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2016 Presidential Race; NBC Dumps Trump; Infighting Inside the Supreme Court? Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired June 30, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00] TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: And I think people - and he - and he talks in colloquial language. People understand what he's saying. He's not a policy wonk. I think people will be interested to hear what Kasich has - says - has to say. I think he'll be competitive. But for Chris Christie, coming into the race now, Jeb Bush really sucked the oxygen out of the donor pool that Chris Christie would have had - would have had access too. So at this point I think Christie - Chris Christie's going to have difficulty getting the money that he needs to get him - get himself back into a competitive position. But anything can happen. This is such a wide open race. It could take one or two good debate performances and, boom, he's right back on - right back in the top tier.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Final thought to you, Paul?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think Tara's right, his only shot - he's got no shot. OK, let's begin with that. He ain't going to be president any more than I am. But his one shot is the debates. He is a superior debater, a brilliant debater, but he's in a field with some really talented people. This is - I never said this the last cycle. You're my witness. I never said the Republican field in 2012 was talented because they weren't. They had Mitt Romney and then - and Newt Gingrich, but not very many. This field is enormously talented. He will be debating - he's a great debater, Chris Christie, but he'll be debating with people like Ted Cruz, who was the national champion debater in college. So I'm - I can't wait for the debates. I hope they have 100 of them and I hope they have 100 candidates in them.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we're going to have plenty of time to debate. You know why? Look how much time.

SETMAYER: (INAUDIBLE) for sure.

PEREIRA: How much time do we have?

CUOMO: We've got 496, 16, 28, 47. Those are your win four numbers for the day. So there's a lot of time, a lot can happen and that's why we need good folks like you to do the analysis for us. Tara, Paul, thank you very much.

SETMAYER: Thank you.

PEREIRA: We appreciate it.

BEGALA: Thanks. PEREIRA: So we'll talk more about The Donald out at NBC, the network pulling the plug after The Donald's remarks about Mexican immigrants. So, could the drama actually help his White House bid? We'll take a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:35:41] PEREIRA: All right, here we go with the five things you need to know for your new day. At number one, David Sweat and Richard Matt planned to flee to Mexico but changed course when Joyce Mitchell never showed up with their getaway car. Their prison in upstate New York is now under FBI investigation for alleged drug trafficking.

Greece is set to go into default today. The country's finance minister says it will not pay the IMF the $1.7 billion it owes by today's due date.

PEREIRA: In Indonesia, the death toll climbs to at least 53 after a military plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Sumatra. It is feared as many as 113 could have perished.

President Obama is set to boost pay for millions of Americans. He's announcing plans to change overtime rules, making more salaried employees eligible for extra pay.

The ever growing 2016 GOP presidential field adding yet another name today. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie officially announcing his plans for a White House run today. He'll be the 14th Republican to join the fray.

And for more on the five things to know, be sure to visit newdaycnn.com for the latest.

Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Mic, as we've been saying, Donald Trump is in the crosshairs of NBC. It seems the man thrives off attention. So what is this going to do, getting canned by NBC for ugly remarks about Latinos? Is there an argument that it could help his campaign? We'll make it ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:41:03] PEREIRA: So, Donald Trump is out at NBC. The network pulling the plug on "The Apprentice," along the other Trump programming, because of the comments that he made on illegal immigrants. What does it mean for Trump? What does it mean for NBC? What does it mean for the 2016 race? So many questions. We turn to CNN contributor Bill Carter. He's also an author and long-time television reporter for "The New York Times. Also with us, CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona.

What a delight to have both of you here with me today to talk about this.

BILL CARTER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Great to be with you. MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

PEREIRA: Bill, I'm curious what your thoughts are. Do you think Univision sort of forced NBC's hand here?

CARTER: Well, I think it certainly played a role. I mean NBC was willing to put up with Mr. Trump's comments about the president and his birth certificate and all of that in previous controversies. And now this got to a point where they couldn't tolerate it anymore. Partly because I think he's also running for office and he was going to be out of "The Apprentice" anyway. So the - so all of the relationships were changing and it - and it gave them much more cover to say we can't put up with this anymore.

PEREIRA: They must have felt the pressure. Fifty-four million Latinos in the country. We know many of them were vocal. A lot of their own stars that are Latino were very vocal.

CARTER: Yes. Yes. Yes, this is - this was clearly an episode where the comments inflamed an already kind of a base inside NBC that was questioning, do we want this relationship to go on? And that - that's a very sizable audience, that Hispanic audience. And, you know, they don't want to offend that audience.

