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New Day

Former VP Dan Quayle Weighs in on Donald Trump; Calls for Donald Trump to Releases Tax Returns; Donald Trump's Seeming Change of Position on Ban on Muslims. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired May 12, 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] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHORThe self-described billionaire also drawing fire from both sides of the aisle for refusing to release his taxes. So we have the 2016 race covered only the way CNN can. Let's begin with CNN senior political reporter Manu Raju live outside RNC headquarters in Washington, Manu, the place to be.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: That's right, Chris, good morning. Now, Paul Ryan and Donald Trump actually both have a lot riding on today's meeting, the beginning of a process to bring the party together. Donald Trump of course needs the party establishment to start to unify and solidify behind him, and Paul Ryan needs Donald Trump to know that what he does as the presumptive nominee has an impact on down ticket races, particularly House races when control of the House and also the Senate will be up for grabs this November. The question is after today's meeting, will the messages between Donald Trump and Paul Ryan start to align.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. PAUL RYAN, (R) SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: To pretend we're unified without actually unifying, then we go into the fall at half strength.

RAJU: The presumptive Republican nominee to meet this morning with House Speaker Paul Ryan, and the head of the RNC.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it will go well. Paul is a good person. I don't know Paul well.

RAJU: All eyes on whether they will emerge with a united front.

REP. RAUL LABRADOR, (R) IDAHO: I think it's important for the leader of our party right now who is the speaker to get together with the presumptive nominee and actually work together.

RAJU: Several close allies tell CNN that for Ryan to embrace or endorse Trump, he will need to align with the party's core principles. As of now, the differences are deep on multiple issues, like taxes, trade, entitlements, and military alliances. But it's becoming more challenging to know exactly where Trump stands on key issues. In the last 24 hours Trump appears to be softening on his controversial plan to ban all Muslims from entering the U.S.

TRUMP: It is a temporary ban, Brian, and we're going to look at it and we're going to study a problem. We have a problem. Now, if you don't want to discuss the problem, then we're never going to solve the problem.

RAJU: Then claiming it is merely a suggestion later in the day.

TRUMP: It hasn't been called for yet. Nobody has done it. This is just a suggestion until we find out what's going on.

RAJU: And later, when asked if the ban could go on forever, he says --

TRUMP: No, it was never meant to be. I mean, that's why it was temporary. Sure, I would back off on it. I would like to back off as soon as possible because, frankly, I would like to see something happen.

RAJU: And that's not the only issue Trump is under scrutiny for. The billionaire under pressure to release his tax returns, which he says isn't possible because they're being audited.

TRUMP: You don't learn anything. A tax return, you learn very, very little.

RAJU: Mitt Romney calling his refusal disqualifying, and even his supporters even saying he should release them.

REP. DARRELL ISSA, (R) OHIO: I think he should and I think he will. There is no law. There is a tradition.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU: Now, at today's meeting, part of the effort of course here is unity, but it's also an effort to start to get to know Donald Trump. Paul Ryan actually said he has only spoken to Trump a couple of times here. But we're not expecting a formal endorsement after today's meeting. What we're expecting is a discussion and including concerns that some folks wan$ to raise with Donald Trump about the tone that he has taken in the presidential campaign. Expect that to also happen in the Senate side later today. Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican, said that's an issue that she plans to raise with Donald Trump, John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Manu Raju for us outside the RNC. We are awaiting the arrival of Donald Trump. He should land in Washington shortly. Donald Trump under fire from a lot of people, including Hillary Clinton now, for refusing to release his tax returns while Hillary Clinton is taking heat now from Bernie Sanders, new heat. The Sanders campaign says a Clinton nomination will be courting disaster for Democrats. CNN senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar live in Washington. Brianna, party unity, not just a Republican issue any more.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, it really isn't. This is ongoing, John. And Hillary Clinton is trying to turn to the general election, specifically Donald Trump's tax returns. She wasn't actually planning on addressing them. That's what her spokesman told CNN. She was criticizing Donald Trump at an event in New Jersey for not having detailed information on a number of policies, including his tax plan, when a man in her audience yelled out "What about his tax returns?" And here is somehow she responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My husband and I have released 33 years of tax returns. We got eight years on our website right now. So you got to ask yourself, why doesn't he want to release them?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: But Clinton still very much ha this primary battle on her hands. You have Bernie Sanders who is hitting her still on a number of issues -- trade, the environment, her ties to corporations. And his campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, says this is still his plan to fight to narrow his pledged delegate margin with Clinton, and then if he does try to convince super delegates to support him instead of her. Weaver actually said in an email to supporters that the party will have to decide if this go with Sanders or they, quote, "court disaster simply protect the status quo for the political and financial establishment of this country."

