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All Eyes On Trump; POTUS Pressures GOP To Pass Iran Nuclear Deal; Trump Supporters On His Immigration Solution; Why Don't Trump Supporters Back Other Candidates? Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired August 06, 2015 - 07:30   ET

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Tweet us please using #newdaycnn or post your comment on facebook.com/newday. We look forward to reading those.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, so it is the secret phone call raising a lot of eyebrows. What did Donald Trump and Bill Clinton discussed weeks before the billionaire businessman launched his presidential run? Is it true that Bill said, you've got to do it, Donald. No, it isn't, I just made that up. But "Inside Politics" has the scoop ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: You want to know what to know before the big debate? That's why we have "Inside Politics" on NEW DAY with Mr. John King. Take it away, my friend.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Happy debate day, Mr. Cuomo. A lot of fun and energy in the race. It's been an interesting summer, a defining moment tonight. So let's go "Inside Politics." With me this morning to share their reporting and their insights, Jackie Kucinich of "The Daily Beast" and CNN's Jeff Zeleny.

We'll talk about the debate. Standing center stage today will be Republican frontrunner Donald Trump. He told Robert Costa of "The Washington Post," you watch, I am going to keep it on a high level. I have a lot of respect for them.

He has got nothing to lose here, but we know he's a great performer. We know given ten candidates, there's not a lot of time. He knows how to make his point.

[07:35:10] Is there a trap for him or potential downside for him coming in as the frontrunner nationally? He's leading in New Hampshire and is tied for first or a close second in Iowa?

JACKIE KUCINICH, "THE DAILY BEAST": I think it's how he responds to people if they decide to attack him. If they decide to go after him and is looking like he's lashing out constantly, that's not going to be great for him.

And maybe some knowledge of policy, but I don't think the bar is terribly high for Donald Trump. He's made of nightmares for the establishment no matter what. He is not going to change any minds there.

KING: Is there where they go after him? I mean, the Republican frontrunner, the man who will the Republican front-runner, you are allowed to change your position in politics, it happens. But he's for universal health care he said.

Once he was quite liberal when running for the reformed nomination back in 2000. He was pro-choice and now he says he's changed his mind and he is anti-abortion.

He gave money to Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign and the Clinton Foundation and he was once in the long period for guns. That was the Republican frontrunner.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I think all that is true. I do not think tonight is the night that someone brings that up. Jeb Bush certainly is not going to bring it up. Scott Walker won't bring that up because that would be picking a fight with him when he's at his top of the game here.

I think that Donald Trump's big challenge here is if he starts to look more presidential, more like Donald Trump, more serious, some people like what they have seen the last few months and will say, that's not the guy we have seen.

We like the bombast, we like all that, but John, you're totally right on that. If this is a first debate, debate number four, five or six and he's still leading, all of his issues will be front and center. But tonight I'm sure this is not the night for one of the candidates to bring it up.

KING: I think more if he grows. He comes in at 20 something in the national polls, then they will use weapons, TV ads or something, somebody is going to have to spend money. What do you do if you are another candidate, like Marco Rubio?

Your time is limited and you're struggling. So you want to make a key biographical point and some sort of a key thematic point. He's a warm-up from yesterday in Cleveland.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I didn't run for office believing this was owed to me or that I was the next person in line, that somehow it was my turn.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: So that's a shot at Hillary Clinton or you can say that it's a shot at Jeb Bush.

KUCINICH: Right. Marco Rubio can't disappear and that's going to be his biggest challenge in a field with a lot of personality. So you're right, he's got to make some strong points and has to show the reviewers why he's there and on that stage. KING: John, you have Marco Rubio who has a little bit disappeared over the summer. Rand Paul who last year was the most interesting politician in America, has been on a milk carton, and the rising star in his home state, John Kasich, who has gone from nowhere to earning a spot on the debate stage. So everybody, I guess, has a slightly different calculation.

ZELENY: No question at all and I think Scott Walker, the person who will be standing on the other side of Donald Trump, I think he has a fairly high burden. He's won election after election in Wisconsin, but we've not seen him perform on the national stage.

So the challenge of being a governor always is sort of talking about foreign affairs and other domestic issues outside your home state. Marco Rubio has been running for a long time, all of his policy speeches that he's been giving over the last year or so, all that helps tonight because that is preparation.

But if you're John Kasich, he's a new candidate still and Scott Walker is a new candidate. So I think Marco Rubio has an easier task.

KUCINICH: With Scott Walker, we have also seen he's not great on his feet and can be thrown off fairly easily by a tough question. So that is going to be his biggest challenge, not to say something that he ends up trying to clean up later.

