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Interview with Steve Forbes on the GOP Field; A Look at the CNN Film "Fresh Dressed". Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired September 3, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:31:10] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, here we go with the five things to know for your NEW DAY on this Thursday.

Donald Trump is meeting with RNC Chairman Reince Priebus today about a loyalty pledge party leaders want him and other candidates to sign promising to support the nominee and not seek a third party run.

It turns out a reported tip in the murder of an Illinois police officer was all a hoax. The woman who called it in now is facing charges and due in court today. Meanwhile, the manhunt for those three suspects is expanding.

This just in to CNN. One Marine is dead, 10 others injured, after a chopper came down hard during a training exercise at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. It happened around 9:00 p.m. last night. At this point, what caused that hard landing remains unclear.

Hillary Clinton's ex-chief of staff on The Hill this morning, grilling - being - facing a grilling, rather, by the House panel investigating the 2012 Benghazi attack. Cheryl Mills is expected to be asked about internal communications between Clinton and her top staffers.

Kentucky clerk Kim Davis faces contempt charges at a federal court hearing today. She's refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in defiance of court orders.

And, of course, you know that for more on the five things to know, you can visit newdaycnn.com for more.

All right, in today's "New Day, New You," a growing number of children in the U.S. are being diagnosed with ADHD. A new report out of the CDC finds that a third of children were diagnosed before age six. For some researchers, that's a red flag because they say few diagnostic tools are effective in children that young. Also researchers found that 18 percent of children were diagnosed based solely on information provided by family members. Other researchers say the report shows promising trends on how children with the narrow (ph) behavior disorder are being diagnosed.

All right, John, over to you.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Michaela. Donald Trump opening up another can of controversy, slamming his rival Jeb Bush for speaking Spanish, telling him, just speak English in the United States. So will this hurt Trump's campaign or, like everything else, controversy, does it help his campaign? We have a former presidential contender, Steve Forbes himself, here to weigh in.

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[08:37:13] BERMAN: Donald Trump meeting with the head of the Republican National Committee today and he is expected to sign, Trump is, a loyalty pledge. If it does, it means he agrees, at least as of now, that he will not run as a third party candidate and he agrees, as of now, that he will support whoever is the eventual Republican nominee, even if it is not himself.

Our next guest says that other Republican candidates who complain about Trump getting all the attention, they can look to themselves to place that blame. Steve Forbes, the chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media. He is also a former two-time Republican presidential candidate, in '96 and 2000. You all remember the flat tax, 17 percent.

Mr. Forbes, thank you so much for joining us right now.

STEVE FORBES, CHAIRMAN & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, FORBES MEDIA: Good to be with you.

BERMAN: So the media has been looking inwards and outwards for two months now trying to figure out why this Donald Trump thing has happened, what has contributed to the rise of Donald Trump. You say to a certain extent it's the other candidate's impetus. Let me read you a statement from a piece you just wrote. You said, "they have only themselves to blame for Trump's steadily increasing lead. Why? Because these veterans of the public square violated the first law of politics. They let Trump set the agenda."

FORBES: And - and you can see it in terms of immigration, in terms of blaming China and others for our labor markets here at home. And if you asked what the candidates stand for, what are their signature issues, you'd be hard put to do it. Now, they are starting to come out with some proposals and I think in the debates that you're going to be doing in a couple of weeks, you're going to see them much more aggressive than they were in that first debate and coming out with more specific proposals. What are you going to do on taxes? What exactly are you going to do on healthcare? Sharper criticism, amazingly, of President Obama, hardly any slaps at him in that first debate.

So hit the president for his mistakes, have your own proposals, like Reagan did in 1980. Reagan, you remember, in 1980, led off with a 30 percent across the board tax cut. A radical tax plan. So people knew. He just wasn't criticizing. He also had something substantive on the table. So if you have Trump out there, have something to talk about, positive.

