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Trump Joins World Leaders to Pay Tribute to D-Day; Republicans Threaten Revolt Over Trump's Mexico Tariffs; Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) is Interviewed about Republicans Threatening to Revolt Over the Issue of Tariffs. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired June 05, 2019 - 07:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: This is one the president could lose outright.

[07:00:04] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As we move forward, we'll see some results.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Perhaps among my colleagues, we'll move towards protecting America.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. And welcome to your NEW DAY from New York.

Overseas, you just saw President Trump deliver a prayer at a ceremony in England --

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Almighty God --

BERMAN: -- marking 75 years since D-Day. It was on June 5 from Portsmouth, England, that so many of the troops departed for the ultimate landing on Normandy Beaches the very next day, June 6.

The great crusade, as Dwight D. Eisenhower called it. The president, President Trump, is one of 16 heads of state to attend this ceremony. We will hear from Queen Elizabeth in just minutes.

The real guest of honor -- look at this, so emotional -- some 300 D- Day veterans. They're all older than 90.

CAMEROTA: That really gets me. Just seeing them all there and knowing their sacrifice and knowing how long they've lived and how much history they've seen.

BERMAN: They got the queen standing for an ovation there.

CAMEROTA: That's just incredible. So while the president is overseas, he's facing a revolt back home,

but this time, it's not from the Democrats. For the first time, senators in his own party appear to be banding together against one of the president's proposals. So the issue that got the caucus to crack -- tariffs on Mexico.

Joining us now from Portsmouth, England, is Abby Phillip, CNN White House correspondent. And from Washington, we have CNN political analyst David Gregory and Susan Glasser, CNN global affairs analyst and staff writer at "The New Yorker."

David Gregory, just give us -- just a lay of the land of what we're seeing and the significance of it overseas, juxtaposed to what's happening here.

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you know, when a president is overseas, you expect criticism to stop at the water's edge. We've seen that really discarded in the Trump presidency going both ways, obviously, with the president in the middle of the night attacking his political opponents and celebrities, as well. Anybody who comes his way.

But it is -- you know, you have the pageantry of the president on the world stage. And what's even more significant is what he is celebrating as a run-up to D-Day, which is the liberation of Europe. Really, saving the world led by American efforts in World War II and the creation of a world international system, post-World War II system that the United States would lead and that would be very important moving forward that, in many ways, this president has not seen the advantage of or has not made a priority.

At the same time back home, we're wondering whether this is the first time Republicans will take a stand against their president on the issue of immigration, on the issue of tariffs, lifting up the idea of free trade, speaking out against something that becomes, in effect, a tax hike on Americans, particularly in border states, where you'd have tariffs being levied against Mexico and perhaps trying to force the president to reach some kind of accommodation short of imposing these tariffs.

We haven't seen Republicans challenge him this way before. It appears they have to votes to do that, to at least try to pressure him to back down from what he's talking about, this -- this escalating tariff against Mexico.

BERMAN: And Susan Glasser, just in terms of America's place in the world, I keep reading and re-reading the famous letter that Dwight Eisenhower wrote and sent on June 6. And it's filled with the idea of collective security and internationalism, in company with our brave allies and brothers in arms, Eisenhower wrote. He actually refers to the United Nations, which is before the actual founding of the United Nations, as we know it today.

And it's just interesting to think back to 75 years ago and that message of internationalism. And to put it in contrast to some of the ideas that we're hearing today. SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: It's striking how that has

been the message that you've heard from the queen, herself, from the prime minister of Great Britain. I'm sure when the president goes to France, he'll hear something similar from President Macron, why.

Probably the signature so far of Donald Trump's foreign policy over these last two and a half years has been a pretty systematic assault on the idea of America as a partner, America as an ally. Perhaps first among partners. But nonetheless, the leader of a multilateral alliance.

This is really, more than anything else, I would say, the signature of the Trump administration when it comes to its position about the United States in the world. And it's the biggest contrast.

You could argue that, on many other foreign policy issues, the president essentially gets a grade of incomplete so far. You know, he's begun talks with North Korea. They haven't seemed to lead anywhere. He's withdrawn from the Iran nuclear deal, ratcheted up the pressure. But now talking about having talks.

[07:05:08] So you know, we're not really certain where many of the president's foreign policy initiatives lead.

What we can say most definitively is that I think we will look back upon definitively is I think we'll look back upon this period as a period of an enormous Trump-induced stress test on America's alliances. And these festivities, it's as if they're designed to appeal to one man and to say to the president of the United States, do what your country has done historically and lead.

