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Trump Trying to Build Support Among Jittery GOP; Clinton & Sanders Battle in Kentucky & Oregon; Polls Open for Primary Day in Kentucky. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired May 17, 2016 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Are you going considering running?

[05:58:57] GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), OHIO: No, I'm not going to do that.

MARK CUBAN, ENTREPRENEUR: It's impossible to get on the ballot. The hurdles are just too great.

DR. BEN CARSON (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is something that is extremely undesirable to me.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to bring jobs back to our country. I want to make our country go again.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: His answer is "I'm going create them, but I'm not telling you what it is I'm going to do."

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have now won 19 state primaries and caucuses.

CLINTON: I will stand up for you. Let's go make the future we deserve to have!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's not enough lanes open right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're working with Congress to get TSA more funding.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ran straight here (ph), and it was three minutes shy of the door closing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two and a half hours early and still wasn't enough time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: I know. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, May 17, 6 a.m. in the East.

Up first, the battle between competing factions of the Republican Party continues. Some in Congress still in crisis over Trump as their standard bearer, and some conservatives still pushing for a third- party run. Trump, meanwhile, is pushing back against the "New York Times" for its story on his behavior towards women and is now said to be considering a lawsuit. We will speak to his attorney.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: So as Trump battles his past, the Democrats are locked in a battle about their future. The race to be the nominee still not decided. Today is another clutch primary day. Hillary Clinton needing a win in Kentucky or Oregon to stunt Bernie Sanders' momentum.

We have the primary and the politics covered as only CNN can. Let's begin with Phil Mattingly. Good morning.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris.

For Donald Trump and his campaign, primary days, they're a little bit different now, no question about it. He's the presumptive nominee. They're not counting votes. They're not scheduling press conferences, but there is no shortage of urgency inside the campaign to build a campaign that can fight in the general election, to unite a party that still remains very skeptical and to push back against attacks that threaten to sink his campaign before it really gets off to that general election start.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Donald Trump changing his tone from bombastic...

TRUMP: I went to the Wharton School of Finance. I was a great student. I built a fortune.

MATTINGLY: ... to everyday American.

TRUMP: I view myself as a person that, like everybody else, is fighting for survival. That's all I view myself as, and I really view myself now as somewhat of a messenger.

MATTINGLY: As the anti-Trump movement is struggling to find a figurehead, unable to entice a candidate to join the fray with a third-party run.

KASICH: A third-party candidacy would be viewed as kind of a silly thing, and I don't think it's appropriate.

MATTINGLY: John Kasich, the Ohio governor and former presidential candidate, telling CNN he won't take the plunge.

KASICH: I gave it my best where I am, and I just think running third party doesn't feel right. I think it's -- it's not constructive.

MATTINGLY: Billionaire Mark Cuban also contacted about a possible run, also in the "no" column.

CUBAN: It's impossible for it to work. There's not enough time to get on ballots. The hurdles are just too great. It was a ridiculous effort, so I passed.

MATTINGLY: For conservatives like Erick Erickson and Bill Kristol, a very real effort with a very small window to get it off the ground. They need a candidate. Donor commitments and a legal pathway. One that includes tens of thousands of signatures just to qualify for ballot access. All as deadlines loom, or in the case of Texas, have already passed.

Meanwhile, Trump is battling with the "New York Times" via Twitter over their front-page article about his inappropriate behavior with women. Trump's attorney leaving the door open to filing suit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that is a distinct possibility.

MATTINGLY: The "Times" standing by their story.

MICHAEL BARBARO, REPORTER, "NEW YORK TIMES": Our goal was to pull back and say, how does he interact in the office with someone who he's dating or trying to date? And that was the purpose of our story.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: Guys, traditionally a candidate when they see a negative story, and they try and get it off the front page as quickly as possible. Donald Trump really taking the opposite tack here, an unconventional attack on the "Times" from an unconventional candidate. It will be very interesting to see if he keeps that going. He's not willing to let a story that could be damaging to his candidacy just go -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right. So Trump is going to have an ongoing battle with himself. The Democrats are battling each other. You've got Oregon and Kentucky today holding primaries. Bernie Sanders hoping to hold off Hillary Clinton while the former secretary of state keeps her eye on the general with her super PAC kicking off a $6 million ad campaign tomorrow. And guess who it targets? Donald Trump.

Let's bring in CNN senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns.