[08:05:08] This is very much a candidate who is still fighting, it appears, for the nomination, even though the math is not in his favor to say the least.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Brianna, thank you very much for that.

Let's talk more about the high stakes meeting today between Trump, Ryan, and the RNC with Sarah Huckabee Sanders. She's a senior advisor to Donald Trump. Good morning, Sarah.

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, SENIOR ADVISER FOR DONALD TRUMP: Good morning, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much for being here. What does your side want out of today's meeting?

SANDERS: You know, I think what we want for the country is the exact thing. Donald Trump is going out and meeting with voters all across the country, and now he is sitting down with the party's leadership. This isn't meant to be some in-depth policy discussion but a time for them to get to know each other better and a time to start bringing the party together and uniting the party. And that's the goal of today's meeting.

CAMEROTA: Do you want Paul Ryan to come out afterwards and say yes, I'm on board?

SANDERS: We want every American to come out and say yes, they're on board. So absolutely, whether it's Paul Ryan or Paul Smith in Idaho, or, you know, Paul Jones in Texas. Absolutely we want every single American to come out and get on board with the campaign. CAMEROTA: Well, it's going to take more cajoling from some people,

including some conservatives. Ben Howe, a conservative voice from RedState.com has published an open letter to Speaker Ryan in which he says what he wants out of the meeting. Let me read you a portion of this. "There are people in the party right now who are sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what you will do. Until you endorse him, for many Republicans and conservatives, you are the leader of the party. Stand firmly against the hostile takeover not just of the Republican Party but of the very essence of conservatism." What do you say to conservatives who feel there has been a hostile takeover by Donald Trump and they don't want Paul Ryan to get on board?

SANDERS: I think the idea that it is a hostile takeover is probably one of the most ridiculous things I've heard this week, and I've heard some pretty ridiculous things. This wasn't a takeover. This was an election, and the people have come out in record numbers and supported Donald Trump. I think one of the big things that's being lost here, and everybody is missing something, but Donald Trump has actually done a much better job unifying Republicans than Hillary Clinton has unifying Democrats.

Donald Trump has locked up the nomination on the Republican side, and he started with 17 candidates in the race. Hillary Clinton is still battling it out and they only started with four. She is losing states just this week.

So I think that one of the big stories that people are missing is that Donald Trump is unifying Republicans. He set record and historical numbers in his win, already more than the past two nominees. So I couldn't disagree with Ben more, and I'm sorry that he feels that way. But I hope he'll do what most of the majority of Republicans across the country are doing, and that's get on board.

CAMEROTA: Sarah, let's talk abo some issues. People on both sides of the aisle are calling for Donald Trump to release his tax returns. The IRS has said that despite the fact that he is in an audit, he can release his tax returns. Will he release them?

SANDERS: Well, given that the IRS is such a credible entity, as we've seen, to Republicans over the last few years, I'm going to pass on their advice and their counsel but rely on that of his accountants. And they've been very clear, and so has Donald Trump. He has been very consistent on this. He is not refusing to release his tax returns, but wants to wait until a routine audit is complete, and as soon as it is, he'll release them.

I find it interesting that guys like governor Mitt Romney, who was our nominee in 2012, didn't release his until a month before the election. So, again, it's not required. It's something that candidates historically have done and I think Donald Trump will certainly do that when the audit is complete.

