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Donald Trump Announces Meeting with Mexican President Pena Nieto; Donald Trump to Give Speech on Immigration Policy; Interview with Republican Vice Presidential Nominee Mike Pence; Interview with Former President of Mexico, Vicente Fox. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired August 31, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

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[08:05:00] DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will build a great, great wall and I will have Mexico pay for that wall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no way that Mexico can pay a wall like that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donald Trump making a surprise visit to Mexico today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think anybody understands what motivated the president to accept this meeting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donald Trump is despised in Mexico.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump right now is in panic mode when it comes to Latinos.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was insulting. I think you have to start with baby steps.

TRUMP: Our country is going to hell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm starting to feel some Clinton corruption fatigue.

TRUMP: It just never ends with the Clintons.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Trump campaign just feels like Trump's next big con.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cannot be trusted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is NEW DAY. Donald Trump is heading to Mexico, embarking on his first foreign trip as the Republican nominee. Trump is going to meet privately with the Mexico's president ahead of his highly anticipated immigration speech that's tonight in Arizona.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: This comes after more than a year of Trump deriding Mexican immigrants and pledging that Mexico will pay for a border wall that Trump is promising. Will Trump back down from his stance on forced deportations? Trump's running mate Mike Pence will join us live in just a few moments. But let's begin with CNN's Jason Carroll. Jason?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Alisyn. Donald Trump expected to draw a sharp difference between his position on illegal immigration and Hillary Clinton's, which he says is essentially amnesty. His hardline supporters are waiting to see if he'll keep his promise of deporting all the undocumented people living in the United States. But first, there will be that meeting with Mexico's president, Trump traveling with Rudy Giuliani, Senator Jeff Sessions, and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

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TRUMP: We are also going to secure our border and stop the drugs from pouring in.

CARROLL: Donald Trump surprising the political world by announcing that he is heading south of the border today to meet with Mexico's president just hours before his highly anticipated immigration speech. The visit coming after more than a year of criticizing Mexico on the campaign trail.

TRUMP: When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.

CARROLL: Trump tweeting, "I've accepted the invitation of President Enrique Pena Nieto of Mexico and look very much forward to meeting him. A surprising invitation given Pena Nieto's previous comments about Trump, rejecting the Republican nominee's promise he'll make the Mexican government pay for a 1,000-mile border wall.

TRUMP: I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will have Mexico for that wall. Mark my words.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Under no circumstances would Mexico pay for that wall.

ENRIQUE PENA NIETO, PRESIDENT OF MEXICO: There is no way that Mexico can pay a wall like that.

CARROLL: The Mexican president likening the billionaire's rhetoric to Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. The Mexican president saying he extended the invitation to both presidential candidates, tweeting the reason behind Trump's visit is promote the interests of Mexicans worldwide, and mainly to protect Mexicans wherever they might be.

During a North American summit with President Obama in July, Pena Nieto proposed a frank, open dialog with whomever is elected.

TRUMP: Tomorrow night in Arizona big speech on immigration.

CARROLL: Trump is set to unveil his long-awaited immigration plan, but details remain vague. The big question is whether Trump will soften his hard line position to use forced deportation to remove an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants.

TRUMP: There's 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to have baby steps first.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: Well, Trump has not used the term "baby steps" in relation to his approach to his immigration policy. Later, we will see what steps he will take. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Jason, thanks so much for all of that background. Let's bring in now Republican vice presidential nominee, Indiana Governor Mike Pence. Good morning, governor.

MIKE PENCE, (R) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good morning, Alisyn. Good to be with you.

CAMEROTA: Nice to see you again. So what do you expect out of this meeting with Donald Trump and the Mexican president?

PENCE: Well, I think it's going to be a meeting between two leaders. I know that Donald Trump was grateful for the invitation last week, and like any good leader, he knows that a good negotiations begins with good relationships.

And so I think what the American people are seeing here today is the kind of decisive president that Donald Trump will be. He gets an invitation late last week from the president of Mexico and essentially drops what he's doing to sit down, have a private conversation, and begin a relationship where we can talk about the issues that we've got to resolve between the United States and Mexico, but also about the issues that we are both struggling with in common.

[08:05:19] CAMEROTA: It's safe to assume that the issue of the wall will come up. And President Pena Nieto has said that Mexico will not and cannot pay for that wall. So now what?

PENCE: Well, I think it's important to note that today is really the beginning, beginning of a conversation. Negotiations will follow this. But it all precedes out of a relationip. To know Donald Trump is to know not your standard issue politician, but really a business leader that knows you first got to sit down with people. You got to look them in the eye and tell them where you stand. They can express their positions. And that's where real negotiations can begin.

