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Trump: Clinton "Enabler" Of Her Husband's Infidelity; NC Gov. Faces Deadline On Transgender Bathroom Law; Rolling Stones To Trump: Stop Using Our Music. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired May 09, 2016 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: But, I think you see someone who is trying to make that change from primary season victor to party nominee and potential president, because when he locked in with you on NAFTA, on veterans, he knows he's in a wheelhouse of issues that work for him in this context.

It worked in the primary forum, but it likely will help him in the general election, as well, if you look at where the people. And yet, he is still in that smaller world of the primary contests and the hourly fight that he hasn't fully shed yet, and I think we're watching a candidate in transition.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: David Gregory, I thought there was a defining moment, in this interview that Chris just had with Trump, that sort of captures what he's fighting for and the overarching message of his campaign that he will hit on. He talked about the people. He's gotten more votes than any other --

CHALIAN: Ever.

CAMEROTA: -- GOP candidate in the primary ever, and he said these are people -- these are voters. They're smart, they're sharp, they're engaged and he represents them, and Paul Ryan disregards them at his peril. I mean, these are people who believe in Trump and they are sharp. You can't dismiss them, and if you sound like you're dismissing them, as some other candidates, you get in trouble.

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It's a very important point and it's a strong argument for him to make because he has won all of these voters over. He has earned this place as the presumptive nominee.

And I think he's in this contest of wills now with the establishment of the party, with the conservative wing of the party, and even, as he sees it, the mainstream media which is eager to report on and expose this rift between all sides of the Republican Party.

And his argument is that he has a place and he has the leverage, and he deserves that leverage and that may prevail in his conversation with a Paul Ryan. But I think, to David's point, that place of being in transition, I think he resents it. The fact that he's got to work this hard at this point. But the reality is that he still does.

There are factions that, you know, that -- any nominee has to unite the party and he has not toiled in the vineyards of the Republican Party throughout his political career. You know, in and out of entertainment and flirting with politics. So, that's going to be a big role for him. He's got to get these voters out.

My hunch is that this is also a guy who understands that he needs a Paul Ryan. He may want to lash out at him in the press at the moment, but he's going to try to bring him over to his side. He wants that endorsement. He wants to work with him on an agenda because this is the heart of what Trump is selling as a politician -- that he can negotiate. He needs a negotiator with him.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Right. Even though I'm sure I'm going to take, as David was suggesting, some nice heat for testing him. One, I think it's good to get under his skin. I think it makes him perform differently and better. I've argued that to him and his people many different times. People in power need to be tested. It doesn't mean they're going to like it but if often brings out their best.

And I think that him talking about NAFTA, trade, different policies -- I think that he is not calling Paul Ryan out. I think we're going to see, throughout this week, that this is going to be just fine between the two of them.

CAMEROTA: Oh, agree, completely.

CUOMO: What it means for the party, I don't know. But I think between the two of them it's going to be just fine.

CAMEROTA: Oh, publicly, absolutely. The David's, thank you very much. Great to get your take on all of this -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: All right, next, the fight for women voters. Donald Trump, despite what he wanted to talk about with Chris, has been going after Hillary Clinton over her husband's infidelity. Will it work, will it backfire?

[07:33:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:36:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hey look, he was the worst abuser of women. He was impeached and then he lied about it. He said nothing happened with Monica Lewinsky and then he said sorry folks, it actually did happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: All right, Donald Trump not letting up on his attacks against Hillary Clinton. He's called her crooked in the past. He said she can only win playing the woman's card, and he's continuing his attack, describing her "an enabler" to her husband's infidelity.

Joining us now to talk about all of this, CNN's political commentators Paul Begala and Patti Solis Doyle. Great to have both of you here. I know you're Hillary Clinton supporters, you're long-time friends. And I know revisiting these accusations and these attacks are like getting a root canal, but here we go.

