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House Speaker: Trump's Judge Comments "Racist"; Hillary Clinton Locks Up Democratic Nomination. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired June 7, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:22] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, thank you so much. Great to be with you all on this Tuesday. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Of course, this is CNN and this is the final Super Tuesday of this election season, and now coinciding with a historic first in the 240 years that the United States has been a nation. Hillary Clinton is now the first woman to become the presumed presidential nominee of a major political party.

CNN's latest count of delegates shows she has secured one more than 2,383 required to clinch, but her rival, Senator Bernie Sanders, is protesting what his campaign calls the media's rush to judgment since super delegates don't actually cast the votes until the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in July.

And as Secretary Clinton makes the history books, rival Donald Trump come this fall accused of making, quote, "the textbook definition of a racist comment." Those words coming not just from any Republican but the highest ranking, the House Speaker Paul Ryan, in response to Trump insisting that the judge overseeing a lawsuit against Trump University recuse himself because of his Mexican heritage. Speaker Ryan endorsed Trump -- keep in mind -- nearly five days ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I disavowed these comments. I regret those comments that he made. I don't think -- claiming a person can't do the job because of the racist comment. I think that should be absolutely disavowed. It's absolutely unacceptable.

But do I believe that Hillary Clinton is the answer? No, I do not. Do I believe that Hillary Clinton is going to be the answer to solving these problems? I do not.

I believe that we have more common ground on the policy issues of the day and we have more likelihood of getting our policies enacted with him than we do with her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And political reporter Manu Raju is there at that Speaker Ryan news conference. You have also been chasing Senator Graham along the hallways on the Hill. So, we'll get to your conversation with South Carolina, the senator, in a second. But with regard to Speaker Ryan, you know, talk to me about his comments and the question you asked about whether or not these comments are undercutting his agenda as speaker.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: That's right. I mean, actually, what's really remarkable here is that a lot of Republicans are just absolutely fed up. They're very frustrated. They don't want to even talk about the party's nominee because they're very upset that he's distracting from what they're trying to do which is to sell the American people about why Republicans deserve to hold on to Congress and also to take back the White House.

Now, Paul Ryan has been trying to put together an election year agenda with his House Republican colleagues for months. They wanted today to be the beginning of that rollout. That included an effort to deal with how to talk about how Republicans would deal with the issue of poverty and they want to show a different kind of Republican Party, if you will.

But what Ryan was particularly frustrated about was that what Trump is saying is clearly undermining what they're trying to do on Capitol Hill. When I asked him about that, Paul Ryan did not hold back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN: I do think these kinds of comments undercut these things and I won't pretend to defend them. I'm going to defend our ideas. I'm going do defend our agenda. What matters to us most is our principles and the policies that come from those principles and our ability to give the people of this country a better way forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, Paul Ryan is still supporting Donald Trump saying he would be better than Hillary Clinton. But most Republicans we have spoken to today are still standing by Donald Trump even if it's a very tepid level of response. A couple of quick comments, Bob Corker said Donald Trump is in a period to right the ship otherwise things will be very, very problematic going forward.

And I just spoke with Ron Johnson who's up in a very tough race in Wisconsin and he told me that he is supporting Donald Trump but he's not endorsing Donald Trump. He said there's a big difference because he does not endorse everything that Donald Trump says but at the end of the day to vote for him. So, a sort of a twisted response, but it really just shows the level of consternation there is on Capitol Hill right now for Donald Trump.

BALDWIN: Kind of makes you wonder what Senator Corker, what will happen in two to three weeks if the ship isn't righted as he is, you know, on that short list apparently for V.P. There's that. You have Senator Graham who, you know, vociferous in his distaste for Mr. Trump. And, you know, he told Dana Bash, he wasn't voting period, and then he sort of jumped on the Trump train, and now, he's saying what? RAJU: Now, he's actually criticizing very strong terms Donald Trump's latest comments about Judge Curiel. He told me just now earlier that those comments were un-American. He said that Trump's playing the race card.

