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Trump Slams Ford; Detroit Pastor's Interview with Trump; New Hampshire Paper Endorses Johnson. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired September 15, 2016 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[09:33:58] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
Let's check some top stories, shall we, at 33 minutes past.
Overnight, in Columbus, Ohio, an officer responding to the report of an armed robbery shot and killed a 13-year-old boy. Police say the teenager matched the description of one of the robbery suspects. And when he drew a weapon from his waistband, the officer fired and killed him. The teen's weapon turned out to be a BB gun with an attached laser sight.
The family of Sandra Bland confirming this morning they will receive nearly $2 million in a settlement of her wrongful death suit. Sandra Bland was found dead in her Texas jail cell three days after she was arrested for failing to use her turn signal in July of 2015. The settlement also adds changes to the procedures at that jail, including having a nurse or EMT on all shifts.
The woman pictured passed out in a car with a four-year-old in the backseat will appear in court today. Police say she and her male friend had overdosed on heroin. Rhonda Pasek has pleaded not guilty to child endangerment, disorderly conduct and public intoxication charges. She was granted custody of her grandson just six weeks before police found her slumped inside that car on the side of the road.
[09:35:08] Outrage over the skyrocketing price of Epipens is leading lawmakers to draft a new bill that would require drug companies to justify price hikes. Under the proposed bill, drugmakers would have to explain a price increase of 10 percent or more to the government and convince the government it's reasonable. That should happen at least a month before the increase goes into effect. Senator John McCain, who is co-sponsoring the bill, says it will bring much-needed transparency.
Donald Trump taking aim at Ford after the automaker announced it will move all production of its small cars to Mexico over the next two years. The Republican nominee warning, if he becomes president, he will make Ford pay.
Christine Romans is following this story for us.
Good morning.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Carol.
And he's saying this is exactly what he's talking about on the campaign trail, that companies like this are disloyal and un-American, moving jobs through NAFTA to other countries, and he's going to make it stop. What we're talking about here is Ford moving all of its small car production, small car production, we're talking about the Ford Focus and C-max, from Wayne, Michigan, to Mexico. Some 2,800 jobs will be affected there over the next couple of years.
Ford telling us there will be no jobs lost in the U.S. and that Wayne plant's going to be retooled for some bigger cars and trucks. But, still, Donald Trump using this on the campaign trail as a reason to vote for him. Listen.
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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Basically when they make their car, and they think they're going to get away with this, and they fire all their employees in the United Nations, they move to Mexico. When that car comes back across the border, into our country, that now comes in free, we're going to charge them a 35 percent tax. And you know what's going to happen? They're never going to leave.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The funny thing is, those very prescriptions, when economists and think tanks score them, Carol, they say those prescriptions would actually hurt the American economy, and hurt the very workers who are making these cars. What am I talking about? There's a new study from Oxford Economics which mirrors many others we've seen saying that that kind of policy would put a trillion dollar hole in the U.S. economy over five years, would kill 4 million jobs and would drive consumer spending down more than 4 percent. Those products made in Mexico with the higher tariff would cost more. That would hurt consumer spending.
Another part of this story as well, Carol, cars are assembled. They're not really made from scratch anymore. So many of the parts used in the cars that are assembled in Mexico come from factories where they're made by U.S. workers in the U.S. It's a very complicated picture. Experts say Donald Trump is feeding into the fear of many American workers, but that the prescription would just hurt workers in the end.
COSTELLO: So, just to put it in a nutshell, if you charge Ford a 35 percent tax, it's going to pass that cost off to the consumer?
ROMANS: That's right.
COSTELLO: All right, Christine Romans, thanks so much.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Donald Trump interrupted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Trump, I invited you here to thank us for what we've done in Flint --
TRUMP: Oh, oh, oh, OK. OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And not give a political speech.
TRUMP: OK. That's good. And I'm going to go back -- OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Mr. Trump now speaking out about this awkward moment in Flint.
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[09:42:14] COSTELLO: An awkward moment in Flint, Michigan, for Donald Trump, when a pastor who was hosting Trump at her church interrupted him midsentence.
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TRUMP: Hillary failed on the economy, just like she's failed on foreign policy. Everything she touched didn't work out. Nothing. Now, Hillary Clinton --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Trump --
TRUMP: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I invited you here to thank us for what we've done in Flint --
TRUMP: Oh, oh, oh, OK, OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not give a political speech.
