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Obama Questions GOP Leaders; CDC Zika Warning; Health Concerns Plague Olympics; Trump on Harassment in the Workplace. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired August 2, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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


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[14:00:23] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, here we go on this Tuesday afternoon. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me. You're watching CNN.

Just to get you caught up. Just a short time ago, President Barack Obama called out Republican leaders for their ongoing support of Donald Trump who, the president says, keeps on proving that he is, and I'm quoting him now, "woefully unprepared" to be the president of the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, I think the Republican nominee is unfit to serve as president. I said so last week, and he keeps on proving it. The notion that he would attack a gold star family that had made such extraordinary sacrifices on behalf of our country, the fact at he doesn't appear to have basic knowledge around critical issues in Europe, in the Middle East, in Asia, means that he's woefully unprepared to do this job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: This is just the latest volley in the fallout Mr. Trump is facing for his clash with the parents of the fallen Muslim-American soldier Humayun Khan. Trump said that Khan's father viciously attacked him after the father appeared on stage in Philadelphia at the Democratic National Convention, saying that Trump had, quote, "sacrificed nothing." Since then, Republican after Republican has decried Trump's comments, siding with the gold star family.

And as the president now piles on the criticism of Donald Trump, the polls are stacking up against him as well. Here are new numbers we have here at CNN. The CNN/ORC polling showing her party's convention propelled Hillary Clinton ahead of Trump. She now has an eight-point lead over him.

So let's begin this hour with our White House correspondent, Michelle Kosinski, on, yes, the headline, the "unfit to be president." But the second line was what the president said about Republican leadership.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he called them out, too. I mean this was much more than just kind of the latest hit in the endless back-and-forth between Donald Trump and the Obama administration. This really felt like the gloves coming off. The president feeling much more free to be much more harsh and blunt in his criticism than we've heard before.

I mean he was asked a very simple question - do you feel like Donald Trump's recent statements make him unfit to be president? And you heard the president say, yes, it makes him unfit. But he didn't want to stop there. He launched this more than five-minute stinging criticism, saying that it's much more than just his recent comments, and he's much more than unfit. You heard the words that he chose there, woefully unprepared, calling into question Donald Trump's basic decency and common sense, to use more of the president's very direct language there, and questioning his knowledge of domestic and foreign affairs, the rule of law and the Constitution. And then he extended it out to not only Republican leadership, but the party as a whole. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think what's been interesting is the repeated denunciations of his statements by leading Republicans, including the speaker of the House, and the Senate majority leader, and prominent Republicans like John McCain. And the question I think that they have to ask themselves is, if you are repeatedly having to say, in very strong terms, that what he has said is unacceptable, why are you still endorsing him?

There has to be a point at which you say, this is not somebody I can support for president of the United States.

The fact that that has not yet happened makes some of these denunciations ring hollow. There has to come a point at which you say, enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: Interesting setting there, too. I mean this is the president not at a campaign event on the road. This is him in the East Room of the White House, standing next to another world leader, answering questions, but feeling like he can speak his mind on this.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: Michelle Kosinski, thank you so much.

[14:05:02] In the very same hour where we heard President Obama, there was another news conference where Donald Trump - calling Donald Trump unfit to be president, Trump was also at a podium trashing President Obama before a crowd in Virginia, where, by the way, the Khan family is from.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Nothing's working out. Nothing's working out. Look at Libya. Look at Syria. Look at the migration. Look at Iraq. What a mess. Look at - look at Afghanistan. What a mess. Look at everything. If we didn't do anything with Iraq, if we never went to - if our presidents went to the beach, we'd be much better off. If they just went every single day to the beach and took it easy - let Obama go to the golf course. But you know what? We'd be better off.

And then the way Obama got us out of the war was a disaster. We're going to get out on a certain date. The enemy sat back and just said, nobody could say that. Nobody. Actually, they thought it was a form of camouflage, right? Actually, they didn't believe it, until it happened. He actually said when they're getting out. But they laid back, and then after we left you - you see what's happening.

So, look, we have people that don't know what they're doing. Hillary Clinton will be worse. She'll be worse, OK. Hillary Clinton will be worse. She has bad relationships with people, like Putin. I'll give you an example. She has terrible relationships with Putin. This is a nuclear country we're talking about, Russia. Strong nuclear country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: After that rally, Trump's campaign released a statement saying Hillary Clinton is, quote, "unfit to serve in any government office," citing her private e-mail server and decisions on the Middle East.

So, let's have a bigger conversation, shall we? Kevin Sheridan is here. He's a former spokesman for the Republican National Committee. CNN political commentator Kayleigh McEnany is here, who supports Mr. Trump. And CNN presidential historian Tim Naftali, who is also clinical associate professor of history and public service at the NYU Wagner Graduate School.

