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President Obama Visits Hiroshima; Donald Trump Clinches GOP Presidential Nomination; Interview with Donald Trump Adviser Sarah Huckabee Sanders; Will Airport Security Lines Improve This Weekend?; Trump, Sanders Moving Closer To Debate For Charity? Aired 8-8:30a ET
Aired May 27, 2016 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00] ELIZABETH BECK, DEPOSED DONALD TRUMP IN 2011: So he is -- I don't think -- I think there is many, many examples of Trump treating women in a very disrespectful manner. He treats a lot of people in a disrespectful manner.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: There you go. In fact, that's what some of his supporters have said. He treats everybody the same way. He calls everybody names.
BECK: As a matter of fact if you've seen him on campaign trail, it looks like there are huge groups of people that he hate and he's now showing us that he hates, which is Muslims, people without proper immigration papers. We need to talk about the policies of all that.
CAMEROTA: And we will have to talk about that at some future time because we've run out of time.
BECK: I'm sorry. I know I'm ranting, but you know, as you can see I --
CAMEROTA: I know. We know where you are stand. You're Bernie Sanders supporter. Tyana, Elizabeth, thanks for both of your personal stories, both interesting.
We're following a lot of news this morning, so let's get right to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The world was forever changed here. 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.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He is a president who has done a horrible job.
OBAMA: A lot of the proposals that he has made display ignorance.
TRUMP: Let them be a little nervous.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump is an unqualified loose cannon. TRUMP: Here I am watching Hillary fight, and she can't close the
deal.
Elizabeth Warren, who, Pocahontas?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very offensive.
TRUMP: I think she is as Native American as I am.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is correct!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A-s-t.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, correct.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.
CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Friday, May 27th, 8:00 in the east. Ana Cabrera is with us. Great to have you here with us this week.
ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Happy Friday, everyone.
CAMEROTA: Thank you, you too.
We do begin with breaking news for you. President Obama making history going where no sitting U.S. president has gone before. Obama now the first U.S. president to set foot in Hiroshima, since the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb there, killing more than 140,000 people during the closing days of World War II.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Would the president apologize? That was the question in the air. And the answer is no. But the president did make history in more ways than one. And there are some new twists in the election to tell you about as well. We have this story and the 2016 race covered the way only CNN can. Let's begin with CNN's Michelle Kosinski live in Japan. Michelle?
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Chris. President Obama out here this morning said that words can't really describe the level of suffering that this very place represents and likely will forever. By the same token, it is tough to describe the depths of emotion that brought out in the Japanese people. They've been waiting for this for a long time. Many we spoke to said when they heard President Obama's words, they cried.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KOSINSKI: A historic moment in American and Japanese history, President Obama becoming the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima. The president laying a symbolic wreath alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Hugging a 79-year-old Hiroshima survivor, a somber moment seven decades after the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended World War II.
BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And 71 years ago, on a bright cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed and demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself.
KOSINSKI: The president not apologizing for the events of that day, but calling for a world without nuclear weapons.
OBAMA: 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.
KOSINSKI: And calling for a shared human responsibility.
OBAMA: Technological progress without an equivalent progress in human institutions can doom us. The scientific revolution that led to the splitting of an atom requires a moral revolution as well. This is why we come to this place.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSINSKI: This was a much different speech than we usually hear the president give. He wasn't speaking to Americans. He wasn't speaking to Japanese. He wasn't speaking to politics. He was speaking to humanity, saying that it is not just denuclearization. It is about how about we look at how we view war itself. And it's time for people to embrace what he called the radical notion that we're all part of a single human family. Ana?
[08:05:08] CABRERA: All right, Michelle Kosinski traveling with the president in Hiroshima. Thank you.
President Obama's trip to Hiroshima coming at a critical time for America on the world stage. A lot of eyes are focused on the 2016 presidential race, Donald Trump now brushing off the comments from President Obama that world leaders are rattled by the prospects of Trump becoming president. CNN's Jason Carroll is joining us now with more.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you. This is really Donald Trump's moment. He is gloating, proving to all the naysayers they were wrong. North Dakota put him over the top. He relished in the moment and took aim at the president and Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We had a big day today. Today was the day where we hit the 1,237, right, 1,237.
(APPLAUSE)
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 them, but I don't want to embarrass them.
CARROLL: Trump boasting that he is 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 is a president who has done 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 G-7 summit.
