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Secret Service Protects Bernie Sanders at California Rally; Judge Orders Documents Related to Trump University Lawsuit be Opened; Who is Bill Kristol's "Mystery" Third Party Candidate? Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired May 31, 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] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are Rio's Olympics somehow cursed?

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Tuesday, May 31st, 8:00 in the eastern. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton barnstorming across California today one week ahead of the state's critical primary. Sanders unscathed after a security scare in a rally in Oakland. The Secret Service racing to shield the senator when protesters rushed the stage. They were taken into custody with Sanders picking up right where he left off.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: And this is a big day. This is the day that Donald Trump's critics have been waiting for. Trump promising to reveal which veteran's charities benefited from a controversial Iowa fundraiser that Trump claims raised $6 million. And there are also these internal documents from the Trump University playbook that are being unsealed today on orders from a judge. What will they contain?

We have the race for the White House covered the way only CNN can. Let's start with senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns. Joe?

JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: Chris, you know this was a huge crowd in California. And they got to see how quickly the Secret Service protection detail can get moving after a few protesters from an animal rights group seeking to put a spotlight on their stance against agribusiness tried to rush the stage. It was all over in a matter of moments, but I think with you can see this was one more event in a strange and unpredictable presidential primary season.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Dramatic moments at a Bernie Sanders rally in downtown Oakland, California. Secret Service agents jumping on stage, pulling the presidential candidate away from the microphone. At least four protesters leaped over barricades, yelling and attempting to rush the podium. Secret Service detail quickly apprehending the individuals. One of the protesters appeared to be hit by a security member's baton while another was carried out of the venue by his arms and legs.

Grassroots group and animal activist Direct Action Everywhere taking responsibility for disrupting the event. This latest skirmish on the 2016 campaign trail only one of several incidents this year causing the Secret Service to jump on stage. Commotion breaking out at a Trump rally in Ohio in March when a protester tried to rush the stage.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was ready. I don't know if I would have done well but I would have been out there fighting, folks.

JOHNS: And in April Trump's motorcade stopping along a highway in California after protesters blocked the hotel entrance where a GOP convention was being held, forcing the Republican candidate to exit his vehicle and cross the freeway on foot.

Sanders uninjured and seemingly unfazed by this incident.

BERNIE SANDERS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We don't get intimidated easily.

(APPLAUSE)

JOHNS: The senator cheering on the Golden State Warriors later in the night, continuing to barnstorm California.

SANDERS: Does this guarantee me the California primary?

JOHNS: Before June 7th delegate-rich primary in the state, his attempt to arrest the Democratic nomination from Hillary Clinton.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: And that Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton is getting back into the grind after the holiday. And she's on the east coast today with fundraisers in New York and New Jersey featuring former attorney general Eric Holder and Senator Cory Booker. She's expected to head back out to California on Thursday, Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Holder making news on another issue as well that we're going to discuss in a little bit coming up. Joe Johns, thank you very much.

So Donald Trump today expected to reveal details from a fundraiser he held in January to benefit veterans. Remember, he skipped the debate to raise them money? Then there's this other issue that deals with "Trump University." I call it in quotes because the university lost the rights to be called that. Major documents being unsealed. What will they show? CNN's Sara Murray is live in Washington with more. Sara?

SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. Like you said, it's a day of transparency for Donald Trump, and some of that is by choice and some of it's at the direction of a judge. Now, the first thing Trump wants to do today is set the record straight. He's holding a press conference at Trump Tower to explain just what happened at that fundraiser he held instead of appearing at the FOX News debate. It was designed to raise money for veterans charities, and he said he raised about $6 million. Our CNN investigative team has independently confirmed about $4 million of those donations, including $1 million directly from Trump. But he's been dogged by questions about what happened to the rest of the amount, what kinds of charities he's going to, and he is hoping to clear all that up today.

