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New Day

Turmoil Erupts in Britain after Brexit Vote; Clinton & Warren Team Up to Take on Trump; Clinton Slams Trump Over Brexit Response. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired June 27, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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


CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Historic remarks aboard the papal plane.

[07:00:05] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pope Francis says the Catholic Church should apologize to gay people and seek forgiveness for how people have been treated.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

CUOMO: My vote for buried lead was what happened on the papal plane.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Such a fundamental shift tonally. I mean, we've seen this with this pope before. And if the news happens on these trips, it's usually on the plane.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He continues to break ground all the time. He's not afraid to go there, as we say.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNNN HOST: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. Victor Blackwell joins us this morning. Great to have you here, Victor.

All right. A lot of news to tell you about. Britain is in a state of political chaos this morning after the Brexit vote. Even the top supporters of Britain leaving the E.U. seem to be backing off some of their biggest promises.

CUOMO: Britain's Parliament is going to meet today to discuss the next steps. There's so much unclear here about how to move forward.

You also have Secretary of State John Kerry heading to Brussels and London to discuss the transition.

Let's begin our coverage with CNN's senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, live in Brussels. To ask you what happens next is too big a Question, Nick. But just let us know the state of play.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The state of play is this. Secretary Kerry is going to arrive in Brussels today as a friend of Great Britain. That special relationship, he's talked about this weekend. As a friend of the European Union, the United States and the European Union will continue to have a good working, productive relationship, he's said.

And he's going to try and, if you will, bring the two together. Right now, you have Britain on the one hand, saying it's not quite sure when it's going to go to the European Union to begin negotiating this exit. It could be October. It could be sometime after that. Politics are in disarray. And on the other hand, you have European Union leaders who are saying, "Hurry up, Britain. Get on with it. You've got to show good faith. You've said you want to leave the European Union. Let's begin negotiating this and get it done."

And we have to recognize there is bad blood between Britain and the European Union over past negotiations. Britain, as well, has not been a fully paid-up member, if you will, of the European Union. It's not been showing the euro currency, and it's not been part of the free- passport border zone. So there is tension that already existed.

That tension is what Secretary Kerry is walking into. When he arrives today, his priority is to lend some sort of stability to the situation. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The most important thing is that all of us as leaders work together to provide as much continuity, as much stability, as much certainty as possible in order for the marketplace to understand that there are ways to minimize disruption. There are ways to smartly move ahead in order to protect the values and interests that we share in common.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: But he's moving into a very tough situation. Britain is nowhere near in a position to do what the European Union is expecting of it right now. It's in political turmoil -- Victor.

BLACKWELL: Thanks. British Prime Minister David Cameron is convening with his cabinet after the Brexit vote. So how will Parliament address the political crisis?

CNN's Richard Quest live at the prime minister's residence in London with more -- Richard.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, the cabinet meeting took place this morning, and the prime minister will go to Westminster. It'll be his first chance to brief MPs and not only on the result of the referendum but also his decision to step down in October.

But he'll face a house where most of the people simply have no idea of the way forward. No road map exists. There are no instructions what happens next. The opposition on the opposite side of the house is in total disarray. And there are plenty of people on his own side of the house who are basically saying that the next prime minister must be dedicated to taking Britain out of the E.U.

Put all that uncertainty together, and it is not surprising that once again the pound sterling is down sharply. It's off between 2 and 3 percent, trading at the lowest level since the early 1980s. And all the major markets in Europe are down, Victor. They are down about 2 or 3 percent. It's one word. It's uncertain; it's unknown, and it's simply fear -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK. Richard, thanks so much for explaining all of that to us so well. Well, the British pound slumping, as you just heard Richard say, to a new 30-year low against the dollar. Investors around the world rattled by U.K.'s decision to exit the European Union. CNN money and business correspondent Alison Kosik has a live look at the New York Stock Exchange. How are the markets looking today?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, after a stomach-churning session on Friday, Alisyn, investors are looking to keep their heads above water. I'm not seeing the capitulation that everybody was worried that would happen today. If we go to London, as Richard was alluding to, you're seeing the London financial markets, they're dropping. Stocks in Paris and Frankfurt, they're slipping, as well.