But make no mistake about it. I'm very confident that my running mate will be very clear with President Pena Nieto about our priority of securing the border, building a wall, making it clear that we are going to have a new administration that deals with and confronts not only illegal immigration but the flood of drugs and the heartbreak of human trafficking that's coming across our borders.

But I expect, I really expect the meeting today is a beginning of a conversation. And I don't know where Hillary Clinton is. I heard she's going to Cincinnati today. But I think the American people can see quite a contrast between Donald Trump, who gets an invitation from a world leader, drops what's doing each with a major speech on the schedule tonight, and heads down to Mexico to sit down with the president of that country to begin a conversation about how we move the interests of the American people forward and how we work with our neighbors in a more constructive and effective way.

CAMEROTA: President Pena Nieto has likened some of Donald Trump's rhetoric about Mexicans to Hitler and Mussolini. Do you expect that Mr. Trump will apologize to Mexico's president for some of the language that he's used?

PENCE: Well, I think President Pena Nieto has actually walked that language back. I think he said he was referring to philosophical points. Look, I let him speak for himself. But, look, I give the president of Mexico a lot of credit for extending an invitation to the two people that are vying for the presidency in both major political parties.

But I give the lion's share of the credit here to Donald Trump. Look, this is -- both of us are campaigning nonstop. Hillary is in hiding. I don't know where she been other than we heard she's going to fundraisers. Donald Trump and I have literally been canvassing across the country. I'm here in Florida today. He was in Washington state last night. Big, big speech in Arizona.

But the opportunity to sit down with our neighbors to the south and to have these two leaders begin a relationship that will be a foundation for negotiations I think should be a real insight to millions of Americans who are getting a glimpse of the kind of president Donald Trump will be.

CAMEROTA: So do you think the meeting today with the president of Mexico will somehow color the big immigration speech that Donald Trump is giving tonight? Do you think that he will soften his language or change his stance, say, on deportations?

PENCE: Well, I think we'll let the speech speak for itself. But I don't think they'll -- I really don't think there will be any relationship to that. I know Donald Trump has been working on the speech tonight very earnestly. He and I have conversations about it. His team has been meeting over this question. I think tonight's speech tonight will be a very, very important, if not historic speech about an issue that Donald Trump almost singularly put at the center of the national debate.

Look, the contrast between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on the subject of illegal immigration couldn't be more clear. Donald Trump is committed to securing our borders, building a wall, enforcing the laws of this country, upholding the constitution of the United States. And Hillary Clinton is essentially for amnesty, for open borders, for re-implementing more executive amnesty. And I think you'll hear not only a description of Donald Trump's

policies but the American people are going to see more clearly there's one candidate in this race who is prepared to take the steps necessary to end the flood of illegal immigration that has been costing jobs for American citizens and people who are legally in this country. It's been lowering or holding down wages in this country. And as you all well know and have reported, it's resulted in outright tragedy in communities around this country. And Donald Trump will address that and deal with that. Hillary Clinton's just talking about more of the same. And I think that's going to be more obvious after the speech in Arizona tonight.

CAMEROTA: Governor, speaking of immigration laws, we just had on a model here from Germany who worked for three years with the Trump modeling agency. And she says that the Trump modeling agency violated immigration laws and had she and the other models work without the proper work visas. What's your response?

[08:10:13] PENCE: Well, my response is that we've heard those kind of accusations before, even directed at the Trump family. And I'm very confident that this business, like the other Trump businesses, has conformed to the laws of this country.

But look, these are not the things, Alisyn, that people are talking to me about around the country. I spent a lot of time in Georgia in the last couple of days. I was in North Carolina last night. The American people are concerned about this economy, they're concerned about security. They're deeply concerned about the impact of illegal immigration on this country.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

PENCE: And Donald Trump is going to continue to focus on those issues. And I think that's why you see this race tightening up. And that's why I really do believe we're poised for a great victory in November.

CAMEROTA: On the topic of illegal immigration, wouldn't this be relevant? Wouldn't the fact that one of his own companies, the Trump modeling agency, if they employed models illegally, doesn't that point out some hypocrisy in this race?

PENCE: Well, as I said, I think the Trump organization can speak for itself on those issues. I'm very confident that they complied and conformed to the laws of the country. As I said, these sidebar issues that come up, his business enterprise can address those. And I'm confident they'll address forthrightly.

But I really have to tell you, Alisyn, I said this to you at the Iowa state fair, where the American people are focused right now is on security, getting this economy moving again, ending the flood of illegal immigration, upholding our constitution, and really making sure we have the highest standards of ethics in the highest office in the land.