And he is previewing it as Donald Trump is wont to do on Twitter today, saying "I have raised/given a tremendous amount of money to our great veterans and have nothing but bad publicity for doing so. Watch." So, Chris that gives you a good idea of how he's going deal with today. A little bit more details and a little bit of slamming the press. The

Another thing we're looking for is a judge that is presiding over the Trump University case has ordered the unsealing of these documents related to the case.

[08:05:04] It will give us a better idea of the protocols of Trump University as well as how they marketed this to students. Some spent tens of thousands of dollars on this real estate course, and they essentially said they felt like they were defrauded. They didn't get what they thought they were paying for. Trump University was shuttered in 2011, but you can bet that his political opponents are going to be pouring over the documents, looking for any indication that Trump is a billionaire businessman who is trying to sort of defraud the average American people. We'll see what those documents hold later today. Back to you, Chris.

CUOMO: We don't know what's going to happen with the lawsuit or lawsuits, but this is certainly not just more political stink. They're real people out there with real problems. All right, Sara, thank you very much.

Let's discuss the implications of all of this that's in the political wind with CNN senior political commentator David Axelrod, former senior in the Obama administration. Your podcast making news. We'll get to that. But the stakes for California, I know the math. I know what everybody is saying on the Clinton side. But Bernie Sanders is going at California like we haven't seen in recent history. What are the implications on that night?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think that by the time California rolls around, Secretary Clinton probably will have clinched the delegates that she needs by dint of the New Jersey primary. I think she needs about eight percent of the delegates to have what she needs to secure the nomination.

But obviously if Bernie Sanders were to do very well in California he's going to try and make the case to super-delegates that despite the fact that Hillary Clinton won more pledged delegates and more votes than he did that he would be a better general election candidate and they should break their commitments for her and be for him. It's an odd argument, though, an uncomfortable one in the sense that he's asking -- a guy who complains about the process would be asking the super delegates to basically overturn the verdict of voters.

CAMEROTA: So you think that even if he we to win California because the polls are neck and neck, that he would not be able to make a compelling enough argument?

AXELROD: Yes. I don't really see the super-delegates jumping off of Hillary Clinton. I think those commitments are pretty strong. Remember, Bernie Sanders doesn't really have a relationship with these super delegates. He's never really courted the party. This is his first run as a Democrat. The Clintons obviously have long and deep ties within the Democratic Party. I think that the fate -- fate has sealed this nomination, but Bernie Sanders is obviously fighting very hard. And in any case is going to have a big influence on that convention.

CUOMO: She needs them. She needs those voters. The party base itself is a little sketchy in terms of who is going to come out and not. How much does she need to do and as soon as she needs to do to it bring them into the tent?

AXELROD: Yes, well, you know, one of the concerns that I would have if I were the Clinton camp is that the more that Bernie Sanders de- legitimates the process, suggests in any way that it's unfair, that it's rigged, that if the rules had been different he would have won, that the super delegates are in some way, you know, in the bag or in the tank, it makes it harder to bring his young supporters in the fold. And so that would be a concern of mine.

Obviously some accommodations already have been made, some rather controversial supporters of his have been place and the platform committee. He suggested the other day that he wants a progressive running mate on the ticket. We'll see about that.

I think there's a little bit of a danger here, Chris, because if he goes too far -- if she goes too far to accommodate Bernie Sanders it also exacerbates a different problem that she has which is that her principles are not fixed, that she's willing to subjugate them to her political needs. And so it's going to be a very delegate walk for her from here to Philadelphia.

CAMEROTA: OK, David, let's quickly talk about two big things happening with Trump today. He's going to disclose how much money he raised for the vets. He had said four months ago it was $6 million. It wasn't back then, but chances are by today it will be $6 million or maybe even more, who knows. It will happen at 11:00 a.m. east coast time. Then the documents from Trump University are also going to be unsealed and available to see today for the first time, and that sort of shows how they operated. What do you think that might reveal?

AXELROD: Well, I don't know. I mean, all indications are that Trump University was, as you guys mentioned earlier, not really a university in the classic sense and that there was some exploitation of the people from whom they extracted fees and tuition and so on, and that there was a misrepresentation that Trump was somehow picking professors and was deeply involved in the offerings of Trump University. That all may be revealed in these documents.