CAMEROTA: Here are the words of the prime minister, Theresa May, we'll say to all of your points. She says that "This is a very significant moment in our shared history. We will together reflect on the continued importance of the western alliance for all our country's security and prosperity," Abby.

I mean, she's just using, you know, very, I think, significant weighted words to impart the message that they've been trying to do. And I just wonder if you have any reporting that any of this is changing the president's world view.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's really not clear yet.

But Alisyn, you're totally right. This entire trip has been about an education for President Trump. It's been about every person around him trying to impart on him the importance of America's role in the world. Even the queen giving him, as a gift, a copy of first edition of Winston Churchill's book on World War II.

And -- and Theresa May showing him around to -- to the war room, showing him all of the various things that they keep here in the United Kingdom as evidence of this longstanding alliance, and it's partly to show President Trump that this isn't about the United States being taken advantage of, which is typically how he talks about a lot of these post-war alliances and post-war systems that he has described, actually shared defense, as other countries in Europe, taking advantage of the United States' military might.

But today -- and I think all of the events of this week have been about showing that the United States leading has been -- has been one of the reasons that there has been peace and prosperity for 75 years. And that that is not something to simply throw away. And that the U.S. gets as much out of it as Europe gets out of us.

So this has been about show and tell for President Trump, whether or not he will read Churchill's book. I don't know whether or not he will internalize this. I don't know.

But I think the White House would also say that, even as much as the president has criticized these institutions, he hasn't actually tried to undermine NATO. He hasn't actually tried to dismantle these institutions. That's their version of it, but I think there is so much anxiety here in Europe about the president's stance. And this is why there's been such a full-court press to try to get him on the same page as the rest of Europe on this.

BERMAN: David, I won't ask you to analyze the president's prospective reading list. What I will ask you is to dive into more of what's happening in the city where you are right now, which is Washington, which is this really unprecedented threat of a Republican revolt on the tariffs on Mexico, which would raise prices for Americans on all kinds of goods, which would hit the Mexican economy with results that can't be predictable. One of the results could be that it would increase illegal immigration over the U.S. border.

And you are seeing Republicans speak out publicly against the president's position in ways we haven't before. I want to play Mitch McConnell. He doesn't go the furthest out on the limb, but for Mitch McConnell, it's pretty far. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): There is not much support in my conference for tariffs. That's for sure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will you try to block the tariffs?

MCCONNELL: Well, what I'm telling you is we're hoping that that doesn't happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: He's really hoping it doesn't happen. They don't want this to come to a vote. But they may need to threaten that they would just in order to force the president's hand here, David.

GREGORY: Well, that's the point. So Mitt Romney, as well, senator from Utah, has made the point that he is hopeful that the administration will essentially back down, will find some way to apply pressure to Mexico on the flow of immigrants without imposing tariffs. So this is a tax argument that Republicans are making. It's a free

trade argument. But it's a broader economic argument, as well. They're trying to speak in the language that this president certainly understands, which is economic growth, the sustainability of that growth, and the impact on financial markets, all of which have been rattled to the point where the Federal Reserve chairman is talking about perhaps having to lower interest rates to sustain economic growth.

These are things that, in general, a president would be paying attention to and, certainly, Donald Trump heading into a re-election campaign will pay attention to.

So it's significant that Republicans are willing to take this stand. But we should note this is relatively safe ground for them to oppose their president. They're not opposing him on a hardline immigration stance. They're making a tax argument that it will hurt -- it is a tax hike and will hurt his -- his constituents in key states.

[07:10:11] CAMEROTA: Yes, I agree with you, David. I mean, safe ground, but still, Susan, notable. Because as you know, for two and a half years, pundits have said, what will be the moment? Was it Charlottesville? No. The vile "Access Hollywood" tape? No. Separating families at the border? Nope. Siding with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki? No. It's tariffs.

And it's just interesting, because everybody -- you know, pundits have been wondering if there would ever be a moment and to see these Republicans today saying that this is a bridge too far is just noteworthy.

GLASSER: Well, it is noteworthy, although again, your long list suggests why we should take this incident, too, with a grain of salt.

I'm reminded, listening to Mitch McConnell's remarks, of you know, their comments during the shutdown when they said, "Well, what's the president going to do?"

And it was another senator who said, "Well, we're just going to pray." And this was a Republican.

They have opposed President Trump on many policies before. Often that hit right at the heart of the party's former free trade ideology. Remember, this was a bedrock pillar of what they said was the Republican principles.

