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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump Moments Away From Officially Kicking Off 2020 Campaign; Trump About To Officially Kick Off 2020 Campaign In Florida; New Poll: Trump Trails Biden, Sanders And Warren In Florida; Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) Discuss What He's Going To Say In Response To President Trump Formal 2020 Campaign Launch; Ocasio-Cortez Compares Migrant Facilities To Concentration Camps; Trump Contradicts Top Security Officials Downplaying Alleged Attacks On Tankers By Iran As "Very Minor"; Acting Defense Chief Resigns Amid Revelations Of Domestic Violence; Trump's Pick For Defense Chief Drops Out Amid Accusations Of Domestic Violence Involving Him, His Ex-Wife & His Son. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired June 18, 2019 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: ... American Crumbles. Thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @WOLFBLITZER. Tweet the show @CNNSITROOM. Erin Burnett OUTFRONT starts right now.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT next, President Trump about to formally launch his 2020 campaign as new polls show some issues for Trump. Senator Bernie Sanders who says he's the best candidate to take on the President is out front this evening. Plus, the President's nominee for defense secretary out. He's now derailed amid shocking revelations of domestic violence. How did the President not know? And a photographer comes face-to-face with a gunman as he's shooting up a federal building. What made him take pictures instead of running the other way? Let's go out front.
Good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, President Trump about to formally launch his 2020 campaign. These are live pictures out of Orlando, Florida where already the Trump family has been taking the stage. Eric Trump and Don Jr. have just spoken. Vice president Pence about to speak. Everybody there. And in moments, Trump will join them addressing a revved up crowd.
Trump picking Florida his second home as a must-win battleground state. He only carried Florida by about a percentage point in 2016 and tonight he is trailing some of the top Democratic candidates in Florida. Quinnipiac today showing Joe Biden leads President Trump 50 percent to 41 percent, Bernie Sanders 48 percent to 42 percent, Elizabeth Warren 47 percent to 43 percent just outside the margin of error, the others all within it.
Now, before the president left for Orlando, he spoke about tonight's event.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going down as you know to a very big crowd down in Florida, Orlando. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT Kaitlan Collins is traveling with the President. She is out front. She is in Orlando right now. All right. Kaitlan, there you are getting ready for the President to come to that podium and the vice president, why Florida?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, as you noted, this is the State that is near and dear to the president and it's essentially his second home. But also he knows that this is a state he's got to have to win to win in 2020. And the President by judging what our sources have been telling us has been rattled by those polls that have showed him trailing people Joe Biden in states like Florida.
So that is why you're seeing the campaign pick this as what they are calling the launch of their re-election bid, even though of course the President has been running for office since the day he was inaugurated. They're feeling this is something new. They've had concerts going on outside during the day. There have been people lined up since yesterday and it even almost has this convention like feel with all of the President's family coming out on stage here tonight before he does and especially the Vice President Mike Pence as well.
But Erin, the question is what is the President going to say tonight as he makes his case to voters for why they should put him back in office for four more years. And to give you a hint of what he's going to say, it could be the same playbook he used in 2016. That's judging from what the President was tweeting overnight when he was threatening to deport millions of undocumented immigrants starting next week even though his administration wasn't able to give a lot of details on that.
So the President is coming here, hoping in the recent weeks as there's been tension in his campaign over those leaked polls to be comforted by this arena full of 20,000 of his chanting supporters.
BURNETT All right. Kaitlan, thank you very much. And now, I want to go to 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders. And Senator I appreciate your time tonight. The President, obviously, getting ready to go on stage there in Orlando to launch his campaign. You're planning to deliver a live response to his event tonight. What will you say?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I'm going to make a guess and maybe I am wrong, but here's what my guess is in terms of what the President will not talk about tonight. I have the feeling he's not going to talk about the fact that he tried to throw 32 million Americans off of the health care they have. He's not going to talk about the fact that in his recent budgets, he proposed massive cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and to Social Security.
He probably won't talk about his tax reform bill where he promised the American people that it would not benefit the wealthy and in fact 83 percent of the benefits over 10-year period go to the top 1 percent. And let me make another prediction, I bet he doesn't talk about climate change which the scientific community calls the greatest threat facing our planet, so those are some of the things he won't talk about.
What he will talk about, I'm sure, are undocumented people in this country and demagogue that issue.
BURNETT And those are the issues you focus on later on tonight. Look, I don't know if you just heard the reporting there, Senator, but part of the reason he's in Florida is because he likes going there a lot but he is concerned about the polling data there. We all know he cares deeply about polls. He's watching them closely whether he admits it or not. And he's losing in Florida according to the Quinnipiac poll to you, to Joe Biden.