PEREIRA: Maria, I'm curious, if - what your thoughts are about it all because, again, we heard of NBC stars saying, I urge NBC to not support Trump anymore. We heard people plotting boycotts. We heard some of the contestants were concerned about this. This wasn't just a little bit of noise from the fringe. This was a loud, resounding cry. Were you surprised, though, that some of the presidential contenders on the GOP side didn't utter a word?

CARDONA: Yes. Michaela, I think two things really stood out for me. The first one was, how the Latino activism here really pushed the envelope. You know, when you have almost a quarter of a million Latinos turning 18 every year, and that's going to be the case for at least the next 20 years, they're going to make their voices heard. You saw that with the Latino community who, by the way, over indexes (ph) in the use of social media, and we saw that. They pushed Univision to do the right thing. Univision knows where their bread is buttered. The majority of their audiences are of Mexican-American decent. And then you saw NBC follow suit because, whoa, guess what, Latinos also watch English language television and NBC has some of the highest rated showed for Latinos.

PEREIRA: Yes.

CARDONA: But then on the - on the presidential front, it was astonishing to me, Michaela, that not one single presidential candidate stood up to say, these comments are completely unacceptable. Not one on the Republican side. Hillary Clinton did stand up to say that these comments are unacceptable and that other leaders should stand up to these kinds of comments. Not even Jeb Bush, Michaela, whose wife is from Mexico -

PEREIRA: Right. CARDONA: And whose kids are of Mexican-American descent. Donald Trump was insulting his family. He should have taken this personally. And we have heard zero from him or from any of the presidential candidates. Nothing. Nada.

PEREIRA: Bill, I'm really - I'm really - nada, I like that. I'm really curious because, you know, as you had mentioned, this is sort of classic Donald Trump.

CARTER: It is. This is - yes.

PEREIRA: The kind of bluster - some people have used the word carnival barker. This is what he has done. But has the - has our stomach for these kinds of things and that kind of bluster changed in this country since the last time around?

CARTER: Well, I think it has changed. Obviously there's much more sensitivity out there than there was in the past. But also I think at some point NBC decides, Donald being Donald doesn't work anymore. It's too much. It's too much of a comment. And, again, I think it's partly because it's not as economically important to them. It was very economically important to them to have this relationship for a long, long time. It's less economically important now. They'll continue with the show.

[08:45:07] PEREIRA: Sure.

CARTER: They'll replace him.

PEREIRA: Yes.

CARTER: The beauty pageants are not big financial assets. So it became a lot easier for them to sort of do the right thing, get behind the idea that this was over the line and it wasn't just Donald being Donald.

PEREIRA: We look at the polls from a few weeks ago, and it had, Maria, it had Donald Trump in second place. Then you look at what has now happened. I wonder what the polls will reflect now. Many people are wondering, is this the way a presidential candidate should sound, referring to the electorate in that way?

CARDONA: No. Absolutely not. Here's what I think is so pernicious for the Republican Party moving forward. The fact that they have said nothing about these repulsive comments, everything that happened last week, Michaela, the issue about the Confederate flag and how so many Republicans were late to the game in admitting that it was racism that caused the tragedy in Charleston, what we saw in terms of the gay marriage Supreme Court decision, and then the overhang of the immigration debate which has been so detrimental to Republicans as a whole in terms of their image.

What you're seeing is a cementing of a perception of a Party that is not tolerant, that is divisive, that is frankly, from a perception standpoint, that is anti-woman, anti-immigrant, anti-Latino, anti- progress. For a republican Party that needs to amplify their reach to the new demographics of this country, they're not doing anything that will give them a viable pass to reach la Casa Blanca in 2016 or at any time beyond that.

PEREIRA: Maria, we'll leave it there for today. But you get a point for using the word pernicious. Impressive. Bill, always a delight to have you here with us. Thank you so much.

CARDONA: Thank you, Michaela.

PEREIRA: For both of you joining us.

CUOMO: Pernicious, is that Spanish? The phrase "an historic," it's odd-sounding this phrase, but it's been used a lot in regard to the Supreme Court, especially lately. What really matters to you in all the hype? Ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:50:47] CUOMO: Upholding Obama, legalizing gay marriage, taking on another challenge on affirmative action and a step in the latest shot at changing abortion policy. The Court did so much. Didn't it? Or did it?