[14:05:01] He said that they were racist, something that a lot of Republicans are not yet willing to say. And he said that this is almost like McCarthy style of campaigning and politics and something you don't really hear senators say from presumptive nominee of his own party. But, you know, Graham is one of the few members who are not endorsing Donald Trump. He's still not on that Trump train quiet yet. So, not everybody online with Lindsay Graham, but he did say this, if even Donald Trump continues to say things like this, he said that more Republicans should abandon him at the end of the day, Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. Manu Raju, you are good. You are good. Let's listen so onto some of that sound.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I want Mr. Trump to be treated fairly in court, but the fact the lawyers have not asked for the judge to recuse himself speaks volumes. And if they did ask him to step down, simply because his parents were born in Mexico, they would be subject to being sanctioned or disbarred, because there's not a valid reason to ask a judge to recuse himself.

So, I think the lawyers are probably good at what they do. And I think what Mr. Trump is doing is not consistent with the rule of law nation, it's demagoguery at its worst, and to the political process, he's trying to ruin this man's life. And I'll have no part of that.

RAJU: Do you think it's a racist comment?

GRAHAM: Oh, clearly. It's funny. I don't believe Donald Trump with the way he's lived his life is a racist person. I believe he'd hire somebody based on merit, but he's playing the race card. He's done that a lot.

So, in the political process, he's throwing the race card on the table to try to undercut the Trump university lawsuit effect on his campaign.

RAJU: But it's un-American in your view?

GRAHAM: I think it's very un-American for a political leader to do this, to question whether or not a person can be a judge based on their heritage.

RAJU: You think your colleagues should consider decision avowing Trump altogether and abandoning supporting him?

GRAHAM: You know, I can understand why people can't support Hillary Clinton. I can understand wanting to support the nominee of the party. I just can't personally go there. But I would say there's that there's -- I'm pleased to hear widespread

condemnation by Republicans that if Mr. Trump continues this, which is clearly over the top, you might not think it's un-American, I do. You might not think it's racist, I do.

If he continues this line of attack, then I think people need to really reconsider for the future of the party and the future of the country whether they should support him. I'll leave that up to the individuals.

RAJU: Do you think Paul Ryan should, too?

GRAHAM: Paul's a great guy. He's been -- he's a stand-up guy. He's going to have to -- you know, if Mr. Trump continues to do this, then he's putting the future of the Republican Party in play. He's stepping on some pretty some sacrosanct concepts in terms of separation of powers and continues to put people in a bad spot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Manu Raju with Senator Lindsey Graham there -- thank you, Manu, so much.

As Senator Graham and Speaker Ryan going harder against Mr. Trump, some of Donald Trump's other big-name supporters there defending him, i.e., New Jersey Governor Chris Christie today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW YORK: I know Donald Trump. I have known him for 14 years. Donald Trump is not a racist.

So, you know, the allegations that he is are absolutely contrary to every experience I have had with him over the last 14 years, and so, we're going to end it there.

I am sure if I sat back and thought about it that there would be times that I would think that there were things he said that he shouldn't have said. Quite frankly, he's admitted that over time there are things he said he shouldn't have said.

So -- but that happens to anybody in politics who speaks their mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Joining me now, CNN political commentators Bill Press who supports Bernie Sanders, and S.E. Cupp, a CNN strategist, Republican, along with Boris Epshteyn, a Republican strategist and Trump surrogate.

So, welcome to all of you.

And, Boris, just out of gate here, you heard Speaker Ryan, this is the highest elected Republican in all the land, you know, calling Trump's comments textbook racism. Fast forward to the next meeting between Speaker Ryan and Mr. Trump, what does that look like? Degree of awkward is what?

BORIS EPSHTEYN, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I'm sure the meeting will be fine.

