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How Will Gender Play a Role Throughout This Election?; Just Over Eight Weeks Until Summer Olympics in Rio; Outrage Over Sentencing in Stanford Rape Case. Aired 6:30-7a ET.

Aired June 09, 2016 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:31:54] HILLARY CLINTON, (R) PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We've reached a milestone. The first time in our nation's history that a woman will be a major party's nominee.

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ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton's place as the first female presumptive nominee of a major party in this country does raise the question of how will gender play throughout this election?

Let's discuss it with Mary Katherine Ham, CNN political commentator and a senior writer for The Federalist and Kayleigh McEnany, CNN political commentator and a Trump supporter.

Ladies, it's great to have you here to talk about this historic moment that Hillary Clinton achieved yesterday or at least in the past 48 hours. So, what does that mean? How do you think gender will play in this election, Marry Katherine?

MARY KATHERINE HAM, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, there are a couple of things going on this. It's certainly a milestone and also, many women will be affected by that emotionally and feel good about it and it will be part of why they are supporting Hillary.

There are other women who will say I note that and I feel good about the fact that a woman can do that and also, I'm not particularly a fan of this particular woman who is a public servant who I feel like doesn't think the rules apply to her and that will be part of this as well.

CAMEROTA: Kayleigh, Donald Trump has said that Hillary Clinton is playing the woman card. Let me just play that to remind people.

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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Did you know she's playing the women's card. By the way, if she didn't play the women's card, she would have no chance, I mean, zero, of winning. She's playing the women's card.

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CAMEROTA: What is that? What is the women's card that she's playing? What does that mean?

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, first of all, it's the simplistic understanding or conception that somehow if you tout female issues, all of the females will come to you. So, for instance, contraception, abortion, equal pay, which by the way if you reduce statistics in account for things like maternity leave, women only make about two cents less than a man. So, she'll tout these issues that these are the only things women care about. I think it's insulting. I think women care about the economy, they care about terrorism and to assume that by virtue of your anatomy, you only care about these issues, I think it's the women's.

CAMEROTA: I mean, she hasn't said women only care about those issues. She obviously talks about terrorism and the economy as well. Yours - I mean, are you saying that she shouldn't talk about those issues? Doesn't she have a right to talk about the so-called women's issues?

MCENANY: When she talks directly to women, these are oftentimes the issues she goes to, but it's more than just that. It's also the fact that in debates, she often defaults to playing the victim which I think is insulting to women, I don't think it's empowering. I think when you play into the notion that somehow you've been beaten up on, I think it does a disturbance to women who are strong who are out in the workforce, who can compete with their male counterparts without acting like a victim on a debate stage or in the midst of confrontations.

CAMEROTA: Do you hear that from her?

HAM: Sometimes I do. Yeah. I think I've...

CAMEROTA: And also, what did she - what does that mean playing the victim for Hillary Clinton?

HAM: So I think, when it comes to women's card, I think Kayleigh's right on some of these policies where she sometimes ham-handedly is putting these policies more than things. This is the reason that you should be with me.

Here's the issue with the woman card is that in my mind, the woman card is someone claiming all opposition to me is sexist because I'm a woman, right? And there was - I think there was a lot of that during the Obama years. And all opposition to me has to do with race and therefore it does not matter and I think Hillary will try some of that.

[06:35:02] Here's the problem of that is that sometimes Donald Trump will say things that will be genuinely sexist. And it will make it hard to say that the opposition to her -- it's like that argument will make more sense when he does that.

CAMEROTA: Hillary Clinton is literally playing the women card. On her website, she has a women's card. I mean obviously this is in jest, but if you donate, she will send you this women's card. She's making hay out of Donald Trump saying that she's playing the women's card and it is complicated - and it's also generational, right? I mean what you've talked about is that younger women in part because of the doors that have been broken down by women who've led the way no longer think it's as important as older women do, that - the first woman.

MCENANY: That's exactly right. When you got millennial women, certainly my colleagues and my former law school, they tend to affiliate more along if anything ethnic lines, there are more Latino affinity groups, there are more Hispanic affinity groups. The idea that it's divided by male and female doesn't necessarily carry weight and I think most of my colleagues don't feel like they need to walk around with the woman card in their pocket particularly when we're getting hired at higher rates than millennial men, we're making more than millennial men in the work force. So, I think this falls on deaf ears for young women.

CAMEROTA: Elizabeth Warren, she is retold being considered as VP pick. You know, I always hesitate to ask this because it implies sexism to begin with but is the country ready for a two women ticket?

HAM: Well, I do like the line that there is some precedent for having the same gender on the same ticket. We've seen it before.

CAMEROTA: We have.

HAM: No but I think that's - this is politics. That's going to be part of your calculation. And I think, you know, having two women at the top of the ticket - on the ticket is fine, having two women who are viewed as far-left and maybe not super likable might not be your winning combination.

CAMEROTA: You know, Elizabeth Warren has been attack dog against Donald Trump. I mean, that has been her role for the past few weeks it seems and today, she is going to do it again.

