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Trump Seeks to Drive Message Before Midterms by Tweeting Racist Anti-Immigrant Video; Trump Tells Reporter 'I Do Try' to Tell the Truth; More Funerals Held Today for Synagogue Attack Victims. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired November 01, 2018 - 07:00   ET

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

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are sending 15,000 troops. For what purpose? To keep breastfeeding mothers and shoeless children from being able to seek asylum?

[07:00:09] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will always protect Americans with pre-existing conditions.

JOE BIDEN (D), FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're either not telling the truth or they're really stupid.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The choice right now isn't even about the candidates in front of you. It's about America.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY.

President Trump this morning ramping up his fearmongering by tweeting out an outrageous video suggesting that somehow Democrats are plotting to help Central American killers come to America. The president is trying to spark outrage. He's trying to drive media coverage just five days before election day.

Now a source close to the White House tells CNN, quote, "It's clearly working. We are all talking about it and not healthcare."

The president also says he wants to send 15,000 troops to the border with Mexico; and he continued his constitutionally-challenged claim that he alone could end birthright citizenship with an executive order.

The president's words do appear to be having an impact in some red- state Senate races, putting Democrats on the defensive.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's having the inverse impact, as well, though. We've heard House speaker Paul Ryan push back against some of the president's claims, and the president has been told by Republicans in two swing states, "Don't come here." Nevada, Arizona, there are crucial Senate races there, but CNN has learned that Republican campaigns in those states have asked the president to steer clear, as the polls show tight races there.

The president also made a glaring admission overnight, a stunning statement. He told ABC's Jonathan Karl, "When I can, I tell the truth." "When I can," he said, as if it happens when it's convenient.

Joining us now, Democratic strategist, CNN political commentator Maria Cardona; former special assistant to President Bush and CNN political commentator Scott Jennings; and CNN political analyst David Gregory.

And Scott, I want to start with you here, because I want to make one thing crystal-clear. This video, which is offensive. It has clear racist overtones. It's not an ad. They're putting no money behind this. This isn't going up in states around the country to get in voters' faces here. It has one singular goal, Scott, and that goal is?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: He wants to scramble the cable news conversation, and obviously, they are succeeding at that. It's actually, John, the second ad the Trump Organization has released this week. Two days ago, they released a very optimistic ad that talks about American optimism on the economy. They put $6 million behind a national commercial buy on that.

So the real closing argument for Republicans is on the economy. The Democrats have run a very focused campaign on health care. The other major issue that people care about is the economy. That's the space where voters trust the Republicans and trust the president. And that's where they're putting their money. You can always tell what people are really caring about. You put your money where your mouth is. They put the money behind the economy ad.

CAMEROTA: So Scott, what do you think the point of this ad is and do you think it's a racist video?

JENNINGS: Well, you know, I'm not -- this video is simply a visualization of everything the president talks about virtually every single day. There's nothing in this video that we haven't heard the president say himself at a rally and at a press conference or anywhere else. The ad is designed, I think, to scramble the cable news conversation heading into the election. They like to watch the cable news fights occur over things --

CAMEROTA: But why? A sense -- if you're saying that they're making people feel good about the economy --

JENNINGS: -- that they've played in their -- I just think it's a --

CAMEROTA: So why do they want to deflect to something that many people do see as racist, since it goes after immigrants?

JENNINGS: I think that they know that there are two kinds of audiences at the end of a mid-term election. There are the people who are really locked into the cable news conversation. They've already decided how they're going to vote. They don't mind to scramble those people. But then there are the voters who are trying to make up their mind. They're watching their local newscasts, and they're seeing the ad about the economy. And those are the ones they're trying to influence.

So I think it's a two-track strategy. It's a bifurcated strategy. And I think you're going to see the president continue to talk about his favorite topic, immigration, while the Republican campaign apparatus puts its money behind the real closing argument: good news on the economy.

BERMAN: I stalk Scott on the other shows he appears on here on CNN. And he did say he didn't think this was the right closing argument, to the extent that the president is focused on the things that are going on in this ad.

And Maria, to you, when you see this -- and I use the word -- I really don't want to use the word "ad," because it's not.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right.

