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Outrage Over President Trump's Tweets; White House Defends Trump After Shocking Tweets; First Lady: When Attacked He Punches Back "10 Times Harder"; House Panel Votes To Force Debate On Military Authorization; Remembering The Granite Mountain Hotshots; Interview with Rep. Barbara Lee. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired June 30, 2017 - 07:30   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[07:30:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where does the President draw that line on the dignity of the office?

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: I think that he shows that every day in the decisions that he's making, the focus and the priorities he's laid out in his agenda, but he's not going to sit back and be attacked by the liberal media, Hollywood elites. And when they hit him, he's going to hit back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLARRISA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All right. White House Deputy Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is defending the President's shockingly personal tweets targeting a cable news host. This morning Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough are responding saying in a Washington Post op-ed, "We, too, have noticed the change in his behavior over the past few years. Perhaps, that is why we were neither shocked nor insulted by the President's personal attack. The Donald Trump we knew before the campaign was a flawed character, but one who still seemed capable of keeping his worst instincts in check."

Well, joining us now to discuss is CNN Political Commentators, Ana Navarro, and Amanda Carpenter, along with Lena Epstein, Candidate for the United States Senate in Michigan and former Co-Chair for the Trump Campaign in that state. You know, during the commercial break I started to write out a list of all the women that President Trump has publicly disparaged. I'm getting a little bit of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome here: Heidi Cruz, Megyn Kelly, Carly Fiorina, Katy Tur, Sarah Murray, Rosie O'Donnell, Arianna Huffington, Cher, Ruth Bader Ginsburg; we're talking models, were talking journalist, we're talking Supreme Court Justices.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: You don't have Pocahontas in there, that's what he called Senator Elizabeth Warren.

NAME: Ana, what is going on here?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I think you've got a very immature man who has not made the transition into being Presidential and never will, who is thin-skinned, who cannot take criticism, who has surrounded himself by enablers. Yes, men and yes women, who know that their jobs depend on them nodding their heads and defending every insane, wacko thing he says. And I think he thinks he can get away with it, that he bears no cost for doing these things.

And I've got to say, until now, we haven't seen him bear a cost. He's been able to do this as a private citizen. He's been able to do this as an entertainer. He's been able to do this as a candidate. And for the last six months, he's been doing it as President-elect and President. But I have to say since I think he's beyond repair, I've got to talk to the people around him. Some of whom I knew before, they were drinking a lot of orange Kool-Aid. That's not who they are. And you cannot feed your principles and your convictions for what a job. It's just not worth it.

Our children are watching, our children are learning. The damage this is doing to the Presidency of the United States, the damage this is doing to our moral fiber, to our country. The way we are viewed by domestic and foreign policy allies and enemy, it is just too high a price to become a yes man and yes woman to this level of insanity.

CUOMO: And yet, Lena Epstein, I see you nodding in a sense. But I have a Twitter feed filled with the defense of the President that he is fighting back against the two critical media, that he was sent there to be disruptive. And by the way, most of them are putting him to shame in terms of the level of profanity and negativity that they bring to the discourse. So, you know, does the President deserve a defense here as he is getting from his base?

LENA EPSTEIN, (R) CANDIDATE FOR SENATE IN MICHIGAN AND FORMER CHAIRMAN OF TRUMP CAMPAIGN: Good morning. I think it's an incredibly unfortunate discussion that we're having this morning. The American viewer that's watching is concerned about the issues of will I have a job tomorrow, will my kids have health care, will there be educational options, will there be safe borders, will my neighborhood exist safely? I feel really sad today that we're having this conversation. I think that we all need to be accountable for ourselves and our actions.