BERMAN: Is it a policy issue with Trump or is it a persona issue? Are they having a hard time - FORBES: He's obviously a larger than life persona. He was when he was on television. But the fact of the matter is, you don't have to be larger than life to get a platform out there. That's what these debates are wonderful. They allow you to put - set your own agenda and say, here's what I stand for, here's what we need to do and people listen. I mean the first debate had 24 million people. Phenomenal. People are interested, not just in larger than life personalities, but how do you get this country moving forward. You see it on the Democrat's side. Sanders, whoever would have thought, a self-avowed socialist from Vermont would now be a serious candidate? People are unhappy.

BERMAN: So in terms of what to do about Trump, Jeb Bush, this morning on "Good Morning America," he's trying to punch back some. Let's listen to what he said.

[08:40:09] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think Donald Trump is trying to insult his way to the presidency and it's not going to work. People want an uplifting, hopeful message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Is that enough? Is Jeb now talking the kind of game you think he needs to?

FORBES: It's - having that uplifting, hopeful message, you've got to put flesh on it. And he's going to come out in a couple of days - early next week with his own tax plan. I hope it's a bold one, simple, radical, like Ronald Reagan did in 1980 or maybe the flat tax, but something that captures people's imagination that we're going to make a sharp break from the stagnation that we have today. So, yes, uplifting. But what do you mean? What do you want to do?

BERMAN: Someone, somewhere, just did a shot in a drinking game because you mentioned the flat tax. So, thank you - thank you for that right there.

Donald Trump, by the way, says he's going to come out with his own tax plan and we're getting some notions of where he stands on it. He suggests, among other things, that hedge fund, you know, investors - and you know - you know many yourself - they should pay higher taxes or at least different types of taxes. He says he wants to cut taxes on the middle class. He talks about tariffs on companies that want to move factories overseas. This is a plan. Is this the kind of plan that you could support?

FORBES: We have to see how it fleshes out. Putting on new tax is not a good thing because they always go in one direction. They're very destructive. In terms of hedge fund managers, if that's part of a radical simplification, yes. But it can't be piecemeal and that's why we're all waiting. What exactly is he going to put on the table in the next three or four weeks?

BERMAN: Well, one of the things he's putting on the table today is the notion of maybe signing a pledge that he won't run as a third party candidate. Who wins here, do you think? Does Trump win by having the chairman of the RNC walk to, you know, the middle of New York City, to Trump Plaza here, with a piece of paper that says, please, Donald Trump, sign this for me right here? Does - does Trump win or does the party win by having him sign?

FORBES: Well, the party is. It's nice to have the candidates, you know that they're not going to probably walk off. That's a nice thing. But imagine that first debate, he's the only one who says he won't sign the pledge and now he's got the chairman of the RNC, coming hat in hand to New York City and having Donald have his own ceremony, another round of publicity. This guy knows how to work the media.

That, again, underscores what I said in that piece. The only way you can counteract that is to have a counter message, a strong message. You don't have to be loud about it. you don't have to be larger than life. You just have to have something there people say, yes, that makes sense. I want to know for about it, and therefore I want to know more about you.

BERMAN: It's not enforceable either. I mean Donald Trump can sign the pledge today and nine months down the line saying, you know what, I've had a change of heart.

FORBES: Yes, it means nothing at the end of the day. It's not legally binding at all, nor this South Carolina thing that you're supposed to sign at the end of the month. So he could say he's the second party. The Republicans are the third party. Yes, but it's -

BERMAN: All right, you - you have run for president twice, in '96 and 2000. And in doing so, you spent some of your own money. Some of us might say a lot of your own money.

FORBES: Yes.

BERMAN: Donald Trump is speaking about - talking about spending a lot of his own money. He hasn't really yet, by the way, which is interesting. A lot of people are wondering how much he will be willing to spend and when he will spend it. Do you have any advice for Donald Trump on how to spend your own money trying to win the White House?

FORBES: Well, I think he's - so far he's been very smart because he's gotten reams of publicity. He hasn't had to spend a penny really. But I think the key thing is, what he's got to realize in states like Iowa, states like Nevada, caucus states, even states like New Hampshire, you've got to have field teams there. You've got to have surveys to know exactly where you stand instead of relying on somebody else's survey to meet your own particular needs. It's not huge bucks, but if you don't have those people on the ground, as Hillary discovered in - Hillary Clinton discovered in 2008, you don't have those field force there, you could get up ended.

