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Sanders Campaign: "We Do Not Condone Violence"; DNC Chair Rips Sanders Over Nevada Convention Chaos; Clinton Wins Kentucky, Sanders Takes Oregon; Is Trump Improving His Image With Women Voters?; Ivanka Trump Calls NYT Story "Pretty Disturbing"; Bill Clinton Responds To Recent Trump Twitter Attack. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired May 18, 2016 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:32:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders with one win apiece last night. The Democratic Party running the risk of descending into chaos? Why? Well, this is what happened in Nevada.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)
CUOMO: Chairs thrown, ugly threats, violent threats from Berners not happy with the outcome in that convention.
What is the way forward in the Democratic Party? Let's bring in CNN political contributor Hilary Rosen, a Hillary Clinton supporter. And, CNN political commentator Bill Press. He is a Bernie Sanders supporter and author of "Buyer's Remorse: How Obama Let Progressives Down".
Bill Press, let's start off in an energetic fashion.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Hi.
BILL PRESS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.
CUOMO: You are ruining the party, sir. You Sanders people, you're getting angry and violent, you're causing dissension in the ranks. The math is not in your favor. It's time to unify. That's what your party -- the super types of your party -- are telling you is the truth. What do you say?
PRESS: Well, first of all, let's separate what happened in Nevada and the violence and the ugly phone calls and everything, and all of us condemn it. It should never have happened no place in American politics.
CUOMO: Do you think Sanders did that?
PRESS: Absolutely not. Nothing to do with it. Nothing to do with it.
CUOMO: No, do you think Sanders -- I'm sorry.
CAMEROTA: Did he condemn it strongly enough?
PRESS: Oh, did he condemn it? I believe so. I mean, the stuff that I got from Bernie and from the campaign condemned it from the very beginning.
CUOMO: Wasserman Shultz says it was unacceptable because he put a "but" in there. He said the reaction was wrong, but what happened in Nevada was wrong. The party's got to open its doors. Kind of that it's rigged.
PRESS: I, personally, believe that Debbie Wasserman Schultz should learn some lessons from Reince Priebus about being an impartial chair who brings people together and soothes things down --
HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: You've got to be kidding.
PRESS: -- rather than stirs it up. But I want to separate that from --
CUOMO: Wait, hold on one second.
PRESS: No.
CUOMO: You've got to be kidding, from Hilary. So one point, one response.
PRESS: Sure, sure.
CUOMO: Go ahead, Hilary.
ROSEN: That's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard. Just last night, Debbie was on T.V. -- our DNC chair, asking if Bernie should get out. No, absolutely. Reince Priebus -- you know, John Kasich has been on T.V. all week complaining that Reince Priebus called the election for Donald Trump weeks before he got close to the delegate count.
The DNC has been scrupulously objective and stayed out of this for a long time. This trashing of the DNC leadership is absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable. Just because Bernie Sanders is losing, all he's doing is whining about the process. And, Bill, this is beneath you. Come on.
[07:35:00] PRESS: I would go back to Martin O'Malley, way back in Minneapolis. I went to the DNC meeting in Minneapolis. It was a set piece for Hillary Clinton.
ROSEN: That is crazy.
PRESS: I'm just saying -- look --
ROSEN: Bernie Sanders --
PRESS: So both parties are complaining about their party chairs.
ROSEN: -- and Martin O'Malley agreed to that debate schedule. That's just nuts.
PRESS: No.
ROSEN: It's not true.
PRESS: No, I'm sorry. So, we can talk all about that or we can talk about the primary. The point I'm on is separate the violence in Nevada. You condemn it. But with the primary I think what we saw last night is there still a lot of life in the Sanders campaign. There's a lot of life in the Hillary campaign. Let it for forth.
I'm from California. I cast my vote by absentee ballot yesterday. I want my vote to count in California so let the process play out.
CAMEROTA: That's what Sanders has been saying all along. And now he's saying that he believes that he will do so well in California that he could deny Hillary the 2,383 number. Do you think that that is likely? That there could be a fight at the Democratic convention because she has not reached that number, 2,383?