What I would like to point out is that you spend 7 1/2 minutes interviewing folks in the party criticizing Donald Trump, and about 45 seconds on Chris Christi. You mentioned there are several and there are, a lot of top Republicans who are backing Donald Trump and disagree with Paul Ryan that this is textbook racism. I looked up the textbook definition of racism. That's claiming one race is superior to another.

[14:10:02] Mexican, first of all, is not a race. Donald Trump in no way said one race is superior to another. So, I completely disagree with Speaker Paul Ryan.

As far as Senator Graham goes, that was good interview by Manu in litigation terms --

BALDWIN: We took all of -- just to be fair. I understand what you're saying, but we took all of Chris Christie's press conference when it happens, the whole thing live, which far surpassed that back and forth with Manu and Senator Graham. Just for the record.

EPSHTEYN: Brooke, that's fair enough. I think you see my point, as well. We are going into the discussion and a lot of time spent on criticizing Mr. Trump and very few -- but I'm --

BALDWIN: Who did I go to first, Boris? You, a Trump supporter.

EPSHTEYN: I'm here to do that. That's what I'm saying. I'm here to do that. I do not believe it was racism. I think the Republican party will be fine.

Listen, Congress has the job approval rating of about 20 percent, 80 percent of people disapprove of Congress. I'm not worried about what specific people in Congress like Speaker Ryan or Senator Graham say. I do want to unite the party as do Donald Trump.

BALDWIN: Hang on.

Speaker Ryan says kind of sort of matters when it comes to Donald Trump and party unification. No?

EPSHTEYN: Twelve million voters is what matters. That's how many voters have come out for Donald Trump and by the end of this process, he'll be over that. So, that's what matters. The voters are what matters and not one specific member of Congress or any one specific senator.

BALDWIN: S.E., did I hear you giggle?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. What about the whole of congress? Donald Trump at the top of the ticket of a fractured Republican Party is a threat to both the House and the Senate. Forget the Supreme Court. I think actual party unity, which is what Paul Ryan talked about

wanting as opposed to fake party unity should matter, matter to the future president of the United States.

EPSHTEYN: I totally agree with you. Of course.

CUPP: Who would be the leader of the Republican Party, and the highest elected Republican in the country. He should want a united Republican Party and Congress to be behind, to be behind him.

I understand Donald Trump is saying, look, I'll do it without all of you, I'll do it without the establishment. I'll do it without the moderates. I'll do it without the speaker. I'll do it without the RNC. I'll do it without Reince Priebus, I'll do it without Congress.

EPSHTEYN: He is not saying that at all.

CUPP: Of course he has. Of course he has.

EPSHTEYN: He has not.

CUPP: He said that he would remove Paul Ryan.

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: Trump campaign is working hand in hand with the RNC at the convention.

CUPP: He has said he would remove Paul Ryan as the convention chairman if he's gotten his way.

EPSHTEYN: He did not say that. You're mischaracterizing his words.

CUPP: Yes, he did!

EPSHTEYN: He specifically said it is up to Paul Ryan.

CUPP: Yes, he did, Boris.

BALDWIN: What about this?

CUPP: You know he did.

BALDWIN: Bill press, you're watching this. I'm coming to you in a second.

BILL PRESS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, no.

BALDWIN: Boris, back to, you know, part of Manu's reporting and I have talked to a lot of very highly respected Republicans, one of whom recently said to me, listen, if Bob Corker is on the ticket with Donald Trump, you got me, I'm sold.

When you hear Manu say that even Senator Corker is saying if Donald Trump doesn't right his ship in two to three weeks dot-dot-dot -- you know, you need those 12 million, you mentioned 12 million voters, does that not worry you?

EPSHTEYN: It does not. As Governor Christie said, no one will agree with everything their candidate says and, of course, we want Republican Party unity. Of course, Donald Trump wants that. He wants moderates. He wants independents. He wants the Hispanic vote. He's working hard to get that based on the message of a stronger economy, of a stronger country.