TRUMP: OK. That's good. And I'm going to go back -- OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The pastor later went on to say that while all people are welcome inside her church, Mr. Trump's visit was not an endorsement, it was not political. Mr. Trump's Flint trip was supposed to be about the water and how the crisis was handled there.
This, by the way, is Mr. Trump's second visit to Michigan in recent weeks. Last night Bishop Wayne Jackson of Detroit aired his 30-minute sit-down interview with the GOP candidate. That was filmed back on September 3rd. Mr. Trump taking on racist claims head-on.
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TRUMP: Look, they were calling Romney a racist. They were calling McCain a racist. They're calling everybody that's a Republican a racist. It's automatic. And all of a sudden it's getting more and more vicious because the better we're doing, and we have a great campaign going, despite a very, very dishonest media. But I will say that it gets more and more so. But, no, I am the least racist person that you've ever met. And you can speak to Don King, who knows me very well. You can speak to so many different people.
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COSTELLO: OK. So let's talk about this. Here to discuss this is Suzan Johnson Cook. She's the former U.S. ambassador at large for International Religious Freedom and now a community leader.
Welcome.
SUZAN JOHNSON COOK, FMR. U.S. AMBASSADOR AT LARGE FOR INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Let's start with what Donald Trump said about Republicans being called racists, because Mitt Romney was called a racist when he was running for president.
COOK: Well, let's start there. I also was a pastor for three decades in New York City and continue to pastor a congregation called Wall Street Congregation. So as a pastor, number one, I want to respond first to the sister in Flint.
You know, the pulpit is not the place for tearing down, it's a place for inspiring and information. They were specifically calling Donald Trump a racist and they had due (ph) reasons to do that. He has taken down Mexicans, he's taken down at times African-Americans, and other ethnic groups. And so with specificity, in terms of speaking to Trump, and there is, you know, a track record for that.
COSTELLO: But -- but, again, you know, just -- just, is he right when he says that Republicans are often called racist because I -- I checked back and Mitt Romney was called a racist during his run for president?
COOK: It's not because of party. It's because of people who say things that are degrading to other people. And whether they're Democrats or Republicans, people who speak out against another ethnic group or claim superiority of one group over another are racist. And so when there's specificity and something to point to, where we could certainly in Donald Trump's case, then it is. It's not a Republican issue. It's a Trump issue.
[09:45:10] COSTELLO: OK, I want to talk about Bishop Jackson's interview with Mr. Trump. It was a taped interview and you heard what Mr. Trump said in part of that interview. He said he has many black friends, and said to ask Don King about how he feels about African- Americans. Does that resonate in the African-American community?
COOK: Not where I hang out. Most of the African-Americans whom I'm around, first of all, you know, it's picking out that one black friend that you might have. That's not a relationship. I think when we look at an African-American, and certainly we're not monolithic, but when we look about professionals and we're talking about people of color, the people want to make sure that people are authentic. And relationship building is what's important. It's not just at the time when you're ready to politicize or run for office that you pick out one or two of whatever group and say, these are my friends. It's about the relationship and the track record and the life record that you've had in terms of walking beside, walking with, walking amongst other people. And so Trump is not one that spells diversity or spells relationships that are warm and fuzzy with African-Americans. He's trying to do that now and trying to make up for lost time, but relationships are not built in a 30-day block or a 60-day block leading to November 8th. Relationships are built over a lifetime.
COSTELLO: This morning on "The Tom Joyner Radio Show," Hillary Clinton was on --
COOK: Yes.
COSTELLO: And she was asked a question about why African-Americans aren't more excited to vote for her. They intimated that she, too, is having a problem in the African-American community. Do you know what Tom Joyner was talking about?
COOK: I've heard that interview as well. I mean I think there are pockets of everywhere that there are people who are for and opposed to. Certainly I'm here at the Congressional Black Caucus this weekend in Washington, D.C., and the overwhelming response is, you know, certainly for Hillary. She's going to be at one of the dinners. She's going to be at a few of the receptions. And, you know, there's a relationship with Hillary. I was appointed by her. And so there's a long, long track record of relationship with Hillary Clinton. And I would say -- I would say the opposite --
COSTELLO: But -- but what about younger African-Americans? What about younger African-Americans?
