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Coverage of Donald Trump's Press Conference in Las Vegas; Aired 3-4p ET
Aired July 11, 2015 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:18] POPPY HARLOW, CNN HOST: Top of the hour. I'm Poppy Harlow joining you today from New York.
And we begin on the campaign trail with Donald Trump. The billionaire businessman and reality star turned Republican presidential candidate drawing big crowds this weekend in the wake of those controversial comments about Mexican immigrants. You're looking now at some live pictures, where he has just taken the podium. He is speaking in Las Vegas at the libertarian gathering known as freedom fest. From there, he will fly to Arizona for an event growing by the day. Tickets for his rally later today in Phoenix are in such demand that organizers had to move it to a convention center to accommodate the more than 7,000 people who are expected to show up.
CNN political reporter Sara Murray live in Phoenix ahead of that event.
And Sara, we're monitoring these comments and we'll bring them to you live in just a moment from Las Vegas. But you've learned who's going to be introducing Trump later today in phoenix, and it's pretty significant.
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, he's going to have a couple people with him onstage today. The one that you, I believe, are referring to is Jamel Shaw Senior. He is the father of a young high schooler who was killed by an undocumented immigrant who came here from Mexico and was a gang member. Donald Trump met with him yesterday in L.A. and he's actually going to be bringing him with him here for this rally today.
There's also going to be another woman joining him onstage. Her son as well was killed by an undocumented immigrant. So you can see sort of the scene here. Donald Trump especially going to be talking about border security and about sort of the crime that occurs along the border, and that's particularly significant in a place like Arizona.
HARLOW: Look. It's also significant that he's going to be joined onstage by a big figure, but a polarizing figure in Arizona and nationwide, sheriff Joe Arpaio, someone known for his I immigration policies, right? I wonder, Sara, if you think that Donald Trump knew and intentionally has made immigration the key focus of this campaign, or if it happened to him because of those remarks he made. Because in his announcement that he was running, he made a lot of controversial remarks about a lot of different things.
MURRAY: I think this is certainly something we've heard from Donald Trump before, in his past sort of considerations about whether to run. I think probably even he was surprised to see how many people sort of latched on to these remarks. And then to see him rise in the polls the way he did. I think the combination of those two things have allowed him and his campaign to believe that this is a winning issue for him and it does tap into a group of the Republican Party who is particularly concerned about border security.
HARLOW: It does, absolutely. Sara, stay with us. We're going to listen in here to Donald Trump speaking in Las Vegas for a moment.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Started scrambling, and I thought probably I'd have to go outside, and if it's a windy day, my hair will be blow. But it is my hair. It is my hair.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: You can always tell a dishonest reporter - you know, the other day, I had actually, a great story. But they said, but he wears the worst hairpiece I've ever seen. I said, I can't even give anybody that story. But that wasn't true.
So I thought my hair would be blowing all over the place, because we have about 10,000 people. And it's an amazing thing that's happening. It's an amazing thing that's happening all over the country. And for a while, as you know, they were saying, Trump won't run. There's no way he's beginning to run. Why would he run? He's not beginning to run. Some people said, why would I run? Because I have a nice life. I have a great company. It's just things are sort of easy. And other people said oh, he'll never want to show his financials. Or he'll never want to do this or that. He'll never run.
So then I announced I'm running. Then I wasn't going to file my FEC original filing because when you do that, you're making a very big step, and I filed it. And then they had -- oh, but he'll never put in his financials. Because maybe he's not as rich as people think. Not that it matters, but I'm much richer and you'll see that next week. No, you'll see. I mean, you know, it's like crazy. So -- it is true. You've heard that, right? He'll never file. These guys, they sit up there. Why, he will never file because he doesn't want to show that he's not as rich. And I said to myself, I want to show that I'm much, much richer than people say.
HARLOW: All right, we're going to continue to monitor Donald Trump's remarks here and bring you some more in just a moment. But I do want to go back to Sara Murray, who I believe we still have in Phoenix, right?
Hi, Sara. Let's talk a little bit more about this. Because, look, Trump hasn't even -- to this point in his latest round of interviews, he hasn't ruled out potentially running as an independent. Do you think that that is something that is scaring some fellow Republicans, even those that might not want him representing their party, thinking 1992? [15:05:25] MURRAY: I think there are a lot of things that scare
Republicans about Donald Trump. And that is definitely one of them. We can see here that there is very little disincentive for Donald Trump. He has already lost a lot of business deals. He's definitely tarnished his personal brand. That's not stopping him. You heard him just say he's willing to release his financials for waiting on that.
So it's clear that there are very few things that are going to force Donald Trump to the side. And it would be a problem for the Republican Party if he run as independent, because suddenly he peels away this corner of Republicans who are very concerned about immigration, very concerned about border security and think Donald Trump speaks to that concern more so than the other Republican candidates in the race.
