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Clinton Clinches Democraitc Nomination; Voting in California; Trump Remains Defiant Over Judge Comments. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired June 7, 2016 - 13:00   ET

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


TERRY O'NEILL, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN: It has been millennia for women around the globe, not just in the United States. But the refusal to accept that a woman could be the leader in her community is much more broadly shared around the globe and the history of that is far longer.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I have to --

O'NEILL: So, I think that makes a difference but we're -- it's still historic.

BANFIELD: I have to leave it there. Thank you, Terry O'Neil. Nice to have you, do appreciate it. And I have to toss it over to my pal, Wolf Blitzer, who starts now.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 10:00 a.m. in San Francisco, 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 8:00 p.m. in Crete, Greece. So, wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: Hillary Clinton has broken through. It was eight years ago today that she dropped out of the 2008 presidential race. At the time, she applauded her supporters for making what she called 18 million cracks in the ultimate glass ceiling. Now, Hillary Clinton has smashed that barrier, became the first woman to be the presumptive presidential nominee for a major American political party.

With the historic moment fresh in our minds, millions of Americans get their chance to vote in this presidential election. Looking at live pictures from New Jersey to California, six states vote today with 694 Democratic delegates at stake.

And while Hillary Clinton celebrates her historic first, Senator Bernie Sanders says he'll keep on fighting. But the outcome of the primaries today could say a lot about that fight and about how hard it will be to achieve Democratic Party unity.

Meanwhile, on the Republican side, Donald Trump is not backing down on his very controversial comments aimed at a federal judge's Mexican heritage. It's an issue dividing the Republican Party.

Today, the House speaker, Paul Ryan, stood by Trump as the party's candidate, but he totally disavowed the statements as a classic definition of textbook racism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), U.S. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I disavow these requirements. I regret those comments that he made. I don't think -- claiming a person can't do the job because of their race is sort of like the textbook definition of a 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 policies enacted with him than we do with her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let's bring in our Senior Political Reporter Manu Raju. He's up on Capitol Hill. He was at that Paul Ryan news conference earlier this morning. Manu, we just heard Paul Ryan clearly disavow Donald Trump's comments on the federal judge. He's also still standing by Donald Trump. But is he backing away from that support at all?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: No, he's not. In fact, it's a lot of Republicans. Most Republicans on Capitol Hill, that we have spoken with over the last day, are still supporting Donald Trump, even as they are very critical on his comments.

And one large reason, Wolf, is that they really need Donald Trump supporters to come out in the fall, if they want to not just to take back the White House but keep control of Congress. And the last thing that they need, in their view, is to be at war with their party's nominee.

So, they think it's better to sort of rein Donald Trump in and get on the same page as his party, rather than completely undercut him and disavow him and his candidacy.

Now, one thing that Paul Ryan did say at this press conference that he's pushing forward on his own party's election year agenda. I asked him if he is concerned that Donald Trump's comments will continue to undercut his party's election year agenda, and he made it very clear that he is very, very worried.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN: I do think these kinds of comments undercut these things and I'm not going to even pretend to defend them. I'm going to defend our ideas. I'm going to defend our agenda. And I think our likelihood of getting these ideas into law are far more likely if we are unified as a party.

And so, I see it as my job, as speaker of the House, to help keep our party unified. I think if we go into the fall as a divided party, we are -- we are doomed to lose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, the question is -- the question is exactly what -- how Donald Trump is going to sort of rectify these comments. Of course, he's saying that he is going to double down, triple down and fight forward. He thinks that he is on the right side of this issue. But if he does, it's going to cause more backlash from his party.

But right now, Wolf, as we noted, the party is still backing him. They just hope that he cleans up his rhetoric going forward -- Wolf.

BLITZER: A lot of criticism of Donald Trump for those comments.

All right, Manu, thanks very much.

So, what happens next for Donald Trump? Let's talk about this and more with Katrina Pierson, the National Spokeswoman for the Trump campaign. Katrina, thanks very much for joining us.

KATRINA PIERSON, NATIONAL SPOKESWOMAN, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: Great to be here.

BLITZER: All right. So, you just heard the speaker of the House, the highest ranking Republican in Congress, say that what Donald Trump said about this federal judge, Judge Curiel, is, in his words, the textbook definition of a racist comment. Your reaction.

[13:05:07] PIERSON: Well, you know, I think if you take just that one statement, then Paul Ryan is probably just addressing that without considering the judicial activism that is aligned with it.

But I'll say this. When it comes to November, Wolf, people are not going to be concerned with what the media is saying Donald Trump said or how he said it. They're going to be thinking about their futures. They're going to be thinking about jobs, the economy. Are we safe? And do we have someone that we can trust to put the best interests of the American people first? And come November, that choice will be Donald Trump.