Let's break it down with CNN senior legal analyst and former federal prosecutor, Professor Jeffrey Toobin. You know what we should start with, Professor? How about the infighting on the Court. That seemed unique no matter what you say about the decision. Justices reading their dissents, writing their own dissents, taking issue with each other, especially Scalia, who is such a big voice. Unusual?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Unprecedented in its vitriol. But only on the part of Justice Scalia. Justice Scalia really established himself this term as the get-off-my-lawn justice. Really, his level of hostility and ridicule of his colleagues was unlike anything I have seen in 20 years of covering the court and really, a different level of magnitude in terms of his abuse and contempt for his colleagues than I'd ever seen before. The rest of them basically standard operating procedure: vigorous disagreement, but respectful.

CUOMO: He stood out also because it was personal. Sometimes a dissent - or most of the time - a dissent is to lay out a basic framework of a (INAUDIBLE) prudential basis, you know, in terms of how you see the law. This wasn't about that. This was I don't like the government telling me how to live my life. s

TOOBIN: It was ridicule. It was ridicule at his colleagues, it was ridicule at certain positions before the court. And you know, one of the things that justices always say, it's really good that we have the summers off because it allows everybody to calm down and by the time they come back on the first Monday in October, things have recovered their equilibrium. Will be interesting to see if this sort of animus continues in the fall.

CUOMO: So the big take aways for regular folks like us that came out of it. Gay marriage. How is it really going to change things? TOOBIN: Huge. I don't think I am hyping my beat by saying this term

was historic by any sense because of its impact on people. There were 30 states in the Union where same-sex marriage was either going to be legal or illegal based on the court's decision. It's now legal in all 50 states. In addition, it established a framework for equality for gay people that is going to carry over to all sorts of areas. Job discrimination --

CUOMO: What about the pushback? The Texas AG saying you don't have to follow it. Ted Cruz saying that it's not the real law --

TOOBIN: I think that will ultimately be seen by people as dead-enders objecting to the tide of history that is rolling over them. The Supreme Court is final and it's legal in all 50 states and people are going to get married in all 50 states. And you know what? Everybody's going to get used it.

CUOMO: Obamacare here to stay. OK, that was somewhat expected. This decision by the court to say hold on, we're not going to allow the state right now on this changing of the definitions for abortion clinics in Texas seems to suggest they're going to hear the case. How big could that be?

TOOBIN: Two huge cases coming up next term it looks like. Abortion and affirmative action. On abortion, basically the question is going to be can a state do everything possible to discourage abortion short of banning it? They've never really addressed that question. And what Texas and Mississippi and several of these other states have done is really close to banning abortion in terms of making it impossible for abortion clinics to operate.

CUOMO: Texas is saying, though, they'll fight the question being framed that way. They'll say, no, no, we want to make it as safe as possible if you're going to go this route.

TOOBIN: But by doing it, they create so many obstacles that the number of abortion clinics falls to single digits in a state the size of Texas. And affirmative action, they took a case yesterday which really tees up whether racial preferences and admissions in colleges will still be allowed. You have several justices on the Court who are long-standing in their objection to any sort of racial preferences. You have Justice Elena Kagan, one of the liberals on the Court, who is recused in that case. So the liberals are going to start at a serious disadvantage. It really could be the end for affirmative action.

[08:55:07] CUOMO: People always say, ah, Supreme Court -- Now you see why you have to pay attention to the Court and why this next election is so important because you could have two, maybe three vacancies coming up.

Professor, we'll follow it all along the way.

TOOBIN: (INAUDIBLE)

CUOMO: Jeffrey Toobin, always a pleasure. So it has been a lot of serious news for you this morning. Remember, there is also virtue in the world and that's why we have "The Good Stuff" coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Oh, is the Mic going to love this one.

PEREIRA: Am I?

CUOMO: Oh yeah. Listen to this. Starts from bad proposition, "The Good Stuff," which is that the American dream is dead. You keep hearing that, right? Well, don't tell Jamal Abdullahi, OK? Here's why. He's a school janitor. Not enough of a dream? Well, he got to that point by escaping life as a teen soldier in Ethiopia. He didn't speak English or read or write until he was 17. OK? Enough of a dream? No? Well, don't worry about it. It was never about him. It was about his kids having a better life. One of the kids goes to the school he's the janitor in, she's graduating valedictorian with the most grades about A, she's enrolling in Barnard at Columbia in the fall and now her father says he is living the dream.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:59:59] JAMAL ABDULLAHI, IMMIGRATED TO AMERICA IN 1983: Normal American Children who are different from my life that I used to lead. Not (INAUDIBLE), not knowing where they'd go and now here they are achieving. That's a pride.

(END VIDEO CLIP)