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Bush on Trump's Immigration Stance: He's "Wrong on This"; Pope Francis En Route to Latin America; Greek Vote Could Determine Future of the Euro. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired July 5, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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


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[08:00:20] ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Alison Kosik, in for Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell always a pleasure to be with you. We're starting with this war of words this morning.

KOSIK: We are. That war of words between two GOP presidential candidates. Jeb Bush is now offering his most aggressive comments yet on rival Donald Trump. Meantime, Trump is wasting no time in firing back at the former Florida governor. This comes after Trump made headlines calling immigrants from Mexico racists.

Let's bring in CNN's Sunlen Serfaty who has more -- Sunlen.

SUNLEN SERFARTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Alison.

Well, the fallout over Trump's comments continues to dominate so much of the discussion on the campaign trail. And it does seem to be getting under the skin of many of the other Republican candidates. Many of them this week, they came out to denounce his comments.

But now, after this continues to suck up so much of the oxygen on the trail, they're now really starting to ramp up their criticism.

Jeb Bush, he had some very strong words yesterday for Trump while he was in New Hampshire. This is his most pointed criticism to date, saying that he takes these comments very seriously, and personally, given that his wife was born in Mexico. And he called Trump's words extraordinarily ugly.

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JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Trump is wrong on this. Just he's doing this, and he's not a stupid guy, so I don't assume he's like -- that he thinks that every Mexican crossing the border is a rapist. I mean -- so, he's doing this to inflame and to incite and to get -- to draw attention, which is -- seems to be his organizing principle of his campaign. And he doesn't represent the Republican Party or its values. But, politically, we're going to win when we're hopeful and optimistic

and big and broad rather than arr, and grr, just angry all the time. And this is an exaggerated form of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And Trump has been doubling down. He continues to defend his remarks, and he shot back late last night to the charge that he's just trying to get attention for his campaign, saying in a statement, quote, "I am very proud to be fighting for a strong and secure border. This is a very important issue, which all of the other candidates would have ignored had I not started this important discussion. I will fix the border. No one else knows where to begin. Jeb Bush once again proves that he is out of touch with the American people."

Now, all of this back and forth comes at a time when Republicans are very eager to make inroads with Hispanic voters. So, that's likely why we've seen Jeb Bush argue and also Mitt Romney argue this weekend. All of this is only hurting the GOP's chances with this very important group of voters.

KOSIK: Sunlen, I understand Jeb Bush isn't the only candidate from Florida Trump is taking his shots at this weekend.

SERFATY: Well, that's right. We heard -- also heard from Florida Senator Marco Rubio, another declared presidential candidate in the Republican field, and he also had some heavy fire pointed to Trump, really ramped up criticism. He said in a strongly worded statement that Trump's comments are not just offensive and inaccurate, but they're also very divisive -- Alison.

KOSIK: All right. Sunlen Serfaty, thanks.

BLACKWELL: So, how do you solve a problem like Trump?

For people who believe that he is a problem, of course, that's going to be one of the hot topics discussed on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION." and, two, two of the 2016 candidates are going to join the show today to talk about the race for the White House. One, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. The other, Bernie Sanders, Vermont senator. He's getting a lot of attention and big crowds on the campaign trail, rising in the polls.

Let's bring in the host of "STATE OF THE UNION," CNN's Jake Tapper.

Jake, good morning to you.

And I'm sure Trump is going to be one of the topics you're discussing with Mike Huckabee.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, STATE OF THE UNION: Well, it's one of the topics that all Republicans are talking about these days because obviously there are two competing dynamics here.

One is there is a big section of the Republican electorate that is legitimately upset about illegal immigration. Legitimately upset about that murder in San Francisco last week, by an illegal immigrant who had been deported several times of an American, a young woman. And this is an issue that they do want to talk about that Donald Trump touches on. On the other hand, some of the language that he uses is alienating, especially, to Latino voters, and Republicans have been trying to make inroads with Latino voters for several years now.

