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CNN Hero Richard Bienvenue; Who's Winning 2016 Money Race?; Interview with Michael Douglas. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired July 17, 2015 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:31:54] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for the five things to know for your NEW DAY.
Number one, the FBI now looking for links to terror in Thursday's attack that killed four Marines in Tennessee. Security now ramped up at a number of federal facilities.
A Colorado jury finding James Holmes guilty in the movie theater shooting that killed 12, wounded 70. Now Holmes could get life or the death penalty in the trial sentencing phase that begins next week.
President Obama meeting with the Saudi foreign minister today to try to ease concerns about the Iran nuclear deal. The U.N. Security Council expected to ratify the deal Monday, even though Congress has yet to weigh in on the measure.
Escaped drug kingpin "El Chapo" had an 18-minute head start before anyone noticed he was gone. That comes from two Mexican lawmakers. No prison staffer was assigned to watch him while in his cell.
Round two of the British Open underway. Zach Johnson and Danny Willett vaulting into a tie for the lead at eight under par. Jordan Spieth enters the day at 5 under. He is in search of his third straight major championship. One to watch over the weekend.
For more on the five things to know, go to newdaycnn.com for the latest.
Alisyn.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Chris, you'll love this story. A special ed teacher has been rebuilding lives for more than 20 years. He founded Our House, which gives young men in the Baltimore area a new home, new skills and new opportunities. Meet our latest CNN Hero Richard Bienvenue.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD BIENVENUE, CNN HERO: When I was a special ed teacher, I taught carpentry to high risk kids. During the daytime, as the day would tick on, you'd see that spark. Then they'd go home at nighttime, it would get erased. The tears you would see, the anguish they would go through, I saw a real need and that's when the idea hit me, don't let them go home.
We provide a residential setting for young men. During the day, they learn trades.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What I'd like to do -
BIENVENUE: At nighttime they get their high school education. We take on a lot of tough cases from foster care to the court system.
I'm impressed. I'm impressed. Yes.
The emotional support that we give is critical.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I worked hard on it.
BIENVENUE: Whoa! Good job!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) I was really traumatized. Since I've been here, I've learned carpentry, landscaping and (INAUDIBLE).
This is all about cooking.
I love working in the kitchen.
I want to cook.
When I leave, I will go to the culinary arts school and I will become a chef.
BIENVENUE: I don't want to see any more kids fall through the cracks. If I can give them an opportunity to turn their lives around, to step forward, that's my life's work.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CUOMO: Love him.
CAMEROTA: Yes, love it. There, that's a great story. If you know a CNN hero, let us know, please. Go to cnnheros.com and tell us all about them.
All right, Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush are leading the race for campaign cash, that all-important goody. So what are they doing to earn it? Well, Donald Trump has a theory. We'll play you his comments and more of my one-on-one with Governor Chris Christie.
[08:35:01] CUOMO: What is his theory?
CAMEROTA: I can't tell you.
CUOMO: Again?
CAMEROTA: Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You look at the 100 - the 100 million that he raised. If you think those people are giving without favors? Now Hillary raised $46 million. That's a lot of money. The good news is, I got - well, (INAUDIBLE), the good news, how much do I have? $10 billion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: That's a great line. How much do I have? That was presidential hopeful Donald Trump, of course, flaunting his wealth. Not really. The crowd was telling him how much he has. But who's raking in the campaign cash and winning the money race? Joining us this morning to weigh in is CNN political commentator and host of CNN's "SMERCONISH," Michael Smerconish.
Michael, great to see you.
MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Great to see you.
CAMEROTA: So let's talk about first Donald Trump's money for a second. Does that mean that he wins the race? Can he use his $10 billion to just finance his entire presidential campaign?
SMERCONISH: It's so funny. As I'm watching that clip, I'm thinking of Mitt Romney with the elevator for his cars and how the campaign was embarrassed by the revelations over that, I think, in La Jolla. If Donald Trump had that garage, it would be a talking point. It would be part of, you know, a 30-second commercial that he would want to run. The dichotomy between the two is just stunning.
[08:40:08] CAMEROTA: Yes, he's unabashedly rich and doesn't that help?
SMERCONISH: It helps with some, the way in which he's trumpeting, but I think it's a very small -
CUOMO: Trumpeting. Good, I like that too.
