http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1508/25/ath.02.html
AT THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND MICHAELA
Lindsey Graham Comments on Jeb Bush “Anchor Babies” Comment, Donald Trump; Attempted Murder Investigation Against Paris Train Attacker; ISIS Destroys Ancient Temple in Syria; NY Prison Escape Seen from Prison Point of View. Aired 11:30a-12p ET
Aired August 25, 2015 - 11:30 ET
EXCERPT
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good morning.
BOLDUAN: Thanks for coming in.
So on this bit about Jeb Bush and what he said, this “anchor babies” controversy, Donald Trump jumped all over this on Twitter calling Jeb Bush’s comments “a mess, clumsy,” really going after him. What do you call it?
GRAHAM: Well, I think Donald Trump’s pretty much an idiot on policy and Jeb Bush is a good man. And what Jeb was talking about is birth right tourism. Millionaires from China and other Asian nations as well as the Middle East buy tourist visas for the express purpose of having their wife deliver a baby in the United States. There are people who market to rich people in Asia and the Middle East. Come here for your vacation, we’ll get you a tourist visa with a maternity ward. I think that cheapens citizenship. I’d like to change that one day after we clean up this mess. That’s all Jeb was talking about.
BOLDUAN: That actually gets to the point that Jeb did try to make in bringing this up yesterday. He blames a lot of this on especially the Democratic attacks coming at him, saying this is a lot of P.C., this is a P.C. problem, political correctness problem, he shouldn’t have to apologize every time you say something. Do you think it’s a political correctness problem?
GRAHAM: When he said Asian people, he wasn’t being derogatory. Birth-right tourism is an industry that’s created to take advantage —
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: Especially from China though, not all Asians.
GRAHAM: Oh, yeah, China. But I don’t think Jeb Bush is a mean guy at all. I think he’s a wonderful guy. So people literally do buy tourist visas. They’re marketed where you can come here, have the child, a maternity ward in the resort. I think most Americans think that’s not a good way to give out citizenship. At least I think that.
BOLDUAN: Let’s talk about Donald Trump if we could.
GRAHAM: OK.
BOLDUAN: He’s obviously criticizing Jeb Bush for his remarks, but he also is on Twitter yet again for a second time last night attacking FOX News host, Megyn Kelly. And in attacking her, he re-tweeted a comment — re-tweeted a message that called her a bimbo. How can any candidate, Senator, be leading in the polls, saying something like that, even leading among women?
GRAHAM: All I can say is that he’s not leading among women in general. That he has a 65 percent disapproval rating among Hispanics according to a poll last night. Why? Because he says most illegal immigrants are rapists and drug dealers. His plan to deal with illegal immigration is constitutionally unsound. You can’t implement it. It won’t work, and he said last night on television that he would take American citizen children born here, whose parents are illegal, and send them all back. You can’t do that. I think that’s ridiculous. I think it’s illegal.
As to Megyn Kelly, we’ve got two problems in our party, with Hispanics and young women and the leader of our party has come up with a deportation plan that is Joseph McCarthy-like. And he is saying things about Megyn Kelly and other women that are digging a big hole. And the chairman of our party said he thought Donald Trump was a net positive. Let me tell you, I think he’s hurting our party. I want to be on record, no matter how well I do, as opposing Mr. Trump’s concept of what he would do with illegal — who they are and how he would solve the problem. I want to be the other side of history when he talks about Megyn Kelly.
[11:35:42] BOLDUAN: On both of those things, a lot of folks would agree with you, but clearly a lot of folks either aren’t hearing you or disagree with you.
GRAHAM: They’re frustrated.
BOLDUAN: But then — frustration, though, isn’t dissipated. Look at the latest polls.
GRAHAM: Can I be honest? Can I just be honest with you?
BOLDUAN: Of course, you can.
GRAHAM: There’s 25 percent of our party who thinks Obama was born in Kenya, 25 percent of the party wants him to be a Muslim, because they hate him so much. So there’s a dark side of politics that Mr. Trump is appealing to. Demagoguing immigrants — he’s not the first guy to do this, and he won’t be the last. And there’s always a market for it, but it’s not sustainable. It will ruin our party. If he becomes the nominee, we’ll get killed.
BOLDUAN: You may say it’s not sustainable, but it surely has sustained. Just look at the latest poll. This one coming out from Monmouth University. I know you saw this one. He not only has a sizable lead — we’ll throw it up there — 30 percent. It’s not just a lead anywhere, it’s in South Carolina. It’s in your home state.