BLITZER: Has Donald Trump reached out to the speaker of the House since? Said let's talk about this. I want to explain my thinking. Have they had a phone conversation? Because, clearly, the speaker is very angry.

PIERSON: Well, I don't know if they've had a discussion, at this point, regarding that particular issue. But Mr. Trump and the speaker have been in communications for quite some time and I'm sure that's going to remain.

BLITZER: This is what Donald Trump's own lawyer said about the federal judge, federal Judge Curiel, only last month when he was emerging from a procedure. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DANIEL PETROCELLI, ATTORNEY: You know, 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)

BLITZER: He said the judge is doing his job. And the judge in the court today did a good job at trying to balance out the competing interest.

Here's the question, Katrina. If Donald Trump's own legal team doesn't seem to have a problem with this federal judge, why is Donald Trump continuing to push this issue?

PIERSON: Well, look, Mr. Trump can continue to have an opinion on this issue and point out those specifics. And, you know, these lawyers are the individuals that have to deal with the judge and this court on a daily basis.

Now, to their legal strategy, that I can't answer for you, Wolf.

BLITZER: But if -- but, clearly, Donald Trump, if he really had a problem with this federal judge, he could order his legal team to file a motion to have the judge removed from the case to recuse himself. But that has not happened.

PIERSON: Well, again, I mean, this has to do with the legal strategy of the case. I'm not sure of those implications. I wouldn't be able to answer the legal question for you.

BLITZER: The criticism is also continuing from Senator Lindsey Graham. As you know, he was a Republican presidential candidate. He told the "New York times," and I'm quoting now, "This is the most un- American thing from a politician since Joe McCarthy. If anybody was looking for an off-ramp, this is probably it."

He has clearly jumped to the off-ramp after suggesting, in recent days, he was going to go along with the Trump nomination. Now, he says he's no longer able to.

PIERSON: Well, I think this is clear why Lindsey Graham didn't do well when he ran for president and why Mr. Trump is the nominee, considering how most Republicans do turn, tuck their tail at the first hint of controversy, particularly when it has to do with race.

The media and the left are obsessed with race. Republicans are always attacked with race at the front of the issue and they always back down. Donald Trump is a fighter. He feels that there is an injustice occurring here. He's going to fight back and that's exactly why he's the nominee and Lindsey Graham is not.

BLITZER: But, Katrina, it was Donald Trump who bought up -- brought up the issue of the judge's Mexican heritage. It wasn't the media that brought it up. He brought it up first. PIERSON: Well, no, Wolf, it's the media that was talking about Trump

University. It was the media pushing the alleged fraud in the case. And Mr. Trump was simply stating a number of reasons why he feels like this case had not been thrown out as it should be. Particularly, as the plaintiffs of the case have all been outed as happy with the courses that they took and appreciative. Complaints like, we needed softer chairs or bring in sandwiches. That is hardly is a case for fraud.

BLITZER: But I could understand that if he felt that there were problems with the way the judge was adjudicating, the judge was handling it. He could go through those issues. But he was the one who said he's a Mexican. He's the one who raised that first.

PIERSON: Right, because the question is, well, why do you think the judge is being unfair? And I think it is fair to say, considering how we do have a culture in this country that puts up people, like black lives matter, who insist that ethnicity is important in the judicial system.

And we have the media that is constantly saying 80 percent of Hispanics don't like Mr. Trump. And, all of a sudden, decisions in this case have been changed actually hurting Mr. Trump's cases. And the fact that this lawyer is -- this judge is tied to lawyer's associations.

For example, the National Hispanic Lawyers Association that has been boycotting Donald Trump. Not to mention the Lazada (ph) Lawyers Association. That is an organization who has lawyers that go around training lawyers how to adjudicate the law for illegal aliens. That is a problem.

And with Mr. Trump's policies, which are extremely important in this bias decision, are not being discussed in this -- in this discussion with the judge.

[13:10:00] BLITZER: But you agree it was Donald Trump who brought up the whole issue of his Mexican heritage. He was the one who brought it up first.

PIERSON: Well, he was asked the question. Why does he think the judge is being unfair? And I think that it is important when we talk about the policies that Mr. Trump has in connection to the organizations that this judge is connected to.

I mean, look, in the Tiller case, you had pro-abortion people who wanted a judge to recuse himself because he had made statement that he couldn't even remember about being pro-life. A judge is not even supposed to give the appearance of bias. And in this case, it's all over the place.

BLITZER: Well, here is the question, Katrina, because it's a sensitive issue. He is a member of the National Hispanic Bar Association, like so many other lawyers out there. What's wrong with that? Antonin Scalia was a lifelong activist in Italian-American organizations. Other federal judges are active in other organizations.