BERMAN: You ever wish you had some of that money back?

FORBES: Of course, since I didn't win. But more so, my kids wish I had that money back. BERMAN: Steve Forbes, thank you so much for being with us.

FORBES: Thank you.

BERMAN: It's always a pleasure. Really appreciate it.

What's your take on all this? Tweet us using the #newdaycnn or post your comment on facebook.com/newday.

Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right, John, as you know, hip hop is not just music. It is fashion. It's style as well. The man who's been on the forefront of style, Andre Leon Talley, joins us with a sneak peek at a brand new CNN film "Fresh Dressed." He joins us next.

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[08:48:01] PEREIRA: Let's talk music. Hip hop is not just about music, of course, but also about the fashion and style. Musical artists are known for bold fashion both on and off the red carpet.

Let's show you a clip from the newest CNN film "Fresh Dressed" in which some of the biggest names in pop culture discuss what style means to them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHARRELL WILLIAMS, MUSICIAN: By the time we hit the 2000s it was kind of like, wow, you know, you've got to watch the trends because of all the traffic and all of the activity that was happening online.

ELENA ROMERO, PROFESSOR, FASHION INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: Before what our influences were were confined to what was at our reach. And now with the expansion and the power of the internet, I have access to every fashion look, brand across the world. So I can be whoever I want to be.

APRIL WALKER, FOUNDER AND DESIGNER, WALKER WEAR: We're in a space where they're exchanging so many ideas that I think that we're getting back into individual looks.

JACOB JORDAN, FORMER DIRECTOR OF READY TO WEAR, LOUIS VUITTON: It's no longer, you know, like it's either urban or it's punk or it's this or that. It's not preppy. You know, like all that stuff to me doesn't mean anything now.

SEAN "DIDDY" COMBS, MUSICIAN: In hip hop fashion right now people are taking way more risks. They feel empowered with a lot more freedom. It's almost like the more risks you take, the more respect that you get.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Joining us here in studio to talk about the film is Andre Leon Talley, contributing editor of "Vogue" and author of "Oscar de la Renta: His Legendary World of Style." And, of course, you appear in the film because you cannot talk style without having you part of the conversation.

ANDRE LEON TALLEY, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, VOGUE: Exactly. Thank you for having me, Michaela.

PEREIRA: You've been talking about fashion and style for so many years, I think that you're the guy that could probably pinpoint the moment when hip hop style and fashion crossed over to become daily wear for so many people. It became normal.

[08:50:07] TALLEY: I don't think there's a specific moment. I think that the whole movement has been evolution. Evolution that's been a natural process. The reason we're sitting here today and talking about Kanye West running for president in 2020, that is part of the evolution of this great movement based on hip hop. He was a Grammy winner for so many albums, and then he suddenly is this person who crosses all kinds of cultures and art forms and media. He does fashion, he does music, he does entertainment, presentation, provocateur.

PEREIRA: Isn't that kind of the narrative of hip hop?

TALLEY: Yes.

PEREIRA: Because that's what we've seen happen. It's not just music and styles I mentioned, but it's a lifestyle and it transcends gender, race, nationality, zip code.

TALLEY: The reason that there is hip hop style -- Why are we here today? Why do we have Beyonce on the cover of the biggest issue of "Vogue?" She is the force of fashion. She's a global businesswoman. But she crosses all art forms and media, generations. She's aspirational to every generation. She can be one day Naomi Campbell, she can one day be Sasha Fierce, she can one day influence the Obama daughters, you know, Michelle Obama takes the girls to her concerts.

PEREIRA: So why is that? Was it something that organically transpired or was there a moment when somebody said we can make this happen?

TALLEY: No - it's just because everyone who is in hip hop who is successful is extraordinary genius in a way. They totally believe in themselves. They had confidence. They had the confidence to go and it just became a sort of synthetic movement.

You know, Pharrell is an extraordinary human being. When he did the hat (INAUDIBLE) and then he put Chanel jewelry with the Chanel sweater and cut off jeans. The jewelry, by the way, is real. I went up to him one day, he was loaded with jewelry. He did the Chanel concept the way a woman (ph) who wears Chanel should. But he is extraordinary and his (INAUDIBLE) "Happy." The music is just genius.

