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Clinton Defends Email Use, Slams Report; Trump Willing to Debate Sanders for Charity; Massive Tornado Destroys Homes in Kansas; Does Trump Have a Latino Problem? Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired May 26, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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

CAMEROTA: We appreciate you coming on NEW DAY and giving us your side of this argument.

[07:00:05] And by the way, you can read Congressman Issa's op-ed on this on CNN.com. Coming up in our next hour, TSA's administrator, Peter Neffenger, joins us live in the studio to present his side of this story.

We're following a lot of news. Let's get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Over the years I've used aliases. I actually used the named "Barron."

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When you are the president of the United States, you don't say, "You're fired."

TRUMP: If she wins you'll have nothing but turmoil.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He is not the kind of candidate that the American people want.

TRUMP: The Hispanics are liking Donald Trump. They have groups forming.

CLINTON; Nothing has changed. It's the same story.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Personal e-mail was allowed. That was confirmed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been a distraction for far too long.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She had a duty and an obligation. She tried to get around what was law.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no. Oh, no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These tornados, you don't know what they're going to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a new tornado. New tornado.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

CAMEROTA: Morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. Ana Cabrera is here with us this morning. Great to have you.

Hillary Clinton defending herself against a blistering report from the State Department's inspector general, accusing her of violating federal e-mail rules by using that private server when she was the nation's top diplomat. Donald Trump wasting no time pouncing on Clinton, calling her, quote, "crooked as they come."

Will these questions raised -- newly raised, impact voters?

CUOMO: Meanwhile, President Obama weighing in on the presidential rate at the G-7 summit. Obama saying world leaders are surprised and rattled by Donald Trump's political surge, claiming Trump is ignorant of world affairs. The president also ducked questions about this e- mail report and Hillary Clinton.

We've got the 2016 race covered the way only CNN can. Let's begin with Joe Johns live in Washington -- Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chris, you're right about that. President Obama really sidestepping a question on the issue, leaving it up to the Clinton campaign to respond.

And Hillary Clinton did respond overnight to the latest development in the e-mail controversy that has dogged her campaign since she got into the race.

Sticking to one of the message themes she has used before on this issue, after that scathing new inspector general report that said she broke the rules while she was secretary of state, that she should have surrendered all government related e-mails when she left office. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Just like previous secretaries of state, I used a personal e-mail. Many people did. It was not at all unprecedented. I have turned over all of my e-mails. No one else can say that. I have been incredibly open about doing that. I will continue to be open. And it's not an issue that is going to affect either the campaign or my presidency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: That I.G. audit pointed to system-wide weaknesses in electronic record-keeping at the State Department that spanned other administrations. The report was also critical of former Secretary of State Colin Powell's e-mail practices.

But the audit also said Mrs. Clinton did not get approval to conduct official business on private e-mail and a private e-mail server, which contradicts assertions the campaign has made in the past.

Politically, yet another problem for the Clinton administration -- the Clinton campaign, I should say, that puts her back on defense just a couple of weeks away from the California primary.

CUOMO: Too true, Joe. Not a crime according to the I.G., because he's talking about violations but certainly, also implications of a cover-up.

Let's discuss now with former New York City council speaker Christine Quinn. She supports Hillary Clinton.

This does not look or smell good from ten different angles. Do you think that you can mitigate what just came out in this inspector general's report?

CHRISTINE QUINN, FORMER NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL SPEAKER: Well, look, I don't think, actually, there is all that much different in this report than what we knew. And I think at the end of the day, what Americans are really going to be concerned about is who is going to be fighting for them and concerned about them.

And I think it's very clear that Donald Trump is concerned now and has always been only about himself. And that stands in stark contrast, regardless of e-mails, to Secretary Clinton's life's work.

CUOMO: One at a time.

QUINN: OK.

CUOMO: Dealing with Hillary Clinton, this inspector general -- so again, this is the State Department's own person, OK? They go and they look at it. Starting from the top, this was a violation of policy. "You knew it was a violation of policy. You did it anyway. We asked you for the e-mails. You deleted them and didn't give us what we asked for."

QUINN: Well, first of all, I don't think there is clear evidence of deleting e-mails. Let's start at the beginning of what you said.

CUOMO: Well, the 30,000 that were deleted when she and her people culled through the e-mail. Said "You want the official business e- mails? We'll give them to you. Let's take out the personal ones, and we'll send you the ones that you're asking for."

[07:05:10] They say in this report, the inspector general says, "No, we asked you for the e-mails. You self-selected."