[07:05:05] But in Tokyo, we did see a big rebound as investors there rushed into the Japanese currency. The other markets in Asia, they finished higher, as well.

But get ready for some volatility for U.S. markets. Futures have been bouncing all around, still in the red. It looks like the Dow could on triple digits lower. So although it may seem that investors had a couple of days to think about the Brexit, I think what we're seeing is, yes, the shock has worn off, but the road ahead is going to be very bumpy.

Don't be surprised to see more volatility as we see these big swings up and big swings down as investors try to figure out what's going to be happening in the U.K. and the European Union -- Chris.

CUOMO: Alisyn, as you know, we're just riding the wave here in the U.S. It's back in the U.K. and Europe where this is just starting to hit.

So let's discuss with CNN chief international correspondent and CNNI- anchor Christiane Amanpour; and CNN senior international correspondent Clarissa Ward.

Christiane, you know, I've been following your coverage on this for weeks. You were saying, boy, these promises from the Brexit leaders, this is going to be hard, this talk about immigration. This is deceptive, the economic fallout. This is going to be wide-ranging. Now we're starting to see it come out. What are you seeing?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what is absolutely extraordinary is really summed up in a tweet that's going around. It says, "We need a plan."

The truth of the matter is we tried over and over again each and every time we interviewed the key Brexit leaders to get them to tell us a plan. And they didn't have a plan beyond slogans. Take back control. You know, cut immigration. All of that. And now we're seeing that they are actually backtracking. We don't

know whether they'll re-track again. But right now in the aftermath of the clear volatility that we've seen, there seems to be a somberness, a little bit of fear amongst the Brexit leaders. They have not even come out publicly to address the people. We've had the remain leaders. We've had David Cameron. We've had the treasury secretary, chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, trying to stabilize the situation and say, "We will try."

But Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, where are they? Boris Johnson has written an article in which he's backtracked on the whole immigration thing, basically saying that, yes, we can still be a member of the single market. This is the key underpinning of Europe, but it requires with it free flow of labor and free flow of people. And they don't want to do that.

So we need a plan. There is no plan, at least none that we've been able to see.

Coupled with that, the -- I'm afraid to say, what really did move this vote was the fear of the foreigner. And we're seeing anecdotal and unfortunate fallout, hate crimes and hate speech and racist attacks against certain members of the British Parliament. It's by no means wholesale, but it is anecdotal enough to worry and to scare people. So we've got that, as well.

And we know that this could potentially -- and let's not take this as just rhetoric. This could potentially unravel the United Kingdom. Because Nicola Sturgeon is serious, and the leaders of Northern Ireland are serious. They have wanted for a long time in Northern Ireland to reunify with the South. That was their project from the beginning of the so-called troubles. This peace process that we have now is to them just a steppingstone to eventual reunification.

And if they're, you know, out of the E.U. and the South, Ireland itself is in the E.U., they want in; and they want a vote to reunify. And with Scotland, the same. So there's a lot of uncertainty. That's about as certain as we can be right now.

CUOMO: We are certain of uncertainty. And that is an uncomfortable place to be. Then you look, Clarissa, at contextualizing what's happening in the U.K. to the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry running over to Brussels to try to help negotiate a process that could take years. What are you hearing outlined to you as what the concerns are for the U.S. going forward?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think there's some major concerns, Chris, because historically, the U.K. is the U.S.'s direct line to Europe. It is the most important bilateral relationship possibly in the world. And what a world it is that we're now looking at: with an increasing assertive Russia, with the coalition efforts to fight ISIS in Syria and Iraq and Libya. There are more areas than ever in which the U.S. relies heavily on the U.K. and, of course, its European allies to fight terrorism, to stand up to Russia, to reinvigorate NATO. So I think that there's no sense of an imminent decline in the

relationship, but what the concern is, of course, for the U.S. Is that Britain's standing on the world stage will be tarnished by this Brexit. If we see, as it looks very likely, a major recession in the U.K., if we see a possible push for Scotland to break away, for Northern Ireland to break away.