BERMAN: It's a video, and the intents are clearly different there. I think it speaks volumes about the president's mindset that he's willing to stoke a conversation, he's willing to provoke by doing something that has racist overtones?

CARDONA: There's no question about that, John. In fact, that's a huge understatement. Of course, he wants to inject racism, bigotry, xenophobia, divisiveness in these last days during the campaign. Why? Because I think he's afraid.

[07:05:07] I think Republicans are afraid. This reeks of desperation. It reeks of the Republican Party not just being morally bankrupt, because they are willing to use this kind of racism five days before an election; but it also shows that they are bankrupt in terms of ideas. They are bankrupt in terms of solutions. They don't know how to compete with Democrats with -- on health care. Frankly, on an economy that works for everybody. You don't see Republicans running on their tax cut, which was supposedly was, you know, one of the biggest feathers in their cap.

But I've got to tell you, John, when I saw this ad it made -- it literally made me sick to my stomach. As an immigrant, as a Latina, as a mother with Latino children who have seen what this president is doing to this country.

I think that what this does is it will certainly rile up his base, and it works to do that. But I also think it's going to rile up and mobilize Americans across the board, including Latinos, including suburban women, including Americans who want to bring back decency, to say, "You know what? This is not appropriate. We're going to actually vote for leaders who have a backbone and who have the willingness to stand up to this kind of racism and bigotry from the White House."

CAMEROTA: David, how do you see it? DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think it's what's --

this is -- it's all of those things. It's just a caricature of the problem of immigration.

And again, it raises the question, given what John points out, this is not an ad. This is meant to reach only the president's followers and his social media followers --

CARDONA: There's 55 million, though.

GREGORY: Right, well, there's a lot of crap on social media that doesn't deserve a lot of attention.

CARDONA: Right.

GREGORY: But I think what's clear about this is -- is the extent to which the president, as part of a closing argument, is both deploying himself and has asked to be deployed in those areas where he can turn out the base.

Remember the fear, going back about a month ago, is that his supporters would think, "Well, things are going well enough. Let's not talk about the economy." You know, and they wouldn't show up to the polls. So this is what they're using to try and drive -- especially in Senate races.

I think this kind of messaging, all of the talk about immigration and birthright citizenship, it only hurts vulnerable Republicans in these suburban districts --

CARDONA: Yes. That's right.

GREGORY: -- where Republicans are already vulnerable. So this is really shining a light on the fact that the president has got a very narrow strategy, making it about him, but only in those states where he feels he can drive out his own supporters.

That tells you where Republicans are in terms of the confidence about the Senate and feeling, in many ways, that the House might be beyond their grasp now.

BERMAN: And Jeff Zeleny -- our Jeff Zeleny, in fact, is reporting that Republicans in Arizona and Nevada, which are swing states, with large Hispanic populations, Republicans have said, "Don't come here. Not here, Mr. President." He does have an extensive travel schedule, more extensive than I've seen in past presidents.

David, I want to put this question to you, because I can hear it in your voice, the gravitas in your voice and the blue-steel look, that you care deeply about truth, deeply about truth. So -- so to you in particular --

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I thought we were going to talk about "House of Cards." We'll get to that? OK.

BERMAN: He has more lines than we do in "House of Cards," which is what he's talking about there.

GREGORY: I was only -- I was approached, basically, for my -- my artistic background, you know, for this.

BERMAN: Yes.

GREGORY: Anyway, sorry.

BERMAN: But we digress from the truth.

GREGORY: Yes.

BERMAN: Jonathan Karl -- used to be a competitor of yours, David Gregory -- did an interview with the president last night, and the president made a stunning admission about his view of truth. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I do try, and I always want to tell the truth. When I can I tell the truth. I mean, sometimes it turns out to be where something happens, it's different or there's a change, but I always like to be truthful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: He likes to do it when he can, David. That's -- just a breathtaking --

GREGORY: I like to take my kids to school when my schedule allows, as well, since I can't do it all the time.

Look, I mean it's -- what's sad about that is that it really gives you the insight into how the president looks at the kind of carnival-like role that he sees the presidency, which is -- and in his interview with Jim VandeHei on Axios, he was talking about, almost in somber tones, "Look, I do some of these things. This is how I got here." This is part of almost the reality show that is his presidency.