PRESS: I think the reality is that neither Bernie Sanders -- and John King showed this last night. Neither Bernie Sanders nor Hillary Clinton are going to have, in pledged delegates, all the pledged delegates they need.
CAMEROTA: OK.
PRESS: So, what's going to happen is when the process is over the superdelegates will either stay with Hillary Clinton or some of them may say hey, you know what, Bernie might be stronger. And if they do, then there could be a fight. If they don't, then it will be Hillary Clinton at the convention.
CUOMO: Do we exaggerate? Do we exaggerate the Sanders momentum? The Clinton supporters quickly say three million more votes Clinton has gotten than Sanders. What do you mean momentum?
ROSEN: More than three million.
CUOMO: What's your case?
ROSEN: Well, you know, at this time in 2008, we know the statistics. Hillary Clinton had won 10 of the last 12 primaries. Actually, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are splitting these end primaries, so I do think that there's some exaggeration here.
But, you know, here's the problem, I think, with what is happening with Bernie Sanders because look, I thought that Debbie Wasserman Schultz was very clear this morning. On issues, they are so much more alike than they are apart. So much more apart from Donald Trump than they are from each other.
But, here's the problem. Bernie Sanders is losing this race and instead of taking it like a man, he's working the ref. He's encouraging his people to think that the system is rigged. The system he signed up for as an independent to run in a Democratic primary. This constant sort of whining and complaining about the process is just really the most harmful thing, in some ways, he could do because he's encouraging his supporters to think that the process actually is cheating them, and they're not. This is a very well-documented process that he signed up for.
And so this kind of well, it's not really my policy and everyone's for my policies. It's because the system is rigged. Wrong -- sorry, he's just losing. He needs to accept that.
PRESS: As a former party official, I have to tell you the system is rigged against an outsider. The party is rigged. It's against any outsider. It happened to Trump, it's happening to Bernie Sanders.
ROSEN: It's a party.
PRESS: Sorry, my turn, OK? But, I just have to say, again, Bernie Sanders, you know -- if you say this, his momentum is exaggerated. You know what? "Politico" this morning is calling Hillary's win last night in Kentucky a joyless victory. A wounded front-runner, they describe her. I mean, this -- Bernie had a big win in Oregon. Hillary won in Kentucky. I don't want to take that away from her.
But I think the Clinton campaign ought to be thinking about why has she only won one primary in May, and why does she go into a state, in Kentucky, which she won 65 to 29 against Barack Obama, and barely beat Bernie Sanders? There's something not connecting there, so I think that, you know, she's got a little introspective to do that.
ROSEN: Yes, you could fight on that momentum. You could fight on that momentum issue. You know, he was supposed to win Oregon by 20 points. He ended up winning it by less than 10. I mean, you know, we could argue about momentum but we can't argue about the math, and we can't argue with what is going on.
And instead of really dealing with that, what we have is a candidate encouraging his supporters to rise up against volunteers, this state party chair in Nevada. She's a volunteer, she's a good person. She doesn't deserve this.
PRESS: You can't blame that violence on Bernie Sanders. I think the Clinton campaign ought to get off that road.
ROSEN: When you promote -- sorry, Bill. When you promote the fact that the system is rigged --
PRESS: It is, Hilary.
ROSEN: -- that you are getting cheated out of -- listen to me. No, you know what? In Europe, they didn't like the two-party systems and they created another party. He could go create. He could have run as an independent.
PRESS: Oh -- (LAUGHING)
ROSEN: But if you're going to run as a Democrat, you've got Democrat rules. They're in place for a reason.
PRESS: Now, Hilary's saying he should run as the third party.
ROSEN: No, no, no.
PRESS: Come on, I didn't think you'd want a third party. I mean, you -- come on.
ROSEN: I'm saying he had his choice. No --
PRESS: Hilary, just chill and let the process go out. We've got two more weeks, OK?
[07:40:00] ROSEN: Here's the thing.
PRESS: Can we all agree? In two more weeks, then we'll celebrate the victory, whoever it is.
CAMEROTA: Last word, Hilary.
ROSEN: I'm excited about celebrating the victory. I do think we all are going to come together. But I don't think it is fair for the abuse, honestly, that these party officials are taking for simply enforcing the rules. And I think this sort of Kumbaya moment will happen, but these are real people involved who are devoting their lives to progressive values and there ought to be a little more respect for them.
