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New Day

Trump to Make V.P. Announcement Tomorrow; CNN Hosts Town Hall on Racial Divide. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired July 14, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Newt Gingrich is somebody I've liked a long time. Newt Gingrich is coming in to see me.

[07:00:32] REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: Presidential spot comes down to a personal decision.

NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: My hunch is he's thinking about Gingrich, Pence. Pence, Gingrich.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is not blacks against whites or whites against blacks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every day when he put on the badge, he went out to help somebody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe you do still have to be extra careful because you're black.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is going on right now in America is not right.

EMILY THOMPSON, WIFE OF SLAIN OFFICER: To the coward that tried to break me and my brothers and sisters, know your hate made us stronger.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. Alisyn is off. Poppy Harlow joins me this morning. We've got a lot of news. Good to have you.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: Yes.

CUOMO: The wait almost over. Donald Trump says he's going to announce his choice for V.P. tomorrow morning. Who's it going to be? There's a lot of talk about Indiana Governor Mike Pence, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, or former House speaker, Newt Gingrich.

HARLOW: The big announcement will be just a few days before the official start of the Republican convention on Monday. And we have just learned -- just learned in the past few minutes who will speak and who won't. Let's begin our coverage this morning with Phil Mattingly, live from Cleveland. We finally have the list. It's a long one.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Poppy. A long list of speakers and an unorthodox list of speakers, if you compare it to past conventions. That's exactly what Donald Trump said was going to happen. You don't have former presidents. You don't even have former Republican nominees. What you do have is a lot of outsiders, a lot of political supporters of Donald Trump who might be considered out of the Republican mainstream.

And as one Trump adviser said, this is an unconventional list for an unconventional convention. The big question still remains, though, guys. Who will be joining Donald Trump on that stage as his running mate?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GINGRICH: My hunch is he's flying to California thinking about, you know, Gingrich, Pence.

MATTINGLY: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich predicting Trump's choice for vice president is between him and Indiana Governor Mike Pence.

GINGRICH: Do you really want a two-pirate ticket or do you want a very solid guy?

MATTINGLY: Trump himself says he's whittled down the field.

TRUMP: I mean, I'm at three, potentially four. In my own mind, I probably am thinking about two.

MATTINGLY: Sources tell CNN that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie remains a finalist, with Trump looking for a fighter, even though he's now hinting at quite the opposite.

TRUMP: I'm not looking for an attack dog. Frankly, I'm looking for somebody that really understands what we're talking about, because I'd rather have the whole thing be on policy.

MATTINGLY: Trump's search for a V.P. entering a frenzied phase in the final round, and it's playing out like a reality show in Indiana. First, meeting privately with Pence and the Trump children at the governor's mansion.

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: Nothing was offered; nothing was accepted.

MATTINGLY: Then with Gingrich, who flew out on a private plane owned by FOX News host Sean Hannity to meet with Trump. Trump also speaking on the phone with his former rival, Christie, about the V.P. role. They are known to talk daily.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you tell us where you think you stand in the veep process? GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: I can't, but it's good to see

you.

MATTINGLY: A source familiar with the process telling CNN Trump's influential older children are worried their father will make a decision they don't like.

This as Hillary Clinton intensifies her attacks against the New York billionaire, all ahead of his big announcement.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: His campaign is as divisive as any we have seen in our lifetime.

MATTINGLY: Deriding the GOP for turning to Trump.

CLINTON: This man is the nominee of the party of Lincoln. We are watching it become the party of Trump. And that's not just a huge loss for our democracy. It is a threat to it.

MATTINGLY: The clock is also ticking on who will speak at next week's Republican convention. The Trump campaign is yet to publicly release a list of speakers, but we already know the party's past nominees and living former presidents will not be there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: Guys, the Trump campaign still silent on that list of speakers. The list we've gotten coming from the Republican National Committee. One RNC aide making clear this is still a partial list. There could be more people added.

Most notably, who's the vice-presidential candidate going to be? Because that person is obviously going to have a very prominent speaking position. A couple of other names that you would recognize and Trump advisers say this is really a cross section. You have people like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell; rising Senate star Joni Ernst that are speaking.

[07:05:15] But you also have somebody like Antonio Sabato Jr., a former underwear model; and Tim Tebow, the former Heisman Trophy winning quarterback. So really, when you talk about cross section, they're not kidding, guys. It will just add an element of really kind of surprise and almost pageantry to what we're going to see here in Cleveland next week.

CUOMO: Phil threw us a little curveball before. Right? Gingrich has a spot on the slate. He's going to speak. So does that make it more likely that he's the V.P. pick? I'm looking for a solution here. Nor does it mean that that's a consolation prize.

