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AT THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND MICHAELA

Trump Rally Today Following Mexico Trip; SpaceX Rocket, Payload Explode on Launch Pad; Trump Spoke at American Legion Conference Today; Joe Biden Campaigns for Clinton Today. Aired 11:30-12p ET

Aired September 1, 2016 - 11:30   ET

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


[11:30:00] ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: And the bet way to do that is to take the first step and that's what he did and I think that was a win.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Maria, 10 seconds, we have to go.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know what else happened after the meeting in addition to Pena Nieto saying he told Trump that Mexico was not paying for the wall? He said later Trump policies would be a dangerous threat to Mexico. That's not nurturing a relationship. That is not building a relationship with one of our most important allies. It was an epic fail.

BERMAN: It is interesting though that President Pena Nieto didn't say that when he was on stage with Donald Trump.

Guys, thanks for being with us.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: Vice President Joe Biden speaks any moment. How will he respond to the Trump speech? Always colorful, the vice president.

Plus, we have breaking news, a big explosion on the SpaceX launch pad. These are live pictures right now. Some crews there have just arrived on the scene. We'll get an update coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:35:12] BERMAN: We are following breaking news out of Florida, a huge explosion on the SpaceX launch pad at Cape Canaveral. The blast destroyed a rocket and its payload, which was a satellite that I guess Facebook was set to use to get Internet services to parts of Africa.

CNN's Rachel Crane has the details as we look at sort of the aftermath here.

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: SpaceX is not revealing many details as to what exactly went wrong. They're just saying this is an anomaly, that the vehicle, meaning the rocket, as well as the payload, was lost in the explosion.

This occurred during a static test fire. It was a planned test fire. Per standard protocol, no one was on the launch pad. That means that no injuries occurred. Nobody was hurt. The Brevard County Emergency Management office said that there is no immediate danger posed or a threat to the general public.

As he pointed out, the payload that was on board was a satellite that Facebook was a partner in. It was intended to beam Internet to remote parts of the world. Unfortunately, that satellite was lost, but no injuries occurred.

BERMAN: It was a big explosion. There were report that people felt it for miles around.

CRANE: Yes, we spoke to somebody who said it was as though a Mac truck had crashed into the building that he was in. He was at Cape Canaveral at the time. They knew something was seriously wrong happened when this occurred.

BERMAN: Technology loss, a business but, luckily, no human loss there.

Rachel Crane, thank you for the update. Appreciate it.

Just moments ago, Donald Trump spoke at the American Legion convention. He was in Cincinnati. He described his conversation with the Mexican president yesterday. He did not talk about the discrepancy between whether or not they discussed who would pay for the wall that Donald Trump promises to build along the border.

Let's talk about all this. I want to bring in Scott Taylor. He's a delegate from Virginia, a Donald Trump supporter.

Still a candidate for Congress, Mr. Taylor, yes?

SCOTT TAYLOR, VIRGINIA SENATE CANDIDATE: VIRGINIA DELEGATE & TRUMP SUPPORTER: Yes, John. It's great to be with you.

BERMAN: Thank you so much for coming.

Now, you have been, as a Donald Trump supporter, I don't want to use the word critical but you have been concerned over the last month or so occasionally about the tone that Donald Trump uses on the campaign trail and when addressing other people. Look at the last 24 hours. What's your feeling on his tone?

TAYLOR: Well, let's look at the speech he just gave to the American Legion. I think it shows a strong commitment to our veterans. I am a candidate for Congress in Virginia and our district has active-duty veterans. I myself am in the V.A. system. In contrast, of course, Hillary Clinton said there's not widespread problems at the V.A. A lot of folks here, literally thousands of them in my district, know there are. I think he did a great job in Ohio. On the world stage where the world leader, where he was basically an equal to the president standing there, of Mexico, I think that he did a great job.

BERMAN: Again, that's something that people look at and say what made him an equal, just because he was standing side by side, that it the measurement of what is equal on the world stage?

TAYLOR: Well, you can certainly bate what makes you equal, what does not. He's standing with behind the podium just like a head of state and it looks very presidential. I think it certainly gives the perception he is ready to lead. Hillary has done the same thing of course as well. I think it was a good step by him in doing that. I think he did a great job there. I think he handled himself very well on that world stage.

BERMAN: Again, that people would say, though, is the bar not embarrassing yourself, if the bar is not saying something that gets you in trouble, you know, is that a very low bar.

TAYLOR: Well, that's up for you guys to decide and for the American people to decide. I'm just telling you I think on the world stage, this is the first time we've seen that of course, and I think he performed well. I think he performed well in the American Legion speech as well. It's something I am passionate about and many people in this area of Virginia are very passionate about. We know there are big problems in the V.A. Hillary said the problems are not wide spread. And I think he did a good job. And I think it shows a commitment to change the problems that are in the V.A. right now.

BERMAN: You are a veteran. You were a Navy SEAL I believe, served in Iraq and many other places. You expressed concern, this is after the convention when Donald Trump had his dust-up with an, the Gold Star parents the Marine who died fighting in Iraq. At the time you said Donald Trump should apologize to the Khan family. Has he, as far as you know, issued an apology?