CAMEROTA: Sarah, he has not been consistent on this. In fact, Donald Trump did release his tax returns during a previous audit when it behooved him in a business sense to do so when he was trying to get casino licenses. He did release his tax returns despite the fact that he was being audited. So that is an inconsistency, and it seems like he could do the same now.

SANDERS: He has been consistent in his position in running for president. Since the very beginning, he has said when this audit is complete then he will release his tax returns. Again, I'm not an accountant but he is talking to people that are every day, and they've advised him for the sake of the audit to wait until the process is complete, and when it is, he'll release his returns.

CAMEROTA: How about the year --

SANDERS: Frankly --

CAMEROTA: Just quickly, how about the years that are not being audited? Can he release those?

SANDERS: You know, again, I think he is relying on the advice of his accountants, and once they give him the go ahead, he will certainly do that.

[08:10:01] At the end of the day, though, Alisyn, I think the big question is more people are concerned about their own taxes than they are Donald Trump's. I think this is one of those just kind of big distractions that the media and the liberals like to dig up and find something. They can't beat him anywhere else, so let's pick apart something obscure over here on the side. He is the only one that is pushing for massive tax reform and a huge tax cuts for the middle class. That's what Americans care about. They don't care about Donald Trump's tax returns. They care about their own.

CAMEROTA: Sarah, look, whenever there is a mystery about something, it lends it sort of an air of suspicion, and people wonder if there is something lurking in there, if there is some sort of smoking gun. So in some ways by not releasing it, he is kind of increasing the mystery and making people clamor for it more.

But I hear you, you are not an account, and I do want to move to another topic, and that is the Muslim ban. Donald Trump changed his stance last night on television where he suggested he is no longer for a complete and total ban on Muslims. Let me play for you what he said last night about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a ban on Muslims with exceptions, and --

TRUMP: Of course, you have to have exceptions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The way everybody read it, it was across the table.

TRUMP: You have exceptions, but then ideally you won't have a ban very long.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: OK, so now he says of course there are exceptions. He also had gone on to say this is only a suggestion. So which one is it, Sarah?

SANDERS: Look, I think that is exactly what he has always said is p Putting America first. It is knowing who people are when they're coming into our country, and our government has not proven that they're capable of being able to tell us who is coming in and who is going out. And we need a better system and a more thorough vetting system of knowing who these people are so that we're putting our national security first and foremost.

I think at the end of the day, every decision he makes on national security is guided by that one principle, is this good for America or is it not? Is it safe for America? And I think that we have to have that process in place. And I think that's his point is we need to have a more thorough vetting. And yes, there may be exceptions, but I think the bigger thing is we need to know who these people are and make sure that they're not going to do anything that when shouldn't.

CAMEROTA: Sarah Huckabee Sanders, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.

SANDERS: Thank you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: It's important to note that NEW DAY has asked all of the House and Senate Republican leadership if they think that Trump should release his tax returns now. So far, none of them have answered the question, but of course, we will keep asking and reporting it to you.

CUOMO: All right, more bloodshed in Baghdad. There is little question that there's increased instability in Iraq. And now breaking overnight, two suicide bombers blowing themselves up at a police station, killing three officers, wounding 10 others. This is the fourth deadly attack in two days. On Wednesday, three separate suicide bombings killed more than 90 people in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, obviously, and just as obvious, ISIS is claiming responsibility.

BERMAN: A Texas judge upheld a jail sentence of nearly two years for Ethan Couch, the so called affluenza teen. Couch has been behind bars since January when he was deported by Mexico after fleeing there with his mother. Couch killed four people in a drunk-driving accident in 2013. His lawyer argued that he was so spoiled by his wealthy parents he could not tell right from wrong, the so called "affluenza defense."

CAMEROTA: Here is a terrible story to report to you. A two-year-old Mississippi girl found dead in the backseat of her mother's car. Police say the mother stopped to pick up her daughter from a daycare center yesterday and was told she never dropped the little girl off. When she ran back to her car, she discovered the little girl dead. Right now the case is being treated as a tragic accident with no charges filed.