HARLOW: He wants me to know everything this morning.

CUOMO: I feel like you know. There's something very knowing.

HARLOW: I had a private call with them last night. CUOMO: Let's discuss it. We have CNN political commentator and

Donald Trump supporter Kayleigh McEnany; CNN political commentator and senior writer for "The Federalist," Mary Katharine Ham; and former senior advisor to Bill Clinton and writer for "The New Yorker," Richard Socarides.

Ham, let me start with you. Do you feel that we're getting played by Trump here, that he has dominated a news cycle with the "who it will be, who it will be," when nobody really cares who Clinton is picking at this point? Do you think he's playing the system, or is this a reflection of his imperfection as a candidate and the need for a partner?

MARY KATHARINE HAM, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's the most dramatic rose ceremony ever. So get ready.

I think -- I think it's a little bit of both. I think he's a showman. No one should be surprised that keeping people in suspense about this pick is perhaps what he's best at. So I was anticipating that.

I do think, like, there's a little bit of push and pull here where his kids, I'm not very surprised, may be backing the Pence pick, which is a more safe, conventional one. I think Gingrich offers some pushback on Trump and has criticized him in the past, offers some policy knowledge. And then I think what Christie brings to the table is mostly loyalty. And as we've seen through the -- Donald's entire career, is that loyalty is very important to him. So I wonder if that's a clue.

HARLOW: It is, but it isn't everything. He stood by Corey Lewandowski after all the issues over -- you know, with the reporter, et cetera. But then he let him go.

HAM: But then not.

HARLOW: But then not. Jackie Kucinich, to you, it's interesting because he said on -- in his FOX interview yesterday, Trump basically no longer needs an attack dog, and that's what Christie is.

CUOMO: Kayleigh.

HARLOW: Kayleigh, I'm sorry. That's my fault. Kayleigh.

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So I think Newt Gingrich kind of brings both of the components that we like so much, or I like so much, in Chris Christie and also in Mike Pence.

You know, he brings in the conservative base, but he also is kind of an attack dog. And whether Trump thinks he needs an attack dog or not, it is helpful to have someone who can really prosecute the case against Hillary Clinton effectively.

So it's kind of, you know, a double edge there. I think Newt Gingrich kind of brings in both components.

HARLOW: Would that be your pick? MCENANY: It would be my pick, because he brings in the base, but he can also, you know, be effective on a debate stage. We've seen him dismantle people in the media before during the primaries last time. So I really think that he can bring in both things that I'm looking for in a V.P.

CUOMO: And I've said all my reporting suggests that this idea that Christie is on the outs with the kids is just defied -- defied by the daily reality. He's the head of the transition. He wouldn't have been in that position. He's meeting with Trump all the time. He's dealing with Kushner all the time. He wouldn't be doing that if there were hard feelings about him on his dad's tail (ph).

So Socarides, here's a good way for you to help in this conversation. Who scares you the most in terms of being a partner with Newt Gingrich? With -- Newt Gingrich, that's who I think it's going to be. With Donald Trump. Which pairing is the most worrisome to you?

RICHARD SOCARIDES, WRITER, "THE NEW YORKER": I'm going to try to answer this honestly, as I always do. I actually think that the best pick for Trump is Christie. Because I think -- and I think it will be Christie. And I think that he's been tested by this process.

It's very -- nobody understands what running on a national ticket is like unless you've done it. Gingrich has got way too much baggage. I mean, we would love to run against somebody included in the ticket who prosecuted our former president for having an affair who -- while at the same time was having a secret affair.

I think Pence is untested. He reminds me a little of Admiral Stockdale. I can see Pence having a Stockdale moment on the debate stage. I think it will be Christie. And I think Christie would be a very good pick for -- for Trump.

CUOMO: Do you believe him, Poppy, or do you think he wants Christie, because he actually believes the opposite?

HARLOW: I believe him. I take him at his word this morning. I'm going to give him that much.

SOCARIDES: Thank you. Thank you.

HARLOW: Mary Katharine, to you, though. If it is Christie, you've got very low approval ratings in his home state. And on top of that, you also have, you know -- I don't know how much words matter in a lasting sense in this election, but an extremely vitriolic back and forth between Trump and Christie for a matter of months during the early stages of the campaign.

HAM: The thing about Christie is that much of the conservative base has been mad at Christie for many years. So I'm not sure how much you bring in that way. Geographically, you don't bring in a ton, because New Jersey is basically somewhere that Trump will do well anyway.

