CHRIS CUOMO (CO-HOST): The big political story surrounding Donald Trump is that he's not backing down from his attack on federal Judge Gonzalo Curiel, saying his Mexican heritage presents a “Absolute conflict in overseeing lawsuits in the Trump University fraud case.” The judge is of Mexican descent but was born and raised in Indiana. Joining us now is Luis Rodriguez. He was the first Latino president of the California State Bar. He and Judge Curiel are part of the La Raza Lawyers Association. Luis, thank you for joining us this morning.



LUIS J. RODRIGUEZ: Good morning, Chris.



CUOMO: Let's deal with this as attorneys. I'll give the suggestion of what the strongest case is that Trump is offering. It's no longer about the disclosure of the documents. Trump has moved away from that. This is about Curiel the judge as a man. Most pointedly, his heritage that he's Mexican and that that would be a projected bias for two reasons. One, the wall, and you understand that argument, it's as simple as it gets. The second one is more sophisticated. Curiel belongs to the La Raza Lawyers Association. He gave a scholarship to an undocumented man. That shows his proclivities in that area. He appointed as plaintiffs in one of the class action suits against Trump a law firm that gave over $675,000 in speaking fees to Hillary Clinton since 2009. And, thus, he has a bias in favor of Clinton and against Trump.



RODRIGUEZ: Well, you know, Chris, let me start with this. We're both attorneys. We both know the legal points. The quick answer is this: if Mr. Trump was truly believing of the bias that Judge Curiel may or may not have, he could've done one simple thing, which is he could've filed a motion to disqualify Judge Curiel, which he could still do, by the way. And then we would all see, everyone would see on paper what his attorneys believe, make a case that established that Judge Curiel, because of his ethnicity, which Mr. Trump has put forward, is biased. But let me tell you how ridiculous that is. Because what Mr. Trump is doing, and he's continued to do from the very beginning, is that he tries to alienate people against the rest of the United States. And last week when Speaker [Paul] Ryan [(R-WI)] came out, and I admire him for what he said, but he said it came out of left field. Now, how can he say that when the very first thing that Mr. Trump did when he announced his candidacy was to say that Mexicans were rapists, were criminals, Mexico was sending the worst of the worst to this country? That leads me to this, and not only me as an American, proud American of Mexican descent, but many folks, to the belief that there's something wrong with the Republican Party, and they are not owning up to their candidate and the many faults that this man has. So that's where we begin right now.



CUOMO: And you know, another fact in this situation, which should be disclosed is, if this judge were against Trump's cause in any way for whatever reason, the smartest thing for him to have done would have been to not allow the continuance of this case, because that's what's allowed Trump to keep going with his campaign and not have to worry about the court battle. Judge Curiel continued the case, and it bought Trump a lot of time. So it was an odd decision for a man who's against Trump. But you're saying something else that we keep hearing, which is Newt Gingrich, [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell, Ryan, they're coming out and saying they don't like what Trump is saying. They think, that hey, he should adjust. You are offended by their reaction, because you're saying, how can they be surprised? This is who he is. You bought him, now you own him. You believe that it's too late to say they're sorry?



RODRIGUEZ: You know what? I don't believe that it's too late to say that they're sorry. It's never too late. But it's becoming too late for them to do something that's going to convince all of Americans that he is the person who should be entrusted with the safety of our families and of our nation. I've been a public defender here in Los Angeles County for over two decades, and I can tell you that I've dealt with many issues with regards to domestic violence and abusive relationships. Right now, unfortunately, the Republican Party is in an abusive relationship with Mr. Trump. Because they are co-dependents in that every single time that this man opens his mouth about Muslims, about women, about the disabled, about veterans and Mexicans, of course, they come up with an excuse. They say, look, ah, it's not that bad. He meant this. He's really not a bigot. But that is the typical, and not typical, but stereotypical view of what an abusive relationship is. And you know, one other thing, Chris, is this. The Republican national party should look at what happened in California in 1994. And look at the prop. -- what I'm calling the Prop. 187 effect. Back then, Proposition 187 passed, not overwhelmingly, but it meant to take away certain rights or services for undocumented immigrants. Governor [Pete] Wilson and the California Republican Party unfortunately embraced that, and what it did, it did three things. And my parents were the perfect example. My parents had been legal permanent residents over three decades. And what they did was, first thing. They became US citizens. Second, they registered to vote, and the third thing, which I believe is going to happen to the rest of the country, they became Democrats. That is what's going to happen to the national Republican Party if they do not put an end to the rhetoric, not only rhetoric, but the actions of Mr. Trump.

Previously:

Media Condemn Trump’s “Racist” And “Bigoted” Attacks On Federal Judge

Hispanic Media Figures Slam Trump For Racist Attacks On Judge

GOP Civil War: Conservative Pundit Attacks Mitch McConnell For Not Calling Trump’s Judge Attacks “Racism”