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CNN NEWSROOM

Trump Questions Election Results; Actress Mary Tyler Moore Dies at 80; Trump Signs Actions to Build Wall, Boost Deportations. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired January 25, 2017 - 14:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:31:10] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Live pictures there at the Department of Homeland Security. We're waiting to hear from President Trump has he's making good on a campaign promise we heard about for months and months. "Build that wall," chanted at Trump campaign rallies. Today is the day. He just signed that executive order to do that, to build a wall.

He sat down with ABC News and said construction would start in a couple of months and he said that you, the American taxpayer, would pay for it, and then he promised that Mexico would pay for. How he gets Mexico to reimburse the U.S. is a different discussion.

So, we're waiting for the president.

In the meantime, let's bring in some voices to chew on this and other headlines of the day with political commentators, Keith Boykin and Kayleigh McEnany. Keith is also a democratic strategist. And also with us, Brian Stelter, CNN senior media correspondent and host of "Reliable Sources."

Great to see all of you all. And we may turn away any second now as soon as we see the president.

(LAUGHTER)

But, Kayleigh, I had a woman sitting here down from the Brennan Center at NYU. They have studied voter fraud in this country for over a decade. She said, unequivocally, there's no widespread voter fraud in this country. There's isn't any, period.

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think that's why you saw Sean Spicer try to make this task force, whatever it may be, this investigation prospective rather than retrospective. That is to say, he wants to ensure, going forward, there is no sort of voter fraud. There was at least one that looked at peer-reviewed study that looked at congressional data and said 6 percent of non-citizens said they voted. It was a peer-reviewed study. Other peer-reviewed studies showed otherwise. So there is at least a question out there. I don't think it was millions. There might have been thousands. There are 700 convictions listed on Heritage of people who did vote illegally. So, to look at it, perspective, I think, is fine, but --

BALDWIN: But the president in the one who said, via Sean Spicer, said major millions of Americans voted illegally.

MCENANY: And Sean Spicer said it's based on documents that have been given to him. So --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Documents that have been refuted. He's referring to studies in 2008.

MCENANY: He should give the documents to this investigation. I don't think it should be a priority. I think the border wall is a priority. He should focus on that --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Not the investigation?

You're laughing. Why?

KEITH BOYKIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Why should the federal - why should the taxpayers have to subsidize Trump's obsession with lies. He's basically spread a lie. "The New York Times," everyone else has debunked this lie, which is what it is, that there are millions of people who voted illegally in this country. And now we have to pay to finance Trump's fishing expedition. It's like when he sent his imaginary investigators to Hawaii to look into Barack Obama's birth certificate. There were no investigators. He knows this is not true.

MCENANY: But you don't know it's a lie. That's false.

BOYKIN: We know that's a lie, Kayleigh.

MCENANY: No.

BOYKIN: We know it's not true.

(CROSSTALK)

MCENANY: You know why we don't know it's a lie?

(CROSSTALK)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, RELIABLE SOURCES: He's seen all the facts by now. Mr. Trump has watched all the cable news. He's seen all the truths. This is not anti-Trump. This is pro truth.

BALDWIN: It's fact.

STELTER: I don't think that's where it gets ugly. I don't think people are trying to fight on him or hate on him. It's just that this is about facts.

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: I think it's about proportionally. Yes, there's voter fraud. It happens a little. You're describing some cases of it. But it happens so rarely that it's not a proportionality. Which is why I appreciate you saying it shouldn't be the top priority to investigate.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Does Trump's disregard for the truth threatens his ability to do his job?

MCENANY: No, because, you know, we heard Keith call this a lie --

(CROSSTALK)

BOYKIN: "The New York Times" called it a lie.

MCENANY: -- but here's why we --

(CROSSTALK)

BOYKIN: "The New York Times" called it a lie.

MCENANY: Oh, "The New York Times," right.

(CROSSTALK)

MCENANY: Let me tell you why it's not a lie, and it's irresponsible to call it a lie.

(CROSSTALK)

MCENANY: It's not a lie, because we do not take voter I.D.s in most places when you go to vote. You cannot prove that this didn't happen. You're trying to prove a negative.

(CROSSTALK)

BOYKIN: No, no. What you're doing is the epitome of illogical reasoning. And you're a Harvard lawyer. And you should know this is a lie. We both understand you can't just put out facts, especially as president of the United States, and have no support.

(CROSSTALK)

BOYKINS: You can't make a statement as the president of the United States without any facts and expect everybody else to deny it --

(CROSSTALK)

MCENANY: And as a commentator, you shouldn't call something a lie when you have no proof that it's a lie.

