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John Delaney (D) Presidential Candidate Discusses Trump Blasting U.K. Ambassador Over Leaked Comments; Trump "Feels Sorry For" Labor Secretary Who Gave Jeffrey Epstein Sweetheart Deal, Arguments in Court Today on Obamacare, Pelosi Jabs at Freshmen Democrats, Swalwell Ending Presidential Run; U.S. Women's Soccer Team Pushes for Equal Pay after World Cup Win; Family Questions Why Ship Window was Open after Toddler Falls. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired July 9, 2019 - 14:30   ET

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


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[14:34:07] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump continuing his attacks against the ambassador in Washington for a second straight day. Tweeting this morning, quote, "The wacky ambassador that the U.K. foisted upon the United States is not someone we are thrilled with. A very stupid guy." Adding, "He's a pompous fool."

The president is lashing out after these diplomatic cables where this ambassador called the president "inept" and "incompetent" and "insecure" were leaked to the press. The president yesterday said the U.S. would no longer deal with him, and then disinvited him from a planned White House dinner.

All of this creating a dangerous rift between the U.S. and its closest ally.

With me now, Democratic presidential candidate and former U.S. congressman, John Delaney.

Congressman Delaney, a pleasure. Thanks for coming into CNN.

JOHN DELANEY, (D), FORMER CONGRESSMAN & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you. Thank you.

BALDWIN: When you hear the ambassador's words, "inept, incompetent and insecure," you agree with him describing President Trump?

DELANEY: I do think it's a pretty accurate description. But I think the president's response is terrible. I mean, the president is kind of a norm-destroying president. He's -- I'm sure he doesn't agree with those comments. He should take the high road. Our allies and these alliances that we spent so long building are such a huge asset to this country. And the president trashes him all the time.

[14:35:17] BALDWIN: Yet, it's OK when Kim Jong-Un calls him -- you know, insults him. Yet, our closest ally, when they insult us, that's the one he takes to heart. Why is that? DELANEY: The president doesn't believe in alliances. He fundamentally doesn't believe in kind of the world order we've helped create over the last several decades, where we've developed these amazing relationships with countries all around the world. And we work with them to try to accomplish things.

That's why he tore up the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was a huge mistake.

BALDWIN: Yes.

DELANEY: That's why he questioned NATO. That's why he tore up the Paris Accord. He doesn't look at the world in the right way. He thinks it's all transactional. He thinks it's all about him. He's reckless, lawless, and norm destroying.

Because one of the great norms of our country is that we have these amazing relationships around the world. And we've worked hard to build them. We've done it for our own self-interest. Because having these alliances really helps us lead around the world. And that's what we have to get back to in 2020. We need a president who wants to lead on all the important conversations around the world and work with our allies to do it.

BALDWIN: How about this conversation about Labor Secretary Alex Acosta. You are part of this growing chorus of Democrats saying this guy has to resign.

DELANEY: He really has to resign.

BALDWIN: He has to resign. President Trump was asked about this at the White House a bit ago and he said that he feels badly for him. You're response to that

DELANEY: It's terrible. I mean, this Epstein --

BALDWIN: Terrible.

DELANEY: He feels badly for someone who obviously, in my judgment, did something wrong and gave this horrible human being a terribly light sentence. And there's other aspects of his rulings that are also under question.

He always has the wrong instinct. When you see the situation in Charlottesville --

BALDWIN: Yes.

DELANEY: -- he says both sides. He always has precisely the wrong instincts in terms of standing up for what is right. He should ask this person in his administration to resign.

BALDWIN: Sure.

Obamacare -- I was talking to Xavier Becerra, in the state of California, the A.G. over there. The courts are hearing the case today. You're the only guy up there -- as this former health care finance executive you know a thing or two about the health care industry.

DELANEY: Yes.

BALDWIN: Let's just say that you are not the final candidate standing. But you want to have your mark on this really important discussion on policy in this country. What do you want that to be?

DELANEY: Again, as you said, I'm the only person who has any experience in the health care industry that's running for president.