Joe, what do you know?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Chris, Hillary Clinton is clearly the front-runner in the race for the Democratic nomination, but a string of wins by Bernie Sanders leaves her with an appearance of vulnerability with Democratic voters.

To try to break the Sanders string of victories, the Clinton campaign has zeroed in with almost a dozen stops in the state of Kentucky, which votes today, and she's been using her husband, the former president, who's won elections there before, as a big selling point, suggesting he'll have a role in steering the economy, if she's elected.

At the same time, she continues to hammer away at Donald Trump. And overnight she got a little help from the Priorities USA super PAC, which just rolled out new advertising focusing on Trump's treatment of women. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You know, you can see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her -- wherever.

Does she have a good body? No. Does she have a fat ass? Absolutely.

You like girls that are 5'1," they come up to you know where.

If Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her.

I view a person who is flat-chested as very hard to be a 10.

You can tell them to go (EXPLETIVE DELETED) themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders is hoping the Oregon voters, with their strong tradition of voting for progressive candidates, will give him another big victory today. Sanders continues to set his sights, though, on the state of California, and its primary, which comes on June 7. In fact, Sanders' election-night rally this evening is scheduled to occur in Los Angeles County -- Alisyn.

[06:05:15] CAMEROTA: OK, Joe, thanks for all of that.

Voting in parts of Kentucky now under way. The polls in the eastern portions of the state are already open, and CNN's Brynn Gingras is live in Louisville with the latest. How's it looking there, Brynn?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Alisyn. Good morning.

Well, Chris said it. Joe said it. Bernie Sanders has been on a bit of a streak, and Hillary Clinton has been putting a lot of focus here in Kentucky, making 11 campaign stops and really wanting to win this state tonight where 55 delegates are at stake.

Behind me the second doors opened up, there's been a lot of voters coming in. We've had about a dozen or so lining up and ready to cast their ballots, and 2,600 registered Democrats are registered here at these -- this particular polling location. And we've talked to the supervisor here who says, yes, they usually see high turnout, and if history tells anything, they've had high turnout in past years.

In 2008, when Hillary Clinton faced Barack Obama, half of the state's registered Democrats actually came out to vote. So they are certainly expecting some bit of lines here, and we'll see how the day turns out -- Chris and Alisyn.

CUOMO: All right, Brynn. Let's take a look first, as we're waiting for the returns in the primaries, to the state of the GOP. Let's keep Phil Mattingly here and bring in some big shots.

CNN political commentator and senior contributor for the "Daily Caller," Mr. Matt Lewis; and Washington bureau chief of "The Daily Beast," Jackie Kucinich.

Phil, let's get -- check the box quickly with this headline. You made an interesting point here. You said usually, you get a bad story, you try to move past it. Not this time, but that's not so much because of the story but because of Trump's, what, perceived ability now to point the finger back at the "Times" and say this was a hit piece, not journalism?

MATTINGLY: Yes, exactly. Unlike most candidates, Donald Trump wants to make this a fight about a negative story, because he thinks he can shift it from the actual facts that are presented in the story from a deep "New York Times" investigation over the course of six weeks to a story about the media trying to take him down.

Now, I think the interesting element of this is, no question about it, this is a strategy that has worked flawlessly almost throughout the primary.

CUOMO: You have almost 40 women, almost 40 people mentioned in the piece. One of them comes out, turns their story. Turns the narrative. You've got "New York Times" reporters on TV, defending the story. That's unusual.

MATTINGLY: Yes. And I think, look, once he got one, one individual in the story, he was able to take that and go with it. And you saw him use that in his attacks throughout the day, but yet, it's not normal. And I think the question, and I get nervous bouncing this off Republican operatives all day yesterday, like, OK, has he shifted the narrative? Does he end up winning that fight? And even people who are supporters, more or less, of Donald Trump just aren't so sure yet that this is the best idea.

But no question about it. His supporters are riled up, and his supporters are rallying around him; and maybe that's all he wants.

CAMEROTA: Right. Jackie, when you talk to voters, when you look at your Twitter feed, they think that this is just Exhibit A of the "New York Times" and their bias.

There was the woman who dated Trump, who, you know, the whole piece starts by him asking her to put on a bikini. She wasn't offended. She was flattered, but that's not how they spun it. Doesn't he win this round?

