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Trump Celebrates Brexit As "A Great Thing"; Brexit Volatility Grips Global Markets; New Polls Show Clinton Widens Lead On Trump; Interview with Sen. Mike Lee; McConnell Refuses To Say Trump Is Qualified For Presidency; Brexit Leaders Walking Back Biggest Promises;. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired June 27, 2016 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00] COREY LEWANDOWSKI, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: 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. And all we asked is that while he's on stage, the people who have to wait four and five hours in line to come and see him, have the opportunity to listen to him. I think those rules are fair.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: But nothing, you think, that you're feeling about the press.

LEWANDOWSKI: Look, I love everybody. Don't let --I love you, right? Are you kidding me?

CAMEROTA: Well, I'm lovable. But, you know, not all -- not everybody --

CHRISTINE QUINN, PRESIDENT & CEO, WOMEN IN NEED: Love is a strong word. It's too early in the morning for it.

LEWANDOWSKI: I'm a very emotional person. But the bottom line is I have a great relationship with the press. I have a lot of friends at all of the networks and that's the truth. And look, I've been so lucky to interact with the press as much as I have. It doesn't mean I always agree. It doesn't mean I'm always going to agree because I'm a person who is going to call it the way I see it, and I think if something is out of line I'm going to tell people that.

CAMEROTA: Corey Lewandowski, great to get your perspective. Christine Quinn, thanks so much for being here to both of you. Let's get over to Victor.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: All right, headline there, Corey hearts Alisyn. Let's just get the -- let's not bear to leave there. Let's talk about the Brexit vote here. You saw it on Friday. It sent markets into a tailspin. The British pound continues to slide. Up next, the financial fallout and long-term impact on global markets.

[07:31:05]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:35:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: You may be living in the U.S. but your eyes better be on the U.K. and the global markets because the turmoil in the wake of the Brexit vote is real and continuing. Now, what can we see in terms of the economic impact and for how long?

Christine Romans, CNN's chief business correspondent, is here and Rana Foroohar, CNN's global economic analyst, author of "Makers and Takers" and assistant managing editor of "Time" magazine, as well. Good to have you both.

Christine, it ain't over --

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT, ANCHOR, EARLY START: No.

CUOMO: -- it's just starting, and it's getting worse.

ROMANS: It is, and we're watching the pound get weaker and weaker and the dollar stronger again. And we're watching European stocks now down more than 1.5 percent, so it's sort of day two, you know, on Friday you say the freefall off the cliff. We thought maybe things might stabilize a bit but now you've got Paris down two percent, Frankfurt down more than two percent, London zeroing in on two percent.

Still a lot of concern about the profound, profound change that is coming and you can't even chart it out. You know, markets hate uncertainty. When there's uncertainty that hurts confidence. When there's not confidence you don't build new plants, you don't hire new people, you don't invest, and you don't create jobs, and that is the cycle we're in right now. The concern about what that's going to look like.

CUOMO: Now, the other side will say temporary, Rana. This achieved what it was supposed to do. That they took their country back. Globalization counted out the working class there. The E.U. had squeezed out the sovereignty and made the U.K. vulnerable to an onslaught of undesirables coming into their country. Is that part of the truth, as well?

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Not really. I mean, you know, migration has been one of the reasons that Britain has always performed relatively well compared to any number of other European countries.

Clearly, there's been a lot of anger and there is a huge trust gap between elites and the mass. I think that that's why the markets missed this boat. Government officials, both in the U.K., and Europe, and the U.S. did not think that this was going to happen.

The problem is that the lead contingency doesn't really have solutions to the economic problems that are facing the U.K. and the worry now is the ripple effect throughout the rest of Europe. I mean, you're already getting the Northern Irish, the Scots, saying hey, we want to actually stay in the E.U. We may break apart from the U.K.

On the continent, you've got far right-wing politicians in The Netherlands and in France calling for their own leave vote. So if this starts to be part of a further balkanization of Europe, which is America's largest trading partner, that could be a really big deal economically for us and it's also going to push up the dollar, which -- you know, you think that that sounds good -- the dollar becomes a safe haven.

That starts to penalize our export companies. Our trading sales abroad are weakened by that, not to mention the fact that if Europe goes into a recession that would hit us, too.

CUOMO: You know, one of the things that Trump is getting hit for is that in the immediate aftermath he's like great, the pound is down, it's easier to travel.

ROMANS: Right.

CUOMO: You know, that is true on one layer but what happens is that over time you wind up reducing your economic activity as a result of all these relationships and nobody has money to travel.