So, Paul, do you think that this will have some traction with voters that Trump is reviving -- he's reviving these old accusations about Bill Clinton, but doing it in a different way. This time he's implicating Hillary Clinton and saying that she enabled it.

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right, it's not going to work. And our audience, by the way, also should know, Alisyn -- we always disclose this, that I advise -- I love Hillary and I'm a 25- year friend of hers.

I advise the super PAC that supports and our viewers need to know that, so I don't just speak as a personal friend, right? I've looked at this and I went through this, as you will recall, decades ago. It didn't work when it was current. It's not going to work decades later.

Donald Trump wants to join the legion of losers and weirdos who obsess about Bill Clinton's sex life like Ken Starr, and Dennis Hastert, and Tom Delay, and all those guys. He can join them on the ash heap of political history. It didn't work then, it's not going to work now. But, you know, I wish him luck.

CAMEROTA: OK, but Patti, things have changed.

PATTI SOLIS DOYLE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Things have changed and, in fact, women have changed since then. And we know that Hillary Clinton -- that younger and younger female voters do not have the same allegiance to Hillary Clinton that some of her supporters did back when this was happening in the 90's. So, do you think that this is a new crop of people who will be hearing this for the first time and it may affect them?

DOYLE: Look, I think, as a woman, I'm a friend of Hillary Clinton's -- a long-term friend. But as a woman, I think that blaming the wife for the infidelities of the husband is just wrong and ridiculous, and women are going to see that.

But, you know, just hitting on what Paul said, it didn't work back then and I'll you why. Because when Hillary Clinton was attacked personally, what she focused on was her job and that's what she's going to do now. He's focusing on her job, and right now her job is running for president.

And that means talking to the American people about the issues that affect then, whether that's health care, jobs, equal pay, affordable college, family leave. That's what she's talking about and that's what people care about. And somebody must have told Donald Trump that that's what people care about because he pulled way back this morning on the attacks that he was giving over the weekend.

CAMEROTA: Interestingly, Paul, Donald Trump has his own notorious sexual past. Self-described as a notorious sexual history. Should Hillary Clinton go there, if necessary?

BEGALA: No, never, no. In fact, I'll give Mr. Trump some free advice. I think the best moment he had in the campaign was when he brought his family on CNN. He's got a terrific family, and nobody should attack Donald Trump's personal life. That stuff should be out of bounds, and it will be, believe me.

It's not where -- because you know what? No matter which way this election goes, Donald Trump's going to be fine. He's wealthy. By the way, Hillary Clinton's going to be fine. She's wealthy with a great family, as well. So somebody, at some point, is going to talk about the people Patti talked about, right?

[07:40:00] The single mom who's working two jobs to try to keep up with her rent, and those are the people Hillary is going after and Trump, at some point, will figure that out. But, nobody wants to attack anybody's personal life. Nobody with any sense of decency and that means Trump is excluded from that list.

CAMEROTA: So Patti, you heard something this morning that you predict signals a change. I mean, you think that this is sort of a last gasp of this line of attack?

DOYLE: Well, I mean, you guys heard it and I was kind of dumbfounded that he went so strong over the weekend on these personal attacks, and this morning he's like what is he talking about? I didn't say that, or you're taking it way out of proportion.

CAMEROTA: And so, does that tell you somebody got to him? I mean, what does that tell you as a political mind?

DOYLE: That's exactly what it tells me. I think that people who understand elections and who understand running for the presidency know that going into the gutter doesn't work. People want to hear about the issues that affect them and what's going to make their lives better.

CAMEROTA: OK, so about the issues. The long interview that you just heard Trump do with Chris. Paul, what jumps out at you? What do you think Hillary Clinton needs to fasten on?

BEGALA: Taxes. I was really struck -- first of all, Patti, sorry, he crawfishes, we say in Texas. Crawfish back away from the personal attacks when Chris pressured him, but that's typical of a bully. But, on substance, taxes. He seems to want to reposition himself on taxes, which I find very interesting.

