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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Senator Elizabeth Warren Blasts Donald Trump; Pres. Obama Endorses Hillary Clinton; VP Biden Slams Trump on Judge Attacks; Trump Meets With Finance Team; "Never Trump" Convention Coup?; From Foes To Friends; Clinton And Pres. Obama: From Foes To Friends; "The Eighties": The AIDS Epidemic; New Global Plan To End AIDS Epidemic By 2030. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired June 09, 2016 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:04] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. Thanks very much for joining us.

We begin tonight with breaking news. Fiery attacks on Donald Trump over his attacks on a federal judge. Vice President Biden speaking now as well, we are listening in, we will bring you comments when he starts to talk about it.

And a tale of two parties, with the roles almost reversed. Democrats are doing what Republicans normally do at this point in the presidential campaign, falling in line behind the presumptive nominee and Republicans are still falling all over themselves dealing with Donald Trump, including clashing with him over campaign fundraising, and some are even trying to launch new plans to stop him at the convention in Cleveland. We will look at all of that tonight.

As for the Democrats, a different story today. Bernie Sanders met with President Obama. The president endorsed Secretary Clinton, so is Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren tonight, who lashed out at Trump at the American Constitution Society's national convention. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Trump tells everyone who will listen that he is a great businessman. But let's be honest, he is just a guy who inherited a fortune and kept it rolling along by cheating people.

Now, Trump also whined that he is being treated unfairly because the judge happens to be, can you believe, Mexican. And when he got called out, he doubled down by saying I'm building a wall, it is an inherent conflict of interest.

He has personally, personally directed his army of campaign surrogates to step up their own public attacks on Judge Curiel. He's even condemned federal judges who are Muslim on the disgusting theory that Trump's own bigotry compromises the judge's neutrality.

Trump is picking on someone that's ethically bound not to defend himself, exactly what you would expect from a thin-skinned racist bully.

No, Donald, what you are doing is a total disgrace. Race baiting a judge who spent years defending America from the terror of murderers and drug traffickers simply because long ago his family came to America from somewhere else, you, Donald Trump, are a total disgrace.

Donald Trump is a loud, nasty, thin-skinned fraud who has never risked anything for anyone and who serves no one but himself. And that is just one of the many reasons he will never be president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: That's Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren moments ago.

Now, as we said, Vice President Biden will be speaking at the same event. We're going to bring you the highlights as they happen. He hasn't there begun to speak.

Now, all of this comes at the end of a very big day for Hillary Clinton and her party. More now on how the Democrats in the space of barely a day got to this point.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to congratulate Hillary Clinton on making history.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the sidelines no more, President Obama offering a full-throated endorsement tonight of Hillary Clinton.

OBAMA: In fact, I don't think there's been anyone so qualified to hold this office. And I'm with her. I am fired up, and I cannot wait to get out there and campaign for Hillary.

ZELENY: Hillary Clinton welcoming the news on Twitter, writing, "Honored to have you with me, POTUS. I'm fired up and ready to go."

Democrats falling in line quickly, united around the idea of stopping Donald Trump.

The president's blessing coming just hours after meeting with Bernie Sanders today in the Oval Office. The visit included a walk along the White House colonnade, a courtesy normally afforded to visiting heads of state.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me begin by thanking President Obama and thanking Vice President Biden for the degree of impartiality they established during the course of this entire process.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator, welcome back. ZELENY: Sanders also returning to a place Democratic leaders want

him, back on Capitol Hill, meeting with Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and others.

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: I don't think Bernie Sanders is holding out for anything. I think he's somebody that's interested in changing the direction of the country.

ZELENY: It was a day long sign of respect and leverage for Sanders after winning 22 states and aggressively challenging Clinton. Sanders didn't directly address plans to suspend his campaign, but did signal he is ready to unite Democrats against the presumptive Republican nominee.

SANDERS: Needless to say, I am going to do everything in my power and I will work as hard as I can to make sure that Donald Trump does not become president of the United States.

ZELENY: Trump also taking it in, tweeting, "Obama just endorsed crooked Hillary. He wants four more years of Obama, but nobody else does."

[20:05:07] Clinton firing back, "Delete your account."

Rivals for years, Sanders and Clinton will soon come together.

SANDERS: I look forward to meeting with her in the near future.

