-gay.

CUOMO: -- again, to un-gay them. Why does that matter so much?

[07:45:00] QUINN: It matters so much and it was endorsed in the Republican platform. It matters because, literally -- I mean, this is not an exaggeration. Many, many young people, after they've gone through "conversion therapy" or during it, take their lives.

It is a damaging psychological process that all important and significant psychiatric and psychological associations have condemned. In fact, in New York, Gov. Cuomo did an executive order banning the practice and banning any insurance reimbursement for it in New York.

It kills people, and I don't say this because I've read it in magazines or newspapers. I know people in the LGBT community in New York who have went through that when they were children. And they talk personally and frighteningly about how close they were to killing themselves because these so-called therapists are trying to push their soul out of them. They're trying to take who God made them to be and pull it out because it's bad, and force them to live a lie.

And you see in the Republican Party one of the most anti-gay platforms ever and a deep commitment to that. And I just want to say, relevant to that, the speakers last night -- if you're a member of a community -- a lesbian, a person of color, a disabled person, an undocumented immigrant and you have never really, or not always, been seen, been embraced, put on a stage, said you matter.

It makes a huge difference if you're on the stage of a national convention. It's really not about votes or politics, it's actually about affirming the identity of Americans and lifting people up and saying you matter. We see you, we say your name, and we're going to work with you to make your lives better.

CAMEROTA: So, Mr. Bauer, how does Donald Trump tackle that?

BAUER: Well, I think they touched on a lot of things last week, themselves. I thought the Republicans did a good job by hitting some high notes. I wish they --

CUOMO: What about on the platform, though? You may have to put conversion therapy on the platform.

BAUER: Well, let me assure you, if Andre was in charge of it, it wouldn't be in the platform.

CUOMO: You've got to own your party, though.

BAUER: I admire Mike Pence and his views but I think the Republican Party has some adapting to do. I think they need to focus on what really unites the Republican Party and those economical issues and those safety issues of the national defense.

And I think those are the core things that unite all Republicans, and in these years where we've seen our party maybe not be able to agree so much on issues, that was whereI thought they missed the boat a little bit.

CUOMO: That's the stick. That's the big stick that they're using on your party right now, is that you guys are tone deaf. You know, we're reading the news this morning and Alisyn and are I talking about priests being killed in the Normandy region of France. North Africa is on fire again with Al-Shabaab. Cops are getting attacked and killed all over the place and you guys are saying everything's fine.

How do you adjust to say that you recognize -- you see, to use your parlance -- those who are being victimized in America's society, economically or literally, and still have a message of hope that you say matters?

QUINN: Well, you know, I don't think anyone in the Democratic Party is saying everything is fine, right? But we're also saying we're not a horrendous country that needs to be made great again. We're saying we are the greatest country in the world but things aren't perfect and together, as the greatest country, we can make things better.

You know, this shooting in France, it is terrible. It feels like you turn the T.V. on every morning and there's another attack of some kind, some terror, some random shooting, but two things we need to take from that.

Whatever criticisms people may or may not have about Hillary's international record or international vision, her statements have never become part of a terrorist recruiting video, and we know there are reports of that for Donald Trump. We know there are terrorists out there who were saying Donald Trump is the best recruiting tool ever. You can never say that about Hillary Clinton.

And Donald Trump's response to the problems in the world is to say we're going to leave our historic alliances. NATO, one of the fundamental things that has held the world together after World War II -- that's irresponsible.

CAMEROTA: Christine Quinn, Andre Bauer, thanks so much for being with us here on NEW DAY. Great to see you both.

BAUER: Thank you.

QUINN: Thank you.

CUOMO: It's not the easy test to be at the other party's convention.

BAUER: I'm having fun, I'm having fun.

CUOMO: Appreciate you being here, Governor, honestly. Christine, as always.

QUINN: Thank you, Governor.

CUOMO: All right, so Bernie Sanders is calling for party unity. His former press secretary took to Twitter with a strong message to Bernie's supporters. What is that message? What is the response she got? She tells us, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:53:50] CUOMO: Are they united, are they united, are they united? That's what you hear here. The Sanders and Clinton supporters, so many of them feel cheated. That this emails that came out from WikiLeaks proved that the system was against them. But now what?

Now, there's pushback from Sanders' own team, specifically former press secretary, Symone Sanders, the best smile in the business, tweeting "But let me be clear. NO ONE STOLE THIS ELECTION! Team Sanders, we did AMAZING WORK. But we lost. It's a hard reality for some."Symone Sanders joins us now. Hello, sweetheart, good to have you.

SYMONE SANDERS, FORMER NATIONAL PRESS SECRETARY, BERNIE 2016: Thanks for having me.

CUOMO: Why did you feel the need to tweet that?

