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New Day
President Obama Speaks in Hiroshima; Trump Campaign Examined; Sanders and Clinton Battle for California Votes. Aired 7-7:30p ET
Aired May 27, 2016 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:00:01] DR. ALEXANDER GARZA, ASSOCIATE DEAN, ST. LOUIS UNIV. COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH: ... are coming right around the corner, right around memorial day, and we all need to take precautions to prevent infection.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Obviously, we always want to give people the right information, but not scare people unnecessarily. Doctor, thank you very much for joining us. Giving us perspective. The best to you and your family for the weekend.
GARZA: thank you. You, too. Thank you.
CUOMO: There is a lot of news in the air this morning about the election and the president just made history. So let's get right to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Hiroshima and Nagasaki demonstrated that mankind posses the means to destroy itself. We may not be able to eliminate mans capacity to do evil.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He's the president who is allowed many of these countries to totally take advantage of it.
OBAMA: They're rattled by him, and for good reason.
TRUMP: When you rattle someone, that's good.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: By June 7th people of California will have a message for Secretary Clinton.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm proud of the campaign. It's been a campaign about issues. No insults.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The tornado looks like it's getting bigger. There's two tornadoes on the ground again.
We've 80 mile-an-hour winds.
Boy, this one's rotating strong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is "New Day" with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.
CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to your "New Day." it's Friday, May 27th. 7:00 in the east now. We have Ana Cabrera with us again. Thank you for helping us get through this week.
ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
CUOMO: Very hard. Couldn't have done it without you but go have breaking news on this day. President Barack Obama making history becoming the first U.S. President to visit Hiroshima, this comes 71 years after the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb there killing more than 140,000 people during the closing days of World War II.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Now the President not giving an apology but making a gesture's of reconciliation and hugging survivors of the attack. President Obama's historic visit comes as all eyes are on the U.S. and who will become the next leader of the free world. We have this story and the 2016 race covered only the way CNN can.
Let's begin with CNN's Michelle Kosinski who is live in Hiroshima for us. Michelle?
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, right. To say this was a powerful moment, to say that it was emotional is somehow understating it. And we spoke to people who said they cried as the watched the President's word. And really he could have said almost anything, I mean just an acknowledgment of what had here was something that Japanese people had waited for a long time. He spoke of responsibility, he spoke of mistakes but it wasn't the usual speech we might hear involving policy or politics.
The White House didn't feel that was appropriate, just as they didn't feel an apology was appropriate. And so the President broadened this out just about as broadly as you could make it. He spoke to the nature of humanity itself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: But we have a shared responsibility to look directly into the eye of history, and ask what we must do differently to curb such suffering again, but the memory of the morning of August 6, 1945 must never fade. That memory allows us to fight complacency. It fuels our moral imagination.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI: Just to get a sense of the emotion here. People are not walking in now that the President has gone left back for home after this historic trip. Some Japanese people are giving out origami birds. Another extremely emotional moment was, when you see the front row there. Hiroshima survivors and the President hugged the 79-year-old survivor, who worked to recognize the American prisoners of war, who had died during that blast.
The President spoke of denuclearization. You know during his time as president he's had a mixed record of trying to end wars as well as trying to reduce nuclear weapons around the world. The Iran nuclear deal was a big success, but then you have the very real and large threat of North Korea especially in this region. But he said denuclearization isn't even enough. He called for humanity to change its mind-set on war itself. Ana?
CABRERA: Michelle Kosinski reporting for us in Hiroshima. Thank you.
Now President Obama stopped there, coming with eyes across the world on our presidential race. Donald Trump dismissing comments from the president that world leaders are rattled by Trump, in fact, he called that a good thing, firing back after amassing enough delegates now to officially be the presumptive Republican nominee.
CNN's Jason Carroll joins us now with more. Jason?
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, Donald Trump thanked the people of North Dakota for putting him over the top. He keyed in on a number of topics saying he would like to debate Bernie Sanders. He also had a few choice words for the President and Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[07:05:03] TRUMP: We had a big day today. Today was a day where we hit the 1,237. Right? 1,237.
CARROLL: Donald Trump officially clinching the Republican nomination, and squashing the once fervent efforts from the GOP establishment to stop him.
TRUMP: Most of them said, and they said very strongly, he will never be the nominee. I could name him but I don't want to embarrass him.
CARROLL: Trump boasting that he's one step closer to the White House than Hillary Clinton.
TRUMP: Here I am watching Hillary fight and she can't close the deal. And that should be such an easy deal to close.
CARROLL: Trump continuing to hit Clinton hard on that inspector general's report which criticized her for using her personal e-mail server to do government business when she was secretary of state.
