Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Hurricane Warning Along Florida's Eastern Panhandle; Mexicans Slam Their President Over Trump Meeting; Colin Kaepernick to Continue Anthem Protest. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired September 01, 2016 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Residents along Florida's eastern panhandle are already feeling the impact of tropical storm Hermine. The storm is expected to make landfall overnight as a hurricane.

We have CNN's Boris Sanchez live along Florida's gulf coast.

Boris, they are getting some window of warning right now, but this was a little bit of a tricky situation. Kind of f really got strong all of the sudden.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Chris. We didn't really know where this hurricane was going to go almost until the last minute. This is an area that typically doesn't get a lot of hurricanes because of where it's situated. You have to have a hurricane that makes a very steep curve to get a direct hit here in the panhandle.

Florida Governor Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency, saying that everyone in this area has to be ready, they have to prepare for 11 to 20 inches of rain in some spots with winds stronger than 60 miles an hour. This is going to be a category 1 hurricane when it hits. I actually spoke to a business owner here last night who told me that about 11 years ago, the last time they got a direct hit in this area, the water in a nearby marina got so high that it sent several boats straight into this neighborhood.

Despite that, he says he's going to try to stay open today. He's going to try to keep his restaurant open. He says they have sandbag and they've made several plans to try to stay open throughout the day. It were up to Governor Rick Scott, he'd have that guy stay home. Obviously, the concern here is that there may be some complacency.

Think about it, Florida hasn't gotten a direct hit from a hurricane in about ten years. From the looks of it right now, it doesn't seem like a lot of people are going to stick around to see what hurricane Hermine does here, Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: That's good, because we've learned complacency is dangerous.

Boris, thanks so much for all of that.

Chad Myers joins us now with the latest on where forecasters think the storm will go at this hour.

How's it looking, Chad?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right over Mr. Sanchez. He'll have 75-mile-per-hour winds no doubt tonight.

Hi, Alisyn.

It is going to be a big storm for this Big Bend area of Florida. I could see storm surges with this storm at least 15 feet deep. Those marinas that Boris was just talking about will be flooded again. St. Mark's, you could get 15 feet of water in your town, just like I saw when I was there with Ivan, as that water surge right up into this Big Bend area. Apalachicola, St. Mark's, all the way down to Cedar Key.

Then it keeps going. Over Georgia, over South Carolina, and North Carolina, possibly storm surges in the harbors and bays here. Then it parks itself off the east coast for what could be 72 hours. If it's too close, Chris, this whole area will get a foot of rain. If it's farther out to sea, they'll just get waves.

But this is the most dangerous part, at least for the northeast. Does this thing hang out like Agnes hung out in 1972 and create a lot of flooding? We'll see. That's still three days away.

CUOMO: So, Chad, what is your guess? I'm supposed to be off on Monday. Will I be standing in a CNN slicker?

CAMEROTA: Is this your own personal forecast you want from Chad?

CUOMO: Well, I think news is a very personal suggestion. So do you think we'll be covering storm surge off of New York come Monday morning?

MYERS: You know, it's possible that this surge goes into the areas up near D.C. It could be Baltimore. It could be the Chesapeake. It could be Wilmington, Delaware, and it could be the Hudson.

Yes, there's a possibility that you need to dust off that red coat.

CUOMO: Appreciate it. Thank you very much, Chad. I'll probably wind up standing next to you.

All right. Let's take a quick break here. So, how is Donald Trump's surprise visit to Mexico playing south of the border? What the Mexican people are saying about Trump and their president. We have a live report next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:37:35] CUOMO: Probably won't come as a surprise, but many Mexicans are seething at the idea of their president meeting with Donald Trump. Now, hours afterward, President Enrique Pena Nieto acknowledged some of Trump's positions being a threat to Mexico. He says he made it clear to Trump that Mexico would not pay for his border wall, but Trump had a very different view. CNN's John Vause is live in Mexico City for us.

