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New Day

Congressional GOP Leaders to Meet with Donald Trump; Interview with Rick Perry; Wildfire Continues to Burn Out of Control in Canada; What is Sanders' Path Forward?. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired May 10, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You watch the problems she'll have.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They created discrimination against transgender individuals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fighting discrimination which I support wholeheartedly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We see you. We stand with you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Violence still rages in most of the country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They've become intense.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: None of this seems to indicate a full Russian withdrawal from Syria.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, May 10th, 8:00 in the east. John Berman is here with us. Great to have you, John. Up first, primary voting underway already in two states this morning. But the fractured Republican Party is the big story. All eyes on Donald Trump's meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan and the RNC chairman this week. Ryan already saying that he will back down as convention chairman if that's what Trump wants.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Trump wants a lot of things right now. At the top of the list is to clean up comments about his economic tax proposals that some were made here on NEW DAY for the first time, others not, especially Donald Trump, who says he has been misreported. So he wanted to clear things up. We're going to give you those positions and the implications. We also have brand new poll numbers. Three big battleground states, razor thin margins between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. So we have it all covered for you the way only CNN can. Let's begin with Phil Mattingly. Phil, is there a de- escalation?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chris, that's the big question in the Republican Party right now. Donald Trump seeming to ratchet back the rhetoric back a little bit. Paul Ryan seemed to offer an olive branch. Senate Republicans offering to meet with Donald Trump. It's very clear that inside the Republican Party the war continues. But it starts to seem like they may be getting to the point as these crucial meetings are coming just a couple of days away that they're willing to accept if not embrace their nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: An offer from House Speaker Paul Ryan, saying he'll step down as chairman of the Republican National Convention if Donald Trump asks him to.

REP. PAUL RYAN, (R) SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: He is the nominee. I'll do whatever he wants with respect to the convention.

MATTINGLY: Ryan striking a conciliatory tone, after a bombshell last week that he wasn't ready to support Trump as the presumptive nominee.

RYAN: First, I want to get to know him and understand him, because I don't really know him.

MATTINGLY: The two men still set to meet on Thursday, along with RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. Trump will also meet with Republican Senate leaders on the Hill. Former presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson reaching out to Ryan for a private meeting to help sooth tensions before Trump meets with him.

RYAN: Basically the kind of conversation I'm hoping we all can have is how we can actually unify our party.

MATTINGLY: Trump also making a big appointment, announcing New Jersey governor Chris Christie will serve as the chairman for his transition team should he become the next president. But party leaders still weary of Trump's conservative principles. Trump, fending off backlash over his economic proposals, accusing the media of mischaracterizing him in several interviews on Monday.

TRUMP: So it was totally misrepresented just now by you and it was --

CUOMO: Whoa, whoa, whoa.

TRUMP: They go there to talk about like I'm giving a tax increase for the wealthy. I'm not.

MATTINGLY: Explaining his proposal would lower taxes for all.

TRUMP: If I increase for the wealthy, that means they're still going to be paying less than they pay now. I'm talking about increasing from my tax proposal. I'm not talking about increasing from this point. I'm talking about increasing from my tax proposal.

MATTINGLY: Trump also on the defensive over his plan to repay the national debt, insisting he never said the U.S. should default or attempt to renegotiate with creditors as reported. TRUMP: This is the United States government. First of all, you never

have to default because you print the money. I said if we can buy back government debt at a discount, in other words, if interest rates go up and we can buy bonds back at a discount if we are liquid enough as a country, we should do that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: Policy questions, political questions, all obviously on the table, on Thursday. Paul Ryan, Senate Republicans, these meetings are as big as they may appear. Guys, for Donald Trump, this is a big week in Washington, no question about it.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Indeed. All right, thanks so much, Phil, appreciate it.

On the Democratic side, it may feel, well, Hillary Clinton won in West Virginia eight years ago. She beat Barack Obama pretty easily there. But it might not be so friendly to her this time around. CNN's Jean Casarez is live in Charleston with more. Good morning, Jean.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. The polls opened up here an hour and a half ago, and constantly people are coming to vote. And state officials say it could be a record setting number of primary voters. We just spoke with one lady that had a very interesting philosophy. She said that the number one issue on the minds of the people here in West Virginia is the economy, and it's because of the coal industry. She said so many people have lost jobs.

[08:05:01] But it's not only the coal miners that are affected. It's also the heavy machinery operators, the clerical staff. It's the attorneys, and even state officials, she said, that dealt with the coal mining industry. But she believes that it's Hillary Clinton that can turn around the economy in West Virginia because she is the one that has had the plan.

