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New Day

Donald Trump Delivers Speech on Immigration Policy; Interview with Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee Senator Tim Kaine; Trump Calls for "Extreme Vetting" of Immigrant. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired September 01, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:05:00] JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: And to this day people are still what side she was really on.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Jeffrey Toobin, perfect man for the job.

TOOBIN: Thank you, sir.

CUOMO: Congratulations on the success, can't wait to read it.

TOOBIN: All righty, man.

CUOMO: All right, we're following a lot of news, including a live interview with Hillary Clinton's running mate, Tim Kaine. Let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Are you ready? We will build a great wall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He lies every other minute of the day.

TRUMP: I call it extreme vetting, right? It's going to be so tough.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Trying to make up for a year of insults by dropping in on our neighbors for a few hours, that is not how it works.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While Hillary Clinton has been in hiding, Donald Trump is doing what leaders do.

TRUMP: We will break the cycle. There will be no amnesty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He basically says America's going to be deportation nation. But when he's looking the leader of Mexico in the eye, he can't bring himself to say it.

TRUMP: Mexico will pay for the wall. They're going to pay for the wall on day one.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota. ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your

NEW DAY.

Up first, Donald Trump laying out his latest immigration plan in a fiery speech. He was vowing that under a Trump presidency there will be no amnesty or path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants.

CUOMO: But it is a tale of two Trumps, a diplomatic and measured Trump on display in Mexico when he met with the country's president, Trump insisting that they didn't discuss who would pay for the border wall. Mexico's president says that's not true. So, let's begin with CNN's Senlen Serfaty live in Washington. Sunlen?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Chris. This was certainly not a softening. Donald Trump returned to that tough talk we knew from his primary campaign, declaring no amnesty, calling for a wall, saying Mexico will pay for that wall. But he still did not give a definitive answer about what to do with those people who are undocumented living in the U.S. who are not criminals.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There will be no amnesty.

SERFATY: Donald Trump recommitting to a fired-up, no-mercy stance on illegal immigration.

TRUMP: For those here illegally today who are seeking legal status, they will have one route and one route only -- to return home and apply for reentry like everybody else under the rules of the new legal immigration stem.

SERFATY: The billionaire vowing to swiftly expel millions who have overstayed their visas and undocumented criminals.

TRUMP: I am going to create a new special deportation taskforce focused on identifying and quickly removing the most dangerous criminal illegal immigrants in America who have evaded justice, just like Hillary Clinton has evaded justice, OK? Maybe they'll be able to deport her.

SERFATY: Insisting he will detain and remove anyone caught crossing the border.

TRUMP: We are going to end catch-and-release.

SERFATY: And force other countries to take back their citizens who have been ordered to leave the U.S.

TRUMP: There are at least 23 countries that refuse to take their people back after they've been ordered to leave the United States. Not going to happen with me, folks. Not going to happen with me.

(APPLAUSE)

SERFATY: And declaring he will block funding from the 300-plus so- called sanctuary cities across the country.

TRUMP: Cities that refuse to cooperate with federal authorities will not receive taxpayer dollars.

SERFATY: But Trump is not saying how he would deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.

TRUMP: Only the out-of-touch media elites think the biggest problem facing American society today, and you know this, is that there are 11 million illegal immigrants who don't have legal status.

SERFATY: As for anyone who wants to live and work here --

TRUMP: To choose immigrants based on merit, merit, skill, and proficiency.

SERFATY: Trump says they will be up against extreme.

TRUMP: We are going to suspend the issuance of visas to anyplace where adequate screening cannot occur. Another reform involves new screening tests for all applicants that include an ideological certification to make sure that those we are admitting to our country share our values and love our people.

SERFATY: Trump also renewing his commitment to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.

[08:05:00] TRUMP: And Mexico will pay for the wall, believe me, 100 percent. They don't know it yet, but they're going to pay for the wall.

SERFATY: Hours earlier, a more measured and softer tone on display as Trump met with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

TRUMP: We did discuss the wall. We didn't discuss payment of the wall.