SMERCONISH: You know, it's got - a good alliteration too.
CUOMO: I like it.
SMERCONISH: I think that it's a very narrow group that it's helping him with, but, look, I'm - I've been wrong. I need to confess. I never thought he'd run and I sure as heck didn't think he'd lead the polls at this juncture. I don't think it will last, but I've been wrong thus far, OK?
CUOMO: Well, we thought he was going to run and we didn't think that he would be cowed by the financial disclosures because, two reasons, one, a lot of his holdings are private, so how do you really get a fixed value? And, two, the FEC (ph) is worried about people under representing their wealth.
SMERCONISH: Right.
CUOMO: He, is, if anything, some would say, arguing over his wealth.
CAMEROTA: Inflating.
CUOMO: But here's the thing I find funny.
SMERCONISH: And the forms lend themselves to that.
CUOMO: That's right. And here's the funny thing, though, is that it's not funny. The money in politics is what is driving almost all of the negative aspects. And Trump, while saying that, has also said, Michael, that he's part of the problem, that he gave money to all of them because he would expect that they'd be nice to him.
SMERCONISH: Correct.
CUOMO: How does he wind up having it both ways?
SMERCONISH: I don't think that he can have it both ways and I - I want to say that I think that he strikes a chord when he says, why do you think people are giving so much money to Jeb Bush or to Hillary Clinton or to any of them? I think he's correct in saying, we have a real problem in this country. But his hypocrisy is, he was giving to everybody as a businessman before he became a candidate.
CAMEROTA: Which you're allowed to do, by the way.
SMERCONISH: Absolutely.
CAMEROTA: And that's what the candidates rely upon. But -
SMERCONISH: But he raises - he raises a good point, what are you purchasing exactly? I would like to think that all of those donors are altruistic and they really just want the embodiment to them of what the American dream is. But they're business people who are looking for things when that candidate gets elected.
CUOMO: Especially with these PACs.
SMERCONISH: No doubt.
CAMEROTA: OK, let's look at it for a second. Let's look at the real numbers so far. We do have how much Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush have raised. There we go. OK, so total raise, $114.
CUOMO: Super PACs.
CAMEROTA: Million dollars for Jeb, which is a lot more than anybody else, and that is from, as Chris said, the super PAC number. Look at that, $103 million coming from a super PAC, six times more than anybody else. So what does that mean, Michael?
SMERCONISH: What's most problematic to me over those numbers is the idea, this fiction that now - from now until the end of the campaign, he'll be at arm's length removed from that super PAC. And the whole notion that if you haven't formally announced, then the sky's the limit in terms of what you can raise. But if you're formally a candidate, then the limitations kick in. I mean, really, it's a sham and I wish we would do something about it.
CUOMO: And it's legal.
SMERCONISH: And it's legal.
CUOMO: It's all legal money.
SMERCONISH: Well, Citizens United didn't help this process, that's for sure.
CUOMO: Right. However, you could change it legislatively, if you wanted to. It's not the illegal money, it's the illegal money. And for some reason the politicians aren't going to stop it because they call it unilateral disarmament and people just don't seem to get pissed off about this enough to do anything about it.
SMERCONISH: Well -
CAMEROTA: Because, what's the problem? I mean why don't you tell people -
SMERCONISH: Well, I'll tell you what the problem is.
CAMEROTA: Yes, what's the issue?
SMERCONISH: I'm - I'm - because I'm pissed off about it. What I don't like is that if you make a conventional donation to a federal candidate from October 15, I think it is, through election day, they must immediately disclose that sum of money if it were $1,000 or more. The super backs get to spend tons of money in the waning days of a campaign. We've all seen those disclaimers at the end of the ad. You have no idea who really stands behind that ad. And then there's not full disclosure until the ballots have already been counted. So the damage, to your question, is that people are going and casting ballots with no idea as to who has really influenced their vote.
CAMEROTA: Let's talk about Chris Christie, Governor Chris Christie.
SMERCONISH: Sure.
CAMEROTA: I sat down with him for a one-on-one interview. It was interesting on many different levels yesterday. And he talked about the topic that is on so many people's minds, what to do about illegal immigration. Let me play for you what his solution would be.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've got to penalize employers who hire people who are here illegally. The fact is that that shouldn't happen and it's exploiting American workers. But in addition to that, it's exploiting many of those people who are here legally because they're being paid less money.