(CROSSTALK)

[14:35:19] STELTER: I didn't go to Harvard, I should admit, but this is not a falsehood. This is - these are a series of falsehoods from the president. Sean Spicer has to get up there and address it. And I feel bad for Sean Spicer. I think the important thing, Brooke, is if we can't trust the

president on this -

BALDWIN: What about governing? What about governing?

STELTER: -- can we trust him on anything else? And that's on Sean Spicer as well. But it's really on the president. Can we trust him when it matters, when it's about war, when it's about the economy?

(CROSSTALK)

MCENANY: Keith, let's pull up some facts that we do know. We do know that 6 percent of non-citizens told Congress in a congressional study, I voted. 6 percent. That means hundreds of thousands.

(CROSSTALK)

BOYKIN: We do that there are less than 1 percent of proven cases of certifiable voter fraud. And we also know today, Steve Bannon, a White House advisor, is registered to vote in two states, which is the exact same thing Trump was complaining on about on Twitter this morning.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: How is this not -- here's the question. How does this not dinging his legitimacy as president of the United States.

BOYKIN: It is.

BALDWIN: The man won the election. It was an incredible election to cover and watch, and a great win for you. But how is this not dinging his legitimacy by bringing up this falsehood and now following through on a mega investigation?

MCENANY: I think that's an important point.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: What's your response?

MCENANY: His retrospective look at this, bringing this up is not helpful, not helpful in analyzing the election. If he wants to take a prospective look, say, look, there are convictions based on voter fraud. The voter rolls are out of date. We do know Steve Bannon is registered in two state, as are many people. If he wants to say let's look forward for the next election, fine, that's wise, but I don't think it helps him to look backward.

BOYKIN: This is very selective for a couple of reasons. One, he only wants to look at voter fraud he thinks is out there, but not voter suppression or Russian interference or the other issues --

BALDWIN: Other issues that rise to the top.

BOYKIN: Exactly. That we should also be investigating. If we're going to talk about the voting system, why don't we have an electoral form process? Why do we still have an Electoral College in the first place? Why don't we -- Trump himself was opposed to that just a few years ago.

BALDWIN: Right.

BOYKIN: Let's have a comprehensive look.

Just today, Sean Spicer is saying he thinks there was voter fraud in New York and California.

BALDWIN: The big states.

BOYKIN: The two states that -- the two big states that Trump lost. But let's not look at the other 48 states or the states that Trump won. Let's only look at the states that Trump was losing badly.

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: There was news sites suggesting this was California where there was lots of illegal voting. There's just not evidence for lots of illegal voting in either of these states. The 2014 study is so disputed, if we keep referring to it on television, I just worry it confuses people even more to say thousands of people.

(CROSSTALK)

MCENANY: He also pushed back against some of the criticism. The criticism was that some of these -- it was self-reporting. Illegal immigrants self-reported themselves to Congress and some withdrew their self-reporting and said, wait, I am a citizen, so they only looked at the studies who twice told Congress they were non-citizens and found that it actually strengthened their claims rather than weakened it. I don't want to get into nuances here, but there is a line of argument that we should look at this prospectively.

(CROSSTALK)

BOYKIN: Is it not irresponsible for the president of the United States to make false claims about voter fraud that undermine our integrity of the election system?

MCENANY: You don't know that they're false.

BALDWIN: Do you know if they're true?

MCENANY: You don't know they're false.

(CROSSTALK)

BOYKIN: This is what we have the next four years with Donald Trump?

BALDWIN: OK. Hit pause on this conversation, because we also do have to talk about the wall. We're waiting to hear from the president. He should be coming out any minute now at the Department of Homeland Security after signed these executive actions. At the tiptop of that, following through on his promise to build the wall. We'll have time to talk more about voter fraud, investigations. Is there even an investigation to be done? But let's first focus on the wall and listen to the president in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:43:36] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BALDWIN: I can't believe I'm saying this. The beloved actress, Mary Tyler Moore, has just died. She was 80 years of age. We're getting a statement from her long-time rep. Let me read this. Quote, "Today, beloved icon, Mary Tyler Moore, passed away at the age of 80 in the company of friends and her loving husband of over 33 years, Dr. S. Robert Levine. The groundbreaking actress, producer and a passionate advocate for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Mary will be remembered as a fearless visionary who turned the word on with her smile."

