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New Day

GOP Rift Examined; Clinton E-Mail Investigation Nearing End; Clinton, Sanders Attacking Trump; Replay of Tapper-Ryan Interview. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired May 06, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The FBI is close to wrapping up. This is an important moment, because it signals that the FBI is close to wrapping up this investigation.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, NEW DAY, ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to your "New Day." John is here riding shotgun. Great to have you.

JOHN BERMAN, NEW DAY, ANCHOR: Glad you're driving.

CAMEROTA: Yeah. Me, too. Meanwhile, we begin with a huge rift in the GOP. The nation's highest ranking elected Republican, House Speaker Paul Ryan says he's not ready to support Donald Trump. Ryan says he's skeptical of Trump's commitment to the party and whether Trump can unify. Trump firing back saying he's not ready to support Paul Ryan's agenda. The two men will meet next week in Washington.

BERMAN: So all this as the last two Republican presidents and the last two Republican nominees say they are skipping the convention.

On the democratic side, Hillary Clinton hoping to finally put the e- mail controversy to rest. CNN has learned that the FBI has questioned several of her former state department aides about whether classified material was on her private e-mail server. So far, CNN has told there is no evidence that Secretary Clinton willfully broke the law. We're all over these developments this morning. Let's begin with our Phil Mattingly here in New York with us. Good morning, Phil.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Donald Trump has expanded his political team bringing on a lot of veteran advisers. One of the key focuses has been Capitol Hill outreach, trying and help some of those bruised feelings with lawmakers, particularly those running for re-election. In one jarring moment yesterday, it became very clear they have a lot more work to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REINCE PRIEBUS, (R), RNC CHAIRMAN: They're both committed to sitting down and work and actually talking this out.

MATTINGLY: RNC Chairman Reince Priebus in the middle of the fight to unite, confirming Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan will meet face-to-face next week.

PAUL RYAN, (R), U.S. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I'm just not ready to do that.

MATTINGLY: Only hours after Ryan told CNN's Jake Tapper that he's not ready to back Trump.

PRIEBUS: And what he's saying is, look, I want to get there. I think I will get there, but I want to talk to Donald Trump, and I want to work with him.

MATTINGLY: Priebus trying to explain why Ryan and some in the Republican Party are so reluctant to back their new standard bearer.

PRIEBUS: For some people, an endorsement is a full embrace, and for some people it takes a little bit of time to get to a full embrace.

MATTINGLY: The chairman not promising 100 percent of the party will fall in line, but optimistic that there won't be a contested convention come July.

PRIEBUS: The platform of our party will be written in Cleveland, and I think you're going to get another very conservative platform out of our party.

MATTINGLY: But not so fast. Trump firing back at Ryan in a statement saying "I'm not ready to support Speaker Ryan's agenda. Perhaps in the future we can work together and come to an agreement about what is best for the American people."

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know that thing never Trump. You know why it's never Trump? Because I'm going to stop the gravy train for all of these consultants and all of these people.

MATTINGLY: Ryan making clear that his focus is on one thing, protecting the party's House Majority. Something some analysts predict could be in jeopardy with a Trump nomination.

RYAN: My focus this fall, is, has been and will be the House Majority.

MATTINGLY: And warning the fight for unity rests mostly on the shoulders of the nominee.

RYAN: I think what is necessary to make this work, for this to unify, is to actually take our principles and advance them, and that's what we want to see, saying we're unified doesn't in and of itself unify us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Now ideally what should happen now is Paul Ryan and Donald Trump will meet behind closed doors, start to work everything out and get closer to that process of unification. But there are a few things that you expect to happen have happened in 2016 and Donald Trump already tweeting out this morning, "So many great endorsements yesterday, except Paul Ryan. We must put America first and make America great again." It doesn't look like Donald Trump is willing to just deal with this behind the scenes. Alisyn? CAMEROTA: Expect the unexpected. That is good advice, Phil. Thanks so much for that.

So how do Trump's former Republican rivals feel about what's going on in their party today? Joining us now is former Louisiana governor and former presidential candidate, Bobby Jindal. Good morning, governor.

BOBBY JINDAL, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good morning, Alisyn. Thank you all for having me back on your show. It's great to be with you.

CAMEROTA: Great to have you back. So, we want to take your political temperature this morning. Are you team Trump or team Ryan?

JINDAL: Well, Alisyn, Paul Ryan is a good friend of mine. I've got a lot of respect for him. But I don't have any problem with conservatives that are still going through this process, that still aren't sure what they're going to do in this election. I understand this is a process. Donald trump was certainly not my first choice but he is the voters' choice. They have spoken here.

