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Erin Burnett Outfront
Dow Dives 800 Points As Trump Is Watching With Frustration; Sources: Trump's Frustration At The Market Directed At Fed And Trade Team; Expressed Concern It Could Hurt Re-Election; 2020 Dems Blast Top Trump Aide Cuccinelli For Saying Statue Of Liberty Poem About "People Coming From Europe"; Calls Grow For Steve King To Resign After Rape & Incest Remarks. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired August 14, 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 HOST: Well, let's hope this ends and ends quickly and no more inquiries, no more people shot in the process. Erin Burnett OUTFRONT starts right now.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next breaking news, President Trump growing more frustrated tonight, the Dow drops 800 points in fears of a recession. Why the president should be concerned? Plus, the 2020 candidate seizing on remarks, the President's top immigration official said on this program that the poem of the Statue of Liberty refers to people from Europe. And Republican Congressman Steve King appearing to defend rape and incest. What was he talking about? Let's go out front.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT this evening, the breaking news. Trump's market meltdown. The President frustrated and concerned tonight, worried about reelection. Sources say as he watched the Dow freefall today.
You see the number, 800 points down. The reason, a fluorescent red recession warning light now flashing for the first time since 2007 which was just before the great market crash and recession. A recession which it is important to remember was the worst since the Great Depression in the 1930s. The stock drop today the biggest this year, the fourth largest point drop in American history.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... joining us, we close at the session lows down 800 points on the Dow.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: ... fears of another recession causing panic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking this evening, the big sell off on Wall Street today. The Dow average plummeting 3 percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Trump took to Twitter, sending nine tweets today about the economy, including trying to spin the plunge in interest rates into a positive. The president tweeting, "Tremendous amounts of money pouring into the United States. People want safety."
Well, the President is right about this, money is pouring into U.S. Treasuries but that as he well knows is not a sign of strength tonight. That is a sign of deep recession fears. The lower the yield on benchmark treasuries, the lower the interest rates, the higher the fear of economic crisis. And today, the 30-year yield fell to its lowest level in history.
Markets also afraid of Trump and China's trade war and Trump took that head on today too. The tweet, "We are winning, big time, against China." Well, only time will tell on this, but as for winning right now Trump's war with China is hurting the United States, big time.
Trump first slap tariffs on Chinese goods in June of 2018 and compared to a year ago, U.S. exports to China fell 19% this July, bad for us. Meantime, Americans bought more from China than they did a year ago. Trump knows the economy can make or break him. He knows this all too well, just listen to Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Last year for the first time in a decade, the United States was ranked the most competitive economy anywhere in the world.
That made the economy so strong that nothing is going to stop us.
We have the number one economy on earth.
Our country now has the hottest economy anywhere in the world.
Our economy is fantastic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: That's not what the markets are saying tonight. And so Trump is blaming someone else, one of his favorite boogeyman, the Fed Chief Jerome Powell for the market freefall. Another tweet moments ago, "China is not our problem, though Hong Kong isn't helping. Our problem is with the Fed. Why blame China when you could blame someone in the United States?
Pamela Brown is out front live tonight in Berkeley Heights. Pamela, so the President obviously watching the markets extremely closely.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. He's been watching the markets extremely closely all week during his working vacation here in New Jersey, Erin. We're told that just as the markets have been on this roller coaster ride this week so have the President's moods as he's watched the Dow go up and down.
Sources familiar say that initially yesterday the President was pleased when his decision to back off those tariffs on China led to a bounce in the markets. But as we saw, that did not last long, Erin. The President today has been airing his grievances on Twitter directing his ire at the Federal Reserve. But were told by sources behind the scenes that the President has been
expressing concern, frustration that his negotiating team has not been able to strike a deal yet with China. There is concern that China is waiting to see who is going to be elected next year. And also the President has been expressing concern that the trade standoff could hurt the economy and even his reelection chances.
So certainly there are some generous going on behind the scenes. I've been speaking to White House sources today who do say that there is some anxiousness about what is going on. And while we may not be feeling the immediate repercussions that what is happening right now in the world economy and in the markets could be a warning sign of what's to come, Erin.
BURNETT: So Pamela, let me just ask you. Obviously, the President knows this is crucial for his reelection, the economy. He looks at statistics, he knows full well a recession could doom his reelection chances and he brags about the economy every chance he can get. So what does do from here?
[19:05:02] BROWN: Well, that's the question and I've been asking White House sources that today because the President hasn't really provided concrete solutions of what to do and he hasn't taken responsibility or acknowledged how the trade war with China might be playing a role in what we're seeing with the markets in the economy.
I'll tell you, Erin, that some officials I've been speaking with are sort of downplaying what's going on. They're saying, "Look, it's August. A lot of people are working right now." I don't know that this is a good way to look at what's to come.
But in terms of what the President does next, that remains to be seen. A lot of it could hinge on how he deals with China and whether a deal can be reached, Erin.
BURNETT: And Pamela on that deal, what happens next on that? Obviously, as you say he's frustrated with his negotiating team, but he's between a rock and a hard place. He threatened these tariffs and now he said, "Oh, I'm going to delay them." He can't be the President who cried wolf.