JACKIE KUCINICH, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "THE DAILY BEAST": You know, but it's not about his supporter it's anymore. It's about expanding his supporters. It's about independents. It's about bringing Democrats over who are sick of watching their candidates fighting.

So the fact that, to Phil's point, I was talking to Republican operatives yesterday, as well. And what they were saying is we are still on TV talking about Donald Trump and women. That is not good for us.

CUOMO: Well, why speculate? When we have one of the men in the mix right in the boxes in front of your face. Brother Lewis. When you look at this as a struggling conservative to find an identity amongst yourselves, what do you think about this situation with Trump? Is he presenting himself as the crusader against the norm, taking on the big shots like the "New York Times"? Or is he just getting tangled up in his own feet?

LEWIS: Well, I think he's -- I would say he's making lemonade out of a lemon. I mean, I do think the problem with the "New York Times" story is that it confirms what we already suspect about Donald Trump, based on things he's done and said over the years, including the Megyn Kelly thing, including what he said about Carly Fiorina and what he said on Howard Stern.

So the story in and of itself, I think, is bad. What Trump has done, though, I think is good. It's good for him. It's good politics, and actually, I think Republicans are happy with this part of Donald Trump, because there is a sense that "The New York Times," the mainstream media, will always turn against the Republican candidate, and, you know, beat them over the head. And now Trump is paying a bit of jujitsu against them.

CAMEROTA: OK. So as a result of some of these temperament questions, there are a handful of Republicans, maybe more, certainly, in Congress, that are speaking out and saying that they have not yet been able to get their arms around Donald Trump as their nominee. I'll just read a couple portions of what some are saying.

[06:10:06] This is from Congressman Charlie Dent: "My colleagues I've spoken with -- whether they support him or not -- all have serious reservations."

Here's Congressman Pompeo: "A lot of his policies don't comport with my vision for how I represent Kansas. I'm hopeful over time, he'll do better."

Congressman Mulvaney: "There might be common ground on entitlements based on his statements, we honestly don't have enough detail to know."

So they're taking to speaking out -- Manu Raju has reported on this, Phil -- and that's a big deal.

MATTINGLY: I think what they're doing is telling the truth. Right? They have reservations. They have reservations on policy. They have reservations on tone, and you just listed three House members who all have re-election in November right now.

And I think the three members you listed off, I think most interestingly, are actually all probably in safe seats, but they're looking at their colleagues. They're looking at their constituents. They're hearing from their constituents when they go home who don't like the tone that Donald Trump has taken, don't like the message that Donald Trump has taken and not what Mulvaney was saying at the end tracks along with what we've heard from Paul Ryan.

It's not just about tone, it's also about policy. Donald Trump's policy that he's laid out diverge greatly from what a lot of conservatives have run their elections on and run their campaigns on and have worked their years in Congress on. It's only natural that these people would have reservations based on that fact.

CUOMO: And their fix is pretty obvious, Jackie. You know, they could be upset about it, but he's who they have. And this third-party thing just doesn't make sense from any angle. So it's almost wasted energy for them at this part, unless it's going to push Trump to be something different.

Now the proof of performance in terms of the knocks on him personally are clear enough that we're seeing our first ad now from a super PAC that supports Hillary Clinton.

CAMEROTA: Paul Begala.

CUOMO: Just that. Yes, this is the one that Begala works for, and this is what they're putting out as their first salvo against Trump. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS HOST: Would you cut off funding to Planned Parenthood?

TRUMP: Yes, I would.

You know, you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her -- wherever.

CHRIS MATTHEWS, MSNBC ANCHOR: Do you believe in punishment for abortion? Yes or no, as a principle?

TRUMP: The answer is that -- there has to be some form of punishment.

MATTHEWS: For the woman?

TRUMP: Yes. There has to be some form.

GRAPHIC: Donald Trump is wrong for us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Jackie, effective?

KUCINICH: I mean, we've already seen ads like this. Trump use -- using Trump's own words against him. And I think that's what we're going to see over and over again. We saw it a little bit from Democrats and from Republicans in the primary, and I think you should expect more of this. And, you know, as long as he keeps doing interviews and talking, they're going to have more fodder until he really does kind of bring it back and restrain himself.

CUOMO: Matt, you wrote a book about this, about strategic problems. This is something a little bit deeper, though, right? You can negotiate anything that's going to wind up being a policy matter, but ideals are things that especially conservatives want locked in. How does this play?