Joe Biden talked about polls today and he said, quote, there's a target on my back. Referring to other Democrats, is that fair? Are you aiming for Joe Biden right now?
[19:05:20] SANDERS: Not a target on anybody's - I mean, I think the good news is that virtually all of the recent national polls has Biden and myself way ahead of President Trump in some cases double digits and I think that's good. But this is a long, long time before an election, so we shouldn't put too much credibility into polls.
But I think Trump understands and he's beginning to panic a little bit that he is in trouble, that his agenda, his personality, his racism, and his sexism, and his overall bigotry is not what the American people feel comfortable with.
BURNETT So Senator Elizabeth Warren as you know has been rising in the polls. It's been getting a lot of notice, right? And in the Florida poll you and she are locked in a close race for second. You're at 14, she is at 12. Biden advisors tell CNN they're keeping a close eye on her rise, but they think that it's coming, her rise is coming from you. So every point she gets comes out of your number, not his number. Is Warren's gain coming at your expense, Senators Sanders?
SANDERS: Erin, you sound like somebody in the media. This is not to me what's important. I got to run my campaign. Senator Warren will run her campaign and I think what the evidence will show is that I am in fact the strongest candidate to defeat Trump. I think we can win big in Michigan and Wisconsin, in Pennsylvania and I think we'll win because the issues that we are fighting for are issues that the working families of this country will respond to.
BURNETT Yes. I mean ...
SANDERS: I oppose ...
BURNETT ... yes.
SANDERS: ... many of these disastrous trade policies. I opposed the war in Iraq.
BURNETT Yes.
SANDERS: I oppose the Wall Street bailout and I think people in the Midwest and all over this country, they'll agree with me.
BURNETT And look, what I'm curious, the reason I ask the question though is that I'm wondering whether you think there's a cap on support from the progressive left, that there's only so much, so this whole comes at your gain. OK.
SANDERS: No. That's a fair question, but let me respond in this way and I think often the media gets it wrong. If you are a working person and you're working longer hours for low wages and you can't afford prescription drugs, you can't afford to send your kid to college, you're worried about your parents or you're worried about your own retirement, are you necessarily a liberal or progressive? You're not.
You're just one of the majority of the American people who are living paycheck to paycheck who are really struggling in this economy. So I think my universe of support on the vast majority of working people who are getting screwed over by the economy, the truth is that for the last 45 years the average American today has not seen a nickel more in real wages than he or she got 45 years ago. That's pretty crazy.
And meanwhile there's been a massive transfer of wealth from the working families of this country to the top 1 percent. Now, you don't have to be a liberal or progressive to understand that. All you do understand is that in the richest country in the world you are entitled to a decent standard of living.
BURNETT So you said you're going to be talking about immigration, no, he's going to be talking about immigration tonight as well in a different way. You tweeted today calling his threat to deport millions of undocumented immigrants which he said he's going to start doing next week outrageous. But I wanted to ask you about something else that came from someone who you have obviously shared a lot in common with, Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
She talked about the President's detention of migrants at the U.S.- Mexico border, particularly where some of these people are being housed and here's how she described it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): The United States is running concentration camps on our southern border and that is exactly what they are. They are concentration camps.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT Senator, you've talked about how your father's family was wiped out in the Holocaust, 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, concentration camps mass murdered them and others in gas chambers. Are you comfortable calling detention of migrants on the Mexican border concentration camps? SANDERS: Look, I didn't use that terminology and again I have a lot
of respect for Alexandria. I think she's doing a fantastic job. What I will tell you is that we are locking up children in deplorable conditions. I mean, keeping kids there for weeks in places that are not meant for kids where children are being traumatized and that is absolutely unacceptable. We need in this country a comprehensive immigration reform.
We need to deal with the 1.8 million young people in DACA and get them legal status and we need to move toward citizenship, a path towards citizenship, that's what we have to do.
BURNETT But you don't use the concentration camps.
SANDERS: No, I have not used that word. I have not used that word.
[19:10:10] BURNETT Before we go, Senator, I want to ask you about Iran which I know you are speaking out on. You said earlier today that you don't accept the administration's claim that Iran was behind the attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
SANDERS: What I said is that attacks on oil tankers need to be thoroughly investigated and that's what we need. I also said and repeat right now that the worst foreign policy errors in the modern history of this country came when we got into the war in Vietnam, when we were lied to, the American people were lied to about the so called Gulf of Tonkin and when we were lied to about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
BURNETT Right.