TRUMP: She has bad judgment. This was all bad judgment. Probably illegal. We'll have to find out what the FBI says about it. But certainly it was bad judgment.
CARROLL: Trump also taking aim at President Obama.
TRUMP: He's a president who's on a horrible job. Obama could never come up with a solution. Number one, he's incompetent.
CARROLL: After Obama voiced world leaders concerns about Trump during a G7 summit.
OBAMA: They're rattled by him. The proposals that he's made displace either ignorance of world affairs or a cavalier attitude. CARROLL: Hillary Clinton echoing those fears.
CLINTON: This man who is an unqualified loose cannon is within reach of the most important job in the world. So it should concern every American.
CARROLL: But a defiant Trump is embracing the criticism.
TRUMP: That's good if they're nervous. That's good. I'll have a better relationship with other countries than he has, except we'll do much better and they won't be taking advantage of us anymore.
CARROLL: As Trump continuing to be hammered for his controversial remarks about Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren.
TRUMP: Who? Pocahontas?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is that offensive?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Should you use that term?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's very offensive. Sorry.
TRUMP: Oh, I'm sorry about that. Pocahontas. Is that what you said? I think she's Native American as I am. OK? That I will tell you. But she's a woman that's been very ineffective, other than she's got a big mouth.
CARROLL: Trump also hinting he's wide open to who his running mate will be after his campaign chairman said choosing a woman or minority would be viewed as pandering
TRUMP: We're looking for absolute competence. I fully expect we will have many women involved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: And a little more on Trump's possible running mate. His campaign Chairman Paul Manafort telling the "Huffington Post" there is a long list of candidates but they all have a lot of problems. Going forward, Trump still has a lot of work to do to unite his party. House Speaker Paul Ryan still has not endorsed him. Trump said he a good conversation with Ryan this week, Ryan called it productive. Alisyn
CAMEROTA: Jason you've given us a lot to talk about. Thank you for that. So let's bring in Margaret Hoover, CNN Political Commentator and former George W. Bush White House staff member, John Avlon, CNN Political Analyst and Editor and Chief for "the Daily Beast" and Jeffrey Lord, Trump supporter and former Reagan White House political director. Great to see you all today.
MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.
JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.
JEFFREY LORD, FMR REAGAN WH POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Good morning, Ali. CAMEROTA: Jeffrey let me start with you. So on this solemn day as we approach the Memorial Day weekend as well as the President in Hiroshima, just explain why it would be a good thing for world leaders to be rattled by Donald Trump?
LORD: Well, I think what we're seeing on the international stage is a version of what we've seen here domestically which is to say the outsider versus the insiders. Just because you were the head of a foreign country doesn't mean you haven't managed to become in some sense part of an insider's club here, where everybody thinks the same, everybody does the same thing and meanwhile the results are terrible. So all he's really saying here is that -- people should be, "rattled" in the sense that they should think anew and act anew and he would be a change agent in this. And that's a good thing.
CAMEROTA: OK, John?
AVLON: Yeah. I mean, look, I appreciate that Jeffrey's trying to frame this all as insider/outsider. He's a disciplined political messenger and a subtle Lincoln reference in there that was awfully nice, but don't think that goes to the spirit of what President Obama was saying. What he's said is consistently that when his overseas, leaders are starting to say, what the hell is going on in your country right now?
CAMEROTA: Yeah, so Donald Trump says that's a good thing.
AVLON: Right.
CAMEROTA: Unpredictability. Get them back on their heels a little bit.
AVLON: I think there's a difference between people when Ronald Reagan came and people said he was a cowboy. That was about ideology. This is about stability, both the stability of the individual and what it says about American stability in governance as a leader in the free world. That is not Nixon's madman theory of keep them off their game. It's actually about, is America starting to put forward people who don't reflect confidence in our capacity for self-governance.
CAMEROTA: Margaret, Trump's supporters think that, you know what has been wrong with the U.S. and in foreign policy, one of them is that we always telegraph what we're going to do. We give a date certain of what we're going to do. ISIS knows what our plan is and Donald Trump would play it differently?
[07:10:10] HOOVER: Look, I think what's unfortunately about President Obama saying is always overseas, especially in such an event like this, we're commemorating the terrible and horrific use of nuclear weapons, is that wading into the presidential debate a little too early. I mean, we understand that he has a political bone in his body means going after it at the right moment.
Now isn't quite the right moment. What it does is, it gives people who support Donald Trump and excuse that Obama just being excessively political. In honesty, as Republican, is really uncomfortable with Donald Trump ascending to world leadership, you know, billions of lives are on the line based on the stability of the relationships we have with our allies. We don't want our allies rattled, we need out allies to trust us and it's not just President Obama who's hearing this.