Now, if some people choose to take one thing he says and concentrate on that and come out and give speeches or interviews about that, it is up to them. We, as the Trump campaign, absolutely want party unity. There's no question about it.

CUPP: Boris, it is absurd to s we are taking one thing that Donald Trump has said. There's a panoply. There's a grab bag of things that Donald Trump has said that make it very clear that he is mounting a campaign now for white nationalist, that's not to say --

EPSHTEYN: Come on. That is absolutely ridiculous.

CUPP: He's getting lots of support of --

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: White nationalism? S.E., who are you supporting?

CUPP: Not Donald Trump. That's for sure.

EPSHTEYN: Who are you supporting for president?

CUPP: To talk -- this isn't about me. Let's keep it professional. Please.

EPSHTEYN: I'm just wondering. You're a Republican, who are you supporting?

CUPP: Let's keep it professional and clean and polite. This is about your candidate and your candidate is making a play for a nationalist segregationist --

EPSHTEYN: No evidence of that. That's ridiculous statement.

CUPP: -- by pitting a Mexican judge against all of his supporters. It makes absolutely -- it makes absolutely no sense to say on one side we're going to win Hispanics and I have no problem with Hispanics, Hispanics love me, but then to say, this Hispanic hates me.

EPSHTEYN: He said that he's been treated unfairly --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Bill press.

CUPP: You can't have it both ways, Boris.

BALDWIN: As the Democrat on the panel, are you eating this up with a spoon? I mean, are the quotes on textbook racism being edited into a Democratic attack ad yet? Talk to me.

PRESS: First of all, in this battle, I give proxy to S.E. Cupp. I'm glad to sit back and watch this because I agree with everything she said, and you know --

EPSHTEYN: Don't disappoint me like that. That's so sad.

PRESS: Oh, yes, I'm sure you're disappointed, Boris. You thought I was going to endorse Donald Trump. Look.

EPSHTEYN: I was hoping.

PRESS: I don't have a dog in this fight but as an American I have a dog in this fight because -- I mean, I really do believe in this country.

[14:15:04] I believe in the diversity of the country which comes from the great wealth of the people we have, of different ethnic origins and different races and different religions and everything. And to see one guy to the pinnacle of a political party with these kinds of bigoted racist statements and be the nominee of the party I think is sad for the country, it's sad for the Republican Party.

And if I were a Republican I would run as far away as fast as I could from Donald Trump which I think is what the Republican Party's going to do. There's going to be one race for president in the toilet and then there's going to be races for Senate and the House which people are going to focus on and should.

BALDWIN: Boris, I want you to respond but let's make sure in addition to what Bill Press said, you said the media is making much ado of this one particular issue, with Trump's comments on this judge, which I think absolutely is germane and to quote, you know, as S.E. says, there's been a panoply of comments, then you have what Trump's own attorney said about Judge Curiel. Here you go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP LAWYER: The judge is doing his job and we're not seeking to recuse the judge. We're trying to assert our rights and I think the court today did a job of trying to balance out competing interests.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So if his own, Boris, his own attorney is saying the judge is doing a fine job, why not just scrap that, move on? There's material that Mr. Trump could use in attacking Hillary Clinton. Why not just focus on that?

EPSHTEYN: Well, that attorney has to work in front of the judge. And, of course, it's his right to approve or disapprove of the job that the judge is doing, just like it's Mr. Trump has a right to either agree or disagree and question the fairness of the judge.

BALDWIN: But not based on the race.

EPSHTEYN: All this talk of bigotry is out of place. All that Donald Trump said was this is a judge who's -- of a particular background.

BALDWIN: Mr. Trump brought it up. He's the one who brings it up, Boris!

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: -- La Raza lawyers of San Diego, and that's a group affiliated with pro-illegal immigration, that's given scholarships to --

BALDWIN: He fought a Mexican drug carte cartel. That's something that he would applaud.