BROWN: Yes, that's exactly right. And it's interesting initially when the President imposed the tariffs he said, "Look, the cost isn't going to be felt by the consumer here in the U.S." But then as we saw clearly, he acknowledges that it could impact the consumer and that is why he held off on some of these tariffs on China for the Christmas season.
But certainly the clock is ticking for a deal to be reached with the negotiating team. The President tried to downplay even if a deal isn't reached that it's going to be OK that China really is the one suffering. You saw just in the last hour, I believe, he tweeted about China saying that they're really the ones suffering and all of this.
And so we don't really know what is going to happen. It's sort of unpredictable. The President hasn't really laid out a plan for what he's going to do and how he's going to deal with the situation with China if a deal isn't struck.
Again, sources I've been speaking within the administration say there is this real concern that China doesn't want to strike a deal right now because China wants to wait and see who wins the election, whether President Trump is reelected or if someone else wins, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Pamela Brown, live from where the President, of courses, tonight. I want to go down to Larry Summers, former Treasury Secretary under President Clinton. And Secretary Summers, it's great to have you with us.
I know we had a little trouble with the connection, but I think having your perspective tonight is crucial. How dangerous is this moment?
LARRY SUMMERS, FORMER TREASURY SECRETARY UNDER PRESIDENT CLINTON: Most dangerous moment in terms of recession since the 2008 financial crisis. That's not to say we're going to have another version of the 2008 financial crisis.
But if you look at developments in markets, you look at business expectations, you look at indicators of the behavior of consumers, I think you have to be worried that there's a much greater chance of recession than what we want to have and that we're very much without tools if a recession were to come. Without tools, because interest rates are so low. Because, frankly, the federal government is so disorganized and because the spoke for fiscal stimulus given the resources (inaudible) less than it's been at most moments in the past.
BURNETT: Right. It's important for people to understand, you usually give a tax cut when the economy gets weak. Well, the tax cut is already come. Interest rates are already at rock bottom to your point about where there is to go.
Secretary, look, the President tweeted today about the selloff, "Tremendous amounts of money pouring into the United States. People want safety." I don't know if you heard his tweet, but obviously he knows the money is coming out of fear not out of something to celebrate. Does he think that people will believe him that enough people will believe him that this is good news?
SUMMERS: I have no idea what the President is thinking. He complains about a scrolling dollar and then money flows in picking up the dollar and he celebrates that as a great achievement. He complains about a trade deficit and then we (inaudible) which is the other side (inaudible) a wonderful thing.
There's no consistency to the thought from, frankly, hour to hour, let alone week to week, let alone month to month. And it has to be said that the uncertainty and doubt about the competence of the U.S. economic authorities is one of the things that makes this situation more dangerous.
BURNETT: So I want to ask you one other important thing, Secretary, and that is, I don't know if you heard Trump bragging about the economy. We certainly have heard it in the past, but we had just put up some of that together and there are some things that are certainly when you look at them right now very good for the U.S. economy like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We have a very low unemployment rate.
Unemployment has reached the lowest rate in over a half a century.
I imagine you've all seen the incredible job growth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And unemployment secretary is at 3.7 percent. Even with today's plunge, stocks are up 40 percent since Trump won the White House. Is it possible, Secretary Summers, that the President will be proven right?
[19:10:10] SUMMERS: I don't think so. I think there are plenty of strengths that the American economy has an unbelievable capacity for entrepreneurship, essentially all of the world's leading technology companies, a set of natural resources, set of institutions of higher education, hard working people, we have a system that's second to none. So there's resilience and there's, A, good things that are happening, not because of what the President is proposing but frankly in spite of what the President is proposing.
It's not that growth has been particularly more rapid than one might have expected three years ago or that there's been any substantial acceleration in the trend of growth in so far as we've been (inaudible) to what's happening before. It's a sugar high from the tax cuts.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Secretary Summers. And next, the 2020 Democratic candidates tearing into Trump over remarks. His top immigration official told me about the poem on the Statue of Liberty.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEN CUCCINELLI, ACTING DIRECTOR, U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES OFFICE: That poem was referring back to people coming from Europe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Plus, Republican Congressman Steve King facing new calls to resign now from his own party after his remarks about rape and incest. And breaking news, a dangerous standoff underway in Philadelphia, six police officer shot. The President has now been briefed. We have new details on this ongoing situation ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:15:24] BURNETT: Tonight, the 2020 Democrats are out in full force, all criticizing the Acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Ken Cuccinelli, for his comments last night on OUTFRONT about the poem on the Statue of Liberty. Senator Elizabeth Warren taking him head on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is just one more way in which Donald Trump and his folks want to make America work better and better and better for those at the top and kick dirt in everyone else's face. That's not how we build a stronger America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So here's what Cuccinelli told me. So he tweaked the poem, the Emma Lazarus poem in the Statue of Liberty. He tweaked it to say, quote, give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet and who will not become a public charge.