But Trump values loyalty. He was one -- Christie was one of the first people on the Trump train. And he dealt a blow to Marco Rubio that it turned out he couldn't recover from back in New Hampshire. So that may be something that's part of the calculations, as well.

I don't think it's a great strategic pick, but frankly, there aren't that many people who want the job. It's a tough job where you have to stand beside him and then on Sunday explain what he was trying to say every week. So it's going to be a tough job. There's not that many candidates. And there's not that many people that Donald Trump, I think, works well with, potentially. So here we are.

SOCARIDES: I mean, I think that those are really important points. I do think that loyalty is very important to Mr. Trump. And I do also think that this -- I think it's a myth now that Trump has to do something for the conservative base. I mean, those conservatives are not going to go anywhere. They have a clear choice.

CUOMO: Well, here's the virtue in what you're saying on that score. Look at the list of people who are speaking at the convention. We just got it. It is a very unconventional list. The only former opponents of his on here. What, we've got Cruz, Carson, and Huckabee, who are all, you know, pretty nice at first. Cruz went bad on him at the end. But that's when it got competitive.

McEnany, you're not on this list, first of all, which is an outrage. But if you've had a chance to eyeball this, there's no Sarah Palin, none of the former presidents...

SOCARIDES: No Romney. No Mitt Romney.

CUOMO: ... no Mitt Romney. What's going on here?

MCENANY: Yes, it's interesting, because Trump promised us a mixed bag, and a convention like we've never seen before. And we're certainly getting that when you see Tim Tebow on the list, who's a hero among conservatives, certainly in the south.

But you also see some real people that I think will be interesting. So, like, Marcus Luttrell, the Navy SEAL who won a purple heart. And there have been rumors that maybe Sean Smith's mother, mother of a fallen victim in Benghazi who apparently, she said, you know, Hillary Clinton, referred to her, to her family, that she would prosecute the maker of the video when, in fact, there are indications that she knew that Benghazi was about a terrorist attack.

So you're going to see some really powerful moments with real people, with sports figures, a very interesting convention like I really think we've never seen before.

HARLOW: So Mary Katharine, to you. One of the key things for Donald Trump is to get more women to like him and to vote for him. And he has a very powerful tool in that in Ivanka Trump, his daughter, an incredibly successful businesswoman. I've interviewed her. I'm sure you've interviewed her in the past. A lot of people say she is a force behind him, even more so than Melania, who would be first lady, if he gets elected.

What can Ivanka Trump say on stage when she speaks? What should she say? HAM: Well, first of all, I want to say on the convention speaking list, I'm a Georgia Bulldog, and even I like Tim Tebow. He may be the most unifying figure there.

But for Ivanka, I do think, look, her brand is amazing that she has sort of floated above her father. It never seems to rub off on her. And she -- she does carry a lot of weight with women. They respond to her. She has this sort of classiness about her and not in the sort of boasting Donald Trump classy kind of way.

Look, I think that keeping it -- keeping the tone nice, as she always does, and being fairly subtle is what she brings to the table. And she can speak about him in such a way, in that tone, that can bring some women to the table possibly.

But we also know about Ivanka Trump. She didn't vote for him in the primary. Like, this is the weirdness of this election. She was in charge of getting people registered to vote for her dad in the primary, but she's a Democrat, so she didn't vote for him.

CUOMO: She didn't register for the other side. Yes, that was actually an interesting twist.

You know who else is on this list that kind of speaks also to Trump? Unless I have it wrong, which Dana White this is...

HARLOW: No, it's the UFC guy.

CUOMO: He runs it. So the showbiz factor, and also this is a man's man. This guy, Dana White, he's the head of the UFC, which is all about just bashing heads. That speaks to a little bit of his cultivated mystique of what Trump wants to be. He wants to get back to the strong American motif.

SOCARIDES: I heard Peter Thiel was on the list...

CUOMO: Yes.

SOCARIDES: ... this morning, who is -- who is a San Francisco-based technology billionaire, but who is also gay and a very prominent gay rights advocate. I mean, that really surprised me on the list this morning. Donald Trump's convention is going to have...

CUOMO: Something for everyone.

SOCARIDES: Something for everyone. You know? I mean, that's what people try to do at conventions. But I actually think that people will not be fooled.

CUOMO: That's also not true, Richard. Look at your guys' list. You're guys are stocking it with all the tried and true big names from the party. You know, you're not getting this -- we're not seeing as quasi-marquee people.

SOCARIDES: That's because we Democrats have a lot of very prominent national spokespeople, and we want to -- that we want to showcase. But I think that...

[07:15:09] HARLOW: But you run into a problem that -- that you can excite a lot more people, perhaps, at the RNC with such a mixed bag.