EPSHTEYN: He's talking about -- he's talking about judge who he believes is not fair. Can I please respond to what Bill said, please? Thank you so much.

As far as Bill's comments are concerned, the Democrats have issues going on. Bill's candidate --

PRESS: Nothing like this, baby! No.

EPSHTEYN: -- claiming to be the nominee. We'll let the Democrats figure out their issues.

PRESS: Don't try to go there.

BALDWIN: One voice. One voice.

EPSHTEYN: -- still going to be the nominee and media said that Hillary Clinton clinched it. I would worry about that, if I were you.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Hang on a second. Hang on a second. We did the math. Look at pledged, we'll talk to Karen Finney with the Clinton campaign coming up, but we're just calling it as accurately as possible.

Go ahead, Bill.

EPSHTEYN: Bill would disagree, right?

BALDWIN: Go for it.

PRESS: My turn. I just want to say the Democratic Party is a love fest compared to what we're seeing in the Republican Party, where people are coming up with this crazy kind of status. While I support Donald Trump but I don't endorse him.

EPSHTEYN: Who does Bernie Sanders support or endorse? Does he support or endorse the presumptive no?

PRESS: No, no, no.

BALDWIN: Let him finish, Bill.

PRESS: Bernie Sanders has nothing to do with it. I'm talking about --

EPSHTEYN: No? I thought he is a candidate for president.

(CROSSTALK)

PRESS: -- compared the minor differences you might see.

BALDWIN: All right.

EPSHTEYN: The RNC and the Donald Trump's campaign are working together for the convention and elect Donald Trump president, which will happen.

BALDWIN: Thank you for the healthy conversation, you three. Boris and S.E. and Bill, thank you very much.

Let's move on, shall we?

Coming up next, history made. Hillary Clinton becoming the first female to clinch major nomination for president. Bernie Sanders sees it otherwise. Hear what his campaign has to say about tomorrow and Hillary Clinton's, as well.

Plus, new details about that wild conference call involving Donald Trump and surrogates. Hear why a source says it was leaked.

And we'll speak with the Texas congressman who is telling Trump to take his wall and shove it up his boop boop. Welcome to 2016. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:23:19] BALDWIN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Hillary Clinton clinched the Democratic nomination becoming the first woman in the nation's 240-year history to do so. He's still working to pick up even more support. Voters are casting ballots today. California and New Jersey are the two biggest prizes of this final Super Tuesday of 2016.

CNN's Jessica Schneider is at a polling station in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Jessica, looks quiet where you are, at least from the outside. Tell me what are people telling you inside.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, Brooke, it is a bit quiet out here and what the Essex County sheriff told us, we're in a town outside of Newark, New Jersey, the turnout is steady and a bit slow and looks a bit quiet. We're supposed to keep back 100 feet. We can't be inside the polling place.

So, today, really no long lines but officials say there's a turnout. Now, there has been a bit of a blip out here. Some voters are not realizing this is, in fact, a closed primary. So, that means that unaffiliated voters, they can't come out to the polling places. They can pick up whatever ballot they want for either party.

The Democrats and Republicans, they cannot swap parties. So, there are 2.6 million unaffiliated voters here in New Jersey. That's out of 5.5 million total.

And to give you an idea of the interest level in this primary, there are about 600,000 new voters from the last time we had a primary back in 2008. So, the polls are open here until 8:00 p.m. I do think it's a slow but steady outlook here, so no long lines but officials do tell me that people definitely are coming out to vote -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: All right. Jessica, thank you very much there in New Jersey.

A closer look now at the historic moment for Hillary Clinton.

[14:25:00] A CNN delegate estimates shows she has won 1,812 pledged delegates and a support of 572 superdelegates. That puts her total at 2,384, one more than needed to clinch that magic number, although she's only the official nominee in Philadelphia.

