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Candidates Swarm New Hampshire After Iowa Caucus Chaos; Biden Opens Up on Struggling with Stuttering; Latino Dad Interrupted by Parent's Racist Remark at Diversity Meeting; Trump Administration Suspends Travel Programs in N.Y. over Immigration Law. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired February 06, 2020 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: And even on a conference call with supporters telling them that this has been a victory for his campaign but warning them that the race is about to get even tighter.
Over to you, Kyung.
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm in a snowy Manchester, New Hampshire, with the Klobuchar campaign. The Senator from Minnesota holding a foreign policy round table that is ahead of a CNN town hall appearance that she will be having this evening.
Now, with five days left to go before the New Hampshire primary, her campaign, they're touting a couple of things out of the Iowa caucuses.
One, yes, they admit they are in fifth place at the finish of those caucuses, but they say look at where she is finishing in fifth place. It's very close to Joe Biden. It will likely be even tighter.
This campaign also saying it will be in the double-digits, a double- digit finish, which will beat where the polls had placed her.
And as the campaign pivots now and as the campaign pivots now to New Hampshire, what this campaign is looking at are moderates and Independents, two groups that this Senator has had success with in the past.
Even with her geographic disadvantages this campaign says they hope to beat expectations in this state.
Now, to my colleague, Leyla Santiago, who is also in the state.
LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm covering the Warren campaign, where we're really seeing her not focused on Iowa anymore but focused on New Hampshire.
Five days away from the primary here, and she's really leaning into the electability argument that he's making, making herself or trying to make herself known to voters as the person who can beat President Donald Trump. We certainly saw that last night in the town hall when a voter asked
her if she believed that a man thought that he had more odds of beating Trump,. She said, "I think they think so but they would be wrong."
I've spent some time talking to her surrogates who are also pushing the electability factor. And are also saying that she can unite the party and that she can appeal to the working class through her life story as someone who grew up in Oklahoma and worked her way up.
That's very key to understanding what the campaign believes is the right messaging to push to New Hampshire voters as they get ready to head to the polls.
Tonight, we will see her at a get out-the-vote event in Derry.
Brooke, back to you.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Thanks to our CNN ladies on the trail.
Tune in tonight for another big CNN town hall event. Senator Bernie Sanders kicks it all off, 8:00 Eastern, only here on CNN.
Still ahead this afternoon, that emotional video of Joe Biden discussing his battle with stuttering as a child. We'll play that for you.
And here is an immigrant success story. A father of three goes to the school meeting about racism, and another father greets him with racism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED PARENT; Why didn't you stay in Mexico?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You need to leave!
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: We will talk to that father standing there about this exchange.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:36:48]
BALDWIN: This is quite a moment. Former Vice President Joe Biden really opened up last night during our CNN town hall about a lifelong struggle with a stutter. It's a very personal and very emotional moment.
And Biden not only offered insight into his own story, he expressed encouragement to others who struggle with the same condition.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What advice would you give a college student who had struggled with stuttering since he was a young child?
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, stuttering you think about it is the only handicap that people still laugh about, that still humiliate people about, and they don't even mean to.
When I was a kid I talked -- talked- talked -- talked -- talked like that.
And some of you smile. If I said to you, when I was a kid, I had a cleft palate and people made fun of me, no one would smile.
So what I'd say to anybody out there and any of the people you work with, young people who stutter, I'll give you my phone number, not a joke, and they can call me. I'll give you a private number. Because it's really important they know, they know. They want to say, "You really did stutter?"
And I still occasionally. When I find myself really tired, catch - catch myself saying something like that.
It has nothing to do with your intelligence quotient. It has nothing to do with your intellectual makeup. It has something to do with, going back a long time, relating to, I think, part of it is confidence and how you were -- what circumstance you faced.
I know I'm talking too long about this, but I feel desperately -- I feel strongly about this.
What I did was I didn't have professional help. But I had three things going for me. I had a mother who had a backbone like a ramrod. And she'd, look, she'd go, Joey, look at me. Look at me, Joey. You're handsome, you're smart, you're a good athlete, Joey. Don't let this define you, Joey. Remember who you are, Joey. You can do it.
Every time I'd walk out, she'd reinforce me. I know that sounds silly. It really matters. It really is about reaching out.
