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White House Dreamers Deal; Trump Feuding with GOP; Weinstein Fired After Allegations. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired October 09, 2017 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:30:00] REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT (D), NEW YORK: We saw the reaction from our leaders in the Democratic Party, both Senator Schumer and Leader Pelosi. They're alarmed that this is the -- what he brings forward as a negotiation proposal. Obviously, this is very aggressive.
The wall is not -- is a nonstarter. Beefing up -- he's putting together his mass deportation machine by hiring 10,000 new ICE agents that will then go and arrest and deport the parents of dreamers. Does this really make any sense? Unaccompanied children that come from places that are really being held hostage by MS-13, the folks that he says are very dangerous, he wants them sent back to very dangerous places in the world. The triangle countries that are gripped right now and are facing real challenges with gangs and MS-13. So is this our nation? Is this the United States of America.
BILL WEIR, CNN ANCHOR: Right.
Representative Espaillat, we appreciate you coming in this morning.
ESPAILLAT: Thank you so much. Always.
WEIR: Thanks so much.
President Trump taking on the establishment Republicans again. Will his attacks on Senator Corker hurt his chances to get anything through Congress. A debate is right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:35:13] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: The president attacking top Republican Bob Corker, who the president will need in order to push his agenda through Congress.
So, what's the strategy here? Let's bring in CNN political commentator Ana Navarro and CNN political commentator Ben Ferguson.
Great to see both of you.
BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.
CAMEROTA: Ben, what's the strategy of going to war -- a public war with Bob Corker?
FERGUSON: Well, I don't -- I mean I think the president's pretty clear about this. He thinks that Bob Corker is someone that is coming after him in a way that he doesn't appreciate. He's going to fight back very clearly. Bob Corker has not helped this president in the Senate. When the president's tried to be open with him, have him over to the White House and work with him, pretty much every chance that Bob Corker's had, it's been to undermine the president. And that's the reason why he's having to retire.
Look, in Tennessee, I do a radio show there every day. Bob Corker was not going to get re-elected. There are a lot of citizens in Tennessee that are very upset, very angry with him, feel like he's been a fraud, a rhino, a Republican in name only and that's why he had to retire.
So I think, look, having this fight, I don't think it necessarily does any damage because when the president's been nice to him and worked with him, Bob Corker has not led on the issues he promised his voters in Tennessee that he was going to lead on, and that's the reason why he's being forced to retire now because he knows he was going to lose otherwise.
CAMEROTA: Like what? I mean I'm just curious, before we get to Ana, what is he not conservative enough on?
FERGUSON: Well, I mean, I think many people believe that, one, he messed up completely with the Iran deal, the nuclear deal, and that's where he lost a lot of support. Second of all, they don't feel like he's led on the issue of immigration reform very much. He has not led on Obamacare the way that he promised he was going to and go out there, in his words, he said, I'm going to fight hard to repeal and replace Obamacare. He's been a guy that's played both sides of these issues by saying one thing to his -- the voters that elected him in Tennessee, and then he's done another thing when he's in Washington.
CAMEROTA: OK.
FERGUSON: That's why -- again, he's got -- he's retiring for one reason. It's because he knew he was going to lose in this next election. He knew that the people in Tennessee realized that he -- they have -- he's defrauded them. And so having a public fight with the president here, I don't know if there's any downside for Donald Trump for the fact that Corker, when they have played nice, has done nothing for him.
CAMEROTA: OK. Ana, what do you think?
ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I think -- I think it's refreshing to hear Republicans say publicly what so many of them have been saying privately. And any 12-year-old kid in middle school can tell you that if you let yourself be bullied once, you're going to be bullied twice and thrice and the rest of your life.
So I think Bob Corker, right now, is un-muzzled. He's got nothing to lose.
And, look, Bob Corker is a guy who is not a career politician. Much like Donald Trump, he is a businessman. He was a very successful businessman. In fact, I think he never declared bankruptcy, certainly not four times. Very successful guy in Tennessee. He's older now. He can do whatever the hell he wants. He can say
whatever the hell he wants. And I think that's what you are going to see.
So you really -- you know, as a Republican, you've got to kind of scratch your head because you've got Donald Trump at war with John McCain, the chair of foreign -- you know, the chair of Armed Services Committee. You've got him at war with Bob Corker, who's the chair of Foreign Affairs Committee. These are major committees. These are things where he needs to get things through and things passed if he's going to have any legislative accomplishments.
So, yes, he's, you know, scratching the itch right now, because we all know Donald Trump has no impulse control. And when his Twitter fingers gets itchy, he shoots, you know, from the hip. That being said, at some point he's going to need to get appointments through Bob Corker's committee. Every ambassador needs to go through that committee. If he decides to get rid of Tillerson, whomever replaces Tillerson needs to get through that committee. He's going to have to get legislation through that committee. He needs Bob Corker. It's an integral part of foreign policy for the United States.