SOCARIDES: You know something? I think that, ultimately, the Republican Party platform which Donald Trump is going to run on is an ultra-far-right platform. We saw that yesterday when it came out. I mean, they are going to take all kind of far-right stands.

So I don't think that people will be fooled by what looks like a rainbow coalition, a new rainbow coalition of the Republican Party at the convention, if this is what it turns out to be. I mean, we'll know a lot by who he picks as vice president, because it's his first major decision. It will tell us where he's headed.

HARLOW: Come in tomorrow morning. We'll have it live for you tomorrow morning as soon as we find out what it is, once we get that phone call.

CUOMO That's right. Some of you may know earlier.

HARLOW: They're going to call Chris. All right. We've got to go. Thank you, everyone. We appreciate it. Kayleigh, I'm so sorry I got your name wrong. Feel free to do it to me next time.

MCENANY: No worries. Thank you.

HARLOW: NEW DAY will be live in Cleveland Monday, starting 5 a.m. Eastern for the Republican National Convention. Be sure to join the best political team in the business for CNN's primetime coverage. That begins at 4 p.m. Eastern.

CUOMO: Francine are going to take a break right now. When we come back, what we can do to bridge the racial divide.

HARLOW: That's the name you give me?

CUOMO: I felt it. Nothing? Never been called that before?

HARLOW: No. Never.

CUOMO: We're having a very important conversation in this country right now. What do we do about the divide between police and the communities that they police? Last night's town hall brought up a lot of emotion and had some big voices: Thomas Jackson, former police chief of Ferguson, Missouri, was there.

Francine's no good? What do you think?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:56] HARLOW: Welcome back to NEW DAY. Racial tension reaching a boiling point in this country right now. Last night, CNN hosted a very powerful town hall on the racial divide and, so importantly, how we can all come together.

The emotions of the last week running deep and very raw.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARLOS ZAMARRIPA, BROTHER OF SLAIN DALLAS OFFICER PATRICK ZAMARRIPA: He'd want peace. He'd want good to come out of all of this.

HARLOW (voice-over): Two families impacted by last week's violence coming together, stressing the need for unity.

ENRIQUE ZAMARRIPA, FATHER OF SLAIN DALLAS OFFICER PATRICK ZAMARRIPA: Taking another person's life, it won't make the other person's life come back.

QUINYETTA MCMILLON, MOTHER OF ALTON STERLING'S SON: Violence is never going to be the answer to nothing. And I think we all come together to say that we want peace. We want peace for both families.

HARLOW: Activists and law enforcement all joining a candid conversation about whether policing in America is inherently biased against blacks.

COL. K.L. WILLIAMS, KINLOCH, MISSOURI, POLICE CHIEF: I have spoken to police officers who have told me that they believe that black people are genetically predisposed to be criminals, and it is their obligation to control these people by whatever means are necessary.

GARRY MCCARTHY, FORMER SUPERINTENDENT, CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT: The history of African-Americans in this country started with slavery. Then it moved to black coats, to segregation. And who was it who was enforcing those racist policies? It was the white police officer. So that narrative exists in the community based on the history, and it's factual.

HARLOW: Questions over how to comply with police dominating the CNN town hall, many fearful and distrusting.

MONIFA BANDELA, SENIOR CAMPAIGN DIRECTOR, MOMSRISING.ORG: Instructing our young people day in and day out that there's something in their behavior that brings on the abuse is tantamount to telling women that there's something that we do that causes street harassment and rape. We have to change that.

MARK O'MARA, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We should not have a racial divide in this country anymore, but we do. So I say to him, you do put your hands on the wheel. You do be careful. Maybe you do still have to be extra careful because you're black.

CHARLES BLOW, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Can we just take a moment as America and register how profound and immoral it is to say, this is the only thing that will keep you safe, is that if you pack this tool box and you take it with you everywhere you go and this is not the way that everybody has to behave. It is only the way that you have to behave. And it is not your fault, and you have not done anything wrong.

But it is because you are who you are, and they do not see you as the person that I love, but they see you as a person that they should fear.

HARLOW: A heart-wrenching moment as one mother shares her fear for her son.

SHARAY SANTORA, MOTHER: Every moment he's not with me I fear for his life. I keep hearing you tell me to tell my son what to do. My 14- year-old is sitting right there, so you tell him he needs to be more respectful. You tell him he needs to be more compliant to your rules and your laws. Because I've told him, and obviously, it doesn't matter, because you're telling me I'm not telling him enough.

HARLOW: Then this officer comforts her.