CAMEROTA: Hilary, Bill, thank you for that spirited debate.
PRESS: Good morning.
CAMEROTA: That was a great illustration of exactly what we are seeing on the Democratic side. Thanks to both of you.
CUOMO: All right, from the state of play in one party to the other. Donald Trump is taking steps to reverse some of the damage that he has done during the primary campaign, specifically with women. But he still has a long way to go. We're going to speak with one lawmaker doing her part to recruit Trump supporters on Capitol Hill. How goes it?
[07:41:15]
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CUOMO: Donald Trump trying to mend fences with constituencies that he has angered over the course of the primary, among them women voters. So how's it going? Let's bring in North Carolina Republican congresswoman, Renee Ellmers. She's chairwoman of the Republican Women's Policy Committee and was the first woman in Congress to endorse Donald Trump.
Congresswoman, it's good to have you this morning. So, how goes the effort to bring women into the Trump tent? [07:45:00] REP. RENEE ELLMERS (R), NORTH CAROLINA: Well, it's happening. We are bringing more and more in. We are now up to 50 Republicans here on the Hill who have now come out in support of our presumptive nominee, and I think that's a very good thing. And it seems like week after week we have been able to increase those numbers and we have brought on some of my fellow women members. And I think that's a very good thing.
CUOMO: Let's do this the easiest way. One of the Clinton super PACs just put out an ad that's pretty much the most wholesale punch in the nose they can give Trump on this issue. Let's play the ad and then you play the rebuttal as to what you want women to know on the same issues. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (with Trump voiceover): Does she have a good body? No. Does she have a fat ass? Absolutely.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (with Trump voiceover): You like girls that are five foot, one? They come up to you know where.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (with Trump voiceover): If Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (with Trump voiceover): I view a person who is flat-chested as very hard to be a 10.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: Now, those are all things that he's said. They bring a smile to your face. How do you interpret them for women you're trying to recruit?
ELLMERS: You know, these are all things that Donald Trump has said over time and the American people, quite frankly, are tired of the status quo and the political correctness that has gone on for so long, which has moved this country nowhere.
They are ready -- women are ready for a problem-solver, someone who gets results. All of these things ae just really going by the wayside. I mean, yes, do I condone any of those comments? Absolutely not. I would be offended by them if he said them about me.
But the problem here isn't about what Donald Trump has done in the past, it's about a vision for the future. And the American people see that this is someone who is forward-thinking, who is going to get this economy moving again. Americans want their country back again, and Donald Trump is presenting a situation and a plan that is going to get them that.
And look, women are pragmatic and they want answers. They want solutions. They don't have time for the outside remarks and the innuendo and the stories that are going to come out over time. They want to see results. They want to get their country back.
CUOMO: When they say what's his plan, what do you tell them? What's he going to do that Hillary Clinton would not, if she's the nominee?
ELLMERS: Well, let's look at the differences. My goodness, we're going to get eight years of another Barack Obama administration under Hillary Clinton. There's a great dissatisfaction with Hillary Clinton and, yes, there is with Donald Trump as well. But I think those things actually kind of cancel each other out.
CUOMO: What's the plan?
ELLMERS: I think the important thing -- again, the plan is to move the country forward.
CUOMO: How?
ELLMERS: The plan is to bring jobs back to this country. The plan is to get Middle America back working again. They're the ones who have been left out of all this since Barack Obama took office. They want health care back. They want answers in mental health reform. They want jobs, they want security, they want their nation back again, and he's presenting that. He's bringing people to the table for this.
You know, I don't think that Donald Trump ever comes out and says I've got the answer to every problem, and I think that's what the American people appreciate about him. He knows how to bring folks together who can actually have a plan of action, and they're doing that. And we're going to see that more and more over the coming weeks.
CUOMO: What I'm saying is that what I have found in our reporting is that because he is not heavy on specific proposals -- that's why I'm pestering you with the how questions --
ELLMERS: Sure.