CAMEROTA: Yes. And what about that, Ben?
FERGUSON: Here -- I -- but, wait --
CAMEROTA: But, hold on, what about that, Ben, what she's suggesting, which is, it might be satisfying to have this fight with Bob Corker, as you say, Ben, but how is it helpful?
FERGUSON: Sure. Well, let me say this. I'm going to quote Bob Corker. He talked about the -- you know, and referred to the president as, you know, day care center at the White House and someone didn't do their job this morning, referring to the president. I would say that exact same quote to Bob Corker and he should read it every morning. It's his job so settle a personal score with the president and not do things that he promised the voters who voted him in that he was going to work on because you have a childish vendetta against the president and now you want to walk out there and beat your chest as you're going out a loser because you can't get re-elected in Tennessee because you lied and defrauded the people that put you in.
The -- Bob Corker's job is not to have a war with the president or settle a score. His job, if he wants to be taken seriously, as Ana described him, as a serious man who's an honest politician is to do his actual job. And as a senator, he should do his job.
[08:40:05] If he says the president's acting like a child, then you need to act like an adult and do your job and not make up or change your vote on an issue or not let someone come through the State Department because you don't like the president personally.
CAMEROTA: Well, I don't know. I mean I -- I hear you. Listen, I hear you, Ben, but it sounds like what Bob Corker is doing is engaging in some radical honesty. I mean he is doing -- he is being -- it's --
FERGUSON: No, it's not honest --
CAMEROTA: From his perspective.
FERGUSON: It's not honesty when you -- when you only say it because you're not running for re-election. That -- I mean that's being a coward. Being honest is someone who is actually willing to say it when he was running for re-election.
NAVARRO: You know --
CAMEROTA: I just don't know that. I mean we can't get into his head. We don't know what his motivation is.
Go ahead, Ana.
NAVARRO: Look, actually, you know, we started seeing Bob Corker be critical of this president way before he decided on whether he was running or not running for re-election. You will remember that post- Charlottesville, Bob Corker was critical, publically, of Donald Trump's reaction, or lack thereof, to the white supremacists marching in Charlottesville. And it was very powerful because it was coming from a southern man representing Tennessee.
I ran into Bob Corker just a few weeks ago. He had still not decided whether he was running or not. I urged him to run. He's decided not to run. But, you know, this is a guy who represents the United States, right, and yet we are trying to put a higher standard on him, and higher scrutiny on him, as far as not engaging in childish fights and name calling, than we are on the president of the United States. Leadership comes from the top. And if we have a 71-year-old man baby as president, the senators have every right to call him out as so.
CAMEROTA: Ana, Ban, thank you very much for the debate.
FERGUSON: Thanks.
CAMEROTA: That's one of Ana's favorite expressions.
WEIR: Man baby.
CAMEROTA: Man baby.
WEIR: She's got so many.
Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein fired from the studio bearing his name after new relations come to light, allegations of sexual harassment. Will his takedown lead to any kind of change in Hollywood or is it just the question (INAUDIBLE). We'll get into it, next.
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[08:45:22] CAMEROTA: Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein fired from his -- the studio that bears his name amid allegations of sexual harassment. The revelations come in a "New York Times" expose that reveals decades of settlements with at least eight women.
Joining us now is CNN's senior media correspondent Brian Stelter and founder and editor-in-chief of thewrap.com, Sharon Waxman.
Brian, it feels like we've seen this movie before.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: It sure does.
CAMEROTA: It seems -- a very -- what's happening with Harvey Weinstein seems like a lot of things that we've reported on that's happened with Roger Ailes. I mean Bill Cosby's obviously in a category of his own. But it seems like these things are reaching ahead after decades of allegations or years of allegations, secret settlements, now it's bringing down this incredibly powerful man.
STELTER: We're seeing more and more light finally applied to these dark corners of the media business. Whether it's the news business at Fox News, now the entertainment world with Harvey Weinstein. I highly doubt that Harvey Weinstein is the last mogul that we're going to hear these allegations about. But here we are, only four days after "The New York Times" published its expose and Weinstein's been fired. His name is going to be taken off of the company he founded.
He's had no comment. I'm told by a source, he thought he might be fired, but h didn't think it was going to happen so soon. And he's had nothing to say, which is uncharacteristic for Harvey Weinstein. He was always a volatile guy. Someone prone to anger. And now, all of a sudden, he finds himself unemployed after being really at the top of the Hollywood world.
WEIR: Sharon, you know, he is as close to the old style, old Hollywood star maker as exists out there. So a lot of people interested to see the condemnations from stars who, you know, he sort of angeled their careers over the years. Rose McGowan has been very vocal on Twitter saying, you are complicit if you don't step up. Are you seeing any change in the conversation given a man of his stature now?