So I think it's a sad thing for any president to say, like that, and it just shows you there's an amount of cynicism and -- and fear that's involved, particularly in speaking to his supporters.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Hey, Scott, I want to play that Axios interview, because I do think that it is a real insight into why the president keeps going after the press.

And, look, again, I don't think that we can say it enough. This is at the tail end of a very violent week, where the same people that the president has targeted were then targeted by a serial bomber; and the same language that the president has used about immigrants was used about a suspected mass murderer at a synagogue. So the president's words matter.

[07:10:22] Here's how he sees it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JIM VANDEHEI, AXIOS: What scares the crap out of me is that when, if

you're saying "enemy of the people, enemy of the people," God forbid --

TRUMP: I have to fight back.

VANDEHEI: But just one second. God forbid that, like, somebody -- you've got fervent supporters and they love you. They listen to you. "Enemy of the people, enemy of the people."

TRUMP: They like me more because of that.

VANDEHEI: They like you more, but what happens if all of a sudden, someone gets shot, someone shoots one of these reporters?

TRUMP: Jim, I fully -- I fully --

VANDEHEI: I don't think you think we're the enemy of the people, do you?

TRUMP: I don't, I don't. But if you gave me false reports, I would say that's not a good thing for our country.

VANDEHEI: But don't you worry at all? You are, like, the most powerful person in the world, and if you say that word, "enemy, enemy" -- literally tens of thousands of people go into a stadium to listen to you, and then people go on social media, and they get themselves so jazzed up. There's got to be a part of you that's, like, "Damn it, I'm scared that someone is going to take it" --

TRUMP: It's my only form of fighting back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Scott, what do you think of that response?

JENNINGS: Well, the president is locked in this combat with the press that started, you know, from the minute he really got into the presidential campaign. It's only gotten worse. I personally wish it would get better, because I think democracy demands a trusted free press. When the president says you can't trust the free --

CAMEROTA: Do you think he could perhaps lead the way to it getting better?

JENNINGS: Well, I don't know. I mean, this is a chicken and an egg. I don't know who's going to take the first step. My hope would be that we do have more press credibility with all people in both parties by the time the president leaves office.

But right now the gulf between -- it strikes me between how the president views the press and how the press views the president is as wide as it's been since he took office.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

JENNINGS: And it is worrisome. We have to have a trusted free press.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

JENNINGS: And I look at the Pew Foundation studies they do on these things. People don't trust it.

CAMEROTA: Perhaps --

JENNINGS: And -- and it's not -- it's not a good condition for our democracy at all.

CAMEROTA: Maria, do you think that the president's words have power?

CARDONA: Yes!

CAMEROTA: Do you think that the leader of the free world should perhaps set the tone?

CARDONA: Yes, they do. You know what else we have -- you know who else we have to have trust in, Scott? The president of the United States.

And what he does every single day when he opens his mouth is prove why we cannot trust him and why he is unfit to lead.

I think what -- where do we go from here, right? We have heard the president say that he can tell the truth only when he can. When he was talking about the caravan, he talked about how, oh, look, the crowds are a lot larger than what they seem on TV. And you know, he's an expert on crowd size, right?

Clearly, this president cares more about size than he does about truth. And to us, that means that we have a big decision ahead of us, not just in the midterms but come 2020. Because clearly, this president is not going to change. So it is on us. It is on the American citizens who really, truly believe that this country should stand up for truth and for its American values. Go vote, everybody.

BERMAN: Five days. Five days until the midterms. David, hold it. We'll hold it until the next discussion.

David Gregory, Scott Jennings, Maria Cardona, thank you all very much.

CARDONA: Thank you.

BERMAN: Coming up in our next hour, we're going to speak to Florida's gubernatorial nominee; Andrew Gillum will be with us. The president had a lot to say about the mayor last night. This will be the mayor's first chance to respond.

CAMEROTA: Pittsburgh, of course, is still grieving as they lay to rest the victims of the synagogue attack. The man who has become America's rabbi, with his words on healing and ending the hate, joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [07:17:40] CAMEROTA: Three more victims murdered inside that Pittsburgh synagogue will be laid to rest today. Funerals will be held for husband and wife Bernice and Sylvan Simon, married for more than 60 years. And services will also be held for Richard Gottfried, who cared for the community through his dental practice.