We understand that she's going to come out and talk about Donald Trump and here is a little bit of it. "Donald Trump is a loud, nasty thin- skinned fraud who has never risked anything for anyone and serves nobody but himself. And that is just one of the many reasons why he will never be president of the United States."

Kayleigh, do you think - I mean, you don't have to obviously counter that, but do you think that she has been an effective attack dog for Hillary Clinton's side?

MCENANY: No, because one of the things Hillary Clinton has touted repeatedly is the fact that she wants to talk about issues, let's stick to issues. Well, that's certainly not issues. Calling someone a loud thin-skinned fraud, that's a very personal attack. I don't think it's going to work and I think she's very far-left. If Hillary Clinton is trying to moderate herself, perhaps allying herself with Elizabeth Warren isn't the way to do it.

CAMEROTA: Kayleigh and Mary Katherine, great to have you here. Let's go to Chris. CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, so, Alisyn, we're about less than

two months before the start of the Summer Olympics in Rio, but now we have questions on top of questions about whether the Olympic venue will be ready on time.

A live update from Rio and yes, the bug on your screen is indicative of a major concern.

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[06:41:57] CAMEROTA: We are just a little more than eight weeks from the start of the Summer Olympics in Rio. So, will Rio be ready?

CNN's Senior International Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is live in Rio de Janeiro with more, Nick?

NICK PATON WALSH, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, a country dealing with an impeachment crisis has going to come to the head probably in the middle of the Olympics. The outbreak of Zika here and an economic crisis is now trying to work out, if basic things like its transportation infrastructure are going to be ready in time to move Olympic guests around.

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WALSH: Rio has a big question without an answer ready just yet. How do Olympic tourists get from their hotels here to the games across town without spending hours in this? Some of the worst traffic in South America.

Well, this was meant to be the answer, an extension to the subway from the beaches almost to the Olympic Park but there's just one snag. They've just announced a new updated opening time, and that's only four days before the games begin.

But there always going to be some sort of last-minute rush but it's a sheer amount of political and economic upheaval that Brazil is experiencing that's got many concern, the levee (ph), such a vital part of the infrastructure is this. Down to last minute preparations, is simply cutting it too fine.

It was meant to be open in July. But without it, guests may spend a lot of the day in jams. That's not going to happen, insists the government.

RODRIGO VIERA, SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION, STATE OF RIO DE JANEIRO: We are completely sure that everything will be done in 1st of August. No problem for us. Of course, the schedule is tight but we have 8,000 people working during the days and during the nights. No problem at all.

WALSH: I've been thinking, so the sound of the building is so loud that it's drowning you out, so we still have quite a bit more time to go, right, until it's ready?

VIERA: Everything is in our schedule. WALSH: They said the same thing about the Olympic Park itself, but when we visited when there were 66 days to go, it didn't feel that ready.

It's strange to be able to walk straight in from there right into the edge of the Olympic Park here, what's supposed to be a pretty secure zone in just a matter of weeks from now. We're just going to walk down this way to the sites of where previously there was a one man holding out with his home.

Deeper and deeper we went, security sitting by, to find the home now demolished, the owner taking a payout and moving. An odd feeling walking so freely around. This worker told us sometimes security are there and sometimes they're not. Living just alongside and refusing to be moved, Sandra and Maria, they call themselves the resistance and they force authorities to accept they can stay on the land.

Sandra says she'll soon have all this packed away, ready for the new home the city is building her just next door. That's also on a tight schedule, supposed to be ready, she says, 12 days before the games begin.

[06:45:13] What does Maria think about security?

MARIA DA PENHA, RESIDENT: It should be like that in every country. We were born to walk freely. I don't know why they came up with so much security. A man doesn't make another one safe. Security comes from God.

WALSH: You have to hope they won't be leaving it just up to Him however to get Rio ready in time.

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WALSH: You know, it's sort of relaxed environment that Rio is really counting on to welcome guests but too is that really compatible with these sort of tight schedules? So many of these vital projects are looking at Rio's going to spent, Brazil is going to over spend $10 billion getting the games ready. But is that sort of a feeling of crisis after crisis building combined with things being done down to the last minute that they've got many worried about where we actually going to be when the games launch August the 5th, Chris.

CUOMO: Well, and PW, that's always the problem when you put the Olympics in a place that is inherently unstable. Thank you for the insight that makes the situation clear. The question now is what will be the outcome?

All right, let's take a little break and when we come back, you know about the growing outrage across the country because of a judge's apparently lenient six-month sentence on a former Stanford swimmer for rape on an unconscious woman on campus.

Now, the judge is getting death threats, people are upset, on both sides of the school is looking for a balance on what to do. We'll take you through it. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:31] CUOMO: The charge rape of an unconscious woman on campus. The sentence, guilty. That was the verdict, but only six months. The reaction, outrage. The question now is, why did the judge in the case apparently give more weight to statements made on behalf of the attacker than on behalf of the victim?

Let's discuss with two legal minds, Joey Jackson, CNN Legal Analyst and Criminal Defense Attorney as well as Former Federal Prosecutor and CNN Legal Analyst Laura Coates. Thanks to both of you.