So, there are two competing interests at stake here. We will bring that up with Mike Huckabee, obviously.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about the conversation with Bernie Sanders. I mean, he is getting in considerable large amounts of donations from a large donor base, and big crowds.

TAPPER: Big crowds and surging poll numbers. Although we should point out, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is still far and away the front-runner.

[08:05:01] But still, Bernie Sanders, number two with a bullet, rising in the polls nationally, rising in the polls in Iowa and in New Hampshire. He obviously comes from neighboring Vermont. He's in single digits behind Secretary Clinton in New Hampshire.

So, we'll talk about -- we'll talk with him about where he goes from here and how he can actually go to the head of the pack.

You know, Victor, there are a lot of people, a lot of Democrats, who want to vote for Hillary Clinton for the historic reason, the first female nominee from the Democratic Party, potentially the first female president, how is Bernie Sanders going to make a pitch that they should not vote in that direction. That will be one of the topics we discuss, as well.

BLACKWELL: All right. Looking forward to it. Jake Tapper, thank you so much.

TAPPER: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: "STATE OF THE UNION" with Jake Tapper starts at the top of the hour, 9:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

KOSIK: Latin America is home to 40 percent of the world's Catholics. Even with such a high number, not everyone will be welcoming Pope Francis when he visits Ecuador. We're going to have a live report to explain why.

And the crisis in Greece. Will it be a yes, or will it be a no to the referendum? We'll tell you what Wall Street is hoping for.

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KOSIK: It's a huge visit for three of Latin America's poorest countries. Just a few hours ago, Pope Francis left Rome for a week- long trip, where he'll stop in Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay.

[08:10:06] Millions are expected to attend his open-air masses. And in many places, his arrival will generate as much as excitement -- as much excitement as a rock star. But on his first stop the pope will be working to bring many back into the fold.

Shasta Darlington joins us live from Quito, Ecuador.

Shasta, good morning to you.

Why has the popularity of the Catholic Church dropped there?

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alison, for a lot of reasons. What we've seen is that while just a generation ago more than 90 percent of Latin Americans were Catholic, now it's just 69 percent. And that's because a lot of people have migrated to other Christian congregations, especially evangelical, and Pentecostal.

These small churches are opening up in the poorest neighborhoods, the shantytowns, the favelas across Latin America, just a few steps from people's homes. They're really ministering directly to the poor. They go door to door with donations of food and clothes.

Often, the reverends come from those communities -- in many cases, from the indigenous communities. They look like the people they're ministering to.

So, this is a huge challenge that Pope Francis and the Catholic Church are up against. What we're seeing that's new here is that the pope himself is a champion of the poor. And he doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the walk. This is a man who has a very austere lifestyle. Someone who has really decided not to bring with him all of the pal trappings that we have seen in other leaders of the Catholic Church.

So, this is that the Catholic Church hopes and is praying will sort of begin to reverse this trend, this migration of followers from the Catholic Church to these other evangelical religions.

KOSIK: Let's talk specifically about the pope's visit there. What kind of stops will he be making in Ecuador?

DARLINGTON: You know, exactly the kind of stops that you would expect from this people's pope. During this three country tour, he's going to go to some of the very poorest neighborhoods. Some that we've been told we really shouldn't go into without him, because they're just not safe enough.

He's going to be visiting one of Latin America's most dangerous prisons. That will be in Bolivia. He's going to be visiting a nursing home in Paraguay, for example.

This is another interesting facet of this visit. He's going to be meeting with members of civil society and among those, they've included a leader of the gay and lesbian community.

So, we're seeing a lot of outreach, a lot of attempts by the pope to not only communicate with the poorest here, but also to reach out to the communities that can help him evangelize. That can help him take his message to the people of Latin America, and here in Ecuador, this will be the first time a pope has been here in three decades. So, there's a lot of excitement. People are planning to camp out

along the routes that he'll be visiting in his pope mobile here if Quito, and also in Guayaquil.

Just a lot of buzz, a lot of excitement. People can't wait to see for many people the first pope they've ever seen, Alison.