The center on budget and policy priorities, a bunch of geniuses here in Washington -- the think tank, right? A bunch of big brains. They reviewed the Trump tax plan and said that people who make over $1 million a year will get a 20 percent tax cut. That $3 trillion will be handed off to people who make $1 million a year or more.

That's politically unattainable. It's economically disastrous. So, I don't know if you're kind of able to redo your tax position on the fly but he seemed to try to do that in the interview with Chris. CAMEROTA: Paul, Patti, great to talk to you. Thanks so much for being here.

BEGALA: Thanks.

DOYLE: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Another big issue in the news. North Carolina's governor facing a looming deadline today. Will he follow through the Justice Department's demands to reverse the state's law forcing bathroom use based on someone's birth gender, or will he refuse and face the consequences -- next.

[07:42:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:00] CUOMO: North Carolina's governor is facing a big deadline today, 5:00 p.m., to comply with the Justice Department demand to reverse the state's controversial new law requiring individuals to use bathrooms based on their birth gender.

Federal officials say that this proposal would violate civil rights protections. The state stands to lose billions of dollars in federal funding as a result, potentially. Joining us now, North Carolina state representative, Dan Bishop. Representative Bishop is the lead sponsor of the legislation known as House Bill 2.

First question to you, sir -- first of all, thank you for being on NEW DAY to make the case.

DAN BISHOP (R), NORTH CAROLINA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Morning.

CUOMO: In light of the federal action in the letter, do you have any thoughts about whether or not to change or rescind this bill?

BISHOP: Well, it's a very common-sense and a reasonable law. It's fully consistent with the Civil Rights law, including Title VII, including Title IX, and it's important to protect basic personal privacy rights of folks who would use public showers and bathrooms in North Carolina.

CUOMO: So, I'll take that as a no, you're not going to reconsider it. What do you think the governor's going to do?

BISHOP: Well, let me say -- let me say this. There's always been the possibility of tweaking something that there's an imperfection in it. But, no, the law is reasonable and I'm not in favor of rescinding it.

CUOMO: The federal government, obviously, feels otherwise. What do you think the governor's going to do?

BISHOP: Well, you know, Gov. McCrory has taken an unbelievable pounding. He's been under siege and he's been excellent throughout. I'm confident that Gov. McCrory will continue to make good decisions. It's his call. We'll see what happens today.

CUOMO: You think it's about how much time? I feel like you could make this decision in five seconds. He's saying three days isn't enough time to deal with the issues involved here. Is this about how much time he has to respond or do you think you know what the position should be?

BISHOP: Well, I just think it's an enormously complex thing. I mean, what we're seeing is the Obama Justice Department -- this is what President Obama meant when he said he had a pen and a phone. They have taken a law that says no discrimination based on sex -- they've changed the meaning of sex, or purported to, without action of Congress.

And now they are, with unbelievable aggressiveness, demanding action where a governor should disregard a state law with five days -- three business days' notice. It's a remarkable, aggressive approach by an Obama administration that has purported to change the law and now wants to force that out and get acceptance through use of the courts across the United States. And they're starting here, but this is now a national issue and people across the nation need to be aware of that.

CUOMO: A little bit of this, as you say, obviously it's complex. It's about law and culture. The federal governmentargues that this is -- a law like yours -- a bill like yours is a reaction to the marriage decision from the Supreme Court. That this is a little bit of a pushback against the extension of rights to people from the LGBT community. How do you feel about that?

BISHOP: Well, you know, Chris, I would imagine that the bathrooms in your studios there are marked for men and women. If you go to a public shower facility or locker room for a club or a health club, they're separated by men and women.

I don't think there's anything about the marriage debate that implied that we were going to eliminate separate showers or force women, for example, to shower in the presence of a biological male. That's what the issue was about and we didn't raise it in the General Assembly. The governor didn't raise it.