If we see as we already are a major power vacuum in the United Kingdom, Prime Minister David Cameron basically out the door, pro- Brexit leaders not saying anything so far about what their new government and what their new policies will look like, and of course the Labour opposition party now resigning en masse.

[07:10:16] Everything you see here does not portend well in terms of projecting an image of stability of a country that is focused on this next chapter of its future. Of course, that is deeply concerning to the U.S. For all the many reasons that I just outlined, Chris.

CUOMO: Christiane, feel free to shoot this down. You always do. But there is a petition that's going around right now with 3.5 million signatures to have a second referendum.

Legally speaking, this was a strange animal. Cameron created this referendum vote. He is the one who made it binding. It's not necessarily concretized within United Kingdom law. Is there any chance of a second referendum? Is there any going back?

AMANPOUR: Well, the leaders are basically saying no, but it is extraordinary. I mean, it's now 3.5 million plus. And it started almost immediately the result came through. So there's a lot of buyer's remorse. And there's a lot of concern amongst the remainers, obviously. It's considered unlikely.

But you're absolutely right, that the Parliament itself is in a bind, because the majority of the British Parliament want to remain. Yet are they going to go against the democratic will of the referendum? So this is all incredibly difficult.

But I think what's really important at this moment is this was the most one-sided argument in recent history. Every single major ally, major institution, scientific, academic, economic, business, the vast majority, the overwhelming majority, 99.99 percent of the argument was on the remain side.

And the leave side simply said, "We just want to break free. We just want to control immigration. We want to get our country back," whatever that means. And now they're going to have to figure it out. That's what's fueling some of the fear. Because people are saying, OK, we did this but what's the plan? We voted Brexit, but what does out mean? Those are questions that nobody can answer right now.

CUOMO: Clarissa, let's end on this. What are the main priorities for the U.S. going forward?

WARD: The main priorities for the U.S. are to try to make sure that Britain continues on a path of stability, try to calm down the markets, try to urge the United Kingdom leadership on the Brexit side, on the remain side to come together, to show united front, to show that there is a plan ahead.

As you heard Christiane say, though, right now there is no plan. And really, the is very little the U.S. or anyone else can do to change that until we hear from these pro-Brexit leaders, Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, all eyes on them now to take the leadership and to try to navigate the very uncertain and murky waters into this next chapter, Chris.

CUOMO: No matter where you are in the world, there is an immutable law of politics. It is easy to harness anger. It's very difficult to do anything with it once there's a mandate for change. Christiane, Clarissa, thank you very much. We'll check back with you -- Victor.

BLACKWELL: Back state side, Hillary Clinton is hammering Donald Trump over his reaction to the Brexit vote. And she's about to join forces today on the campaign trail with another fierce Trump critic, Senator Elizabeth Warren. CNN's senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny is live in Cincinnati with more for us.

Jeff, good morning.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Victor. This populist concern that's growing in the electorate here in the U.S., as well, is another reason that Hillary Clinton is eager to campaign alongside Elizabeth Warren today here in a key battleground state of Ohio. It's also a moment for a bit of a tryout.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY (voice-over): This morning, Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren to make their campaigning debut, testing their chemistry in Cincinnati.

CNN has learned the Massachusetts senator is on a short list of potential running mates being vetted by Clinton. A choice that could potentially excite liberals and Bernie Sanders supporters to enthusiastically back a Clinton/Warren ticket. Warren has emerged as one of Donald Trump's harshest critics.