ZELENY: Clinton wants and needs his help, particularly firing up voters as he did across the country.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm looking forward to working with him to achieve our common goal, which is to defeat Donald Trump and Senator Sanders has said he will work every day, every week to see that happen.

ZELENY: Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: About those tweets, especially the delete your account one from the Hillary Clinton campaign. If you wonder what that means, "The New York Times" explains it for all of us older folks. Quote, "It translates roughly as your tweet or opinion is so bad you should be immediately disqualified from further participation in the platform."

Whether that's how Trump took it, he came back with this, "How long did it take your staff of 823 people to think that up and where are your 33,000 e-mails that you deleted?" And a real walk and a snarl for both sides today.

Joining us, senior political commentator and former top Obama advisor, David Axelrod. He's also the host of CNN.com podcast "The Axe Files". With us as well, former 2008 Clinton senior campaign adviser, Maria Cardona. CNN political analyst David Gregory, is joining us, host of "David Gregory Show" podcast, and Trump supporter Kayleigh McEnany is joining us as well.

So, David Axelrod, those endorsements from Obama, from Elizabeth Warren, today, Senator Sanders not endorsing or dropping out, but saying he looks forward to meeting with Secretary Clinton about how to defeat Trump. It's not a bad day for the Clinton campaign.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: To say the least.

This was a great day for the Clinton campaign. It really spoke to the consolidation or the beginning of consolidation of the Democratic base after a long, spirited primary. And the president's endorsement was expected but still I'm sure a very welcome and important.

I think the most encouraging thing was Senator Sanders' rhetoric after he left the White House, the Clinton campaign short of endorsement which nobody expected at this moment could not have scripted his remarks better, they certainly sent a strong signal that he will be out there this fall working hard elect her and defeat Donald Trump. So, it was a big day for her.

COOPER: Maria, it's interesting. We just said, you know, Donald Trump tweeted about the endorsement minutes after it happened, he and Secretary Clinton have been in a Twitter war ever since. Clearly, they're going to use the endorsement to their benefit, obviously in two different ways.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, absolutely. I think what you're seeing is that the whole of the Democratic Party, you know, what we call the Democratic dream team is coming together because they know how serious of a threat Donald Trump is.

So, you have Hillary, you have Bill Clinton, you have today the president of the United States, soon you'll have the vice president, you'll have the first lady, Michelle Obama, you'll have the second lady as well out there, Nancy Pelosi endorsed her earlier this week, Harry Reid will be on her side.

You know, these are people who understand how serious it is, the threat of Donald Trump in the White House. They're coming together to make sure that we underscore how critical it is for Americans to defend American values and what Democrats represent versus what Trump represents. So, this whole dream team to me is welcome to Thunderdome, Mr. Trump.

COOPER: David Gregory, do you think it is only a matter of time before Bernie Sanders either comes out and concedes and endorses Secretary Clinton, says he is pushing forward to the D.C. primary next week, which is obviously the final primary. Any chance he'll actually still take it all the way to the convention?

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I don't think so. I think by the body language today, the tone he struck today, as David Axelrod just mentioned, that he is preparing to endorse. I mean, this was a picture of a Democratic Party firing all cylinders with Elizabeth Warren at the tip of the spear as you played it a couple minutes ago. But I think Bernie Sanders is dealing with first of all. First of

all, he wants maximum influence, he was given his due today, which he deserves, for being head of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, and he also has -- and this is important for Hillary Clinton -- he wants to make sure he doesn't rush this on behalf of all his supporters who may not be as far along as he might be in getting on board.

David Axelrod said months ago it is important for the Clinton campaign to build a bridge that allows Sanders supporters to walk over. They need time to do that. And it is going to take more than him saying, OK, I met with everybody, I am prepared to do this, he's got to respect those supporters.

COOPER: Kayleigh, interesting none of the former Republican presidents or presidential nominees are out there at this point campaigning for Donald Trump and Secretary Clinton has the last two sitting Democratic presidents, President Obama and her husband in her corner. Do you think that's a problem for Trump or does he actually prefer not having their support?

[20:10:02] KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: In some ways, he probably prefers not having the support, because look, he ran against the establishment. He ran against Republican leadership. He ran against Washington.