I want to address something Ana said a couple moments ago. The people that the President has surrounded himself with are very fine individuals. He has not surrounded himself with yes men and yes women. In fact, the President has challenged the status quo and has said that he wants political correctness to go out the window, so that we talk about the critical issues facing the American people. The American people spoke up loud and clear in 2016 that they are looking for better representation in the White House. People that will address their concerns about safety, health care, job creation, economic growth. Our President is focused on that on a daily basis. Why are we not bringing these messages forward instead of this unfortunate conversation battle between media and --

[07:35:41] CUOMO: Because, Lena.

AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Because the President undercut all these good Republicans at every turn that he gets. Listen, I feel sorry for the Republicans who feel compelled to defend this. If you want to know why we're not talking jobs, Kate's Law, the great economy, which I'd love him to do, is because he can't control himself on Twitter. He has hang-ups about women that are stopping him from the political success that should be his. He's dragging us into it.

And I feel most sorry for the women who are closest to him, particularly his wife and daughter. He has undermined the good initiatives they have tried to set out to accomplish, particularly, when it comes to cyberbullying and empowering women in the workplace. With one tweet he cyber bullied Mika, a powerful female working mother with a tweet. He went after her face. And so --

EPSTEIN: And let's be clear though --

CARPENTER: If he says that to his own family? How can any Republicans go to the White House and negotiate with him in good faith?

EPSTEIN: Let's be clear.

CARPENTER: Now, I think Republicans have to find a way to do it.

CUOMO: All right. Hold on. Amanda, let Lena -- let Lena, respond to the points. Lena?

EPSTEIN: It's really important to respond. It's very important to recognize that there are individuals on cable news networks that spend their entire career, morning, noon and night, earning a living by criticizing President Trump. And I agree with what Ana said earlier, it does undermine the office of the President and ends up hurting the American people. As a woman who has interacted with the President, I have been treated with nothing but kindness, grace, and respected by a man who surrounds himself with wonderful women who work well with him. There -- we have to get away from this.

CARPENTER: How many times have we heard this, and then he undermines it? I mean --

(CROSSTALK)

WARD: Hold on a second, ladies.

CARPENTER: Tell me, why?

NAVARRO: Lena, let me remind you that for the last eight years we had Barack Obama in office. I can tell you that right-wing media, I can tell you that people like me criticized him very strongly and vehemently. Eight years before that, we had George W. Bush; left-wing media and many, many people criticized him vociferously, said horrible things about both men. Neither of them lashed out in this immature, babyish way that Donald Trump does because they understood that they were no longer just themselves. They were no longer just those men. They were the President of the United States. They were representing us all. And the requirements of that office are higher than the requirements for any other job in the land. I can assure you if Chris Cuomo did the things and said the things that Donald Trump did, every woman in the building would throw shoes at him. And when he got home, it'd be even worse. And at best he'd be suspended, at worst he would be fired.

EPSTEIN: I just want to remind the American --

WARD: Let me touch on something you said, Lena. Hold on one second, Lena. I wanted to ask you because you mentioned the point of political correctness and this is a President who came in saying, we've got to get rid of this political correctness thing. Do you draw a distinction though, between political correctness and just common decency?

EPSTEIN: That's a great question. I would love for the whole Twitter conversation to go away across the board. I would love all of us to elevate beyond. And to the American viewer that's watching this morning, I would like to assure you that Washington -- there are so many lawmakers, so many wonderful leaders that working hard for you today, whether it's within the Trump administration, Members of the House, Members of the Senate. Please rest assured that while you're watching this banter about Twitter and unfortunate conversations coming out of every direction, we will be working hard on behalf of the American citizen.

CUOMO: But hold on a second, Lena. Hold on a second.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Hold on a second. Hold on. There are four boxes, so you've got to pace yourself a little bit. Lena, here's the point. You're talking about what you want to say to the American people and you're very earnest when you do it. You have no message for the President of the United States. This isn't about a Twitter conversation. Don't cheap in it that way.

This is about the nature and content of the words that the President of the United States uses for his critics and often even his allies. It's not about the forum. This isn't about Twitter versus Instagram. This is about what he says. So, you have a message for the American people. You have no message for the President of the United States? You endorse everything he said about Mika Brzezinski? Do you agree with what he said?