There's no evidence he, personally, was involved in any boycott. This is a judge who was targeted by a Mexican cartel, Arnold Schwarzenegger, when he was governor of California. He nomination this judge to a state judge position. And then, President Obama nomination him for a federal judge. And he was unanimously confirmed by all Democrats, all Republicans in the Senate. This is the judge with a sterling reputation.

PIERSON: Well, that doesn't change the fact that he is still associated with these organizations, one that did call to boycott Donald Trump, that has been active against Mr. Trump and closely affiliated with another organization that protests against Trump rallies. That is clear -- obviously could be a potential bias and that's all Mr. Trump is saying.

BLITZER: Michael Reagan is the son of the -- of the late president, Ronald Reagan. And he tweeted -- and it was a very pointed tweet. He tweeted that Ronald Reagan would not be voting for Donald Trump during California's Republican primary. He said he wouldn't be voting for Donald Trump in California's Republican primary today. And he also said his late father, the president, Ronald Reagan, probably wouldn't either.

Now, this is the son of Ronald Reagan. That must be a very particularly painful rebuke for Donald Trump given his admiration for Ronald Reagan.

PIERSON: No, I don't think so at all. I mean, I think everyone can try to assume what somebody else would do but you simply can't do that. I think it's pretty unfortunate that he would go as far to assume that because he doesn't know what Ronald Reagan would do.

Because, in fact, I think Ronald Reagan would probably support Mr. Trump, considering how he has been a Republican who has been out there who has broadened the Republican base, who has brought in new voters, who has won in states where Republicans usually don't win. And he's doing very well. The people have spoken. Mr. Trump has broken the record in Republican Party turnout. And I believe Ronald Reagan would support his nominee.

BLITZER: So, you think. Katrina, someone who's never met Ronald Reagan -- I assume you've never met Ronald Reagan. You know better how he would think than his own son?

PIERSON: No. What I'm saying is his own son wouldn't know what he would possibly do because we have a lot of individuals who we would assume wouldn't support Mr. Trump and who have. But I think it's safe to say that you could assume either way.

BLITZER: All right, Katrina Pierson joining us from the Trump campaign. Thanks very much.

PIERSON: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Coming up, voters in six states, including the delegate-rich California, they're heading to the polls right now. Some live pictures coming in from San Francisco. The voting comes a day after Hillary Clinton has made history, shattering the political glass ceiling to become the first woman in American history to effectively clinch a major party's nomination for president of the United States. Will the announcement help or hurt her? And why Bernie Sanders has no plans, at least for now, to concede?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:17:41] BLITZER: Moments ago, the White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, had some strong words about the Republican Party. He said he thinks the Democrats will be able to unite after this primary process is over, but the Republicans, he said, they have some issues right now. Listen to what the White House press secretary said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Republicans, on the other hand, wrapped up their nomination process early. But apparently it was early enough to allow the Republican speaker of the House to basically call the Republican presidential nominee a racist and have the Republican governor of New Jersey try to defend him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: It's an historic day in U.S. politics right now. For the first time ever, a woman, that would be Hillary Clinton, has effectively clinched the Democratic presidential nomination. An accomplishment she adds to her already lengthy resume as a former secretary of state, a former U.S. senator, former first lady of the United States.

Let's talk about that with Kristina Schake. She's deputy communications for the Hillary for America campaign.

Kristina, thanks very much for joining us.

She was muted in her response last night when the projection came in that she got enough delegates to effectively capture the nomination, become the presumptive nominee. Why muted? Why not celebrate right away?

KRISTINA SCHAKE, DEPUTY COMMUNICATIONS DIR., HILLARY FOR AMERICA: Well, obviously, it was very good news that we heard last night when some of these organizations started to already declare her the Democratic nominee. But, you know, it was really important to Hillary to honor this primary process. Six states are voting today, including important states -- big important states like California, my home state, and New Jersey and millions of people are going to go to the polls and she really wanted to make sure their voices were heard in this process. So she wanted to honor those votes and not to get ahead of that.

BLITZER: A week from today, the Sanders campaign keeps pointing out is the District of Columbia. That's the last contest the Democrats will have a chance to vote for their nominee here in Washington, D.C. They don't have a chance to vote for members of Congress that can actually vote. Will the secretary, will Hillary Clinton wait until after next Tuesday when Washington, D.C., Democrats have a chance to vote before declaring victory?

[13:20:00] SCHAKE: Well, you know, Wolf, of course she is encouraging new people in the District of Columbia to vote, but we expect tonight to be a very historic night and for Hillary to actually go above the number of pledged delegates to become the Democratic nominee.