All right, former vice-president, Dan Quayle, is leaving no doubt on where he stands on Donald Trump. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAN QUAYLE, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I hope those that have said that won't support him now will reconsider, and before they cast their vote on Election Day in November would end up voting for him. If not, don't show up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You think Donald Trump can win?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Don't answer that. His answer, coming up.

CUOMO: Take a guess.

(LAUGHTER)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

**

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Dan Quayle, remember him? Bush 41's vice-president. He is getting fetched up on the business of getting behind Donald Trump. So what are his thoughts in the GOP's presumptive nominee? Would he vote for him? 50 questions put to the one and only Dan Quayle by the one and only CNN special correspondent, Jamie Gangel. The perfect person for this.

This is a big eye-opener for people.

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm getting so much love from him this morning.

CAMEROTA: I know.

GANGEL: I don't know what to do.

CAMEROTA: He's trying to steal our thunder. I see what's going on here.

GANGEL: Just so that we know.

CUOMO: She's never liked you.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: Go ahead, Jamie.

GANGEL: Time out.

So get ready, more division in the GOP. It turns out Bush 41 is not supporting Donald Trump. Dan Quayle is. And guess what? He also has some suggestions for who Donald Trump should pick as his vice- president. Here we go.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GANGEL: So what do you think about presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump?

QUAYLE: He is the presumptive nominee. Uh, the party has to unite around him. I'm...

GANGEL: It has to unite around him?

QUAYLE: It has to unite around him. They will. There will be a few holdouts that are always holdout. And you all will point out those holdouts. They'll get a lot of air time in CNN and other networks.

But by and large, I think the party will rally around him.

But we need to step back. I mean a year ago, uh -- and I put myself in this camp. Nobody thought that Donald Trump would be the nominee of the Republican Party -- or very few people, let me say.

GANGEL: What did you think was going to happen?

QUAYLE: In the normal sorting out process, the cream usually goes to the top, right? And I didn't realize that Donald Trump was going to be the cream that got to the top. I totally misjudged his ability to win. But for somebody that has really no experience in politics to be able to start off and to win with a strong field and not even go to the convention, that he is the presumptive nominee a month before we have our final primaries is quite remarkable. It shows that he is a winner. He knows how to win.

GANGEL: You will support him, you will vote for him, no reservations?

QUAYLE: Well, as of now, unless something happens that I -- I don't know. But no, he's the nominee of the party. And the party needs to unite around him. And I think that they will. He's going to be having a -- a meeting with Paul Ryan and I think that meeting will go reasonably well. I think it...

GANGEL: Do you know something?

QUAYLE: No, I will say this, Paul Ryan, in my view, will end up -- will support our nominee. There's -- there's very little doubt in my mind, for a couple of reasons.

One, you know, he's a team player. He's got a big team in the House of Representatives. The second reason is, is that most of this caucus, I'd say probably 85, 90 percent of his caucus is going to support Donald Trump.

GANGEL: President Bush 41, President Bush 43, have declined to support Trump. Mitt Romney called him a phony and a fraud. Ted Cruz called him a pathological liar. Should all of these people come around?

QUAYLE: I -- I'm sure that there will be some that will sit it out, maybe some that might even vote for Hillary Clinton. I hope those that have said they won't support him now will reconsider and before they cast their vote on Election Day in November, would end up voting for him. If not, don't show up.

GANGEL: You think Donald Trump can win?

QUAYLE: I do think he can win. I think he can win because this is clearly the year of the anti-establishment, if you will. So if you want more of the same, Republicans or Democrats, more of the political mess in Washington, I mean you've got the quintessential establishment candidate in Hillary Clinton.

GANGEL: One of the big concerns about Donald Trump is that he does not have the temperament, the character to be president. Lindsey Graham said he wouldn't trust him with nuclear weapons. Do you have any of those concerns?

QUAYLE: Donald Trump has just won the Republican nomination, at least he's the presumptive nominee. And he won in a very competitive race. He's a winner. He knows how to win.