[11:39:55] TAYLOR: I'm not sure if he's issued. Now, listen, I'm not going to agree with anyone 100 percent of the time. I don't think any in the audience agrees with someone 100 percent of the time. So, yeah, in situations like that, Gold Star families, you should just, you know, say I'm sorry for your loss, thanks for your service and certainly move on. I'm not going to agree 100 percent with Mr. Trump but I'm going to agree with most things. I imagine your Hillary supporters that come on your show don't agree with her 100 percent of the time either.

BERMAN: We all have many different opinions. Last question, Scott Taylor, if you get to Congress, you have to vote on funding for things like building a border wall. Who's going to pay for Donald Trump's border wall?

TAYLOR: Well, according to Donald, Mexico is going to pay for it. We'll take that issue up when I see it come across my desk, should we have the privilege of serving the Virginia 2nd district in Congress, and we'll see what comes across the desk. According to him, Mexico will pay for it.

BERMAN: Do you buy that?

TAYLOR: Again, we'll see.

BERMAN: Scott Taylor, thanks for being with us. Appreciate your time.

TAYLOR: Thank you. Pleasure.

BERMAN: All right, any minute now, Vice President Joe Biden, he is getting ready to speak. He will, no doubt -- you can see him on stage there. Ted Strickland, the former governor of Ohio, introducing the vice president. Strickland, actually, is trailing right now in the Senate race there. That's one of the reasons Biden is there. Also to talk about Hillary Clinton. And no doubt talk about Trump.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:45:43] BERMAN: All right, you're looking at live pictures right now. Split screen on your left, the vice president of the United States, Joe Biden, he is in Warren, Ohio. On your right, the Republican nominee for president, Donald Trump. He's in Wilmington, Ohio. Here's betting that both of these men over the course of the next few minutes will talk about the same thing. And that will be Donald J. Trump. Vice President Joe Biden going to react to Donald Trump's immigration speech last night. Donald Trump probably going to hit those themes again today. They're just warming up. They're thanking the crowd now. We'll bring you some moments from the speeches as they develop.

We want to bring in CNN political analyst and "USA Today" columnist, Kirsten Powers, a former Clinton administration official.

Kirsten, where are we today? Donald Trump gave this speech last night on immigration, which was highly anticipated. He made this trip to Mexico, which was highly watched. Did it change votes?

KIRSTEN POWERS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think those are two very different events. The event of his trip to Mexico I think did have the potential perhaps of swaying a few people. Though I've said I think it's going to be hard for him to undo a year of demonizing undocumented immigrants and then try to speak positivity about them the way he did in Mexico, saying they were beyond reproach, extraordinary people. But I think he undid whatever good he did on that trip in his speech last night, because he was back to the old Donald Trump, sort of ranting and raving about undocumented illegal immigrants, as if they are the cause of nearly every problem in the United States, and really demonizing them in a way that isn't accurate. It isn't a real reflection of the contribution they make to this country.

BERMAN: On his first point, which was the trip to Mexico, we've had a lot of people on this show who said, when he was standing on stage next to the Mexican president, Donald Trump portrayed a presidential image. I pushed them on that. It curious what makes someone look presidential. But one of the things -- the expectation setters here -- has been the Clinton campaign itself. The Clinton campaign itself has said that Donald Trump will embarrass the United States if he ever were to be commander-in-chief, if he were to visit foreign countries. As we watch Biden speak, and undoubtedly he'll get to Trump,

hasn't the Clinton team, to an extent, the Democratic Party -- let's listen to Joe Biden right now.

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- your kitchen table. If you ever talked about people, like he does -- I'm not joking. I'm really serious. If you ever sat there and talked about how, you know, how cool it was that, you know, John down the street got fired, you're fired, a phrase he's made famous, you're fired, you ought to come from a household where some people were fired, where the plant closed down, where all of a sudden they're staring at the ceiling, wondering how in god's name am I going to make it. A guy who says -- a guy who says, and he means it, American workers make too much money. No, no, I mean just think -- all kidding aside. I'm being deadly earnest here. This part's not the campaign speech, man. This is about, about the character of the person we're talking about electing president of the United States.

You know, Doug's here, Doug Franklin, the mayor.

Thank you for the passport, Mayor, to get into town.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: You guys get it. You guys get it. I know Robert and Glen couldn't be here, but I quite frankly like the fact that Sherry and Glen Johnson are here. I like vice presidents better than presidents anyway.

(LAUGHTER)

[11:50:03] But all kidding aside, back in 2008 and 2012, I came back to ask for your vote. I stood here and asked you for your trust. I said, I promise you, trust us, trust us. You gave us your vote. Importantly you invested your trust in us. I came back to say, first and foremost, thank you.

I know -- all kidding aside --

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: I mean this sincerely, from the bottom of my heart. I know I would not be standing here today as vice president -- this is not hyperbole -- I would not be standing here today without you all, without the American labor movement. Never, never, never, as a 29- year-old kid been elected in the corporate state of Delaware, were it not in September all of a sudden knowing I had no chance. The UAW stood up.