[08:10:07] Whether it hurts him or not is another question. A lot of things have been thrown at Trump in this campaign and he has prevailed none the less. His unfavorables are record high, and yet he continues to move forward. So we'll see what impact this has on him.

CUOMO: Eric Holder, obviously he was going after Edward Snowden. Now he gets on your podcast, and some of the headlines I think are a little bit exaggerated, but were you surprised that he seemed to move a little bit in terms of the context of what Snowden represents?

AXELROD: I was a little surprised. It reflects the difference between being in office and out of office. He had a little bit more of a reflective view of Snowden. Basically what he said was he thought Snowden had performed a public service by triggering a debate that created a review of these NSA practices. But he also was very clear on saying that he did break the law. That couldn't be tolerated. He suggested that Snowden come back and face the consequences of that, but that a judge ought to consider in sentencing Snowden the fact that he had, in fact, performed a public service by doing what he did.

CAMEROTA: Let's listen. We have that moment from your podcast. So let's listen to it what Eric Holder said, because it is noteworthy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC HOLDER, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: -- argue about the way in which Snowden did what he did. But I think that he actually performed a public service by raising the debate. I think there has to be a consequence for what he has done, but I think, you know, in deciding what an appropriate sentence should be, I think a judge could take into account the usefulness of having had that national -- that national debate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Really interesting, David. That seems a little more than reflective. That seems like, oh, yes, he needs to go to jail, he needs to go to prison. That's like, hey, let's take into account what's happened since.

AXELROD: There's no doubt about it. There's no doubt about it that he was going beyond where he had ever gone before in terms of acknowledging that Edward Snowden had, through his actions, triggered a really important debate in this country. But you can see he was careful to follow up by saying it's still a criminal act.

I think that what Holder said reflects the two elements of the debate in this country. Edward Snowden actually beamed into my institute of politics at the University of Chicago a few weeks ago and had a colloquy with one of the professor that was on the NSA Commission, Jeff Stone, that the president set up. It was very, very interesting.

But he makes the argument that he is merely a whistleblower who did what he did because there was no other avenue to take and that that ought to be accommodated in the law. You know, Holder was taking a halfway position saying, yes, what he did was valuable, but -- and important, but -- and honestly, if you did sort of forgive Edward Snowden for what he did, which Holder did say in this interview jeopardized people in the field, jeopardized American security, then you really are giving a green light to anybody else in this security apparatus and the federal bureaucracy to take it upon themselves to make these decisions. And that's a dangerous precedent.

CAMEROTA: All right, David Axelrod, thank you so much for sharing that with us.

AXELROD: OK, guys, good to see you.

CAMEROTA: All right, another top story that we're covering. Did the Cincinnati Zoo make the right call by sacrificing its silver back gorilla Harambe? The director of the zoo adamant that that answer is yes, but animal right activists say the parents of the boy who snuck into Harambe's enclosure bear some responsibility for this incident. Let's bring in CNN's Jessica Schneider. She is live from us from Cincinnati. Hi, Jessica.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Alisyn. A lot of debate and controversy surrounding both the zoo's decision and the parents' action or potential inaction. But the zoo's director saying he's refusing to place blame, refusing to point finger, and calling out those so called Monday morning quarterbacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THANE MAYNARD, CINCINNATI ZOO DIRECTOR: We did not take the shooting of Harambe lightly, but that child's life was in danger.

SCHNEIDER: The Cincinnati Zoo standing behind their call to kill the gorilla Harambe after a three-year-old boy fell roughly 10 feet into this moat Saturday, coming face to face with the 450 pound, 17-year- old silverback.

MAYNARD: This child was being dragged around. His head was banging on concrete. This was not a gentle thing.

SCHNEIDER: But outrage continues to grow over the decision to shoot. The anger spreading online, a Change.org petition now garnering nearly 300,000 signatures demanding authorities investigate the little boy's parents for not watching their child.