ROMANS: Yes.

CUOMO: But what do you see, other than this first wave of panic, right?

ROMANS: OK.

CUOMO: The markets love uncertainty, as you said.

ROMANS: Yes.

CUOMO: What are we looking for second, third, fourth?

ROMANS: Well, we're looking to see if they soften this somehow. Somehow this divorce is more like a trial separation or maybe they try to get -- you know, what happens next? We're looking for that.

CUOMO: But, you've got the big six from the E.U. saying let's get this down quickly.

ROMANS: Yes. You know, you worry about the dismantling of the E.U., in general. You look and see what happens to Putin -- Vladimir Putin. The markets are very curious seeing if Putin gets stronger. What does this mean in terms of that relationship? Where is the American voice in the E.U. affairs, as Christiane Amanpour was talking about? I mean, the U.K. is our mouthpiece for that -- is the American mouthpiece for that.

But also, what does it mean here in this election? You have a voting class -- a working class voter in the U.K. who says I got screwed by globalization -- 25 years of globalization. Guess what? You hear that voter here in the United States, too.

CUOMO: So, wait a minute. So, help me understand this. If I'm the American voter and I fit into this class of people who feels that globalization is all downside for me, Rana Foroohar, do I see Brexit as the dream, which is I can make a difference? I can go out and vote and get my country back. Or, is it a 'be careful what you wish for' -- a cautionary tale?

FOROOHAR: Well, you know, I think you hit the nail on the head. This is, in some ways, a protest vote. It's not so much that the folks that are voting to leave, just as the folks who may be supporting Donald Trump here, have particular solutions to the economic problems or the best solutions, but they're angry, and some of the reasons for anger are legitimate.

I mean, I do think that we've had 40 years of globalization in which the elites have often not been totally frank with the mass populations about what the implications are going to be. Globalization has raised prosperity at a global level, but it's increased inequality in a lot of countries and I think that we're living with the aftermath of that and I don't think that this is the end. I think that populism -- we're going to continue to see it in Europe and possibly here at home, too.

CUOMO: Rana, Christine, thank you very much -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, so many top Republicans still refusing to commit to Donald Trump. Can Trump win them over before the convention? We will ask a Republican senator who's still on the fence.

[07:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:43:35] BLACKWELL: Forty-three minutes after the hour. Welcome back to NEW DAY. A top Iraqi general says the military has liberated Fallujah from ISIS. The terror group had been in control of the city for two years. Troops from the Iraqi Federal Police have raised the national flag over the Fallujah mayor's office, though CNN cannot independently verify that all the fighting has ended.

CAMEROTA: Israel and Turkey striking a deal to normalize diplomatic ties. This agreement comes six years after 10 Turkish activists were killed when Israeli commandos faced violent resistance in a raid on a ship heading to Gaza. The deal calls for Israel to pay $20 million in reparations and allows Israel to keep the naval blockade of Gaza in place.

CUOMO: The Pope says Christians should apologize to gay people because they've been exploited or offended by the church. Pope Francis said not only gays but anyone marginalized by the church, including the poor, should be treated with respect. The Pope's remarks coming on the same day events were held around the U.S. to celebrate LGBT pride.

No big surprise there from the Pope. What is surprising is the reaction by not just some Catholics, but Christians, to what the Pope said. Denying him, decrying him, deriding him, saying this shows he's not a real Christian. The Pope, they say. That's how much people are tied to judgment.

BLACKWELL: And the Pope says that he's just reaffirming which is already law -- what is already affirmed. So, we'll see if this conflict continues.

[07:45:00] CAMEROTA: I mean, isn't forgiveness at the heart of Christianity? I mean, he's just -- he's making it look easy, you know?

CUOMO: It even assumes there is something to forgive. His simple rule is love mercy.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

CAMEROTA: All right, meanwhile, two new national polls show Donald Trump facing a growing deficit in the 2016 race. One of those polls shows Hillary Clinton with a double-digit lead. The other has Clinton up by five points. Can Trump turn things around with three weeks until the convention?

Let's discuss this with Republican senator, Mike Lee, of Utah. He supported Ted Cruz and has not yet endorsed Donald Trump. Senator, thanks so much for being here.

SEN. MIKE LEE (R), UTAH: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Are you ready to endorse Donald Trump?

LEE: I have not endorsed him. You know, what I'm looking for in a presidential candidate is someone who's willing to endorse a reform agenda. A reform agenda based on restoring provisions of the constitution that, I think, have been neglected and lost. Things like federalism and separation of powers. I feel so strongly about these things I wrote a book about them. It's called "Our Lost Constitution" and it's being released in paperback form today.