What are you hearing?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Chris. Yes, look, many Mexicans were dismissive, even mocking Donald Trump and his diplomatic outreach here to the Mexican president. Some were kind of skeptical. Then came that fiery speech in Arizona. For many here, that simply confirmed what they suspected all along, that Donald Trump's visit here to Mexico City was nothing more than a PR stunt intended to polish his image, make him look like a statesman and had more to do with winning over white conservative voters in the United States and very little, they say, in trying to repair relations with Mexico or trying to reach out to Hispanic voters in the United States.

And people here are angry that their president allowed Donald Trump to do that. As you mentioned, for his part, Enrique Pena Nieto, he was on television last night shortly after that speech by Donald Trump. He did say that he thought a number of Donald Trump's policy positions presented a threat or a danger to Mexico. He said he would not sit by and do nothing about it.

So clearly all that diplomacy, all that goodwill when we saw these two men standing together at the podium in the presidential palace, that didn't last long. In fact, you could say that it lasted about as long as it takes to fly from Mexico City to phoenix -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: John, very interesting assessment on all of that. Thank you for the word from the ground there.

So, what did come out of this meeting? Let's discuss it with Latin American political analyst and former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense, Ana Maria Salazar.

Ana Maria, thanks so much for being here.

There was a lot of confusion yesterday about why President Pena Nieto would invite Donald Trump, who, of course, is not yet the president elect, if he ever does become that. What have you learn about what motivated the Mexican president?

ANA MARIA SALAZAR, LATIN AMERICAN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's still very confusing, and I'm sure they're trying to forget what happened yesterday as soon as possible, because what the president need to get from that meeting was an apology, at least a public apology or something that appear to be a public apology as to way he's been referring and talking about Mexico and Mexicans.

[06:40:15] And, of course, appear to have a position in which Donald Trump would be willing to negotiate with Mexico on some of these difficult issues, including immigration. Well, all of that was shot. The president, after the meeting when they had this press conference, it was in a very confusing scene in which they both were kind of looking at each other and asking this question in regards to, well, who's going to build the wall and who's going to pay for the wall. And they played the nice diplomatic card and allowed Donald Trump to

speak. The president didn't interrupt. At the end of the day, and if you look at the headlines here in Mexico, the president said, I need to protect Mexico and Mexicans, and Donald Trump said, you're going to be paying for the wall. That's the headlines here in Mexico.

The big loser appears to be the Mexican government. So -- particularly the president. So, it was a very confusing meeting. I'm sure they're going to try to forget about it, really, or at least erase it from the Mexican history as soon as possible.

ROMANS: Well, our CNN reporting does shed some light on to what President Pena Nieto may have been thinking in terms of the invitation. So we have this government -- Mexican government source who says that the invitation started, the genesis of it was with the finance ministry, who thought this would be a good idea because it would calm down investors, that the peso falls when people think that in Mexico that Donald Trump will be elected president. So this was an attempt to prevent the peso from falling.

It doesn't sound like it may have calmed investors, if that was the goal.

SALAZAR: It didn't calm investors. In fact, it may have raised some concerns that the fact that the president insinuated that Mexico would be willing to renegotiate NAFTA as demanded by Donald Trump, could raise the spectrum of a couple years of negotiating one of the most important trade agreements between Mexico, United States, and Canada. Not only it didn't calm the waters, but what is very interesting at least allows us to understand who was behind pushing the president to invite Donald Trump.

So, I'm sure there's going to be a backlash also throughout the day and ultimately if anything came out from this meeting, it's just a reminder to everybody that if you try to get close to Donald Trump, Donald Trump is radioactive and you're going to get burned. It appears that President Enrique Pena Nieto was burned.

CAMEROTA: And in fact, President Pena Nieto seemed burned by the end of the day. He seemed to be angrier. There was first this conciliatory press conference where he and Donald Trump stood next to each other. Donald Trump said in that, well, the idea of who was going to pay for the wall didn't come up.