SANDERS: And I think the American people should be very, very careful about taking anybody's point of view in terms about Iran.
BURNETT I completely hear your point. I'm just curious because obviously Pompeo always said the CIA concluded that and there's been nothing to refute that they concluded that. The CIA also, of course, concluded that the Saudi Crown Prince was responsible directly for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. So do you also think that one deserves investigation like the President is doing or do you accept the CIA in one case and not the other?
SANDERS: Erin, what does the owner, the Japanese owner of the tanker say?
BURNETT They said, "Not enough evidence produced by the U.S."
SANDERS: Yes. That's the owner of the tanker and I don't know that they have any particular motives for coming up with that position. They don't agree with what Trump said. All that I'm saying is you need an independent investigation and this is what I will also say is that I happen to believe that if the United States went to war against Iran, attack Iran, it would be in horrific mistake, it would make the war in Iraq look like a cakewalk and I will do everything that I can A, to prevent that war and B, we need the American people to tell Trump that he does not have the constitutional authority to go to war. That is the responsibility of the Congress, not any president.
BURNETT All right. Senator Sanders, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.
SANDERS: Thank you.
BURNETT And next, Trump's nominee for defense secretary resigning amidst revelations of violent domestic incidents. Why is this all coming to light now? Plus, Anthony Scaramucci is out front. Does he believe it's OK for the President to chastise his own chief of staff on camera for coughing?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Let's do that over. He's coughing in the middle of my answer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, OK.
TRUMP: I don't like that, you know?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT And the President threatening raids, deportation for millions of undocumented immigrants next week. Why didn't he bother to tell the people who would be doing this raids about it?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:16:27] BURNETT New tonight, shocking details of domestic violence involving Patrick Shanahan's family, derailing his nomination to be secretary of defense. Shanahan dropping out of consideration and resigning as the Acting Defense Secretary amid particularly disturbing revelations that his son beat his own mother with a baseball bat. Drew Griffin is out front.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT(voice-over): Just days ago as questions swirled about delays with his FBI background check, Patrick Shanahan seemed confident he would become Secretary of Defense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICK SHANAHAN, OUTGOING ACTING DEFENSE SECRETARY: I'm in contact with the White House, done with our paperwork. Expect to have the process completed here shortly. And then right now as you can seem, I'm kind of focus on doing the job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN(voice-over): Today with a tweet, President Trump announced Shanahan was done.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: He said it's going to be rough time for him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN(voice-over): Allegations of domestic violence between Shanahan, his ex-wife and their son derailed his nomination. Shanahan's terrible divorce dragged on more than five years, a story of a troubled family, spelled out in hundreds of pages of court documents. A 2010 incident at their home would be the last time the husband and wife ever spoke, Shanahan's ex-wife told CNN.
According to Seattle police, Kimberley Shanahan said Patrick struck her several times in the stomach, but the officer noted that Patrick had a black eye and a bloody nose and that Kimberley had no injuries and no marks consistent with her version of being assaulted. Police arrested Kimberley Shanahan on an assault charge that night, her husband requested the charges against her be dropped.
In another violent episode in 2011, it was one of the couple's sons involved in a baseball bat attack against his mother leaving her with a bloody head wound, fractured elbow, fractured skull and multiple strikes to the torso. Kimberley Shanahan says in court documents Patrick Shanahan excused the behavior of their son saying Mr. Shanahan has taken the position that I provoked the assault.
In fact, Patrick Shanahan did send a memo about the incident to his ex-wife's brother saying that his son acted in self-defense and that Will's mother harassed him for nearly three hours before the incident. She fuelled the situation by berating him repeatedly in his room. Shanahan later said in court filings that he wrote that to help plan for his son's legal defense. "There is no excuse for what Will did to his mother. Will's actions were unquestionably wrong but I am his father and loved him unconditionally."
Shanahan who thanked his children during his confirmation hearing as Deputy Defense Secretary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHANAHAN: I'd like to acknowledge my three children who have accompanied me here today, Kayla, Will and Jack who are seated behind me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN(voice-over): Today, he said it's because of them he pulled his name out. He released a statement saying, "I believe my continuing in the confirmation process would force my three children to relive a traumatic chapter in our family's life and reopen wounds we have worked years to heal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: And Erin, Kimberley Shanahan who now goes by the name Kimberley Jordinson told me today FBI agents only recently came to her home and asked about that 2010 police incident and allegations of domestic violence. CNN has found no evidence Patrick Shanahan ever physically abused his ex-wife.