Of course, we remember her from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." How it famously ended, that finality when the lights went dark. She was on "Dick Van Dyke." She had an Academy Award nominee for best actress in "Ordinary People." She actually began her career --

Brian Stelter I'm going to bring you in as this is being handed to me.

She's from Brooklyn started her career as a dancer.

STELTER: First, in television commercials, and went on to one of the biggest shows in history, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." This show was on in the 70s and really changed television, Brooke --

BALDWIN: In the news room.

[14:45:12] STELTER: That's right. It featured, for one of the first times on TV, a not married, a career woman on her own.

BALDWIN: Say it ain't so!

STELTER: That's right. At the time, it was a big deal. The whole country loved Mary Tyler Moore. But also "The Dick Van Dyke Show." And she had been in a film. She had been working up until a few years ago, as recently as 2009, but had been taking it easy the last couple years. But it was only a few hours ago, we had learned she had been ill.

BALDWIN: Here is a look back at her life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mary Tyler Moore, the name just rolled off the tongue, and it was connected with TV. For much of the 1970s, the country spent Saturday nights tuning into the "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Watching Mary and the WJM gang. It involved a news room.

MARY TYLER MOORE, ACTRESS: I mean, I am the associate producer of the show.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was Moore's career-defining role. It symbolized a cultural shift, an unmarried 30ish woman in the work place.

She was born in December 29, 1936 in Brooklyn, New York. Her family movement to California when she was 8. And she was still in her teens when she landed her first showbiz break in Hotpoint commercials that ran during the "Ozzy and Harriet" show in 1955. Not long out of high school, she married and had a son. But Mary wasn't planning on being a stay-at-home mom.

ANNOUNCER: "The Dick Van Dyke Show."

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: In 1961, she landed her first starring role caste opposite Dick Van Dyke. Mary played Laura, wife of a comedy writer. Laura dressed in Capri pants at a time when TV housewives sported skirts and aprons. The show ran five seasons and made Mary Tyler Moore a household name.

As her career took off, her first marriage crumbled. They divorced in 1961. A year later, she married television executive, Grant Tinker. The pair created MTM Enterprises which produced several successful TV shows, "Hill Street Blues," "The Bob Newhart Show," "Rhoda," and most notably --

ED ASNER, ACTOR: You've got spunk.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Seven seasons, 29 Emmys and three Golden Globes later, the show ended, and Moore found it difficult to shed Mary from her image. So, the TV comedian turned to Broadway, earning a Tony award for "Whose Life Is It Any Way." She also shined on the big screen.

MOORE: It's starting all over again.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: In 1980, Moore gave an Oscar performance in "Ordinary People," which depicted a family dealing with tragedy. Tragedy stuck Moore the same year when her only son, Richie, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. It was later ruled accidental.

The following year, Moore and Tinker ended their 10-year marriage. However, she found love again with third husband, Dr. Robert Levine.

With her new spouse at her side, she came clean about her alcoholism. In 1984, she checked herself into the Betty Ford Clinic.

A type-1 diabetic, Moore devoted much of her later years to advocacy. She became international chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and campaigned for embryotic stem cell research and animal rights.

In 2009, she released her memoir, "Growing Up Again: Live, Love, and, Oh, Yeah, Diabetes."

The TV icon continued to act by making guest star appearances on various network shows.

In 2011, she underwent surgery to remove a benign tumor from her brain but recovered.

The seven-time Emmy winner carved out her place in television history who pioneered who opened doors for women. Even though her life wasn't perfect, Mary Tyler Moore really did make it after all.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: All right. I have the legendary Larry King, who has called in.

Larry, thank you. It's nice to talk to you, although I hate the circumstances.

How many times did you talk to her?

LARRY KING, TALK SHOW HOST (voice-over): Oh, quite a few times on radio and on CNN. She was a delight. There was only one Mary Tyler Moore. The shots you have on her on the screen right now, lovable smile, wonderful comedian and terrific actress, and her devotion to juvenile diabetes. I served on the board of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation because she made me serve on the board. But she was one of a kind.

[14:50:16] BALDWIN: Tell me more about her when the cameras were rolling. I know she was from Brooklyn, and started her career in dance and directed, but what made her tick?

KING: She was discovered by Gary Moore, a wonderful host. She was a great sketch comic. She understood a sense of humor. She had a great sense of it. Of course, her show was historic. One of the best sitcoms ever. She started first with Dick Van Dyke. They were occasional lovers through the years. They both admitted that on our show. And that was a great show. And then she went on -- I think "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" will go down in history. Ed Asner was the head of the department. Crazy people of the network. Betty White was incredible. I think you ought to call Betty. She turned 95. She would be wonderful to talk about Mary, especially working with her.