The president became the nominee of the party, despite having views completely opposite to those senators when it came to free trade. He's called himself tariff man. So in that sense, this is -- this is key to Donald Trump's identity.

When you look at a fight between the Republican senators and the president, you have to say that it's actually the senators who have the history of backing down here. And that Donald Trump, especially if things are framed as a confrontation, has a habit of not backing down. Now, often there's a way to negotiate around him to publicly go along

with him, but to privately work to come up with another resolution. You've seen that time and again on the foreign policy side. Remember when he was withdrawing all U.S. troops to Syria. The defense secretary actually quit over it.

And then essentially, here we are many months later, and that order has never been fully carried out. So I'm not convinced yet that this is going to be some climactic confrontation between the Senate and the president. But we'll see.

BERMAN: Indeed we will. All right, friends, thank you very much.

Stick around. We've got a lot more going on in Portsmouth, England. We'll get back to the ceremonies in just a moment.

In the meantime, we do want to show you 97-year-old D-Day vet Tom Rice of the 101st Airborne.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my goodness.

BERMAN: Look at that. He marked the D-Day anniversary by jumping from a plane, parachuting down in Normandy. CNN spoke to him before the big jump. He told us, "They're not shooting at us this time. It's much safer. I'm going for the ride. It will be a lot of fun."

I love that perspective.

CAMEROTA: I love it, too. But I would like to talk to him after, right now and hear how he felt about that jump. Gosh, how remarkable. Obviously, you'll remember when President Bush would do that on his birthdays. But this gentleman is 97 years old.

BERMAN: Good for him. And thank you, we should say, to him for everything he's done for us.

CAMEROTA: All right. So the White House facing new battles with both parties. Republicans, of course, voicing concerns about tariffs while two more White House aides are refusing to cooperate with Democratic subpoenas. A top Democrat senator here next.

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[07:17:12] BERMAN: President Trump is overseas commemorating D-Day, but he is facing a revolt back home from members of his own party. Republican senators railing against the president's threat to impose tariffs on Mexico over immigration. Those tariffs are set to go into effect on Monday.

Joining me now is Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware. Senator Coons, thank you very much for being with us today.

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Thank you.

Do you really believe, that if push comes to shove and the president pushes these tariffs on Monday, that Republican senators will stand up and say no? Do you believe that they will follow through on that?

COONS: Well, John, that's the great challenge of the Senate these days, is that there are a number of Republican senators who privately expressed grave concerns about the president's conduct, about the things we learned in the Mueller report, about his obstruction of justice.

There have been public events over the last couple of years where they've expressed real concern. The murder of Jamal Khashoggi by the Saudis. The initial application of steel tariffs against many of our closest allies around the world. His withdrawal from TPP.

On each of these instances, there was a dozen or so Republicans who expressed some concern on each or misgiving but ultimately failed to even slow down, let alone stop the president from doing things that were ill-considered.

Remember, our government was shut down, large parts of it, for 35 days in an ultimately pointless fight over the difference between wall and fence. And so frankly, I don't know if they'll be able to make any difference. Hopefully, this is the break point where Senate Republicans show some wisdom and slow down our president's endless swinging of the club of tariffs and hitting some of our closest allies.

BERMAN: You say hopefully. Doesn't sound like you have a lot of faith that they will follow through.

COONS: Well, you know, frankly, this is a Republican caucus that tends to fall in line, even when they have good reason to have profound misgivings about the president's abrupt decisions.

Look, the vice president was up in Canada celebrating the lifting of steel and aluminum tariffs and progress on a new renegotiated NAFTA. I think it even caught him by surprise that President Trump chose to tweet this issue.

BERMAN: You are a big supporter of former Vice President Joe Biden. One of the first, earliest, strongest, any superlative I can throw in there, I think you would agree with me.

COONS: Yes.

BERMAN: He introduced a new plan to battle climate change yesterday, calling for $1.7 trillion in federal spending over 10 years with a goal of net zero greenhouse emissions by 2050.

COONS: That's his whole 22-page plan. That's right.

BERMAN: It seems you know a lot about it. A bold 22-page plan. You know it goes further than the Obama administration's proposals and plans at the time, not dissimilar to the green deal, the Green New Deal. Why is this the right plan, in your mind?

COONS: Well, it lays out a fair amount more detail. The Green New Deal is just a framework. This then puts into place some of the mechanic and details about how we would get there.

[07:20:09] What I think, it's important for folks listening to be reminded is that Joe Biden introduced one of the first climate bills in the Senate and is now putting forward one of the boldest plans for how we would tackle climate.