It came up because of a radical ordinance that Charlotte passed to -- frankly, if you read the text, literally eliminate all sex distinction in these private facilities. So we restored that, and that's what it's about. And the Obama administration's attack is as radical as can be.

CUOMO: Well, they say what it's about is you finding a way to discriminate against transgender people because it doesn't match up with your personal or religious beliefs. And that, by extension, if that group, LGBTQ gets added to Title IX as a group that needs discreet protections as a minority, then this would, in fact, be a violation of federal law. As you know, one judge has found that it should be extended already.

[07:50:00] BISHOP: Well, one judge found, in Title IX, that there should be deference to the Obama administration of bureaucratic reinterpretation of law. In 1964 when the Title VII was passed, in 1972 when Title IX was passed, no legislator voting for that in the United States Congress understood that prohibiting discrimination based on sex meant that you were going to force people of opposite sex into the shower together.

And so, that's that I mean when I say there's a radical reinterpretation. And what they've done is they've picked North Carolina, in the waning days of the Obama administration, to attempt to force this issue rapidly so that then they can roll it out to the rest of the nation.

They're saying that under Title VII, any employer who doesn't allow biological males into the women's restroom, where people have rights of personal privacy to be balanced and protected, that they should be rolled over by the Obama Justice Department. I couldn't disagree more.

CUOMO: Representative Dan Bishop, I appreciate you making the case on NEW DAY. This is not the end of this conversation. It's going to keep on going in North Carolina and elsewhere. I welcome you back on the show.

BISHOP: Thank you, sir.

CUOMO: Take care -- John.

BERMAN: All right, Donald Trump and The Rolling Stones not making music together. No, the band tells Donald Trump, stop using their music at all. This is not the first time a band has had a fight with a major politician, so will Trump comply?

[07:51:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:55:00]

(Music playing, The Rolling Stones, Start Me Up)

BERMAN: That song, music to the ears of any rock and roll fan, particularly The Rolling Stones. But Mick Jagger and company, they are initiating their own "Stop Trump" movement, asking him to stop playing their songs at his events now. And they are not -- they are just the latest group of musicians to make that request of the Trump campaign. The latest musicians to make that request of many campaigns.

Joining us now, "Vanity Fair" contributor Rich Cohen. He is the author of the new book "The Sun & the Moon & the Rolling Stones". Rich, great to have you with us.

RICH COHEN, AUTHOR, "THE SUN & THE MOON & THE ROLLING STONES, CONTRIBUTOR, VANITY FAIR: Great to be here.

BERMAN: Look, I've covered a lot of campaigns. Every four years some rock and roll band gets pissed off that a politician is playing their music at their rallies. To be honest, usually it's to get angry at Republican politicians. The artists, they tend to be more liberal. They're mad that their music's being played.

You know The Rolling Stones. You know, what do you think they feel about their songs being played at Trump rallies?

COHEN: I mean, I think that The Rolling Stones' songs are such a mix of black and white and it comes out of the blues and it's sort of strange that they picked -- at one point Trump was playing "Brown Sugar" which seems to be everything -- if you actually listen, it's one of the sort of nastiest pop songs in history.

BERMAN: Right.

COHEN: And it's as if Trump has no idea what it's about because it goes so against everything that he's seemingly saying, which is The Rolling Stones are all about everybody and Trump is all about him not him, her not her. You know what I mean? Drawing lines, and it's just kind of -- to be mixed up with Donald Trump is just bad and it's one protest they could make.

BERMAN: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards -- these guys engage in U.S. politics at all?

COHEN: No. Actually, at one point, Jagger was going to run for Parliament for Labor Party, so that tells you -- you know, he was toying with that -- where his politics are. They're not on the right.

BERMAN: You get the sense with Donald Trump that what's played at his rallies might actually be like on his iPod. You know, he listens to a pretty good mix of classic rock there. It's not bad.