SERFATY: But after Trump left the country, President Pena Nieto disputes that, tweeting, quote, "From the start of the conversation, I made it clear, Mexico will not pay for that wall."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SERFATY: And the Mexican president added in an interview late Wednesday, he says that he believes some of the positions Donald Trump has taken are a threat to Mexico. Now, the Clinton campaign, meantime, they are responding to Trump's speech, saying in part, quote, "He showed us very clearly what's at stake in this election by painting a picture of his idea of America, one in which immigrants are not welcomed and one in which innocent families are apart." Chris?

CUOMO: All right, appreciate it, Sunlen. Joining us now with more on that speech and Trump's visit to Mexico is Democratic vice presidential nominee Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia. Senator, good to have you.

SEN. TIM KAINE, (D) VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Hey, Chris. Good to be with you.

CUOMO: So, do you think that Hillary and/or you should have gone to Mexico? And do you think letting Trump go wound up allowing him to play to advantage?

KAINE: You know, Chris, Hillary has spent time with President Pena Nieto, and I have been to Mexico within the last 16 months as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Hillary's paid many visits there.

Hillary yesterday thought it was important to give a speech to the American Legion, to go to talk to that prominent veterans' organization about the role of America in the world. So that's what she was doing while Donald Trump did kind of a photo op fly-by where he didn't even have the nerve at the last minute to bring up this issue about the wall. This is the central piece of his campaign, immigration and deportation, and we're going to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it. But when he looked President Pena Nieto in the eye, he couldn't even bring that up. That was a choke, and I think it shows that diplomacy is not for amateurs. Donald Trump's an amateur.

CUOMO: But isn't diplomacy about the soft sell? If he had gone in there and looked at Pena Nieto and said you're going to pay for that wall, whether you like it or not, wouldn't you have jumped on top of him saying look how harsh he is, you can't trust him in these kinds of sensitive situations?

KAINE: I think diplomacy is fundamentally about honesty and candor and standing up for the values that you believe in. And so Donald Trump has been saying for months, we're going to build a wall and Mexico's going to pay for it. If he really believed that, when he was sitting down with President Pena Nieto, why not even bring that up?

And then he goes back, and then to the hometown audience, he gives this fiery speech, language of division. You know, this is the language that everybody has used against every immigrant group, no Irish need apply. They used it against the Irish. They used it against Italians. They used it against Jews from Eastern Europe. This is a language that there's a segment of demagogues have used. It's language of division.

We're not going to be a great nation by being deportation nation, 11 million people, plus Donald Trump has said he wants to take American citizenship away from 5 million kids who have been born in this country. So let's make it 16 million people. We're not going to be great by having a deportation taskforce to kick 16 million people out of this country.

CUOMO: You don't believe it's a winning strategy on the issue, harshness aside, to say, look, they're here illegally. They've broken the law. You either respect the law or you don't.

KAINE: I think the winning strategy that Americans want to see is a reform of the immigration system which hasn't been reformed since 1986. And there are bipartisan principles -- you know, in 2013 in the Senate we did a bipartisan bill. Hillary has said in the first 100 days we're going to sit down, and 30 years after the date of the last immigration reform under President Reagan, we're going to basically put these pillars in place, and the pillars will be give employers the tools to check the I.D. status of employees, create a difficult and rigorous path for people who are willing to pay taxes, follow the law, get a background record check, to work over a period of years to earn the right to citizenship and do border security.

We had significant border security in the Senate bill we passed in June of 2013. We could have been doing that now, except the Republican House refused to take up the bill or do their own bill. We need to push to do a comprehensive reform. It's not about deportation. It's about a comprehensive reform that can help our economy grow and that is true to our nation's values.

CUOMO: Well, deportation will have to be a part of it, right? I mean, even under the Obama administration you've had a record number of deportations, depending on how you --

KAINE: Yes, prioritize the deportation of violent criminals. That's something that we definitely think is important. And look, if you're trying to deport 16 million people, you're not focused on the deportation of the people who are violent, who pose the most risk.

[08:10:05] We want to focus that energy on the folks who cause the greatest risk to public safety, not have these deportation squads that are going to be separating families. It's an unrealistic plan, and I think Donald Trump knows that it's not going to work. And that's why today there's been reports that his key, many of his key Hispanic advisers are now separating themselves from the campaign because of what he said last night.

TRUMP: What about sanctuary cities?