HARLOW: Yes, absolutely. All right, Sara Murray, thank you so much. Sara will be with us later in the show as we have that live event coming up with Donald Trump in Phoenix a little bit later.
Trump, as you know, not backing away from his most controversial comments about immigration. Those remarks linking illegal immigrants from Mexico, to drugs, and to rape. Those have erupted into a raging political debate.
Let's talk about some of his comments, and take a listen to some of who he told our Anderson Cooper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'll build a better wall and Mexico will pay. We bring them back and push them out. Mexico pushes back people across the border that are criminals, that are drug dealers, illegal immigrants coming in are causing tremendous problems. In terms of crime, in terms of murder, in terms of rape. If somebody's an illegal immigrant, they shouldn't be here at all. There shouldn't be any crime. They're not supposed to be in our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: As Anderson pointed out to Donald Trump in that interview, and we want to tell you again, here are some of the facts from some of the studies.
Researchers at Northwestern University last year looking into the issue of immigration and criminal behavior after examining the evidence concluding quote "there is essentially no correlation between immigrants and violent crime." Also, Pew research quoting a 2014 Massachusetts study finding that quote "the crime rate among first generation immigrants, those who came to this country from somewhere else, is significantly lower than the overall crime rate in that of the second generation."
Let's talk about all of it with CNN political commentators Ben Ferguson and Marc Lamont Hill.
Gentlemen, thank you for being here. Ben, we just quoted two studies. There are a number, I have a long
list, a number of studies that point to that same trend. I just wonder how long you think Donald Trump can stay this high in the polls, galvanize supporters when he is saying things like this that are not based in fact.
BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, there's a couple things here. One, you look at Donald Trump, he fell into this. This was pure dumb luck. When he came out in his campaign and started talking without a teleprompter, which he bragged about him being brilliant. He had no idea the reaction to his words were going to make this the core center issue of his campaign. So this is not something that I think he preplanned. This is just Donald Trump, dumb luck. And he connected on an issue and he doubled and tripled down on it.
Now, the second issue is this. Donald would say I know in response. Well, the person that's going to introduce me, ask them if your studies or your statistics matter, because when you have someone that's killed by an illegal immigrant, or an illegal immigrant that's a drunk driver or raped by an illegal immigrant, the study doesn't mean anything to those victims of that crime. And he obviously has a very legitimate point to make there.
This is resonating with people because there are individuals in this country that have, in fact, been affected in a negative way by illegal immigrants who commit crimes. The same way that this guy had been kicked out of the country more than five times in California, who made huge headlines by killing an innocent woman walking with her father.
So the studies mean nothing to those families because they've seen the illegal immigrant who murdered their child in front of them and held them until she died. And that is the reason why Donald Trump right now is connecting with so many people.
HARLOW: Marc, we're going to have one of those mothers on who was meeting with Donald Trump last night. She's going to be on with us to talk about exactly what ben pointed out. What's your response to that, Marc?
MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Ben's right about one thing here, right? That these extraordinary, unusual stories will resonate with somebody, because there is a kind of fear in xenophobia around Mexican immigrants. And so, yes, there will be people who will believe whatever you tell them despite the fact that the evidence and the data suggest otherwise. I mean, that is just true. So yes, Donald Trump is playing to the cheap seats, that's absolutely true.
But it is important to acknowledge what the studies say. There is no correlation here between these immigration patterns and crime. In fact, again, as you pointed out, these populations are actually less prone to criminality than the average American. So, no, illegal immigrant is not causing the kind of crime that people are suggesting. And I think Donald Trump is playing a kind of cynical politics that may play to the cheap seats, but doesn't ultimately get him the Republican Party nomination. Most people will interpret it that way. [15:10:20] HARLOW: Guys, I do want to listen - Ben, just before you
do, he's speaking about Mexican people right now. Let's listen in for a moment.
TRUMP: You remember the old days with Castro when he emptied his jails and sent them all to the United States? Well, Mexico does similar things in a highly sophisticated and much more sophisticated manner. And we have people in the country, you look at Kate, you look at -- I have a man who's a friend of mine, Jamel Shaw. He's with me. He came today. In fact-Jamel, where are you, Jamel? Is he around here someplace? One of the finest people. Where is Jamel? Will you come up here for a second?
Jamel Shaw, do you know who this is? He was on one of the big shows on FOX and CNN the other day. I never met Jamel. And he was talking about Trump. And I said oh no, not more. How much can you take? And he was talking me. And then I turned on the sound, and he said, there's nobody that's helped us. We've been forgotten. The parents of children that have been killed by illegal immigrants. His son was killed by an illegal immigrant. And I said, what he is doing now is so important in honor of his son, just say hello. And just give just a brief description, Jamel. Because it's so, so important. He was with me last night, along with other parents of other children that were likewise killed.
JAMEL SHAW SR., SON WAS KILLED BY UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT: Real quick. I don't want to dominate Mr. Trump.