We saw every one of the exit polls, a large majority of the Republican electorate that was angry at their own party. So, Donald Trump ran against this idea, it is not surprising you don't see figures, Republican leaders rally around him.

But what's notable is that if you look at the last six nominees, FiveThirtyEight did an analyst, that the last six Republican nominees, you find Donald Trump has the second highest support among Republican voters at this point after clinching the nomination. Only person who had a slightly larger coalition of Republican voters at this point was Mitt Romney.

So, Donald Trump is on pace where he needs to be with Republican voters, that's what matters. You can see the Democratic leaders come around Hillary Clinton at this point, but Democratic leaders coming around Hillary Clinton is a lot different than Democrat voters. And polls show it is hard for her to coalesce Democrat voters.

COOPER: David Axelrod, do you agree with what Kayleigh said? I mean, does it not matter that Donald Trump doesn't have the other Republican candidates out there?

AXELROD: Well, here's the problem with Kayleigh's analysis, Mitt Romney lost.

CARDONA: Exactly.

(LAUGHTER)

AXELROD: He lost because the Republican base wasn't large enough to win a general election. His challenge now is to go beyond the base and signal to voters who aren't sure that this is a safe place for them to be.

And the last week has been discouraging to them, he scared off a lot of Republicans who originally showed some interest in supporting him. So, as good a week as Hillary Clinton has had, this has been a bad week for Donald Trump.

That doesn't mean that there won't be twists and turns in the road, there will. As sure as we're sitting here, we're going to be talking about ups and downs for both candidates, and this really won't settle in until much later.

But as of now in this week, on this day, this has been a good run for Hillary Clinton.

MCENANY: But the flip side of that is George W. Bush, and George H.W. Bush both won, and Donald Trump has a larger portion of Republican voters coalesced around him than both of those nominees did, one month after clinching the nomination. This is a very good sign for Donald Trump.

People talk about the Never Trump movement, or dethroning him at the convention, or however you'd like to say, it is not going to happen. Voters have coalesced around this candidate and he is a formidable force.

CARDONA: The Bushes won because they put together a coalition of nonwhite voters, and there's no way at this point that there's a path for Donald Trump to do that, especially with the kinds of comments we know he loves to make.

MCENANY: I think there is a path forward. There's double digit unemployment for minorities, double digit unemployment for millennials. That's because there is --

(CROSSTALK)

CARDONA: There is not double digit unemployment.

MCENANY: Yes, there is.

CARDONA: There's not. There's not, Kayleigh.

MCENANY: There's real unemployment out there.

COOPER: Guys, nobody listens to you when you talk over each other. You know, let's just take a quick break.

We are waiting for Vice President Biden to make a campaign news. He is talking to a group of constitutional lawyers. So, it could take a while. We will bring you that when he does.

Next, more on the impact of President Obama's endorsement and what a change it was from their relationship eight years ago.

And later, Trump's day and the latest effort from within his party to stop him. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:16:54] COOPER: The breaking news, the fiery attack on Donald Trump from Senator Elizabeth Warren tonight and the beginning of one right now from Vice President Biden. We're listening in. We'll bring you the best of it in a moment.

Back with the panel.

Talking about a big day for the Clinton campaign, including a toned down Bernie Sanders after his meeting with President Obama and fired up president eagerly endorsing the woman who was once, as we'll show you in detail later, his toughest critic and bitter rival.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Even after our own hard fought campaign in a testament to her character, she agreed to serve our country as secretary of state.

And from the decision we made in the Situation Room to get bin Laden, to our pursuit of diplomacy in capitals around the world, I have seen her judgment, I have seen her toughness, I have seen her commitment to our values up close. I've seen her determination to give every American a fair shot at opportunity, no matter how tough the fight was. That's what has always driven her and it still does.

So, I want those of you with me from the beginning of this incredible journey to be the first to know that I'm with her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Back with the panel.

David Axelrod, I mean, you know as much as anyone on this subject how rough and tumble primary season can be, taking Senator Sanders into account. I mean, do you think we will see a unity moment here between Clinton and himself, something we saw in Unity, New Hampshire, in 2008 between Clinton and Obama?

AXELROD: Well, I do think that you'll see that moment. I think David Gregory was quite right that Bernie Sanders isn't just an individual here. He's the trustee of a movement he helped create in this campaign. He doesn't want to get too far in front of that movement.