CUOMO: -- which really -- you know, look, you're doing your part, but I'm not putting it on you to make the case for Trump across every issue. But what I'm saying is because he's not big on specifics -- there's nobody running for president who's not going to say they don't want to bring jobs back to America. They want to get the middle-class more engaged again.
It's how you do it, and because he's not that big on those specifics his words wind up weighing more heavily in terms of the balance of how you deal with women, especially the ones that you're courting in the halls of Congress.
When they come to you and they say, Renee, it's so hard for us to get where we are. Men are such an obstacle when they're on their best behavior, with respect to us. The obstacles and challenges are so great for women. Why are you backing a guy who says things that you know are hurtful to us?
ELLMERS: Well, there again -- I mean, the point here is what the American are responding to. You know, I can talk about all day long with my colleagues, what I think and we can all discuss the situations in politics, and some have some notions of what should have gone forward and some are grieving the fact that they put their support behind another candidate that did not win.
You know, these things take time to play out. Again, women are pragmatic. Women want results. This is going to happen and this is going to fall out the way we need it. And as to the issue of details, the only one who seems to have a problem with that are the folks here on the Hill. The American people are just fine with Donald Trump's message and they're happy that he wants to take office and fix the problem.
He has identified the issues that the American people are frustrated with and they're happy that someone finally gets it.
[07:50:00] CUOMO: Well, let me tell you something. There's one thing that everybody is going to agree with is that Donald Trump is benefitting from the intense frustration and anxiety with you people down there on Capitol Hill.
ELLMERS: Agreed.
CUOMO: There's definitely all pointed fingers at you guys.
ELLMERS: Agreed.
CUOMO: But I appreciate you coming on NEW DAY to make the case. You're always welcome here to talk about what matters. Thanks for being with us.
ELLMERS: Thank you, Chris.
CUOMO: All right, take care -- Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: All right, Chris. As you've been talking about, Donald Trump facing some problem with women but getting a staunch defense from one woman who knows him very well. Trump's daughter, Ivanka, speaking out this morning. What she says about her dad and his relationships with women. That's next.
[07:50:45]
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IVANKA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: I have found it to be pretty disturbing based on the facts as I know them, both in the capacity as a daughter and in the capacity as an executive who has worked alongside of him at this company for over a decade.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: OK, that's Ivanka Trump speaking out this morning against that "New York Times" story you've heard so much about that suggested her father, Donald Trump, somehow has mistreated women or had uncomfortable relationships with them. Is this just another example of how Donald Trump's campaign can slam the media and court it at the same time, thus far,effectively? Here to discuss all of it, CNN senior media correspondent and host of "RELIABLE SOURCES" Brian Stelter, and CNN contributor Bill Carter. Bill, let me start with you.
BILL CARTER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes.
CAMEROTA: So, it's interesting to have your daughter come out to talk about even some past romantic relationships --
CARTER: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- that her father has had. Effective or uncomfortable?
[07:55:00] CARTER: Well, I think she's an effective spokesperson for him. I've always thought that. She comes across well, in my opinion. But, it's an odd situation. The whole thing is so odd and how do you handle somebody saying well, you know, yes, he -- when he was dating so and so it was proper, improper? It just sounds odd to people. At least, to me, it does.
CAMEROTA: I mean, imagine Chelsea Clinton having to weigh in on her father?
CARTER: Exactly.
CAMEROTA: I mean, this is -- we're in a whole new ballgame right now, Brian.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT, HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": And, by the way, I'm sure interviewers will expect Chelsea Clinton to do that in the fall and we'll see if she makes herself available for those interviewers or not. I'm going to guess she won't.
CUOMO: You know, look, I find this very uncomfortable.
CAMEROTA: I bet.
CUOMO: Maybe it's personal. You know, I've been in the position of an Ivanka Trump, although similar to Chelsea Clinton, I was very young at the time, right? Ivanka's at a different stage in her life. And also, Iwasn't dealing with these types of issues. This is the hardest stuff to deal with.
CAMEROTA: I know, right.
CUOMO: I don't understand completely -- help me with his, Bill -- the thinking on the campaign's part. Ivanka, high-profile, respected. I get it.
CAMEROTA: That's the thinking, right?