He did that to defend the new administration of policy that would limit legal immigration. So I asked him about it and here's what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CUCCINELLI: Well, of course, that poem was referring back to people coming from Europe where they had class based societies, where people were considered wretched if they weren't in the right class.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So wretched when they came from Europe. Out front now, former DNC Communications Director Maria Cardona and Scott Jennings who was a Special Assistant to President George W. Bush. Maria, let me start with you.
So what do you say? I mean President Trump picked Cuccinelli for this post and I mean those are Cuccinelli's words, but we've heard nothing to refute them from the President.
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, of course not because essentially what these new regulations do is that they implement without going to Congress, circumventing Congress the policies that we have known all along President Trump has wanted to implement. And that is to get more people that look like people from Norway and get less people into the United States that look like people that come from s-hole countries.
I mean he's been very clear about this. The people around him have been very clear about this. This is a Stephen Miller policy. Stephen Miller is his aide. He's sort of the head of immigration policy in the White House and he is a no white nationalist. He is known for not wanting to continue to admit immigrants who are brown or who are poor and he's been known for wanting to essentially limit immigration policy period.
BURNETT: So Scott, Senator Warren was not the only one. I mean this comment about the poem referring to people from Europe has gotten wide. Every Democrat pretty much has weighed in. Joe Biden tweeting, "America is an idea. An idea that for centuries has offered hope to the tired, the poor, and the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. We won't let Donald Trump and his administration change that."
Here's Pete Buttigieg and Julian Castro also weighing in on Cuccinelli's comments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG (D-IN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The idea that give me your tired, your poor that only applies to some people is a pretty bad take on poetry from the Acting Director and completely misses the point.
JULIAN CASTRO, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: His comments that suggest that, well, European immigrants were different from other types of immigrants is disgusting. It's wrong. It has no place in 21st century America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Scott, did Cuccinelli just give the Democrats a gift by that comment talking that wretched applies to Europeans but not in modern times to others?
SCOTT JENNINGS, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, of course, he did. I mean look what's happening right now. I mean we shouldn't be looking through the complex issue of immigration through the lens of a poem.
I agree with the poem. I think most of Americans agree with the poem and it was a dumb glib thing to try to rewrite it on the fly. The issue here is, are we having people come into the country who are taking advantage of our system who are not here to work or who are going to be a burden on the American taxpayer and are we welcoming people into the country who have skills, who have the ability to add to the American economy and therefore become hopefully someday active taxpayers themselves, that's the whole issue here.
BURNETT: So Scott, what I'm curious about - yes, I understand your point.
JENNINGS: The whole issue --
BURNETT: Yes. I'm not saying you're trying to defend what he said but just to do some analysis here of what he said whether he intended to say it or not, what he said was the Europeans were wretched because if you were poor and European you're being held down unfairly because of a class system. But if you're coming now, which obviously is primarily not from European countries, it is from countries where people are brown, that you are poor, because you are just not smart or able, because there is no class system to hold you down.
I mean I'm just translating what he said. Whether you intended to say that or not, Scott, that would be the accurate analysis of what came out maybe just glibly or maybe what they really think. What do you say?
[19:20:07] JENNINGS: Look, Ken needs to speak for himself on this and I'm not going to here and pull them out of a hole. I am going to tell you this, I believe that most Americans want our immigration system to favor people who are coming here that can benefit our economy, who want to become Americans, who want to come here and work and be part of our American culture. That's what Americans want and I think that's what the Trump administration wants.
I don't think Americans want people to come here who don't have an intention of working or coming here to take advantage of the services we provide. There is a great debate going on between the parties. We saw the Democratic candidates for president at one of their debates recently all raise their hand about giving free health care to illegal immigrants and you have the President and his people on the other side of this who are saying, "Whoa, maybe we ought not to be giving everything away for free here to folks who aren't coming to the country through a legal system."
So I think Ken may have dug himself a hole, but that doesn't absolve the greater debate about what are we doing in this country on the kinds of people we're welcoming here and what they can offer to the American people in our economy.
BURNETT: All right. Look, all of these are serious issues. I will point we're kind of mixing and matching. I'm not saying you're doing it to confuse, but legal versus illegal immigration in our system is such as you well know, if you're here, no matter who you are we're going to provide you healthcare. By far the most expensive way to do it is to have people walk into an emergency room.
CARDONA: Yes.
BURNETT: So there's all kinds of complexities around it as we all know, but without trying to relitigate all of the problems, Maria, the comments by Director Cuccinelli are emboldening Democrats, not just to call him out on the specific comments, but to call President Trump a white supremacist, right?
CARDONA: Yes.
BURNETT: Pete Buttigieg has called the President a white supremacist. He said today to CNN that he doesn't believe doing that will alienate any voters in the swing states the Democrats need who voted for Obama and then voted for Trump. He doesn't think that calling the guy they voted for a white supremacist will hurt. Here's how he put it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUTTIGIEG: Yes, I don't think a lot of people who voted for Obama and then voted for Trump are deeply personally loyal to President Trump and think he's a wonderful human being. I think they held their nose and voted to burn the house down.
And voters like that now more than anything else just want to know how their lives are going to be different depending on what we do moving forward and we can call the current president what he is.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: Is he right, Maria, or is he may be missing the point?