COHEN: Right. That goes to the whole thing with Trump, which is you feel like they took his iPod and they plugged it in, and whatever was playing they put it on shuffle. And whatever is playing, that's what on. And that's like the authenticity of it. He's kind of a rock and roll candidate in a way, in that you don't know what's going to happen and it's kind of chaotic. He was called the chaos candidate.

Whereas, like a guy like Mitt Romney -- I don't really believe he's sitting on his jet with his eyes closed chilling out to Kid Rock. I do not believe it.

BERMAN: He had to have Kid Rock write a song for the Romney campaign because there were other bands who were upset that their music was being played. Kid Rock actually wrote a song to play at Mitt Romney rallies, which was very, very interesting.

And Survivor this year, in this campaign, was mad. I think his music was being played at a -- you know, where a Huckabee -- "Eye of the Tiger", right --

COHEN: Right.

BERMAN: -- is a song that every politician wants to play. I think Mike Huckabee was playing it and they were mad at that. Why do these rock and roll stars care? Is there money involved here?

COHEN: There's not a lot of money involved, and mostly, these guys are allowed to play the songs because they pay the fee to (INAUDIBLE) and to play it. I think it's kind of, not really, a brand thing because I don't think anybody's going to blame The Rolling Stones for Donald Trump. I mean --

BERMAN: Right.

COHEN: I just think that it's sort of like they have a feeling against Donald Trump that's sort of the opposite of what they are and this is some way they can sort of resist and protest it to whatever extent it works, it works. And Donald Trump can keep playing it, but the thing is it's kind of embarrassing because it's like being a party where the people don't want you.

BERMAN: I've been to a few of those.

COHEN: Yes.

BERMAN: Let's talk about your book, "The Sun & The Moon & The Rolling Stones". You went on the road with The Rolling Stones at an interesting time, right? It was the Steel Wheels tour?

COHEN: Yes.

BERMAN: No, it was Voodoo Lounge, you were telling me.

COHEN: Right.

BERMAN: Which is, what, like 2000? In the year 2000?

COHEN: No, it was like 1996, I think. I grew up as a gigantic Rolling Stones fan. It was the music coming from my brother's room that I was not allowed into.

BERMAN: But when you were on the road with themthey were already grownups, right? They were already older men. What's it like to be on the road with a rock and roll band where they're not --

COHEN: Well, that was a joke to me, which is my whole life I've tried to get to this party and I didn't even know it existed. And I finally got to the party and everyone at the party was old.

BERMAN: Wearing reading glasses, probably.

COHEN: Yes. I mean, it was interesting because I remember seeing The Rolling Stones when I was a kid and Mick Jagger would disappear for a song while Keith Richards sang a song, and we thought what's he doing? He must be back there doing some kind of drugs or something getting his energy up. And when I actually went, during the break what he was doing was drinking water and eating a power bar.

BERMAN: Well, how much longer you think they can do this -- The Rolling Stones? COHEN: I think they will do it until they carry them out, honestly. I think if there's one Rolling Stone left, they'll be playing Rolling Stones songs. Their model is sort of guys like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, who at the end would sit and play in a chair.

I mean the thing is this music is their entire life and I think that what Keith Richards said to me is for you, because I'm younger -- for you, there's always been the sun and the moon and The Rolling Stones. That's where the title comes from and that's true. It's like the firmament and that is the music.

So when Trump -- you kind of feel sympathy for Trump in a way because that's the music in the air and that's what you want to plug into, and he's trying to plug into like everyone else.

BERMAN: I think the world needs to have Keith Richards and Donald Trump in the same room and see how that goes. Rich Cohen, thanks so much for being with us.

COHEN: Thank you.

BERMAN: We really appreciate it. We're following a lot of news this morning, so let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I didn't get Paul Ryan. I don't know what happened. I was blindsided a little bit.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R-SC): I just don't believe Donald Trump is a reliable conservative Republican.