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Erin Burnett Outfront
Andrew Yang is Interviewed About His Presidential Run and His Claim That Mic Was Off During Debate; Buttigieg Takes Aim at GOP for Religious Hypocrisy; Trump Invites Kim Jong Un to "Shake His Hand" at DMZ. Aired on 7-8p ET
Aired June 28, 2019 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MICHAEL HAYDEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: They go to work and do the best that they can, but that's really hard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Don's full interview with General Hayden later tonight 10:00 pm Eastern. Erin Burnett OUTFRONT starts right now.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT next, turmoil. Joe Biden trying to recover from his damning exchange on busing with Kamala Harris. What does the former vice president do from here? His senior campaign advisor is out front. Plus, the presidential candidate who says he wants to give you $1,000 a month, no strings attached. How does this plan add up? Andrew Yang is out front. And President Trump about to sit down with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia after joking with Vladimir Putin about not meddling in U.S. elections. Let's go out front.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, Biden on his heels. The former vice president struggling to explain why he opposed federally mandated busing as a way to integrate public schools. Senator Kamala Harris, exposing Biden's record on this charged, this unforgettable exchange last night.
Today, Biden claims he heard Harris but ...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, FORMER UNITED STATES VICE PRESIDENT, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I heard and I listened to and I respect Senator Harris. But we all know that 30 seconds to 60 seconds on a campaign debate exchange can't do justice to a lifetime committed to civil rights. I want to be absolutely clear about my record of position on racial justice, including busing. I never, never, never ever oppose voluntary busing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Never opposed. That is a strong and definitive response from the former Vice President. But Biden was not as clear and concise last night, instead trying to parse words. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Do you agree today that you were wrong to oppose busing in America then?
BIDEN: No.
HARRIS: Do you agree?
BIDEN: I did not oppose busing in America. What I pose is busing ordered by the Department of Education. That's what I oppose. I did not oppose --
HARRIS: Well, there was a failure of states to integrate public schools in America.
BIDEN: No, but --
HARRIS: I was part of the second class to integrate Berkeley, California public schools almost two decades after Brown v Board of Education.
BIDEN: Because your city council made that decision. It was a local decision.
HARRIS: So that's where the federal government must step in.
BIDEN: No, the federal government must ...
HARRIS: That's why we have the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So Biden says he didn't oppose busing, just busing ordered by the Department of Education. But listen to what Joe Biden said on this very day, 42 years ago. This very day, 42 years ago. The year was 1977.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I happen to think that the one way to ensure that you set the civil rights movement in America further back is to continue to push busing, because it's a bankrupt policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: A bankrupt policy and he went further during an interview in 1975 saying, quote, I oppose busing. It's an asinine concept, the utility of which has never been proven to me. The new integration plans being offered are really just quota-systems to assure a certain number of blacks, Chicanos or whatever in each school. That, to me, is the most racist concept you can come up with.
An asinine concept. Biden did oppose busing. It is hard to spend this any other way. But Harris made it clear, she believes that she is where she is today on that stage in part because she was bused to school.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, today, Harris was asked if she thinks that this is a disqualifying thing for Joe Biden. Her answer, quote, that's for the people to decide. Jeff Zeleny is out front live in Washington tonight. Jeff, did Biden hurt his frontrunner status last night?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORREPONDENT: Well, Erin, there's no question that he didn't advance it. He didn't show that he has command of this race. This whole argument ever since he's jumped in about two months or so ago is that he is the best Democrat equipped to defeat President Trump.
Well, many Democrats, even some of his own advisors did not see that Joe Biden on stage last evening. So even he, I'm told, is aware that he did not perform as strong as he needs to. He told an visor, "I need to do better." So the reality here is though, Erin, it is a different Democratic Party than any other moment he's been on a debate stage.
And just watching him being in Miami, as I was watching him at that debate, it did not seem that he was ready for that moment and the question is, is he the nominee for this moment in the Democratic Party. I think sort of stepping back after all of these hours of debating, the question here is, is he the sort of man of these times and he did not advance the argument that he was.
But Senator Harris for all of her spotlight on this matter, she had some issues as well, particularly in Medicare for all. She said that she would like to abolish private health insurance and then she walked that back. So I think at the end of the day, you cannot make a judgment on one debate, but the advisors I talked to in the Biden campaign say he must do a better job in the second debate.
I'm told he's going to spend much more time out campaigning on the road. He's been fundraising most of the time here, but all of the month of July, he'll be campaigning more. We'll see if he performs better at the next debate on CNN at the end of next month, Erin.