But he also clearly is committed to the notion that Democrats have to win this election in the fall. And I expect at some point, you're going to see the two of them together as you saw Obama and Hillary Clinton together in Unity in 2008.

But I have to tell you, Anderson, what I'm thinking about as I listened to that video is the day that Senator Obama, President-elect Obama told some of us that he wanted to make Hillary Clinton secretary of state. I have to confess, there was a kind of "say what" moment and he explained that he felt she was a friend before she was an opponent, she was smart, she was capable, she'd be loyal, and she would be someone who could land in foreign capitals and be taken seriously as he tended to the economy.

COOPER: David --

AXELROD: So it was a very big thing.

COOPER: David, let's listen to Joe Biden right now, the vice president speaking.

JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because he says judge ruled against him in light of his anti-Mexican proposals.

Mr. Trump isn't unique in attempting to intimidate the federal judiciary in the case. Other private citizens tried to pressure the judiciary from time to time. But not private citizens who are placed in close range of the White House by one of our great political parties.

[20:20:10] It's one thing for a private citizen to attempt to throw his economic or political weight around as an unelected official, to try to influence, help him demolish his adversary, a phrase he often used, by this particular fellow, in a judicial proceeding.

It's quite another for the presumptive candidate of a major party to do the same thing. They will say, Joe, and folks, I have not been out responding to in my capacity as vice president to anything that Mr. Trump has said, but it is my view that a presidential candidate that publicly attacks a sitting federal judge who ruled in a way that was against his own economic interests cannot be trusted to respect the independence of the judiciary as a president.

And, again, you may view this as --

(APPLAUSE)

I'm sure for those saying with good reason I think that's a harsh judgment, but there's no real connection here, let's look at what that presumptive nominee said. His own words.

After calling the judge presiding over a fraud suit against him a total disgrace, Mr. Trump said and I quote, these are his act words, but, quote, "but we will come back in November. Wouldn't that be wild if I'm president and I come back and do a civil case?" He went on to say, ad I'm quoting, "Wouldn't it be wild as president to come back in November to do a civil case?"

How can that be interpreted in any other way that as a direct threat? These are words of someone who sees our federal judiciary not as an independent branch of government, but as a tool for him to manipulate so he can do what he calls deal with the laws of our country. These are words in my view of one who would defy the courts if they ruled against him as president -- not just in a business case but a case challenging government abuse of power, raising the specter of, quote, "coming back in November," quote, "doing a civil case." The oval office is not so veiled a threat, it is a direct threat. And to use the office of the presidency, were he to acquire it to intimidate and undermine an independent judiciary would be blatant unconstitutional abuse of power. Either Mr. Trump which is possible doesn't understand -- I mean that sincerely, he's a bright guy, I'm not saying that, not pretending. But he either doesn't understand because this is a realm in which he has never dealt before or he doesn't care, that it would border on an impeachable offense for a president actually to use the great powers of the office to attempt to undermine a federal judge by placing pressure on that judge in any case, especially one the president has in this case a personal financial stake.

This kind of conduct is pernicious and unprecedented.

COOPER: Vice President Joe Biden speaking in Washington, D.C.

David Gregory, I mean, as we listen to Vice President Biden there, he is just one person who was going to be on the stump. Clearly, Elizabeth Warren is going to be out there, I assume senator Sanders, President Obama, and others, not to mention whoever the vice presidential pick is, what do you think the campaign is going to look like, though, on Donald Trump's side?

I mean, do you think he is going to have -- obviously they have surrogates on television, he will continue to have large events, but will there be the equivalent of Elizabeth Warren, of equivalent of President Obama, of Vice President Biden out speaking for Donald Trump, doing events to be a force multiplier for Donald Trump?

GREGORY: Well, I presume there will be, but it's difficult to see how Trump gets from where he is now to that point, because even though he has consolidation within the Republican Party and Republican voters who are voting for him and supporting him, the Republican establishment is in turmoil over his racist remarks against Judge Curiel for one thing, for his disarray as a campaign, for lack of strategic direction.

[20:25:28] I mean, you heard one congressman today say there are people that might be endorsing Donald Trump that may not want to wear a t-shirt for him. So, he doesn't have his act together. He has done a lot to consolidate the party but he's got now almost two full weeks where he has completely wasted a political opportunity to define Hillary Clinton.