CUOMO: But, you're putting her out there to talk about things that, arguably, she shouldn't. Is your father bad to women? How was he when he was running around? You know, why is he -- these are really intensely personal things. What's the plus-minus? CARTER: I think for him, he needs a female spokesperson really badly and I think if you look around, who's going to speak for him this effectively? I mean, he can't -- I mean, Melania is not going to do it very effectively, in my opinion. This is a young woman who I think is kind of impressive.
CUOMO: Absolutely.
CARTER: So, I think he's --
CUOMO: I'm talking about the position they're putting her in.
STELTER: I think she's in an awfully awkward position.
CAMEROTA: But effective. Awkward, but effective.
CARTER: But I think she's effective. I do think she's effective.
STELTER: She's also not contradicting, though, the essential truths of "The New York Times" story and of other stories about Trump's history with women. Those stories are intact despite Trump's attempts to discredit them. We've heard from a couple of the women in that "New York Times" story who say they thought their words were spun, but the essential truth of that story is intact despite these attempts to knock it down.
CAMEROTA: Well, sort of, Brian. I mean, let me challenge you on that because the very first whole scenario "The New York Times" made it sound like it was an uncomfortable scenario. Here was Donald Trump asking this woman to put on a bikini and she said Iwasn't uncomfortable at all, I was flattered. So the very first truth --
CARTER: What do most women think of that?
CAMEROTA: Well, that's interesting --
CARTER: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- because "The New York Times" was going with what they believed most women should think of it, but the woman didn't.
CARTER: No, she didn't, but as a woman, what do you think of it?
CAMEROTA: Well, this is the thing.
CUOMO: It's his girlfriend.
CAMEROTA: I mean, she became his girlfriend.
CARTER: She became his girlfriend. She wasn't his girlfriend yet.
CAMEROTA: But this is the thing, Bill.
CUOMO: Well, I mean, that was where her mind was.
CAMEROTA: You can't spoon-feed readers of what you think they should feel.
CARTER: No, I agree with you but I do think if you just tell the anecdote I think it has impact.
CAMEROTA: That's what they thought. That's exactly what they thought.
CUOMO: Look, contrary to common opinion, I think this is all good for him. What he did with Kim Jong Un, what he's doing with Dodd-Frank, when he gets into policy I think it plays right to either Sanders, but certainly Hillary Clinton. I think it's hard footing for him.
This stuff, all day long, for two reasons. One, who's going to be the moral majoritarian here? The media? Not happening in this society. And the people who are out there have already weighed in on this. They've already said I know who the guy is. I don't care becauseI hate the status quo way more than I hate anything about him.
CARTER: But his negatives are very high, Chris.
CUOMO: So are Hillary Clinton's.
CARTER: I agree, so that's why --
CUOMO: And so is Congress, and so is the media, but you --
CARTER: Right, so it looks like a campaign -- who's going to come off worse?
STELTER: So, we found this in the summer, and the fall, and the winter, and the spring that tabloidese stories, personal stories, scandals, controversies -- those are Trump's territory. That's where he's comfortable, that's where he's lived for 30 years.
Policy, not so much. When you hear about him wanting to meet with Kim Jong Un, people scratch their heads.
CARTER: Yes.
STELTER: But, this territory, it is comfortable for him and to some extent he wins when we're on this territory.
CAMEROTA: And on that note, he is very comfortable relitigating Bill Clinton's past. In fact, he's said that that's what he's willing to do in the general. He has begun doing that, calling Hillary Clinton an enabler. So yesterday, a reporter asked Bill Clinton how he feels about this. Listen to this moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Mr. President, do you have any response to Donald Trump today, calling you one of the worst political abusers in U.S. history?
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, I won't. I think people are smart enough to figure this out without my help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: Are they? Do you think that they can take that posture in the election, going forward, that we're not going to deal with what he says?
STELTER: I don't think it will be possible.
CARTER: I don't think it's possible either. I think it's going to be out there so much that it's going to have to be addressed. I do think it's an odd situation because it's not -- he's not running, Bill Clinton. It's his wife who's running and I, as a man, maybe I don't get it. But I wonder how it really hurts her that she had this situation. I mean, many women felt bad for her in this situation.
CAMEROTA: Right, but Donald Trump is turning it to say that she was actively involved.