[19:05:27] BURNETT: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thank you. Out front now, Biden campaign senior advisor, Symone Sanders. Symone, thanks for your time. Kamala Harris and Cory Booker both said today they were surprised by Biden's answer when it came to busing. Here's how they put it today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: I was actually a bit surprised to hear how he described, in defense of his position, his perspective on the role of the federal government.
SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: African-Americans in this country and many other groups have had to turn to the federal government to intervene because there were states that were violating those rights. There were states in state policies that were driving these deep divisions in our country. So that struck me, I literally lean back in my couch, and couldn't believe that one moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: You hear what Senator Booker said, he literally leaned back in his couch. Symone, were you surprised how Joe Biden handled that moment with Harris on stage?
SYMONE SANDERS: Well, Erin, I just want to be clear, I think, and that is why the vice president spoke about this at length at the Rainbow/PUSH coalition labor luncheon today. Because frankly 30 seconds is not really enough time with 10 people on a debate stage, frankly, to articulate one's history and their commitment to the civil rights community and all of the work that Vice President Biden has done.
So what I will say is this, if there's a question out there about whether Vice President Biden believes that the federal government has a role in protecting civil rights for all Americans constitutional rights, let me clear that up for folks, he does believe that he has fought vigorously for that throughout his career, whether we're talking about the Voting Rights Act. He vigorously fought for integration. He fought against mandated segregation.
And so I really believe that the conversation voters want to have is about the type of things folks plan to do if they were elected president.
BURNETT: Yes. Look, you raise a fair point about 60 seconds and so many people on stage and that's completely fair. But I do want to understand, Symone, because on this very day, 42 years ago, total coincidence, but it was on this day that Joe Biden said this about busing here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I happen to think that the one way to ensure that you set the civil rights movement in America further back is to continue to push busing, because it's a bankrupt policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: How does it make you feel to watch that?
SANDERS, SENIOR ADVISER, BIDEN CAMPAIGN: Erin, this is what I'll say. I think at the time that the conversation around busing was really at its peak in America, there were a number of different folks that had varied views. But I think there were camp of people that believed that busing was not a catchall to cure the ills and the issues that came along with integration and, frankly, segregation. And so there were a number of people, again, that believe that --
BURNETT: Then why did he say last night I never opposed busing and try to make it that I was fine with voluntary busing but not federally mandated busing. Why not just come out like you're saying and say, "You know what? I didn't think it was a good idea and here's why." Own it.
SANDERS: So I want to reiterate that I think what the Vice President said today at the rainbow push coalition was exactly that. He defended his record. He said that he was never against voluntary busing which is absolutely true. Let me just be frank, that's absolutely true.
He was never against voluntary busing and that is, frankly, the policy by which Senator Harris was bused in her community. It was voluntary busing. But again, this idea, that the conversation was so, for lack of a better term, black and white around busing is just not true.
BURNETT: Yes, I guess, I feel like I just like this word voluntary is what is sort of catching people up. I mean, putting aside the federal government issue as Cory Booker raises a very significant one, federal government, as overrule 1905 [00:04:05] to stop segregation.
SANDERS: And, Erin, it's something that the Vice President believes he agrees with Cory Booker. Again, I think if there is a question out there about whether Vice President Biden believes that the federal government has a role in protecting the civil rights for all Americans that the federal government has a role in stepping in, let me answer that for you, he absolutely does believe that they do and that the federal government does and he has fought for that.
Again, look at his work on the voting rights issues. Look at his work that he's done throughout the entirety of his career. I think it's very easy to have a nuanced, very specific, nitty-gritty conversation about busing in the 1960s and in the 1970s. But frankly, I do not believe that that's what this election is about for so many Americans.
[19:09:50] BURNETT: As you know there was that moment from Swalwell last night trying to say, "Oh, Joe Biden, he's been around too long. It's time to move on." I want to play how Biden finished up this moment with Kamala Harris, because it's gotten a lot of attention. Let me just play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I agree that everybody wants the - anyway, my time is up, I'm sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So people have been seizing on that last part as you know, Symone, "My time is up." A senior Democratic that work for Biden for years told CNN today, the more damaging thing for Biden was the age thing. He took too long to reply and too many of his answers were around bills he introduced decades ago. That was the quote. Is this going to be an issue that you all can squash in the campaign or not? SANDERS: Look, I think Vice President Biden did great on that debate
stage last night. Look, he communicated his vision directly to the American people. And, yes, folks took some shots and we took a little heat last night, but I think he did well and I think there are 11 more debates, OK, and he will be prepared to again communicate and articulate his vision to the American people and tell them time and time again and have a conversation on the debate stage about what he would do as president and why he is the best person to take on Donald Trump.