One of the things I heard Paul say was that he was trying to get certain promises, concessions out of Donald Trump. I think that can be a very good thing. For example, I think it would be a great thing if Donald Trump would tell us who his secretary of Defense would be, who his secretary of State would be? I think if he would surround himself with proven conservative leaders, that might give more comfort to Paul Ryan and others out there.

CAMEROTA: OK. So ...

JINDAL: So, I've got a lot of respect for Paul. I'm not critical of him.

[07:05:08] CAMEROTA: So I mean, you're saying that if Donald Trump spells out his cabinet, you think then that Paul Ryan would be able to wholeheartedly support him?

JINDAL: Well, look, I think that may give Paul and others more assurance that he is going to have folks around him that will be competent, that will be conservatives, that are proven professionals. But Alisyn, for me it comes down to this. Look, I've said I'm going to be voting for Donald Trump and it's not because I've had son of epiphany. I don't think he's a Reaganesque leader. I don't think he can say or do anything between now and November that will convince me that he is the next Reaganesque leader for our party or for our country.

For me as a conservative, it really is a binary choice. It really is. What is the conservative to do? I'm voting for Donald Trump because I don't think we can afford four more years of liberal incompetence. I don't think Hillary Clinton is the right leader for our country. This isn't about the Republican Party for me. This is about our country.

And your previous segment was exactly right. You listened about Donald Trump. I don't think he truly is, on many issues, a conservative, but I think he's more likely than Hillary Clinton to do conservative things.

CAMEROTA: Let me remind you and our viewers what you said about Donald Trump eight short months ago. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JINDAL: He's non-serious. He's a carnival act. Here's the truth about Donald Trump. Donald Trump is shallow. He has no understanding of policy. He is full of bluster. He has no substance. He lacks the intellectual curiosity even learned. You can't argue policy with this guy. The only thing that Donald Trump believes in is himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: OK. Shallow, a carnival act, I mean, these are worse than non-Reaganesque. So how have you worked your way around to being able to support him?

JINDAL: Well, Alisyn, and I want to be clear, I'm not all of a sudden change my views about Donald Trump. I said some other things as well, if you play the full remarks. I said some pretty harsh thing, more harsh than I've said about anybody in public or political life. Suddenly, I'm not just today a big -- I've not joined the Donald Trump fan club.

Bottom line, take two specific issues. The next president will appoint, I think a critical appointment to the Supreme Court. You got a Supreme Court that is likely deadlocked on religious liberty, on our second amendments rights, on the role of the federal government. There is zero percent chance Hillary Clinton would appoint a constitutionalist, a conservative like Scalia to that court.

I'm not telling you it's 100 percent certain that Donald Trump will do it. I'm saying it's greater than zero. Take a second issue, Obama care. There is zero percent chance that Hillary Clinton will do anything to appeal or reverse Obama care. Now, Donald Trump has taken all kinds of positions for and against big (ph) government involvement in health care but at least there's a chance he will actually reverse Obama care, repeal and replace Obama care.

So, given the fact that we've got two choices, given the fact we've got record dependence on government, given the fact we've record debt under President Obama, given the fact that we've got a failed foreign policy, I think we've got to make a change.

The Democratic Party today is not the Democratic Party of the '90s. This President Clinton, unlike her husband, would not be doing things like the crime bill, like welfare reform ...

CAMEROTA: OK.

JINDAL: ... like NAFTA, like, you know, deficit reduction packages. This is a very different Democratic Party.

CAMEROTA: Governor, are you worried that having Donald Trump at the top of the ticket will negatively affect other candidates down ticket? JINDAL: Well, look, I think the Republican Party has got a greater concern than Donald Trump. I think what his nomination and what his election shows is that we as conservatives have not done a good job connecting with average voters. And again, in your previous segment you talked about the fact that Donald Trump is in a different place on the party on entitlement reform on Social Security and Medicare. He's in a different place than the party on trade deals. He's in a different place than the party on foreign policy in respect to Israel and other aspects of our foreign policy. Look at Reagan's famous three-legged stool that you all referenced. And he's in different places on each of those three areas.

CAMEROTA: So what does that mean for congressional candidates and others?

JINDAL: Well, the fact that so many voters, a plurality of voters in the Republican primary chose him, tells me that we as conservatives, we as republicans need to do a better job of explaining why our conservative policies and principles are good for every voter, help every voter join the middle class.

