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Hillary Clinton Wins California Primary; Hillary Clinton Becomes First Woman Presidential Nominee; Trump Shifts Tone To Diffuse Controversial Judge Attacks; GOP Sen. Kirk: Trump Lacks Temperament To Be President; Rep. Ellmers Loses N.C. Primary Despite Trump Endorsement. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired June 08, 2016 - 05:30   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your special edition of NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, June 8th, 5:30 in the East.

And up first, we have breaking news. CNN is projecting Hillary Clinton the winner of the California primary, capping off a very night for the presumptive Democratic nominee. She's embracing her place in history as the first woman to reach that milestone.

[05:30:04] In her victory speech last night, Clinton extending an olive branch to Sanders' supporters. Still, he is refusing to bow out. He pledges to fight on through the D.C. primary next week.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Remember, he spent 18 straight days there -- Sanders. California was huge for him to make a statement and she clobbered him there. Now she has not just the number of superdelegates, but pledged delegates. So how will that move forward? We'll watch it.

Also, on the other side of the ball we saw a dialed back Donald Trump on the teleprompter, but taking nothing back. He was saying his accusations about the judge were misconstrued. But then, there was no misconstruing his attacks on Clinton. He has a new list of corruption claims.

Let's begin our election coverage with CNN's John Berman, who has the results for us -- J.B.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Chris. The big breaking news, of course, you heard it right on "EARLY START" at 5:19 a.m. Hillary Clinton now declared the winner of the California primary with 63 percent of the vote in. She's some 406,000 votes ahead there, and that number really hasn't changed all night.

People were wondering, will Bernie Sanders close the gap there? It hasn't happened. As the votes come in Hillary Clinton maintains her lead. She didn't need it, though. She, in fact, didn't need any of this -- the six states that voted. She was already the presumptive nominee. But she did win four out of the six states -- California, New Mexico,

South Dakota, and New Jersey -- in a big way. Bernie Sanders won caucuses in North Dakota, also the Montana primary. What does this mean for the delegate race now?

Let's look at where things stand. Hillary Clinton with 2,740, more than the 2,383 she needs. Bernie Sanders with 1,800, and you can see there, as well, she has the majority of the pledged delegates, which is something the Clinton campaign says is important. But she does need the superdelegates to put her over that top that she needs there.

Now, as for the total votes cast in these primaries in general, Hillary Clinton received about 15.2 million votes in these primaries that have lasted for so many months. Donald Trump, 13.9 million. Mr. Trump will tell you he might have more if he hadn't been running against so many people for so long. But that gives you a sense of their support over the last few months -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Very helpful to see those numbers, John. Thank you very much. Hillary Clinton now the first woman to be nominated by a major party for the presidency, but with rival Bernie Sanders refusing to bow out, what does this mean for unifying the Democratic Party?

CNN's senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny joins us now with more. Hi, Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning. What it does for party unity with this California victory, it really extinguishes Bernie Sanders' argument, or begins to do so. We can feel the wheels of this Democratic Party shifting here and turning here toward unifying this party.

Senator Sanders talked with President Obama last night. He'll be going to the White House tomorrow to meet with him. This is the beginning of a unifying party. Last night Hillary Clinton -- nothing but a big olive branch for Bernie Sanders as she talked about her moment in history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Thanks to you, we've reached a milestone. The first time in our nation's history that a woman will be a major party nominee. Tonight's victory is not about one person. It belongs to generations of women and men who struggled and sacrificed and made this moment possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: One of the things Sec. Clinton is trying to do here is expand her appeal to some of those voters who were not with her early on, if they're Independents or Democrats who are supporting Bernie Sanders.

But Bernie Sanders, last night, or early this morning here in Santa Monica, California, making his case, pledging that he will keep going on. That was before, of course, we projected California as a victory for Hillary Clinton. Let's listen to his final argument. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am pretty good in arithmetic and I know that the fight in front of us is a very, very steep fight, but we will continue to fight for every vote and every delegate we can get.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: And a far steeper fight this morning with this projection of California. That was the one state that Bernie Sanders needed to keep this argument going forward even though the math was still virtually impossible. California takes away the political argument of this. Voters are having their voices heard here.

And this is going to add, more importantly, to Hillary Clinton's overall raw vote total here. She was already three million ahead. This is going to kick that up even higher.

CUOMO: I mean the numbers, you know -- she has -- the majority have pledged. She has the super majority with superdelegates. She has millions of more raw votes, and she has more votes than Donald Trump.

CAMEROTA: So you're saying she has a chance?