BURNETT: All right.
SANDERS: Again, and the last thing I want to note, Erin, there's somebody else up on that stage last night that was older than Vice President Biden.
BURNETT: That is true.
SANDERS: So the idea that someone is "too old" to play the game, I just don't think that's true and that's fair. And that flies directly in contrast of everything that Democrats say we believe and so I think we need to have a debate of ideas and that folks shouldn't take personal shots and that's the kind of campaign we're going to run. I can't comment on what other folks' strategy is going to be, but that's our strategy. And we're looking forward to engaging on the ideas in this election.
BURNETT: Thank you very much, Symone. I appreciate it. And out front now, Patrick Healy, Political Editor at The New York Times. So her job is to spin the situation for Joe Biden. What is his situation right now coming off of last night.
PATRICK HEALY, POLITICS EDITOR, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Yes. He did not have a good night. He was on the defensive the entire time, not just Kamala Harris, but he was getting piled on and a lot of moderate Democrats were looking for Joe Biden to be kind of the voice of the center of the party, instead saw this kind of wobbly, rusty performance, and particularly be able to articulate issues of race, civil rights, busing for a party that is now turning so young and so diverse.
And frankly not being able to either explain or really defend or frankly being willing at all to apologize or suggest that maybe he was wrong at the time. He never goes there.
BURNETT: Right now it's this whole voluntary thing that 1910 [00:02:32].
HEALY: Yes. I mean the hairsplitting is a little over the top. I mean Joe Biden was making moral and philosophical arguments in the 1970s against busing.
BURNETT: Right.
HEALY: It was Delaware in the 1970s and he believed, frankly, voluntary, I understand their point, federal busing but he was against busing. He saw that as something that ripped communities apart, that fundamentally, I think even in a voluntary sense, fundamentally where things have made some people uncomfortable and that he believes community should have schools.
BURNETT: So can he continue to have moments like this?
HEALY: Yes. He had moments like this with the with the Hyde Amendment issue, with Anita Hill, with the hugging of people, women --
BURNETT: I mean is there endless sense of mulligans for him or ...
HEALY: Well, I mean, I think the Biden campaign looks though, at the Trump campaign and sees the way that things that four or eight years ago we would have thought would be so damaging against a presidential candidate.
BURNETT: Yes.
HEALY: But that don't seem to really stick to them. In this case, the reality is Joe Biden has a Democratic Party that is a lot more diverse and awake to some of these issues. And the question is how can he, at the point of where he is, can he really sustain the support he has if he keeps making comments like this?
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Patrick. And next, the Democratic Party veering further to the left. President Trump already eyeing the moment, this specific moment, in fact, for campaign ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, ANCHOR, MSNBC: Raise your hand if your government plan would provide coverage for undocumented immigrants. OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Plus, a Democratic candidate who wants to give you $1,000 a month. He's out front to tell you how and why. And Pete Buttigieg not shying away from talking about religion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG (D-IN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Republican Party likes to cloak itself in the language of religion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:18:08] BURNETT: Tonight, a lurch to the left. All 10 Democrats on the debate stage making this promise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUTHRIE: Raise your hand if your government plan would provide coverage for undocumented immigrants. OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: President Trump already seizing the moment tweeting from the G20 in Japan, "How about taking care of American Citizens first? That's the end of the race." Out front now Howard Dean, former Democratic Governor of Vermont, former presidential candidate and Scott Jennings who was special assistant to President George W. Bush.
Governor Dean, Trump says it is the end of the race. Senior White House official adds it may well become a Trump campaign ad. I think they're being uncharacteristically, I don't know, soft about this. It's definitely going to become a campaign ad. Are Democrats giving Trump a win on this one?
FORMER GOVERNOR HOWARD DEAN (D-VT): No. We've been doing this for 30 years. Undocumented people have always been able to go to emergency rooms if they're really sick. You may not turn someone away from an emergency room no matter what their circumstances are and they don't get turned away.
And furthermore, the idea that the Democratic Party is lurching to the left is nonsense. We just won 40 seats in the House, 35 of them were in places like Texas, and Orange County, and Oklahoma, and Central Pennsylvania and Kansas. So this is nonsense.