We want to welcome Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of the Tree of Life Synagogue.

Rabbi, thank you so much for taking time to talk with us again this morning. We know you've had a very emotionally-taxing week. You had funerals that you presided over yesterday, and then you'll have more today. How is the entire community coping this week?

RABBI JEFFREY MYERS, TREE OF LIFE SYNAGOGUE: It's been very hard. There's nothing that can prepare a community, particularly my congregation in particular, to bury seven dear friends. And they're hurting, they're in pain. I can see it on their faces as they attend funeral after funeral. There's sort of like this anesthetic numbness that's overtaking people, and it's a really very difficult time.

CAMEROTA: I'm sure you are personally exhausted. How are you tending to your congregation?

MYERS: As I think about that, I turn to the Psalms, because they give me comfort. And one of the Psalms, the opening reads, "I lift my eyes to the heavens. Where my -- where will my strength come? It comes from God, maker of heaven and earth."

Just God is just giving me this strength, because I can't even say I'm running on fumes. There are no fumes left in the tank.

CAMEROTA: We have not spoken to you, Rabbi, since President Trump and his family came to visit your synagogue. What can you share about the words that you exchanged with the president and what happened during that time?

MYERS: I was introduced by Ambassador Ron Dermer from Israel to the president and the first lady and to Jared and Ivanka. After we shook hands, I escorted the family into Tree of Life.

I was privileged to have a private 15 or 20 minutes with the family. The president was very warm, very consoling. He put his hand on my shoulder, and the first question he asked me, was, "Rabbi, tell me, how are you doing?"

[07:20:05] And I must say, throughout the time we spent together, I was pleasantly surprised by a warm and personal side to the president that I don't think America has ever seen.

I told my personal -- I told my personal story of my experience, which they found quite shocking and upsetting. We talked. I shared the same message that I've shared with you throughout the course of the week, that hate speech has no place in our society, that hate speech leads to actions of hate. Hate speech led to the death of seven of my congregants and 11 total in my building.

And we shared more, other personal conversation that I'd respectfully like to keep personal.

CAMEROTA: Understood.

MYERS: With him, lit -- we lit 11 memorial candles in our large sanctuary, because the chapel is still a crime scene and is not available, as well as, honestly, I've been through it a few times. I don't know how people would react to see that horror. It's seared in my brain, and it's a sight I'll never forget for the rest of my life.

So after we lit the 11 memorial candles, I chanted, as I've done at all the funerals so far, the memorial prayer in Hebrew and in English.

The president then asked if I would escort him and the first lady to the makeshift memorial outside the Tree of Life that I think all the press has shown over the course of the week. The president placed a stone on each monument, the first lady a white rose. And I gave them a bit of a background story about each person, because it was a human being who lived, who was a good, decent person; and the president needed to know something about these people. Because they, too, were his -- his citizens.

CAMEROTA: Rabbi, you have been so consistent in saying to us on our air and everywhere about toning down the hateful and hurtful rhetoric. And since so many people do feel that President Trump engages in that, I just wonder, was he receptive when you asked him, or when you told him that you believe that all of us should tone down the hateful rhetoric and that hateful rhetoric leads to hateful actions? What was his response?

MYERS: He listened. I would say his -- the answer to your question would be to take a look and see, OK, post-visit, how -- what has the president continued to do? And I don't need to answer that, I think. You and the public can formulate their own answer.

But I don't foist the blame upon any one person. I think it's -- it's a national issue. I've been getting hate mail, people who have said vile and mean and nasty things about me and that I shouldn't have met with the president. And what they don't get is that their language is equally hateful and that hate cannot -- is not how you fight hate. You have to fight hate with love and compassion and understanding. And that's been my consistent message, and that's why I met with the president, to share that same message.

CAMEROTA: Have you gotten more hate mail or letters of support?

MYERS: Yes. I've -- I'm still getting hate mail, but I'm grateful that the vast majority of the mail that I've been getting, the e-mail, is supportive from not just American citizens but from people around the world, who appreciate my remarks. And those remarks uplift me, although I must say, it's overwhelming, the mail. I can't keep up with it. For every email I read, three or four pop up on my phone simultaneously. And we're a small synagogue. I don't have the capability to respond to people in that manner. I've got 1,600 e- mails right now. I -- I just can't get through it.