KING: And it never goes as you expect. We'll see who is nimble and who is not in the debate tonight. That's one thing we expect to be one of the big questions, and we don't expect much agreement, it will be interesting to see what Rand Paul says on this point.

But the president of the United States making his case with the nuclear Iran saying the alternative to trying diplomacy would mean another Middle East war.

President Obama in a very strong speech yesterday went right after Republican opponent saying, you should remember who they are.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: If the rhetoric in these ads and the accompanying commentary sounds familiar, it shouldn't. For many of the same people who argued for the war in Iraq are now making the case against the Iran nuclear deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: He's sort of guaranteed himself a role in this debate with that speech.

KUCINICH: Yes, I don't think he made any friends on the Republican side with that speech. I mean, there's a very good chance he'll have to veto what the Congress brings forward. He'll have to get Democrats on his side to avoid an override.

ZELENY: There are plenty of Democrats who are not on board with this deal either. So I thought the speech had a little more politics in it than most of his foreign policy speeches. But no question, I look for one of the candidates tonight to, you know, take on the president.

President Obama has been an oddly absent figure in this Republican presidential campaign and he should be the one who is talking about it. So we'll see a resurgence of people talking about the president tonight.

[07:40:10] KUCINICH: And tying that to Hillary Clinton if they do --

KING: A lot of Hillary Clinton tonight. That's a unifying factor. We'll move to Bill Clinton for a second. Donald Trump had a phone conversation with Bill Clinton back at the end of May. The two guys know each other and we have pictures of them golfing, one of him at Donald Trump's wedding.

But Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, Bill Clinton said conservatives like you, but listen to Donald Trump just a week or so ago when Jake Tapper asked him a question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "THE LEAD": Are you still in touch with the Clintons?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, not at all. I'm not at all, actually. No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: No, I'm not. I'm not at all actually no.

ZELENY: Boy, that was a quick answer. He didn't miss a beat. In fact, we found out that they are and this confirmed something that Republicans have wondered. What is Donald Trump up to? Is he sort of helping Hillary Clinton somehow? So this phone call was confirmed by both sides. Bill Clinton's advisors say it was in May. They didn't talk about 2016. The optics of this are terrible.

KING: If your goal is to be the truth-teller in the race, Alisyn, you ought to tell the truth.

CAMEROTA: Here I come, John. Hi. I've been here all along, John, as you know. And I did hear what you said and I do like truth telling. Thank you for that, John. I know you'll be watching and we'll look forward to talking to you tomorrow.

Meanwhile, going into tonight's debate, Donald Trump, of course, leading the GOP pack, what key issues are resonating most with his supporters? And why aren't they supporting the other Republican candidates? We'll ask all of them when we bring the Donald Trump panel.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: A lot of people will be watching Donald Trump during the GOP debate to see how he answers the issues. So what issues are resonating most with his supporters and what do they know about his position on the issues.

Joining us again on NEW DAY are Trump supporters, Susan Wampier, Jesse Lopez and Paul DiBartolo. Great to see both -- all of you guys back again. We'll start with the immigration here that thrust him into the spotlight. What do you think his position is on immigration, Paul?

PAUL DIBARTOLO, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: I really think that Donald Trump, he loves -- we get on the subject of Hispanics or Mexicans, which has been the big issue. Donald Trump loves Hispanics and Mexican people.

[07:45:10] He has a lot of respect for them and says it over and over again. His key is he just wants people to do things the right way. I come from a very diverse family. My sister-in-law is Hispanic from Colombia and my niece. They did it the right way.

CAMEROTA: So it did not bother you when he said that Mexico is not exporting their best. They are exporting criminals and rapists. People said that was a gross generalization.

DIBARTOLO: I think it was taken out of context in a sense. I think that he was specifically talking about illegal aliens that are criminals. OK? I think that -- haven't you ever said something that you wish you said a different way but can't take it back? I think in hindsight maybe he could --

CAMEROTA: He would take it back?

DIBARTOLO: I don't think he would have taken it back, but he would have said it in a different way that people would have understood what he was saying.

JESSE LOPEZ, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: A lot of people I know which are Hispanic-Mexicans like myself, I'm Mexican dissent, and they were insulted by the way he said it. Evidently he must not have somebody that is giving him that cultural information that's very important for his candidacy. He needs somebody to tell him you can't say it this way because a lot of pride is involved in the Latino culture around the world.

CAMEROTA: If you are giving him a pass because he did not finesse the message right.

LOPEZ: He didn't finesse it. With my work in the Mexican border when I was in the Navy interacting with the Mexican government, and seeing who could actually come across the border, there are a lot of rapists that come across the border, murderers, killers. Yesterday a lady got raped by another felon released, an immigrant. He killed her with a hammer after he raped her. My God!