Members of Congress are going abroad in congressional delegations and leaders of African Countries are saying, you know, who don't have great records by the way of human rights on their own. Are saying, what are you doing, at United States of America? It is destabilizing for world leaders and for their relationships with the United States.
CAMEROTA: Let's move on and talk about the Twitter word that Donald Trump and Elizabeth Warren are engaged and let me just read you a couple of the Tweets from yesterday so that you get a sense of what's happening here. Donald Trump has been going after Elizabeth Warren, and he says I find it offensive that goofy Elizabeth Warren sometimes referred to him as Pocahontas, by him -- pretended to be Native American to get into Harvard.
She fired back, "Get your facts straight Donald Trump, I didn't even go to Harvard. I'm a graduate of University of Houston and Rutgers University." But of course we know what this refers to. He doesn't like that she has in her past referred to, said her ancestors had some Native American heritage and he's been calling her Pocahontas. Jeffrey is it OK to make fun of somebody based on their ethnicity and call them an ethnic name?
LORD: This goes immediately to the heart of the political correctness argument, which has served as rocket fuel for the Trump campaign. I mean, the charge here against Elizabeth Warren, as I recall it from her Senate campaign, is that she used the alleged fact that she was 1/32 charity or something to get a job at Harvard.
CAMEROTA: Right, what I mean whether or not you believe that she is actually American. Is it OK to call hear name based on that is my question?
LORD: Well, I mean, it's not OK to use her race to get a job.
CAMEROTA: OK.
LORD: That's the issue. That's the issue, and exactly what she did.
CAMEROTA: Is that the issue, John?
AVLON: I think Donald Trump is mocking her. Look, this is a guy who much more comfortable as insult comment even than ideas. And his mocking her for that allege action when she was (inaudible) trying to get a head. So I don't think it's actually about ethnicity so much as what his trying to pointing out is hypocrisy, but on a deeper level, of course, the man's impulse is sort of a junior high bully. And to keep needling which is not presidential, its locker room humor doesn't translate to the oval office.
HOOVER: It's a junior high bully using, you know, talk radio, right- wing talk radio, talking points and opposition research from the 1990s and Republican playbooks, none of it is idea based, none of it is policy based and frankly none of it is politically salient for an general election audience.
CAMEROTA: OK. Well, that leads me to my next thing. And I really do want to get to this, because this is about Vince Foster. And as we know Vince Foster, Donald Trump was asked about the Vince Foster's death by "The Washington Post." And he said I don't know anything about it but a lot of people talk about it and a lot of people think it's a conspiracy of some kind.
OK, so now Vince Foster's brother has written an op-ed to the "Washington Post." And I just want to read it. Because it is powerful. His brother says it is beyond contempt that a politician would use a family tragedy to further his candidacy. Trump cynically, crassly and recklessly insinuated my brother Vincent W. Foster Jr. May have been murdered because "He had intimate knowledge of what was how going on. And that Hillary clintor may have somehow played a role in Vince death, ho wrong how irresponsible, how cruel. Oh, this was -- I'm sorry, this was sister. This was Vince Foster's sister who wrote this to "the washington post" yesterday.
AVLON: Right.
CAMEROTA: OK. Jeffrey, that obviously was not the intention, I'm sure, of Donald Trump, to hurt the Foster family. So, can we say he not invoke this anymore and not talk about this anymore?
LORD: Ali, you know, the thing about that-of-this that gets me, and we get into these situations, often enough. It interesting that was in "The Washington Post." to borrow a phrase from the "Huffington Post," this is what you call journalist bait. In other words, Donald Trump didn't bring this subject up. "The Washington Post" brought it up and he responds to the furor over Vince Foster's death. He didn't bring it up.
CAMEROTA: Of course but there's a way to respond differently and say we know that he committed suicide, tragically.
LORD: Right. I mean, he has since said, you know, that this is not what he's about and all of this kind of thing. I mean, I just think this is much to do about nothing, because it's exactly the kind of thing that drives.
(CROSSTALK)
CAMEROTA: Go ahead.
[07:15:00] AVLON: The issue is not having the credibility and courage to say clearly that this is a conspiracy theory that surrounds Vince Foster. Not saying, I don't know. Some people say I'll wait for more information. This has been exhaustibly investigated. When do you that it's a dog whistle the conspiracy theorist, and the conspiracy theorist are already in his camp, he's got to win over -- the reason why the opposition and swing voters. You're not going to do it by indulging in conspiracy theories.