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D), MASSACHUSETTS: A small, insecure money grubber.

ZELENY: Appearing with Clinton as she prepares a new line of attack against the presumptive Republican nominee.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stocks tank around the world.

TRUMP: Brand-new sprinkler system, the highest level.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's talking about his new sprinkler system.

ZELENY: The Clinton campaign releasing a new ad, slamming Trump's response to the U.K. split from the European Union.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a volatile world, the last thing we need is a volatile president.

ZELENY: Trump, touring his new golf course in Scotland the day after the vote, calling the economic fallout a good thing for his business.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: When the pound goes down, more people are coming to Turnberry, frankly.

ZELENY: And comparing the outcome of the Brexit referendum to the same momentum that's carrying him to the GOP nomination.

TRUMP: People want to take their country back, so I think you're going to have this happen more and more. I really believe that. And I think it's happening in the United States. It's happening by the fact that I've done so well in the polls.

[07:15:11] ZELENY: While rallying support on Sunday from the nation's mayors meeting in Indianapolis, Clinton cautioned against a Trump presidency.

CLINTON: Bombastic comments in turbulent times can actually cause more turbulence.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY: Now, all this comes as Clinton is leading in the polls. Two weekend polls, though, showing a bit of a conflict. The NBC News/"Wall Street Journal" poll gives her a five-point advantage. The ABC News/"Washington Post" poll shows her with a 12-point lead.

In any case, they are campaigning as though it's a close race, and it is indeed one. That's why Hillary Clinton is back in Ohio for the third time in two weeks' time. But this time with Elizabeth Warren at her side. Alisyn, Elizabeth Warren is only one name. There are other names being considered as well. First and foremost, Tim Kaine, the Democratic senator from Virginia -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Jeff, thanks so much for all of that reporting.

So can Hillary Clinton capitalize on the Brexit vote? Or will it help Donald Trump? We explore that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:20:11] CAMEROTA: Britain's historic E.U. exit vote becoming a campaign issue here in the United States. Hillary Clinton criticizing Donald Trump in this new ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every president is tested by world events, but Donald Trump thinks about how his golf resort can profit from them.

TRUMP: When the pound goes down, more people are coming to Turnberry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stocks tank around the world...

TRUMP: Brand-new sprinkler system, the highest level.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... he's talking about his new sprinkler system.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a volatile world, the last thing we need is a volatile president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Still, many pundits believe Trump will have the upper hand if the wave of nationalism continues to be a motivator for votes.

So for more, we welcome former New York City council speaker and Clinton supporter Christine Quinn, and CNN political commentator and Trump's former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski. Good to have both of you here.

CHRISTINE QUINN, FORMER NEW YORK COUNCIL SPEAKER: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Corey, let me start with you. Why did Mr. Trump choose to talk about what Brexit meant for his golf resort rather than the world?

It's not about what it means to the golf resort. It's what it means to people who want to travel overseas. Obviously, if the U.S. dollar has become much stronger now against the British pound, what you see is you're going to spend money over in Europe, now would actually be a good time to go with the fall of the pound.

CAMEROTA: Right, I mean, he talked about tourism. He was talking about what it would do -- it'll be a good thing for Turnberry. Was that the right note to strike when, you know, global markets were having this tumultuous moment?

LEWANDOWSKI: Well, you have an international businessman, someone who has experience with business in multiple continents. What you have is a world view. And so what you have is someone who's saying, "Look, let's look at this. From the U.S. perspective, if you want to go and travel overseas, just from a monetary perspective, now is the right time to do that, because what you're getting is more for your dollar going over there."

And what we're talking about potentially, long term, is parity. Dollar for pound, one to one. That could happen. If that's the case, that's good for the U.S. if you want to make investment overseas.

CAMEROTA: OK. That's the silver lining. Christine.

QUINN: Well, I think Corey was watching a different press conference, A.