It's so sad. 2016 we lost so many people. And now 2017, to begin with this is just really sad.

BALDWIN: I know.

KING: These are irreplaceable people.

BALDWIN: I realize -- you know, I wasn't young when the "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" was on. And I know we talk so much about shattering that glass ceiling. Did she talk about what that meant to her for women at the time? KING: Oh, sure. She, the Carol Burnetts and others were the

forerunners that are close -- women still don't have quality. They're still not paid as much as men for doing the same job. But she broke ground. She forged through. She was herself, you know. She was -- you have to call her one of the pioneers of American television and an underrated actress. I'm trying to remember the name of the woman -- the woman and her son were both convicted of murder, serving life sentences in Los Angeles, and I interviewed them the mother and the son, and she called me because she played her, the woman. I'm sorry I can't remember the name of the woman. But she did a television special and I believe she won an Emmy for it.

BALDWIN: It's a famous scene when she tosses the cap up in the air and that song. Let's reopen the show from the "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: If you are just joining us, we are just reporting the sad, sad breaking news that the legendary Mary Tyler Moore just passed away at the age of 80.

Larry King interviewed her multiple times. He was talking about how she was such a pioneer playing a role on that show was huge, huge for her.

What was that again? What do you think of, Larry, when you hear that song strike up?

KING: It's part of our culture, isn't it? One of the great themes ever in American television history and the idea to make Minneapolis and struggling with ratings and mid America, perfect mid-American city. That theme song, that's unbelievable. It was great to hear it again. I hope you play it all day.

(LAUGHTER)

[14:55:23] BALDWIN: We know that when she passed away -- I want to ask you about her personal life. According to her rep, she was in the presence of her husband over 30 years. Tell me who she was just as a woman.

KING: Well, she was, of course, very attractive. Sad, the loss of her son. Was very sad. She told me she finally made it when she married a Jewish doctor.

(LAUGHTE4R)

That's the height of making it. And of course, she was a great business woman, too. MTM, productions, her and her then-husband. She was very popular in japan. Had a great following there. And she was -- you know, what you see is what you get. That face,

that charm, that's her. That was Mary Tyler Moore. There wasn't a false bone about her. She was -- it's hard to say was -- she was what she was. I don't know what else to say. You can't say anything -- you will never hear a bad word about her. See that face, that smile? That's Mary Tyler Moore. That's etched in our memory and will never go away.

BALDWIN: Larry King, thanks so much.

We're going to pull away from this momentarily.

KING: My pleasure, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Always wonderful talking to you.

Let's go now to the president of the United States, speaking at the Department of Homeland Security.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- surprised to hear that we do not need new laws. We will work within the existing system and frame work. We are going to restore the rule of law in the United States.

Before we go any further, I want to recognize the ICE and Border Patrol officers in this room today, and honor their service. And not just because they anonymously endorsed me for president.

(LAUGHTER)

That helps, but that's not the only reason.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: I also want to acknowledge two individuals in the audience who will play a very, very important role going forward. I would like to recognize Brandon Judd, the president of the National Border Patrol Council; and Chris Crane -- two friends of mine -- president of National ICE Council.

You guys are about to be very, very busy, doing your job the way you want to do them.

Where are they? Where are those guys?

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Thank you, fellows. Thank you very much.

We're in the middle of a crisis on our southern border. The unprecedented surge of illegal migrants from Central America is harming both Mexico and the United States. And I believe the steps we will take starting right now will improve the safety in both of our countries. It's going to be very, very good for Mexico. A nation without borders is not a nation.

Beginning today, the United States of America gets back control its borders. Gets back its borders.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Thank you.

I just signed two executive orders that will save thousands of lives, millions of jobs, and billions and billions of dollars. These two orders are part of an immigration reform we outlined during the campaign.

I want to emphasize that we will be working in partnership with our friends in Mexico to improve safety and economic opportunity on both sides of the border. I have deep admiration for the people of Mexico and I greatly look forward to meeting again with the president of Mexico. We'll be doing that shortly.

We will discuss close coordination on many, many important issues between our countries. This coordination includes the dismantling of cartels and keeping illegal weapons and cash from flowing out of America and into Mexico, out of our country. Out of the United States, and it goes right into Mexico. They have to stop it. We have to stop it. We are going to save lives on both sides of the border.

And we also understand that a strong and healthy economy in Mexico is very good for the United States, very, very good. We want that to happen. By working together --