CAMEROTA: Would you have any pathway to citizenship for those 12 million who have been working here?
CHRISTIE: I have to tell you the truth, I'm - I've - we have a number of undocumented immigrants here in New Jersey, many of whom I've met over the course of my governorship. None of them has ever come to me and said, governor, the reason I came here was to vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Your thoughts?
SMERCONISH: I heard him say to you that he thinks Hillary Clinton is pandering by her embracing a pathway to citizenship. And perhaps she is. But to an extent he's pandering as well to the base of the GOP, whom he doesn't want to alienate by engaging on that issue where -
CAMEROTA: Because in 2010, he also believed in a pathway to citizenship.
SMERCONISH: Which you pointed out to him.
And, by the way, these two issues are related, The Donald and Chris Christie, because my view is that Chris Christie is the one who's suffering the most by having The Donald gain such prominence because Donald Trump is Chris Christie on steroid right now. Remember, the Christie brand is one of, I'm going to tell it to you directly. I'll say it in a way that's not politically correct. There's just not enough oxygen in the tent for the two of them.
[08:45:04] CUOMO: Alisyn got a good plus/minus out of him, though. On the plus side he said it's about the employers. Why doesn't anybody go after the employers? That takes us back to the super PAC conversation. On the minus side, though, he did admit that he doesn't think you can get all of these illegals and round them up and just throw them back. That is not going to be good for his base to hear.
SMERCONISH: No. Of course you can't do that. And I thought that -- The other issue that you raised with him was the one of incarceration. You know, that's space he should own. That's a natural place for him to be because he's a former prosecutor. Rand Paul is already there. The president is now trumpeting this issue. But I think that that's some ground where Chris Christie can make some points.
CAMEROTA: He did try to make that point that he's been doing that in New Jersey for years and that we're late to the game.
Michael Smerconish, have a great weekend.
SMERCONISH: Good to see you guys.
CAMEROTA: Thanks so much for coming on.
CUOMO: Always good. Always good. So Oscar winner Michael Douglas in a new movie, summer blockbuster, "Ant-Man".
CAMEROTA: What am I doing?
CUOMO: There he is. They're discussing why Alisyn called Ant-Man a pest.
CAMEROTA: How did I get over there?
CUOMO: His thoughts on playing opposite an ant and being friends with Donald Trump.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL DOUGLAS, ACTOR, "ANT-MAN": It's too late for me, but not for you. This is your chance, your chance to earn that look in your daughter's eyes, to become the hero that she already thinks you are. It's not about saving our world. It's about saving theirs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:50:02] CAMEROTA: That was a scene from Marvel's highly anticipated new movie "Ant-Man", marking legendary Michael Douglas' first role in a super hero film, but he's had many memorable roles, including that of "The American President" and Gordon Gekko in "Wall Street".
Joining us now is two-time Academy Award winner, Michael Douglas. Great to have you here.
DOUGLAS: Thank you, Alisyn. Nice to be here.
CAMEROTA: This is a fun movie.
DOUGLAS: This is a lot of fun. You know, it's really - I mean, first of all, I get to play a good guy, which is rare in my career. You mentioned "The American President" being one of the few. And also just to experience special effects. My entire career has been made out of contemporary movies dealing with contemporary angsts and the gray area between good and bad. So to be in one of these kind of comedic super action pictures with all these special effects, being able to talk to an ant on my shoulder, it's great. A lot of fun.
CAMEROTA: I heard you say that your kids have never been impressed with your career until now.
DOUGLAS: First of all, my kids did not know a lot about my career because I made a lot of R pictures, R-rated movies, which they could never see. So when this came along and I was reading the script of "Ant-Man" and my 14-year-old son Dylan took a look at it, he took the script, he took it out of my hand, he said, dad, you don't even have to finish this. You've got to do this.
CAMEROTA: That's so great. One game that my son, who is eight years old, and I like to play together is he always asks me if I could have any super power, what I would have. What's your answer to that?
DOUGLAS: Oh. Well, after being in "Ant-Man" and thinking about all the possibilities, getting small is not bad.
CAMEROTA: I've also heard you say that one thing that you would do, I mean, if you had sort of a magic wand, is about nuclear weapons.