(APPLAUSE)
SHAW: Thank you. Thank you. Yes, I just want to -- you know, like Mr. Trump was saying, you know. My son was murdered by someone illegally in the country. They were brought here when they were 4 years old and allowed to grow up like a wild animal, pretty much. My son was walking home from the mall one day like everybody's kids do. Go to the mall on Sunday afternoon. We went to a football clinic in Pasadena. On the way home, he asked could he go. I said yes, I let him go. Be home by 7:00. You know, around 7:00, I called him. He said - I said, where are you? He said I'm going to be home soon, dad. We caught the wrong bus. Be there in about another hour. I said I'll get you a car. I called him again, hour later. Where you at? That's what I always say. Where you at? He said I'm right around the corner, old man. I'll be there in a couple minutes. And then I heard two gunshots, you know. It was -- I mean, it was so crisp, like a gun range. If you have been in the gun range, you will know that crispiness, tells you how close, you know, it is. And I already knew, I had a feeling in my chest. And I went outside to see, and he was laying in the street dead. And I found out that the guy who did it was released from the county jail just like in San Francisco, on his third gun charge. Somebody illegally in the country who had three gun charges already. He's in jail now for battery of a police officer, resisting assault with a deadly weapon, and gave him eight months in the county jail, and let him out four months early. The same day he got out, he had the Mexican mafia orders Latino gang members to go out the same day, commit crime so you won't be rehabilitated. So it's like an order. You have to go out the same day and commit crimes in the black neighborhood.
So my son walking home from the mall, they were coming into my neighborhood just to visit a neighbor. I saw my son, ran over there and killed him. Just because he was there. You know, he had a guy in the back seat with him that was there just as a reporter to prove that he got out of the car, shot him in the head with a big gun. You know, he had a .45. You can imagine a .45 into a 17-year-old kid's head, you know. Don't even have a chance. He was shot in the stomach. Corned into the corner while he was laying on his back, he had his hands up. And they thought he was shot three times because his hands was just really damaged. He had a bullet wound in his stomach and in his head. And they found going to the corner that he was on his back like this and they shot him through his hands into his head, you know. And that's the original hands up don't shoot. You know, we hear the other stuff, you know I mean?
(APPLAUSE)
SHAW: That really happened. That really happened. And that day, like Mr. Trump was saying, when I saw the TV, man, everybody was calling my house. Did you hear what Donald Trump just said? Like yes, you know I heard it. And everybody was so happy, you know. And my sister was saying for the first time she saw a smile, because I felt hope, you know? I knew there was change coming either way it go. People have to change. They want to compete with him. You know, you have to change. You can't keep the same path, you know? And Mr. Trump is willing to go out there and sacrifice, you know, his life. Because like he said, he doesn't need money, he doesn't need power. He's powerful already. He has a name. He has what he needs. But he loves America. And I saw that. I could tell. He loves America. Why else would he be doing this, you know? He loves America. He wants to make it good again. And I tell people all the time, you know, I trust Donald Trump, because if he can put himself out there like that for, you know, I just say for black people, because a lot of the Latino and black crime is happening in the black community. It was sort of transformed. Used to be all black, now it's all Latino. So we're pretty much in a different land, so to speak.
If he can put himself out for us, then I can trust him in everything else. It's like your dad. You know, your dad say don't do this, don't do that. And, you know, you trust him that he knows what's good for you, you know. And I see him almost like a dad. I have been saying last night, we are almost the same age, so I can't really call him my dad.
But he's the kind of man that you would want to be your dad, you know. Successful. A loving guy. I mean, come on. You see him in TV, you know, you're fired, but you see him in real life. He's a nice guy, you know. I just learned that myself much as everybody, you know. And in my community, you know, I have a lot of black friends and, of course, a lot of them are liberals. But they're ready to vote for Trump now. They say, I haven't voted in ten years. Haven't voted in ten years. But I'm going to vote for Trump. And people feel energized. And we feel happy that someone is willing to go out there and put himself out there for America. And you can trust him, too. [15:16:52] HARLOW: All right, a spontaneous move there from Donald
Trump speaking at the freedom fest in Las Vegas, inviting Jamel Shaw up to the podium. Speaking there.
Marc and Ben, to you, I want your thoughts on this, because you just hear Jamel Shaw get up there and say it's like your dad, you trust him. He puts himself out there for black people. Mr. Trump is willing to sacrifice his life. He loves America. I mean, that is powerful unscripted stuff, Ben. How does that resonate with voters?
FERGUSON: Well, here's the thing. One, this is raw and real. This isn't pre-scripted. This obviously is not something that, you know, they thought about probably even two weeks ago. And this is the reason why I think Donald Trump is connecting with people was because they feel like he's bold and blunt enough and not going to be politically correct.