So, welcome, welcome to all of you.

KEVIN SHERIDAN, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER, ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Let's bounce back for a second to the president, beyond the headline of him saying Donald Trump is unfit. I'm looking at you, because I'm coming to you first. Is unfit to be president. You know, sort of the second line being, he's saying to these Republican leaders who every week have to some sort of, you know, do verbal jujitsu to distance themselves from this man, but yet still support. He says enough should be enough. Would any of them take their endorsement back?

SHERIDAN: Well, let likely now that Barack Obama's has told them to do it. So behind the -

BALDWIN: That makes it - right.

SHERIDAN: Behind the lofty rhetoric I think you see - you see a president who's trying to - he's acting as a political agent here. He's trying to tie those leaders to Donald Trump, even more so than they already are. It's going to be tougher now for them to back off of Donald Trump, and I think he knows that and that's what he's doing.

BALDWIN: Do you agree with him that because - I mean Republicans, they don't exactly love on the president. And so now that the president has done this, if anyone was teetering on taking an endorsement back -

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, I hope that the issue is a lot bigger than the extent to which Republicans hate Barack Obama. You know, American parties have faced moral challenges a number of times in our history. The Whig Party, for example, fell apart over the issue of slavery. That's how the Republican Party was born. The Republican Party seems to be facing a moral crisis. And you can see that in the words, not of Barack Obama, let's leave those words aside, the words of the speaker of the House, of John McCain, of all of the Republican candidates who are walking away from Mr. Trump at this point.

And the question a lot of them have is, what do we expect of a commander in chief? What kind of language do we expect that commander in chief to use, not simply with regard to gold star families - I mean that alone should be understandable - but with regard to our treaty obligations around the world. When you start not only misunderstanding the nature of the challenge to European security, but even saying we're probably not going to live up to our obligations under the NATO treaty, you're actually undermining not only the United States, but your very ability to command those forces that the Constitution gives you authority over. So this is a big deal.

BALDWIN: I want to have - I want to have Kayleigh respond to that.

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, Tim references Republicans hating Barack Obama. It has absolutely nothing to do with that. The point is that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton might have memorized their international relations textbooks, they might know all of the specific wording, but they have no judgment.

A U.S. ambassador died on the watch of this president, under the tutelage of Hillary Clinton. She put national security at risk with her e-mail situation that I believe she'd be denied a security clearance if she were an ordinary citizen going further. She could have put CIA assets at risk, in addition to losing an ambassador on the job. Not only that, you look at Libya. We can go all around the world, Iraq, Syria, ISIS growing to 40,000 strong under the watch of Barack Obama. These Republicans understand that four more years of this is unacceptable. We can't take it as a country.

NAFTALI: May I respond? Just one - we can't go into a debate or seminar about U.S. foreign relations and we may have - disagree, and I'm certainly not here to carry water for the Obama administration.

But I know something about the NATO treaty. And I know something about treaties that are not simply the product of a president or presidency, but of the United States government, all three branches. So, when you have a candidate that is undermining the nature of our treaty obligations, that's a much bigger deal than Benghazi.

[14:10:22] MCENANY: That's true. He's setting the stakes and saying that people need to pay their fair share. NATO countries are supposed to pay 2 percent of their budget. That is the rule. Four of the 30 odd - something odd countries actually live up to that requirement. He's setting the stakes, you need to live up to you obligations. We will protect you, but that doesn't mean that you can't pay and renege on your own -

BALDWIN: What about - what about the overall Trump strategy? We heard through the primaries saying the system is rigged. I mean we all know he bashes the media, bashes CNN a lot. But the notion that, you know, telling these voters, the system is rigged, I'm wondering what - let me - I'm pinging back to you, Kayleigh, what is his strategy? Is he lowering expectations?

MCENANY: I think there are a lot of voters who don't have trust in political institutions right now. You look at the DNC, which was in the tank for Hillary, but they were purportedly unbiased. You look at voter intimidation by the black Panthers. That happened. You look at the IRS, which was used to intimidate Tea Party groups. That is supposed to be an unbiased branch of government as well. There's a lot of lack of faith in political institutions. And when I think when he mentions a rigged system and a rigged election, those events give a lot of credence to what he said.

BALDWIN: Kevin, what do you make of him talking about the rigged system still. And I'm also wondering, if I'm a voter, either undecided or leaning more right, is that going to make me go out and make sure my vote counts for Trump in November, or am I going to hang back and it's going to backfire?

SHERIDAN: Look, voter fraud is something that we should take seriously and it's something that the parties - when I was at the Republican National Committee, we took very seriously. And, you know, that's a real issue.

But what I think I heard was somebody saying, well, if I lose, it's not my fault, and that's - that's what he's setting.