CARDONA: No. I actually think he is right, because there are a lot of people who voted for Trump thinking that he was going to either pivot to become more presidential or at least focus on economic policies that would help them and not hurt them and stab them in the back the way that he's doing right now.
And so I think that what Trump is doing by using language of the white supremacy, by implementing policies that actually show that he wants to limit legal immigration and change the face of this country and make it whiter is proving the point that this is a man who does not believe that brown people or black people are people who should be in this country.
And I don't believe that the majority of Americans feel that way. That's why you saw in 2018 when he doubled down on this kind of racist language, he lost independence. He lost white Republican suburban women and I think that's going to continue to happen.
BURNETT: Scott, final word, does it alienate people to be told that the guy they voted for is a white supremacist?
JENNINGS: Look, this is the dumbest political strategy of all time to go around, I think 6.5 to 10 million people switch from Obama to Trump and to go and say to them, "Hey, you're fine. Then you became a racist, but you can be fine again as long as you vote for whatever socialist we nominate."
They are not going to get one single vote. They're going to alienate even more people in the states that they need to win. This is a dumb a strategy.
CARDONA: That's not what they're saying.
JENNINGS: It's not going to work. It is not going to work.
CARDONA: Well, clearly Trump is worried about it.
BURNETT: All right. I'll leave it there. I'll leave it there. Thank you both very much as always.
CARDONA: Thank you, Erin.
BURNETT: And next, Republican Congressman Steve King saying this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. STEVE KING (R-IA): What if we went back through all the family trees and just pulled those people out that were products of rape and incest? Would there be any population of the world left if we did that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Plus, the breaking news out of Philadelphia, six police officers have been shot. There's a shootout. The President is now monitoring the situation. We're learning more about this dangerous standoff which is unfolding as I speak. We're going to get the latest in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:28:11] BURNETT: Tonight, shocking comments about rape and incest from a sitting Republican Congressman. Steve King is defending his anti-abortion bill and it would not allow for any exceptions even in the case of rape or incest and the logic that he has given for that is this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING: What if we went back through all the family trees and just pulled those people out that were products of rape and incest? Would there be any population of the world left if we did that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, I guess, it's OK. This is not the first time Steve King has made comments that are deeply troubling at best. Back in January, Republican leadership stripped King of his committee assignments due to racist comments he made, but Trump remain silent. Even though according to King, political insiders warned him that people would try to get to Trump, try to get Trump to take a stand against him but Trump wouldn't do it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING: So here's what they're going to do, they have picked a messenger, he named the messenger which I won't name and said they're going to get that messenger to go to the President, get the President to send a negative tweet out against you. We preempted this at the White House as quickly as we could and I think we were successful in that and there's no signal from Donald Trump that he's anything other than supportive of me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And as of tonight there is no signal. Out front now, former Trump White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci. And, obviously, we'll talk even more about your decision and your break, yes.
ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Let's talk about this guy, because I think it's important it ties into everything else. So he's worried about a presidential tweet. These guys are really scared of these presidential tweets, which I think are like totally ridiculous. He's got them all bullied into submission.
He's talking about rape and incest which is a disgusting thing that he's doing. He's obviously a horrific human being, but you have to understand something about the world in sociology. The town takes out the rapist. OK. So the rapist doesn't survive. [19:29:59] His genes don't really necessarily progress because he may
be the bully on the block, but the rest of the town comes around. Hits him in the head with a rock back in the day and throws him out. Do you understand what I'm saying?
BURNETT: Yes.
SCARAMUCCI: So, that's what we have to do with bullies. That's what we have to do with rapists. That's how we handle people that are acting in anti-social somewhat psychotic behavior.
BURNETT: These are opportunities for the president to speak out, for a president to speak out. I mean, when it came to Steve King --
SCARAMUCCI: Yes.
BURNETT: I mean, Liz Cheney has spoken out. I mean, people are speaking out among Republicans. And they stripped him of his committee assignments. They passed a whole thing on censure and racism, all because of him, the one person who has not said anything.
SCARAMUCCI: The president controls the bully pulpit. He is focused on the word bully more than he has the word pulpit. What he is doing is allowing for a listen for people to hate each other and to create this sort of distortion.
We are now living in the age of impunity. So, 50 years from now, somebody was going to write back and say, what happened was we unleashed a Pandora's Box of hatred, all this sort of nonsense and it's impunity. He is not sending a tweet because he is a transactional guy. And he thinks that, well, that guy is for me, why would I hit him? Because there's no moral ground, there's no moral compass to stand on.
BURNETT: Nothing to stand for (ph).
SCARAMUCCI: That's why, you know, you try to stay loyal, be nice for him but you can't because he is completely a nut job.
BURNETT: So, let's get to this, because, you know, look, you were a defender, right? And you and I have known each other a long time, knew for a long time.
SCARAMUCCI: Fair enough, loyal guy.
BURNETT: So, we had conversations on camera, off camera about what you thought, why you defended or, you know, certain things you didn't defend or talked around or didn't.