I look at this, man, I believe he honestly believes in Donald Trump. And if you had a son that was murdered in this way by an illegal immigrant and you see this and you see one candidate saying I'm not going to back down and I'm not going to be politically correct, I'm not going to be a politician on this issue, you can see why he's drawn to him, unlike all other candidates that seem many times so scripted and so cautious to say something blunt, and so concerned they might offend somebody in a certain community.
This is exactly why his poll numbers are where it is. Now, can he keep it up there? I don't think he can. I think he's an opportunist that is seeing an opportunity and he's able to use it to his advantage.
HARLOW: Marc?
HILL: I agree with the last part for sure. Donald Trump is an opportunist. I think all politicians are opportunists. I don't hold that against Trump per se. But I do think that there's something particularly troublesome, almost unsettling about playing into the fears and anxieties and indeed the pain of families who have lost someone due to a tragedy.
Yes, a white politician who gets -- a white Republican in particular who gets a black guy to jump up and say hey, Trump loves black people. And Trump will support black people, it's a classic move. And it makes sense for him strategically. But I don't think it resonates with black voters. I don't think it resonates with Republican voters. I think ultimately it will look like someone who suffered to an awful tragedy and is responding in a certain kind of way. Trump is playing to their needs emotionally.
FERGUSON: Look. Donald Trump is a chameleon. Donald Trump is someone that looks at the moment and figures out what side is the best one for him to pick at that moment. You've got to remember, Donald Trump has given money to Rahm Emanuel. He's given money to Harry Reid. He's helped Nancy Pelosi. He's given money to Hillary Clinton. I mean, this is not a guy that's a traditional conservative or a GOP member. HARLOW: All right, guys, quick break. We're going to be back with
Ben and Marc on the other side. A lot to unpack here. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:21:14] HARLOW: All right. Welcome back. We're continuing to monitor the speech that Donald Trump is giving there in Las Vegas at the Freedom Fest before he goes to Phoenix to speak to a huge crowd this evening.
Back with me, CNN political commentators Marc Lamont Hill and Ben Ferguson.
Buys, I want you to listen to what Lindsey Graham said to CNN this week about Donald Trump's rhetoric and what he thinks it could do more broadly for the Republican Party and the race for the White House. Let's roll it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When Donald Trump says -- who's done many good thing. He sponsors charities for wounded warriors. He's given a lot of money away to good causes. But as a presidential candidate, that he said the following. That most illegal immigrants are rapists and drug dealers and they may be some among them that are good. That is reinforcing a narrative between the Republican Party and the Hispanic community that is going to destroy our ability to win a presidential election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Marc, those are, you know, big words. Destroy our ability, our as a party, to win this election.
HILL: You know, the word destroy is somewhat misleading because it will suggests that it's not already destroyed or at least an extremely vulnerable position. I mean, the Republican Party sadly has developed a brand that is connected to xenophobia in racism.
HARLOW: Jeb Bush just raised $114 million, a record for any candidate this early on in a race by a super Pac.
HILL: No, that's very true. And I think there's some popular Republicans who can help break the cycle. It's not that all Republicans are seen as racist, but the assumption is if you're racist, you're probably a Republican. I had a few friends this week who had the Freudian slip of saying the conservative flag was being taken down. I said, the confederate flag. Too often we link those two things. I'm not saying it's fair to Republicans, but it's certainly the narrative. I think Donald Trump reinforces it. He's going to make everybody's job harder come this spring or winter.
HARLOW: Ben, does he make everyone's job harder?
FERGUSON: Of course he makes everyone's job harder. But the easiest thing for the actual Republicans in the GOP field to say is remind people that are jumping on this bandwagon, Donald Trump is, he is a fraud. He is not an actual conservative. There isn't another candidate running in the GOP primary that would be able to survive giving $1, much less thousands of dollars to Hillary Clinton or Harry Reid or Rahm Emanuel or Ted Kennedy, for goodness sakes, or Chuck Schumer. Yet Donald Trump has supported all of those people for decades. And the Republican Party has not done a good job. They've done a terrible job. And the candidates have done a terrible job reminding people who Donald Trump is. He is a guy that is an opportunist and he saw the biggest void that he could fill right now in the GOP primary, instead of going up against Hillary Clinton, who he supported just a couple of years ago.
HILL: I'll tell you one thing, Ben --
FERGUSON: He's not the GOP. He's filling this void and being a blunt guy. That's it.
HILL: I'll tell you one thing, Ben, you better hope he stays in the GOP because if he goes independent, he's going to be a nightmare for you guys.
FERGUSON: He'll be the Ross Perot of 1992, I agree.
HILL: Yes, a nightmare for your side.
HARLOW: So Ben, what do you do then? Look, I mean, because you have so many of these Republican candidates saying -- Lindsey Graham, he could destroy our chances. As Marc points out, don't want them outside of the party.