What we should do, is the first thing we should do is fix the Affordable Care Act. It was a good law. I hate that so many Democrats call it incremental progress. I think it was historic progress. I think that's a huge disservice to President Obama.

There's things we can do to fix it. We should do that right away.

Then we should have a conversation toward universal health care. We should build on the Affordable Care Act and create a universal health care system where everyone has basic health care as a right of citizenship for free.

But what we shouldn't do is make private insurance --

(CROSSTALK)

DELANEY: -- illegal. That's a terrible idea. We will lose to Trump by 10 points if we run on that. Half the American people have private insurance. For many Americans, it's the most important aspect of their lives.

BALDWIN: Yes.

DELANEY: It's also bad policy. It will take a lot of resources out of the health care industry and result in reduces quality and access.

BALDWIN: Keep that option?

DELANEY: Yes. Isn't that obvious?

BALDWIN: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Not to all the candidates and not to some people in this country. But I hear you --

(CROSSTALK)

DELANEY: If the government plan that we create is so great, then people will migrate off the private insurance. Why do we have to be the party of subtraction? Why do we have to tell the American people we're going to take away something you have? Why don't we be the party of addition? And take these uninsured Americans and make sure they get coverage?

BALDWIN: I want to ask you about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She's been taking jabs at some the freshmen members of Congress, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, after a number of them voted against the border bill saying it wouldn't have gone far enough.

DELANEY: Right.

BALDWIN: My question to you, with regard to the House speaker, is that really helpful?

DELANEY: I'm a big Nancy Pelosi fan. I'll start with that. I think she's one of the most impressive people I've met in my life. I really do. I think she's handling her position really well. In many ways, she's the only person protecting our democracy.

I think what a lot of us running for president should be doing is supporting Speaker Pelosi.

And I think she's handling the job very well. And I think the border bill was a huge success. I think it was absolutely a huge success.

BALDWIN: So you approve of her going after these freshmen Democrats?

DELANEY: Listen, that's her business. I think she has to defend her majority.

We have to remember we took control of the House of Representatives. It was unbelievably important. It was a check on the president. We did it with 40 new members who flipped Republican districts. That's the whole story of the 2018 midterm, right, how those people did it. That's our roadmap for 2020.

Those folks ran on solutions, solving problems, bringing people together, jobs, infrastructure, fixing health care. They didn't run on things that a small minority of American people --

[14:40:13] BALDWIN: I've got you. So you're saying she is -- she is backing up her majority despite any sort of jabs she may have to what seems to be a minority of the Democrat Party --

(CROSSTALK)

DELANEY: She's really smart, and she knows what she's doing.

BALDWIN: OK.

DELANEY: And she wants us to win the White House, the Senate, and she wants to keep the House. And she's trying to lead accordingly.

BALDWIN: Let's talk about 2020. I know Congressman Swalwell says he's quitting the race to narrow the field, to better the chances of beating President Trump. Do you agree that he should be doing that, and do you think perhaps you could take a page out of his playbook?

DELANEY: I like Eric Swalwell. He's a great member of Congress. I don't know what was behind his decision to leave the race.

I think we're having a great debate right now. I think having a big field is terrific. This has to be a battle of ideas.

Think about where we were a month ago. Everyone was going down the path toward this single-payor Medicare-for-All. I stepped forward and I said, listen, there's a better way. And now the conversation is changing. That's the whole point of a primary. We have to put up a candidate that can win in 2020.

To win in 2020, you have to win the center. To have to run on real solutions, not impossible promises. You have to tell the American people how to fix health care, lower pharmaceuticals prices, build infrastructure, create jobs, all of those things that matter to Americans.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: So you say it's like political Darwinism in a sense. There are people out there who are saying, there are so many people on the stage, we need to hurry up and find the right man or woman so they can take down President Trump.

(CROSSTALK)

DELANEY: Listen, the last time the Republicans had a huge field and we had a small field, who won?

There's no evidence to say these big fields actually prevent us from putting up a candidate who can win.

I think we're having a great debate of ideas. I think it should unfold. We're not casting votes for a long time.

We just had the first debate. You all are going to have the second one in Detroit, which, by the way, I think is a great setting for the next debate.