OBAMA: They're rattled by him. The proposals he has made display either ignorance of world affairs or a cavalier attitude.
CARROLL: Hillary Clinton echoing those fears.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: 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 continues to be hammered for his controversial remarks about Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren.
TRUMP: Who, Pocahontas? Pocahontas.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's offensive. Very offensive.
TRUMP: Oh, I'm sorry about that. Pocahontas? Is that what you said?
I think she is as Native American as I am, OK. That I will tell you. But she is a woman that has been very effective other than she has got a big mouth.
CARROLL: Trump also hinting he is 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 that we will have many women involved.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Going forward, Trump saying he is going to try to turn some blue states red. He said he would focus on places like New York, Washington, and California. Trump has two events in California today. Another focus -- continue to unite the party. He has yet to earn the endorsement of House Speaker Paul Ryan, but so far that has not affected his popularity with his supporters. Chris?
CUOMO: Jason Carroll, thank you very much.
Let's discuss what is happening in Trump world with Sarah Huckabee Sanders, senior advisor to Donald Trump. It's good to see you again, Sarah, how are you.
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, SENIOR ADVISER FOR DONALD TRUMP: Great to be here. Good morning, Chris.
CUOMO: Thanks for doing it. Policy first. Donald Trump put out a big speech about his energy policy, about coal, about oil, about regulation. And the criticism of it is that he proposed a lot of things that can't be done. You can't get rid of all of the EPA regulations. You can't just make coal as huge as it once was. There are good and bad reasons for that. Fair criticisms that the proposal can't do what Donald Trump says it will do?
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: I think there are some big things you can do, and exactly what Donald Trump said is we need to move to an all of the above approach. The Obama administration and his energy policy has been job killing, raised energy costs across America, has been horrible for our country. So we have got to go back to where we put all options on the table.
And EPA has been terrible. It has been an out of control agency, not governed by anyone, where they just make decisions without really a lot of oversight, and they've got to be reined in and brought back down. And we have got to absolutely reverse what has taken place over the last eight years under the Obama administration by taking away the energy independence that Americans have enjoyed and making us more dependent on foreign energy and go back to where we can energize our own country on our own.
[08:10:13] CUOMO: But Sarah, that is either not the reality, or it is the reality for a reason. The environmental changes that the EPA has put into effect, and like every government agency, it has its problems, no one will argue that. But reducing fossil fuel dependence is a very popular thing in America and that's a big part of the regulations.
And in terms of energy independence, the United States right now puts out 74 percent of its oil needs. I guess you could go to 100 percent, but the idea that we're somehow, you know, really deficient in terms of how much of our own needs we provide for, it's just true.
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: Well, we have become more dependent on foreign energy, and we've got to be, if you can't fuel yourself and fight for yourself, then you can't be a free country. So if we continue to go down the road of becoming more and more dependent on foreign energy, then we are taking away our ability to be a free country.
CUOMO: Right, but we're pumping more now.
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: And the EPA is far worse than a lot of the government agencies. Of course they all have their problems, but this is an agency without any oversight and rules without any input from other places. And so it absolutely has got to be reined in. I think it is across the board known that the EPA has become an out of control agency and has to have some major changes take place.
CUOMO: I'm just putting in there as food for thought, the United States is putting out more oil now and natural gas than it has in a long time. Also, a lot this comes down to --
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: We're also using lot more, Chris.
CUOMO: That is true. But I'm just saying the numbers aren't expressing some type of desperation. Now, part of this conversation, though, is about global warming. I want you to straighten something out for me. Your background, I don't know if you can tell right now, but it's this beautiful blue ocean. Sarah is in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. You've got this beautiful backdrop behind you right now, which is of course manufactured. But it does bring to mind the idea of global warming. And it's interesting. Donald Trump has said that China made up global warming to hurt U.S. manufacturing. He has also just put in an application for a golf course in Ireland, saying he needs to builds a retaining wall to fight the effects of global warming. Does he mean China is trying to attack his golf course or is he saying two different things?
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: You know, I'm not real sure on the details of Donald Trump's business. That's a completely separate thing outside of the campaign. So I think that's something you would have to ask --
CUOMO: Either you believe in global warming or you don't. Does Donald Trump believe that global warming is real, as does 90 plus percent of the scientific community?
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: Look, I haven't it h that conversation with him. And I think there are still a lot of questions around global warming. Whether you believe it or not, one of the big questions is what causes it? That's something we have yet to determine.