She however has been arrested in Seattle in 2010 for assaulting her husband, charges were dropped. Arrested again in 2014 charged with smashing a former business partner's car with a sledgehammer. She wasn't convicted there. And two of her three children released statements today saying their mother was abusive, violent, and abused alcohol and drugs.
Erin, Kimberley Jordinson says that is not true and tells me her family lies about her. Erin.
[19:20:13] BURNETT All right. Drew, thank you. And now, David Gergen, Adviser to Four Presidents. I mean, David, look this is terrible in many awful ways. Shanahan's son charged with two felonies and just to be clear so people understand the severity of this, he faced up to 15 years in prison. The judge in fact wouldn't even release him out of custody saying the crime scene pictures where he beat his mother so viciously were horrendous. That's the word from the judge.
Shanahan, of course, defended his son at the time. Now says that nothing could excuse that. How is it possible that the Senate did not know these details?
DAVID GERGEN, FORMER ADVISER TO FOUR PRESIDENTS: I don't think it is possible. Well, first of all I think we all share and feeling great sympathy for the members of the family, especially that this all might come public. But the story doesn't add up so far.
Listen, when his name was put up for deputy secretary that launched investigation of his background. He had to go through a background check. They obviously would have gone through divorce records and everything else. So there were people who began to know and it's also obvious that people who knew started sitting on it. We don't know exactly who they are. There are a lot of rumors about people up on the hill and new things and sat on it.
But today the President came out and said he only learned for the first time yesterday. That's either a huge lie or it represents gross mismanagement in the White House or perhaps both.
BURNETT So let me ask you about that, because an administration official told us that Shanahan was fully vetted that the White House was aware of the domestic abuse allegations, but not every single detail. But to your point, President Trump was asked about it today and Shanahan, here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I had heard about it yesterday for the first time. I didn't know about it. I had heard about it yesterday and it's very unfortunate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT To your point for that to be true, it would mean that people at the White House, whatever they knew they didn't share with the President or the President is lying.
GERGEN: Exactly. And frankly it's just impossible to believe they wouldn't bring it to him. This is not the first time they've gone through violence and domestic relations in which they haven't picked up on it and done something about it. The red flags would start flying immediately once you started looking at this file. So I have to believe they started talking to the President about it. He doesn't let anything go on in there that's of importance not go by him.
So I have to believe he did. I don't know why he's lying about it, but he's also left his staff looking like, "Why the hell didn't you tell him?" If what he's saying is true, why didn't you not tell him? And what about other people? I mean, The Washington Post found a lot of details much more rapidly and publishing much more rapidly than people who have been studying this for six months.
BURNETT Yes. I mean something about it certainly doesn't add up.
GERGEN: It doesn't add up.
BURNETT Thank you very much, David Gergen.
GERGEN: Take care.
BURNETT Obviously, much more to come on that as we find out who knew what and when and what the President knew. And next, the President about to formally launch his 2020 campaign. The theme, promises made, promises kept. What about this one?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I promise we're building the wall and Mexico will pay for the wall, I promise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT Anthony Scaramucci is out front. And Jeanne on vintage Trump and his reading list.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I really like Tom Wilson last book and I think he's a great author. He's done a beautiful job.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which book?
TRUMP: His current book. His current book is just out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:27:51] BURNETT Live pictures out of Florida on your screen. President Trump about to formally kickoff his reelection campaign for 2020, that is Orlando. One campaign source telling CNN Trump sees tonight as a chance to quote reset the race. His supporters trying to fire up his base in a state that he won by about one percentage point in 2016, about 112,000 votes as tight as it can get there. Will that be enough to overcome Democrats though who are determined to turn Florida blue again. Ed Lavandera is on the ground.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MELODY VINCENT, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Stop that horn ....
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT(voice-over): The 2020 presidential election is about a year and a half away and Melody Vincent is celebrating President Trump's recent birthday, leading cheers on a street corner. It's never too early to fire up the base.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VINCENT: I am a Trumper. Trump has come in and stepped up when he didn't have to for free and saved our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA(voice-over): Vincent was one of several dozen Trump supporters who turned out to generate a happy hour honking frenzy in this intersection of The Villages' enclave north of Orlando. It's a good place to take the temperature of the Trump faithful who often sound just like the President's Twitter feed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VINCENT: Look at what he's done for the economy. In the last two- and-a-half years, he has done more than any president in my lifetime ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA(voice-over): The Villages is a sprawling retirement community where more than 115,000 retirees now live and Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than two to one. It's often called a Disney World for adults where the hot wheels of choice are golf carts.