The fact is that we're going to be fine on this. I'm not the least bit worried about it. I'm a little more concerned about where we are in health care.
BURNETT: So on that issue though, it's interesting, you're making the point. Look, it's already been provided and it's being provided in the most expensive way it possibly could which is emergency room care.
DEAN: Right.
BURNETT: Scott, Pete Buttigieg also gave another explanation about why providing health care to immigrants, to people who are here illegally would be OK. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUTTIGIEG: Now, remember, we're talking about something people given a chance to buy into. In the same way that they're on documented immigrants in my community who pay, they pay sales taxes, they pay property taxes directly or indirectly. This is not about a handout.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:20:12] BURNETT: Doesn't he have a point, Scott?
SCOTT JENNINGS, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: No, he does not have a point. Look, this is how it's going to play out in the campaign. Donald Trump is going to say, the Democratic nominee, and by the way it doesn't matter who it is because they've all pledged to do this. They're going to raise your taxes to pay for a massive expanded federal health care program that pays for a better health care plan for illegal immigrants that you get on your own private plan.
There are millions of Americans in the suburbs where maybe frankly Donald Trump has some political problems that have seen their premiums go up, that have seen their deductibles go up and the quality of their plans go down. And Donald Trump is going to be able to give them a very simple line, "Do you want your taxes to go up to give illegal immigrants a free health care plan when yours is getting worse and more expensive all of the time?"
BURNETT: Even though to Governor Dean's point, it appears that that's not true, right?
JENNINGS: These Democrats are living in a bubble on this.
BURNETT: It would be cheaper to do it this way then to have it through the emergency room as Governor Dean is pointing out, right? I mean, you're right, I understand our President Trump is going to play it, but it's not true.
JENNINGS: Cheaper for who? Cheaper for the American voter? I mean, right now people believe their health care plans are getting worse. the deductibles are going up. The premiums are going up and by the way the Democrats are planning to raise their taxes on top of that. So no, I don't think if you're talking about on a voter to voter basis, the Trump campaign got a clear winner here.
This is going to pull terribly for whoever the Democratic nominee is.
BURNETT: So on this issue, Governor, Kamala Harris was struggling to give a straight answer last night on private insurance, because as part of this whole conversation of single payer or Medicare for all, it's become a key thing. Are people going to be allowed to keep their insurance if they like it or not? More than a hundred million Americans have insurance plans through their employers.
So would she get rid of it or not, here's what she said last night at the debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LESTER HOLT, ANCHOR, NBC NIGHTLY NEWS: Who here would abolish their private health insurance in favor of a government run plan? All right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: She raised her hand. She raised it firmly. She was certain but this morning, she said she missed heard the question. Here she is, Governor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM RUSSELL GEIST, ANCHOR, MSNBC: So once and for all, do you believe that private insurance should be eliminated in this country?
HARRIS: No. GEIST: You don't?
HARRIS: No, I do not.
GEIST: But you raised your hand last night.
HARRIS: But the question was, "Would you give up your private insurance for that option?" And I said, "yes."
GEIST: Oh, I think you heard it differently than others, then.
HARRIS: Probably.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Governor, what do you make of this? Look, 74% of Americans want a plan that would allow people to keep the coverage they have if they want to. That's just the latest poll. How big of a problem Ms. Harris' inconsistency on this?
DEAN: Well, first of all, let me just briefly address what Scott said. Scott gave the Republican talking points. The problem is the Republicans have no credibility on healthcare whatsoever and that is why we picked up 40 seats for the most part. On this one, Harris, I heard the question the same way. Harris did.
And I do believe that whoever the Democratic nominee is going to be and most people will do it, Bernie won't if he's the nominee, has to walk this back. You must give people choices.
BURNETT: Yes.
DEAN: You cannot have government decree saying you're going to take away their insurance. That was the mistake with the individual mandate. When we did universal health insurance for everybody under 18, we did not do a mandate. It probably cost us 1 percent, instead of 99 percent of kids. We had 97 per 8 percent of kids insured under 18.
BURNETT: Yes.
DEAN: It's not worth doing the mandate. Americans hate to be told what to do. So Harris' position as articulated today is the position I think the Democratic nominee is going to have to take whether they like it or not. In fact, you have to give American voters choices. You cannot tell them what to do.