And what does Hillary Clinton have? You saw that clip earlier with President Obama. The president who was 50 percent in the approval ratings, who can campaign for her, and do a lot to deliver the coalition of young people, minorities, and women, that brought him to a second term in 2012 and deliver that to Hillary Clinton.

COOPER: Kayleigh, what do you think of that? I mean, how do you see the campaign on Trump's side, by the convention the vice presidential pick will be out campaigning aggressively? Do you think he has other people in his pocket lined up who are going to be out there and who will be out there? MCENANY: I do. I think you've seen Chris Christie be a powerful

advocate. You've seen Mike Huckabee, Jeff Sessions. He does have some powerful advocates on his side.

But I do think the convention will be a linchpin moment, because it's going to be a big, grandiose event. I think it's going to have much higher ratings than what we saw last time around. That was a poorly rated convention. It was not very exciting.

I think it's going to be a big moment of coming together. But in order for that to happen, I do think it's important for Mr. Trump to make sure to focus on issues, to deliver some of the little more scripted speeches, but not lose his off the cuff demeanor that makes him popular as an outsider figure. Delivering some of those speeches and making this convention of coalescing moment, I think it's going to be a turning point and a big moment of coming together for party leadership because voters are together but for leadership.

COOPER: We've got to take a quick break. We're going to have more from our panel coming up.

Donald Trump's late start on fundraising, is colliding with more heat from top Republicans. His finance team held its first meeting today in New York, as new talk of some sort of a convention coup is bubbling up again. We'll take a look as -- is there any truth or reality to that idea?

More ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:31:18] COOPER: Well, Donald Trump met today in New York with dozens of top fund-raisers and potential donors notable because it was the first time his nation finance team has come together. Typically these type meetings happen long before presidential contender actually declares their candidacy.

Trump's lead star in fund raising it's colliding with fire storm obviously over his comments about that federal judge. While he was meeting today with potential donors, some top Republicans in Washington beyond continued criticism of his remarks about Judge Gonzalo Curiel. And as we mentioned earlier, there's a new talk of a coup of sorts at the Republican convention next month in Cleveland.

Some GOP officials and never Trump pundits are pushing for changing the party's rules on delegates to allow them to vote for whoever they choose. Others within the GOP are calling set to talk a total fancy, a lot to discuss.

Joining me, a CNN political commentator, Amanda Carpenter, who is a former communications director for Senator Ted Cruz, CNN delegate and analyst, and a former chief of staff of the RNC Mike Shields, Michael Gerson, a former speech writer for President George W. Bush who's now opinion columnist "The Washington Post", and back with us CNN political commentator and Trump supporter Kayleigh McEnany. So Mike Shields, all of this chatter from the Never Trump Movement about -- a some sort of a coup at the convention, is that even possible I mean to actually change convention rules so bound delegates don't have to vote for Trump at the convention?

MIKE SHIELDS, CNN DELEGATE ANALYST: Possible, yes. It is possible. Likely, no. It is possible, the delegates at the convention make their own rules up for their convention and they make all of the decisions about what's going to happen at the convention. So certainly at the rules meeting at the convention they could unbind the delegates, they could change the thresholds for the nomination, they could do a lot of things. It would then have to go to the full convention floor, and get 50 percent of the delegates to vote for it.

Many of delegates are not necessarily people as we heard before that are Trump supporters, there are a lot of Cruz delegates but those delegates are really going to be looking to leadership and the party about what to do for something like this. And I think you would have to have people that have previously supported Trump come out against him, you would have to have, you know, 20 governors come out against him, 20 senators, something like that.

You know, he's had a bad week, and if he had some people criticizing him. A lot of them the same people that have already been criticizing him. I don't think we're anywhere close to critical mass where that sort of thing is likely to happen, it would just be so difficult to pull something like that off.

Now, it's in Donald Trump's hands is to whether or not that stays there. He's got to now perform as a candidate and lead the party. And I think every Republican who's running on the ticket with Donald Trump should be encourage that he starting to listen to party chairman Reince Priebus more, they're trying to focus more on Hillary Clinton.