SCARAMUCCI: Child separation, denunciation of intelligence attentions, impossible to defend. I wrote an op-ed in "The Hill". The press is the not the enemy of the people, you can't do that in our society.
The racism I don't think the president is a racist because he is a transactionalist, he doesn't see color. People are like cars to the president. You get in the car drive it around. You don't fall in love with the car or have empathy for a car.
He objectifies everybody because he is a classic narcissist. So, to me, he's not racism. He's like racist against everybody. So, you can't call him a racist.
What you can kill him is a transactionalist that's using racist tropes to see if he can ensnare and generate more activity, and voter participation.
BURNETT: OK. So, you say he's getting --
(CROSSTALK)
SCARAMUCCI: That's a disgusting thing and I called him out on that.
BURNETT: Right, no --
SCARAMUCCI: So, he -- but I was defending him on the other stuff.
BURNETT: And you did.
SCARAMUCCI: But now, forget it. He's a loser --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: But you said he is giving people a listen to hate.
SCARAMUCCI: Yes, go ahead.
BURNETT: Some of the things he said in the past -- I'm not saying you defended these things. I mean, these are things he said in the past, OK? So, let's just play for you, the ones people know and people heard. Here he is.
SCARAMUCCI: Of course.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He doesn't have a birth certificate. Now, he may have one but there is something on that birth certificate -- maybe religion, maybe it says he is a Muslim.
When Mexico sends his people, they're not sending their best. They are bringing drugs. They are bringing crime. They're rapists.
I think Islam hates us.
You had some very bad people in that group. But you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK. So, why now? What happened that made you say --
SCARAMUCCI: Let's start let's start with the last one. So, Charlottesville, I'm blown from the White House a week or two before that.
BURNETT: Right.
SCARAMUCCI: I'm on George Stephanopoulos' show, you can go to the tape. I said that's totally inappropriate behavior, you can't talk like that to the American people.
BURNETT: Right.
SCARAMUCCI: And so, here's what happens and this is what's going on with the supporters right now, it's a Rubik's cube for finding the things they like about him and they're looking at the other collar colors and they're not matching and they keep moving the cube. And so, what happens is he is very good at his verbal wordsmithing to split the participle to say, well, I didn't really say this, I didn't really say that. And then he has the hangers on that snag those words.
And, by the way, I'm not above that. I've owned that. I have also been a victim of that, because I wanted to see the best in him. And so, you know, it got to the point where the racism is totally unacceptable. I called him out on it a few weeks ago. I was defending him on Bill Maher but I can't defend the indefensible about racism. So, now, he's lighting me up on his Twitter feed.
I gave the guy a ton of money, a ton of time, sacrificed my family. Got blown from the White House after 11 days said, OK, I'm a loyal guy, let me dust myself off and go forward. So, now, you're beyond --
BURNETT: So, is it personal or is it not personal? I mean, Sean Spicer, can I play what Sean Spicer said about you?
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: He slammed.
SCARAMUCCI: He's liar spice from the Spice Girls, but go ahead, play the liar who has been lying about everybody since he was born probably. But go ahead. Let's play liar spice from the Spice Girls. Go ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN SPICER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I have not and never will be scared of him. I do know that it wasn't obviously it was a rocky tenure. He didn't have what it takes to do the job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, he just came out and slammed you.
SCARAMUCCI: Well, he is 100 percent right about that. I didn't have what it takes to do the job, because if you have to conform yourself and be an Auntie Anne's pretzel and tell somebody is true when it's not I don't have what it takes to do the job. By liar spice is saying something different, OK? He is a sycophant for the president and he is one the president's acolytes because he's got nothing better to do in his life, OK? And so, that's fine, he can be like that.
[19:35:01] But you can ask the CNBC guys, your former network, he was trying to shut the Trump microphone off at the Republican primary debate at CNBC.
And so, if you don't believe me, just go ask the guys in that control room that night. That's liar spice from Spice Girls. So, it's all good. You know, I can take it.
BURNETT: When people say this is personal -- this is personal for you.
SCARAMUCCI: Well, I think they need to say that it's personal because the person -- the president came after me. OK?
BURNETT: That's true.
SCARAMUCCI: But it's about demagoguery for me. I told my wife I can defend nine out of ten things related to the president, maybe eight out of ten. But a demagogue needs blind obligatory loyalty. They need a blind obligation, OK?
A normal person like Ed Koch would say, hey, nine out of 12 times, you should vote for me, 12 out of 12 times, you need a psychiatrist. OK? So, this guy is obviously not normal. He needs a 100 percent litmus test.
I know what they did. They showed him few clips of from the comms department where I was saying something negative, he says, OK, I'm the big presidential bully, I'm going to hit this guy and show everybody what a bully I am. That will shut this guy up.
But this guy is obviously -- you know, he is using the presidency. He has done it to you, he's done it to Maggie, he's done it to me. He is using the presidency to bully his fellow citizens. It's an absolutely disgusting act, and it's one of the most anti-American things that a person can do is bully people.