KAINE: Look, I was a mayor and I was a governor. I trust the voters of communities to hold their mayors and their police departments responsible. When Donald Trump kind of goes after these phantom sanctuary cities a talks about how bad they are, basically what he's going after is police chiefs. And I trust police chiefs in terms of knowing what should be done to keep their communities safer and police departments and mayors a lot more than I trust Donald Trump.

CUOMO: But why do you say "phantom"? You know that there are places that refuse to cooperate with ICE, and they have their assembly of different reasons for why they do it, but sanctuary cities are real. They exist. They're not phantom. And a lot of people believe that, you know, you have those people being rewarded for not working hand in hand with ICE.

KAINE: Let me give you an example from when I was governor. There was a program back then where some cities were joining in a program with ICE to essentially be deputized to do the work on the immigration service. My law enforcement officials, who are tough law enforcement people, came to me and said do not do this, because if the immigrant community starts to sees us as immigration, they won't call and complain about crimes in their neighborhood, they won't be witnesses in cases. Instead what you need to do is work with the community to protect and

serve them and let ICE do their job. And so, we also had a rule that when somebody was in prison or jail and their sentence was coming up, we would let ICE know about them if they weren't a citizen. ICE could make the decision about whether or not they would want to take action. But the notion that you turn police departments against immigrant communities actually -- in the eyes of most police officials makes the police less able to do their job to prevent crime.

CUOMO: Let me play you some sound from Trump of what he accuses your campaign of when it comes to this issue of immigration, because it's getting so much attention right now.

KAINE: Yes.

CUOMO: Then let me have you respond point by point. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: President Obama and Hillary Clinton support sanctuary cities. They support catch and release on the border. They support visa overstays. They support the release of dangerous, dangerous, dangerous criminals from detention. And they support unconstitutional executive amnesty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Now, some of those wind up folding into the concept of what sanctuary cities do, that catch-and-release concept, visa overstays, which winds up falling into that same category of when the localities pick up these cases that they don't want to make or they don't want to be able to hold people that long without any reprieve from the federal government, and then dangerous times three, criminal detention, that those people wind up getting let go of the same way. How do you defend that proposition?

KAINE: Look, what we support, Chris, is comprehensive immigration reform. And this is something that Hillary Clinton has said we're going to do in the first 100 days of the administration.

The basic pillars are going to be somewhat similar to the bipartisan bill that the Senate did in 2013. The details will be different because we're going to be working it out with the House. But we need to do a comprehensive reform after 30 years.

And, you know, the sad thing about this is if the House had just acted back in 2013, we could have had border security, we could have had help for employers, we could have had a hard and rigorous path to citizenship for those who are willing to play by the rules and pay taxes. That's the kind of reform that the American public wants. That's the kind of reform that we're going to deliver. And that is a huge contrast between a Donald Trump idea, which is the core of it is build and deport millions and millions of people. I think he knows that's not going to happen. I think he was too embarrassed even to bring it up because it wouldn't pass the straight-face test when he met with President Pena Nieto. And, you know, I think he's perpetrating kind of a con and a line on people by saying this, and he is showing that he is a person who is more interested in than uniting us.

But there is a way to reform our system, and we're going to work to reform it in a way that is in accordance with our values.

CUOMO: There is criticism of the campaign that you should be much farther ahead, especially after the month that Trump has had. And the question then becomes, why not? Certainly there are big unfavorables for Hillary Clinton at this point, about 59 percent. Trump is about 60 percent, depending on the poll.

[08:15:02] Another criticism is that you're playing his game too much, senator, that you spend a lot of time talking about Trump instead of making the kind of positive case that you guys made during the convention that gave you your biggest bump so far. What do you make of that?

KAINE: Well, look, when we went into the conventions, it was essentially a dead heat. When we came out of the conventions and then it settled down after the bump, we feel good about where we are nationally and in the key battleground states. But you're right, it's close.

This is not going to be easy. And I've never for a minute, from the time I encouraged Hillary Clinton to run in April 2014, never for a minute have I thought this was going to be smooth sailing. I thought this was going to be a tough, tough campaign, and that's why we're out making the case every day.