And I -- I -- I -- don't want to -- I'm not making this political, but that's what I find so reprehensible about what's going on now.
Making -- in my household and with my children as well, no one -- no matter how bitter the fight is with a friend or anyone else, you could never say something about them that was true.
I mean, you can never say something -- if they were ugly, you couldn't say you ugly so and so. You could say you're a jerk.
No, I really mean it, because things that people cannot control, it's not their fault. No one has the right -- no one has the right to mock it and make fun of it, no matter who they are. I probably got in trouble for saying I empathize with Rush Limbaugh
dying of cancer. I don't like him at all. But he's going through hell right now. He's a human being.
You just have to -- you just have to reach out a little more for people, man. We don't do it enough. We've got to heal this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[14:40:03]
BALDWIN: Former Vice President Joe Biden.
We have more on our breaking news. The president going off on his perceived rivals in this surreal 62-minute ceremony celebrating his acquittal. See what happened.
Also ahead, a community meeting on racism descends into racism. We'll talk too this immigrant father of three who faced racist abuse from another dad in this wild video.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: A racist incident involving slurs posted on SnapChat by a group of Michigan high school students brought this community of parents and teachers and school administrators together to discuss diversity and inclusion.
But that meeting devolved into another shockingly racist incident involving two fathers, one white, one Latino.
[14:45:09]
So let me play what happened when this Latino parent opened up about the discrimination his now-adult children had once endured at the school.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADRIAN IRAOLA, LATINO VICTIM OF RACIST INCIDENT AT COMMUNITY MEETING: I remember when I went to his bedroom to say good night, and he was crying because of the abuse that he was enduring in this school system.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then why didn't you stay in Mexico?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You need to leave!
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's disgusting!
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's indicative of --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's indicative of what our kids are experiencing, comments like that.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's -- he's sharing a story right now. And that's indicative of what our kids are experiencing.
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: In case you missed it, what that other dad said was, then why don't you go back -- he said, excuse me, then why didn't you stay in Mexico?
So the Saline school district immediately issued a response that says, quote, "Hate, prejudice and racism have no place in our schools and our community. The Saline Board of Education and administration take the issue of student and adult behavior seriously."
And Adrian Iraola, the father you just heard from, is with me now.
Adrian, thank you so much for being on.
I know your three children graduated out of the school system years ago, but you and your wife wanted to attend the meeting to stand in solidarity with the parents.
So just thank you for being here.
IRAOLA: Thank you, Brooke.
BALDWIN: You've been receiving threats. I understand you told my producer, you know, people are posting pictures of your children. They are trying to get your daughter fired from her job, threatening to firebomb your restaurants. Your own kids are, you know, don't want you to speak out on this so publicly.
Why do you want to come on national television, sir, and use your voice on this?
IRAOLA: Brooke, I have received so much support from so many people. This incident went national for many reasons.
When people come to me and want to express their support and gratitude for my wife and I speaking up, they shake my hand, give me hugs. And many of them of all races cry on my shoulder, and I cry with them.
This is a very painful moment. And we need to speak up against racism. And I continue to speak and I will continue to speak because there are very few people that choose to have their voices heard. And if I have an opportunity to let people know that this is wrong and make this a better school system and a better community, then it's all worth it.
BALDWIN: I applaud you, sir, and wanted to help give you a platform just to amplify your voice.
Let me ask you, so after this man -- let's name him, Tom Burtell. After he said to you, after you stood up, when he said, then why didn't you stay in Mexico, I watched the video several times, and I see your instant reaction. You look like you're smiling, but what were you really feeling?
IRAOLA: My jaw dropped, and I -- my blood was boiling. I felt anger. My initial reaction was to reply with insults and to say ugly things, but that is not the right response to this type of attacks.
The right response is to let people know and, hopefully, they will open their minds that immigrants bring new things and they bring what makes this country great.
And I -- I wanted to have that dialogue. I offered him the microphone, but he declined it initially.
BALDWIN: You offered -- let me underscore what you did. After he said what he did to you, you handed the microphone to him. Why did you do that?
IRAOLA: Yes.
BALDWIN: What did he say or not say?
IRAOLA: Well, he did not take the microphone.
And later on, when he was offered the platform and he mentioned that uniform -- the demographics don't work, and he talked about the Asians and the Mexicans, and they don't work, and diversity does not work.
I wish there would be a way to make people that think alike to understand that that is not reality.