SANDERS: You know, I think that, clearly, we had a hard-fought primary and I participated. And we are at this Democratic Convention and this convention represents the belief that we're stronger together. But for some people, especially with the email leaks that were revealed via WikiLeaks, it's hard to grasp that concept.

So I believe that I have a responsibility as someone who believes in the party, who believes in the belief that we really are stronger together. Someone that's going to work very hard to make sure that Donald Trump is not the next president of the United States and that we do everything we can to elect Hillary Clinton as the next president.It's too, you know -- stand up and just tell the truth because there has been this idea that the election was stolen. [07:55:00] CUOMO: Not has been, is, is. People were saying it to me last night. They implicate the media in doing it.

SANDERS: But these people were saying it but it's not true. The election wasn't stolen. Now, I think what is definitely true and I think what has been underscored by these emails is that there are individuals, and there were individuals, that acted and that had biases. And they acted not in line with what the Democratic Party is about. That did not act in line in oaths that they took as officers, as staff members, and that has to be corrected.

And I have full confidence the DNC is going to do everything that they should be doing to make, of course, a correction. But saying that the election was stolen, that is just incorrect.

CUOMO: All right, what do you think of this criticism? Strong words, important words, wrong, Sanders saying them. That is not what Sen. Sanders said last night. He did not say and to all of you who say this election was stolen, it wasn't. And to all of you who believe that's not how it is -- he did not say that last night. And he didn't say and therefore you must, must, must go out and vote. He's getting credit for a full-throated endorsement. I didn't hear it. Your take?

SANDERS: You didn't hear a full-throated endorsement?

CUOMO: No.

SANDERS: I did, you know, so no.

CUOMO: Because he didn't say what you just said.

SANDERS: Senator Sanders didn't say what I said, but I'll tell you what he did say. What he did say is he went out there and he laid out the vision for our country under Sec. Clinton. He laid out -- and he laid out the issues. He talked about education, he talked about the economy.

Last night, the thing was the economy. He talked about that this country needs to work for hardworking American people and we need to do everything we can to make sure that the people in the middle and those at the bottom have just as much opportunity and are building wealth, just like those at the top. So that is what he did say.

He said that he believes that Sec. Clinton is right on these issues and he listed the issues. You know, it sounded like a Bernie Sanders stump speech making the case for Sec. Clinton. I think that's what we need out here going into the general.

CUOMO: All right.

SANDERS: The people that signed up for the political revolution signed up for the issues and Sen. Sanders went out there and underscored why he has endorsed Sec. Clinton because of the issues. I think that's what folks need to hear, in addition to that the election was not stolen. CUOMO: Well, someone who was being echoed a lot by the Sanders campaign last night wasn't so much the Senator, himself, but was Michelle Obama. The first lady spoke in a way that seemed to connect with everybody in the hall, to be fair to her. But, specifically, to the Sanders people about what the experience is, especially for being an African-American, for understanding her minority experience.One line, in particular, as you know, really captivated the house. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: The story of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation, but who kept on striving and hoping and doing what needed to be done so that today, I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves. And I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent black young women playing with their dog on the White House lawn. (Cheers, applause)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Now, I'm glad we played the full sound there because everybody this morning's been stopping it when she says "house built by slaves". And there was some negative reaction to that from the other party saying see, why is she calling the White House that? But when you finish the sound, it's look how far we've come, look what the struggle's about, look what the progress is. Why does this resonate with you and why did it mean so much on the floor?

SANDERS: Well, when I ran upstairs -- the moment that I was downstairs in the basements of the arena and I ran upstairs to just run out there and be on the floor to hear our fabulous first lady speak these words -- and I think it's important because, you know, the Obamas were the first African-American first family that we've had and they did not eradicate racism in this country, you know.

We don't live in this post-racial society where race doesn't matter, where the struggle is not there for people of color across this country, for women, and I think Michelle Obama went up there on that stage last night and she embodied everything that is great about America. She gave us hope but she also told us that we still have work to do.

And as a young African-American woman, to see the first lady standing up there stating the facts that I wake up every morning in a house built by slaves and that there is hope because Malia and Sasha -- that's hope. That's what this represents.

So, I thought it was an amazing moment. It brought me to tears in there, in the arena. I know it brought other people to tears and I think those are things that we need to hear. And the first lady went on to talk about that the enormous challenge that we have before us, but that we can do the work. We need to do what we did in 2008 and 2012 and in 2016. And you have to go, we have to vote the issues that are at stake. But she didn't paint a dismal picture like the Republicans did the

week prior to. What the first lady went out there and did is she gave us hope. She painted a picture of opportunity. That we have the power to continue to take this country to the next level and that made me so proud to be a Democrat.