I think what Donald Trump shows, there are a lot of people frustrated with President Obama and the Democratic Party, but also frustrated with the Republican Party. They feel like the leaders in D.C. have said one thing and done another.

CAMEROTA: Yeah.

JINDAL: They feel like the leaders in D.C. have not served them well, including in the Republican Party. You know, this fight that Donald Trump -- maybe not a fight, but this exchange of words Donald Trump has had with Paul Ryan, I've got a lot of respect for Paul and I've said that I don't know that that hurts Donald Trump. I think for him to continue to go against the D.C. establishment, it has worked for him.

CAMEROTA: Governor, we only have a few seconds left. Are you going to go to the Republican convention?

JINDAL: Look, no. Right now, I don't have any plans to. The last two Republican conventions, I couldn't go because of hurricanes coming into my state. At this point, you know, if there was a purpose I would go. I'm not boycotting. I'm not deliberately not going because of Donald Trump.

[07:10:09] But right now, there's not a point for me to go. If there were a point, I would certainly consider going. But I'm not staying away because of a boycott or expressing any kind of discontent. I simply -- right now, there's no point for me to go.

CAMEROTA: OK, good to know. Thanks so much, former governor Bobby Jindal. Great to have you.

JINDAL: Thanks, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Back to you, John. BERMAN: Right, Alisyn. The FBI has already questioned Huma Abedin and other top Hillary Clinton aides and could interview Clinton herself in the next few weeks. The nine-month investigation of the former Secretary of State's use of a private e-mail server is now close to wrapping up. CNN Justice Correspondent Pamela Brown, live from Washington with the latest. This is potentially big news for Hillary Clinton, Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. The investigation, John, as you point out, has been going on for nine months but it's really ramping up in terms of the interviews. In fact, we've learned that several people inside Clinton's inner circle have been brought in quietly to a room in the FBI's Washington field office over the last few weeks and that's including Clinton's longtime confidant Huma Abedin. She's said to be one of those people and officials tell us she has been cooperating in this investigation. The interviews have been focused on whether classified information was mishandled and the security of Clinton's private server she had in her home.

Investigators, bottom line, think this should have never happened. Even Clinton admitted it was a mistake having this private server. But at this point in the investigation, officials tell us there was no evidence to prove criminal wrongdoing at this point. But the investigation is not over. In fact, one of the most anticipated steps hasn't happened. That is the interview with Clinton that's expected in the coming weeks. The Clinton campaign released a statement saying "From the start, Hillary Clinton has offered to answer any questions that would help the Justice Department complete its review, and we hope and expect that anyone else who is asked would do the same. We are confident the review will conclude that nothing inappropriate took place."

So, again, this investigation expected to wrap up in the coming weeks, and while the FBI is staying focused on the facts here, investigators, of course, are mindful that this is an investigation involving the potential Democratic presidential nominee, just a couple months out from the Democratic convention in July. Back to you.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely, Pamela. Thanks so much for all of that background. So, meanwhile, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are unleashing on Donald Trump instead of each other. CNN Senior Washington Correspondent Joe Johns is live in Washington with more. Hi, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigning on opposite sides of the country, but appearing to ease off a bit from the attacks on each other, directing attention to the presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

The Democratic front-runner, Hillary Clinton, in California, accusing Trump of doubling down on anti-immigrant rhetoric, casting doubt on his ability to moderate his positions on immigrants as he seeks to move closer to the center in anticipation of the general election. Listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have to recognize that the kind of language coming from Donald Trump is hateful, and we need to repudiate it.

BERNIE SANDERS, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think that a Donald Trump presidency would be a disaster for this country. And I intend to do everything that I can to see that that does not happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Now, Bernie Sanders was campaigning in coal country in McDowell County, West Virginia, highlighting his plans to alleviate poverty and help communities that have been hurt by policy shifts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Also worth noting, protests at the Hillary Clinton rally in California were much more vigorous than we've seen of late. She appeared to cut her remarks short just a bit. She also attended a couple fund-raisers out in California and she is expected to attend a campaign rally in Oakland, today. John?

BERMAN: All right, Joe Johns for us in Washington. Thanks a lot, Joe. A desperate race to escape a wildfire raging out of control in Western Canada. Thousands are being air-lifted right now and just hours from now a huge evacuation convoy of cars will roll out of the danger zone. There is a big problem, though. These flames you're seeing right here, they are burning dangerously close to the road, the road the people want to drive out on, and strong winds keep shifting. A helicopter will fly ahead to make sure the evacuation route is safe. More than 85,000 people have already fled.