CUOMO: She's got a lot of numbers on her side there. The question is can she translate it into the momentum she needed. That's why last night was so big. So Jeff, stay with us. Let's also bring in CNN Politics editor, Juana Summers, and CNN political analyst and host of the one and only "David Gregory ShoW" podcast, David Gregory, himself.

So, when you take a look at last night, put the history in context. What does it mean to women? What does it mean about the system?

[05:35:00] JUANA SUMMERS, CNN POLITICS EDITOR: Obviously, this is a very big deal for women. We've had women run, certainly, but Hillary Clinton just became the first woman to top a major party presidential ticket. That is a big deal.

She obviously couldn't claim that mandate as forcefully as she wanted to Monday night when the A.P. and other news organizations went ahead and called her the presumptive Democratic nominee, but now she can. You heard that very forcefully in her speech.

She's embracing that history the way we really hadn't heard her embrace, even as the math continued to fall in her favor. And Bernie Sanders was not able to catch up to her margins in terms of those pledged delegates or in superdelegates.

So I think that that's something we're going to be hearing Hillary Clinton make the case for over and over again, particularly as we head towards November and a contest against Donald Trump. I expect we'll hear her and her surrogates call back to the history-making nature of her candidacy in a contrast to Donald Trump, where a lot of the attention on him this cycle, so far, has been those divisive comments that he has made about women, about communities of color, and things like that.

So there's a very clear contrast argument that I expect to see the Clinton camp embrace forcefully moving ahead.

CAMEROTA: And, in fact, she did start to do that, David Gregory, last night. She did talk about all of the different people that she wants to bring into the tent and about how this is a historic moment, so let's listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: Women and men, young and old, Latino and Asian, African- American and Caucasian, rich, poor and middle-class, gay and straight, you have stood with me and I will continue to stand. Thanks to you we've reached a milestone. The first time in our nation's history that a woman will be a major party nominee.

Tonight's victory is not about one person. It belongs to generations of women and men who struggled and sacrificed and made this moment possible. We all owe so much to those who came before and tonight belongs to all of you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: David, what did you hear there in her tone and her words?

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think she had a different tone last night. She was able to absorb, to reflect, and to project the historical nature of this moment, a really significant moment in her political career and in her public career which has spanned both politics and her role as first lady of the United States.

So she is a unique figure in our history and she was really able to talk about that and talk much more personally. This is not a natural campaigner, by her own admission, and yet she talked about the importance of standing up there and how she'd love to tell her mother, above all else, that she became the first woman to be the nominee of a major political party.

So I think it was a really human moment. It was also a moment when Hillary Clinton was able to speak to the reality of this country and the future of the country. She's speaking to a different America, America that looks a lot different than it used to, that is moving in a much different demographic direction.

And I think it was a moment for her to kind of harness what she hopes the campaign is about, which is a message of hope, a message of the future, and to be able to create a really big contrast with what Donald Trump has done over the past couple of weeks, which is waste a huge amount of political opportunity as he's been consolidating the party.

She has an opportunity to really bask a little bit in the light of what she's been able to accomplish as an historic figure, but also bask in some of the good feeling about triumphing in this fight, running a much more functional campaign, a very strong campaign. And so there really is a contrast now in the two parties between a

much more functional Democratic Party that is going to begin to unify with a popular president and a Republican Party which, at the moment, is in disarray.

CUOMO: Well, a first, right, when you have the first woman it's big, even beyond the partisan lines.

CAMEROTA: Of course.

CUOMO: There are women who are not for Hillary Clinton, or were not sure, who were excited by this as just an event in history.

CAMEROTA: Sure, sure.

CUOMO: This has happened, so that was good. But we did see something last night, Jeff Zeleny, and we'll play some more of the sound of it. We heard a little bit of it just earlier. We now know what her theory of the case is going to be, is that we are stronger together and she sees Trump as a divider. Let's listen to her, last night, give her big riff about all of us coming together.

[05:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: The stakes in this election are high and the choice is clear. Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit to be president and commander in chief. And he's not just trying to build a wall between America and Mexico, he's trying to wall off Americans from each other. When he says let's make America great again, that is code for let's take America backwards.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: So Jeff, what do you see in this message? Do you think this is it? This is the rallying cry for her?

ZELENY: I think it is eventually. I don't know that it is in this moment. I was so struck last night being in the room at that speech there. She was so gracious to Bernie Sanders and, I'm told, instructed her advisers, surrogates, everyone else to not push him toward the exit.

We know where he's going. He's leaving this race and the California victory puts the exclamation point on this for her. But look, she knows that she needs these voters and she needs Sen. Sanders' supporters here.