GRAHAM: I won 56 percent of my primary against six opponents. There’s 30 percent of my primary electorate that believes that Obama is a Muslim, that he was born in Kenya, and that would deport everybody. They’re frustrated. I’m just saying that the policies that Mr. Trump is proposing are demagoguery. His approach to describing Illinois legal immigrants are hurting us with Hispanics. The way he attacks women is going to be a death blow to the future of the party.
Come to South Carolina and I’ll beat his brains out. I know my state. This is a silly season in politics.
To say that you’re going to go to Iraq and Syria and take their oil and use it for our benefit as a way to destroy ISIL is insanely dangerous. You’re going to turn everybody into the Middle East against America if you do that. You won’t destroy ISIL. That will be his undoing.
BOLDUAN: Can you win the nomination — in your strategy, can you win the nomination without winning South Carolina?
GRAHAM: No, I’m going to win South Carolina. I have to do well in New Hampshire.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
GRAHAM: I got to do well in New Hampshire. If I do well in New Hampshire, I’ll win my state. Here is what will not happen. Donald Trump is not going to be the
nominee of the Republican Party. If he is, that’s the end of the Republican Party because what he is doing is —
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: So if he is, what do you do?
GRAHAM: Well, then we’ll lose. We’ll lose, and we should lose. 60 percent of the Hispanic community in this country, legal Hispanics, find Mr. Trump offensive. I find him offensive. When he attacks Megyn Kelly, a lot of young women think, well, why would you do that? I find that offensive? Where is the party leadership?
BOLDUAN: Not only is the party leadership, my question to you is —
GRAHAM: Where are the other candidates?
BOLDUAN: Where are the other candidates? Why isn’t your message connecting?
GRAHAM: I think it will over time. We’re about to get attacked. There’s more likelihood of a 9/11, anytime before 9/11, there’s more terrorist safe havens, a series of perfect platforms to attack us. Mr. Trump’s strategy to destroy ISIL is worse than Obama, believe it or not. Obama’s strategy is not working but the idea to take Iraq and Syrian oil as a way to destroy ISIL and use it for your benefit would be the greatest boom for recruiting for ISIL in the history of the organization. So his policy positions are complete gibberish. Over time, we’re going to get serious. Who is ready to be commander-in- chief? He is shallow. He’s ill prepared to be commander-in-chief. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about in terms of how our laws work. He says the worst things possible about immigrants and women, and he’s a complete idiot when it comes to Middle East policy. So I think over time common sense will prevail. He’s a showman. He’s really good at that.
BOLDUAN: Right.
GRAHAM: But the idea that he would be the commander-in-chief of the finest fighting force in history suggesting that they’re going to go back to Iraq and Syria and say, hey, I’m here from the United States, I’d like to take your oil, do you mind, and use it for our benefit. He would turn everybody in the Middle East against us who wants to help us fight ISIL. So all I can say is our soldiers deserve better, our party deserves better.
To the Hispanic community, if you’re watching this broadcast, he doesn’t represent us. Just a small portion of us. To young women out there, we don’t believe what Mr. Trump says about Megyn Kelly.
BOLDUAN: Very strong, Senator Lindsey Graham. “Jackass” was what made your cell phone go public last time. “Idiot.” Hold that cell phone close, Senator.
(LAUGHTER) GRAHAM: OK.
BOLDUAN: Great to see.
GRAHAM: Thank you.
BOLDUAN: Thanks so much for coming in.
GRAHAM: Thank you.
Linda doesn’t think the MEXICAN govt. doesn’t do the exact same marketing to their migrant pickers etc and non-propertied people? The govt. of Mexico is well recorded telling their people how to come to the US illegally and get bennies, as well as how to send home pesos via Bank of America (obamaumaos bank of choice in Charlotte) The electronic ETF send fees are a huge profit center. Walmart does it too, through their “banco” e cards (actually better than using the cambios and phone transmit, but not as discreet).
The number is in the billions of money transfer, weekly.
Trying to shift this to the asians is probably also true, done differently. But it still does not address the FACT that there is NO provision for “birthright” citizenship. It does not exist and is a figment of bureaucrats working for the Establishment. Mostly dems, but a hell of a lot of illegal employers of every stripe.
So if 60% of legal Hispanics don’t like him, I guess that means 40% do.
If Trump pulls 40% of the Hispanic vote this thing is over before it started.