[08:15:01] The #justiceforharambe trending on Twitter. "Don't take your kids to zoo if you're unable to keep an eye on them at all times, one user writes.

Some are questioning how the protective barriers around the enclosure were breached. That's now under review by zoo officials. Officials who claim the rails and wires the boy crawled through meet all safety requirements and have been in use for 38 years without incident.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can lock your car, you can lock your house. But if someone really wants to get in they can.

SCHNEIDER: The child's parents thanking the zoo in a statement saying, we know that this was a very difficult we decision for them and that they are grieving the loss of their gorilla.

One of Harambe's former caretakers emotional when recounting the silverback's fate.

JERRY STONES, HARAMBE'S FORMER CARETAKER: He was in a situation where there's a strange thing here that I don't know what -- what do I do? And do I fight it? Do I love it? Do I run from it? What do I do? And unforeseen circumstance was born and he had to lose.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: And the zoo director noted that the barriers surrounding Gorilla World have passed regular checks from both the USDA and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and at this point no criminal charges have been filed yet against the parents -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Jessica, thank you very much. Appreciate the reporting.

We're going to pick up on that subject in a little bit.

Another question this morning is, could a third party candidate come forward to challenge presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, to challenge whoever the Democratic nominee is? Well, we're going to look at how another contender might sway the vote, the man on your screen, former New Mexico governor, Gary Johnson, libertarian for president. Wait until you see the gesture he has for Donald Trump.

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[08:20:23] CAMEROTA: Conservative pundit and Donald Trump critic, Bill Kristol, says there will be an independent third-party candidate to challenge Donald Trump.

So, who is this mystery candidate?

Let's discuss this and so much more with staff writer for the "Weekly Standard", Michael Warren, and CNN political commentator and Trump supporter Kayleigh McEnany.

Thanks to both of you for being here.

Michael, let me start with you. Bill Kristol is your boss. Who is this third-party candidate?

MICHAEL WARREN, STAFF WRITER, THE WEEKLY STANDARD: Well, I speak for myself. I don't speak for Bill. But so I don't know who that candidate is. I mean, there are a lot of potential options. But it's going to have to be somebody who understands why this fight is so important.

When it's such a daunting fight, when you've really got everything seemingly going against you in terms of the institutional hurdles, the sort of expectations hurdles that that candidate would face, it's going to have to be someone who is willing to do it in the face of all those things and still understand, be able to communicate why they need a third choice, the American people need a third choice.

CAMEROTA: Yes, and that is going to be a real challenge, which I why we probably is not seen anybody publically throw their hat in the ring.

Here are the people who have said no thus far to overtures about become that third-party candidate.

Governor Mitt Romney, obviously former candidate and he was of Massachusetts, Senator Ben Sass of Nebraska, Congressman Adam Kinzinger.

So, I mean, Michael, I know you don't want to steal Bill Kristol's thunder and you may not know who it is.

WARREN: I don't.

CAMEROTA: OK. But I mean, do you think -- I guess my point is, is this pie in the sky or is somebody really going to emerge?

WARREN: Well, I think somebody could emerge. I mean, it's a question of whether that person is willing to do it. And I think that we should emphasize that while the task is daunting it's not impossible. I mean, this is the craziest presidential election year that anybody seen in a really long time.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

WARREN: So anything could happen. You've got polls that show that Americans want a third choice, a third major choice because they don't like the idea of Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton becoming president. They just need that choice. And it's going to have to be up to somebody to step up.

CAMEROTA: OK. So, Kayleigh, so, half of the American public as he just said is open to a third-party candidate. The Trump campaign does not want this. Corey Lewandowski just called it a disaster if there were a third party person to get in. What's the problem?

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, it would be a disaster. Here's the thing: it's an outsider's election so it's not surprising the American people would want a third-party candidate. When you look to Republican voters, "The New York Times"/CBS poll eleven days ago showed 80 percent of Republicans think that Republicans should consolidate around Donald Trump.