QUINN: The -- first of all, that's -- pulling out things that don't meet what was requested is different than deleting, right, which makes them gone forever in a -- in a different sense.

The secretary turned over 55,000 e-mails, more than any other secretary has ever done in this type of situation. And as was said in your own introduction, Secretary Powell's interaction and use of a personal e-mail exclusively in his entire time of secretary of state, he never turned over; neither did Condoleezza Rice or any other secretary 55,000.

And this report also noted, again, predecessors -- predecessor secretary of states [SIC] and even John Kerry when he began as secretary of state used personal e-mails. And in fact, John Kerry is the first secretary of state to ever have had a government e-mail.

In addition to that, 90-plus high-ranking State Department officials had personal e-mails that they used largely or exclusively. So this was a practice that was well-known, widely used and certainly not out of step, given prior secretaries' use of personal e-mails.

And beyond that, Secretary Clinton took steps in every e-mail to make sure there was a State Department e-mail on it of someone within the correspondence so that that would be part of the record.

CUOMO: Counterarguments. One, nobody had a server in their house. And there is a concern that this was done by design to thwart transparency, maybe had mingled e-mails with the Clinton Foundation. Maybe those e-mails are something that Clinton didn't want people to see. There's nothing as tantalizing as the unknown. There's nothing in the I.G. report about what Clinton Foundation e-mails might show, but when you get rid of them...

QUINN: Well, but that wasn't part of the...

CUOMO: ... people don't know. But you know, but I'm saying that's out there.

2009, the rules changed. And there was a recording requirement now that the I.G. report says was not done the right way here by Clinton. There is a strong suggestion in this report that higher ups there were told, "Let's not talk about this anymore. Never mention the e-mail thing again. Leave it alone." That smacks of a cover-up. And...

QUINN: But what...

CUOMO: Look, what I'm saying I'm saying is this. Not a crime, that's the FBI. This is about a violation of policy. But more importantly, it's a violation of perceived trust. And when you look at that unfavorable number that many Democrats are puzzled by -- "I wonder why it's so high" -- this is why it's so high.

QUINN: There's a lot in what you just said. First of all...

CUOMO: There's a lot in what you said. I had to counter each one of your suggestions. Go one at a time, I'll go one at a time.

QUINN: Let's start at the end. This report that came out yesterday is not, in fact, why Secretary Clinton has some level of unfavorable rate. There...

CUOMO: How can it not be?

QUINN: Because it's one thing that came out yesterday, compared to a three-decade cottage industry of attacks against Secretary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton.

CUOMO: You don't think the e-mail situation looms large in critics' minds? QUINN: I think, if you look at this report, it shows that she did what her predecessors did. On this server question, it's really material to this report, because the question kind of baked into the server question is was there a preservation of e-mails, which is -- really can happen in a number of different ways. And turning over 55,000 e-mails...

CUOMO: It's what you didn't turn over. What you didn't turn over.

QUINN: It clearly shows -- any time there is a request for e-mails from a government official, you are allowed to pull out ones that are exclusively personal. That is a common practice.

She turned over 55,000, which is unprecedented. Compare that to Secretary Powell, who again had a completely personal e-mail account his entire time as secretary of state.

Now, looking back and looking back in any, you know, profession, government, journalism, anything, you find better ways to do it. Looking back, has the department now said there's a better way to do it? Yes. And has the Secretary Clinton said she would, if she was secretary now...

CUOMO: But it's not next time. It's this time you violated policy. Not next time do it differently. It's next time do it differently because you violated policy.

QUINN: There was a clear precedence within the department, prior secretaries and 90...

CUOMO: Then how did it violate policy, according to the inspector general? If there was an established policy, then it was OK. This person says did not comply with the department's policies.

QUINN: I think what the inspector general report reaffirms is what the secretary has said from day one, that her use of personal e-mail was widely known, and was, in fact, in line with that of prior secretaries and high-ranking members of the department.

[07:10:08] CUOMO: But if they felt so sure about it, why get Abedin on news that "We were attacked again, so I shut down the server for a few minutes." And the next day, according to the report, Abedin sent out a notice that staffers shouldn't e-mail Clinton anything sensitive?

QUINN: What that shows, actually, is something that I think is...

CUOMO: "Oh, we're doing something wrong, and now people are going to come after our e-mails. Let's change our behavior."