CAMEROTA: Well, Republicans in North Carolina, planning to defy the Justice Department. Party leaders indicating they will not scrap the state controversial transgender bathroom law before a Monday deadline. The Obama administration argues the law violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964. If it's not changed, it could cost the state billions in federal aid.

BERMAN: Heart-stopping video out of China. Watch as this huge truck, oh, my gosh, just barrels down the street and just smashes into that car. The vehicle just crushed. Look at that again.

[07:15:03] CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh.

BERMAN: That's terrifying. Rescuers, they got on scene very quickly. The two people inside the mangled car, they were sent to the hospital right away. You see rescuers work here. The people inside the car, they're expected to be okay. That's a miracle. The truck driver suffered only minor injuries. My goodness.

CAMEROTA: My gosh that is really disturbing. Thank goodness everyone is OK. I'm going to credit air bags there.

BERMAN: Yeah. CAMEROTA: All right, meanwhile, Donald Trump and Paul Ryan making it clear they cannot work together yet. What will it take for them to find common ground? Our panel has some ideas and we'll discuss, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: As you have heard this morning, there is a big Republican divide that threatens Donald Trump's momentum. Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan now at odds after Ryan walks back his own earlier delta (ph) support who never GOP voters chose as their party nominee. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL RYAN, (R), U.S. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I hope to support our nominee. I hope to support his candidacy fully and I want to do that. But right now, I've got to tell you, Jake, just being candid with, at this point I'm just not there right now, and it's because I think of part of the last campaign. I don't want to go back and roll the tape.

[07:20:09] Look I was pretty clear and I've always outspoken a number of occasions where I think that he did the wrong thing or said the wrong thing and I do that in the future if maybe. I hope it's not necessary.

But I think what a lot of Republicans want to see is that we have a standard bear that bears our standards, and that unifies all the wings of the Republican party, which we all come from different wings of our party but we all agree on a common platform of conservative principles. We want somebody who takes these conservative principles, applies them to the problems and offers solutions to country that a vast majority of Americans can vote for and wants to be enthusiastic about.

That is what I think it takes to unify the party. That I think there's work that needs to be done in order to unify the party. I think our nominee, our presumptive nominee needs to do that. I want to be a part of helping him do that, but right now, no. I think that, you know, there are some work to do there.

JAKE TAPPER, THE LEAD, HOST: Can you manage the convention if you haven't yet decided that you can support him?

RYAN: I desperately want to see us unify on principles and ideas and policies and the agenda and win the hearts and minds of the vast majority of Americans and speak to everybody and I am hoping that that's where this goes. But I don't know that that's what's going to go.

As the chair of the convention, which is something -- as part of my duty as speaker of the house, I will be the chair of the conventional, I will gavel the convention in and hoping by then that this will be a unified party. But I think lot of the burden is on the presumptive nominee to do that. And so we'll see. That's all I got for you.

TAPPER: I know you hate it when we ask this question. You're still ruling out ...

RYAN: You asked it like three times.

TAPPER: And any -- no, no. This one. Just to be clear. You're still ruling out in any way you accepting any sort of nomination of your party, were you?

RYAN: Oh, yeah, yes.

TAPPER: OK. Just want to make sure that.

RYAN: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, let's talk more about this now. Joining me is CNN's political director David Chalian and CNN's chief political correspondent Dana Bash. Guys, I'm so glad you're here joining me, my nerdy friends, and I mean that in the nicest possible way, because this ...

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: The best complement ever, John Berman.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Seriously.

BERMAN: This doesn't happen. I mean this doesn't happen. It's never happened. You have the speaker of the house, the chair of the convention, saying as of now he does not support the man who will be picked at that convention. So stunning, absolutely.

But, David Chalian, given the political environment that we emerge from in these primaries, you say stunning, yet not surprising?

CHALIAN: Yes. I totally agree. It is stunning. I mean, listening to Paul Ryan say those words. My mouth was agape yesterday, even though it shouldn't be terribly surprising. I mean, John, look at the most recent poll. Nearly half of Republicans say they anticipate that the party is still going to be divided in November. Tat it won't unite.

So, this is the very example behind those numbers. This notion that we're hearing folks not ready on day one, that Donald Trump becomes the presumptive nominee, to rally around them and throw on their Trump shirt should not be surprising. The entire story of his election has been Trump going against the grain of the party and now we're just seeing that -- now that he is going to be, he is the standard bearer, we're now seeing that in stark relief with folks who have been -- who have been so concerned about the direction he's taking.

