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Polls Show Conflicting Views on Hillary Clinton; NFL Deflategate Likely a Deliberate Act; U.K. Election Could Shape Global Role for Years to Come; Inside Mysterious World of North Korea; U.S. Issues Ferry Licenses to Cuba. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired May 06, 2015 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:00:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: That's down from the 38 percent last summer.

Let's talk more about all of this, with our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger; and chief congressional correspondent, Dana Bash.

Gloria, you have an important column on CNN.com among other things, you write this, you say, "Even though the new "CBS News"/"New York Times" poll found a slight rebound in her favor regarding whether she's honest the public is still split on the matter and when you run for president, trust is not a small matter."

These numbers, though, they seem to be a bit confusing.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: They are confusing, so we took a real look at it. Look, Wolf, it depends on what you're comparing your new numbers to, what the history of your numbers were, that's why they're divergent because "The Journal" has had lower numbers for Hillary Clinton than "The New York Times," but also it depends how you ask these questions. If you ask people is she honest or trustworthy yes or no, one kind of an answer. Ask, rate her on a scale of one to five, is she honest or trustworthy you will get a different kind of answer. Will it be a four? She's a trustworthy four or five. It's complicated. So these polls are divergent. But the bottom line, Wolf, is I wrote, which is that she does have an issue out there with American voters so far about whether she is honest and straightforward and that's something that the campaign rightly so is paying attention to.

BLITZER: It's not just the Clinton Foundation, the fund-raising, it's also her e-mails the server and all of that. There's been a whole lot of stuff thrown out there.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And it doesn't help Hillary Clinton that you have more than a dozen Republicans just so entirely eager to not necessarily hit each other, they vice president been doing that, they've been going after her with all of the force and might that they have, on a whole number of issues, but because they're watching the same polls that we are, on the issue of trust. And whether or not she's trustworthy because, you know, they see what happened to their Republican candidate in 2012, not that Mitt Romney wasn't considered trustworthy but wasn't considered authentic and that's something that Republicans to a person say is going to help whom ever is the Republican nominee because most of them claim that they come across as who they are.

BLITZER: You know, Gloria, she was in Las Vegas yesterday speaking about immigration reform and she had some strong words. I'll play a clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We can't wait any longer for a path to full and equal citizenship. Now this is where I differ with everybody on the Republican side. Make no mistakes, today, not a single Republican candidate announced or potential is clearly and consistently supporting a path to citizenship. Not one. When they talk about legal status, that is code for second-class status.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So she's not mining words as far as the 11 or 12 million people in the United States who don't have legal status right now. She wants them, Dana -- Gloria, start with you -- wants them to have an opportunity to become full citizens of the United States.

BORGER: She does. It's translation, bring it on, Republicans. There is no reason for Hillary Clinton to not take on the Republicans on this issue. She could stand to do better with Hispanic voters than she did when running against then candidate Obama. This is a clear way for her to do it. She is not only saying let dreamers be citizens but let the parents of dreamers be citizens. This is a big step even beyond the president and I think she is saying to there's, folks you want to have this debate and change the topic from what we were talking about before, her trustworthiness to her stand on immigration a serious issue.

BASH: And she did it in Nevada, which has a number of Hispanic voters. The other thing to Gloria's point Republicans are saying OK, bring it on, and she's finally picking a fight with them, at least a couple are saying OK, be you want to fight, let's go. Read you quickly what Mike Huckabee said about the comments. Hillary has started her campaign with an open plea to win Obama's third term supporting President Obama's call for a pathway to citizenship is in effect support for amnesty. So, you know, again, within a Republican and trying to prove to your constituency and GOP and primary caucus goers you're the person who can take on Hillary Clinton they're more than happy to answer her call for a fight.

BLITZER: Gloria, talk about Jeb Bush, former Florida governor, a lot of establishment Republicans think he's the frontrunner right now, but a new Quinnipiac poll in Iowa the first caucus state that does not show him doing well in Iowa.