QUINN: Absolutely not. What that shows is that there was a concern, as there is, unfortunately, with lots of computer systems, and we've seen terrible hacks at high levels. There was a concern that there might have been a hacker penetration, so appropriate steps were taken; and the system was shut down. That's what that shows, that any -- that the issue of security and protection of the secretary of the department's e-mail was taken at the highest level and taken very seriously. And when the system had to be shut down, it was.

But look, at the end of the day, I want to go back to what I said in the beginning, which is, is this a topic that's going to be discussed and should be discussed? Of course. But also what needs to be discussed is who's going to be the best president of the United States?

Is it someone who is concerned about Americans or someone who was hoping for a housing crisis so he could make more money? Is it someone who's going to bring people together and move people forward? Or is it someone who, on a regular basis, seems to find even women in his own party who are high-level leaders to attack and ridicule?

That's what Americans are really going to be thinking about: "Who's going to make my life better, my family's life better, help me pay the bills and be concerned about my bills, not their billions?" when they are in the voting booth.

CUOMO: There's no question there are bigger concerns on the American people's minds, but when it comes down to who you want to do that job this kind of stuff winds up resonating. That's why we're discussing it on the show, and I'm happy to have you here to do it.

QUINN: Thank you.

CUOMO: Christine Quinn, thank you very much.

Ana, over to you.

CABRERA: All right. Hillary Clinton has suggested that she's done with primary debates. So if she won't debate Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump says he will. Trump accepting this challenge on Jimmy Kimmel's late night show, insisting he and Sanders go toe to toe for charity before the California primary. Sanders responding, tweeting back, game on.

CNN's Sara Murray joins us live in Los Angeles with more -- Sara.

SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Ana. Well, it started off as a lighthearted suggestion, but now that we have Bernie weighing in on Twitter, who knows? Maybe we will get this showdown between a Democrat and a Republican sooner than we anticipated, albeit with different candidates than maybe we expected.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MURRAY (voice-over): Donald Trump's jumping at an invitation from Bernie Sanders to debate before California's June 7th primary if the price is right.

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, ABC'S "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!": Yes or no. He wants to know if you will debate him.

TRUMP: Yes, I am. How much is he going to pay me?

KIMMEL: You would do it for a price? What would that be? TRUMP: Yes, if I debated him, we would have such high ratings; and I think I should give -- take that money and give it to some worthy charity.

MURRAY: Sanders responding on Twitter, saying game on.

Talking to Jimmy Kimmel, Trump also admitting he has used aliases to scope out properties in the past.

TRUMP: You know, over the years, I've used aliases. I actually used the name Barron, and I ended up using it for my son, because I made a very good deal using that name. Many people in the real-estate business do that. You use alias. And you have to. Otherwise, they find out it's you, and they charge you more money. And nobody wants to pay more money.

MURRAY: This admission after the presumptive GOP nominee denied reports he'd posed as his own publicist under names like John Miller and John Barron.

But Trump attracted more than laughs Wednesday, also drawing protestors outside of Kimmel's studio.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you a racist, too? Shame on you, Jimmy Kimmel.

MURRAY: And even more outside of his rally in Anaheim, marking the second day of violent clashes between police and protesters at Trump's events.

TRUMP: Crooked Hillary, she's as crooked as they come.

MURRAY: Inside, Trump taking aim at Hillary Clinton over a report from the State Department's inspector general that says her use of a personal e-mail server broke the rules.

TRUMP: Inspector general's report, not good.

MURRAY: And using the rally to unload on other political opponents, including one of his most vocal adversaries, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren.

TRUMP: I was being hit by Pocahontas. Pocahontas, that's Elizabeth Warren.

MURRAY: Even attacking the Native American ancestry Warren once claimed.

TRUMP: I call her goofy. She is -- no, no, goofy. She gets less done than anybody in the United States Senate. She gets nothing done, nothing passed. She's got a big mouth, and that's about it.

MURRAY: The insults are nothing new for Trump, but his latest target, New Mexico's Latina Republican governor, Susana Martinez, has puzzled some.

TRUMP: She's got to do a better job. OK? She's not doing the job.

MURRAY: Ohio Governor John Kasich coming to Martinez's defense Wednesday, tweeting, "She's exactly who our party and the nominee should be lifting up and supporting, not tearing down."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MURRAY: And meanwhile, there's still some campaign strife playing out internally within the Trump camp. He's kicked out his political director, Ricky Wiley, after just six weeks on the job.