EPSTEIN: I would like the entire Twitter banter to go away --

[07:40:06] CUOMO: Of course you would, because it's hurtful to someone you want to support. But if you want to be a leader, you need to step up, my friend. Do you endorse what the President said about Mika Brzezinski?

EPSTEIN: I would never, ever, ever want one human being to disparage another human being.

CUOMO: Then say that. Then say what the President said was wrong about Mika Brzezinski.

EPSTEIN: You're trying to pressure me to say something I'm not willing to say.

CUOMO: Yes. Yes, I am. Why not?

EPSTEIN: OK.

CUOMO: Why not? If you want to be a leader and you want to call out what's wrong, do it.

EPSTEIN: I'm saying the whole conversation is wrong. We need to get back to the issues that Americans and your viewers --

CUOMO: Decency and how our President treats other human beings, especially women is a meaningful issue.

EPSTEIN: How is the media in --

CUOMO: And that's a meaningful issue also. And if the media is wrong, it should be called out. But you know what? There's one President and there's a lot of media. There's one person at the top of the chain. There's one ultimate leader, and there's a lot of media. Do you want to put him on the equal footing with Mika Brzezinski in terms of whose words matter more? Come on. Ana, go ahead, make your point.

EPSTEIN: I have said many, many times that it's -- I said many, many times that it's OK to disagree with the President. I have disagreed with the President, but it's now time for us to move forward.

NAVARRO: Last night I heard former Congresswoman trying to also bend herself into pretzel shapes. I told her she sounded like she was passing a kidney stone, she sounded so pained and so cringed. I feel the same way about Lena. I almost want to give you a hug. And the reason she can't bring herself to say it is because if you criticize Donald Trump, you then are out of favor.

EPSTEIN: I have said this morning --

NAVARRO: You know what I wish would happen, I would wish -- let me just finish. What I wish is that the Republican women in Congress would get together and would demand a meeting, a face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump and would maybe go and explain to them what it means to their children, what it means to their daughters, what it means to them to hear these hurtful words, this kind of objectifying of women. You know, it's time for the leaders to step up and make him accountable because the people around him are not going to do it.

CARPENTER: Donald Trump is not going to change --

WARD: Let's let Amanda get a word.

CARPENTER: Yes. I would really like Mitch McConnell to try and say something because of everybody piles on Paul Ryan. But here's the thing: Donald Trump is not going to change. And I worked for Ted Cruz; we criticize our leadership all the time. It should not be hard for Republicans running for office, sitting in the office to say, he shouldn't have written that tweet. He needs to stop this. Don't spread the blame on the entire Twitter conversation and act like everyone is responsible for what the President responds to. It's not. Just say it was wrong. He needs to stop. He should take it back. He should apologize. Have some dignity.

WARD: Lena, do you support that??

EPSTEIN: I've been very clear by saying the entire Twitter conversation needs to stop for the better interest of the American people.

CARPENTER: OK. So, we're going to eliminate all of Twitter because the President can't control himself online.

EPSTEIN: That's not what I said. I'm speaking specifically about the banter.

CARPENTER: We know exactly what you're saying. We know what you're saying.

NAVARRO: And I would love to add world hunger. Look, yes, I would like world peace and would like to end world hunger. But since we're not doing that either, in the meantime let's focus on what we can do, which is to confront the indecent actions, words, tweets of the President of the United States. If you can't bring yourself to do that, then you've got to tell the people who you want to work for you, I cannot bring myself to criticize the President of my own party, and that's what you are voting for if you support me.

CUOMO: Final word, Lena.

EPSTEIN: I stand behind a man with America first policies. I stand behind the policies and what the office represents. I am proud to do that on behalf of the American people.

CUOMO: All right, ladies --

NAVARRO: Make America gross again.