I think what people will see tonight in the broad-shouldered leadership of Donald Trump in that speech is the kind of leadership that speaks to all of it. But I've got to tell you, I'm just really proud to stand with this man and to see what a decisive leader he is. Here he gets an invitation late in the week from the president of our neighbor to the south, and it would have been very easy to say let's get together, let's talk for days and days and figure out how to make this happen. But Donald Trump is someone that says, we got an invitation, we've got an opportunity. Let's drop what we're doing. He's going to go and sit down and begin a relationship that I truly do believe is going to be in the interests of the United States of America. And we're going to make clear we're going to put America first. But there's an old saying in Indiana that good fences make good neighbors. And the way we can be good neighbors is with strong leadership in the United States as a start.

CAMEROTA: Governor, I want to ask you about something else that the American public is concerned about, and that is voter fraud. You had an exchange yesterday in Georgia with a voter who expressed some fear about this. So let me play that for everyone.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all continuously hear about voter fraud, and I think that's a great fear that I have that regardless of how many people come out and support the Trump/Pence ticket that perhaps this is rigged. What would stop them?

PENCE: I would tell you, I think your skepticism is well-founded. But the response ought to be action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So governor, what did you mean by that? Do you think that voter fraud is widespread?

PENCE: Well, I think voter fraud exists. We've certainly had instances of that that have been prosecuted in the state of Indiana over the last 10 and 15 years. And with the revelations yesterday by the FBI that a couple of states election systems had been hacked, in the state of Indiana we actually have initiated a dialog with our I.T. systems and our secretary of state to review the security of our voter files.

But my message to each and every one of them is these elections happen one precinct at a time. People that are involved in this movement, people that want to make America great again, ought to know that being involved in the election as volunteer, as a poll watcher, as a poll worker is the way that we have always vouchsafed the integrity of the one person, one vote system. It's the way we'll continue to.

CAMEROTA: But governor --

PENCE: The skepticism is well-founded. People need to be very concerned about the potential of voter fraud. And that kind of vigilance I think is essential to any vibrant democracy.

CAMEROTA: But governor, it seems as though you are talking about two different things. When you're talking about the hacking, the reports of the hacking in Illinois and Arizona, that's been invisible. How will poll watchers on the day of the election be able to detect computer hacking?

PENCE: Well, they wouldn't be able to detect computer hacking. But one of the things about working at your own neighborhood precinct place, Alisyn, if you've ever done it, most people know their neighbors, people come through the door. And they take a ballot, and that's the reason why in the state of Indiana, states all over the country, elections are administered in a personal and a very intimate way on a precinct by precinct basis.

[08:15:06] CAMEROTA: Sure, sure.

PENCE: I think people being there, Democrats and Republicans being willing to be involved and protect one person, one vote is really essential because we've had incidents in recent years, not only in Indiana but around the country of voter fraud.

I think the progress that we've made in the state of Indiana in voter I.D. laws that ensure that everyone's vote counts is important. But that was my message yesterday that we all ought to be very, very vigilant about protecting our democracy in a way we can all do that is by being directly involved in the voting process, which culminates when the polls close on November 8th.

CAMEROTA: Governor Mike Pence, thanks so much for taking time to be on NEW DAY this morning -- nice to talk to you.

PENCE: Great to be with you.

CAMEROTA: Chris?

CUOMO: All right. So, it was good to hear from Governor Pence as Trump heads to Mexico.

Up next, let's get Mexico's former president, Vicente Fox, to weigh in on what we just heard from Pence and what he makes of the meeting and the immigration issue in America. President Fox, next.

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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.

And I'm not just saying Mexicans -- I'm talking about people from all over that are killers and rapists.

And the Mexican government is much smarter, much sharper, much more cunning, and they send the bad ones over because they don't want to pay for them, they don't want to take care of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:20:10] CUOMO: It is the invective, it is the issue that defined Donald Trump and really rocketed his early campaign.

Now, Trump is taking a big step towards damage control. He's going to meet with Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto ahead of his immigration speech tonight.

So, what's going to be the play here? What are the expectations?

Let's discuss with former president of Mexico, Vicente Fox, who joins us.

Mucho gusto, President. It's good to have you as always.

VICENTE FOX, FORMER PRESIDENT OF MEXICO: Buenas dias to all America.

And, first of all, let me tell you, he is not welcome to Mexico. By 130 million people, we don't like him, we don't want him. We reject his visit.

I don't understand why President Pena has offered this opportunity. I think it's nothing more than a political stunt. Trump is using Mexico, using President Pena to boost his sinking poll numbers. I think the President Pena is taking an enormous political risk by hosting Trump.