I'm looking for a candidate who will embrace those things and I'd love to see Donald Trump embrace our restoration of our lost constitution. If we had something like that I think it would be good for everyone. These are principles that are not distinctively, unavoidably Republican or Democratic, or Liberal or Conservative. These are just American ideals.

CAMEROTA: Your Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, was asked this weekend whether he thinks that Donald Trump is qualified to be president. Let me play you his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, HOST, ABC'S "THIS WEEK": Do you believe he's qualified, and how do you convince all those voters who think he isn't?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MAJORITY LEADER: Well, look, I think there's no question that he's made a number of mistakes over the last few weeks. I think they're beginning to right the ship. It's a long time until November and the burden obviously will be on him to convince people that he can handle this job. STEPHANOPOULOS: I didn't hear you say whether you thought he was qualified.

MCCONNELL: Look, that will be up to the American people to decide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: It doesn't sound like he thinks Donald Trump is qualified or he would have said yes.

LEE: I don't know. I never speak for a colleague. I tend not to think of the presidency as something that you're either qualified for or not. That really is up to the voters to decide. It's not like taking the bar exam if you're a new lawyer, or becoming a licensed medical doctor.

This is something that the American people have got to decide. And in order for them to decide in his favor, or in favor of any other candidate, he, like any other candidate, needs to come forward and explain what it is he wants to do for the country.

CAMEROTA: Yet -- I mean, isn't judgment a qualification and experience a qualification for president? Did you think that his response, for instance, to Brexit, when he was in Scotland -- did that concern you?

LEE: You know, I have not agreed with everything Mr. Trump has said. I think what's missing in his campaign is an agenda for what he would do. So, separate and apart from what comments he's made, separate and apart from how people feel about him as a commentator on various events around the world, what people are craving now, more than ever, in a candidate is an agenda explaining here's what I'll do for the people. Here's what's wrong with the government. Here's what I would do to fix it.

CAMEROTA: But you haven't heard him say that?

LEE: Well, I've heard him say some things that I like. I loved his short list for the Supreme Court. I thought that was a good, bold step. I think that was probably the best Supreme Court short list that I've ever seen. I'd like to see more things like that from him and I'd like to see him talking more about what he would do to restore things like federalism and separation of powers. The kinds of things that we've neglected in the constitution that I explain in my book.

CAMEROTA: So, in terms of qualifications, is he qualified? You say --

LEE: It's not really something we think of in terms of qualifications. The American people decide whether or not someone is qualified and they make that decision, I think, based on what prescription the candidate has for office. And people are still waiting to hear what he would do in office if he were elected president of the United States.

CAMEROTA: In addition to the book you have out you've also written an article for the "National Review" that you call "What's Wrong With Congress?" Where

do you start? What is what -- what's the answer to that? What's wrong with Congress?

LEE: OK, so the short answer to that question is Congress has declined to do its job, and not in the way that most people think. As I explain in my book and I explain it in this "National Review" piece, Congress has over the last 80 years or so decided to punt when it comes to lawmaking. Rather than making actual law, we'll pass some broad platitude and then hand the rest of it over to an Executive Branch agency.

We want to clean up the air? We say we shall have clean air. We hand over to the EPA the task of actually writing the lawthat decides what clean air is, what pollution is, and what happens to polluters. As a result, Congress has, through thousands of decisions over eight decades, insulated itself from the policy-making process and insulated itself from political accountability and this is a problem.

CAMEROTA: And didn't we just see this with gun violence? Overwhelmingly, Americans say they want Congress to do something about gun violence. And yet, in the Senate when it comes up for a vote half of the -- the Republicans all vote against it. The Democratic proposals, the Democrats vote against the Republican's proposals. This isn't what the American public wants.

[07:50:00] LEE: This is actually different from what I'm talking about. In this area, Congress actually is moving toward passing legislation. In other words, the legislation it's discussing is actually a law. We're not just delegating to someone else. Now, we haven't passed anything yet --

CAMEROTA: Right.

LEE: But the point is Congress here is actually debating legislative proposals instead of just debating things that would hand this whole decision off to an Executive Branch agency.

CAMEROTA: But you believe, in other words, that something will happen -- with just gun violence that you think that you will have a compromised bill that Congress will vote on and pass?