CUOMO: Who is we? Ninety percent of the scientific community has agreed.
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: Maybe that exists, but not what causes it necessarily. So I think that's still a big question out there that has yet to be answered. CUOMO: All right, now in terms of the state of play right now, do you
think Donald Trump is going to debate Bernie Sanders?
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: Yes, I think he is certainly happy to and open to do it. He thinks it could be a great way to raise money for charity. I think the big thing that this shows is Donald Trump is not afraid of Bernie Sanders nearly as much as Hillary Clinton is. I think what's happened to Bernie Sanders by Hillary Clinton and the Democrats is frankly kind of sad. They've ignored him and pushed him to the side. And Hillary has yet to unite Democrats and lock up the nomination. Until she does that, I think she is, you know, has a responsibility to continue debating him and continue showing a contrast that she has until she can lockup the nomination. In the meantime, if Donald Trump can help raise money for charity by debating Bernie Sanders, he is more than happy to do that.
CUOMO: Also, last question here. In your estimation, why is it OK to call Elizabeth Warren Pocahontas?
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: Look, I think Elizabeth Warren has come after Donald Trump almost as aggressive as anybody, and, you know, I think all things are fair game in this part of the political process. She has been relentlessly attacking Donald Trump and injecting herself into the conversation. And I think it's been done time and time again, if you hit Donald Trump, he is going to hit back harder.
CUOMO: But doesn't how you hit matter? Would you call her Pocahontas?
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: No, but she hasn't said anything about me either. I don't even know that she knows I exist. So I don't think I have any reason to engage Elizabeth Warren today.
CUOMO: Sarah Huckabee Sanders, you certainly exist and it is a good thing for Donald Trump that you do. Senior policy adviser, thank you for joining us on NEW DAY. The best to you and the family for the weekend.
[08:15:05] SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: You bet. Thank you, Chris. You too.
CABRERA: All right, the good news here, we are this close to the holiday weekend. The bad news is, if you're headed out, you're going to need to pack your patience on the getaway day because the long security lines at major airports may not be easing up any time soon. Yet the TSA is taking some action, asking congress now for millions of dollars to beef up the number of screeners. Let's go to CNN's Rosa Flores live at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport now with the latest. Are the lines any better there this morning, Rosa?
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ana, good morning. You know, when you first arrive at the airport and you see the long line, it's really daunting because you're thinking, oh, no, I'm going miss my flight. I want to you take a look, because you can see that the lines, while they're long, they are moving very swiftly. I actually gave my business card to a traveler that was at the end of the line and she just text messaged me a while ago. It took her about 30 minutes to get to the front of the line. But TSA is recommending, for domestic flights, for you to arrive two hours before and three hours before for international flights. Now, you can see, it's moving at a pretty good clip, and the TSA here in Chicago has added about 58 agents. They tripled overtime and then take a look at this. They also have five new canines, and that's one of the reasons why these lines are moving a lot faster, and Alisyn, I've got it tell you, a few weeks ago, people at O'Hare were using social media and using the hashtag #ohate instead of O'Hare because of the long lines. We haven't seen that hashtag this morning, so you know that passengers are moving quickly, otherwise they would complain on social media. Alisyn --
CAMEROTA: That is progress, Rosa. Nobody wants the #ohate hashtag. Thanks so much for that report.
President Obama with some poignant words and compelling moments in his historic visit to Hiroshima. We'll get insight from the President's former top advisor, David Axelrod, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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. The memory of the morning of August 6, 1945, must never fade.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Well, that was President Obama this morning becoming the first sitting U.S. President to visit Hiroshima since the atomic bomb was dropped there in 1945. The President, taking part in a wreath laying ceremony, and there you see him actually hugging one of the survivors. So let's discuss all of this and so much more with former Obama senior advisor, now a CNN senior political commentator, David Axelrod. Good morning, David.
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: How significant do you think this moment is?
AXELROD: I think it's very significant, and I think that -- we always get caught up in sort of that domestic political debate about apologies and so on. Fifty years ago, the Smithsonian wanted to, on the 50th anniversary of Hiroshima, have an exhibit about Hiroshima, and that created a great controversy. What the President has done, he has risen above that and I think what he's trying to do is use the occasion to focus the world on the tremendous destructive capacity of these weapons and the need to find better means to resolve conflict. And I thought it was particularly meaningful in this region, given North Korea and its possession of nuclear weapons and its erratic leadership and the threat that that poses, so I think it was a big moment, and obviously it was a big moment of reconciliation between America and what is now a strong ally in Japan. CUOMO: It's an interesting study in contrast, President Obama taking
time to discuss the elections, specifically Donald Trump, saying that he rattles foreign leaders, Trump firing back that it's good that they're rattled about him. There is this conflict of what strength is. How do you think that plays in the election?