BURNETT: The way he's --
(CROSSTALK)
SCARAMUCCI: So, yes, let me say, it is a little personal. No question about that. But it's about demagoguery and it's about OK, he is a proven demagogue and he's obviously going off the rails now. He is totally unstable. Nervous wreck last night, sweating like a pig.
I mean, listen, let's just call it for what it is. He's got to go and hopefully the Republicans down there -- you know these people talk behind his become and tell you how much they hate him.
BURNETT: Yes. SCARAMUCCI: Let's just get together and say, hey, look, we're sorry, you're absolutely crazy. You're now bringing devastation to the economy because you don't know what you are doing on the trade situation. So, let's get him out there. We can get him out OF here.
BURNETT: So, let me ask you one more question.
SCARAMUCCI: And, by the way, the Republican Party can rebuild from there.
BURNETT: So, can I ask you one more question?
SCARAMUCCI: And, by the way, the Republican Party can rebuild from there.
BURNETT: One more question. You said this week, I'm a Republican. I'm not switching parties to support the Democrats. And I -- by the way, I've spoken to some elected Republicans who have spoken out against him and the GOP said, get the hell out of the party, and they said, I'm not leaving.
But you retweeted --
SCARAMUCCI: I'm not leaving the party. It's a-free country still.
BURNETT: You retweted a picture from Andrew Yang, the two of you, and wrote: the force is strong with Yang Gang, not left, not right, forward.
SCARAMUCCI: Yes. So, we need a --
BURNETT: Are you now Andrew Yang?
SCARAMUCCI: No, come on, I saw him downstairs by the "Game of Thrones" set up, OK? We took a nice picture together. I'm halfway through his book, it's a really good book.
The guy has a lot of good principles. He's basically a libertarian. We need, after this devastation, we need sort of a post-partisan presidency, where we are not focusing on left or right policy and all this dynamics, punching each other and focusing on right and wrong policy.
Andrew has a good message. But, you know, I'm a Republican. And so, what I would like to do is we'll find a Republican that has the personality, the charisma, the energy, and the smarts to take this guy on.
BURNETT: There's only one Republican --
(CROSSTALK)
SCARAMUCCI: And so, we'll do that. I mean, that will happen.
BURNETT: Would you consider voting Democrat?
SCARAMUCCI: At this point, I would not. I would not consider voting Democrat.
As I said to John Berman, I'm neutral now. Let's see what happens. Let's who ends up -- I predict that he will not be the nominee, OK? It will just be a matter --
BURNETT: No.
SCARAMUCCI: Of course, come on, there's no way the party leadership is going to -- unless they're totally dishonest and we --
BURNETT: See, I think -- I think that's where you are dead wrong. I think they made it very clear --
SCARAMUCCI: So, now --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: Anthony, they are -- he is the nomination nominee.
SCARAMUCCI: Then we're in a different country.
BURNETT: Mitch McConnell couldn't make it more clear.
SCARAMUCCI: OK. So, then somebody has to state the principles of the Republican Party because 2024 is coming. The cult of personality, the knight king will be dead. The zombies will dematerialize.
And we're going to have to restate the principles of the Republican Party and the classic individualism and the freedom and policies that work, not the nonsense that's happening right now, that's a cult of personality.
Let me submit to you one other thing. People in Washington know that he doesn't listen to anybody. You want five more years of one guy alone in the White House doing this sort of nonsense? Nobody can handle that.
So, be responsible within and statesman and politicians, and let's go. Time to go.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you, Anthony.
SCARAMUCCI: Good to be here. Thank you.
BURNETT: Always good to see you.
And next, the breaking news out of Philadelphia tonight, a shootout. Six officers injured at this hour. Two more we now know are actually trapped in the building. There is a standoff underway as I speak. So, we're going to live there right after this.
And new talks about gunman control taking place tonight in Washington tonight. So, will something get done?
Well, there is one guy who did get something done with the Trump White House, Van Jones. He did it. Can he do it again? He's OUTFRONT. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:43:23] BURNETT: All right. Breaking news, the standoff continuing at this moment. Two police officers are trapped in Philadelphia. Police say six officers have been shot in what is still an active and dangerous situation. It's been ongoing now for hours.
And as I said, two now trapped inside a building, officials say President Trump and the attorney general have been briefed.
Evan Perez is OUTFRONT following the story.
So, Evan, what's the latest you know about what's going on in Philadelphia?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, at this point, the police are still trying to figure out how to communicate with the shooter or shooters. At this point, the people still are not exactly sure how many people are in there.
One of the latest things we know from the scene, KYW reporter Greg Argus (ph) just spoke to four women taken out of the second floor. They lived on the second floor of the building. Again, this is where two officers have barricaded themselves. And these women were being evacuated outside of the very building that this shooter has been firing at police officers.
This is now a scene, Erin, that has been a standoff for two hours. And at this point, the police say they are trying to communicate with the shooter. Now, at some point, you know, the SWAT team is going to have to go in there. And they're trying to formulate a plan.
But one of the things that makes it more complicated is the fact that you have these two officers who appear to still be barricaded on the second floor of this building. It appears that the shooter or shooters is on the first floor of the building. We saw just a while ago some of the shots being fired appeared to come from the front door, from the first floor. So, that's one reason why we sort of isolated that's where the shooter was.