Now, another voter told me that he can't forget Hillary Clinton's remarks at CNN's town hall where she said the mines are going to close and coal miners are going to lose their jobs. Now, she said that was a misspeak on her part, that what she actually meant was that she was going to turn around the economy with retraining. But this voter says that it is Trump all the way even though he is the only candidate for the Republicans left standing, that he is casting his vote to show that he is for someone that has so aligned themselves with the coal industry.

We'll see exactly what the voters do, especially when it comes to Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. Sanders still speaking well of the coal industry, saying, though, that new industry needs to move in. Chris?

CUOMO: And Jean, we see a definite reflection of your reporting in this latest poll from Quinnipiac, the issue that Donald Trump is beating Hillary Clinton with, the economy, specifically as it plays out in states like West Virginia. So let's get some perspective on the state of play from former

presidential candidate, former Texas governor Rick Perry, just endorsed Donald Trump last week. Governor, good to have you on NEW DAY, and talking to some supporters and fans of yours yesterday, they had one common question for you about what you are doing right now, which was, why? Why, Governor Perry? Why put yourself out in this way for Donald Trump right now?

RICK PERRY, (R) FORMER TEXAS GOVERNOR: Well, I love my country, first off. And that's the reason I got in this presidential election to begin be. And Donald Trump wasn't my first choice. I was my first choice. Donald Trump wasn't my second choice. That was Ted Cruz.

But we are down to two individuals here. I mean, it's pretty clear to me that it is a choice between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. And I clarify it down and keep it pretty simple. When you think about what's going to happen over the next four years, what has the possibility and probability of impacting America for the next 40 or 50 years, and it's the Supreme Court. And I'm a lot more comfortable with Donald Trump choosing an individual to be on the Supreme Court that is going to affect policies that my children are going to be affected by than Hillary Clinton.

CUOMO: Governor, I understand --

PERRY: That's what it really boils down to for me.

CUOMO: I understand why you have lack of confidence in Hillary Clinton from your perspective. But where does the confidence come from for Donald Trump? I don't need to remind you of what you said during the campaign. It wasn't just that he wasn't your first or second choice. You said he was a cancer on conservatism and that he was offering a barking carnival act to the American people. So where is this newfound confidence in him?

PERRY: Well, I will say that during the heat of battle, a lot of people say things. As I recall, back in 2011, 2012, there were people that said things about me, I said things about them, whether it was Mitt Romney or whether it was Rick Santorum. But we came together after it was all over with.

Anyone who pays attention to American politics, Chris, know that there are things that are said that after you get your intermural over with, you get back together and you support the team. And that's what's going on here. You know, and I full well expect the Republican Party to fall in behind Donald Trump to help him get elected, because, again, the alternative here is very, very different. It's very rank, if you will, from the standpoint of the difference between philosophically these two individuals and where they'll take this country. These Supreme Court appointments, these Supreme Court decisions are going to be substantial.

CUOMO: And you think you know which way Donald Trump would go, and you don't share the concern that let's say Mitt Romney or even Paul Ryan, who say look, I am a real conservative, as you say you are, governor, and I don't know if this guy matches up with what I think matters?

PERRY: Well, I agree with Donald Trump a whole lot more than I disagree with him on, whether it's devolving power oh out of Washington, D.C. back to the states. I would suggest to you that Donald Trump is one of the more powerful voices in that. There may be people in Washington, D.C. that would like to retain power, but those of us who have governed and those of us who really believe in the constitution would love to see Donald Trump pushing and devolving that power back out of Washington D.C. to the states. We think the states do understand better how to educate our children than the bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. I would love to see our tax changes bring these moneys and repatriate them back into the United States. Those are some powerful issues that Donald Trump is right on, and I think the American people from an economic standpoint and from a devolution of power out of Washington, D.C. are going to come to him and they're going to look at the alternative of Hillary Clinton, and they're going to merrily go down the path of having him to be the next president of the United States.

[08:10:14] CUOMO: When fellow Republicans and conservatives come to you and say make sense of what he is saying about debt relief, that we'll never default because we print the money, and maybe we should think about buying back our debt at a discount sometimes and forcing creditors to take less, it's troubling to conservatives because it sounds like he is applying business principles to governmental fiscal responsibility. What do you say to them?

PERRY: I say I don't have a problem having a conversation about a lot of different alternatives out there about how you deal with the debt. And so, you know, having a conversation and then moving it through Washington and getting that to be reality are two different things. So throwing out a lot of different ideas, I mean, chunk it at the wall and let's see what sticks. I don't have a problem with that.

So I think what people hear very often from Donald Trump is that, number one, Washington has fouled this up beyond recognition. I mean, they have really messed our economy up. Let's bring somebody in who does have a record as a business individual.

And you know, he said there were three areas that he was going to look at -- the military side, the business side, and the political side. He has got the business side covered. He thinks he is pretty good on the military side. I would suggest to him that he did bring in some people that have deep, long, and I think storied experience in the military side as well.