BURNETT: Look, and that's, I guess, something we all know. I want to ask you all about something else that happened today. The former President Jimmy Carter, Scott, had something interesting to say about President Trump in the 2016 election today. Very specific and pretty stunning. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY CARTER, FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: There's no doubt that the Russians did interfere in the election. And I think the interference although not yet quantified, if fully investigated will show that Trump didn't actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election and he was put in office because of the Russians interfere on his behalf.
JON MEACHAM, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW: So do you believe President Trump is an illegitimate president?
CARTER: Based on what I just said which I can't retract.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: A former President of the United States just said Donald Trump is illegitimate. Your reaction, Scott?
JENNINGS: Yes. I think it's pretty poor form for a former president to go that far with a current occupant of the White House. What is it with Democrats in Georgia right now? People win elections and the Democrats go around saying that they didn't really win, illegitimate - I mean, I think Jimmy Carter is welcome to his opinion, but that doesn't make it true.
I agree with him. There was Russian interference in the election. We've known that for a very long time, but there has never been one shred of evidence that it changed the outcome of the election. Donald Trump won the electoral college fair and square. Democrats will get another shot, Erin, next year.
[19:24:59] BURNETT: Certainly, we have not seen any evidence or anything put out there by the intelligence community that indicated the vote count was affected, Governor. Did President Carter go too far?
DEAN: Well, he didn't say anything about the vote count. What I think Carter was saying was that the propaganda that was put out and aimed by the Russians at a large number of various interest groups to either suppress the vote or to increase the vote for those who are particularly angry may have had an effect. I think Carter is entitled to his opinion and as far as the Georgia election goes, I think that's a lot clearer.
Brian Kemp was the Secretary of State. He disenfranchised 750,000 people, a lot of those people were African-American. I think Stacey Abrams probably did win that election for sure.
BURNETT: All right. We'll leave it there. Thank you both very much.
DEAN: Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, is the cornerstone of his campaign to boost the economy?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW YANG, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would pass a $1,000 freedom dividend for every American adults starting at age 18 ... (END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: 2020 contender, Andrew Yang is out front. Plus, breaking news, President Trump invites Kim Jong-un to meet him at the DMZ this weekend to say hello.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:30:01] BURNETT: Tonight, free money for every American adult for every month, no strings attached. It's the cornerstone of Democrat Andrew Yang's campaign for 2020. And at last night's debate, Yang vowed it would be the first priority of his presidency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW YANG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would pass a $1,000 freedom dividend for every American adult starting at age 18.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And Andrew Yang is now OUTFRONT.
Mr. Yang, I appreciate your time tonight. So you're talking about giving $12,000 a year to every American adult. Why do you think this is a good idea?
YANG: Well, first you have to reflect on the fact that we're in the midst of the greatest economic transformation in the history of our country, the fourth industrial revolution. We've eliminated 4 million manufacturing jobs and now doing the same to millions of retail call center, fast food and truck driving jobs. So, when you have a transition this large, it requires solutions like a freedom dividend of $1,000 a month which would help millions of Americans transition more effectively.
BURNETT: So you're proposing as part of in, though, making people choose, right? So, you're saying you can't get as the 12,000 a year and get something like food stamps or welfare. So, my question, though, is what happens when somebody chooses the cash, spends it poorly, and then needs government assistance for basic needs.
YANG: Well, the great things is then if they make poor decisions in a particular month they get the thousand dollars the following month, and this is a thousand dollars per adult. So if you had a family that might have two adults in it, for example, you know you'd have a couple of dividends to choose from. So, it could be the pun one person opts into the dividend and one person keeps benefits.
BURNETT: So, there was a recent study which I know you are familiar with but let me share with the view are there was a guaranteed income program in Finland which they tried for a couple of years and they studied various people on that, which found that getting cash made people happier but people were less likely to find work who are getting that cash, and the control group who did not receive the payments.
So, look, you're a entrepreneur, former tech executive why counsel giving people cash with no strings attached won't make people less motivated to work and us that hurt your productive tax base and the growth you need there?
YANG: Well, if you look at the Finland trial data, you saw better health, better mental health, better relationships, more trust in government and society. And you wouldn't expect to see elevated work levels because you are only giving money to a handful of people. If you put a thousand-dollar a month into everyone's hands and trickle up economy, it will actually create more than 2 million jobs right in the economies. That's when you expect to see work levels rise.
You wouldn't expect it if you just gave a handful of unemployed people cash benefits.