Listen, Bernie Sanders, he's not ready to go anywhere. His campaign says, quote, "It is unfortunate that the media in a rush to judgment are ignoring the Democratic national committee's clear statement it is wrong to count the votes of super delegates before they vote this summer."

Karen Finney is here. Karen Finney is the senior spokeswoman for the Clinton campaign.

Welcome back.

KAREN FINNEY, CLINTON CAMPAIGN SENIOR SPOKESWOMAN: Good to see you.

BALDWIN: You have a big night ahead in Brooklyn, I know. So, thanks for swinging by.

FINNEY: You bet.

BALDWIN: First up, listen, I know that she is not throwing out the confetti and doing the victory dance just yet. Do you see her as the nominee?

FINNEY: I believe and we believe that by the end of the night, Hillary Clinton will be the presumptive nominee of our party because she will have a majority of the pledged delegates. She will have a majority just on the raw votes, actual votes.

BALDWIN: Why are you guys being so careful? Even she said last week before and, Chris, well, I am or will be, as the nominee.

FINNEY: Yes. Well, we think it's really important that people come out today in California and New Jersey and other states that are voting today because, again, we want to secure this nomination by winning, so that there's no question we will have the majority of the pledge delegates, we have the majority of actual just raw votes, about 3 million more votes than Senator Sanders, will have a majority, as you pointed out with the super delegates.

And she actually also has more votes, I think about 2 million than Donald Trump.

So, in terms of what kind of argument are you going to make to super delegates and whether or not there should be a question, we believe that the question is answered by the end of the night tonight.

BALDWIN: On this very day, eight years ago, this happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it.

(CHEERS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That was when she bowed out.

FINNEY: That's right.

BALDWIN: That's a couple of days after that final Super Tuesday. We'll talk to someone who's working with the campaign at the time, just walk us through how heartbreaking I'm sure that was for her to do that.

FINNEY: Sure.

BALDWIN: Can you me a preview of her message this evening?

FINNEY: Well, one thing about that in that speech in 2008, you know, she honored the hard work of the people working on the campaign while also saying, now it's time for us to come together and support then- Senator Barack Obama and she said it unequivocally and very clear that's what she wanted people to do.

BALDWIN: Is that a memo to Senator Sanders, Karen Finney?

FINNEY: Letting you know what she said back in 2008. But look, I think -- I won't get ahead of her in terms of what she will say tonight, but, I think, you know, thematically, it's a lot of things we have been talking about in terms of the way we need to come together in this country to break down barriers and to make sure that we're increasing incomes and that we're not building walls with Mexico, that we're actually building bridges.

I think she really will draw the contrast because what's at stake in this election when we think about the differences, you were just talking about, you know, Mr. Trump's comments in your previous segment. That's at stake in this election. And I think that's important to remind people of that while also saying the choice you're going to have in this election is a positive vision about how we move forward together or this fearful divisive vision that really we don't think reflects the values of our country.

BALDWIN: Do you anticipate the president's endorsement by the end of the week?

FINNEY: You know, far be it for me to speak for the president the United States of America --

BALDWIN: You all have been communicating.

FINNEY: I called him on this -- no.

Look, we welcome President Obama to this process because he of all people I think is going to be one of the most powerful people talking about what's at stake because he knows personally the hard work going through the last eight years to try to bring our economy back from the brink and someone who can speak to Secretary Clinton as a secretary of state and the things that they were able to accomplish together.

BALDWIN: OK. Karen, thank you very much.

FINNEY: You got it.

BALDWIN: Appreciate that.

Up next here, back to the Trump campaign and turmoil there and the inside source reveals to CNN the power feud that may have actually trigger Donald Trump's conference call with surrogates and supporters yesterday, which is all part of the internal power play. We'll look into that.

Also, the growing ripple effect of the Zika virus on the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio Janeiro. A TV anchor from the network hosting the games said she will not be going to Rio. This as a top American athlete explains why he's refusing to go.

Stay with me.

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