COOK: I think people -- well, you know, I actually parent two of them. I think that, you know, younger children actually have many, many options. They did not grow up with the same history that we did. Some of them don't understand the civil rights movement. They know that their parents are beneficiaries of a lot of things that happened. And I think they had choices.
But at this particular time, when there's a choice of someone who speaks against your people and then someone who has worked for your people or with your people, they are coming around. And so I think on November 8th we'll see that the millennial vote particularly is going to go towards Hillary Clinton.
COSTELLO: All right, Suzan Johnson Cook, thanks for being with me this morning.
I'll be back.
COOK: Thank you so much.
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[09:52:13] COSTELLO: Third party candidate Gary Johnson is on a roll. A third newspaper has endorsed him for president. This time it's "The New Hampshire Union Leader." The endorsement coming right after Johnson's oops moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What would you do if you were elected about Aleppo?
GARY JOHNSON, LIBERTARIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And what is Aleppo?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're kidding?
JOHNSON: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Despite that, the paper says Johnson is their man. Writing about Mr. Trump they say, quote, "the man is a liar, a bully, a buffoon. He denigrates any individual or group that displeases him. He has dishonored military veterans and their families, made fun of the physically frail and changed political views almost as often as he has changed wives."
With me now is Grant Bosse, the editorial page editor of "The New Hampshire Union Leader."
This is the first time in many, many, many, many years that your paper has not endorsed the Republican candidate running for president. But why Gary Johnson?
GARY BOSSE, EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR, "NEW HAMPSHIRE UNION LEADER": Well, it's only been a century. We think he's the best choice. Frankly, he's the only Republican on the ballot. He was a very successful governor in New Mexico. His running mate, Bill Weld, was a very successful Republican governor in Massachusetts. And we think, based on their experience, their temperament and their judgment, they're the best choice for American voters.
COSTELLO: So you really believe that Gary Johnson would make a great president, or is your endorsement more of -- of like an anti- endorsement for Donald Trump?
BOSSE: Well, certainly if the two major parties had done their job and given the American people an acceptable choice for president, we probably wouldn't have look to a third party candidate like Gary Johnson, but they didn't, and Gary Johnson is the best choice we've got. Look at his experience. Look what he did as a governor. Get him on the debate stage and give the American people a real choice.
COSTELLO: Well, Johnson gave an interview to Jim Kraemer's "The Street" and Jim Kraemer was interviewing Gary Johnson about what he'd do to improve the economy. Gary Johnson wants to eliminate income tax and corporate tax, abolish the IRS, he wants to eliminate the Department of Education, Obamacare, cut defense spending, eliminate HUD, raise the retirement age and make cuts across all government agencies. Is that even possible?
BOSSE: That's a good start. Yes, it's a good -- if we have the political will to do it. And I think one of the possible benefits of a third party president is freeing Congress from the tribalism where half of Congress just goes along with whatever the White House wants. Let's restore some checks and balances. Let's put in a president that isn't constantly trying to increase the power of the executive branch and let's see what we can get done. And if -- if we half of what Gary Johnson --
COSTELLO: But, still, he wants to cut all of these things, what -- we're -- we're -- we're fighting ISIS right now in many different countries. He wants to cut way back on military defense and cut the number of troops. How would that work exactly?
[09:55:01] BOSSE: It would work by having priorities and actually making tough choices and deciding that, you know, maybe some weapons systems we don't need, some things we don't need, some things we do need. Harry Truman did this when he was a senator. He went around and he found waste in the Defense Department, then the War Department, that allowed us to be better able to fight World War II. So, yes, we're spending way too much money in every federal department, including Defense.
COSTELLO: All right, and it doesn't bother you, the Aleppo thing?
BOSSE: He made a mistake. He admitted he made a mistake. And then he gave an answer, his answer, about what to do in Syria. Frankly, that's refreshing. Donald Trump would never admit a mistake and Hillary Clinton only does it when she's under FBI investigation. So having a president with a little humility, who quite frankly blanked on a question on TV, and then said, yes, he screwed up, I think that's refreshing humility from a presidential candidate.
COSTELLO: All right, Gary Bosse from "The New Hampshire Union Leader," thank you so much for joining me this morning.
The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.
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