FERGUSON: Well, the good news is this. We are far away from Election Day and there is plenty of time. The candidates had a strategy early on, almost all of them. Do not acknowledge the existence of Donald Trump and he will take care of himself. He will dig his own grave.
Now what you're seeing is these candidates are coming out. We saw it last weekend, Fourth of July. Jeb Bush came out, made it very clear his thoughts on Donald Trump. And what you are going to see is you are going to see all these other candidates that are in these polls that are going all work together to get rid of Donald Trump as fast as they can. That's not something that they've implemented until literally a week ago today.
[15:25:16] HARLOW: Do you think, Marc, that there needs to be a strategy change? Interestingly, it was someone who's not polling highly, former New York governor George Pataki who really led this and came out and wrote that open letter and said look, to my fellow candidates, we have to be more vocal about what Donald Trump said. What's the next step? Because clearly the ignore him, he will go away strategy isn't working.
HILL: Well, I think they have to find a way to pull him off the stage. And the problem is when you have a guy who says wild stuff like Herman Kane in 2012, you can shame them off the stage. You can buy them off the stage. You can offer them a job in the next administration to get them off the stage. Trump is driven by ego. He is driven by self-interest and self-
promotion. He doesn't need the money. Although he's not as extremely rich as he likes to tell us. He has plenty of money. And so, all those things make him very tough. All you can do is hope to appeals to his conscience. Reince Priebus needs to go to him. And instead of telling him hey, you're doing a decent job out there, he needs to say hey, you need to get off this stage. That's the only thing. Other than that, isolation. Pretend he doesn't exist.
FERGUSON: There's no one that's going to be able to get him off stage but Donald Trump.
HARLOW: I was just going to say, I don't know that he would listen to that.
Guys, we're going to get a quick break in here. Much more with Ben and Marc and we'll keep monitoring these comments from Donald Trump. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:24:40] HARLOW: Well, there has been a dramatic decline in the New York police department's controversial stop question and frisk methodology, or encounters if you will. That does not mean, though, that all of the officers have stopped using stop and frisk.
A new report showing that officers aren't properly confronting -- reporting rather their confrontations with the public, sometimes. Sometimes they may be carrying it out, but not documenting it.
And so, let's talk about it with Sara Ganim. She joins me now. She read the report, 197-page report.
You read the whole thing. What's your overall assessment of this? Because there was such controversy in 2013 when the judge ruled it unconstitutional.
[15:30:17] SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. The two main points that you take away from this, Poppy, are the numbers are definitely down, right? But the two things that this found, one comes from an audit, is that officers on the street are not properly documenting when stop and frisk is executed. And then the other thick is that when it is, or when it should be executed, they're not confident enough or they're misinformed through their training on when to stop people, and so they're not stopping people when they should. And those are the two things that account for this number.
Now, what's going to come from this, New York City police have already said they're going to revise their training, because clearly something's not going -- right. It's not going correctly if they're not documenting when stop and frisk is actually occurring.
HARLOW: Is it because they're -- is the report detail because they are scared of being called out on it?
GANIM: They don't understand what happened. They don't understand when they're supposed to use it. That's what the report says. You know, when the federal judge said it's unconstitutional, they revised their policy, but this report seems to show that the new policy is not clear to the officers who were actually out on the street.
HARLOW: So do you know when are they supposed to use it? What are the criteria?
GANIM: Well, they're supposed to abide by the constitution, right? So the fourth and 14th amendment, specifically the 14th amendment which says that you have to have a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed.
Now, you know, the policy in the past was a little too vague. And what critics said, and what the federal judge agreed with, was it amounted to racial profiling. Now, an interesting part of this report was defining racial profiling. And defining what it means to the NYPD, and it's explicitly said in the report that their new policy is that there should not be any racial profiling. No arrest or stop of a person based solely on their race.
HARLOW: Right, absolutely.
So Harry, jump in here with us. With us, Harry Houck, former NYPD officer who has very, you know strong opinions on this. And I guess I'd ask you first what you make of the fact that this report found that some of those officers here in New York city aren't feeling confident and are feeling misinformed about sort of the line and their personal legal liability and when they can use stop and frisk and when they can't.
HARRY HOUCK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: I'll tell you, cops are afraid out there. Like I've always been saying. You know, the fact that you're going down there trying to be proactive in police work there, and looking for suspicious activity, and then stopping somebody with suspicious activity.
Now, the problem is that as they found in the ruling, that police officers do not know how to clearly articulate their reasons for a stop. Now, that's due to training. Those police officers need a lot of training in that position to be able to take the specific positions out there. Not only do you need reasonable suspicion to stop somebody. But, you know, and believe that a crime has been committed, but suspicious activity can also create a stop.
So the suspicious activity where somebody's making a move on the street, you see somebody hanging on the street and they're touching a certain area, usually a bad guy who's carrying a gun is touching an area all the time to make sure it's there.