Now, he's got to run a general election and he, I'm sure, is going to -- as he said, I'm going to change my demeanor, I'm going to change my strategy, I'm going to change my approach. So people will start to look at him differently. And they'll be making the judgment whether he has the temperament, whether he has the gravitas, whether he has the ability to be in the Oval Office and make those decisions. Because I'm sure that he knows this. Winning the nomination is one thing. Winning the general election is another thing.

GANGEL: But you think he can do it.

QUAYLE: I think he can do it and I think that he needs to show the American people that he's capable of doing it. And I think you're going to see a little bit different campaign in the general election than you saw in the primary.

GANGEL: So we've heard all the outrageous things he said, all the offensive things he said. You think he's going to pivot now from that?

QUAYLE: I think that people are going to judge him going forward and that's what it's going to be. They'll listen to what he has to say at the convention very carefully. He'll be making some substantive speeches on foreign policy, economics, bringing people together. There will be debates. How about that debate between the two presumptive nominees? Or I guess she's not presumptive yet, but if, in fact, it comes down to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, that's going to be bigger than the Super Bowl. So stay tuned. It's going to be a wild year.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CUOMO: Bigger than the Super Bowl.

CAMEROTA: Bigger than the Super Bowl, right?

CUOMO: Look, he is probably right. There would probably the most popular people, ever, in this election. Speaking of the popularity, so much so that even a meeting commands our attention. Here's a live look as Trump Force One, the Trump plane at Reagan National Airport. You know why he's there, the big meeting there at the RNC headquarters for that highly anticipated meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan and RNC chair Reince Priebus. Stay tuned for the coverage of what that meeting means.

Now, when you were talking to the former vice-president, yes, this could be the Super Bowl, the mass popularity of these two people --

BERMAN: Or unpopularity. I mean, I think they're wildly unfavorable.

GANGEL: Well, we will be watching, right. Everyone's going to be watching.

CUOMO: True. Did he have a prediction for how he thinks it goes? I know he says he thinks he can win, Trump, but what does he see here as the big moments, the big pivot, the big factor?

GANGEL: He -- I think that he thinks if Trump pivots, if he is more presidential, if he is more disciplined when he gets out there, that people will forget about some of the more outrageous things. Now, of course the Clinton campaign's ads are going to remind everyone about it.

But two things I want to say. One is Dan Quayle has not spoken to Donald Trump. They have not met. He has not been lobbied. He met him years ago. So this is Dan Quayle came to this position all on his own. They haven't had any contact.

The other thing is there's a little footnote to history here. Dan Quayle said to me Donald Trump has wanted this for a long, long time. Trivia. In 1988, Donald Trump lobbied to be former President Bush 41's vice-president.

CAMEROTA: Is that right?

GANGEL: He went to James Baker and he said I think I would be a good choice. So as Dan Quayle likes to joke, he picked me, thank goodness, but.

CAMEROTA: Can you -- I mean, yes, history could have gone a different way.

GANGEL: It goes back a long time.

BEMAN: Does Quayle have any idea who Trump should pick as number two now?

GANGEL: We are going to have more of the interview later today. But spoiler alert, he actually thinks Rubio would be a good choice, or Kasich. I said neither of them. They say no, no, no.

CAMEROTA: That's great.

GANGEL: He says baloney. If you get the call, you say yes. But his top choice is Ohio senator Rob Portman., a very serious guy with a big resume, that he thinks would send the right message to the GOP establishment that's very nervous about Donald Trump.

BERMAN: Problem is in a tight campaign, a tight reelection campaign, it would be loaded with complications.

GANGEL: Right. But you can run for both at the same time, according to Ohio law. So he wouldn't have to give it up.

BERMAN: All right, Jamie Gangel, fascinating stuff.

GANGEL: Thank you.

BERMAN: Can't wait to hear more of that later on.

And of course we just showed you the picture, Donald Trump has arrived in Washington. There is the, you know, airport service personnel. You can see the SUVs where Donald Trump will be -- this is really -- this is big stuff. This is big stuff. Donald Trump waiting to deplane, which is an actual verb, and head over to the RNC headquarters for that meeting with top Republicans.

We're going to follow it. Stay with us.

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