BERMAN: You know, Dana, just moments ago Donald Trump said he was surprised by the fact Paul Ryan said yesterday he's not ready to support him. I don't understand what's going to happen at this meeting Wednesday. We think they're going to meet next Wednesday in Washington. Trump just said that as well. What does Paul Ryan need to hear? I mean, is he going to accept Donald Trump's Muslim ban? Is he going to accept the mass deportations?

BASH: No.

BERMAN: Or is Donald Trump going to come off those positions? Neither seem likely, and without that, how does Paul Ryan get what he says he wants, which is to support the Republican nominee?

BASH: It's really hard to see how this movie ends. No question about it, but let me just actually underscore something that you just said, which is different for Donald Trump. And maybe, you know, a baby step towards getting to what Paul Ryan is asking for.

He said that Donald Trump said this morning he's surprised. Last night at his rally, he didn't even mention Paul Ryan. He has a two- sentence statement that he put out and he's been mentioning it in a kind of a backhanded way on twitter talking about the -- the fact that he's happy about the endorsement he has gotten.

Donald Trump, two days ago, three days ago would have been ripping Paul Ryan to shreds. So perhaps, perhaps, either somebody has, you know, taken his -- his cell phone and put it in a hiding place or he's sort of getting it and he's saying, look, it's different now.

But -- but ultimately, I don't know how the two of them will meet. They're not going to meet on those issues. The best case scenario is that they meet on other issues. On other big policy issues that Paul Ryan is pushing, but there is a very specific reason, I am reminded, that Paul Ryan has been quietly trying to build an agenda -- excuse me -- for house Republicans, while nobody's been paying attention all year long so that they have something to run on.

So if this moment happened, he can have some distance -- excuse me -- personally, but also policy wise for his members from Donald Trump.

[07:25:30] BERMAN: Strikes me an uncomfortable month or two for Paul Ryan no matter what he says right now. He does join a list, David, of other folk whose say they're not ready or won't ever support Donald Trump. You have, you know, Mitt Romney, who is effectively saying he's not going to support Donald Trump. Former President George Bush, George H.W. Bush, Jeb Bush, John McCain says he will vote for him but he's not going to the convention.

These people now who are beyond where Paul Ryan is. Some of these other folks who say never Trump. What option do they have? I mean Ben Sasse, Republican Senator, yesterday was calling for really essentially a third party bid, but can that happen?

CHALIAN: I mean I have very hard time seeing that come together in some way that can have real impact. We're very late in the season for someone to get organized. I think there are a few names that could actually galvanize a successful third-party movement and I just don't see any movement from those folks interested. So, I think that right now what had been, when Ted Cruz and John Kasich were still in the race, John, the never Trump movement were able to -- they could hang on to them as a vehicle. And now this third party notion is what they're grabbing on to as a third vehicle instead o, you know, thinking through -- whether or not they decide to support Trump is one thing but I don't think getting a third party vehicle is logical.

BASH: I totally agree with you, David and I think we should also -- my voice is going. Sorry about that. Focus on the other side of this Republican chasm. The people who are saying they're going to go to the convention, who are saying that they're going to support Donald Trump. Who are saying, look, the people who are still distancing themselves aren't getting what's going on out there with the Republican Party. And that is real. Maybe they're not as senior. Maybe they're not as outspoken, but they're out there.

Just one quick example, Governor Rick Perry. Former governor of Texas. I spoke to him by phone yesterday. He was the first person to go after Trump, what he was then a competitor of Trump's calling him a cancer on conservative. He point blank said to me is not only he's going to endorse Trump, but says, look, people who are not getting the phenomenon aren't understanding what's really happening out here.

So for him to come around and others like him, it does show that, you know -- maybe all of these leaders are standing on principle and, you know, obviously they're being commended by their wing and the party for it, but they're also showing a very big gulf between them and a lot of the rank and file.

BERMAN: No, indeed. Look, you know, who supported Donald Trump? Republican voters. He just won the Republican primary. So that's something they all have to deal with. David Chalian and Dana Bash, thank you for geeking out with me. Really appreciate it. Alisyn?.

CAMEROTA: That was quite the geek fest. Meanwhile, the probe into Hillary Clinton's e-mails, according to U.S. officials is expecting to wrap up in weeks after the FBI interviews Hillary Clinton. Will this put the issue to rest? We'll talk about that in so much more with David Axelrod, next.

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