HARLOW: Can we talk about Chicago? On this show last weekend, we focused a lot on Chicago. And I mean, there was just a rampant sort of string of murders over the July 4th weekend. A 7-year-old boy shot and killed. When you look at a city like Chicago, the police chief there basically throwing up his hands saying I could add 10,000 more officers and this wouldn't fix the problem, really asking for help. Chicago has stop and frisk, right? And it's used widely. HOUCK: They have a former stop and frisk. They might call it
something different there, but they have a form of stop and frisk. All police departments have a stop and frisk type procedure that they do when they're making a stop based on a reasonable suspicion. But the problem here is that officers are afraid to get involved in maybe a certain instance where somebody's going to resist arrest, and that resisting arrest will escalate to a point where either that person is seriously injured or killed. Just like what we had happen here with the Eric Garner case. And that's what police officers are really afraid of. Am I going to lose my house? Am I going to lose my pension, alright? Am I going to lose my family because, you know, especially when I'm acting in good faith. Police officers want to know that if they're acting in good faith, then the city is going to back them, whether they're right or wrong. And you know what? This is the only profession where people believe that cops have to be right 100 percent of the time.
HARLOW: All right, guys, we've got to get a quick break. And I'm sorry we are out of time. But important news and the fact that they are obviously going to rejigger and change the training of the officers since this happen.
Thanks so much, Harry and Sara. We appreciate it.
Some Republican presidential candidates have been working on their campaigns step by step for years. But they are all in the background because of one man right now, Donald Trump. He is a media celebrity, a politician with no filter, and he is holding a news conference. We're going to bring you more of what he's saying next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:38:44] HARLOW: All right, we're continuing to monitor the Donald Trump remarks there in Las Vegas at the freedom forum. He is taking questions. I want you to listen to what member of the audience just stood up and said to Mr. Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: OK, who are the questions? Where are they? Do you have a mic? Good. Go ahead.
ROBERTO SALINAS: Thank you, thank you, Mr. Trump. I'm Roberto Salinas. I'm actually from Mexico. I'm incredibly insulted by the remarks.
TRUMP: I was waiting for this.
SALINAS: Of course you were. But hey, I'm a friend of freedom fest. I believe in freedom. I believe in the rule of law.
TRUMP: Good.
SALINAS: I believe in property rights. My heart goes out to Mr. Jamel.
TRUMP: Good.
SALINAS: There are illegal immigrants that are horrible and terrible. There are also legal immigrants that are horrible and terrible. So it's a question about rule of law. I am going to ask a question.
TRUMP: Ask a question, please.
SALINAS: My question is --
TRUMP: Did the government of Mexico ask you to come up here and make this today?
SALINAS: Of course.
TRUMP: OK. Go ahead ask your question.
SALINAS: I knew you were going to say that.
TRUMP: Come on. You've got a lot of people waiting.
SALINAS: Would you build walls around all the states in the United States to prevent all of those rapists and killers that come from elsewhere in the United States in order to avoid the problem?
[15:39:58] TRUMP: No, I'd build a wall -- no, I would build a wall between our country and Mexico because people come from all over the world -- let me just tell you. Sir, do you want to hear the answer? And all of the people -- because I encourage legal citizenship. I encourage it and I would encourage it and I would encourage Hispanics and I would encourage people from all over.
But what I don't encourage is people coming into our country illegally and I don't encourage where a government forces some people in that the government doesn't want. And these people reap havoc on our population.
Thank you very much for your question. I appreciate it. Next question, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, Mr. Trump. My name is --
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: All right. Let's go to CNN politics reporter Maeve Reston. She is there at the Freedom Fest in Las Vegas.
Maeve, you know, he said, I've been expecting this. And then it was a little combative between the two of them. But what do you make of his answer to the question?
MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, I mean, I think what this is showing us is that Donald Trump is going to have a lot of these confrontations around the country because of his comments over the last couple of weeks. He did have this moving moment, where Mr. Shaw, who is the father of a boy who was killed by an undocumented immigrant, came onstage just now. He's going to be appearing with him later today in Arizona. But you have a lot of ugliness kind of building around this debate that Donald Trump has started. I was in Los Angeles with him last night where he was speaking to a group of conservatives in Hollywood. There were protests outside. There were Trump supporters screaming at, you know, at immigrants who are here in this country, screaming back at them. And it just feels like a very volatile situation that is starting to be created around this debate.
The thing that people like about Donald Trump is that he speaks bluntly about these issues. And we'll see what happens later today in Arizona.
HARLOW: Maeve, I think the question becomes what topic is next, right? Ben Ferguson, one of our commentators, was saying this really sort of fell on Trump, and then he has latched on to it and talked about it, and it has resonated with a lot of people. But the question becomes, in a campaign that is so long, what is the next topic?