CAMEROTA: OK. Panel, thank you very much. We're touching on all of those things. Great to talk you. Have a nice weekend. Let's get over to Chris.
CUOMO: Well, Hillary Clinton has another reason to be on the defensive. The scathing report from the inspector general of the State Department about her use of a private e-mail server while secretary of state. As Bernie Sanders amps up the pressure on Trump to debate him before the California primaries. Is that really going to happen?
Let's give you the reporting. CNN Sunlen Serfaty live in Los Angeles with more. Sunlen?
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. Well, both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are campaigning hard here in California. They are both be here today leading into June 7th, which, of course, is the last day of contests in the primary calendar, but Hillary Clinton is certainly now finding herself facing considerably strong head winds as she tries to close this out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SERFATY: Overnight, Bernie Sanders stoking talk of a debate between him and Donald Trump.
SANDERS: You made it possible for us to have a very interesting debate. That's right. About two guys who look at the world very, very differently.
SERFATY: And blasting his primary opponent Hillary Clinton for declining to debate before California's June 7th primary.
SANDERS: It's kind of insulting to the people of the largest state in the United States of America, are not to come forward and talk about the issues, serious issues that impact this state and impact the country.
SERFATY: But Trump appears to be taking the bait, as long as they can raise millions for charity.
TRUMP: Oh, I'd love to debate Bernie. He's a dream.
SERFATY: Clinton now scrambling to drum up support before the delegate-rich primary and Sanders refuses to concede the nomination. The latest poll in California shows Clinton and Sanders locked in a dead heat just days before the final contests.
SANDERS: If we can win big here in California, and in the other five states that are up on June 7th, we're going to go marching in to the Democratic convention with enormous momentum -- and I believe we're going to go marching out with the Democratic nomination.
SERFATY: Contending with trust issues over her personal e-mail use as secretary of state, Clinton going on an uncharacteristic media blitz, defending herself against a scathing inspector general report was called her out for setting up and using a private e-mail server.
CLINTON: This report makes clear that personal e-mail use was the practice under other secretaries of state, and the rules were not clarified until after I had left. But as I said many times it was still a mistake. If I could go back I'd do it differently.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERFATY: And Hillary Clinton started to really reach out and extend and Olive branch to Bernie Sanders supporters. Last night here in San Francisco she notably went out of her way, and praised Senator Sanders. She said she's proud of his campaign but also very notably calling, and making a very direct call for California voters to send a message when they head to that ballot box on June 7th, she of course trying very hard to close this out. Ana?
CABRERA: All right, Sunlen Serfaty reporting for us. Thank you.
[07:18:27] So, if Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump do debate before that June 7th primary in California? What does that mean for Hillary Clinton? We'll take a look at that, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CUOMO: Are Sanders and Trump going to debate without Clinton? That's the question. Let's discuss with CNN Political Contributor and Hillary Clinton supporter Hilary Rosen and CNN Political Commentator and Bernie Sanders supporter Bill Press.
Lady, gentleman, thank very much for joining us. I wish you both the best for this weekend as we remember the sacrifice of so many this Monday for our own freedom. So this question is a provocative one. Hillary Clinton doesn't think so. Here's her answer ...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: Oh Wolf, this doesn't sound like a serious discussion. I'm looking forward to debating Donald Trump in the general election. I really can't wait to get on the stage with him.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And what's your reaction to a possible debate between Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump?
CLINTON: I just said, I don't think it's serious. I think that, you know, it's not going to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: She gave Wolf the, Oh, Wolf -- Hillary gave him the Oh, Wolf, Hilary.
HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: I've given Wolf the, oh Wolf.
CUOMO: Do you believe that isn't going to happen? There's seem to be a lot of talk about something that is an impossibility?
ROSEN: Look, I don't know if it's going to happen but if I were Donald Trump I would not let this happen. Bernie Sanders will wipe the floor with him. You know Senator Sanders is a good debater. The only person who will lose in this entire endeavor will be Donald Trump. So, for that reason, I can't actually imagine that Trump will go forward with it.
CUOMO: Well, two points to pushback there, Bill Press. One is in a debate against Bernie Sanders doesn't Trump just have to say the word socialist the whole timed especially with what he's doing with galvanizing his base and how insulting for Hillary Clinton to not be included in a presidential debate?
BILL PRESS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, first of all, I agree with Secretary Clinton. I don't think this is going to happen for one reason. I think Donald Trump will chicken out, quite frankly, and as to Donald Trump insulting Bernie Sanders. There's one thing we haven't heard yet. But that's why. I have to tell you, there's a perverse side of me that would love to see this debate only because -- I think would be such a show it would be like pay per view television. It would be the most watched debate I think in the history of, probably, forever, and what we're going to see is insults versus ideas.