CAMEROTA: This suggests that the immigrants perpetrate less crime than Native Americans, meaning Americans, not immigrants, Americans born here. LOPEZ: There are a lot of immigrants that are strong workers and solace citizens. This is the best criminal element in that section of society. Now, what I would like for him to do and what he's trying to do is if you're a felon, stay where you're at.

CAMEROTA: Let me read to you what he has said about immigration. This is a specific thing he's said about your comment, I would get people out, the 11 million to 12 million immigrants who are here, I would get them out and have an excellent way to get them back so they would be legal. Is that specific for you?

SUSAN WAMPIER, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Yes, he wants to make it a faster process to get the people that want to be citizens here. He just wants a law. He wants it to be legal.

CAMEROTA: But he's not explaining how to get out the roughly 12 million undocumented immigrants?

LOPEZ: I think he does have a plan except because of the small amount of time that he has whenever they do show him, the goal is like, for example, the debate we're going to have tonight, you know, they have 30 seconds, maybe a minute.

For example, I have friends who worked for border patrol and said, we cannot do our job. We are being told not to do our job. America is angry and with all due respect, Mr. President, you have led America down. You have led many of the military veterans down.

CAMEROTA: So Jesse, it sounds like you think Donald Trump is tapping into an angry vein, you share it. However, you do not need to hear specifics at this point? Am I right?

DIBARTOLO: I feel it is very early in the game for specifics. Just to be clear, Hispanics love Donald Trump.

CAMEROTA: How do you know that?

DIBARTOLO: I have several examples on the Facebook page I have built with a lot of Hispanic people posting messages on there. I don't know if the camera can zoom in on this, but I have an example here of a couple Hispanic women who said, I heard your speech and am not offended. One example, I have many, many examples but can't show them all to you.

CAMEROTA: You have a lot of feedback on your Facebook page.

DIBARTOLO: They love Donald Trump. He's being misrepresented based on -- what he said wasn't clean but it was real. It was real. It's -- it's just -- he's not working off a script or doesn't have high profile person writing -- he's not working off a teleprompter.

[07:50:06] CAMEROTA: Hold your thoughts. We have other issues to talk about. You're going to have that opportunity right after this very quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CAMEROTA: And we are back with our panel of Donald Trump supporters. They're all looking forward to the debate tonight. So guys, you all really like Donald Trump. Why not Ted Cruz? Why not Chris Christie? Why not Marco Rubio?

WAMPIER: Because Donald Trump does not have all of the special interest groups and all of the people that are giving him money and supporting his candidacy. He's doing it on his own. So he doesn't have to have favors that he has to follow their direction. He is following his own.

CAMEROTA: I see. Not a career politician. You like that.

WAMPIER: He's going to do what he feels is best for the American people with our interests, not special interests and not lobbyists.

[07:55:04] LOPEZ: And that's a specific point because I started thinking, wait a minute, when people give you a large amount of money, they want something for it and they're going to come back later and collect on it.

When Donald Trump is saying, I don't need anybody's money, in fact, I'm using mine and that's what I'm going to use, because I don't want to be owing anybody anything.

I want to use my money and go out there and make America great again, bring the jobs back, make Americans -- get them back to work again and start making businesses. And more importantly, bring Americans together.

DIBARTOLO: Right now everybody hates each other. Over the last 50 years we made so many stride in, I'll say, race relations. Everybody was doing quite well. And I feel like in the last six years we've gone back 50 years, everybody's against each other. It's terrible.

LOPEZ: We're talking about Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and all the other candidates. It's like OK, when you look into the camera long enough from what somebody wrote from what they're reading -- give me a break. Give me something real.

WAMPIER: We want America to be the special interest group, not all different companies. We want America to be put first.

CAMEROTA: You want America to be first and be great again. And you think that's what Donald Trump represents. We will see what he says tonight. Paul, Jesse, Susan, thanks so much. Pleasure talking to you. Shout it out on the website. You can shout it out on Twitter later. Let's get over to Chris.

CUOMO: It's good to know where people's heads are as we get into this. It's all about you, right? It's also about the GOP tonight. We're going to have the RNC chair here. He's going to say why he thinks this format works. Whether or not this is good for his party and what he expects tonight.

Also, we're going to have a Malaysian official, and new reports for you that there has been plane debris found on Reunion Island, not the wing, new stuff that could come from inside a plane, which would make all the different. We have a live report ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. We begin with a potentially huge break in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. We are told new debris has been discovered and this could be from inside of a plane and that would make a huge difference.