And I'll say this, Chris, we came right out of the convention talking about jobs, and that's what I talk about everywhere I go -- the difference between a Hillary Clinton jobs plan and a Donald Trump jobs plan and what the independent economists who look at the two plans say about it. The Clinton plan will lead to an economy that's grown by 10.5 million jobs at the end of a first term, and a Trump plan will lead to an economy that is in recession and has lost 3.5 million jobs.

And this is the moody's economic analysis firm that is not partisan. It's a difference between a "you're hired" president and a "you're fired" president. We do talk about the policy differences that are significant on the issues that Americans care the most about.

CUOMO: Why do you think that Trump is getting traction out of idea that Hillary Clinton is you're doing you rallies, but you don't do press conferences, you don't come on the media, and do interviews like this as often as he and his team do. It's getting some traction, not just with us.

Why do you think that is?

KAINE: Yes, well, you know, whether it's getting traction -- let me just go to it. Hillary talks to the press every day and so do I. Hillary isn't hiding.

I heard in a clip before I came on, you know, one of the Trump spokesperson said while Hillary Clinton was hiding, Donald Trump went to Mexico. Hillary was talking to the American Legion yesterday! One of our country's proudest veterans organizations in Columbus.

Is talking to the American Legion hiding? She did a press conference within the last month when she spoke to the National Organization of African-American and Hispanic Publishers, where there were mainstream media members who are part of that press conference who asked her questions.

We talk to the press every day. We're on the trail making the case every day.

Now, Donald Trump can say whatever he wants about it, and he's going to, but we're out making our case and we're talking to the press while we're doing it.

CUOMO: Senator Kaine, thank you for joining us on NEW DAY -- appreciate it.

KAINE: You bet, Chris. Great to be with you, man.

CUOMO: Always.

Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Let's get perspective from the other side. What is Trump's immigration plan exactly, and what's missing from it? Trump campaign adviser joins us next to break it all down.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:21:32] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Another reform involves new screening tests for all applicants that include -- and this is so important, especially if you get the right people, and we will get the right people -- an ideological certification to make sure that those we are admitting to our country share our values and love our people!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Donald Trump insisting a Trump administration would pick and choose the immigrants permitted to enter the U.S. based on a series of extreme vetting requirements.

Here to discuss Trump's immigration is Trump adviser and former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, retired Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn.

General, thanks so much for being here.

LT. GEN. MICHAEL FLYNN (RET), TRUMP ADVISER: Hi, Alisyn, how are you doing?

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about what we just heard there, Donald Trump say in his speech ideological certification. What is that?

FLYNN: Now, I think what we have to recognize is that people that come to this country come to this country because they want to live under our Constitution and basically live under the value system that the American idea is about. So, I think that's really what we're talking about.

CAMEROTA: So, what would that look like, ideological certification?

FLYNN: Yes, I mean, I think the details of it -- I'm not going to sit here and tell you that there's a set plan right now, but I would just say that when we look at people that come into this country, one of the things that we have to do is make sure that they understand what it is that we are about, that the United States is about. And I think that's why people, want to come to this country. I think that that's why the want to come in droves to this country.

But I think the idea of coming here legally, under some methodology that we have in place that allows people to understand what America is all about, the ideals and the principles and the values that our country was built upon, you know, for many, many centuries now.

CAMEROTA: Don't immigrants already have to take a test about our Constitution? Don't we already ask them about their mind-set and their ideology?

FLYNN: Yes, so, I think that the legal process that we have right now, obviously, is broken down. It's just not working. And I think that we don't -- even as Donald Trump said last night, we really don't even know how many illegal immigrants are in this country right now.

So, there has to be a much more structured legal process. It has to be absolutely relooked. I mean, it's not working and, if anything, it's probably too slow in how it works. So we've got to --

CAMEROTA: In terms of vetting people, it's too slow.

FLYNN: Yes, in terms of vetting people. And also this notion of -- you know, I think that the real issue, and this is where I think the difference is -- the Democratic Party in this country wants to bring refugees into this country for the Democratic Party, not for America. And I think that that's also something that we see also for the African-American community and the Latin American community.

CAMEROTA: Let's explain what you mean by that, because I mean, aren't you founded on bring us your tired, your hungry, your poor?

FLYNN: Absolutely. Absolutely.