KOSIK: And this week we will be following him on his stop.

Shasta Darlington, thanks.

BLACKWELL: So, let's talk more about this with CNN religion commentator, Father Edward Beck.

Father, thanks for joining us this morning, as always.

You know, the question here is, as the pope goes to these countries, the first visit from a pontiff in 30 years in Ecuador, how does this increase the numbers of Catholics in these countries as we heard about the decline from Shasta?

FATHER EDWARD BECK, CNN RELIGION COMMENTATOR: Well, Victor, I think the fact that he is paying attention to them is what's going to matter most. Remember, he's in his comfort zone now. This is a pope who used to live there, in Argentina, in South America, and he's going to be speaking his native language. He knows the concerns. He was the head of the bishops conference there. And so expect him to go off text many times.

He has 22 speeches. But you can expect him to know the situation, to know the people. So that's going to be very important. He could have gone to some of the richer South American countries.

We understand that the pope has chosen these three because they are among the poorest. As we've heard. And so, I think the fact that he is extending himself once more to the flock is what's going to matter to them most.

BLACKWELL: So, beyond the papal visit, what does the catholic church need to do to reaffirm its commitment to South America, and to bring some back into the flock?

BECK: I think part of what the attraction to the other evangelical groups is that they are community based. There is a lot of emotion in the liturgy. There's a lot of bible sharing. As we heard, there are social services that are delivered.

And I think for a long time the Catholic Church maybe thought if it just had its liturgy and stuck to what it knew that that would be enough.

[08:15:01] That doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

So, what I think you're going to find with Pope Francis is saying we, too, have this in the Catholic Church. There's something known as the charismatic movement, which is very popular, also, in South America. And so many of the Catholics there are involved in that movement where

there is a lot of emotion in the prayer. So he's, I think, going to say this is part of our environment, our Catholicism, as well.

He'll point to the environment. He'll say we have to take care of it. The Amazon rainforest, all of the things that were in the encyclical, we will bring that up as well.

And, remember, this is an eight-day trip for a 78-year-old man who one lung, he only has a part of it. He has a bad back. He's going to be going from sea level to 12,000 feet above sea level when he goes to La Paz. So, this is going to be quite taxing, Victor.

So, we'll see if see if he chews those cocoa leaves. There's some controversy whether he's going to chew the cocoa leaves to deal with the altitude sickness. We understand that he wants to chew them.

BLACKWELL: OK. We will see if the pope is, indeed, chewing cocoa leaves, and what the implications will be of his visit to South America.

Father Edward Beck, always a pleasure to have you on.

BECK: Thanks, Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. Alison?

KOSIK: Thanks, Victor.

Coming up, the financial future of Greece now in the hands of its people. We're live in Greece as citizens cast their votes. We're going to tell you what the voters are saying.

And --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was laying down to tell everybody to get out of the way because the plane was coming down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: A terrifying scene this holiday weekend when a plane crashes into a California -- or crashes onto a California beach. We're going to tell you what happened next.

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[08:20:20] KOSIK: Greek voters have the fate of their country in their hands. They're deciding this morning whether they're going to accept the strict bailout terms for emergency funding offered by the IMF. If Greeks reject the money and its terms, it could put them on a path to exiting the euro.

CNN emerging markets editor John Defterios is live in Athens.

Good morning, John.

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Hi, Alison.

KOSIK: How are you hearing so far where the vote is going? Is it going toward the yes or the no?

DEFTERIOS: Well, the latest information, and these are a collection of polls, Alison, is that the no was in favor by about 3 percent. But the plus or minus for error is about the same. So, it's going to go down to the very last hour.

In fact, Athenians here and throughout the country, the Greeks, have just over 3 1/2 hours to say yes or no, or nai or oxi to use the Greek, to stay in the euro and go with the safe bet of staying engaged with the eurozone, the 19 countries that share the currency or to be quite radical here and say no we've had enough of five years of austerity.