First of all, let's throw out what this man was convicted of, OK? We have a screen of all these different charges which cover the range of activity that was alleged by the prosecutor initially. Penetration as rape of an intoxicated woman. Penetration of an unconscious woman, OK? So, intoxicated, unconscious and that of course falls into the realm of assault, unwanted contact with damage resulting. Guilty, guilty, guilty. The sentence, six months, have you ever heard of something like that?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Never at all and it is outrageous and it's beyond that, it's atrocious. And if you think about it, you can think about, well, maybe it comes to 14 years. There are those who argue the maximum was 14 years if the jail gave consecutive time, if the judge gave consecutive time. I'm one who would believe that the judge would give concurrent time which would be a maximum eight years. The prosecutor recommends six years...

CUOMO: The difference by the way for the uninitiated is concurrent means you're guilty of different things but you'll serve the sentences at the same time.

JACKSON: Exactly. And consecutive where they would stack the time together, OK?

CUOMO: But six months...

JACKSON: So, the fact is, is that now you have six months so why are people outraged? I think people are outraged, Chris, because they see a system that's broken. They see a system that treats people differently if you go to different schools, right, which are the best schools, if you have influence in your family, if you have wealth in your family, if you're an athlete, if you're a celebrity.

We have equal protection in this country and for people to have faith in the system, it has to be a system that's designed to assist everybody. Then you turn to the victim, what does it say to a person who has endured what this brave woman endured? And if you read the statement that she made for the world, it's compelling, it's powerful and it really puts into perspective what she went through.

CUOMO: And it's spread on social media like wildfire. It's unusually powerful.

JACKSON: As it should. CUOMO: All right, so, that's why people are upset. Counselor Coates, when you look at it on the other side in terms of how this judge justified it, because he took great length to do that, it seemed to come down to, I think that this was going to be too harsh on the kid and ruin his entire life when it didn't deserve that. Am I being unfair?

LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: No. I mean, the judge is being unfair and your assessment is correct. I mean, one of the things that he talked about when I think it will be kind of just too hard for him over the long term with a very stiff penalty et cetera, and the problem with that and why we'll have a problem with this judge is because the purpose of prison time, the purpose of incarceration and going through a trial is to deter future conduct and to punish.

And there are a lot of young people who make "mistakes". This is not a mistake. This is an intentional act that was committed. And yes, it will have a punishing impact. What the judge did was essentially do victim-blaming. They - He said "Look, what happened to you is a horrible thing and far outweighs the problems and trauma at this young woman will face for probably the rest of her life and I'm going to decide that your time and energy and pain is worth far more than a deterrent sentence or one that will truly punish future rapists and vindicate future rape victims."

CUOMO: Now, there are some who will be hearing what this discussion and say, well, look, I mean you maybe this different. You know, maybe these are kids who don't fall into the garden variety of rape situations. There was too much booze, it was in indiscretion. This is a real problem.

Put up the full screen that we have of different universities and the number of sexual assaults that are reported on campus. Stanford is not inoculated from this type of behavior. There are over a couple of dozen on Stanford's campus and by the way it's low on the list of top 10. Great universities, universities you may not recognize as great all share this problem. It's happening a lot. So, how you deal with it, Joey Jackson, matters.

JACKSON: It absolutely matters and to be fair, another tenant of the system in addition to what Laura rightly says about punishment and deterrent is indeed rehabilitation. And I'm not suggesting that this particular person should spent his life in jail but you have to give a sentence absolutely that punishes and deters. And yes, I want to give recognition to rehabilitation, but when you have a statute that talks about a two-year minimum or a three-year minimum, you give six months, it's not proper.

[06:55:01] And how you deal with it in terms of your question, I think the first way is to get that victim impact statement that was powerfully read by this victim, that spoke to what she went through, that spoke to how it affected her and her family and her life, that spoke to the fact that he did not take recognition and allow every student in the country from the universities that we just posted there to others, to read it, to absorb it, to understand it and to get it. And that's how you'll deal with the system in dealing with a rape. CUOMO: And just to wrap us on this Counselor Coates, there was nothing unusual as I looked through the record of this case, the lawyer for the defendant didn't blow anybody away with how they presented in this. And when you look at the judge's past, the judge isn't known as a softy. So, where do you come out on why you think this happened?

COATES: I think the key was of somebody who decided that 98% of the blame was on this man, Brock Turner, but because this young woman was intoxicated and in his mind allowed herself to get to the point where she was basically unconscious and unable to give consent or remember what happened, I think that he blamed her. And he decided that as a matter of precedent, we have to give some blame and punishment to that particular victim. It was the wrong call to make.

It should not have happened and frankly, it goes against what we asked our judges to do especially when a jury has already said we find fault. There should be a punishment and it should be severe.

CUOMO: All right, we'll leave it there. Counselors, thank you very much. We'll see if there's an appeal to try to get a harsher sentence. It's not an easy thing to do and certainly it's something worth discussing. So, tell us how you feel about this, Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK, so, what can President Obama do today if he wants to convince Bernie Sanders it is time to get behind Hillary Clinton, we take a closer look at their high-stakes meeting, next.

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