All of this coming as we still have this power struggle happening between some of Trump's top aides, and it tells you that, at a time when the campaign is supposed to be building out, preparing for a general election, there's still a couple of wrinkles to iron out.

Back to you.

CAMEROTA: It sounds like it. OK, Sara, thanks so much for that.

Overseas now, President Obama addressing the presidential race from the G-7 summit in Japan. Reporters wanting to know what world leaders tell him, President Obama, about Donald Trump's run for the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it's fair to say that they are surprised by the Republican nominee. They are not sure how seriously to take some of his pronouncements, but they're rattled by him. And for good reason.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: The president also saying Trump's proposals display either, quote, "ignorance of world affairs" or an interest in getting headlines instead of thinking through what's needed to keep America safe.

CABRERA: Breaking news overnight. While you were sleeping, at least one person was killed following a shooting at a New York City hip-hop concert. The headliner there, rapper T.I.

Now, this happened backstage, but video inside the venue shows the pandemonium on the dance floor when those shots rang out. Authorities say the rapper was in the building, was not hurt, but two other people were performing at the time when those shots rang out. Three other people were shot, and they are in the hospital now. Police are hoping some surveillance video will help them catch the shooter.

CUOMO: Emergency operations are underway right now in northern Kansas. A tornado touched down there and just carved this horrible path of destruction about a quarter mile wide. The twister hit Dickinson County. It's said to be, you know -- this county is now said to be in a state of emergency right there.

You had several people hurt, 15 to 20 homes completely destroyed. We don't know the full extent of who was affected and how.

Let's get to meteorologist Chad Myers. You know, Chad, we always tell people, when you hear estimates, they're usually early. Situations change once responders can get out into the communities and see who needs what.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Correct. This was a big tornado and there will be more big tornados today, Chris.

A lot of the damage happened very close to dark, so that doesn't really show its ugly head until morning. That damage, that destruction, those people that may be missing or trapped. We'll have to watch out for that.

We've had a dozen tornados overnight. Things are still going to get bumpy today. We may have two dozen today from Nebraska through Kansas. That's the danger zone today. Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, Hays, Kansas, from Manhattan all the way down to Topeka and even Wichita. That's the areas we have crews out there, looking for these storms today, ready to warn the people out there.

That's what it looks like around 2 p.m. this afternoon. Things getting heated. But by 5 or 6 p.m. this afternoon, in the heat of the day, that's when these storms will begin to fire. There will be some more storms tomorrow, but today is the biggest day of the rest of the week. We have a lot of heat going on.

The heat is in the east. Look at this. Look at New York City, 89. We have cold back out to the west. That hot and that cold are clashing over the Midwest and that's where these storms will form.

Also something else that may form is Bonnie. I know you think this should be the "A" storm, but this is a "B" storm. We've already had the "A" storm long, long ago. It was Alex. But we could see something in the Atlantic by the weekend -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Chad. I know you'll follow all of that for us. Thanks so much.

All right. Back to politics and fallout from Trump criticizing New Mexico's Latina governor and calling protestors thugs. Does Trump have a Latino problem? We'll debate that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She's got to do a better job. OK? Your governor has got to do a better job. She's not doing the job. Hey, maybe I'll run for governor of New Mexico. I'll get this place going. She's not doing the job. We've got to get her moving. Come on, let's go, Governor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: If running for president gets boring, he'll run for governor of New Mexico. That was Donald Trump at a rally in New Mexico, where he blasted the state's Republican governor, Susana Martinez. She's the nation's only Latina governor and a rising star in the Republican Party.

So is Donald Trump turning off Latino voters, even the conservative ones? Let's discuss this with Trump supporter and conservative columnist A.J. Delgado; and the former chief of the U.S. Office of Citizenship, Alfonso Aguilar, who is also a Republican but has yet to endorse his party's presumptive nominee. Great to have both of you.

OK. Alfonso, let me start with you. Is it wise for Donald Trump to engage in this fight with New Mexico's female Hispanic popular governor?

ALFONSO AGUILAR, FORMER CHIEF OF THE U.S. OFFICE OF CITIZENSHIP: Well, you know, this is Donald Trump. This is what he does, you know. He may do this. He may attack someone, and it really doesn't affect him politically.

Look, I think it's silly to attack Governor Martinez, because she didn't show up at his event. But having said that, I really -- I don't think that affects him with Latino voters. They're not paying attention if he, you know, insulted Susana Martinez.

CAMEROTA: But why not, Alfonso? Why wouldn't they? Why wouldn't they pay attention to his insulting of a popular Hispanic governor?