PEREIRA: And it's interesting with somebody like him, you can see that that's an organic style. It's not necessarily cultivated or is it put together by a stylist. TALLEY: I would venture to say that even hip hop style can embrace,

also, Taylor Swift. It also embraces Miley Cyrus. It embraces - Well, I didn't see the VMA awards. We are looking to these great people for style. We are watching what they are wearing on the red carpet. When Beyonce shows up on the red carpet in this outrageously see-through dress by Givenchy, there's a moment that's happening. There's a moment with Rihanna when she's got this big gold cape (INAUDIBLE). It was the imprints of a dragon city. It took them two years to make the cape.

PEREIRA: I know. It was incredible. But then it's beyond that of just the pretty or the statement, but this political statement too. We watched how the hoodie, the Trayvon hoodie became a political statement.

TALLEY: Symbolic. Very symbolic.

PEREIRA: The "I can't breathe" T-shirts.

(CROSSTALK)

TALLEY: It's absolutely important that these street -- These influences in our culture. Today our culture is just a criss- crossing. Trajectories cross over. You have politics, you have "Black Lives Matter," you have these unfortunate tragic events that happen and you see suddenly that everyone embraces them. The footballers are wearing "I can't breathe" T-shirts. What's a statement - It's because everyone is so tuned into the internet. It's so full of information that everyone immediately picks up on everything. So everything becomes that moment of style.

PEREIRA: And then it all sort of clashes together in various places in the world, whether it is the world of politics or the world of movement or even just on the fashion runway. You look at the front row at any runway show. You've got high-end designers seated by the likes of hip hop's royalty.

TALLEY: Absolutely. You're going to see absolutely the hip hop royalty in about a week when Givenchy comes to New York and shows their show. Apparently he's got about 4,000 invitees to the show.

PEREIRA: Just a few people.

TALLEY: Just a few people. And it's going to be everyone. You know, they want to be on the pulse of the moment. Will.i.am, all of them. They're extraordinary people.

PEREIRA: Well, it has been such a delight to have you here.

TALLEY: Well, wonderful. Thank you so much.

PEREIRA: Thank you so much. We want to point you to :Fresh Dressed." It premiers tonight right here on CNN, 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Alisyn, I think you and I need a little update. We need to watch.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Apparently we do. And it is a great film. I've seen it. I'll see it again with you, Michaela.

[08:54:16] Meanwhile, an all-around great guy gets a great gift. It's "The Good Stuff." It's up next.

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CAMEROTA: We have a good one for you in today's "Good Stuff." A very deserving guy who never asks for anything gets something anyway. Herm Kent has worked for the same company for 38 years. But his most important job is caring for his wife of 40 years who suffers from Alzheimer's. That's left him no time for home improvements. So his friends, family and coworkers got together to do it for him while he was away on a trip. They put in a new driveway, a new deck, new back yard, the whole works.

PEREIRA: Oh my goodness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hope you don't mind. We tore things up a little bit while you were gone.

HERM KENT: I see that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was so much fun to do this and to know that we pulled off the secret and he was able to come home and see it. Everything just fell into place. It was very rewarding to see so many people pull together for such a great guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Now everyone who knows Herm says he's the greatest guy they know. As for Herm, he doesn't know what to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENT: A new driveway, for one. A new deck, a new barn. This is something. I'm speechless.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: So often the caretakers of someone who is ill or has Alzheimer's, they feel so isolated and alone. He must feel the arms of his community and his loved ones right around him.

CAMEROTA: Good point.

BERMAN: You know, how long has it been since someone did something for him, too? That's got to be so nice.

PEREIRA: So great.

CAMEROTA: Right. And the neighbors were taking note of all he was doing. And then they just stepped in.

PEREIRA: That goes into the gooder (ph) stuff file. CAMEROTA: OK. I'm going to file that there.

PEREIRA: All right. Let us head over to the "NEWSROOM" now. It's time for Carol Costello. Good morning, my dear.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Have a great day. "NEWSROOM" starts now.