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: Doing badly.

BLITZER: Take a look at this. Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, 21 percent, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, 13 percent. He's down at only 5 percent in Iowa. What's going on?

[13:35:11] BORGER: Not so good. Look, I was talking to people from the Walker team and you see Walker is doing very well there, look, he's out front, hasn't even announced yet. Clearly, Rubio and Cruz look like they have a lot of staying power in the state of Iowa, and I'm told Bush is personally making phone calls to activists in the state to say, consider me. He's clearly got an Iowa problem. He wants to play in the e evangelical field as Dana was pointing out yesterday that's pretty crowded right now, so he does -- he does have a problem. But now they can say, we don't need to win in Iowa, just need to do well in Iowa.

BASH: That's the point I was going to make, which is the fact of the matter is because the kind of Republican Jeb Bush is, he tends to appeal more to the establishment Republican party. The expectations are already incredibly low for him to do well in Iowa, much more of an activist grassroots kind of place and it sounds like spin but in this case, I actually based on my experience covering campaigns believe it to be true. That the expectations game is perfect for them. They're very low. They can't go lower than this. So, you know, actually it's Walker's people who are concerned about peaking so early.

BORGER: Right.

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: Who wants to be in first place now?

BLITZER: It's coming up, not that long from now.

Guys, thanks very much, Gloria and Dana.

Coming up new information. The NFL is just releasing a new report on its so-called Deflategate findings and the New England Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady, will likely not be happy about this report. The details coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[13:35:00] BLITZER: An NFL investigation reveals that so-called Deflategate scandal was more than likely a deliberate act by the New England Patriots' personnel.

Our sports correspondent, Coy Wire, is joining us on the phone.

Coy, this is big news, the National Football League, the investigation was led by the attorney Ted Wells. Tell us what he concluded.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Well, Ted Wells basically came out, Wolf, and he said that, you know, that it's his view that not only it's more than probable that Tom Brady was aware, generally aware of inappropriate activity, but also Patriots' officials. Jim McNally the locker room attendant and John Jastremski (ph), an assistant equipment manager, were proper than probably involved in this. This is huge in my mind, Wolf, because this is the second offense for the Patriots and especially under the microscope now will be Tom Brady who came out in the press conference and addressed this issue and said he had no idea about what was going on. That's not what Ted Wells found and that's likely this how Goodell will treat this as a second offense and may bring down the hammer on the Patriots and maybe Tom Brady as well.

BLITZER: Yeah, one of the excerpts from the report, let me read it, more than probable that -- "It is more probable than not that New England Patriots personnel participated in a violations of the playing rules and were involved in a deliberate effort to circumvent the rules."

I know that the chairman and CEO of the New England Patriots, Robert Kraft, he's not happy with this. He's disputing it saying they fully cooperated, issued a lengthy statement saying while I respect the independent process in the investigation, the time, effort and resources expended to reach this are incomprehensible to me, although went on to say they'll abide by whatever the NFL tells them to do. They're disputing this conclusion. Where do we go from here?

WIRE: Wolf, one thing, this is a 243 page report working through it to find more, but I think that based on the fact that this is a second offense, we can look to the first offense, Spygate, when the Patriots were involved in illegally using sideline cameras, the organization was fined $250,000 there and Bill Belichick, the head coach was fined $500,000 for that and the team lost a first round draft pick. I think that they're going to -- because of the second offense, it's going to have to be at least as much, maybe even more, we can also look to Spygate for reference about some possible punishment here. That's when the New England saints involved in bounty gate. Sean Payton suspended for a full year and Goodell said ignorance was no excuse. Sean Payton claimed to not know about the wrongdoings of the team, it did not save him from suffering a year long suspension. It will be interesting to see how big of a hammer Roger Goodell brings on the New England Patriots in this.

BLITZER: And maybe on Tom Brady the star quarterback of the New England Patriots because as we said, the conclusion of this report it's more probable than not that Tom Brady was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities so a serious situation.