BURNETT: And do you income test this at all? I know you pay for it in various ways that would affect the wealthier, right? You eliminate the cap on Social Security among other things, right? So -- you would make this progressive. But is there a cap on income somehow on the people who receive it?
YANG: No, there is no means testing. Jeff Bezos can have it if he wants. This is based on the experience in Alaska where everyone in Alaska regardless of income gets between $1,000 and $2,000 from a petroleum dividend. And if everyone receives it, then it's universal it's a right of citizenship. There is no stigma.
There is no trying to keep track of who makes what or if there is a change in circumstances. And it makes it politically universally appealing.
BURNETT: So you have a vocal organized following, Mr. Yang. You've got more donors than Cory Booker, a sitting senator, but obviously, we did not hear much from you at the debate. Your total time -- I know you're well aware of this number, two minutes, 56 seconds.
And after the debate, here's what you told supporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YANG: And there were a few times, FYI, where I started talking, being like, hey, I'd like to add something there, and my mic was like, not on. So, I would just start talking and then like the moderators just like ignore and it doesn't matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Today, NBC News said at no point during the debate was any candidate's microphone turned off or muted. What do you say to NBC?
YANG: Well, I shared my experience directly with my supporters and that was immediately after the event. You know, there were numerous times when I had an idea or thought or statement that I wanted to make that was directly related to what was being discussed. And my -- my mic did not function. And so I would talk.
And then because other people whose mics were working would begin talking off and then the moderator I had no chance to make my points. As you saw, I was only asked two full questions in two hours. You know which was lower than any other candidate and that's why I end up with such low air time.
And certainly, it wasn't for lack of effort on my part because there were many times when I thought I had a lot to add to the debate. And I'm thrilled I have another opportunity in July to make my case to the American people.
BURNETT: Yes, obviously at the CNN debate.
Now I'm looking at you now. And you know, you look the way you usually look. You dress the way you usually dress. Not something we usually bring up except for the fact Mr. Yang that last night you did something that no man on a presidential debate stage has ever done before.
[19:35:06] I'm just showing you to people seeing if they can figure out what it is.
You didn't wear a tie. Why?
YANG: Well, you know, it's funny, Erin, I've been campaigning without a tie during this entire past year. And so, when I was talking to my team, hey, it's like, should I wear a tie to the debates, then the thought was like you should just do what you are comfortable with. And this would immediately make you stand out because I'm not a career politician, I'm an entrepreneur and problem solver.
Frankly, most entrepreneurs walking around aren't wearing a suit and tie. So, we thought it was just a more natural uniform and I'd be more comfortable.
BURNETT: So, before you go, I have to say I was in a mall the other day and took a picture of one of your supporters their hat you see that hat, peach pink hat says Yang 2020. It made me realize, you have a strong and devoted group of supporters. They call themselves the Yang Gang. They've been fueling your campaign with strong grassroots support.
What do you think is behind the enthusiasm?
YANG: Well, I think, Erin, I'm talking about the real problems facing the American people, the fact that Amazon is closing 30 percent of stores and malls and paying zero in taxes and real solutions that get people excited like a thousand-dollar dividend in the hands of everyone American every single month which we can completely make happen.
We can afford it. It would help make us stronger and healthier. When people realize that this is a possibility then it makes politics actually exciting for them and relevant. And that's why I think you see so much enthusiasm among a lot of Americans who frankly have not cared about politics historically.
BURNETT: All right. Mr. Yang, thanks so much. I appreciate your time.
YANG: I appreciate you, Erin. Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, Pete Buttigieg going where few of his opponents will go, challenging the religious right.
Plus, breaking news: President Trump inviting Kim Jong-un by tweet to meet him this weekend for a rendezvous at the DMZ. Will Kim show?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:40:52] BURNETT: Tonight, presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg visiting a migrant detention center in Homestead, Florida. Buttigieg saying leaders have a moral obligation to help the children there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is what it means to actually put our values into action. They talk about family values. That are about faith? Talk about freedom? Are we seeing family values? Are we seeing freedom in that building?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The South Bend mayor referencing his faith, a topic he often returns to on the campaign trail.
Jessica Dean is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BUTTIGIEG: The Republican Party likes to cloak itself in the language of religion.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pete Buttigieg accusing Republicans of hypocrisy over their handling of the border crisis.
BUTTIGIEG: We should call out hypocrisy when we see it and for a party that's associates itself with Christianity, to say that it's OK to suggest that God would smile on the division of families at the hands of federal agents, that God would condone putting children in cages, has lost all claim to ever use religious language.