B, Donald Trump is not running to be travel agent of the world. He's running to be president of the United States. And what he actually said wasn't a commentary on international markets. It was, "When the pound goes down, more people will come to my golf course." That's specifically what he said. And I think what it speaks to is that Donald Trump's main concern

isn't the international markets, isn't the impact that Brexit will have on hard-working Americans' 401(k)s. It's himself, how can he make more money, how can he put more money in his bank account.

CAMEROTA: Corey, do you understand that interpretation? Lots of people felt that he was emphasizing more what would be his own profit rather than the ramifications for the global market.

LEWANDOWSKI: Sure, I understand. But what you have to look at is 17.6 million people voted to extract themselves from the European Union. Now, people are saying it was a mistake. I don't think 17.6 million people made a mistake. I think they understand that you have a giant bureaucracy over there with the E.U. The people of Britain were tired of it. They were sick of the way that the establishment was set up. They have used their voice, just like what we see here in this country.

People are tired of a bloated, broken Washington, D.C. And we see that every day with 14 million votes for Donald Trump in the primary. Very similar to what took place over in Europe.

CAMEROTA: In fact, Christine, hold on one second. I do want to read what Trump tweeted out on this note. Basically, he responded to Hillary Clinton's ad, and he said, "Clinton is trying to wash away her bad judgment call on Brexit with big-dollar ads. Disgraceful."

Does it suggest that Hillary Clinton, because she didn't see Brexit coming, as many politicians didn't see it coming, but that she doesn't have her finger on the pulse of the anger and the nationalism that Trump does?

QUINN: I think, you know, Trump touting that he saw this coming, A, first of all, is ridiculous. Because when he was first asked about Brexit by the press, he didn't appear to know what it was.

And again, what we need here is leadership that's focused on the needs of the American people, not a man who sees every moment of international turmoil to promote himself, his golf courses, and his sprinkler systems.

Being president of the United States isn't about yourself. It shouldn't be about Donald Trump's industries. It should be about the people of America and the world. And we're seeing Americans losing their 401(k)s, the money they worked their lives for so they could have the American dream and retirement. And he seems to completely not see that impact at all.

CAMEROTA: Corey.

LEWANDOWSKI: Here's the difference. The Obama administration, the Clinton administration have gone out and said, "You can't do this, people from Europe. You must stay in the system." It's just like what they have here in this country. The elite...

QUINN: That's not at all what was said. LEWANDOWSKI: The elite continue to tell everyone, particularly the

hard-working men and women of their countries, what to do and how to vote. And you know what? There's a revolt. People are too smart. They're tired of being told what to do.

The hard-working men of our country and the hard-working women of our country, just like we saw in Britain, they want to have their own voices heard. And that's what they did this time. And I know the political elites don't like it, but you know what? There's a reckoning coming. It's going to come in November when the American people finally take back their country and not the political elites.

QUINN: First of all, take back your country? In America, we are a country. And that's a buzz word and a buzz phrase against immigrants, just as we heard Donald Trump say when he was standing there in Scotland, that we should be able to pick who's appropriate to come into our country. That is not America.

[07:25:31] And as Christiane Amanpour said so clearly, we heard great slogans in Brexit, amazing, amazing promises. No plan. Huh, who does that sound like? A guy who's good at slogans, a guy who's good at making promises, but has no plan on how to deliver to make this country move forward for working American men and women.

CAMEROTA: Chris, one more thing. Hold on. One more thing I wanted to ask you about. There is a long tradition in this country of, when politicians go abroad, not trash talking the U.S. or the U.S. president or even their fellow candidates, and Donald Trump broke with that on Friday. He did say negative things about the president and Hillary Clinton and the country. Why do you think that he broke with that tradition?

LEWANDOWSKI: It's about authenticity. And what you have with Hillary Clinton is she's put an ad out which is completely false. Donald Trump was not playing golf, as she alluded to in that golf -- in that ad.