So, this third-party candidate would be supporting a minority as used in the Republican Party. Not only that, they would essentially be sealing the way for Hillary Clinton. It would be a disaster. It would certainly make the path harder for a conservative to get into the White House. And I'm not sure why Mr. Kristol is okay with the idea of the Supreme Court being lost for a century, because that is what would happen if a third party candidate --

CAMEROTA: Because he says it doesn't represent the conservative wing of the party that he, Bill Kristol, has for so many decades.

MCENANY: But here's the thing, where was the movement to court a third-party candidate against Mitt Romney who laid the blueprint for Obamacare in Massachusetts or John McCain who was for cap and trade, against the Bush tax cuts? These were not the ideal conservative candidate but there was no similar movement. It's interesting now they want a third-party conservative candidate.

CAMEROTA: Michael, it's interesting also that Donald Trump doesn't mind a third party candidate if it's Bernie Sanders. He has actually encouraged Bernie Sanders to become the third-party candidate because he knows that that would siphon votes off of Hillary Clinton.

But, of course, there is another alternative, we just interviewed him here on NEW DAY. The libertarian candidate Gary Johnson talked about his motivation for getting into the race and he also talked about whether or not he is prepared for what Donald Trump would bring at him. So watch this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Are you ready for Donald Trump once you're in this thing and he recognizes you to give you a big punch in the nose for calling him a racist?

GARY JOHNSON, LIBERATARIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think they've already started coming. So, you know, Donald --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: I believe that was the old kiss-off that we just saw there.

So, Michael, what about that? Do you think that Gary Johnson with his V.P. running mate now Bill Weld, what do you think they will do in the polls and beyond?

WARREN: I don't know. I mean, I think that what you just saw there suggests that Gary Johnson may not have the broad appeal that a real third-party challenger to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump would need.

CAMEROTA: Why is that? Why giving the kiss-off to Donald Trump show he's not appeal?

WARREN: Well, look, he was governor of new Mexico but he's a little kooky.

[08:25:02] He's got some kooky views. It's the Libertarian Party. It's not one of I think a sort of mainstream movement within American politics.

I think that's the difference between somebody like Gary Johnson or somebody even like Bernie Sanders and a more sort of mainstream conservative candidate who could challenge Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

I think, you know, Kayleigh mentioned 80 percent of Republicans want to unite behind the candidate of Donald Trump. I think if they're given an option it's not going to be so clean so many of those Republicans didn't support Donald Trump. They're a little worried about the prospect of Hillary Clinton becoming president. They're a lot worried. But if the polls show that there is some fluidity in this race, you

know, a third party candidate gets in and I think a lot of those Republicans might reconsider supporting Donald Trump for this third one.

CAMEROTA: Kayleigh, Jerry Johnson was at 10 percent before he got into the race. What do you think the impact of he or any other third party person jumps in will be?

MCENANY: I put the Libertarian Party as categorically different than the efforts to court a third-party candidate, because here's a thing, they represent a viable ideology, they have political platform they're putting forward. It's a positive agenda.

Whereas third party candidate is a negative agenda, they're about denying Donald Trump the nomination and sealing the path for Hillary Clinton. To me, that's categorically different than the Libertarian Party, which has a viable platform that differs in some ways from the Republican Party.

CAMEROTA: Do you think Gary Johnson will have an impact?

MCENANY: I don't think so. I think, look, they will probably get roughly the same they've gotten in elections past, but I don't think it will be dismal to Donald Trump's prospects.

CAMEROTA: Michael, Kayleigh, thanks so much. Great to get both of your perspectives on this.

WARREN: Thanks.

CAMEROTA: Chris?

CUOMO: All right. This story has people talking and it has emotions high. The gorilla everyone knows his name now, Harambe, this little boy finds his way into the enclosure. Gets dragged around by the gorilla. The gorilla gets killed.

Well, how did they know what to do in this situation? We have another zookeeper who went through the same ordeal. That gorilla did not get killed.

Why? What's the difference? What does he think of this situation? Answers ahead.

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