DEAN: For the South Bend mayor, the discussion of faith in Thursday's debate was not new. It's a subject he regularly brings up on the campaign trail.
BUTTIGIEG: Part of where I'm coming from a faith translation that counsels me to be as humble as possible, that counsels me to look after those needing defending.
DEAN: Buttigieg, a practicing Episcopalian, has been vocal he believes religion does not belong exclusively to Republicans.
BUTTIGIEG: I think it's also important that we stop seeing religion used as a kind of cudgel, as if God belonged to a political party.
DEAN: His focus on faith not the only area where Buttigieg has separated himself from some of his rivals. On free public college, Buttigieg not going as far as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
BUTTIGIEG: I believe in free college for low and middle income students, for whom cost could be a barrier.
(APPLAUSE)
BUTTIGIEG: I just don't believe it makes sense to ask working class families to subsidize even the children of billionaires.
DEAN: Buttigieg also stopping short of embracing Medicare-for-All which would effectively eliminate private insurance. He is instead pitching what he described as Medicare for all who want it.
BUTTIGIEG: You take something like Medicare, a flavor of that and make it available on the exchanges. People can buy in. If we are right, that that would be that not only more inclusive plan, but a more efficient plan than any of the corporate answers out there, then it would be a very natural glide path to the single payer environment.
Let's remember, even in countries that have outright socialized medicine like England, even there, there's still a private sector, that's fine.
DEAN: Those contrasts some of the ways Buttigieg is seeking to make his mark in a crowded field.
BUTTIGIEG: We are an extraordinary and unique moment in the history of the country, when it just turns out to be the case that somebody with a different kind of message, Midwestern mayor from a new generation may be exactly what the party and the country need.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: After an absence from the campaign trail to deal with an officer involved shooting back in his hometown of South Bend, Mayor Buttigieg will return back to Indiana for a peace march and then this weekend, he'll get back out with voters next week. He is going to be in Chicago and Iowa for the Fourth of July, Erin. We can expect to see more of him.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Jessica.
And coming up tonight, Mayor Buttigieg will sit down with Don Lemon. Don't miss that interview. You will see it "CNN TONIGHT" at 10:00 Eastern.
And next, breaking news: President Trump inviting Kim Jong-un to meet up with him this weekend at the DMZ. He says -- and then we could say hello, question mark, exclamation point. So, what's going to happen? And on that lighter note, Jeanne Moos and startled Joe Biden forced to
dodge Bernie Sanders swinging hands.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:48:29] BURNETT: Breaking news, President Trump inviting Kim Jong- un to meet him at the DMZ, just tweeting from the G-20 Summit, quote: After some very important meetings, including my meeting with President Xi of China, I will be leaving Japan for South Korea with President Moon. While there, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, as if I would meet him at the border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say hello, question mark, exclamation point.
Kaitlan Collins is OUTFRONT with the president in Japan.
Kaitlan, the president is just reiterating this moments, this message moments ago where you are.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Erin, the president at breakfast with the Saudi crown prince right now and he's taking questions from reporters about this tweet that he just sent out minutes before this breakfast got started. He said this is an idea he had this morning to invite Kim Jong-un to visit him at the demilitarized zone, that space between North Korea and South Korea.
And he said essentially what he is doing right now is putting out a feeler. You can see the president there taking questions from reporters. And essentially he is saying he is not even sure if Kim Jong-un is in North Korea. He is putting pout a feeler.
Of course, Erin, based on the reporting about Kim Jong-un's lifetime he doesn't leave North Korea. He has done it very few times in the last several years.
But the question is whether or not this meeting is going to happen, whether Kim Jong-un is going to meet the president at the DMZ.
We know the president's aides have been working on a visit to the DMZ for several weeks. But right now, they're not going further than the president's tweets. Some of them seem surprised by him putting this on Twitter, because you'll remember last time the president tried to go to the DMZ, it was so secretive in the White House that aides didn't want to say the letters DMZ out loud.
[19:50:08] And now, here, the president is tweeting it. Of course, the other question is going to be, what are they talking about when there because we know that their last summit in Hanoi, that nuclear summit essentially broke down the talks and since then, John Bolton, the national security adviser , said they had not heard a lot from the North Koreans since then. What's changed in recent weeks, you seen letters going back and forth between the president and Kim Jong-un. Kim Jong-un sent the president a letter for his birthday.