CUOMO: Ladies, thank you. I got the effort and thank you very much. Ana, Amanda, thank you very much. Lena, I hope you get to enjoy your families over this holiday break. Thank you for having this important conversation with us.

So, there is a news item that should not be neglected. The authorization for the use of military force that our President and the Executive are operating off right now is from 2001 designed to combat al Qaeda. There is a big vote in Congress that may change that, that may force the President to make the case to use military force in Syria and elsewhere. We're going to talk with the Representative behind an unexpected move, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:46:16] CUOMO: President Trump ignoring reporters' questions about his tweet yesterday when he insulted an MSNBC anchor. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, do you regret your tweets this morning at all?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, how do you get China to cooperate with North Korea?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, no regrets over your tweets you sent out this morning?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Now, fair point to be made, that was a solemn moment. You saw the soldiers there saluting the troops there. So, was that the right moment to respond? Maybe not, but he's going to have plenty of opportunity after criticizing yet another woman in the news in a way that is certainly deemed inappropriate.

Joining us now is Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee. She sits on the appropriations and budget committees. Let's talk policy first because this matters. On this show, we have been reporting and testing constantly on the idea of why the president, this president, Obama and Bush before him, have been allowed to take military action often in a way that seems legally to clearly exceed the authority in the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force. You were against that 2001 AUMF. And now you're saying, it is time to have the President make the case and have another vote from Congress. Make your case.

REP. BARBARA LEE (D-CA), BUDGET COMMITTEE: Hi, Chris. What I wanted to make sure I make clear is that three days after the horrific attacks of 9/11, Congress passed a 60-word resolution that was a blank check. It authorized the use of force in perpetuity, forever, unless we repeal it and end it. It really set the stage for perpetual war. Secondly, this resolution has been used over 37 times in many countries unrelated to the terrible attacks. And we have to go back to the drawing board. Congress needs to do its job, repeal this amendment and come forth with a debate and decide whether or not we're going to continue to authorize or authorize -- reauthorize wars that were not covered under this 2001 resolution.

CUOMO: Fair criticism that one of the main reasons that we are in this situation that you just describe is because of Congressional inaction, and you can even suggest cowardice, a desire not to own the military realities, to allow president after president to take that authority that really belongs with you under the constitution, to declare war in some of these circumstances, practically, because you don't want to own it. Fair criticism?

LEE: Absolutely. Congress is missing in action, but we were elected to do our job. The constitution requires us to engage in matters of war and peace. And so, if you ask me, today, given where we were 16 years ago and where we are now, we're building bipartisan support as we witnessed yesterday in the Appropriations Committee. The American people deserve better. They want us to do our job, and we must insist that we have a Congressional debate and vote for these new wars that we're engaged in.

CUOMO: Well, also because Syria is an animal of a different stripe here than what we've dealt with in the past, because functionally, it seems like the President and many in Congress supporting the move, would be endorsing a regime attack. Because Assad, no matter how he has enabled ISIS from his own action and inaction, is not seen as a terrorist group, right? This is a regime in charge in Syria, and that's what you would be attacking if you do further military action. That's a meaningful distinction, is it not?

[07:49:52] LEE: It's a distinction, but also, we do not have a strategy. And what the President must do is come to Congress, lay out his strategy and allow members of Congress to do our job. We should debate the strategy. Do we believe that the use of force is warranted, and do we believe the strategy is correct? Vote yes. If we don't, vote no.

There'd be -- there would be many forms of an authorization that would come to us, but we need a debate. And, Chris, minimally, that's what we did yesterday, and I'm very pleased that after so many years and after working with Democrats and Republicans, I mean, this it's been 16 years that we were able to finally come to some bipartisan agreement that we should at least repeal the 2001, and come to Congress for a debate and a new authorization, if in fact, that's what the Congress insists on.

CUOMO: And while I have you, what do you want people to know about the President's penchant for attacking people, whether it's on Twitter, or in person, or however he does it, what do you think is important for people to know about this latest round of invective?