CUOMO: Are you still open to being one of those people?

PERRY: Absolutely.

CUOMO: As vice president?

PERRY: I'm open to helping this country get back on track. I offered myself up in 2011-2012, and this time Americans want to go a different direction. That doesn't mean that my experience and experience of the Bobby Jindals or the Scott Walkers of the world or Jeb Bushs of the world, those are individuals who had really good records as governors. And I do believe that you bring together a group of people like that, that you go find the individuals who have the experience and bring them around you, listen to them, trust them, and I have confidence that Donald Trump will do that because he understands that this is an incredibly difficult job, a very complex job, and having men and women around him who have that experience is absolutely priceless.

CUOMO: Governor Perry, appreciate you being on NEW DAY making the case for Donald Trump. Good luck going forward, sir.

PERRY: Chris, thank you. And by the way, you know, I was sitting here thinking about your father, a fabulous fellow who I know that you and your family miss, but a great American.

CUOMO: Very nice of you to say, governor. Thank you very much. I appreciate the sentiment.

PERRY: Godspeed.

CUOMO: Thank you.

Another name that is in the offing of people that Donald Trump may look to for help, Marco Rubio. Guess what, he is doing his first interview since he left the race with Jake Tapper on "THE LEAD," 4:00 p.m. eastern today. J.B.?

BERMAN: We have some breaking news just in. A historic announcement from the White House. The White House says President Obama plans to visit Hiroshima in Japan where the United States first used the atomic bomb in 1945. He will be the first sitting U.S. president to ever go there. This will come during the president's trip to Vietnam and Japan later this month. The statement says the president will make the visit with Japan's Prime Minister Abe to highlight his continued commitment to pursuing peace and security of the world without nuclear weapons.

CAMEROTA: We want to update you on this massive wildfire that's burning anything Alberta, Canada, torching 400,000 acres, and more than 2,400 homes and buildings, the raging fire including an entire town in ashes, and it is not contained this morning. CNN's Jessica Schneider is live in Edmonton with the latest. What is it looking like, Jessica?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Alisyn, the Fort McMurray fire chief said he has never seen a wildfire quite like this. It is unprecedented in how fast it spread, how widely it is spreading, how it tore into these residential communities. The blaze, though, it is now shifted east away from those major population centers. So people are just now getting a look at the devastation.

Ten percent of the city is completely wiped out. The infrastructure itself is devastated. That means no power, no gas, no water at all. So because of that, officials are now telling people that it will be at least two weeks until let them know when they'll be able to get back to their homes. Alberta's head official, though, is telling people scattered in shelters all over the province, including one right there in Edmonton, that it is a home they'll in fact they'll return to. John?

BERMAN: Thanks so much, Jessica.

So where in the world is Jon Stewart?

[08:15:01] So many people wondering what would he have to say about this presidential race since he went off the air last August. Well, now we know. He spoke pretty candidly on "Axe Files", a podcast hosted by CNN senior political commentator, David Axelrod.

And he did not hold back when it came to Donald Trump. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, COMEDIAN: I don't even know that Donald Trump is eligible to be president. And that's not a birther thing. That's -- I don't know, look, I'm not a constitutional scholar, so I can't necessarily say.

But can you -- are you eligible to run if you're man baby? A baby man?

See, I don't know what the -- look, I don't know. And again, I'm not here to be politically incorrect. If they're referred to as man baby Americans, but he is a man baby. He has the physical countenance of a man and a baby's temperament and hands.

So, to have that together -- I do have a history with the man, and so in an effort of full disclosure, we made fun of him, and I think we referred to him as I boiled ham in a wig or something. Who knows?

And so, he tweeted at me, because as you know, great leaders tweet late at night. In fact, I remember, Lincoln's Gettysburg tweet after he delivered --

DAVID AXELROD, AXE FILES: That's why the address was so short. He had to do it in 140 -- yes.

STEWART: Yes. After the Gettysburg, he tweeted out emancipate this mother (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Over the line, over the line.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: It's funny, and I think he would like very much to be in the fray and I would be very surprised if he doesn't hear from Mr. Trump and soon.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. I mean, you say, he wants to be in the frame. I mean, he walked away from his show at the height of it.

CUOMO: And now, he regrets it.

CAMEROTA: Do you think so?

CUOMO: Yes, of course, this is like this stuff dreams are made of for guys like Jon Stewart.

CAMEROTA: He's given up shaving as well. We see.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Him and Letterman as well.

CAMEROTA: Yes, there you go.

All right. Well, the odds may be stacked against him, but Bernie Sanders says he is in it to win it. What is his strategy today? His campaign manager joins us live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:21:01] SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Don't let anybody tell you this campaign is over. We're going to fight for the last vote we can find in New Jersey and California.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That was Bernie Sanders, sounding like Yogi Berra, saying it ain't over until it's over.