RESTON: You know, I don't know. I mean, honestly, the immigration debate has so many threads that this conversation could go on for the next year and probably will. It is an issue obviously that the Republicans have had a lot of trouble talking about. Right now, certainly Trump is sucking all the oxygen out of the race on this topic. But you're going to have to see other Republicans come out and talk more about immigration and our relationship with Mexico. Marco Rubio, for example, did this morning talking about sanctuary cities and the need to really enforce the law. So it's taking over, and I think this debit will actually really go on for quite some time.
HARLOW: All right. Maeve Reston for us live at the event in Las Vegas. Thank you for that. We're going to get a quick break. And more from Donald Trump. He continues to take questions from the audience in Las Vegas. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:46:48] HARLOW: All right. We're continuing to monitor Donald Trump speaking there in Las Vegas. He just answered a question from someone in the audience, someone who's Russian who asked specifically about his foreign policy thoughts especially when it relates to the relationship between the United States and Russia. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: Wounded warriors all over the place who I love. These are great people, not being properly taken care of, by the way. And we have nothing. And Iraq. And there is no Iraq. Let's face it. Iraq is just a name. But Iraq is now meeting with Iran about a takeover. And ISIS is building hotels in Iraq. You believe it? They're building a hotel. Because they have so much money. Because they've taken over so much oil. We're so stupid. We are led by stupid people. And I'm very proud of the fact that I was opposed -- and I'm a very military-oriented person.
But I'm very proud of the fact that article came up, somebody wrote a beautiful story about it, because all these Republican guys -- and Hillary voted for it, who would be one hell of a bad president, by the way. She was the worst secretary of state in the history of the country. The worst.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And now she's going to be president. And Bush is so bad. Can you imagine Bush negotiating with China? Who would you rather have, Trump negotiating with China or Bush negotiating with China? I tell you, I'll give you the answer to that one. That's an easy --.
So anyway, so we have to have a very strong military, we have to protect our people, and we have to have it so we don't even use it, because I don't want to use it, but we have to have it. Because if we have it, it won't have to be used. OK, let's go.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: All right. There, Donald Trump, as he continues to take questions.
I want to get Marc and Ben back in here, our CNN political commentators. Who wants to go first?
FERGUSON: I will go at it.
HILL: He's trolling us.
HARLOW: Go ahead, Marc.
FERGUSON: Go ahead.
HILL: No, Donald Trump is trolling us after watching us. I am convinced this is all a big practical joke just to get a response. And he just said his foreign policy strategy is I want to have a military so that we don't have to use it because if we have it, we don't need to use it. That's his foreign policy strategy.
HARLOW: Ben?
FERGUSON: And also, look at this guy and what he's actually done. He's like, can you imagine Hillary Clinton? She'd be the worst president in history. She was the worst secretary state in history. But I did give money to her campaign multiple times and gave more than $150,000 to the Clinton foundation and gave more than $150, 000 to the Democratic National Committee while Hillary Clinton was one of the biggest players in Washington.
So this idea that everybody is terrible, well, of course everybody's terrible, Donald Trump, because Donald Trump is the answer to all of our problems if you listen to him. Yet in reality, the people he's ripping on, he gave money to.
HILL: He demonstrates -- go ahead, I'm sorry.
HARLOW: I just wanted to get your take on the fact that he also said in remarks that we were monitoring, essentially, you know, Jeb Bush is nice, but Jeb Bush won't take us to the Promised Land. I really think it's also important to look at these numbers, these super Pac numbers from Jeb Bush coming in, the fact that in the first quarter, they were able to raise $114 million. That is the most of any candidate of any party running for the White House in that period of time this early on in a campaign. So it's sort of Jeb Bush's money versus Donald Trump's mouth. I wonder what you think matters more, Marc, in the long run.
[15:50:22] HILL: In this political climate of the last even 50 years, money wins out over everything. And I told you guys this a few months ago.
(CROSSTALK)
HILL: Well, Mitt Romney had some -- I'm not saying the guy with the biggest war chest always wins. What I'm saying is people who don't have money versus people who do tend to win. And ultimately, if all Donald Trump has is his mouth and all Jeb Bush has is money, I would like to put that money on Bush.
HARLOW: He has a lot of personal wealth.
(CROSSTALK)
HILL: The difference is - but, here's the problem. If Donald Trump is using personal wealth, the wealth is no longer a proxy for voters. Part of why having so much money is important, particularly with small donations as we saw in 2008, is because it means that lots of people support him.
Jeb Bush has a following. There are people who are becoming increasingly energized by Jeb Bush whether you agree with him or not. I'm not sure that people actually believe that about Donald Trump. And that's what Donald Trump is targeting Jeb Bush. And the last thing I want to say is, Donald Trump words here demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of foreign policy. It's easy to say, well, that person will be a disaster. That person will be terrible. I'll fix everything. He offered no concrete solutions. His understanding of ISIS is elementary at best. To say that Hillary Clinton is the worst secretary of state in the history of America is absurd.
HARLOW: Ben, do the voters respond, Ben, more to complaints and criticism than to concrete solutions?