But I think that what she was saying there -- I was just struck by the softness of the message. Contrast that with last week in San Diego. It was pow, pow, pow. This was we need you, we need to come together to do this for the good of the country. I thought her speech last night was more elevated than any speech I've heard her give throughout the course of this campaign here. She was on the top floor here and really calling upon people to come together, as you said. The question is will all of his supporters do that. She doesn't need all of Bernie Sanders' supporters, she needs a lot of them, though.

CUOMO: Yes. Interesting, Trump was calling out to them, also. Panel, thank you for staying with us. We've got a lot of news to cover in this election to Donald Trump. He is trying desperately to head off a Republican revolt. He delivered a prepared speech that sounded almost contrite at times last night, telling supporters he understands the responsibility of carrying the mantle and will never let them down.

CNN senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta live from Trump Tower in New York with more -- Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. It was well-received inside the Trump campaign. I talked to a top Trump adviser last night who said that this speech that was held at his golf club in Westchester County, New York last night was very important to recovering from five bad days. That, in the words of one Trump adviser.

And, of course, that adviser is referring to the controversy over Trump's comments on federal judge Gonzalo Curiel. We did not hear Trump apologize last night, but he did tone down his rhetoric and make a shift to the general election campaign, which was music to people inside the Republican Party. Here's more of what Donald Trump had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE REPUBLICAN NOMINEE: To all of those Bernie Sanders voters who have been left out in the cold by a rigged system of superdelegates, we welcome you with open arms.

The Clintons have turned the politics of personal enrichment into an art form for themselves. They've made hundreds of millions of dollarsselling access, selling favors, selling government contracts -- and I mean hundreds of millions of dollars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, there was a positive review coming from the man at the head of the Republican Party, Reince Priebus, the chair of the RNC. He put out a tweet last night, if we could put that up on screen, saying "Great victory speech by @realDonaldTrump tonight. Exactly the right approach and perfectly delivered."

But that came only hours, as you know Alisyn, after Illinois Republican senator Mark Kirk, who's in a tough reelection battle, announced that he's rescinding his endorsement of Donald Trump. The trick at this point is that even though Donald Trump was using a teleprompter last night, is whether or not he can keep this campaign on the rails. We have heard talk before of Trump making a pivot to the general

election campaign and toning down his rhetoric, only to have problems like this controversy over Judge Curiel -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: We will be talking about all of that, Jim. Thanks so much for the reporting. As Jim just said, Donald Trump trying to tone it down, going full teleprompter last night and telling his supporters that he will never disappoint them. So we'll take a closer look at his new plan against Hillary Clinton when this special edition of NEW DAY continues.

[05:44:30]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:48:35] CAMEROTA: In a scripted teleprompter speech last night Donald Trump toning down his rhetoric and trying to reassure Republicans that he will not let them down in the lead-up to November.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You've given me the honor to lead the Republican Party to victory this fall. I understand the responsibility of carrying the mantle and I will never ever let you down. Too much work, too many people, blood, sweat, and tears. Never going to let you down. I will make you proud of your party and our movement, and that's what it is, is a movement. For those who voted for someone else, in either party, I will work hard to earn your support, and I will work very hard to earn that support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: OK, let's bring back Juana Summers and David Gregory. And joining us now also is CNN Politics executive editor, Mark Preston.

So, Juana, that was definitely a more muted Donald Trump. Does that suggest that somebody in his campaign said OK, time to start using the teleprompter, particularly tonight?

SUMMERS: Well, it certainly seems that something has shifted here. Of course, this isn't the first tonal shift we've seen from Donald Trump. We've, at times, seen him wheel out the teleprompter. We've seen him, at times, to appear what you'd call a traditionally presidential.

But as I was listening to that speech I was really struck by particularly the language that he used. It was almost textbook from a traditional speech you'd hear from a more traditional politician. He's talking about what a great honor it is to lead the GOP. What kind of moment this is. Looking ahead to the general election fight with Hillary Clinton.

[05:50:00] I'm sure if you're in the establishment of the Republican Party, say a Reince Priebus, a House Speaker Paul Ryan, this is the kind of Donald Trump you wish had come out of the gate at day one. The question I have though is, is this too late to actually make a difference given that Trump is now also dealing with past comments he's made about women.

He's dealing with this controversy over a judge, where he's talked about his Mexican heritage. Is this type of speech actually enough, even if he continues this type of demeanor during the general election? And it's not clear to me whether or not he actually can, or will.