At one point, the police were indicating that he was shooting through the walls, Erin.
[19:45:03] BURNETT: Wow. All right. Evan Perez, thank you very much as this situation goes on.
It comes as President Trump is talking to Senate leaders including Democrats about a bill on guns, calling Connecticut Democrat Chris Murphy while the White House talked to two other senators supporting background checks.
Democratic aides, though, tell CNN they are skeptical that anything will come from the talks which stands in stark contrast to the most significant bipartisan legislation the Trump administration was able to pass, which is criminal justice reform, an issue progressives completely failed to do when they had a lot of control, right? But then, the Trump White House got it done.
OUTFRONT now, the man who spearheaded that charge and got it gone. Van Jones, host of "THE VAN JONES SHOW" and "The Redemption Project", former special adviser to President Obama.
So, Van, there's a new Fox News poll out tonight. Forty-two percent of registered voters say the federal government can do a great deal to reduce gun violence in this country, but only 18 percent say it's very likely that Congress passes gun legislation this year. By the way, they are optimistic 18 percent, if you look at their track record. I mean, it's terrible. But you did the impossible. All right?
And now, we're talking about background checks which Americans want, the GOP blocks, the NRA blocks, the president's promised to do and failed to do. Could it get done?
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It could get done.
First of all, I didn't do it by myself. There were people who were involved in that. I was proud to play a strong role. I'm watching this thing very, very closely and I'm starting to see the same signs and same signals that something actually could get done.
First of all, you see the president actually has been pretty consistent for a change. He put out the four things. He says background checks, red flag laws, health care -- mental health issues and lastly the question around cultural change. He has been consistent on that, so has his team. That's a signal. He's laying out the four corners of what the deal is going to be.
You're also starting to see people starting to engage at very, very top levels. When you have Ivanka Trump leaning forward. That's important signal.
So, I do think -- I'm starting to see the same pattern I saw with criminal justice reform, with opioid stuff, with opportunity zone stuff, that there is a pattern that happens when the administration gets serious. I think this administration can get serious.
BURNETT: You are seeing signs.
So, Ivanka Trump, you know, some people say, skeptics, they say, oh, what does Ivanka Trump do on this issue? But when you see Ivanka Trump on this issue, you say, actually --
JONES: That's a big things.
BURNETT: -- that matters.
JONES: It's a big sign.
Let me say it the right way. Donald Trump is not bossed by anybody. He is independent. Nobody tells him what to do. So, whatever he does, he does it because he wants to do it.
However, Ivanka Trump has taken seriously in that building. And when she begins to lean forward, she has a -- she is very methodical putting things forward. You see her engaging, that's a sign that this thing has a lot more of shot than most people think.
Listen, I don't know what's going to happen. I'm going to say, having watched this thing, having interacted with this White House --
BURNETT: Well --
JONES: -- people who say that nothing can start to happen, I think they're probably making the wrong bet.
BURNETT: But that's something that I think people will be shocked to hear you say. And hopefully some of the Democrats who are so skeptical perhaps can take some something from that.
JONES: In the four corners -- in the four corners we are talking about. Something bigger, assault weapons, no, but there is a deal out there to be had I believe.
BURNETT: So, an ABC News analysis found at least 36 criminal cases where Trump was invoked, OK, in direct connection to violence acts, threats of violence, allegations of assault, including the El Paso massacre, of course, with the use of the word "invasion".
Can Trump do anything on gun control without addressing his own rhetoric?
JONES: Look, I think his rhetoric has been irresponsible at best, irresponsible. I don't see him pulling back from that.
But I do see other dynamics. The FBI has been very, very consistent saying we have a problem with hate terrorist threats, you know, from the white nationalist. They've not backed off that.
BURNETT: No.
JONES: And you are starting to see lawmakers in the South. This is very important, Republican lawmakers quietly saying we are concerned about the hate violence coming.
All conservatives don't appreciate this white nationalist stuff. And I believe you are seeing lawmakers in the South quietly approaching the president about his rhetoric. I think you're going to see the FBI staying firm. And you may see some change in the policy not the rhetoric.
But, listen, I see the signs that a deal is available on gun control.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Van Jones. I hope you are right. I think a lot of people watching. I hope you are right.
And next, we travel to a crucial battle ground state to find out whether Trump supporters have been turned off by some of the president's racist comments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is a product of his environment, of how he was raised.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Plus, Jeanne Moos on the push to change Trump's address to literally they are trying to do this -- Obama Boulevard.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:51:12] BURNETT: Beto O'Rourke heading back to the campaign trail. The 2020 candidate is going to give a speech tomorrow in El Paso. His first campaign event since the massacre. The campaign saying his speech will focus on guns, white supremacy and racism -- issues also on the minds of voters in key swing state on the opposite border, Minnesota.
Martin Savidge is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump has his sights set on winning Minnesota in 2020.
TRUMP: This is supposed to be a Democrat state. I don't think so. I don't think so. I don't think so.
They have a very big surprise coming, don't you think?