AXELROD: Well, it's interesting. I think I've said before that I think some of the things that have propelled Donald Trump forward in this election may become a barrier for those people who are uncertain about what they want to do in -- and it has a lot to do with this. It has a lot to do with how America relates with the world. It may be good to shake things up in our politics, but it's not necessarily good to unsettle the world. As I've said many times here, presidents, the things they say can send armies marching and markets tumbling. If Donald Trump had said, for example, when he was president of the United States that he thought Japan and South Korea should have nuclear weapons, or that America's creditors should take a haircut, that would have created tumult all over the world, turmoil, and people have a sense of that. They know that presidents have mortal power, and what they say and what they do really matters. So I think it could play against him in a general election.
CAMEROTA: All right. Donald Trump hit 1,237, the number that everybody had said he might never hit, there may be a contested convention. There were all sorts of predictions about whether or not he could or if he wouldn't. So now, this a good moment for reflection on -- here at home as well -- how do you think it went so differently than really anybody predicted?
AXELROD: Well, me included, by the way. I would be remiss if I didn't throw myself into the pool of ignorant pundits who missed the entire thing from the beginning.
CAMEROTA: You're in good company.
AXELROD: It actually speaks to --
CUOMO: You had been pretty strong that Trump --
CAMEROTA: I'm not a pundit. I mean, everybody mostly got it wrong. Go ahead, Dave.
CUOMO: Alisyn really didn't, Axe, to be honest. She's been telling me for a long time, Trump is stronger than they're saying. What's right is right. I've got to give her her due. Once every three years.
AXELROD: That makes -- you are now officially a pundit, Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: Good. I can get your paycheck.
AXELROD: You've earned that distinction. OK, we can trade anytime. But the -- look, getting back to Trump, it is an extraordinary achievement. Whether you like Donald Trump or dislike him, whether you like his tactics or dislike his tactics -- this is an amazing achievement in the annals of American political history. [08:25:08] This guy was completely discounted as a kind of side show
when he started running. He really didn't spend the resources some of the other candidates spent, completely dominated television news, and used it to propel himself forward, an amazing achievement. He tapped into a zeitgeist that's out there. But what it does speak to, the difference between the pundit class and voters, certainly in the Republican primary, goes to class. And I think there are a whole bunch of people out there in this country who have experienced this economy differently than perhaps people in New York and Washington, and the changes have benefited -- the changes of globalization, the changes of technology, have benefited people in the upper class. The middle class and people below the middle class have really struggled with stagnant wages that have gone on for now decades. This is a fundamental problem for our country. He's tapped into the sense of aggrievement about that in a very powerful way.
CAMEROTA: So is this debate going to really happen, between Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump?
AXELROD: You know, it's interesting. I can totally understand why Bernie Sanders wants this debate. This would be a gift for Bernie Sanders to have the opportunity to -- I mean, the audience would be tremendous, and he could tee off on Donald Trump and it would thrill all Democrats to see that. My question is, what is in it for Donald Trump. In the short-term, he can make Hillary Clinton uncomfortable, he can maybe boost Bernie a little in California, but she'll still going to be, the nominee, but Bernie Sanders is a very good debater, and he could inflict some real damage on Donald Trump. And if I'm the people who are working for him, I'm saying, you know what, I'm not sure the short-term rewards are worth the long-term risk of going into the ring with this guy and him landing some really solid blows against me.
CUOMO: I don't know, Trump said he would do it, then he said he wouldn't, then he said, I'm open to it, I like it. Sarah Huckabee Sanders just said he is open for doing it for charity. Who knows?
CAMEROTA: We shall see. David Axelrod, thanks so much for all of the reflection, including the self-reflection this morning. Thank you.
AXELROD: Have a great weekend you guys.
CAMEROTA: You too. Let's get to Ana.
CABRERA: So Donald Trump is firing back now at President Obama, saying, it's a good thing that he's rattling world leaders. We'll ask a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, to weigh in on Trump's world view, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