LEE: I believe something could happen. What will happen remains to be seen. But what I'm saying here is that Congress is actually having the debate on its own merits rather than having a debate about whether to hand it all off to an Executive Branch agency. That is exactly the kind of debate that we need, regardless of how it turns out in the end.

CAMEROTA: It's a very interesting article in the "National Review" and, of course, interesting book. Senator Mike Lee, thanks so much for being here.

LEE: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Victor. BLACKWELL: All right, the pound is sinking, political leaders are resigning. The vote to leave the European Union has left the U.K. in disarray. Could the United Kingdom split apart? Next, we ask a member of the U.K. Independence Party who supported the Brexit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:55:00] CUOMO: There's a lot of uncertainty going on after Brexit, but certain things are certain. The British government is in turmoil after this vote to leave the European Union. Many in the pro- Brexit camp are fending off accusations that they won on the strength of promises that they now can't deliver on.

Let's discuss with Ray Finch, a member of European Parliament for the U.K. Independence Party. He joins us from Brussels. What do you make, sir, of this baseline concern that the campaign for Brexit harnessed the anger and frustration of people by making promises that now fall short?

RAY FINCH, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT MEMBERS, U.K. INDEPENDENCE PARTY: First thing, good morning, Chris. What is it is there are people that are expecting everything right now. There are always negotiations in any period and there are always periods with uncertainty in those negotiations.I, for one, am absolutely convinced and confident that we will have a situation where Britain can move forward safety, prosperously, and friends with our European neighbors.

CUOMO: What is the concern, though, when you hear Farage say, as you know, so big a part of the campaign for Brexit was look at all this money we'll be able to dedicate to the NHS -- to our National Health Service -- and then for him to say well, I never said that. I don't know what we'll do with the money but we'll have money now to play with -- a featherbed that we didn't have before. That was a pretty fundamental underpinning of the persuasion campaign. Now it seems like he won't be able to deliver. Fair criticism?

FINCH: Well, first thing, Nigel Farage isn't in a position to deliver. The delivery will be by the conservative government. However, you're misrepresenting, I feel, perhaps, in this elite, what Nigel actually said. He said we can spend more money. We can spend some of these savings on the NHS.

And it's not just going to be, you know, the actual money we send to Brussels, it will be all the other things that can come with that. And we will be able to spend more on the NHS. We will be able to spend on the things that matter to the United Kingdom and to its people. There is no question of that. However, as with all things, it is a sense that you need time to work it all out, and that's all it is.

CUOMO: Do you believe there is a plan because time is always useful is you know what to do with that time?

FINCH: Yes, yes, there are plans for -- if you're sitting there playing poker, do you let the other chap see your hand? No, you don't. CUOMO: But it's not poker anymore. You've won the game and people want to see what your cards are, right? You won the bluff game, the other side folded. You won with the referendum, now we need to see your cards and know what the plan is because the reverberations are so widespread.

FINCH: No, no, no. Unfortunately, Chris, this isn't the case. We now have to work with the European Union to get the best possible deal, both for the United Kingdom and for the European Union, as well as the wide of the world because, as you're aware, the U.K. is the world's fifth biggest economy and if we don't get a deal that's right for Britain, everybody suffers. We need to make sure we get the deal that's right for Britain because then everybody benefits.

CUOMO: Are you concerned about people coming to the reality that you were number five with the European Union. You'll now be negotiating deals on your own merits behind the European Union. That, literally, there is a little bit of a moving down the queue, so to speak.

FINCH: Ha, you're going back to where Mr. Obama -- President Obama, and I do apologize -- threatened us and said we'd be at the back of the queue. Frankly, that's wrong. We are the fifth biggest economy in the world. The E.U. spent eight years on a failed attempt to do a deal with India. We can do deals all across the world in much quicker time. We know that, you know that, I know that. What we'll be is a much more agile partner with our partners all around the world and that can only be good for everyone.

CUOMO: Mr. Finch, when do you expect to see a settling down of this and to see the pound sterling to recover? As you know, it's even down in trading today.

FINCH: Well, as you're aware, Chris, obviously when a currency goes up or down it favors different people. At the moment, with it dropping, it's favoring our exporters and I'm sure our exporters are very happy. At some point, you know -- we all know that for the last two years the pound's been more or less on a downward slope. Of course, at some point things will change round and as people believe that the pound is undervalued then they'll start to buy it again and then the pound will go up.

The real -- the real one that you have to worry about is the E.U. What will happen to the Euro now, now that we have stopped paying so much money -- or we will stop paying so much money into the E.U.'s coffers? The Euro is the currency that's going to be, actually, in trouble, not the pound.