In the five years, Alison, we've seen the Greeks mount $350 billion of debt. It's like literally the depression in the 1930s of America where they've lost that much of their economy and the unemployment rate is 25 percent, as well.

So, the finance minister of Greece right now, who is left leaning, is saying let's send a very clear signal, enough is enough. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YANIS VAROUFAKIS, GREEK FINANCE MINISTER (through translator): For five years now, the huge failures of the Eurogroup led to ultimatums. After all these failures, after five years, the Greek people have the opportunity to decide on the final ultimatum by the Eurogroup. It's a time of hope for Europe, the common monetary union, hope that everybody can live together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEFTERIOS: So, the finance minister of Greece, Mr. Varoufakis, saying it's a period of hope to try to stay together.

There's a very divided European Union with the north doing OK with lower unemployment rates and less debt. And the entire southern half of Europe, like Greece with very high unemployment, very high debt, and no hope.

Let's just take a picture here of a pensioner that kind of summarizes the entire story, holding his hand on his head and basically saying I don't know if I'll make it or not.

In the last week they've introduced capital controls. Some of these pensioners can't even get access to the 120 euros a week to survive. In that camp of the nos, many, many of the youth who say, look, our youth unemployment rate is 50 percent, Alison. We, too, can't take it anymore. And then on the other side, the middle class, and the CEOs, the

industrial community saying, look, let's not risk it and try to work it out. So you can see how divisive this vote is, Alison.

KOSIK: That picture very heartbreaking. What kind of preparations are Greeks making you know not knowing how this vote is going to turn out, plus when are the banks expected to reopen?

DEFTERIOS: Well, we don't know when the banks will reopen. It really depends on how the vote goes. There are rumors circulating in Athens that in 24 hours from now, people won't have access, whether they're foreigners or not, to cash. This is the peak of the tourism season.

The other thing I've talked to a number of live members of the middle class and the upper class and the working class. They're all saying the same, Alison. They're buying food right now. They're trying to afford euros.

Businesses are paying off their debt because they think by Wednesday their savings will be worth 30 percent less. So, think about it in 2015, a member of the European Union, a member of the eurozone, one of those 19 currencies, the countries that share that currency in the 21st century in Europe, thinking that they may not have access to their bank accounts after this election. That's why it's such an important vote going forward, and it could go either way still, Alison.

KOSIK: This is incredible. John Defterios, thanks for breaking that down.

DEFTERIOS: Thanks.

BLACKWELL: Coming up, officials are about to lift evacuation orders in California near that huge brushfire raging. But is this fire contained? We've got the latest details still ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:28:21] KOSIK: Here's a look at some stories making headlines this morning.

Officials say a fast-moving brushfire in northern California is now 30 percent contained. Police say voluntary evacuations will be lifted a half hour from now. The fire has engulfed over 300 acres already. The cause of the fire still unknown.

BLACKWELL: A July Fourth outing on a beach in San Diego, I mean, this was terrifying. A small plane crashed onto the sand, sending a 12- year-old boy to the hospital. His injuries are minor. Now, he got a gash to his head. One witness says he told his family to run as the plane came down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw a plane with smoke, a little bit of smoke coming in, and it dove down about 10 feet. And then it cut it. It was pulling a sign. And the sign -- he let the sign go, and then he made a U-turn, and I said, no, something's not right. Then it started coming down, coming down. I told my kids to run, pushed my wife down into the sand. It flew ten feet over our heads.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Wow.

Now, officials say that the plane slammed onto the sand because an engine lost power. The good news here is that the pilot was not injured.

KOSIK: The search resume dag for three people who are still missing after their rental boat capsized on the Ohio River in Kentucky last night. Two people were killed. Officials believe nine people were on the pontoon boat. Three children and one adult are in the hospital. It's not clear what caused the boat to flip.

Thanks for starting your morning with us.

BLACKWELL: Always a pleasure to spend a Sunday with you.

At the top of the hour, "STATE OF THE UNION" with Jake Tapper. But right now, stay with us for "INSIDE POLITICS" with John King.