If he's gone soft on Trump, it will hurt him greatly. He will even be considered like a traitor because we don't accept to be offended like we just heard and should not happen he comes here with a smile on his face. I think this is a big mistake on part of President Pena.

CUOMO: But it is his mistake then, because the president invited Trump. This isn't an insurgency. He asked him to come down, he asked both candidates. Trump seized the initiative.

Why don't you see it as a sign of perhaps improved relations? We're dealing with seeing Trump change on the issue of immigration. Maybe the ugly talk early on was just to get support. Maybe he'll change his position with the president as well.

FOX: You don't see that on a leader -- nor so on somebody that could be presidential. I mean, you cannot lie to people. You cannot take advantage of people all the time like he's doing. You cannot cheat people.

You have to be straight. You have to speak the truth. This is what he has done none at all. So it's a very opportunistic move and I hope U.S. public opinion, U.S. citizens can see this and, finally, and finally see what is behind Trump, this false prophet that is just cheating everybody.

It's a desperate move and I don't see how it can work at all.

CUOMO: So why do you think President Pena invited him down? He has said he's not going to pay for the wall, that Mexico can't pay for it. Then he invited him to come.

FOX: Yes. That's what I don't understand. I will not understand unless there's an explanation to it. Except that Pena will take a very firm stand that he will reject and ask and commit him to apologize to all Mexicans here United States and that he withdraws the stupid proposals of building a wall, of putting together a trade war with Mexico, of limiting foreign investment into Mexico, of taxing imports to Mexico.

I don't know where Pena is. I just don't understand.

I understand Trump's move, very smart move. But very, very in a lying attitude. That cannot be speaking the truth. How can you trust a guy like this? That this morning is coming with this message, that tomorrow he will take a different stand.

I don't understand what's going on here, and I really apologize for our president taking this step forward. I really expect from him as all 130 million Mexicans, all of our great brother Mexicans in the United States, an explanation from both, from President Pena and Trump himself.

CUOMO: President Pena Nieto's numbers aren't so good in Mexico. I think his popularity is at about 23 percent. Maybe he's looking to make a show of force as you suggest and help his popularity among the Mexicans.

[08:25:04] Let me ask you something about your change in tone, Mr. President. When you came on the show here in New York, you said, look, you know, I shouldn't have used the same type of ugly words that Donald Trump uses. We should have a dialogue. He should come down here, he should see what the issues are. He should understand what the real situation is.

Now, you see very angry again. What happened?

FOX: That you do, what I did as a citizen, that you do as a Mexican that is worried about Trump becoming president of the United States.

You don't do that as president of this great nation which is Mexico, representing 130 million people, I'm sure he's going to be rejected by everybody here in Mexico. We cannot accept this going on. Yes, it could be a desperate move. He's just a very ahead or very advance, of his address to the union, equivalent here in Mexico. And to me, it is a desperate move on both sides.

CUOMO: He has been changing what he's been saying about immigration here. He's not talking about the deportation force anymore. He's talking about working with people who are here, figuring out ways to do this that is humane. Does that improve your expectations of what would happen under a president Trump?

FOX: Certainly no, because you cannot trust a guy like this. How can we grant confidence and support to ideas that change every day?

He's cynical. He continues to disregard its own people and disregard Mexicans. He is firm on his stand that he will throw them out, that he will build the wall. You cannot play the music for both sides. He cannot get followers in the States that are (INAUDIBLE) his

followers, the white American and at the same time have the brown Mexicans, the immigrants, the minorities. It's either one of the two. Or he should change his policies and be very, very reasonable on what he proposes.

But how can you believe him when we are hearing right now that he and his wife violated migration laws in the United States. How can now he be speaking like he is, how can he speak about trade war when he's manufacturing all his products for his business outside of the United States?

So, it's absolutely incongruent, absolutely inconsistent and I appeal to people in United States to think about what you are risking with this guy as president of that great nation. I just cannot envision him sitting on that chair that was the chair of President Washington, President Jefferson, President Kennedy, President Reagan, all of the great presidents of that nation, that this guy is not up to be a president.

He's not presidential, doesn't look presidential. He doesn't know how to run a nation. He don't even know how to run a business.

CUOMO: Former president of Mexico, Vicente Fox, thank you very much for letting your opinions be known here on NEW DAY as always.

FOX: Thank you. Bye-bye.

CUOMO: Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: As you've been discussing, Chris, Donald Trump is heading south of the border. What does the Clinton camp think of Trump's visit? Her campaign responds next.

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