You know, I think for folks who are looking for bold leadership but that is also seasoned and experienced on the world stage. Someone who can calm the waters of our troubled alliances and yet leave us -- lead us forward in a progressive direction. This makes it clear that person is Joe Biden.

BERMAN: So you know a lot about the plan. You no doubt have also read, since the plan's release, that a big part of it, or many of the lines within it, were taken from plans from progressive organizations without citation. Another word for that, in some circumstances, is plagiarism.

They took lines and proposals directly word for word and sentences for sentences as part of the plan. The Biden campaign put out this explanation. "Several citations, some from sources cited in other parts of the plan, were inadvertently left out of the final version of the 22-page document. As soon as we were made aware of it, we updated to include the proper citations." Mistakes happen.

COONS: That's a complete and appropriate expectation -- excuse me, I think that's a complete and appropriate explanation of how a fairly broad and detailed plan was promptly -- those concerns about it and the citations were promptly addressed by campaigns.

BERMAN: They were. But obviously, there's a little bit of a difference here when we're dealing with former Vice President Biden, which is that in 1988, he was forced from the campaign, more or less, because he had drawn from speeches given by British politician Neil Kinnock without citation. It was a particularly sensitive area.

So does the campaign need to be even more vigilant in this case?

COONS: Well, John, rather than quibbling over what did or didn't happen 30 years ago and whether that's an echo in today's campaign, I'd urge your voters to contrast the conduct of our president today, who was picking a fight with the mayor of London before he even landed, inserting himself in a destabilizing way into British internal politics by who he met with and who he spurned and is further destabilizing our relationships here at home by threatening a tariff war with Mexico with someone who we all know would be a far more seasoned and stable hand in foreign affairs.

I think this was a minor issue of staff work that was promptly addressed.

BERMAN: OK.

COONS: And I'm not sure you're holding him to the same standard you're holding our president. BERMAN: Well, look, that aside, I think if you were to watch our

broadcast in general, we hold the president to account for almost everything.

COONS: You do. You do, John.

BERMAN: Everything he says.

I do want to get your take on the investigations into the president on the House side. And I know as a senator, you don't want to tell the House what to do. But let me ask you, as a Democrat, and you're watching what's going on in the House, next week they're holding hearings with John Dean.

We love John Dean. He's a great analyst here. And former U.S. attorneys are going to testify. Is that going to help them get to the bottom of what happened in the Russia investigation? Are those the people you want to see testifying in public as the clock ticks?

COONS: Well, I'd love to hear Robert Mueller give more detail about the first volume of his report that focuses on the ways in which Russia intentionally and broadly interfered in our last presidential election. And I'd love to hear proposals from our Republican colleagues about how we're going to protect our next election.

I also do think that there are things beyond the obstruction of justice instances in the Mueller report about the conduct of cabinet officials and senior leaders in the Trump administration that are well worth investigating.

We also need to continue legislating around the issues that affect the daily lives of working Americans, protecting their health care, dealing with the opioid crisis, advancing more affordable ways to get higher education like apprenticeships.

There are great bills coming over from the House that they are passing that are dying in the legislative graveyard that is Mitch McConnell's Senate today.

BERMAN: Right.

COONS: And that, frankly, is another issue, John, I hope we'll get to.

Just a yes or no, is it time for a subpoena for Robert Mueller?

COONS: Yes. I think it's important that Robert Mueller come and testify further about the details of his report.

BERMAN: All right. Senator Chris Coons from Delaware, thank you very much for being with us today.

COONS: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, John.

The longest reigning British monarch has been on the throne for nearly seven decades. That's almost 70 years, John. Up next, Queen Elizabeth speaks at the D-Day ceremony in England.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:29:05] CAMEROTA: We are moments away from Queen Elizabeth about to address the D-Day commemoration in southern England. Tomorrow is 75 years since the allied forces launched a stealth attack towards the beaches of Normandy.

And CNN's Max Foster has been watching all of this and reporting on all of it for us. He is live in the British naval base in Portsmouth, England, with more.

Max, give us the big picture. What are we expecting the queen to say?

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the queen is going to give an address on behalf of 16 nations involved in the D-Day landings. All of those heads of state are here. She's representing all of them.

Of course, Alisyn, she's a World War II veteran herself. She's a mechanic and a driver in World War II. So she has a personal stake in this, along with many other veterans who are gathered here today.

The few remaining veterans from D-Day are here. They were honored onstage. A spectacular performance. Effectively, a live show with the real characters playing themselves.

Also, current servicemen paying tribute to those.

[07:30:00]