By the end of the evening, here's what President Pena Nieto said, "Donald Trump's policy stances could represent a huge threat to Mexico, and I'm not prepared to keep my arms crossed and do nothing. That risk, that threat must be confronted. I told him that is not the way to build a mutually beneficial relationship for both nations."

Quite a different tone than what they said at the press conference.

SALAZAR: Well, and what people are saying is, why didn't the president interrupt Donald Trump at that point?

The problem is both the president and Donald Trump were playing or pretending to be that this was a real diplomatic negotiations were taking place. The way they behaved was as if they were both, you know, he was already president of the United States and they were trying to reach some type of agreement.

Pena Nieto, they made a mistake, I think, and they're realizing it today. Pena Nieto was burned by Donald Trump.

CAMEROTA: Ana Maria Salazar, thanks so much for your insights into this meeting. Nice to talk to you.

Let's get to Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Alisyn.

People have been talking about him. Now, he's going to speak for himself. Colin Kaepernick is ready for his close-up. The 49ers quarterback is expected to continue his national anthem protest in San Diego tonight for their final preseason game. How is he going to explain it? "Bleacher Report" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:48:11] CAMEROTA: 49ers and Chargers play their final preseason game tonight in San Diego. The focus, of course, on 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Coy Wire is live this morning with the "Bleacher Report".

So, what's going to happen, Coy?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: That's the big question.

Good morning, Alisyn.

By now, many of us are aware of Kaepernick's decision to sit during the national anthem in protest of racial injustice in our country. But despite what his objectors are saying, he said all along it was never his intention to disrespect the military. Tonight, if Kaepernick sits during the anthem, it'll be in front of hundreds of servicemen and women as the Chargers are having their 28th annual salute to the military game. They'll pay tribute to current and retired military personnel, Vietnam war vets, wounded warriors, and others throughout the night. Kaepernick has said he's going to continue to sit during the anthem until there's significant change in our country.

Will kaepernick be booed? Will he be supported? Will he be joined in protest by any of his teammates? These are the types of questions that will likely be answered tonight.

Now, kaepernick has received a lot of criticism. But he's also received a lot of support for his stance, even by veterans on social media, and yesterday a former NFL player and Army vet Nate Boyer pen an open letter on armytimes.com.

He said in part, quote, "What you're doing takes a lot of courage, and I'd be lying if I said I knew what it was like to walk around in your shoes. I've never had to deal with prejudice because of the color of my skin. I'm just going to keep listening with an open mind. Forward to the day you're inspired to once again stand during our national anthem. I'll be standing right there next to you," unquote.

So Chris, there you have not only a former NFL player but a former military veteran as well with a strong, strong statement.

CUOMO: It was. The politics of this aside, that was a strong statement. You're right, Coy. Thank you very much for the report. Appreciate it.

WIRE: You're welcome.

CUOMO: Let's take a quick break. When we come back, Donald Trump, tough talk on immigration.

[06:50:01] What did Latino voters think of the speech? A debate between two Latino Republicans next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Donald Trump back to the tough talk on immigration after his quick trip to Mexico. How are Hispanic voters feeling about his deportation plan and diplomatic test in Mexico?

Let's bring in former special assistant to George W. Bush and former senior staff on the Bush 2004 campaign, Rudy Fernandez. And co- founder of Latinas for Trump, Miami radio personality, Ileana Garcia.

Thank you, both, for being with us. Appreciate the opportunity to have you on here to debate.

Let's throw out some of the general propositions and get your take.

The first one, let's deal with this controversy on the wall. Ileana, I'll start with you.

Trump says we didn't discuss who's going to pay for it when I was with President Pena Nieto.

[06:55:04] The president then tweets out, yes, we did, and I told him I'm not paying for it.

ILEANA GARCIA, CO-FOUNDER, LATINAS FOR TRUMP: Well, I find that -- that's so petty, at least for me, perhaps because I'm expecting something else. But the fact of the matter is, he's a candidate for the presidency. He cannot possibly know anything of the logistics or really have a handle on what can possibly happen the future. He has that as a means to an end, obviously.