LEWIS: Right. I mean, so -- so Donald Trump is not an orthodox conservative, but there are also character issues that are even more important, and I think Republicans right now, you know, everybody is self-interested to a certain degree, and people are making a calculation like, is he going to win? And if he doesn't win, am I better off being for him or against him?

And I think the question is, if he's Barry Goldwater, then you're better off -- you know, Richard Nixon was nominally for Barry Goldwater. Ronald Reagan was for Barry Goldwater. So if he's Barry Goldwater, and you're a Republican, you're better off sort of reluctantly supporting the nominee.

What if he's Joseph McCarthy, though? That's the question: Is he Goldwater or McCarthy? And Republicans are going to have to sort of figure out which of these two guys he is and which model, if either, the template fits.

CAMEROTA: OK, panel. Stick around, if you would. We're going to talk about the primary, as well.

First, breaking news to get to. This is out of Iraq. At least 14 people are dead after several explosions in Baghdad. Eleven people were killed and 37 hurt in twin explosions in a Shiite neighborhood. Officials say one of those attackers is believed to be a female suicide bomber. Three others were killed in a blast at a popular outdoor market. This is the latest in a series of recent explosions that have killed dozens of people.

CUOMO: The U.S. and several allies agreeing to provide weapons to the Libyan government to help fight ISIS and other extremists groups. Libyan officials must first submit a request to be exempted from a U.N. arms embargo that's now in place. Libya is a top priority for the Obama administration. ISIS has gained a foothold in the country, with an estimated 6,000 fighters entrenched there.

CAMEROTA: The Supreme Court unanimously deciding not to rule on a challenge to the contraception mandate under Obamacare. The eight justices sending the case back to lower courts to try to find a compromise. This is the latest move to avoid major rulings while the court is down a justice. Several religious groups argued that the birth control requirement violates their faith.

[06:15:04] CUOMO: Diehard Bernie Sanders supporters furious with the delegate system that they consider rigged. Now there are reports of death threats against Democratic officials. You know what the question is: You can be upset about something, but death threats? Has the time come to say, "Too much"?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders still battling it out with primaries in Kentucky and Oregon, and there are other big battles brewing that have party officials worried.

So let's bring back Phil Mattingly, Matt Lewis and Jackie Kucinich.

Jackie, what do we think is going to happen today in Oregon and Kentucky?

KUCINICH: Well, you know, it's been interesting. We're not looking at a lot of polling in either of those states. In Oregon, there was one poll where Hillary Clinton looked very much ahead. But demographically, Oregon is a better place. It's very -- it's very white. It's very liberal, which has tended to be a really good place for Bernie Sanders.

Now, Kentucky, Clinton has engaged there. You've seen her doing a lot more events. She's not ceding it, like she may have done some of these other states that she's lost recently.

[06:20:07] And the interesting thing is how much she's been talking up Bill Clinton. And there's a reason for that. He's very popular in Kentucky, and particularly with white men, who typically have been a bit of a weakness for Hillary Clinton this cycle.

CAMEROTA: We do have a moment of that. So let's play what she has said about what her husband's role would be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: My husband, who I'm going to put in charge of revitalizing the economy, because you know he knows how to do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, CNN PRODUCER: Secretary Clinton, you said Bill Clinton would head up the economy. Would he be in your cabinet?

CLINTON: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gentlemen, this way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: OK. So, Matt, how are we to interpret what Bill Clinton's role would be, and is that winning for voters?

LEWIS: Well, he's obviously very popular in Kentucky and in a lot of places, and you know, I think he looked back to the 1990s in hindsight. Things were pretty darn good, and even in light of Donald Trump being the Republican nominee, it's hard to make the character charge against Bill Clinton.

So it's understandable why she brings him up. It's still not clear exactly what he would be doing as the first dude in the White House, and even if he would be living at the White House. So...

CAMEROTA: He wouldn't be living at the White House?

LEWIS: I think there is question as to whether or not he would. I saw that the other day, but I would love to know a little more. You actually have a past president who was in the White House for eight years. It would be fascinating to find out how he could actually serve a little more details about that.

CUOMO: Well, there's no real rulebook, right? And then Phil, they're trying to figure out, how do you use the former president? How much of a liability? When is he a liability? What do they do with him? I don't think he could be a secretary? Right? Then he's be in presidential succession, remote but I don't know that he'd have another term.