I think actually Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton did Republicans a huge favor today by knocking everything else off the news, and reminding Republicans of the one thing that's going to unify us up and down the ticket, which is that we wanted to stop a third term of Barack Obama, we want to stop Hillary Clinton. As long as that's the message, actually Republicans are get pretty unified and as long as our nominee doesn't have a week and two weeks like he just had, he won't have to worry about it. So, is it technically possible, yes, but very, very unlikely.

COOPER: Amanda, I mean clearly your no fan of Donald Trump's, do you agree with Mike on that though that the idea of a some sort of a coup with the convention? I mean it would cause outrage even if it was possible, it would cause huge outrage among Donald Trump supporters.

AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Sure. But this is the kind of environment where something like this could happen. Something significant did happen earlier today. The New Yorkers Ryan Lizza told Wolf Blitzer on the air that Maine female Senator Susan Collins said she was open to voting for Hillary Clinton. That is a major development. When you have sitting U.S. senators saying that they may vote for Hillary Clinton. And that is not lost on Elizabeth Warren. If you saw her speech earlier last hour, she made a point of tying Donald Trump around the neck of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. She is going to sit in the Senate, and make his life miserable. And make every senator own Donald Trump and they're going to lose the Senate, they keep going this way.

[20:35:05] And so what I would like to see at the convention, I think it would be a completely fair way of doing this, there should be a vote of no confidence for Donald Trump. If more than 50 percent of delegates are not confident with Donald Trump as a nominee, then we should -- look at other options. You could reasonably limit it to people who have already ran for president this cycle and let it be decided, let it be decided if we're united as a party behind the nominee or not. And Donald Trump may very well survive that, but let's get everyone on record so we can resolve this once and for all.

COOPER: Kayleigh, a little hard for Elizabeth Warren to try to link Donald Trump right now to Mitch McConnell -- Mitch McConnell who is actually just even today again been very critical of Donald Trump in his comments about the judge.

MCENANY: He has been critical, but where I really respect Mitch McConnell, is he realizes that he is only in the position his in, his only a majority leader because Republican voters put him there. And my hat off to him for saying Republican voters have spoken, they want Donald Trump as the nominee. I am going to, you know, in a sense bow to voters who put me here and say I'm going to give your nominee a chance. That's what every leader should be doing and I really respect him and others like Bob Dole and other leaders in our party, Rick Perry, the list goes on and on, who recognize that the voters are what make up the party.

COOPER: Michael Gerson, I mean where do you stand on all this? I mean obviously Donald Trump has not had a great week or two, you know, and the Democrats have been able to kind of, you know, capture a lot of momentum perhaps or at least the, you know, kind of cohesion.

But do you actually, I mean it seems like to the point of Mike, if Donald Trump just basically kind of starts to follow the RNC a little more, a lot of Republicans, if he doesn't give them reason to get farther away, they're going to stick with him.

MICHAEL GERSON, FORMER SPEECHWRITER FOR PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, I mean, if they haven't gagged so far after so much, I'm not sure what it would take under these circumstances. You know, Republicans have been treating this is though it's a normal cycle, like you have to make compromises, hold your nose, get past this difficult period. It's not a normal period.

The Republican Party is determining whether they will run with a nominee that has made as a central part of his message an appeal to racism. That is a defining choice on the part of the Republican Party. And, you know, right now Republicans are finding that he owns them. They own his prejudice. It's impossible to lay low and to escape the taint of trouble. That's not going to happen. So I haven't seen any sign however of the critical mass that Mike talks about which I think is necessary, it would require, for example, Paul Ryan to go back on his decision. He would need to lead in this circumstance. I think that's very, very difficult. Very unlikely.

COOPER: Yeah. I appreciate everybody.

Up next, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton seems to really, really like each other now, certainly was not always so as we all know, the long and complicated path that led the president to the endorsement of Hillary Clinton today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:42:05] COOPER: As we've been talking about, Hillary Clinton got a big endorsement today from President Obama. It has not always been a lovefest (ph) certainly between Clinton-Obama, their relationship has evolved over the years to put it gently it's not a stretch at all to say they've come full circle.

Randi Kaye looks back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Campaign 2008, the gloves officially came off. Barack Obama was a junior senator from Illinois, a fresh face, the party's rising star. Then Senator Hillary Clinton was quick to knock his lack of experience, hitting him on foreign policy, using his early years in Indonesia.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESUMPTIVE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE: And with all due respect, I don't think living in a foreign country between the ages of six and 10 is foreign policy experience.