CAMEROTA: He was there for a golf resort.

QUINN: And he did talk about sprinklers.

LEWANDOWSKI: He put 200 million pounds of his own money into a resort to help. And his son oversaw that project. He went out to support him. One night overseas to show support for his family. I find it very hard to believe he's being criticized for going out and supporting his family for rebuilding a course.

CAMEROTA: Right. No, I'm asking why he would criticize the president while he's there.

LEWANDOWSKI: The president was very clear about this, that if the people of Great Britain vote to extract themselves from the European Union, they will be put in the back of the line. It's absolutely not true. It was a false answer. It was a falsehood. It was a scare tactic. The people of Britain were too smart for the president, and they were too smart for Hillary Clinton, because they couldn't see what was taking place overseas.

QUINN: Look, the Trump campaign is re-creating this visit, making it an exclusively family moment. The trip was put out on campaign stationary. So you can't have it both ways. You can't just have had a family visit and take the entire presidential press corps, put it out on campaign stationary, and then when your candidate says something that is inappropriate and unhelpful and divisive, walk it back and say it was just about his son.

And President Obama never said that. And just as Donald Trump has the right to say what he thinks about international issues, so does the president of the United States and -- wait a minute -- the Democratic presumptive nominee.

LEWANDOWSKI: Who was secretary of state who says that she has a better understanding of world political affairs than anybody else, and she couldn't see this vote coming? She couldn't understand that 17.4 million people wanted to be out of the European Union?

This is a person who prides herself on being an expert on international affairs and couldn't understand what was actually taking place?

CAMEROTA: No.

LEWANDOWSKI: It truly calls into question her ability to understand what's taking place in other geopolitical points around the world.

QUINN: First of all, Donald Trump on one hand is running to be travel agent of the world. Now he's running to be the best pollster of the world.

What Secretary Clinton spoke of was what she believed the impact of Brexit would be. Elected officials are supposed to be leaders, not people who put their finger in the air and say what voters -- they believe voters are going to say. And what have we not heard from Donald Trump? What is he going to do now? What would his plan be if he was president to save American 401(k)s? We haven't heard that, because that's not his concern. That isn't 401(k)s.

LEWANDOWSKI: What he said was, you don't have to listen to me because it's not my decision. He didn't weigh in like Hillary Clinton did and like Barack Obama did saying you can't do this.

QUINN: Because he didn't know what it was.

LEWANDOWSKI: He said you can do it because you decide on your own what the right thing to do is.

QUINN: And now what does he want to do for Americans?

CAMEROTA: OK. On a completely separate note, Corey, I just wanted to quickly ask you, there's been a lot of reaction to CNN hiring you as a contributor. I don't know if you've heard about some of the reaction. It turns out not everybody is a fan of the decision. And I think that the crux of that criticism is that you never seemed

to be a big fan of the press or to have much respect for the press. Why did you have such strained relations during your time there at the Trump campaign with the press, do you think?

LEWANDOWSKI: I don't think that's true. I think what you have is, if you look at the individuals I work closely with on a day-to-day basis, we had great relationships. I had great relationships with the media. Those individuals who are embeds, who got to know me the best, the individuals who I spoke to on a regular basis, the individuals who are on your set here earlier today...

CAMEROTA: Sure, just not the people that you said were blacklisted if they, you know, got out of the pen.

LEWANDOWSKI: There are rules to follow, and the rules were very clear. Right? The designated media areas were where the designated media area was. And we asked people to respect those rules so the individuals who are coming to those Trump rallies by the thousands, by the tens of thousands would have the opportunity to listen to what Mr. Trump said when he was on stage.

The rules were very simple. As long as the media was in the designated media zone 15 minutes before he got on stage, and after he was done speaking, they were free to go wherever they wanted. The people have to wait four and five hours in line to come and see him. They need the opportunity to listen to him. I think those rules are fair.