And evenings end with concerts on the square. Mike Peacock runs a golf cart rental business. He says he sees his neighbors talking Trump every night and says support for the President is stronger than ever. They love what most of the President's detractors despise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PEACOCK, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I like him because he's sarcastic and I'm the same way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: The devotion to President Trump is so intense here that a recent meeting of the village Republicans started out with a player, asking God to, quote, deliver President Trump from the evil that is bent on destroying him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[19:30:03] LAVANDERA: Do you worry that President Trump's divisiveness, his lies, will hurt him in the long run?
PETER ARDITO, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I don't think so because you can't -- you'd have to tell me what he's lied about, first of all. I don't think he lied about anything. And as far as --
LAVANDERA: You don't think he lied about anything.
ARDITO: No.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Democrats organized this protest rally just a few blocks away from where President Trump is hosting his re-election campaign kickoff.
Wes Hodge is the chairman of the Orange County Democratic Party in Orlando. He says Trump's divisiveness is waking up a new wave of voters.
WES HODGE, ORANGE COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY: I think there is more excitement on our side because people now understand that every single vote is going to matter, and that we -- some people were like no he can't win in 2006. Now that we have seen what's happened, people are energized like never before.
LAVANDERA: A new Quinnipiac University poll shows early signs of potential trouble for Trump in Florida. In the poll, the president is trailing Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in this crucial battleground state, while three other Democratic hopefuls are running next and neck.
MARIA REVELLES, ORLANDO DEMOCRAT: Enough is enough.
LAVANDERA: Maria Revelles moved to Orlando from Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. She dismisses the intensity of support from Trump's base and argues Florida is shifting away from the president.
REVELLES: It's not acceptable what's going on in the Trump administration especially for minorities, for Puerto Ricans. That's why we are here today.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: And, Erin, if you talk polls with any Trump supporter, they will tell you they are incredibly dismissive of anything that shows President Trump behind in any kind of polls. They look back to 2016 and like to claim that none of the polls were right back then. And they don't think so far they are showing what they see on the ground out here, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Ed Lavandera. And now, former White House communications director, Anthony
Scaramucci.
And, Anthony, look -- obviously you are joining us -- everyone should see because I see the background from Rome tonight where they watch in race as closely as we are. But, look, Florida a crucial swing state, the president there of course he won it by a percentage point.
Ed points out rightly, Fox News and everybody else's polls did not show that on the eve of the election. Nonetheless, the president is looking at polls now that show him losing to Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders handily.
How worried are you about Democratic enthusiasm for turnout in Florida?
ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Well, listen, I think we would all accept it's very early. And we could point to people like Howard Dean that had huge leads at this point and so on and so forth. So, I am a little more worried than I would be in 2016 because the president is not a novelty anymore and he is running on a track record.
And so, I've often said on this network and other networks, what the president is doing has been astounding. He has a great economic record to run on. How he sometimes does it, however, I think is creating a headwind for him.
So, what I'm hoping is he goes back to the State of the Union Address, that sort of communication style, Erin, and use that is over the next six to nine months. I think that would help him a great deal, because it would calm people down tp.
So, for me right now, I would say it's very, very early. But he is no longer a new entity like he was in 2016.
BURNETT: All right. And now, nationally, there is a Fox poll which is interesting because when he tweets about that he is talking about he is confused by it, you know, whereas if it came from anybody else, it's fake news. But it's Fox, so he didn't want to call it.
And in the Fox poll, he trails Joe Biden by 9 points, this is nationally, Anthony. Bernie by 9, Bernie Sanders, within the margin of error against Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and Pete Buttigieg. He is pretending that his own internal polls don't show him losing key states which, of course, all that leaked out and we know they do show that. Again, this is early, but that's what they show.
And he has been clear, of course, as you know, that he loves polls and only good polls and everything else he ignores. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I love those polls when they're good. Now if they're no good I don't report them.
"The Los Angeles Times" has us 6 points up nationwide. Good poll. If it weren't, I wouldn't tell but it I promise.
If we're doing badly I don't know about it. No, it's true. When we do badly I don't know about polls, right? But when we do well I know about polls.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK. Laughing aside, do you think he realizes that he has had head winds and needs to start moving?
SCARAMUCCI: I do. And I would say he had head winds four years ago when he launched the campaign and 22 points behind Jeb Bush. And so, yes, he absolutely has headwinds.