Societies are better when we all get along together and we contribute what we can offer.
[14:50:03]
BALDWIN: And when we are diverse, and when we all don't look and think and feel the same.
I'm curious, Adrian, have you heard any more from him? Have you gotten an apology, anything from that dad?
IRAOLA: No, I have not.
BALDWIN: I should tell everyone, we tried calling. We tried emailing today just to get something. We haven't heard back. Here's what I can offer to everyone watching. That man's son actually
offered this up on Facebook. Let me read this for everyone.
"Today, my father asked a deliberately racist question at the Saline Area School's diversity and inclusion meeting. His views of hate in no way represent my own. I stand in solidarity with the refugees and immigrants of the world."
So, Adrian, what would you like to say not only to this man, who said what he did to you, but his son?
IRAOLA: I would like them to open their minds and their hearts and look around them and find a single thing that is not influenced by some other culture.
You look at food. You can listen to music. You can look around you, the marvelous and wonderful things and human endeavors that make our life richer. They all came from many societies.
There's not a white cube that can house one single culture. In a cube without windows is not a place to live.
And my wife and I were there to show solidarity and to illustrate that this type of ugly events are happening on a day-to-day basis.
And this gentleman needs to realize that that is not the path to a better society.
And to the gentleman's son, I hope that your feelings are sincere. And I applaud you for coming up for the sake of love and understanding.
BALDWIN: So powerful.
Adrian Iraola, thank you very much.
IRAOLA: Thanks so much, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Thank you.
A vulgar airing of grievances, littered with falsehoods, bizarre claims and zero remorse. The president's wild acquittal victory lap ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:57:06]
BALDWIN: People who live in New York no longer participate in certain "Trusted Traveler" Programs, like the "Global Entry" Program. The program abruptly canceled last night for New Yorkers. It allows participants to clear customs way more quickly when they're entering the United States.
Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of Homeland Security, says it's because of New York's new Green Light Law, which allows undocumented immigrants to apply for driver's licenses while shielding their information from immigration enforcement agencies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHAD WOLF, ACTING HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We sent a letter to New York indicating, because they took these measures, that New York residents no longer are eligible to enroll in these "Trusted Traveler" Programs.
(CROSSTALK)
TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST, "TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT": All residents -- all residents of New York, the tens of millions of people?
WOLF: That's correct. They can't enroll or reenroll in these "Trusted Traveler" programs that Custom and Borders Protection offers because we no longer have access to make sure that they meet those program -- those program requirements.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Marco Lopez is the former chief of staff for Customs and Border Protection.
And so, Marco, we want to talk to you because you tweeted that, you know, this notion of canceling global entry makes air travelers less safe. Tell me how.
MARCO LOPEZ, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF, CUSTOMS & BORDER PROTECTION: That's right, Brooke. Thank you.
BALDWIN: You've got it.
LOPEZ: Look, one of the things that we know is we have a very limited amount of time between the inspector -- the passenger arriving in front of the inspector and the officer to be able to clear them.
So these programs were established so that we could clearly know before they even board the plane who we should be trusting, who we should be inspecting.
And what, I think, the acting secretary does by politicizing a program, a successful program like "Global Entry," is make our security apparatus political. Something that it should not be.
Look, the reality is that you don't need a driver's license to be able to apply for "Global Entry," except if you are a resident of New York. "Global Entry" is available to 13 countries around the world. None of them have a valid U.S. driver's license.
So it's ridiculous to think that just because probably Chad was given an order by the president or Stephen Miller at the White House that said we want to do something harmful against New York residents, let's put an additional burden on them that doesn't apply to anyone else around the world, Brooke.
Like I said, 13 countries, citizens of 13 countries are eligible for this. Except New Yorkers.
BALDWIN: So when you hear -- let me just quote -- the press secretary for New York Mayor Bill De Blasio says it bluntly, quote, "This demonstrates the Trump administration approach to everything, childish retribution-based and racism."
Do you agree? Quickly.
LOPEZ: Look, that's the only thing I can agree with. I see no other explanation.
BALDWIN: Marco Lopez, thank you.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
BALDWIN: All right, we continue on. Top of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you for being here.
[15:00:03]
Just one day after he was acquitted as the third presidential impeachment trial in the nation's history, President Trump is taking a victory lap all over Washington today.