DOUGLAS: Well, they always say if you had a wish and if you were small, what would you do? I do try to slide my message in there and I would try to eliminate the world of nuclear weapons. That's been my issue probably going back to "The China Syndrome", which is a picture that I did about a possible, close to a meltdown of a nuclear power plant. That was when I first learned a little bit about the half-life of plutonium and just how poisonous and how incredibly dangerous and just earth-destroying these weapons are. I was made a Messenger of Peace by (INAUDIBLE), the United Nations in 1998 and worked with them and other organizations.
CAMEROTA: This week was the historic deal with Iran that, I mean, reportedly will cut down on nuclear proliferation. Are you convinced by this deal?
DOUGLAS: I think it's just so presumptuous of everybody to jump on this, certainly negatively. I see the positive aspects of it and I think it's going to be closely investigated and reviewed by Congress. And we'll see. But I constantly have asked for a long time, well, what's the choice? And if you want to continue to say sanctions, sanctions, as Iran gets closer and closer to a nuclear weapon, I don't know if that's the answer. My feeling always is -- and you know I'm a bit of a diplomat with the United Nations and I always feel the dialogue, you know, having some kind of dialogue is better than none at all.
CAMEROTA: We talked about some of your other roles. You memorably played "The American President." How closely are you following the current presidential election?
DOUGLAS: It's pretty early on. It gets pretty exhausting. But I'm getting a kick out of the Donald. I know Mr. Trump personally. I enjoy him, he's a funny guy, he's got a great self-deprecating sense of humor.
CAMEROTA: Does he?
DOUGLAS: Yeah, he can.
CAMEROTA: Because he seems kind of a self-aggrandizing sense of humor at times.
DOUGLAS: Well, you know, that's just his branding, should we say, his posture. But I found him as somebody who can laugh at himself to a degree.
CAMEROTA: Do you have a favorite on the Democratic side?
DOUGLAS: I'm a big, big fan of Hillary Clinton's. I've admired her since she first came into the White House as the president's wife and the issues, the efforts that she made on health care way back when. And so I mean, it will be interesting to see, but I support Hillary.
CAMEROTA: How is your health?
DOUGLAS: My health is great. I'm five years out now, which normally means five years is a totally clean record.
CAMEROTA: Well, you look great.
DOUGLAS: Thank you, Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: And the movie looks really fun, "Ant-Man".
DOUGLAS: Yes.
CAMEROTA: Great to have you here.
DOUGLAS: Thanks for having me. Thank you.
CAMEROTA: Let's go back to Chris.
CUOMO: Great to see him, Alisyn, and to hear him say that, as a man, he wishes he could be smaller.
[08:54:48] Coming up next, "The Good Stuff."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CUOMO: Friday "Good Stuff." You ready for this one?
CAMEROTA: I am.
CUOMO: Police in Richmond, Virginia, are investigating a fatal shooting. On their way out they stopped to check on a group of kids playing nearby. That's when they discovery this: A little boy struggling with his bike chain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: And then he looked at me and goes, I don't know how to fix this, and you know, it's like, well, I'm going to help you.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: We can't control everything that happens within the neighborhood at a certain particular point in time, but we also want to reinforce and encourage the good things about policing and also the good things about just being a citizen out there in the community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: Protect and serve and no, it did no compromise a murder investigation. They had the time to do this. So they got the bike fixed. The kid left and everything was nice. It may not seem like a big thing, but officers Grayson and Peterson say community policing makes all the difference.
CAMEROTA: It does. And, Chris, I'm so glad that you do these stories and "The Good Stuff" all the time because, obviously, we all do the stories about when policing goes wrong. But every day, every hour, they're doing those things and I'm so glad when you remind us of it and highlight it. CUOMO: Well thank you, Alisyn. I wish I could take credit for it, but
it really is a show mandate and it is sponsored.
(LAUGHTER)
CAMEROTA: Way to bring it down, Chris Cuomo.
CUOMO: Just trying to keep it real. Just trying to keep it real.
CAMEROTA: Have a great weekend.
[09:00:00] CUOMO: Are you going to apologize for calling Ant-Man a pest before we let the show end as the movie opens today?
CAMEROTA: I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Ant-Man. And time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.