And we've got, I think, what 17,000 on our server. How do you cope with that?

CAMEROTA: Maybe when you come on our show, you can speak to everyone.

And so what are we to do, Rabbi, with people who don't seem to heed the message, with people who don't seem to change or tone down the hate talk? Then what?

MYERS: We need to have consistent, strong leadership from all of our elected officials. Because they're -- they're the models for us. When they speak in a manner that is hateful, all Americans see that; and it gives them permission to behave the same way. I look to all of our elected officials, not any one person but all of them, to condone [SIC] hate -- I don't mean hate speech and anti-Semitic words; all hate and anti-Semitic words, but all hate speech.

So if you're running for reelection, don't speak ill of your opponent, speak. Speak what's good about you.

CAMEROTA: Rabbi, I --

[07:25:08] MYERS: And we can begin to see that message from -- that will change what Americans see. That is a different tone in America. It has to come from our elected leaders.

CAMEROTA: I want to talk about two examples of that that I think are really shining lights at the moment.

So the Muslim community in Pittsburgh that has tried to wrap their arms around your synagogue. So "Muslims Unite for Pittsburgh Synagogue." Here's their statement: "We wish to respond to evil with good, as our faith instructs us, and send a powerful message of compassion through action. Through the campaign, we hope to send a united message from the Jewish and Muslim communities that there is no place for this type of hate and violence in America."

As of this moment, they have raised close to $224,000 for your synagogue. There that is.

Next, I want to show you what an Iranian immigrant, a student who is studying here in the United States. He took it upon himself, because he was so grief stricken by what happened at the Tree of Life Synagogue, to set up a GoFundMe page. As of this morning, it was more than $1 million.

What do you have to say to all of the people --

MYERS: Yes.

CAMEROTA: -- who are trying to wrap their arms around you in this way?

MYERS: My initial response is wow. That's overwhelming. I think that demonstrates the goodness in human beings, first on a local level. I met the imam. He and I had never met before; we were strangers. The goodness and warmth out of him is remarkable, and it -- I think it speaks loudly to all people around the world that love can defeat hate.

And in both examples, that complete strangers from around the world respond to this horrific act with acts of generosity and love shows us that there are plenty of good people out there. And it uplifts me, and it gives me strength to move on, because in the end, the good will win.

CAMEROTA: Rabbi, what happens this weekend at your synagogue and for your congregation with the sabbath, with the anniversary of one week since this mass murder?

MYERS: Well, for I and the few people that did survive; in particular for me, when 9:50 chimes on the clock, it's going to be a painful moment, because that will have been the exact moment when the shooting began. I don't know how I'll be at that moment. I honestly don't. But we're working on plans that all three congregations, we're going pray together, and we're going to hold each other, and we're going to comfort each other together; and we'll get through it together.

CAMEROTA: And are other people in the community, are you hearing from the Muslim community and people of other faiths who would like to be involved in those services?

MYERS: Yes. The -- complete strangers have been sending e-mails. They want to come into town. They want to worship with us, people of the Jewish faith, people who are Christian, people who are Muslim, the Sikh community. It's just astounding, and it's uplifting and it's very comforting. It shows that there is much good in America. Americans just don't see enough of that.

CAMEROTA: That's a wonderful message. Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, we appreciate your words, which have also been very comforting to Americans and just people around the world. And thank you very much, even in your grief, of sharing this with us. Obviously, we are praying for you and thinking of you. And we will talk to you soon, Rabbi. Thank you.

MYERS: Thank you, Alisyn.

BERMAN: It is so comforting to hear him. and I hope people everywhere are listening to everything he says there.

And the other thing that is clear to me is, you know, Rabbi Myers' work is just beginning. I mean, he's got his work cut out for him in the next few days.

CAMEROTA: I mean, you can hear how he doesn't know how he's going to get through it all, through thanking everybody, through responding. And he's a man who always wants to respond to every e-mail. And through comforting the entire Squirrel Hill community and beyond. I agree, his work is just beginning.

If you'd like to help the families of the victims, you can go to CNN.com/impact. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)