The president replied and base on that picture released by the North Korean state media, it was a pretty brief letter but you could see from the back where the president underlined certain sentences in the classic sharpie he writes with. So, the question is, what did that letter say and whether or not they're going to meet when he heads to South Korea just in a few short hours?
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Kaitlan, live from Osaka in Japan.
And now, let's go to former Army commanding for Europe and the Seventh Army, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling.
General, the president of course, as I said just tweeted, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the border, at DMZ, just to shake his hand and say hello.
And he, just moments ago, spoke to reporters. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATE: Just put out a feeler because I don't know where he is right now. He may not be in North Korea but if Chairman Kim would want to meet, I'd be at the border, I would certainly -- we seem to get along very well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: What's your reaction to this?
LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I have three reactions, Erin.
The first is, I'm glad the president is going to the border to see the village at Panmunjom and to see the distinct separation between North and South Korea and kinds of things that military is prepared to defend in South Korea.
Number two, this is the most interesting technique to establish a back channel that I've ever seen or read about in the history of the United States.
And number three, just what the president said in terms of commenting on whether or not Kim is even there or where we're going to meet and the question mark in the tweet, it really is interesting from the standpoint of risk analysis and a lack of use of staffers to find out information before making a proclamation like this.
BURNETT: Well, I mean, in a sense, he says we get along well except for Kim and this deal they weren't going to do anything and nothing happened and they continued to do tests and ballistic missile test and it's as if we're sitting here laughing at this. I know it just of always makes me think, you know, you got to remember, he's making something light of a guy who is a mass murderer, who starves his own people, throws people in horrific camps and yet, to the president it seems like a joke.
HERTLING: Well, we've seen a couple of instances of that kind of dialogue over the last two days or so. Not only with Kim but with Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, and also with Vladimir Putin of Russia.
All of these things seem to be at least laughable in some cases, or sarcastic, and they're resonating with great dynamics on the world stage. Again, you know, the president can do this within the United States and we can shake our head and talk about what we can do to stop them from embarrassing the United States, but this is going into the capitals throughout the world that this is the way our president conducts diplomacy and does not uphold our values, and that's unfortunate.
BURNETT: All right. General, I appreciate your time and I'll leave everyone with the image of president having breakfast with MBS, Mohammed bin Salman, crown prince of Saudi Arabia. CIA has concluded that he directed the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, American resident, "Washington Post" journalist. President Trump took the side of the crown prince against the CIA.
Next, Jeanne Moos on the candidates giving their arms a workout.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:50] BURNETT: Some of the most memorable debate moments where when nothing was said at all.
Here is Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Who knew a candidates' arm could get so much workout at a presidential debate, all that pointing and waving and pumping and strenuous stuff starts, pick me.
MODERATOR: Senator Harris.
MOOS: Guys in their '70s have to act like 7-year-olds trying to get called on.
BUTTIGIEG: We got to talk about one other thing because.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's wrong. It is wrong.
BUTTIGIEG: It's no longer possible.
MOOS: But it was Joe Biden's finger that got the most exercise, hesitantly upraised.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A woman has the right to control her own body.
MOOS: Then wondering to the chin hoping to be picked.
MODERATOR: Senator, I'm going to give you --
MOOS: And detouring to the nose but this was the real action. MODERATOR: This is going to be a show of hands.
MODERATOR: And hold them up for a moment.
MODERATOR: Who here would abolish private health insurance in favor of a government-run plan?
MOOS: Up went two hands, and what about Joe Biden's finger? It was as if Joe were peeking at the others did before deciding himself on two of three such show of hands. Moderators were befuddled by that finger.
MODERATOR: I believe with the show of hands, you did not raise your hand. Did you raise your hand?
BIDEN: I did.
MODERATOR: Sorry, sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I had the right answer, I did.
MOOS: There it was again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Without documentation.
MOOS: The wavering finger.
MODERATOR: Mr. Vice president, I don't know if you raised your hand or were just asking to speak?
MOOS: Someone compared Joe to patience voting on whether to watch the World Series in one flew over the cuckoo nest.
After the debate, Kamala Harris took back one of her votes saying she misinterpreted the question. There were arms on stage.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll hold you to 30.
SANDERS: The old ways --
MOOS: Joe flinching at Bernie's flailing arm became a GIF, but if he wants to get to Pennsylvania Avenue, maybe Joe should listen to "Sesame Street."
CROWD (singing): Raise your hand up --
MOOS: Or at least your finger.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: And thanks so much for joining us.
"AC360" with Anderson starts now.