Obviously, that's not the real question. The real question is, what's the plus/minus on him? But from Trump's perspective, we see that he thinks Trump -- that Clinton is very important. He wants to talk about him a lot. So what do you hear about the balancing here?

MATTINGLY: I was intrigued by the idea of the campaign sitting in a room, wondering what do we do with Bill Clinton? We can use Bill Clinton? There's no question, Bill Clinton is going to be attacked.

Donald Trump has already shown over the last couple weeks attacking Bill Clinton on Bill Clinton's transgressions when he was in office, before he was in office and after he was in office is going to be a key component of his attack line.

But Bill Clinton within the Democratic Party, huge favorable ratings nationwide. People look back on his presidency with a generally positive view of things, and people look back at the economy in the 1990s as a positive view on things.

Now, the interesting element here is Bernie Sanders attacks much of the policies, economic policies that Bill Clinton put into place at the end of his term. But if you're talking about general election, you're talking about as Jackie was saying, reaching white, male voters, who have been such a problem for Hillary Clinton up to this point in a state like Kentucky or a state in that type of region, Bill Clinton works.

You have to use him? You have to deploy him. The idea they would shelf him or be concerned that he would go off the rails or maybe repeat some things that he said in 2008, I just don't think that's reality. They will use Bill Clinton. They'll deploy him as much as possible, and I think it, works for them the way they've kind of looked at the map right now.

CAMEROTA: Jackie, speaking of attacks, some in the local Democratic Party say that they are coming under attack -- this is in Nevada -- from Bernie Sanders' supporters. Bernie Sanders' supporters wanted Bernie Sanders to be awarded more delegates in Nevada. Though Hillary Clinton won, they feel that she shouldn't have gotten as many delegates as she did. He should have gotten more.

So there have been some voicemails that have been threatening left on the state party -- state chairwoman, Roberta Lange's voicemail. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Roberta Lange, I am pretty sure you're probably not going to get back to me, because you don't care about the American people, but what you did today was corrupt. It was wrong and the Founding Fathers of our country would be ashamed of you. You deserve to be in prison, not the chairman for the Democratic Party.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was pretty terrible. You probably just guaranteed fires in Philadelphia. I'm not a psycho Bernie supporter, but there are some out there. And you may have a bad decision by completely ignoring the Democratic process tonight. Thanks. Bye.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: I mean, people are angry. You know, they're angry. When they find out. I mean, look, we've seen this on both sides. They think the system is rigged, and the voters are angry about it. And it sometimes veers to what is being perceived at threats.

KUCINICH: Yes, you're right. We did see this on the other side, and we've seen this, seen other -- we've seen accusations fly back and forth about Clinton supporters threatening Bernie Sanders supporters and vice versa. I mean, frankly, at the end of the day, this isn't -- this has no place in political discourse, and you would imagine the campaigns would have had to come out and, you know, try to put this to bed as soon as possible.

CAMEROTA: They are doing that.

KUCINICH: Put behind this kind of behavior. Exactly.

CUOMO: They say they're doing it. But I've got to tell you, first of all, that's nothing. Right? I have more than that going on, on my Twitter feed thread right now. It is a -- it is a toxically negative environment, there's no question.

But there's been actual violence between Sanders and Clinton supporters. There's been violence at Clinton rallies. We always talk about the violence at Trump rallies...

CAMEROTA: Yes.

[06:25:06] CUOMO: ... which is true, and the criticism there, is that is he fomenting that? But you've had it at the Democratic rallies, as well. The anger is clear. How they settle that party, as a big a problem as the GOP.

CAMEROTA: Panel, thank you for all of this. Great to see you guys.

Well, we have to get to this story. Long, agonizing lines at airports, and it's getting worse. How do the nation's airports make it any better? Look at these crowds. We'll show you. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: We have all been there: stuck in long lines waiting to get through TSA checkpoints at the airports. Well, those lines are getting longer, and patience is getting shorter.

CNN's aviation correspondent, Rene Marsh, has answers including what any of this has to do with tiny horses and clowns. Hi, Rene.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Hi, good morning, Alisyn. I'll get to that in just a second.

But you know the TSA has heard of a call from passengers, airlines in airports, they must do better. This summer air travel is expected to rise to the highest level ever with 222 million people expected to fly. We are not even at the peak travel season yet, and for months, flyers have been dealing with those long security lines and missed flights because of it.