FERGUSON: Early on, if no one else is saying anything, yes. And that's why he's doing well. But he also does not have a principled campaign and that's what you see here. You see, look at Jeb Bush, just a great example. He has a principled campaign. You don't want to peak too soon when you're running for the presidency when it's virtually a two-year run for the White House. You want to raise money, you want to set up an organization, you want to have people in each state that are your main contacts who are connecting the dots to you and your campaign war chest.
This is a very long, ultra-marathon and Donald Trump is out there acting like the election is on Tuesday of next week, when it's Tuesday of next year. So I think at some point you flame out because he doesn't have the infrastructure that you need to be able to do this long term. This is the moment in time and he's milking it for all it's worth.
But look at his, even his strategies real quick. He's not giving you any substantive plan on any issue. He's just ripping on everyone else and saying that they're poor, they're stupid or they're incompetent and I am brilliant.
HILL: He's a disaster.
FERGUSON: How long can you keep doing that?
HARLOW: All right, guys, I have to get a break in here. But I will say, you know what, you never know because I don't think a lot of people expected him to be polling as high as he is polling right now in multiple states.
Ben, Marc, stay with me. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:56:17] HARLOW: Right after wrapping up his remarks there in Las Vegas, Donald Trump now moving to a press conference, taking reporter questions there before he goes on to Phoenix. So let's listen in.
TRUMP: You can't have Mr. Shaw's son, if that man wasn't here, he was illegal, Mr. Shaw would have his son going to Stanford or going to one of the great colleges right now playing football and learning and doing a great job after that. Kate would be alive right now in Sn Francisco. So you know.
And, you know, the whole thing with executive order, by the way, it's not supposed to be the way it's done. You're supposed to get Congress to do and this and negotiate back and forth. Tip O'Neill, Ronald Reagan. You don't just say, hey, I can't -- he can't even get his own party to agree with him so he just goes around now and signs executive orders which will be solved in about five years in the slow court system. So I respect your attorney general very much so. Very much so.
Yes, ma'am.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Trump, may name is (INAUDIBLE) from Telemundo Las Vegas. Now, in order to win election you have to have the Latino vote. That is a fact. Now, promising jobs and money will not win you the Latino vote. They care about immigration and we are not talking about building a wall or deporting everybody. So what is your plan to deal with the millions of --?
TRUMP: Are you ready? I will win the Hispanic vote because I am going to create jobs and I will create a better country.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are talking about immigration. What is your plan?
TRUMP: Wait, wait, wait. Mitt Romney let us all down. Mitt Romney ran a horrible campaign. He choked because in the four weeks before, he wasn't there. I don't know what happened to him. In all fairness to Obama, he was doing Jay Leno, David letterman. Mitt Romney failed and he failed horribly.
The fact is that, and nobody talks about this, he did not energize the base. Many, many conservative Republicans stayed home. Is that correct, Jeff? They stayed home. They didn't want to vote for him. If they get out and vote, you're going to win. Jeb Bush is not going to get those people to vote. That I can tell you. OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You didn't answer my question.
TRUMP: Two more questions. Because I'm going to be in Las Vegas, I'm going to see the same people.
Yes, sir. I know I'm going to like your question.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: The world trade center. He said 19 people blew up the world trade center. They were all illegal aliens.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: Oh, that's true. I say that. I say it all. There are far more. Mexico is one country, they are coming from all over the world. You have people coming from the Middle East that are going right through Mexico and pass the border.
The people are coming, I always say that. This isn't just Mexico. People are coming from all over the world and they are coming illegally into our country and they are coming from the Middle East, and we better be damn careful.
OK. How about one more, because I'm going to see you in a few minutes in Phoenix. Yes, sir.
RUSSELL GRAY, REAL ESTATE RADIO SHOW: So Mr. Trump, Russell Gray, the real estate guy radio show. I will switch it to housing. Millions of people lost their homes in the last financial crisis. Lot of people think that was driven by fed policy leading up to it and then just the way the whole housing system has worked with the government involvement. What is a healthy housing policy?
TRUMP: Seems like such a mundane question right now. I love the guy. He's a real estate guy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are the ultimate real estate guy. What's a healthy housing, you know, policy under the Trump administration?
TRUMP: Owning the home was the American dream. It became the American nightmare. But we will make it back honestly back to the American dream. Owning a home is so important. It's really a good question. And it's a very complicated question, but it's a great question. Thank you. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, Mr. Trump, in your speech you said you get along with Putin. Now, what about China? What kind of --?
TRUMP: I will get along with China, too.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So what kind --?
TRUMP: I have the largest bank in the world as a tenant in one of my buildings. You know that bank industrial bank, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TRUMP: Good bank, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TRUMP: Big? They pay me rent. They love me. I love China. The problem is that Chinese leaders are much smarter than Obama and his group of clowns.