The reason I'm laughing is like Steve jobs and most entrepreneurs, they create this reality distortion field around themselves and try to will themselves to the reality that they want.
[19:35:04] And so, in the case of the president last time, there was a lot of mixed polls, Erin. We both know that.
BURNETT: Yes.
SCARAMUCCI: Maybe "The L.A. Times" had a good poll and Rasmussen had a good one. But there were a lot of polls leading up to Election Day.
So, I think the president is going to pick and choose the police that he likes. That's obvious. He did that before.
But the real question is, will he be able to turn things on in a way and close the gap in the polls that you're looking at and the polls that I'm looking at.
BURNETT: All right.
SCARAMUCCI: I predict he will because he has a strong competent to run on.
BURNETT: All right. One thing though he is running on, right, and this whole thing is promises made and promises kept. And certainly, there's plenty of those.
One of the first and biggest and certainly the most often made to this entire country that nobody could forget is this one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I will build a great, great wall on our southern border and I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.
I promise, we're building the wall. And Mexico will pay for the wall. I promise.
In the end, Mexico is paying for the wall. They're going to pay for the wall and they're going to enjoy it, OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Does he think not keeping that promise actually helps him as a rallying call?
SCARAMUCCI: Well, I would -- I would say that he -- he would look at it probably -- I think part of the narrative is going to be that he has been trying to keep that promise and you may remember prior to the midterms, he was trying to cut a deal on the Dreamers, the whole DACA situation to get border funding for the ball. Now, that would have came from the United States and the taxpayers, of course.
BURNETT: Right.
SCARAMUCCI: So, I think it's a hard promise for him to keep. But I think he can go down a list of things and, unfortunately, he is in the political world now. And a lot of things that you sometimes promise you can't quite meet.
But there is a whole list of promises Erin he has been able to keep. One of them is wage growth. You have- -- interesting situation, you have real GDP growth, very low inflation. But for the bottom 10 percent of earners, you got about a 5.4 percent wage increase since becoming president.
I hope he runs on that. I think that's the right narrative for him to run on.
But you're right I'll cede that to you he hasn't been able to make that promise. But there is a whole host of other promises that he's come in on which I think his base certainly likes.
BURNETT: Well, you know what? I have to say, I appreciate the fact that I coughed and you didn't try to end the interview because there was a moment the other day where the president was doing an interview and his chief of staff started coughing. And well here is what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: But at some point, I hope they get it because it's a phenomenal -- iIt's fantastic financial statement. It's a fantastic financial statement. And -- let's do that over. He is coughing in the middle of my answer.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: Yes, OK.
TRUMP: I don't like that, you know?
STEPHANOPOULOS: Your chief of staff.
TRUMP: If you got to cough, please leave the room.
MICK MULVANEY, ACTING WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: I'll come over here.
TRUMP: Just -- you just can't. MULVANEY: Sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And no doubt you have seen his facial expression.
OK, does behavior like that from him from the top tell -- send a message about how he treats people? Or how others should treat people or do you not have any concern?
SCARAMUCCI: I -- well, listen, I sort of think it's unfair. Every one of us have been temperamental from time to time.
There is a scene where Bill Clinton is sort of yelling at an aide 20 years ago. We know President Obama sometimes lost his temper.
I think it's very unfair to pick and choose these -- he clearly caught on camera. We're in the world of social media now. Many of us have said things they regretted saying, myself included especially, Erin.
So, what happens in the social media and our fish bowl -- the White House isn't even a fish bowl, it's a full blown aquarium.
And so, they caught him frustrated. He's a total germophobe. I seen it full picture, God forebode you like your turning and touch something on his desk. He'll flip out on you.
So, I get the fact that he was upset there. But I don't think -- I think people look at that and say, OK, high stress job.
BURNETT: But should he talk to the chief of staff like that putting aside jokes about germs I'm sure Mick Mulvaney covered his mouth.
(CROSSTALK)
SCARAMUCCI: In that -- in that setting, no -- I understand that, Erin. I would say in that setting, many of us that worked with him and know the whole germophobe thing. Some of that is an act on his part and the frustration he gives you.
I hear you. It's a bad look for the president process. But at the end of the day, I enjoyed working for him. Many people enjoy working for him.
But in a job like that, I think it's impossible to expect a person to have zero defects and no frustration at any time. But I -- I do see that. But I would challenge people that are listening to the show or people in your control room, have they never lost their temper about something. My guess is they probably have.