Coy Wire, reporting for us, thank you.

Other news, an election with big implications for the United States. It's not the presidential race here in the United States that's still 18 months away, the U.K. elections are tomorrow and British voters facing choices that could reshape their country's global roles for years to come.

Richard Quest is joining us to help us better understand what's going on.

Richard, right now, the current Prime Minister David Cameron, with the Conservative Party. The Labour Party challenger, Ed Miliband, they seem to be neck and neck. There's a special relationship between the U.S. and Britain. Tell us what's going on first of all in the U.K. right now. What is all this means, because it looks very close between Cameron and Miliband.

RICHARD QUESTION, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, in all the years I've been covering politics and living in Britain, we've never seen an election quite like this. The entire two-party structure conservatives and labor, backwards and forwards, has gone right out of the window. It's too close to call. The Scottish Party, the Scottish Nationalist Party may hold the balance of power. We've got fringe parties who are anti- immigration. We've got a coalition that may not survive. Wolf, putting it bluntly, Britain as it goes into this election tomorrow is facing absolutely, unchartered electoral waters. No one knows how it's going to end tomorrow night. The polls are that close.

[13:45:00] BLITZER: We know the economy is a huge issue as the voters going to the polls. David Cameron's Conservative Party says the country will have a referendum on whether Britain should stay in the European Union. How would that play out?

QUEST: That's the interesting part from the United States point of view. Because the U.S. is very keen that the U.K. stays in Europe and the U.S. politicians and U.S. diplomats, in fact U.S. strategists are saying what's happening is that Britain is looking inwards, anti- immigration, looking at whether it's going to pull out of the European Union, questioning its trident defense replacement, looking at all these different areas, Britain seems to be retrenching from a global position. That's worrying in the United States and worrying for any administration coming into Washington because the one friend they've always known pretty much they can rely on is the person in Number 10. Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, doesn't mind saying no to the leader of the free world and, Wolf, we've got a situation where Washington may not be able to rely as reliably on London.

BLITZER: Let's see what the results are. We'll have obviously a lot of coverage coming up tomorrow here on CNN and CNN International.

Richard, thank you.

Coming up, inside the mysterious world of North Korea. A CNN exclusive interview with a top government official in Pyongyang. From the country's nuclear program to charges of human rights abuses, no topic was off limits.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:50:02] BLITZER: We're back with a CNN exclusive, taking you inside the world's most secretive country. For years, we've heard stories about North Korea and its alleged crimes against humanity. Everything from mass executions to political prisons, forced labor camps. So how does North Korea view these charges from the outside world?

Our own Will Ripley traveled to Pyongyang to get some answers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SHOUTING)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): North Korea's propaganda machine turns out plenty of fiery rhetoric and high-level officials fiercely distrust international media, rarely giving interviews. But a member of North Korea's inner circle is speaking exclusively to CNN. Park Young-Choi is deputy director of a North Korean think tank with close ties to the highest levels of government. No topic was off limits.

(on camera): South Korea's national intelligence service alleged that the martial Kim Jong-Un ordered 15 executions of officials this year.

PARK YOUNG-CHOI, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NORTH KOREAN THINK TANK (through translation): The report itself is malicious slander.

RIPLEY (voice-over): He calls allegations the supreme leader is killing off his opponents baseless and groundless but does not deny executions do take place here.

YOUNG-CHOI (through translation): It's very normal for any country to go after those hostile elements and punish them and execute them.

RIPLEY: We also asked about North Korea's growing nuclear program. Much of the international community considers Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal a threat to the region's stability.

YOUNG-CHOI (through translation): We are equipped with nuclear weapons. We'll continue to improve our nuclear arsenal as long as we are under threat from the United States.

RIPLEY (on camera): Does North Korea have a long-range missile capable of striking the mainland United States?

YOUNG-CHOI (through translation): Yes, of course.