BALDWIN: That's what I'm wondering, if he's setting the low expectations in case he loses.

SHERIDAN: And it's a dangerous - it's a dangerous thing to be doing because now he's undermining the legitimacy of the election three months before the election.

BALDWIN: You're nodding. Why?

NAFTALI: I agree. I mean one of the reasons why we have peaceful transitions of government is that, whether you like it or not, and go back to the year 2000, a lot of folks didn't like it, especially Al Gore, you accept the outcome and you move on. He is saying, as Kevin mentioned, I may not accept that outcome. He's actually preparing his supporters to lose, which means he's saying, this is a country you can't believe in. This is a constitutional order that you cannot respect. That's very dangerous.

BALDWIN: Kayleigh, can you understand why people see it that way? Some people see it that way?

MCENANY: Well, he's never said he wouldn't accept the results of the election. I think he will do exactly that. I think he'll win the election, so we'll gladly accept those results. But I think there's a lot of lack of faith and finally we have a candidate who's willing to expose the Obama administration and the things that have happened that have undermined really America. When you are targeting Tea Party groups, then you get away with the - Lois Lerner gets away with this scot-free. So I think a lot of Americans really understand what he's saying and appreciate it.

BALDWIN: Directly calling Hillary Clinton the devil. Is that appropriate for someone who want to sit in the White House?

MCENANY: Well, there's context to that. He said that Bernie Sanders made a deal with the devil, and then he clarified what he meant by the metaphor by saying my metaphorical devil is Hillary Clinton.

BALDWIN: He said she was the devil.

MCENANY: I think that that's taken way out of proportions. We scrutinize every word of Donald Trump because he gives us a lot of access, unlike Hillary Clinton, who I think the record is 240 odd days without a press conference.

BALDWIN: Hey, we'd love to have a press conference with her too. You're right.

MCENANY: Yes, I know you would, but she won't show up.

BALDWIN: You're right. You make a point.

All right, OK, Kevin and Kayleigh and Tim, thank you so much.

SHERIDAN: Thank you.

BALDWIN: I appreciate it.

NAFTALI: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Just ahead here, Donald Trump and his son definitely raising some eyebrows with their comments about sexual harassment in the workplace. Have you heard about what they said. Fox News anchors today, they are weighing in. We'll have that conversation.

And, we are getting new word, another high-profile Republican is announcing she will vote for Hillary Clinton. Hear who it is and who she used to work for.

And, 16 people killed in a hot air balloon crash. And, just in, we are learning the operator has quite a run-in with the law.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN. We'll be right back.

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[14:17:55] BALDWIN: Welcome back. This is CNN.

Three days to go before the start of the biggest sporting event in the world. The 2016 summer Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro. But, the beautiful South American landmark city is still plagued with myriad health concerns. Top of the list, Zika. The games opening as the Zika virus is sparking new fears here in the United States.

The CDC is issuing this historic and unprecedented warning, particularly to pregnant women, do not travel to the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami. Another ten people have been infected by local mosquitos in the extremely popular community. This is just north of downtown Miami. The warning highlight the fears surrounding the Olympics overall.

Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins me live from Rio.

Sanjay, I mean I know we talk about Brazil. It's wintertime where you are, so Zika not quite the concern it once was.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

BALDWIN: But people in Miami are sort of saying, what's going on?

GUPTA: Well, you know, Brooke, this, in some ways, was not unexpected at all because we know that the mosquitos that transmit the Zika virus already lived in certain parts of the United States, including south Florida. So this was expected.

But I can tell you that when it happened here in Brazil, they had no idea that this infection was coming. They had no idea that it was associated with these birth defects. But they've learned a lot of lessons along the way with Zika, with water, and with other things as well. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA (voice-over): You're looking at an image from just last month, body parts on Copa Cabana Beach. It was a scene that couldn't have been predicted seven years ago when Copa Cabana Beach erupted. The games were to be a legacy for Rio. In its bid, Brazil promised to clean up at least 80 percent of the sewage that was flow into the city's notoriously dirty water.

LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA, FORMER BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): This is a challenge for us. And you can be sure that we will not waste this chance at history.

GUPTA: In fact, some of the city's most dilapidated quarters have been turned into green spaces. Here, public art is being spray painted on walls. But the rest of the world is more concerned about this spraying.

[14:20:12] GUPTA (on camera): We know that Brazil is the epicenter of the Zika epidemic. And as the numbers continue to increase in Florida, experts are continuously looking here to try and find some answers. For example, we know that more than 1,700 children have been born with Zika associated microcephaly, a birth defect. We also know that 150 public health experts called for the Olympics to either be delayed or moved because of concerns about Zika.