SHARON WAXMAN, FOUNDER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THEWRAP.COM: I think that you will for sure. But I think people are a little bit stunned at the speed and the severity of what's happened here. So he's been such a big figure for such a long time. And many people do owe their careers to him. I can't -- we can't -- I can't even think of the number of times that we've seen him thanked from the podium at the Oscars. And so I think people have to -- really kind of have to process this.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
WAXMAN: I also want to contextualize a little bit. You know, I'm seeing out on Twitter and everybody like, everybody knew all the time. Nobody said anything. I would say that this was a kind of open secret among the very elite of the industry. And I would say that women have heard the rumors.
But this is not an easy thing just to throw around.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
WAXMAN: You know, it's kind of easy to point fingers and say, hey, you didn't say anything. There's libel issues. There's serious legal issues. You can't just throw it out there saying everybody knows that Harvey Weinstein is a dot, dot, dot.
CAMEROTA: Right, and --
WAXMAN: So we needed the women to come forward.
CAMEROTA: Yes, and --
WAXMAN: This has been an issue constantly is that the women have not been willing to speak out. Understandably, right? They are afraid for their careers. He's a powerful man. There have been -- there's legal nondisclosure in the issue -- instance of a payoff. But this is not -- this is not a culture of silence so much. So it's more than --
CAMEROTA: Listen, I mean --
WAXMAN: It's a lot of things that come together to make it difficult to talk about.
CAMEROTA: Absolutely. And you faceted on all of them. And, Brian, we saw this again back to two summers ago with Fox. The settlements and the nondisclosure make it impossible legally for the women to come forward.
STELTER: That's right.
CAMEROTA: And he's so powerful. Now the women say, you know, he was a rain-maker. They didn't want him to ruin their careers. I mean this is how it works, you know, absolute power corrupts absolutely. And he --
STELTER: Lisa Bloom, for example, one of his lawyers, had a deal, had a financial deal with him for one of her books. All of those kinds of relationships in Hollywood.
CAMEROTA: And, in fact, I mean it was Sharon who tried to write about this for "The New York Times" in 2004 and only now are we all talking about it. So is there -- is this a tipping point?
STELTER: I would say the world is incredibly different now than it was ten, 20 years ago. Even 10 years ago, 2005, the "Access Hollywood" tape is recorded at NBC. Donald Trump talking to Billy Bush. That tape was buried on a shelf at NBC, didn't come out for 11 years. Sharon was doing this reporting a decade ago. Others were trying to do this reporting a decade ago.
In the case of Fox News and Roger Ailes, I admire the way you spoke about Ailes' harassment. Something that was happening inside the corridors of Fox News almost 20 years ago and yet it didn't come to light until Gretchen Carlson sued last year. We are at a tipping point in this country because of the power changes, the changes in the power dynamic. But we're not through it yet. We're only in the middle of these changes. There's a lot more to come.
[08:50:17] WEIR: Sharon, do you think it is a tipping point?
WAXMAN: I agree with Brian that we're at a -- we're in a very different era than we were even ten years ago. I think, again, there's a number of things that have to happen. Organizations have to be willing to change. The Weinstein Company board decided that this was intolerable. And I think that Harvey Weinstein has been stunned himself that that is the case because he is the company.
STELTER: Ah, interesting.
WAXMAN: Right? So I exclusively reported last night that they are likely to change the name of the company. That raises a big question, what is the Weinstein Company without Harvey Weinstein. And so -- and, also, again, as I said before, women need to come forward and have to be willing to speak. They have to -- it's a risk, but they have to do it. And up until now, Lisa Bloom had been one of the lawyers who's out there as providing a voice and providing support and encouragement to the women, for example, of Fox News who came out and spoke after all of those years.
So it has to be -- it has to be the -- Hollywood as a culture has to say, we will not tolerate this. Organizations have to say they won't tolerate this. And the women have to lean in and say, we are going to speak up and not be afraid. Whether or not anyone believes us, we will speak.
CAMEROTA: Sharon Waxman, Brian Stelter, thank you very much.
All right, how about some "Good Stuff"?
WEIR: "The Good Stuff."
CAMEROTA: Let's do that next.
WEIR: All right.
CAMEROTA: Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:55:30] WEIR: Time for "The Good Stuff." A Las Vegas couple wants to give back after surviving the massacre. James and Diana Swaz (ph) ran to their pickup truck when the shots rang out, yelling for other concert-goers to get in the back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES SWAZ, LAS VEGAS MASSACRE SURVIVOR: In reality it was only a few minutes, but it felt like we were running forever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEIR: Now, that couple paying it forward. It turns out they own an auto body shop and they are offering free repairs to the good Samaritans who helped transport all of those victims to the hospital out there. Beyond the cost of a bumper repair, or something, it's community pulling together.
CAMEROTA: Absolutely. Absolutely. And we've seen that so well in Las Vegas. Thanks so much for being here. Great to work with you, Bill.
WEIR: Great to be here.
CAMEROTA: All right, time for CNN "NEWSROOM" with Poppy Harlow. She'll pick up after this very quick break.