The single largest workforce in my state back then in '79 was the UAW. It represented 10 percent of the entire workforce in my state. There is no UAW left in Delaware anymore. But it represented 10 percent. You stood up. You took a chance on a kid. You took a chance on somebody who said, I promise you I get it. My grand pop used to say, Joe, you're labor from your belt

buckle to your shoe sole. For a simple reason, a simple reason, I am a student of history. I was raised in a family that was straight forward and honest. And the fact of the matter is, American labor, not figuratively, literally -- and you kids, you're not being taught this these days -- literally built the middle class in America. There would be no middle class in America -- that's not hyperbole -- without organized labor. Barack and I wouldn't have been elected president and vice president without all of you. I hope you know I've tried to repay your trust.

When Barack and I were sworn in January 20th, 2009, the auto industry wasn't on its heels. It was on its back. There were literally serious discussions among serious people of letting the industry collapse, not just right wing guys and the Chamber of Commerce guys. Remember what they were saying about you all? They were saying American workers were not productive, that you all were lazy. Try to remember what this really was, man, that you couldn't compete with the Japanese. You couldn't compete with the Germans. We weren't as smart. We weren't as dedicated. We had become lazy. It wasn't worth it.

The president asked -- I know I get blamed but I'm happy now I get blamed for being the SOB at the family picnic, insisting that --

(LAUGHTER)

-- We bail out, quote, unquote, "bail out the auto industry." I was absolutely convinced, along with Ted and Sharon and Tim. I was absolutely convinced because of who I knew, how I grew up. We knew the automobile industry was not just an important economic element of the American economy. It was the symbol of who we were.

What are we known best for in the world? The American automobile industry. We built it for the world, not just for United States. And we understood how central to the well-being of our economy the automobile industry was to us.

Remember back then what our friends were saying on the other team. I really mean it because nothing has changed. That's the reason I'm reminding you of this. It's not like, god, we're tired of hearing about how we bailed out the industry and it's working. We know that story. The thing I want you to remember is why I got my brains kicked in and the president did by the "Wall Street Journal" and by the Republicans and by your opponent and by the last administration. It was about, you weren't capable, you weren't capable of building the best product in the world. You weren't productive. You remember that argument? How many times did we hear for eight years about how you're overpaid? How many times did we hear last time around, let them go bankrupt, let Detroit go bankrupt. As Ted pointed out, his opponent said this is a lousy deal for Ohio. We had gone down to selling only about six million vehicles in a year. Go back and look, as my wife, as a college professor would say, Google it.

(LAUGHTER) [11:55:24] Check it out. What was the mainstream center right press saying? We can never build more than six million cars in America, mainly because you weren't competent. You had lost your desire to work hard. You had gotten fat and happy. That was the whole story. That's still Trump's story. Guess what? Why bother to invest? Do you know who invested most in the recovery of the industry? Everybody forgets this. The UAW.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.

BIDEN: You all contributed the most. You gave the most at the office, as they say, to resurrect this industry. You took a hit to get it back on its feet when management had screwed up the whole process. You're not designing the cars! Management designed them!

My dad was in the automobile industry. He said, just give me product. I can sell it if you give me product. Guess what, guys? The bottom line is these same guys, they haven't changed. It's not about the automobile industry. It's about the American worker still. They don't know you. They don't know you now. They didn't know where I come from.

Folks, we all come from the same neighborhood, the folks in here, whether it's Youngstown, Scranton, Toledo, Pittsburgh. And this other guy he simply -- he's not a bad guy -- he doesn't understand this anymore than you understand what it's like to live in a 30,000 square foot penthouse 80 floors up in New York. You don't understand that. I don't. He doesn't have any idea what it's like to sit at my dad's kitchen table and hear my mom say, honey, we need new tires on the car, and him say, honey, we've got to get 10,000 more miles out of them. We don't have it right now. He doesn't understand the conversation that still goes on in the valley. Honey, who is going to tell Mary she can't go back to college this year? We just -- I don't know how to tell her. What do we say to her?

Look, folks, what you get, what we get, what the vast majority of Americans get, is giving America just an even chance, just give them a chance.

My dad used to say, I don't expect the government to solve my problem. I just want them to understand my problem. Just give me a chance.

The neighborhood where we came from if where your character is etch, where your values are set, where your view in the world and your place in the world is formed, like you guys.

I came from a neighborhood where most people didn't go to college. Kids all aspire to go to college. All our parents aspired for us to go to college. But we learned our values by watching our mothers and fathers. I learned by watching my grandpa, listening to conversations at that kitchen table. My dad had to leave Scranton after World War II in the mid '50s to find work. He was a proud man, but yet he had to walk up the stairs in our house and say, honey, I'm very sorry, you can't go back to St. Paul's, you're going to have to move back in with grandpa because we can't keep the house, I've got to go find a job, but it's going to be OK. He believed it would be OK. He said I'm going down with Uncle Frank down to Wilmington. There's jobs down there. I'll come home every weekend. I'll be back in a year and we'll bring everybody back.