KAYE: Clinton lost Iowa, but won New Hampshire, where Obama made this comment at a debate before the primary.

CLINTON: He is very likeable. I agree with that. I don't think I'm that bad.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You're likeable enough ...

CLINTON: Thank you so much.

OBAMA: ... Hillary, no doubt about it.

CLINTON: I appreciate that.

KAYE: As the fight grew even more bitter, Clinton accused her rival of plagiarism after he delivered parts of a speech previously given by then Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick.

CLINTON: Lifting whole passages from someone else's speeches is not change you can believe in, it is change you can Xerox. KAYE: Mr. Obama admitted it was wrong, but called Clinton's charges desperate. Obama went onto denounce Clinton's vote in favor of the Iraq war and just days before the Ohio primary the bema campaign attacked her on health care and NAFTA.

CLINTON: Shame on you, Barack Obama. It is time you ran a campaign consistent with your messages in public. That's what I expect from you. Meet me in Ohio.

KAYE: Clinton won the Ohio primary in part because of this campaign ad questioning Obama's readiness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is 3:00 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep, but there's a phone in the White House and it's ringing.

KAYE: On guns, Obama poked fun at Clinton for suddenly championing the Second Amendment.

OBAMA: Shame on her, she knows better. She is running around talking in about how this is an insult to sports men, how she values the Second Amendment. She's talking like she's and Annie Oakley.

KAYE: That same month, Clinton slammed Obama for his friendship with Bill Ayres, who was accused of setting off bombs in opposition of the Vietnam War. She also went after him about his relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright who after 9/11 famously said, "America's chickens are coming home to roost."

Then in June, 2008 Obama sealed the nomination, after a brief thaw, this show of unity from the former rivals in New Hampshire. By the time they reached the convention, Clinton was singing Obama's praises.

[20:45:00] CLINTON: When Barack Obama is in the White House, he'll revitalize our economy.

KAYE: The partnership continued with President Obama making Clinton his secretary of state.

OBAMA: She possesses an extraordinary intelligence, and a remarkable work ethic.

KAYE: When she left that role, the two sat down for this "60 Minutes" interview.

STEVE KROFT, "60 MINUTES" HOST: How would you characterize your relationship right now?

OBAMA: I consider Hillary a strong friend.

KAYE: A friend who is counting on the outgoing president's support.

Randi Kaye, conn, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Up next, new global plan to fight HIV and AIDS. And wipe it out for good. We'll look at the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, a decade of sorting heartache, deadly ignorance from some, open-hatred, raw terror, but also think a deep, deep compassion.

A decade that sparks a movement. I'll speak with a writer/journalist Andrew Sullivan, that's been on the front lines.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, this week, world leaders at the UN Conference have adopted an aggressive plan to try end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. Right now, the UN and U.S. makes nearly 37 million people are living with HIV and AIDS around the world.

Another 2.1 million people will become infected with the HIV each year. And about half that number will die, the AIDS-related causes mostly because of lack of access to the life saving drugs, it made HIV a chronic condition and not a death sentence.

[20:50:04] Drugs we take for granted here. That's where we are today. It has been 35 years since first cases of what was then a mysterious new disease were report in the U.S. In a few minutes at the top of the hour, you'll see just how far we have come in the latest episode of the CNN Original Series: "The Eighties." Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM BROKAW, NBC NEWS: Scientists at the National Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta today released the results of a study which shows that the life-style of some male homosexuals has triggered an epidemic.

ROBERT BAZELL, NBC NEWS: Bobbi Campbell of San Francisco and Billy Walker of New York both suffer from a mysterious newly discovered disease which effects mostly homosexual men.

DR. PAUL VOLBERDING, SAN FRANCISCO GENERAL HOSPITAL: Our best guess is that it is somehow related to gay life-style.

BOBBI CAMPBELL, PATIENT: I was in the fast lane at one time in terms of the way that I lived my life, and now I'm not.

BAZELL: Researchers know of 413 people who have contracted the condition in the past year. One-third died, none have been cured.