DMITRI ROBERTS, FORMER CHICAGO POLICE OFFICER: I'm sorry that we have not fulfilled our civil duty and our responsibility to you and this community and your children, and I'm sorry. And I just want to take a moment and say to you, I'm sorry.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: What a night. What a discussion. Let's talk more about it.

Joining me now live is Thomas Jackson. He is the former police chief of Ferguson, Missouri. He was there at the town hall last night. And you'll remember his face and his name. His resigned from his post in Ferguson following intense pressure after the shooting death of Michael Brown and subsequent DOJ investigation.

Thank you for being with me, sir.

Let's talk about last night. What a night. You were there in person. This coming at the same time as a new CBS/"New York Times" poll shows an astonishing number, really, the fact that almost 70 percent of Americans think race relations in the United States are bad right now. That is more than felt that same way after the Rodney King beating and acquittal of those officers in Los Angeles in 1992. What is going on?

[07:25:13] THOMAS JACKSON, FORMER FERGUSON, MISSOURI, POLICE CHIEF: Well, I think a big part of it is this -- this narrative that's out there that every time there's an officer-involved shooting, instead of letting the process and the investigation take place, there's an immediate outcry that police officers are bad people, that they're all bad. And -- and that foments and goes on through social media, politicians, celebrities.

HARLOW: But people are seeing it now. They're seeing these videos, the video from Louisiana, from Minnesota. Isn't that part of it, too? They're reacting to what they're seeing play out in real time.

JACKSON: They're reacting to what they're seeing, but they're blaming all officers. We're seeing record numbers of homicides in Chicago, for example. Mostly committed black on black. But do we blame the black -- the black community, the African-American community for that, or do we blame the individual?

HARLOW: But it's not one or the other. Right? You have to talk about the crisis in Chicago.

JACKSON: Yes.

HARLOW: You have to talk about that. And you also have to talk about what we're sitting here talking about. And -- and as that mother just said in the piece, and she was on the show earlier, the talk that she had to have with her child that every black parent talks about having with their child.

You said that you didn't know that black parents, for a while, had to have that talk. When you found out, it made you sad.

JACKSON: It did. It was actually at a town hall in Ferguson where I heard a mother get up, a couple people get up, and talk about it. Kids talking about getting that talk. And that's tragic that -- that everything that's gone on has made people feel that way. And there's a long history of policies in this country, as we know, from slavery on up through Jim Crow and so forth, that foment that.

But on the other hand, we should be telling our kids to be respectful and to obey the law. I got called over a month ago. When the officer came up, I had my hands on the steering wheel. He wrote me a ticket.

HARLOW: The mother said, you know, "I say that to my son. I say that to him every day."

I want to get your take on the evolution of the Black Lives Matter movement, from what you saw as police chief in Ferguson, to where we stand today with the movement.

JACKSON: So my first experience with them was one of violent rhetoric toward the police. Hostility, anger, this whole narrative that the cops are bad, the whole system is broken, all cops are bad and they're all out to get African-Americans.

So my experience with them was -- was violent and hostile rhetoric towards my guys and towards me. As time has evolved and I've recently, just very recently, looked at some of their standards and some of the philosophy that they stand for...

HARLOW: And condemn the violence against police.

Yes, it's more in line with what a movement that wants change should be.

HARLOW: So did you ever think in Ferguson in the midst of all of that, of pulling aside some of those protesters, to sit down with them and have a conversation? And if not, what about now?

JACKSON: Absolutely. And I did. As a matter of fact, there were several times that happened. Groups of protesters popped up. You know, there were thousands of them.

One group was out protesting at our farmers' market. My supervisor on duty called me and said, "You know, this is what's going on."

And I said, "Well, will the leader of that protest group talk to me?"

He said, yes.

We went over to the firehouse. He brought a couple of his lieutenants with him. We sat down and had a conversation. As it turns out, one of his group was somebody I had met when I was going door to door to invite the community to our new community center. The staff was trying to go door to door.

But now he and I are friends. He actually saw what we had -- we had done that didn't get reflected in the DOJ report. All the positive community-oriented policing we were doing in the city. And -- and actually, he got ahold of me this week and said, "Let's get together and do something."

HARLOW: You and the protester are friends now? So I think...

JACKSON: And he's not the only one.

HARLOW: Look, I think a lesson to take out of that from -- from this and where we go from here, that the two of you could come together.

I appreciate you coming on with me, Thomas Jackson. Thank you very much.

JACKSON: My pleasure.

HARLOW: Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Poppy. So we've got Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump neck and neck in some key battleground states. Independent Senator Angus King, he matters, and he's going to join us live with a big announcement about who he thinks the next president of the United States should be. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)