LEE: Well, first, it's disgusting. I have three granddaughters, two grandsons, girls, women, boys, men, should really feel very sad, first of all, and we do not think -- I do not think -- I think the public really is outraged that this is way beneath the dignity of the Commander-in-Chief, the President, the highest officer in our land, and I think that it's very -- it's very childish. It's mean-spirited. It demonstrates a pattern of denigrating women. Not only recently, but throughout his life, and it's very shameful, and I hope the public insists that he apologize, and really hopefully people around him let him know that this is not presidential, but when you look at the policies that he puts forth as it relates to women.

For example, defunding Planned Parenthood, an organization that provides health care services for women. So when you look at his policies, they're very mean-spirited toward women. Another example of just his views and his very horrific acts, I think, as it relates to his position as President, which reduces the power, I think, and the meaning and the status of the Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful country in the world. It's shameful.

CUOMO: Congresswoman Barbara Lee, thank you for being on NEW DAY. Appreciate it.

LEE: Thank you.

CUOMO: Clarissa?

WARD: Thanks, Chris. Well, exactly four years ago, 19 Arizona firefighters died in one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history. Today, a bell will ring for each of them during a memorial for the Granite Mountain Hotshots. CNN's Martin Savidge spoke to their loved ones at a site dedicated to them for going beyond the call of duty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These are the last images of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, preparing to fight the fire that would kill them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Granite Mountain Hotshots, we are in front of the flaming front.

SAVIDGE: A wind shift later sends flames racing towards the team, trapping them in the Box Canyon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our escape route has been cut off.

SAVIDGE: All 19 men died. In the aftermath, friends, family and officials worked to preserve the now-hallowed ground and the memories of those lost.

SUE BLACK, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ARIZONA STATE PARKS & TRAILS: We had to get it right. We had to get it right.

SAVIDGE: The result is a memorial like no other that will test your heart as well as break it.

BLACK: This is a good example of the hallway.

SAVIDGE: A rugged seven-mile trail climbing more than 1,000 feet up the side of a mountain.

Is it hard to come here?

DEBORAH PFINGSTON, ANDREW ASHCRAFT'S MOTHER: Yes and no. No, because I know Andrew is in heaven.

SAVIDGE: 29-year-old Andrew Ashcraft was one of the hotshots killed. His mom remembers him returning from other fires covered in soot, a smile on his face, smelling of smoke as he hugged her.

PFINGSTON: After we lost him, there were times I would say to my husband, could you just put a fire in the fire pit. I just need to smell Andrew for a minute.

SAVIDGE: On the trail, there are carefully-placed plaques every 600 feet.

Which means every so often, you meet a new member of the crew. This is Andrew, Deborah's son. The last part of the trail is the hardest of all, a 600-foot descent following the same path that the Granite Mountain crew did that day. It's tough physically, but it's very tough emotionally, because you end up here.

The place where the men made their last stand. Iron crosses marking where each firefighter was found tightly clustered. The men were as close to each other in death as they were in life. Among them, Karen and Jim Norris' 28-year-old son.

KAREN NORRIS, MOTHER OF SCOTT NORRIS: Scott was fun-loving and adventurous and he really enjoyed making people laugh. This is a very emotional and very sacred place to me.

[07:55:02] SAVIDGE: It's sacred to another family as well. Firefighters can often be found here, like this Montana crew hiking up during our interview.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got to hug you. A mom's got to hug. OK.

SAVIDGE: Four years after the deaths of 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots, their memorial is a trail for remembering, and a path towards healing. Martin Savidge, CNN, Yarnell, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: An important piece to do and well done. Our thanks to Martin Savidge and to the families of those men who really were trying to serve in a time of need.

All right. Coming up, the President's tweet leading to a bigger discussion. This isn't about Twitter, it's about decency, it's about how our leader, the most important man in the world, decides to conduct himself and represent the rest of us, next.

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