AGUILAR: Because I think his attacks on Susana Martinez were not based on the fact that she's Latina. You know, he was just angry that she didn't show up at his event. And he questioned her effectiveness and leadership as governor of the state -- which is ridiculous because she's been a good governor -- but not because she's Latina.

This idea that Latinos respond to racial identity politics, it's a fallacy. I mean, I think Latinos are more concerned with Trump's comments, general comments about Mexican immigrants and his policies on immigration, not about what he said about Susana Martinez.

CAMEROTA: A.J., here's what John Kasich, former rival to Donald Trump said about this. He tweeted out: "She's exactly who our party and nominee should be lifting up and supporting, not tearing down."

[07:25:11] And as you know, there was a time when people thought that Susana Martinez might even be on his short list for a V.P. pick, but it sounds like that's off the drawing board.

A.J. DELGADO, CONSERVATIVE COLUMNIST: Well, he didn't insult or attack her, really. I'm surprised why there is this narrative that he did. He just called on her to do his job.

And really, Latinos, Mexicans, the entire country is grateful to Donald Trump, because he could have stood on that stage and said some nice remarks about Governor Martinez and sought her endorsement. Instead, he's done what he's done this whole time, which is to stand up for the little people, to stand up for Latinos, including myself, who are concerned about jobs and the economy and unemployment. CAMEROTA: But he said she's not -- hold on. Hold on. Hold on one

second, A.J. She said -- he said she's not doing her job. He suggested that she was letting in Syrian refugees, which she's not. She's actually been opposed to this. He talked about the state of the economy since the year 2000. She took office in 2011.

So there were things that seemed to be misses in terms of criticizing her.

DELGADO: No, he was criticizing her also for Albuquerque's terrible unemployment numbers. In a heavily Latino state like New Mexico, we are very concerned of unemployment, especially within the Latino community. So we are grateful to Donald Trump for pointing out that Governor Martinez should perhaps step up and see what can be done to help that unemployment number.

CAMEROTA: Alfonso, I want to show you, you said that this doesn't have any effect whatsoever on Latino voters. Let me just show you where the polls are right now in the latest FOX News Latino poll. Clinton polls more than twice what Donald Trump does there. Sixty-two percent support her for president among Latinos. He gets 23 percent.

So what do you think the problem is?

AGUILAR: Well, again, it's certainly not Susana Martinez. It's the comments he's made, generalizations he's made about Mexican immigrants and his policies on immigration, mainly his idea of massive deportation, that we're going to deport every single undocumented immigrant. That's certainly very unpopular.

But if you look at those polls, while he's polling in the 20s, Hillary Clinton is polling in the 60s. She's not at the level of support from Latinos that, say, Barack Obama had. She has a problem with Latinos. Latinos are not seeing Hillary Clinton as an obvious alternative to Donald Trump.

They don't like her. She was never a champion on immigration. Two years ago she was calling for the immediate removal of unaccompanied minors coming from Central America.

So it's a fallacy that Latino voters are just going to flock to Hillary Clinton, just because Donald Trump has said a few things about -- about Mexican immigrants.

CAMEROTA: OK. A.J., I want to read for you something that Paul Manafort, one of Trump's top advisors, has said about these national polls. He said, "The national polls are distorted. To get a sample, they rely too much on Hispanics from New York and California, which is where large populations are but also where most of the radical Hispanics are." What are radical Hispanics?

DELGADO: Well, I'm not sure about that. I wouldn't be able to speak for Mr. Manafort, what he meant with that remark.

But I think he means -- and I do agree with this -- states and areas where you do have a more heavily concentrated activism in those Latino communities, which coming from the left is activism mode.

So yes, I do think the polls can end up being distorted. And here's a perfect example which goes to what Mr. Manafort said, leading up to the primary in New York. The polls were showing that Trump would do terribly with Hispanics. What happened? Guess who won the Hispanic vote in New York City resoundingly? Donald Trump.

So yes, he's absolutely right that these polls are not really showing just how well Donald Trump is doing with Hispanics in reality.

CAMEROTA: Alfonso Aguilar, A.J. Delgado, thank you.

We want to get your take on all of this. You can tweet us at NEW DAY or you can post your comment on Facebook.com/NewDay.

CABRERA: Trump also taking aim at Hillary Clinton and her e-mails, but Bernie Sanders isn't following that lead. Why is Sanders refusing to hit Clinton on the e-mails, and is it smart politics? A Sanders supporter joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)