But I want to be clear about something, the weather is starting to cool here, even as it warms up in the United States. And as a result, the threat of infection is pretty low. According to the University of Cambridge study, out of the hundreds of thousands of tourists who are likely to visit the Olympics, there will probably be only one or two infections. But that still hasn't kept some of the athletes from dropping out of the games.

TEJAY VAN GARDEREN, U.S. CYCLIST: Honestly, if my wife wasn't pregnant right now, I would be going to Rio. I mean my biggest concern is for - is for the baby on the way.

GUPTA (voice-over): Now, remember, even if he went and then didn't show any symptoms, Van Garderen could still be infected and potentially pass the virus onto his wife. After all, only 20 percent of those infected have any signs of the disease.

But when it comes to athlete health, the concerns here are not just about Zika. Those promises of clean water, not in Guanabara Bay, where sailors will be competing for gold and where trash and sewage continues to litter the surface.

HEIKO KROEGER, GERMAN PARALYMPIC SAILING: Every time you got some water in your face, it feels like there's some alien enemy entering your face. So I keep my nose and my lips closed.

GUPTA: His teammate, Erik Heil, believed the waters are the source of the multiple infections he contracted last year after racing in an Olympic qualifying event. Just last month, Brazilian scientists detected the super bug, CRE, in these waters.

MARTINE GRAEL, BRAZILIAN OLYMPIC SAILOR (through translator): Very little has been done. And the measures that were taken were not done the way we would have liked them.

GUPTA: Brazilian officials say the water have met international standards. But then just one month ago, the WHO said that athletes may become ill from this water. And U.S. Olympic doctors are prepping their teams for such a situation.

DR. CLIFTON PAGE, U.S. SAILING MEDICAL ADVISER: We have a number of medications that they can take prophylactically to avoid those illnesses and then also to take - to treat the illnesses as well.

GUPTA: And doctors on the ground have another concern.

DR. NELSON NAHON, CREMERJ (through translator): If there were a big catastrophe, an attack or a brawl, we don't have the infrastructure to deal with it.

GUPTA: Political and economic crisis have burdened local hospitals. Even under normal circumstances, waits for emergency surgery can be as long as six days. But Rio's mayor says the games legacy will not be a shadow on Rio.

EDUARDO PAES, MAYOR OF RIO DE JANEIRO: Don't come here expecting that everything will be, you know, perfect. We live in a country that has economic crisis, a country with lots of inequality. With all the problems that we've seen. But the city will be much better than it was when we got the Games.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: So, Brooke, as you mentioned, Zika, probably not as much of an issue again because of the cooler weather. As beautiful as that water looks over here behind me, a bigger issue than Zika. And then this concern, do they have the medical resources and capacity necessary should there be some sort of mass - what they call mass casualty event, some sort of terrorist attack? That's where a lot of the preparations are focused at this time, Brooke.

BALDWIN: I just - I'm looking at your shot. It's so absolutely stunning. And it's just tough to think of all of these issues they're dealing with still.

Sanjay Gupta, in Rio, thank you so much, my friend. I appreciate it.

Coming up here, back to politics, Donald Trump and his son creating some concerns about some comments they just made about sexual harassment in the workplace. Should a women be expected to, you know, up-end her career because she ended up in the crosshairs of some harasser? We'll discuss that with my panel, next.

And, it was a call to action just days after the deadly police ambush in Dallas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF DAVID BROWN, DALLAS POLICE: Become a part of the solution. Serve your community. Don't be a part of the problem. We're hiring.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We wanted to follow up on this for you today. And when the police chief there in Dallas, David Brown, said we're hiring, apparently a lot of people were listening. An update for you straight ahead.

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[14:28:55] BALDWIN: Donald Trump causing some questions today after saying, if her daughter Ivanka were sexually harassed at work, he'd hope that she would quit, find a new career. He made the comment in the context of a conversation with a "USA Today" writer about former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, who - who stands accused of harassment.

So let's bring in some voices here. Gina Loudon, a Trump supporter, behavioral and psychology expert and host of "America Trends with Dr. Gina," and Rachel Sklar, founder of "The List."

So, ladies, thank you so much for being with me.

And, Gina, let me just begin with you. You know, when you - when you heard the quote, Trump, "I would like to think she would find another career or find another company if that was the case," the case of being sexually harassed. When you read that, what did your - what was your first thought?

[14:29:46] GINA LOUDON, TRUMP SUPPORTER: My first thought was that of course any father, faced with the situation of his daughter being sexually harassed, would want her to get out of that situation. But I also think we have to be careful not to put the burden on the target of the harassment. If there is harassment going on in the workplace, it needs to be diligently pursued. And I think that same diligent pursuit needs to happen in the case of false accusations as well. So this is a really complicated issue.