RIPLEY: Would North Korea ever consider using that weapon?

YOUNG-CHOI (through translation): We may use them if we are forced by the U.S. to do so.

RIPLEY (voice-over): The North clearly undeterred by U.N. economic sanctions. Pyongyang is also at odds with the international community on a recent U.N. report alleging human rights abuses based on the testimony of hundreds of defectors who claim the north has a network of brutal prison camps.

YOUNG-CHOI (through translation): We don't have political prison camps because my society is a society where we have no political strife, factions, or political divisions. As a result, we don't have the term political prisoner.

RIPLEY: In North Korea, you do not hear dissenting views in interviews with every day people or on the state-run media. In fact, most North Koreans have no access to the Internet. Yet, Park says they are making strides in science and technology. College is free to those who pass rigorous entrance exams. The focus now, improving North Korea's struggling economy.

YOUNG-CHOI (through translation): The DPRK has now advanced in many different areas. We're a major power politically, ideologically, and militarily. The last reaming objective is to make a strong economic power.

RIPLEY (on camera): Improving the living standard for North Korea's nearly 25 million citizens means this nation must improve ties with the international community. With mutual distrust and Pyongyang's consistent refusal to disarm its nuclear arsenal there, seems to be no clear path to moving forward.

Will Ripley, CNN, Pyongyang, North Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Just ahead, for the first time in 50 years, certain Americans will now be able to go directly to Cuba without flying there. We'll tell you what's going on. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:57:18] BLITZER: Trip to Cuba could soon be just a ferry ride away. The U.S. government has now issued ferry licenses to at least five companies. Travel to Cuba still heavily restricted, however.

With more, let's get to CNN's Havana-based correspondent, Patrick Oppmann, who's joining us now.

Patrick, who will be able to take advantage of this ferry service when it's only 90 miles from Florida to Cuba?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN HAVANA CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. And very soon we expect to see droves of American visitors coming to where I am standing right now, the harbor in Havana. This will be the first time since the Cuban revolution they'll be able to come by boat or regular ferry service. Of course, as you mention, it is restricted. Not anybody will be able to get on these ferry services once it is set up. But more people, with the loosening of restrictions, will be able to take advantage of a ferry service. We're talking about journalists, Cuban-Americans visiting families, people coming for research reasons, religious reasons, people coming here to investigate future business opportunities once the U.S. embargo is lifted. So we're already seeing an uptick in American visitors here. The flights from Miami, and they're added flights from places like New York to Havana. They're always packed. This is just going to be one more avenue. It might take up to ten hours to come on a ferry from Miami to Havana, but people are almost scrambling. They want to do it. They want to be part of history. They want to go across the Straits of Florida, go to sleep in Miami, and wake up in Havana, just like their grandparents did before the Cuban revolution. Some of these boats even offer gambling. Of course, once they get into Cuban waters, they'll have to put away slot machines and card tables. Ever since Fidel Castro took over in Cuba, one of the things he did was ban gambling. But lots of people excited about this new way to come to Cuba. BLITZER: With his new opening in U.S.-Cuban relations, a lot of

tourists are going to want to go to Cuba. Can they accommodate them yet?

OPPMANN: Oh, they need a lot of -- there's too much to build to really meet the demand, the short-term demand. Cuban officials have told me they expected just this year to see over 500,000 new visitors from the United States. That's going to almost double what hay got last year, if they're correct. They say that's conservative. Perhaps close to a million visitors coming from the U.S. And that's still with certain travel restrictions in place. There's just not enough room, Wolf. The infrastructure is not here. They're going to have to do a lot of building. All the same, people, Americans are coming.

[13:59:53] BLITZER: They'll be doing it, I'm sure.

Thanks very much, Patrick Oppmann in Havana.

That's it for me. I'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room."

For our international viewers, "Amanpour" is coming up next.

For our viewers in North America, "Newsroom" with Brooke Baldwin starts right now.