CUOMO: Well, one good indication from this speech is that he'll listen to somebody because he has a ton of pressure on him and, obviously, it resulted in what we saw last night. Mark Preston, a softening of the image in language, a softening of the image in terms of what we were exposed to. He had his daughter and his wife behind him there.

But then, when he made the turn to Hillary Clinton it was a string of accusations, which would be tough to prove on any level, about the motivation for her Email server and deals that the Clintons made while she was in office. Hundreds of millions of dollars in deals. Where's he going with that?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Well, certainly at a time right now, Chris, where his comments have caused him such heartache and have cost such discernation right now in the Republic Party where we've seen the likes of Mark Kirk's side that he has to publicly state he is not supporting Donald Trump.

What's the best rallying cry that you can pull together if you're Donald Trump? That is Hillary Clinton. That is going out directly at the presumptive Democratic nominee and saying that you're going to take the fight to her. That's saying that you're going to give a speech next week where you're going to lay out all of what he says are the Clinton's problems and how he's going to attack them.

What was important about last night's speech is that he was able to deliver it. The question, as Juana says, can he continue on with this path where he looks more presidential than he looks as somebody who is taking this criticism that's being directed at him in a very personal manner.

For Donald Trump to win in November, though, he can no longer fight this two-front war which we've seen him do over the last six or seven weeks.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

PRESTON: Trying to fight the Democrats, trying to fight Republicans inside his own party.

CAMEROTA: Yes. David, for anyone who has missed Mark Kirk's shift in terms of Donald Trump, let me just read it to everyone. This was what he said yesterday, Sen. Mark Kirk.

"I find Donald Trump's belief that an American-born judge of Mexican descent is incapable of fairly presiding over his case is not only dead wrong, it is un-American. I cannot and will not support my party's nominee for President regardless of the political impact on my candidacy or the Republican Party."

I mean, it just couldn't be more stark, what he's laid out there.

GREGORY: It's an incredible moment. You have the top leadership of the Republican Party, and the House, and the Senate offering a tongue- lashing to Donald Trump over his language, over his temperament.

Hillary Clinton unites both parties and certainly unites the Republican Party. But what's astonishing about that is that her rhetoric is shared by top Republicans about whether Donald Trump is temperamentally sound to be president of the United States. That's where Donald Trump is right now.

And the other incredible thing is that he's still been given some room, despite the fact that the Speaker of the House calls his language racist. That's what Paul Ryan said. He is sticking by him. The leader of Republicans in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, is chastising Trump for squandering opportunities to talk about the economy and some of Hillary Clinton's weaknesses, urging him to get back to talking about real issues that people care about.

So, as much condemnation as we've seen from Republicans they're sticking by him for now. The main challenge for Trump is not just tone, it's not just can he use a teleprompter and can he do some of the conventional things -- can he actually show people that he's not just a gunslinger but that he actually has some plan to start adding to the base of support politically. That's what his party has to worry about right now.

CUOMO: Renee Ellmers has her primary in North Carolina, loses. This significance there seems to be is this the "Trump Effect"? Juana, what do you see?

SUMMERS: Chris, I think it's a little bit hard to actually say. If you remember, Renee Ellmers rode into Congress on the Tea Party way back in 2010 and due to redistricting she got put into a rare incumbent-on-incumbent race. And now we saw her lose, obviously.

But even if you look at the polling -- the scant polling in North Carolina -- prior to Trump offering that endorsement, his first congressional endorsement, Renee Ellmers not polling so well. You also have to take in mind some of her voting history. Recently she became under fire from some conservatives over her opposition, briefly, to that 20-week abortion ban if you remember very recently.

So I think there are a lot of dynamics that play here. But if you're an incumbent, if you're a Republican running in November, I think the question is certainly there of what drag could Trump potentially have in competitive House and Senate races, and whether or not if some other things happen, could he perhaps lose Republicans' control of the Senate. Put that in jeopardy or perhaps even put the House in jeopardy.

CAMEROTA: Panel, stand by. We have a lot more questions for you coming up. CUOMO: History was made last night by Hillary Clinton, so what does Bernie Sanders do now? We're going to explore the options and the potential impact when this special edition of NEW DAY continues.

[05:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:59:40]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I will always have your back.

TRUMP: Some people say I'm too much of a fighter. My preference is always peace.

CLINTON: I want to congratulate Sen. Sanders.

SANDERS: We continue the fight in the last primary.

CLINTON: Tonight belongs to all of you.

TRUMP: The last thing we need is Hillary Clinton in the White House.

CLINTON: Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit to be president.

TRUMP: All of those Bernie Sanders voters who have been left out in the cold, we welcome you with open arms.