BALDWIN: Yes. Yes.

BALDWIN: You can tell the whole story of America in many ways in what's happened in Detroit over the last several decades.

BALDWIN: Yes.

DELANEY: So I think it's early. We should be talking about ideas. We should be talking about who can beat Trump, who can capture the center, who can actually start solving these problems, and who can get America working again.

BALDWIN: Last quick question, because you are friends with Mr. Steyer. He's just now jumping in. What do you think of that?

DELANEY: Tom and I are good friends, right? We've had a long-term relationship in business. I like Tom a lot. Again, I think this is a battle of ideas. I think I'm the right

person to be the president of the United States. I'm the only person running with an experience in business, as an entrepreneur, and experience in government.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: All of -- all of his impeachment talk, is that good for the Democrats?

DLANEY: My point is, we should be backing Nancy Pelosi. Tom and I are in a different spot.

BALDWIN: OK.

Tom Delaney --

DELANEY: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

BALDWIN: -- thank you very much. Good luck. See you in Detroit, right?

DELANEY: Yes. See you in Detroit.

BALDWIN: All right.

Tragedy on a family vacation. A toddler playing with her grandfather falls to her death. Now questions about an open window and accusations directed against the cruise line. Should more have been done to protect passengers?

We'll be right back.

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[14:47:33] BALDWIN: The U.S. women's World Cup title team is back home in the United States and starting a much-deserved victory lap.

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(SINGING)

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BALDWIN: So good. So good. The team arriving there at Newark Airport singing "We Are the Champions" and greeted by cheers from the crowd rolling out the red carpet, the whole to do. Team members beaming, carrying that gold cup trophy. They were greeted with handshakes and plenty of applause. Tomorrow, they will get a ticker- tape parade here in New York City.

But amid the pursuit of a fourth World Cup title, members of Team USA were also moving ahead with a gender-discrimination lawsuit against U.S. soccer. They're demanding madding equal pay to their male counterparts.

Today, on CNN, a couple of players said they think this historic win makes their case even stronger.

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KELLEY O'HARA, U.S. SOCCER TEAM PLAYER: Yes, I think this win changes the conversation to, do we deserve it, to, OK, how are we actually going to get the action, what are we going to see from FIFA, from U.S. soccer, from the sponsors. Because we've always been about pushing for it, not just for ourselves, but for the world. And I think this win was another stop in the right direction. And it just shows we do deserve it, and they do have to now have action behind it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Julie Foudy is a two-time FIFA World Cup title winner and an Olympic gold medalist. She's with me now from her leadership academy in New Jersey, which focuses on sports and leadership for girls ages 12 to 18.

Julie Foudy, welcome home. How are you?

JULIE FOUDY, RETIRED U.S. SOCCER TEAM PLAYER: I'm great, Brooke. Really good.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Really good.

You were there to watch our ladies win. You were one of a few people who knows what it feels like to be the best in the world. Can you just describe what that feels that, and especially those first moments coming home?

FOUDY: And for this team, to do it back to back World Cup titles, there's only one other country that's ever done that. That's Germany. We were never able to do it with our team. It's hard to do.

On top of that, with all the pressure they went in with, with them staking their flag in the ground saying, we're not here to win a World Cup. We're here also for equal pay and a lot of issues that are near and dear to them.

The emotion, the joy you saw just oozing out of them after they won was so fun to watch, because they put a lot on the line for this World Cup.

[14:50:10] BALDWIN: I still can't get overhearing the words "equal pay" being chanted by thousands and thousands on Sunday in that crowd. Do you agree with Kelley? Do you think their win helped their case?

FOUDY: Absolutely. The narrative coming in was, and in the past for this national team, when we were playing in the '90s and early 2000s, the women's team doesn't make as much money, they don't earn as much. Well, the one earning they can quantify in U.S. soccer is gate revenue. For the last three years, the U.S. women's team has made more than the men. They have that argument on its own. Now you add to the fact that the popularity, the enthusiasm behind this team, the way they were able to transform a country and to do it repeatedly in '15 and '19. They have all these elements they bring, beyond just being great athletes, as great role models.