(CHEERS)
SAVIDGE: The reason he's so focused is because he barely lost the state to Hillary Clinton in 2016. And because Minnesota is home to squad member Representative Ilhan Omar, who Trump has repeatedly attacked.
In order to win, Trump needs a strong showing from his base and to hold on to his support in the suburbs with voters like Kelly Meyers.
(on camera): Who would you vote for again in 2020?
KELLY MEYERS, MINNESOTA VOTER: Still Donald Trump.
SAVIDGE: No misgivings, no doubts, no change of mind?
MEYERS: No, none.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Amber Griffin says she still supports Trump despite his hateful speech and tweets against people of color.
(on camera): You heard the terrible things he said?
AMBER GRIFFIN, MINNESOTA VOTER: Yes, I think that he's just probably ignorant and says whatever -- how -- he's a product of his environment how he was raised. SAVIDGE (voice-over): Neither woman blames the president for the back
to back mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton or for a lack of swift gun control leadership in the aftermath.
Yet, political experts say there are signs, Trump's appeal to suburban women voters in Minnesota is shifting based on the 2018 midterms.
LARRY JACOBS, HUMPHREY INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: We certainly saw some of the cracks and support among Republican swing voters or even some Republican women voters coming over to the Democrats because dissatisfaction with Donald Trump. The clear sign of that was in state house races and the congressional races.
SAVIDGE: Polling suggests Trump struggles in the suburbs aren't just limited to Minnesota. A "Washington Post"/ABC poll found the president's approval rating with suburban men was 51 percent, but among suburban women, the figure was much lower, at 37 percent.
I talked to several women Trump voters here who have grown tired of the Twitter rants of images of children separated from their parents at the border and ICE raids and new worry about the economy. They aren't sure if they will vote for the president again, all declined an interview.
(on camera): When it comes to talking about a political change of heart, many of the women I spoke to just aren't comfortable without going on camera in front of the national audience.
(voice-over): And just about given up when I met Mary Joe Anderson. She gladly voted for Trump in 2016 and still likes many of his policies, but she can't bear to see families separated and has grown increasingly bothered by his bitter battles that seem without reason.
MARY JOE ANDERSON, MINNESOTA VOTER: He opens his mouth and says things and then has to re-track them. I don't like that. I think you should know what you're going to say and say it the proper way.
SAVIDGE: She's not certain she'll vote for him again.
ANDERSON: Oh, no. No, I'm going to look at everything, but there is too many running on the other side, so I'm not looking, no. I'd rather wait.
SAVIDGE: She says she knows other women having second thoughts, suggesting for Trump's reelection hopes in Minnesota and beyond, there is trouble in the suburbs.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: Despite the erosion of some of his support in the support in suburbs, Trump remains very popular in rural areas.
[19:55:01] Experts say he could flip the state Republican for the first time since -- well, 1972. There is only one thing that might disrupt that, a downturn in the economy between now and then -- Erin. BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Martin. And it all comes
back to that as no one knows better than President Trump.
OUTFRONT next, Jeanne Moos on why Trump might one day need to change his address to Obama Avenue.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, could the president get lost traveling to Trump. Jeanne Moos explains why that's a distant possibility.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Imagine Trump spinning out the revolving door of Trump Tower to Obama Avenue? Would he give that a thumbs-up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fabulous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's ridiculous.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It will never happen but I love it.
MOOS: It's Fifth Avenue now full of tourists gawking at Trump Tower posing with heavily armed officers, across the street a homeless guy displays a sign "need money for weed and food".
It was Elizabeth Rowin's idea to propose changing Fifth Avenue's name after she saw this tweet: New York should rename Fifth Avenue Barack Obama Avenue, so the Trump Tower will have to use that as its address forever.
ELIZABETH ROWIN, PETITION ORGANIZER: I thought it was hilarious and I thought it's a fun way to troll the master troll. Honestly, at first it was a joke.
MOOS: But her petition to change the name zoomed past the 100,000 signature mark and keeps climbing. Some have practical reservations.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People got to get mail. How is that going to work?
MOOS: The proposal divided sisters.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would do that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would never change.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have differences in our family.
MOOS (on camera): Well, I think they want to stick it to the guy who --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I agree.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then get out and vote. MOOS (voice-over): The guy selling anti Trump stuff like this "Miss
Me Yet?" Obama button had his own suggestion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As far as annoying Trump, I think Rosie O'Donnell Boulevard would make him angrier.
MOOS: The Trump we spotted didn't look angry at all strolling along the proposed --
(on camera): Barack Obama Avenue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MOOS: What do you think?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a great idea.
MOOS: It's amazing how you talk without your lips moving.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm almost like I've been talking.
MOOS (voice-over): Officials in Los Angeles named a part of a freeway after Obama but there is a catch in New York when it comes to renaming requirements.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One that the honoree is dead.
MOOS: Times not yet up for Obama.
As for Donald Trump's immortal words --
TRUMP: I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?
MOOS: But does that apply if he stands in the middle of Obama Avenue?
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: And thanks so much for joining us.
"AC360" starts right now.