DR. JAMES CURRAN, CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL: All of us who saw patients in those days shared a sense of desperation as we saw more and more people become affected and there is simply be no hope once they became ill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Recently I spoke with Andrew Sullivan, contributing editor to New York Magazine and author of the deeply moving AIDS a memoir, "Love Undetectable: Notes on Friendship, Sex and Survival."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: Andrew, how difficult is it do you think to explain what happened in the 1980s and also it's important to point out the 1990s as well to people who didn't live through it, who weren't bearing witness to the -- I mean to the deaths of friends and lovers and to the fear and vitriol and injustice and uncertainty that defined that decade for so many gay Americans and others.

ANDREW SULLIVAN, AUTHOR, "LOVE UNDETECTABLE: NOTES ON FRIENDSHIP, SEX AND SURVIVAL.": Well, you know, it is hard for us who survived it to remember quite just how terrifying it was. I remember the time when I was diagnosed talking to my then boyfriend, who had also just been diagnosed, and telling each other whatever happens, if this does work out, if we do survive this, can we please never forget how terrified we are right now.

It was a terrifying time. This was not just a single disease, it was a multiplicity of diseases, all of which were horrifying whether a friend of mine just woke up one morning and couldn't tie his shoe laces because he had toxoplasmosis in his brain.

A friend of mine woke up one day and found that he was -- couldn't hold his food at all, and slowly starved over the next year or so because of cryptosporidium. A small little parasite in the water that is still there and most people can tolerate, with suddenly sores, can't breathe.

Anything could come at you. It's like being in the jungle, waiting for something to come out and snare you. And there was no cure, there was no treatment. So we were all just waiting to die. And it built and built each year, more and more of us were dying.

I mean I had dated four people who died. My best friend was diagnosed roughly the same time as I was and died two years later, and I am still sitting here 23 years later.

So there was also a lot of guilt of survival but also just an incredible solidarity among gay men and lesbians and our families or at least some of our families in confronting what was just an overwhelming and omnipresent threat.

COOPER: I mean I was in high school in, you know, '81to '85 in the early years and had just, you know, was just come out to friends, was just, you know, sort of accepting myself.

And I just remember the fear of not knowing how it's transmitted, the fear of that kept one almost isolated physically from other people because you just didn't know what the root of transmission was.

SULLIVAN: No, you didn't. And you just knew also that it was affecting primarily gay men. So it was really hard not to internalize it as some sort of something that we deserved.

I mean that was what we've been told our entire lives, that's what the culture was telling us.

COOPER: And that message was also being given out by, you know, with thinkers of the day, by folks on T.V.

SULLIVAN: Well Patrick Buchanan famously said that the homosexuals have declared war on nature and our nature has declared war back on them.

COOPER: Do you worry that the more years that passed that now the HIV is thankfully, you know, a chronic condition but it's still a life altering condition. Does -- do you fear that people have forgotten, particularly young gay men, particularly those who are most vulnerable and most vulnerable communities?

SULLIVAN: Well I have two feelings. One is that I am just thrilled like anybody who lived through that time would be thrilled, that they don't have to worry the way we had to worry. It is not a diagnosis the way it was in the '80s or '90s.

[20:54:59] At the same time, I'm kind of staggered at how there's almost no memory of this. There's been a complete amnesia about it. The younger generation aren't even interested. That there are no memorials.

COOPER: That astounds me. I mean you think about the, you know, Cleve Jones as a -- the quilt, which was this incredible thing, you know, that hasn't been displayed in decades I think and there are no memorials, there are no monuments to those -- the generation of people who have died.

SULLIVAN: I can't tell you how discouraging it is to talk to young gay men and to have them seem almost bored by these old stories and wanting to move on. And I understand how wonderful it is to live in an era in which this kind of horrifying disease is no longer the reality.

But not to remember the hundreds of thousands of young men who died, not to remember their struggle, not to see them as integral to our current moment who created this gay culture that we live in today, so mainstream, so integrated.

It seems to me a crying shame. And I think that many of us in the gay community want to revive that sense of memory and to do honor to the people who died. And I think things like this documentary will help bring to people a sense that it was so frightening and so devastating and so tragic for so many people and yet we pulled through.

COOPER: All right, Andrew Sullivan. Andrew, thank you.

SULLIVAN: You bet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Andrew and I talk more about what it was like and also about the importance of getting tested if you don't know your status and taking medication. And if you do know your status, you can watch the entire conversation with the android ac360.com.

"THE EIGHTIES" starts at the top of the hour. I'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)