I think it's going to be a tough one for U.S. soccer to turn around and say, yes, we can't pay you as much. They're going to have to come to the table.

BALDWIN: Yes. Got to ask you about Trump. The president now says he's not sure if he's going to invite these ladies to the White House. We know he criticized the team after Megan Rapinoe said she wouldn't go, even if she was invited.

This is a little bit more of the conversation that these two players had with Poppy earlier today.

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POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Rose, if the president invites you guys to the White House, we'll see, he says they're thinking about it. Do you want to go? Is that important for you and the team?

ROSE LAVELLE, U.S. WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM PLAYER: I think we're on the same page of this. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, we're celebrating. But I think we're on the same page.

HARLOW: Which is, what page is that, Kelley? Are you going or are you not?

O'HARA: I think that's a conversation we have to have as a team. And I think that we'll -- like she said, deal with it after we enjoy all this time together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Conversation as a team. You know these ladies. Do you think there's a sliver of a possibility they would go, just out of respect for the office or on principle, or, we're going to pass?

FOUDY: I think they're going to pass.

But I think there may be a couple on the team who, on principle, think they should go. It will be interesting what they decide collectively.

But in mass, I think most of that group would rather pass. I think actually, an invite is not that important to them.

I think they will want to go speak in front of the House. I think they will want to speak in front of the Senate. I don't think they're done making their case for equal pay and a lot of other issues they care about.

As we've seen, Brooke, this is a team that really wants to make a difference, not just for girls in this country, and young women, but globally as well. BALDWIN: That's right. And in other sports, as we discussed in the

past.

Julie Foudy, you are the best. Of course, everything you do for helping those young women at your leadership academy there in New Jersey, thank you, thank you, thank you.

FOUDY: Thanks.

BALDWIN: Pressure mounts -- you've got it. Pressure mounts on the White House over Labor Secretary Alex Acosta in that sweetheart deal he organized in a sex crimes case about a decade ago.

Plus, who exactly are the rich and powerful surrounding the man accused? I'll talk to the man who wrote the book on Jeffrey Epstein, best-selling author, James Patterson.

An emotional video of a crying boy begging his father not to call police on a black man. We'll show you what happened.

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[14:58:03] BALDWIN: Questions amid the grief today from the family of a toddler who fell to her death from the 11th floor of a cruise ship. The child, just 18 months old, was playing with her grandfather in an area enclosed by windows. But one of those windows was open. This happened Sunday on a Royal Caribbean ship. It was docked in the harbor in San Juan. Today, the family wants answers.

CNN's Martin Savidge is covering this one for us today.

How did this even happen?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, there's some dispute between what the authorities say happen and what the attorney representing the family says happen.

The authorities say, on Sunday, onboard this cruise ship, the granddaughter and grandfather were playing in the H2O zone. At some point, the grandfather picks her up in his arms and walks her to a wall of windows, one of which was open, apparently, to let her look out. And the authorities say the grandfather either stumbled or lost his balance, but he lost hold of the child and she fell to her death.

The attorney says, no, it was different. The grandfather is walking her to a window he thinks is closed. The child likes to root for her older brother who plays hockey, and like a lot of fans, likes to beat on the glass at the game. The grandfather was going to let her do that on the ship, not realizing the window was open.

Here's the attorney describing the tearful conversation he had with the grandfather after the tragedy.

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MICHAEL WINKLEMAN, WIEGAND FAMILY ATTORNEY: He kept saying, I thought it was like a hockey rink. I thought we were going to bang on the glass like at a hockey rink. And frankly, I think he was reasonable in assuming that it was windows. We've all seen that situation where someone walks into sliding glass when they think it's open. This is the universe of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: The attorney, Mr. Winkleman, is certain, he believes, the cruise line has video that was actually captured on a security camera. He believes the cruise line is neglect.

Royal Caribbean put out a statement yesterday, saying, "We are deeply saddened, and our hearts go out to the family." They're not saying any more. They want to give privacy to the family.

The family wants everyone to know what a sweet and wonderful little girl she was. They're only trying to make sure this never happens to any other family again.

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