But to sit there and discuss something like the price of a wall, for me, is minutia. For me, it's important that this get over and done with, that they have an understanding that there will be some type of a border between Mexico and the United States as a form of security, as a form of accountability. But detail in particular for me is just basically something for the media to entertain itself with at this point.

CUOMO: So, is it just about us, who cares whether or not the wall price was discussed or not, Rudy?

RUDY FERNANDEZ, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO GEORGE W. BUSH: Chris, I believe Americans whether they are hard liners on the immigration issue or not, deserve a serious plan. When Trump lacks a serious plan and promises to deport all illegal aliens, you know, all criminal aliens within the first hour of his presidency, that was literally a line in the speech last night. He's going to wave a magic wand deport all illegal immigrants.

He's going to force Mexicans to pay for the wall. One of the most interesting lines in the speech was he was going to get the ratio of U.S.-born to foreign-born back to historical levels. What does that even mean?

Look, this whole education now hinges on whether the majority of voters believe that he's a magician and he can magically make things happen and are willing to suspend belief and give him the benefit of the doubt. I simply am not willing to.

CUOMO: Ileana, when it comes to immigration, we all know there's a problem, that the system doesn't work the way it's supposed to. That's just fact. The question is, how will Trump make it better? Do you think he's done enough in his big speech and before it to define how?

GARCIA: I think that the fact that it was his main emphasis from the very beginning helps. I mean, we need to start from some point. I think that he macros into this area in particular because he sees it as some type of insecurity for the country, perhaps an Achilles heel for country per se. At the same time, also a lack of accountability, whereas people like myself end up flipping the bill for people that are coming into this country, whether they're coming in through the border or perhaps overstaying their visas.

To say right now that you can have an actual, precise, tied down plan as to what you're going to do really doesn't make any sense. I mean, the fine, fine details. Once again, he's not in the Oval Office. He doesn't know the logistics or perhaps anything else that just surrounds something as delicate as that.

The thing is, he has that as a priority, something that we haven't seen with the last administration. Oh, yes, Obama has deported the biggest amount of people in the history of presidents, and we have seen what other presidents have done with immigration. But the fact of the matter is that whether it was the Democratic or the Republican Party, there's a situation in this country right now where we have over 11 million undocumented immigrants that really is not Trump's fault. He's trying to find a way or at least pinpointing in that direction that we need to take care of it. I don't see what's wrong with that.

FERNANDEZ: Chris --

CUOMO: Go ahead.

FERNANDEZ: Chris, Ileana is willing to give him a pass on details and on actually having a plan, but I'm not. If he doesn't have an idea as to how he's going to deport these folks or get Mexicans to pay for the wall, he shouldn't be making those type of promises. The reality is when he promises outlandish things --

GARCIA: Let me ask you a question.

FERNANDEZ: -- like deporting all criminal aliens within the first Mexicans but his supporters. That's, frankly, a travesty.

CUOMO: This is coming from a Republican, Ileana. Go ahead.

GARCIA: Yes, I'm very saddened that you should see that as mocking considering that you consider yourself a Republican.

FERNANDEZ: He is mocking.

GARCIA: I don't look at it the that way. Basically --

CUOMO: Hold on, I can't understand anything you're saying.

Make your last observation, Ileana. Rudy, you answer, and we'll leave it there for today.

GARCIA: I just don't find that his comments bring anything, especially if you consider yourself a Republican, we're up against a Democratic candidate who hasn't really done much for the immigration system to begin with. All the way back to 2008, they've been back and forth with regards to the fence, to the wall, to this, to that. Nothing has happened.

So, going up against, you being a Republican, and going up against the candidate for the presidency under that umbrella just doesn't seem productive to me. So, you can say whatever you want, perceive whatever you want, and so can the rest of the nation.