And, you know, Wolf, I think, you know, you've heard Hillary talk about her mother so often during this race. From the day that she announced, she talked about the influence of Dorothy on her life. And I think it's very, very meaningful that her mom was born on June 4, 1919, the day that the United States Congress ratified the amendment that gave women the right to vote. And here we are 97 years and three days later and her daughter is on the cusp of becoming the first woman ever to be nominated by a major party to be president of the United States. That's a remarkable journey for this country and I think tonight's going to be a really important night.

BLITZER: It was exactly eight years ago today when she conceded --

SCHAKE: Yes.

BLITZER: To then Senator -- then Senator Barack Obama --

SCHAKE: Yes.

BLITZER: When she realized she didn't have enough pledge and super delegates to become the Democratic nominee. Timing is always fascinating in these kinds of incidents.

You've heard Donald Trump's recent remarks about the federal judge presiding over that lawsuit involving Trump University. The House speaker, Paul Ryan, today spoke out rather bluntly about it. Among other things he said, "claiming a person can't do their job because of their race is sort of like the textbook definition of a racist comment. I think that should be absolutely disavowed." But then he went on to say this, and we'll put it up on the screen as well. He said, "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," meaning Donald Trump, "than we do with her."

So what's your reaction to what the speaker had to say?

SCHAKE: Well, you know, I just think this speaks to the disarray on the Republican side. We -- they have chosen their nominee, but we've seen Republican leader after Republican leader just express a lot of frustration and disappointment with his words and his behavior. We saw, as you reported on the son of Ronald Reagan said he will not be voting for Trump today in the California primary and if his father was alive he didn't believe he would vote for him either.

I think the Republicans have a real problem on their hand, is they have a very divisive, very dangerous nominee that a lot of people feel uncomfortable with. As a matter of fact, Newt Gingrich, as spoken about as a vice president possibility for Trump, and we saw him come out and say that what he said about that judge was absolutely wrong. So I think on the Republican side they have a real problem unifying their party. A lot of people feel very uncomfortable with Trump as the nominee. I think in contrast we're coming out of the Democratic nomination process really with an energized party and we really have so much more that unites us than divides us, that we're coming in energized to the general election.

BLITZER: What's your message today to Senator Bernie Sanders?

SCHAKE: Well, you know, Hillary has said this over and over, there's so much more that unites us than divides us as Democrats. There's so much at stake in this election. And she's going to work really hard to listen, to reach out and to work to unify this party.

She -- you know, no one understands better the position that he's in than Hillary. She ran a really, really spirited race in 2008 and came up short and it was a really hard process. And, you know, Bernie Sanders has been an incredible candidate. He has run such a great campaign. He has brought millions of people into this process. He's brought energy and enthusiasm. He's talked about important issues, like how to raise wages in this county and how to make college more affordable. And she really respects the race he's run and is proud of what they've done together on the Democratic side. And so she really feels confident that Democrats are going to come together because there's so much at stake and we have to do so much together to make sure that Trump never makes it into the Oval Office.

BLITZER: One final question. We know the president had a phone conversation with Bernie Sanders over the weekend. Has the president had a phone conversation with Hillary Clinton in the last few days as well?

SCHAKE: No. No, not that I know of. You know, she's been working her heart out campaigning in California and doing all she can to earn every vote there. And we don't know about the private conversation between him and Senator Sanders, but, you know, we really feel very confident that we, as a party, will come together because we're running against a candidate who wants to deport 11 million hard working immigrants, who wants to criminalize women's health care choices. There's a lot at stake in this election and we, as Democrats, really have to come together to protect President Obama's legacy and build on the progress he's made for this country.

BLITZER: All right, Kristina Schake, the deputy communications director for the Hillary Clinton campaign. Thanks very much for joining us.

SCHAKE: Thanks, Wolf.

[13:24:46] BLITZER: Up next, to the polls. We're taking you live to polling stations in California and New Jersey to see what voters are up to right now and to hear what they're thinking on this the final super Tuesday of this presidential race. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Millions of Americans are heading to the polls right now. It's the final Super Tuesday in this six month primary season with six states holding their contest today. That includes California. Stephanie Elam is in Los Angeles for us right now.

Stephanie, Hillary Clinton has urged voters to still go to the polls today even though she's effectively clinched the Democratic presidential nomination. Are folks listening out there?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they are. In fact, take a look behind me, Wolf. You can see, we're at one of the 4,500 polling places here in Los Angeles County. And despite the fact that it's the middle of the day, people are still coming in here. We're in mid city Los Angeles where there is, obviously, a densely populated area here and people are showing up to vote.

[13:30:05] Now, what's interesting about here in California is that according to the secretary of state, there are 17.9 million registered voters in California.