CAMEROTA: So, Hillary Clinton has called for 65,000 Syrian refugees. They need help.

FLYNN: They need help, but, you know -- I mean, I think the other side of that is what are the countries in the Middle East doing for these people as well? So I mean, it's not just -- you know, we really have to take a hard look at who these people are and where they're coming from and how can we understand who they are if there is absolutely no documentation?

So, do we just all of a sudden bring 10,000 people here, plop them in somebody's backyard? I mean, in who's backyard?

[08:25:01] Is it in New York? Is it in Indiana? Is it in California?

And then how do we then, you know, smartly, very thoroughly and methodically vet them to understand who they are? Are they able to assimilate into our country? And at some point in time, if they cannot become legalized, how do we return them to their country of origin there's so much going on here, and our problem is that we don't have a plan. There is no plan. It's just take them, drop them in somebody's backyard --

CAMEROTA: Well, not exactly. They are vetted. There is vetting --

FLYNN: How are they vetted?

CAMEROTA: It takes 18 months for a Syrian refugee to get from here to there because of all the questions they have. They go through the U.N., they go through the State Department. There is vetting that exists now.

FLYNN: So, take a look at the vetting processes. I'm telling you, the vetting processes are not that good.

You've heard our Department of Homeland Security and many, many others in the law enforcement community that have said we cannot do a proper, thorough vetting of the people coming in here. Frankly, there's too many.

And, Alisyn, we're talking about 10,000 here when we have the problem with 10 million. I mean, we don't -- again, we have a massive, massive problem in our country that is causing our own country to have national security problems internally.

CAMEROTA: OK, so, 10,000 Syrian refugees this year have been admitted and 10 million is the number you're using for the undocumented immigrants.

FLYNN: We don't even know. Illegal. Illegal. Illegal. The undocumented is a politically correct way of saying illegal.

CAMEROTA: They are not here legally because they had overstayed their visas in many cases. I mean, there are 6 million, estimated.

FLYNN: That's illegal.

CAMEROTA: Fine. What is the deportation force idea? How do you get them out?

FLYNN: How do you get them out, where?

CAMEROTA: Out of the country, what Donald Trump is calling for?

FLYNN: Yes, I think it's just -- it's a great idea. It is a task force-like effort that's led by very professional people in the law enforcement legal community. And I think in sort of the homeland security umbrella, under a Homeland Security umbrella, and really working with the attorney general's office, I mean, the Department of Justice.

So, there is a range of sort of interagency cooperation that's going to have to happen to be able to bring together this notion of, and then to prioritize who it is. So those that we know that have committed crimes already, and in some cases they are in custody, in other cases they're not in custody but our law enforcement professionals at local and state know where they are. So, we can go after certain individuals in some sort of priority and begin to move them back to their countries of origin, because it's not just Mexico. These are people that are coming from all over the world, but they're cutting through the southern border primarily.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely. So, the plan is with Donald Trump to go to their homes with a deportation force and take them? And how do you get their country to accept them back again?

FLYNN: So, you're talking about people who are here illegally.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

FLYNN: So, they're here breaking the law.

CAMEROTA: Sure.

FLYNN: And you take them and you arrest them or you detain them, however --

CAMEROTA: With the deportation force.

FLYNN: However you want to do it, however you want to call it, and then you return them to their country of origin. And that has to be determined based on where they're from.

CAMEROTA: But you and Donald Trump think that it will be easier than what ICE is currently doing?

FLYNN: I think what ICE needs to do is ICE needs to be -- and as Donald Trump said, he talked last night about tripling the size of ICE. I mean, ICE needs help. CPD, the Customs and Border Protection needs help. Our law enforcement community needs help and the resources to be able to do some of this.

But absolutely. I mean, the folks in ICE, and I know many of them, they are not only underresourced, but they're ready to do this. They've just not been allowed to do it.

CAMEROTA: General Flynn, thank you for explaining where you and Donald Trump are with immigration. Nice to have you here.

FLYNN: Nice to be here. Thanks.

CAMEROTA: Let's get to Chris. CUOMO: All right. No big surprise, Alisyn. There is an angry

reaction south of the border, and not just at Donald Trump. Why Mexicans are upset with their own president, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)