The Vermont senator facing near impossible odds in the delegate race, even if he beats Hillary Clinton today in West Virginia.

So what is the path forward?

Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver joins us now.

Good morning, Jeff.

JEFF WEAVER, SANDERS CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Good morning, Alisyn. How are you?

CAMEROTA: I'm doing well.

So, if Bernie beats Hillary in West Virginia, as he is expected to do today, and on May 17th, he beats her in Oregon, as the numbers suggests that he will, and then, let's say he does really well in California, he still doesn't get to the delegate math to win.

So what is the plan?

WEAVER: Well, Alisyn, the truth is neither candidate will get to the convention with the requisite number of pledged delegates to win. So, it's going to be up to the super delegates when we get to Philadelphia, and to decide who's going to be the nominee frankly, and I think if you look at the Quinnipiac polls that you have been showing this morning on your program, there is some real concern out there about whether Hillary Clinton can in fact beat Donald Trump.

Those three battleground polls are showing every case Bernie Sanders does much better than Secretary Clinton. In fact, she loses to Trump in Ohio. And she's basically tied in Florida, and Pennsylvania. This is a really dangerous situation for Democrats.

CAMEROTA: So, if it comes down to the super delegates, as you're saying, by the math that we're looking at, he would, Bernie, would need to win all of the uncommitted super delegates, plus sway 200 of Clinton's superdelegates to him.

So how does that work?

WEAVER: Well, look, if he comes into the convention with a substantial momentum from having won the vast majority of the states going forward, if he has closed the pledged delegate lead that the secretary has, if the polling that we see today continues to show that nominating Hillary Clinton potentially puts Donald Trump in the White House, I think superdelegates are going to have to think long and hard about what they do with the convention.

CAMEROTA: We know you've been talking to super delegates. Have any switched their affiliation?

WEAVER: Well, I wouldn't -- I don't want to sort of publicly speak about that, but we've had conversations with superdelegates. We often get calls from superdelegates, including Clinton superdelegates who are talking to us.

So, those conversations are ongoing right now. As I said, you know, we'll see where it stands at the end of the voting. And as I said, the senator has a lot of momentum, if these polls continue as they are, I think a lot of superdelegates is going to take another look.

CAMEROTA: But thus far, none have publicly switched?

WEAVER: No public switching, right, yes.

CAMEROTA: OK, as you know, former Mexican president, Vicente Fox, has had some colorful things to say about the U.S. presidential race, and about Donald Trump. He used some profane language when talking about building the wall. Just this morning, there was a podcast released in which Vicente Fox brought up Bernie Sanders.

Let me play that for you.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

VICENTE FOX, FORMER MEXICAN PRESIDENT: We unfortunately were in hands of dictators and authoritarian governments all throughout the 20th century. Wake up, America, to the proposals of this false prophet, because what we see today in the United States is incredible. It is what we saw in Latin America throughout the 20th century.

BEN MATHIS: You're referring to Donald Trump?

FOX: To Bernie.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: I mean, he is saying, he is using the term false prophet. He's likening him to dictators in Latin America. What's your response to that?

WEAVER: Well, Vicente Fox is a right wing from Mexico. I think everybody knows that. And he's just wrong.

Look, the person in the race who is out there to defend American democracy, to create an economy that works for everybody, to end corrupt finance system, that's Bernie Sanders. And you know, right wing foreigners, you know, you could take that with what it's worth.

CAMEROTA: Jeff, last, if Bernie Sanders doesn't make it to the magic number and if it doesn't go his way at the convention as is your plan, then what does Bernie Sanders want?

[08:25:05] What do you imagine the future of him being in the party?

WEAVER: Well, look, win or lose, you know, Bernie Sanders has already transformed the party. Certainly, he has dominated the discussion here in this presidential race. I mean, the issues being talked about in the Democratic primary process are the issues that Bernie Sanders brought to it. And he is going to continue to be a leader for working families and middle class people across the country -- win, lose or draw. That's his role going forward.

CAMEROTA: What do you think is going to happen today in West Virginia?

WEAVER: Well, I left my crystal ball back at the hotel, but --

CAMEROTA: Sometimes you give us a prediction.

WEAVER: I think the senator is going to do very well in West Virginia.

CAMEROTA: Jeff Weaver, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY. We'll talk to you soon.

WEAVER: Thanks. All right.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Chris.

CUOMO: All right. So, from Sanders to Trump. Trump is now getting ready for the high stakes meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan. What do they want going into it, what do they hope happens coming out of it? We have a Republican congressman, a Trump supporter, joining us next. Inside scoop.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Presumptive nominee for the GOP, Donald Trump, preparing for a big meeting Thursday with House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Republican leaders.