I mean, Hillary is right. Bernie Sanders has been working these ideas, talking about these ideas the last 30, 40 years. He's encyclopedic. Donald Trump is clueless, and I don't think he'll dare get on the stage with Bernie Sanders. I don't think it would hurt Hillary -- I think this will just be seen as a spectacle and the Republican Party and Donald Trump would be the big losers if it were to happen.
[07:25:12] CUOMO: You guys seem to be selling Trump very short for the only guy who's gotten the magic number of delegates, wiped who wipe the field of 17 people, as you guys struggle with basically just one another?
PRESS: But Chris, he didn't do it ...
ROSEN: You know, he raises one really important ...
CUOMO: Look at you guys trying to double team me. Hilary Rosen, you go first.
ROSEN: Well, I prepared a lot of candidates for debates and you raise a really important point which is no matter who Donald Trump debates, the bar will be very low for him, compared to Secretary Clinton, or Bernie Sanders, for that matter. You know, all he has to do in these debates is get a foreign leader's name pronunciation right and people are like, oh, wow. See? That's more than we've expected. So he's doing really well.
CUOMO: What do you think that's and do you -- or better question, do you think that's because of how disgusted people are with the status quo? Which Hillary Clinton somewhat symbolizes for them. Bernie Sanders, somewhat to a lesser degree, if you're in the Trump campaign?
PRESS: But let me get to that.
ROSEN: No. I think it's an expectations issue.
CUOMO: But, Bill, the expectation I that we're going to forgive Donald Trump for his crassness, for his lack of political correctness, for his lack of polish, because, you know what? What usually goes with those things polish, political correctness and practice speech is deceptiveness and a lack of productivity in government and a system that we reject. Do you identify that dynamic as powerful?
PRESS: Well Chris, definitely it's powerful and that has propelled Donald Trump largely to where he is now, but we're moving into a different phase of this election right now. I mean, people, I think -- Donald Trump has gotten where he now by a series of insults. On that stage it was little Marco, it was lyin' Ted, now it's crooked Hillary and then it's Pocahontas. I mean, that's got to run out. I think at this people are going to be looking particularly one is imano imano, one-on-one whether it's Trump and Clinton or Trump and Sanders, they going to be looking for what are your ideas. And where you're going to take this country?
Chris look at Donald Trump's energy speech yesterday. It was embarrassing the stuff he was coming up with. He's going to get rid of every environmental regulation ever.
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: That's not what he said. People liked his speech yesterday and saw it as a step in the right direction. Drill more.
PRESS: You like his speech.
CUOMO: ... trying to keep us from drill on federal land. Why? There's too much oil there. Let's do it. I'll work with the conservationists but they don't get to ruin our economy. That was his speech yesterday?
ROSEN: No, no, no. He said he's going to get ...
PRESS: No. He's speech yesterday was I'm going to get rid of all regulations on coal plants. I'm going to allow drilling anywhere and everywhere. I'm going to do nothing of it.
ROSEN: Hold back on the climate accord.
PRESS: Ignore climate change and the Paris (ph) of course and everything across the board.
CUOMO: You can't do that.
PRESS: Well, why can't you do it?
CUOMO: An American people don't want that. Why can't you do it, Hillary? Who says they don't want it.
ROSEN: Well, first of all, actually polls overwhelmingly show that people supported president Obama's effort to create a worldwide agreement on climate change. So they do support an energy mix and they do support modest drilling but they don't support getting rid of the environmental protection agency, they don't support getting rid of all regulations. They like the fact that coal plants are being regulated. And that's moderates and moderate Republicans alike. So, there is a sector of the economy and Trump support that will support that, but that is not going to be a majority popular opinion in this country. Pulling back on all environment.
CUOMO: This was very help on level. Hey, you at home, see what just happens there? With very little effort, do you see how the Sanders people and the Clinton people join forces to combat Trump?
PRESS: To ganging up on you, Chris.
CUOMO: Listen, this was light work for me, Bill Press. Light work. I'm asking questions here.
ROSEN: Ouch.
CUOMO: Point for point, forget it.
PRESS: Oh wow.
CUOMO: I'm being nice to you because we're going into such an important weekend. Hilary Rosen thank you so much. Bill Press, as always appreciate the perspective. The best to you and your families going forward.
ROSEN: Have a good day.
PRESS: Thanks so much Chris.
CUOMO: Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: Combating Trump and Cuomo.
[07:29:16] Meanwhile, Donald Trump making good on his promise to raise money for veterans. The presumptive Republican nominee says he's ready to get specific about the numbers. Details, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