BURNETT: Yes, I just hope it wouldn't be someone coughing in the middle of the interview across the room who is supposed to be your right hand person.
All right. Thank you very much, Anthony.
[19:40:01] Good to talk you.
SCARAMUCCI: Well, good news I'm about 8,000 miles away so I can't get any of your germs.
BURNETT: Believe me, you wouldn't want them. Believe me. Thank you.
And next, President Trump says he is going to start deporting millions of people next week. So, what will cities do if he follows through on that threat? The mayor of Oakland who's had a running feud with Trump on immigration is OUTFRONT.
Plus, bullets fly past the photographer who was feet away from a heavily armed gunman. Tonight, that photograph who ran towards shots is speaking out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If he saw me sitting is there a camera, I have no doubt he would have shot me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: New tonight, President Trump doubling down on the promise to start mass deportation of millions next week. Even though a senior immigration official tells CNN there are no plans to do so.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Immigration officials say they don't know anything about a planned round up of millions of people next week.
TRUMP: Well, they know. They know. And they're going to start next week. And when people come into our country and they come in illegally, they have to go out. And everybody seeing that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OUTFRONT now, the mayor of Oakland, Libby Schaaf.
And I appreciate your time, Mayor. Good to have you back on the show.
So, the president doubling down saying he is going to go ahead and do this. It's going to start next week, round up of millions of people. Do you think he'll follow through on his threat?
MAYOR LIBBY SCHAAF (D), OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: Well, Erin, it's just more of his ruthless, reckless and racist behavior.
[19:45:03] And this kind of mass rounding up of people is where civil liberties get violated. This administration's continued cruelty, separating families, placing children in cages, that is not my America. And I find it deeply disturbing. And I know that my residents here in Oakland share that view.
BURNETT: So, Oakland is a sanctuary city. What will you do if the president goes through with his plan?
SCHAAF: Well, in the past I have warned my residents. But obviously the president has done that for me. So I don't need to do that in this case.
But my message is to not panic but to be prepared. Everyone should know their rights and their responsibilities. And that is kind of the message for everyone.
This president continues to try and distract us with his fear- mongering, with his divisive rhetoric and we need to hold him accountable for fixing what is clearly a broken immigration system.
BURNETT: So, as you say, you don't need to warn your residents because he has already. Obviously, he has essentially announced an operation. Last year, though, he came out aggressively against you, threatened to prosecute you for doing the same thing in Oakland.
Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: How about the mayor of Oakland? Where she tells 1,000 people to get going, law enforcement is coming to get you. And this was all planned. And many of them scattered.
What she did is incredible and very dangerous from the standpoint of ICE and Border Patrol. Very dangerous.
I mean, you talk about obstruction of justice, I would recommend that you look into obstruction of justice for the mayor of Oakland, California, Jeff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, Mayor, now he is doing what he did, announcing plans to deport people who are here illegally. Is he being hypocritical?
SCHAAF: I do find it a little ironic. But, you know, he is getting ready to announce the re-election bid. So, clearly, he is trying to whip up his base at the expense of good peaceful citizens and communities like mine that pride ourselves on our diversity, inclusion.
And let me be clear, being a sanctuary city is fully legal. We are not breaking laws. We are not impeding the federal government. We are just using our local resources where we think it's much more appropriate.
BURNETT: All right. So, that's a fair point.
I want to ask you about what a senior administration official -- senior immigration official, I'm sorry, Mayor Schaaf, told us today. This person said, quote, there is no operation next week to pick up millions, right, contradicting the president, but adds there are tent I have plans for an operation next month in ten cities. And they specified that the operations would be to pick up families
who didn't show up to their scheduled immigration hearings. And have removal orders, right that they have ignored.
So, my question for you is, do you think it's wrong to pick up an entire family and deport them if they skipped the hearing, didn't show up and have removal orders they ignored?
SCHAAF: We have a system of laws and we have to have a functional immigration system. But we really aren't exercising what should be, for example, political asylum exceptions, true due process, if we don't provide representation for these families.
When you are a mayor, you live in your community. You know these individuals. Their children go to school with your children. You sit next to them in church.
You might remember the story of the incredible emergency room nurse at our public hospital who also worked with cancer patients and heart patients for decades trying to get her legal status, but unsuccessful. And happily was able to return now under an H-1B visa, and that's only because she got the attention that got her support she needed.
So, again, we say we have a fair and just immigration system. We have ample evidence to show we do not. And while we have the broken system, we cannot terrorize good people that have been living in our communities, contributing and really don't deserve to be ripped from their families, ripped out of the communities that they've called home. We need to fix this system, not use it as political volleyball.
BURENTT: All right. Mayor Schaaf, thank you very much.
And next, the newspaper photographer who captured in chilling photo speaks out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:53:09] BURNETT: OUTFRONT tonight, face to face with a gunman, a long time photographer for the "Dallas Morning News" finding himself in the middle of story, just feet away from a heavily armed man shooting up a federal building in Dallas.
Dianne Gallagher is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOX, PHOTOGRAPHER WHO HID FEET FROM GUNMAN: I was just praying that he can't see me. If he would have saw me, he would have shot me. No doubt.
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That terrifying scene as the 22- year-old Army veteran heavily armed and seemingly dressed for battle opened fire outside the federal building and courthouse in downtown Dallas.
FOX: I heard three pops, thinking it was just some backfire from a car. After the third shot, I knew it wasn't.
GALLAGHER: "Dallas Morning News" photographer Tom Fox was standing outside waiting to photograph a defendant arriving for jury selection when the bullets started flying.
FOX: I noticed someone on the sidewalk. I didn't know what it was so I pulled up a long lens and looked through the view finder and saw the muzzle of the gun and the guy with the mask on.
GALLAGHER: Fox snapped this chilling photo of the gunman Brian Isaak Clyde.
FOX: I just went into -- OK, this is my job. This is what I've been doing for almost 30 years. Just stay close to the story but not in danger.
GALLAGHER: But then realized he needed to take cover.
FOX: Got to get out of harm's way. He's come thing way. I didn't want to be shot in the back, so I ducked into the first alcove.
GALLAGHER: Cell phone video filmed by Tim Brown from just across the street shows Fox just a few feet from Clyde during those chaotic moments.
FOX: I'm in plain sight and if he saw me sitting there with a camera, he would -- I have no doubt he would have shot me.
GALLAGHER: Federal protective service officer shot and killed Clyde before he got a chance to go into the building or hurt anyone.
FOX: I think about friends. You think about things that are important to you. This is not the way I want to go.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[19:55:00] GALLAGHER: And look, hiding behind something like this, along with that quick response from those federal officers is likely what helped save Tom.
Now, the FBI from the past hour announced that the building here, it is safe. We're up next to it. Still a lot of broken glass, bullet holes you can see everywhere. There is still bloodstains on the ground, Erin.
But they are asking for, though, is help. If you got video, if you got pictures, please submit them to the FBI.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Dianne. Pretty incredible story.
And next, Jeanne unearths Trump and the book club.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Here's Jeanne. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At 448 pages, the Mueller report isn't exactly a beach read.
Doth President Trump protesth too much saying he read it?
TRUMP: The report said no collusion.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Did you read the report?
TRUMP: Yes, I did. You should read it, too. You should read --
MOOS: From the limo to the Oval, the president insisted.
TRUMP: Just read it.
JIMMY KIMMEL, COMEDIAN: To me please, because I haven't read it.
MOOS: Seems like the president is always in the cross fire over his literary habits.
This 1987 clip has resurfaced.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who are your favorite authors?
TRUMP: Well, I have a number of favorite authors. I think Tom Wolfe is excellent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you read "Vanity of the Bonfires"?
TRUMP: I did not.
MOOS: "The Bonfire of the Vanities" ended up burning Trump when he contradicted himself seconds later?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the best book you read beside "Art of the Deal"?
TRUMP: I really like Tom Wolfe's last book.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Bonfire of the Vanities".
TRUMP: Yes, the man has done a very, very good. And I really can't hear with this earphone, by the way.
MOOS: Reminded me of Sarah Palin, read one tweet, when she was asked what newspapers she reads.
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: All of them. Any of them.
MOOS: As for the best of all books, according to Trump.
TRUMP: Nobody loves the Bible more than I do.
Nothing beats the Bible. Not even the "Art of the Deal". Not even close.
MOOS: Just doesn't ask for details.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm wondering what one or two of your most favorite bible versus are.
TRUMP: I wouldn't want to get into it because that's very personal.
MOOS (on camera): President Trump may not read books but he definitely recommends them.
(voice-over): When Judge Pirro published "Liars, Leakers and Liberals", Trump tweeted, go get it. He called a Rush Limbaugh book a must-read, at least you must.
When it comes to the top pick out Trump book club?
TRUMP: The Bible.
MOOS: The book gets a thumbs-up. He can't put it down. Not the Bible, the thumb.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: And thanks so much for joining us.
Anderson starts now.
END
